An easy to assemble breastmilk pump with an effective and easy to operate manual pumping mechanism that allows in one aspect for one-handed or two-handed operation, a novel piston pump mechanism in another aspect of the invention, an improved vacuum regulator in yet another aspect that can be easily adjusted during operation, and a locking mechanism in still another aspect to prevent accidental disengagement of the reciprocating parts during operation.

The present invention generally relates to breastmilk pumps, and more particularly relates to a new and improved breastmilk pump with an effective and easy to operate manual pumping mechanism, a mechanism for one-handed or two-handed operation, and an improved vacuum regulator.
Breastmilk pumps are well known and generally comprise a hood body or breast shield that fits over the breast, a vacuum pump connected to the hood body for generating an intermittent reduced pressure or vacuum within the hood body, and a receptacle for the expressed milk. Examples of these pumps are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,857,051 and 4,964,851.
An aspect of the design of a manually driven pump has been the amount of effort required to use the pump. As the user""s hand tired, the suction created may decrease, as well as the stroke rate, thus decreasing the effectiveness of the pumping action. Manufacturing costs have also been a consideration because of numerous pieces that may be required in the construction of these pumps. Regulating the vacuum pressure created by the pumping action is also a consumer design consideration. Solutions to these problems are presented in this invention as are other innovations.
The present invention has a principal objective of providing a manual pump that is easy to operate. In one embodiment, vacuum is created by sliding a closed-end cylinder over a pump tube extending from the hood body. The user grasps the outer circumference of the cylinder and gently glides the cylinder over the pump tube. This pumping design is considered easier to manipulate than the traditional design of a movable piston rod reciprocating within a stationary cylinder. As applied to an inventive breast pump, the user generates reduced pressure or vacuum with a simple, nonstressful hand movement which utilizes better-suited muscle groups for pumping.
In addition, a locking means has been developed to prevent the cylinder from disengaging from the pump tube after reaching the position which generates the maximum reduced pressure (maximum stroke). The locking means is simple to engage or disengage, such as for cleaning of the pump elements.
Another objective of this invention is to provide an improved mechanism for regulating the vacuum created by the pumping action, which mechanism can be manipulated during use to adjust the amount of suction generated by a pumping stroke. One aspect of the present invention is having the regulator on the breast pump unit adjacent the hood body. A rotary member with an internal groove or passage communicating with the atmosphere connects to a ported structure and rotates about the structure to regulate the reduced pressure generated, by variously exposing the ports to ambient air. The reciprocating action of the cylinder over the pump tube then draws a predetermined amount of air through one or more of the ports to modify the amount of vacuum.
Also, while one of the goals of this invention is to provide a user with a handy, low-cost, low maintenance manual pump, aspects of this invention can be further modified to allow use with motor driven pumps.
In another embodiment of the invention, a lever drive mechanism is added to a piston-type pump configuration, which has a movable piston rod inside a stationary cylinder. The lever arrangement allows a user to operate the pump with one hand by grasping the lever and piston cylinder in one hand. As the lever is moved toward the cylinder, the piston rod slides toward the rear of the cylinder under action from the lever, creating a negative pressure in the pump. A spring action to return the lever, and the piston rod, to the starting position when the user releases the lever, can also advantageously be added. The relative position of the pump and lever makes the pump easy to operate and maintain its position on the breast.
In another aspect of the invention, a breast pump is adapted for use with one or both hands. Using the foregoing embodiment having the lever mechanism for one-handed operation as an example, the piston is provided with a handgraspable part that extends out of the pump cylinder. The hand-graspable part can be reciprocated independently of the lever mechanism for two-handed operation. One-handed operation is provided by the lever mechanism, and another two-handed mode is provided by holding the pump in place with one hand and reciprocating the piston with the hand graspable part of the piston rod.


An earplug is provided, of a type that includes a soft shell (12) and an insertion stem (16), which facilitates pullout of the earplug from the ear canal and which has an increased ability to block noise. The earplug includes a body or shell of soft elastomeric material with a forward portion (20) constructed to enter the ear canal and a rearward portion (22) which flares in a rearward direction. A stem (16) of more rigid material than the shell, extends along most of the length of a passage (14) formed within the shell. The shell passage has a neck part (42) at the rear of the shell forward portion. The stem has a forward flange (32) lying in interference fit within the passage at a location forward of the passage neck part, and the stem has a rearward flange (34) that lies in interference fit with the flared rear portion of the shell.

One type of earplug, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,794, includes a body in the form of a shell of elastomeric foam material, and a stem of more rigid material than the body, the stem extending through a passage formed by the shell. To insert the front portion of the earplug into the ear canal, the stem is pushed forward to thereby push the body forward. However, to withdraw the earplug, a person must grasp the rear of the body itself and pull it out. Applicant presently makes an earplug of the general type described in the above patent, which has a relatively high noise-blocking ability of SNR28 (European noise rating system) and NRR26 (ANSI or American National Standards Institute), with an attenuation of 26.3 db at 125 Hz. It would be desirable if the entire earplug could be more readily removed, especially in applications where the earplug lies at the end of a band that extends about halfway around the ear canal, so that separation of the ends of the bands results in the earplugs being pulled out of the ear canals of a person. Any simple change which increased noise-blocking ability would be desirable.


An automated analyzer includes an analysis operation part that causes a sample and a reagent to react and based on the reaction result performs analysis of the sample, wherein: the automated analyzer includes a plurality of units constituting the analysis operation part, a temperature adjustment mechanism that heats or cools the units, a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the units, and a control part that controls the temperature adjustment mechanism. The control part sets the measurement startable temperature range of each unit, which is the temperature range of the operation specification thereof, and the operable temperature range, which is a temperature range that is wider than the measurement startable temperature range, and starts the analysis process of the sample when the temperature of each unit has entered the operable temperature range.

There has been an automated analyzer in the related art, which includes units having a temperature adjusting function, such as a reaction unit in which a sample reacts with a reagent and a cooling unit that keeps a reagent cool. It is necessary to wait for a start of measurement after the analyzer is turned on until the units reach a measurable temperature. In particular, a reactor or a reagent cooling unit has a large difference between a controlled temperature and the room temperature, and a period of time is taken to reach the measurable temperature.
In conventional automated analyzers, when units do not reach a measurable temperature range after the analyzer is turned on, it is not possible to start up the measurement even when there is a request for measurement, and thus a user feels significantly inconvenient.
Recently, there has been a high demand for a rapid output of an inspection result, it is necessary to keep the analyzer ON, in order to shorten a period of time taken for an output of a result even in a case of a low operation rate at night, in an emergency, or the like. On the other hand, when measurement is not performed, electric power consumed by an analyzer in a standby state increases, and thus it is not possible to satisfy a demand for reduction in inspection costs.
In a technology disclosed in PTL 1, of constituent elements of an automated analyzer, a constituent element functioning as a heat source that increases a temperature in the analyzer and a constituent element functioning as a cold source that decreases a temperature in the analyzer include an electric power switch that switches between ON/OFF of electric power and a control mechanism that controls an ON/OFF operation of the electric power switch provided for each constituent element, according to a plurality of start modes. In a preheat starting mode included in the plurality of starting modes, the constituent element functioning as the heat source keeps operating during a pause before the start of the analyzer, thereby, maintaining a state in which a temperature of a reactor or in the analyzer is higher than a temperature thereof during a pause in a normal start mode and causing the analyzer to more rapidly transition to standby than in the normal start mode after the start of the analyzer.

Automated analyzer and automated analysis system


The arched pillow assembly allows a user to comfortably sleep with an arm underneath his or her head and a pillow without restricting the circulation of blood through the arm. The arched pillow assembly includes a pillowcase that holds a conventional pillow and has two spaced apart pockets attached to the bottom of the pillowcase for snugly receiving and holding a rigid arch support. Once placed on a resting surface, the arch support has a radius of curvature sufficient to form a channel thereunder for accommodating the passage of an extended arm. The arch is strong enough to support the head of the user and the pillow in an elevated position above the extended arm and the resting surface, thereby preventing the weight of the head and pillow from restricting proper circulation of blood through the extended arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pillows. More specifically, the present invention is an arched pillow assembly that allows a user to comfortably sleep with an arm underneath his or her head without disrupting the circulation of blood through the arm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional pillows provide a cushioned support in which the degree of cushioning and comfort varies depending on what material is used to make the pillow. People typically use pillows to support their heads in a comfortable position, especially during slumber. This can be problematic when the user places an arm beneath the pillow with his or her head directly above the arm. In such a resting position, the circulation of blood in the arm is hindered, as the weight of the resting head alone or in conjunction with a pillow occludes the flow of blood. Disrupting the circulation of blood in the arm may result in numbness or other problems that can materially affect the quality of sleep and health of the user.
Although various pillows on the market are designed to address the aforementioned loss of circulation in the arm during sleep or other activities, such pillows are often shaped oddly, aesthetically unpleasing, and incompatible with existing pillows and bedroom decor. Thus, a pillow assembly solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A programmable circuit for generating a clock signal is disclosed. The present invention provides a clock generator architecture that combines PLL-based clock generator circuitry with an on-chip EPROM in a monolithic clock generator chip. The clock generator allows for electrical configuration of various information including PLL parameters, input thresholds, output drive levels and output frequencies. The various parameters can be configured after the clock generator is fabricated. The parameters can be configured either during wafer sort or after packaging. The clock generator can be erased prior to packaging so programming can be verified.

It is well known to construct a clock generator that has a fixed frequency which is determined during the silicon wafer fabrication of the clock generator. The frequency of the clock generator is determined by using a specific pattern during the manufacturing process involved in the wafer production of the clock generator. An important competitive advantage can be obtained by providing a clock generator that can be configured late in the manufacturing process, preferably after wafer fabrication. Phase-locked-loop (PLL) based clock generators typically use read only memory (ROM) tables to store frequency selection and configuration information. This information can be altered by using a device specific mask during wafer fabrication. A disadvantage with this technique is that once the device has been fabricated, the device can no longer be reconfigured.
Another technique used to obtain late configuration for PLL-based clock generators is accomplished by implementing a number of electrically programmable fuses made of aluminum, polysilicon or some other type of meterial that is appropriate for fuse fabrication. These fuses could then be programmed after production of the clock generator. The fuse technique provides somewhat of a competitive advantage by reducing the number of parts required to be stored in inventory at any given time. The late programming of the fuses also reduces the time necessary to produce the clock generator. However, this technique suffers from the disadvantage of having limited configuration information that can be stored. As a result, the implementation of new frequency clock generators would require mask programming during fabrication to realize the new frequencies. Some prior art devices do implement more than one frequency table on a single ROM, but are limited to the specific pre-defined frequencies available in the original ROM mask. Furthermore, it is not possible to test the fuses without blowing them, which permanently alters the device.
Another technique which could be used to obtain late configurations for clock generators is accomplished by using laser configurable parts which can be programmed using a polysilicon or aluminum link similar to the fuse technique. Also similar to the fuse technique example would be the disadvantage of storing only a limited amount of configuration information. It does not appear that the prior art has proposed a solution to the problem of providing a clock generator that is programmable late in the manufacturing cycle, can store enough configuration information to be commercially practical and can be manufactured at an acceptable cost.


A piezoelectric element is formed by stacking piezoelectric layers and internal electrode layers. The internal electrode layers are positive and negative electrode layers. The positive electrode layers are first and second positive electrode layers. The negative electrode layers are first and second negative electrode layers. Each of the first positive and negative electrode layers includes four divided electrodes and a connecting electrode for connecting a pair of the four divided electrodes formed on diagonally opposite two areas along a first diagonal direction on a principle surface of the associated one of the piezoelectric layers. Each of the second positive and negative electrode layers includes four divided electrodes and a connecting electrode for connecting a pair of the four divided electrodes formed on diagonally opposite two areas along a second diagonal direction on a principle surface of the associated one of the piezoelectric layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric element, a vibratory actuator including the piezoelectric element, and a drive unit including the vibratory actuator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vibratory actuator has been conventionally known which is for use in various electronic devices or other devices and includes a piezoelectric element (electromechanical transducer) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This piezoelectric element is obtained by alternately stacking piezoelectric bodies and electrodes. For the vibratory actuator, the piezoelectric element is vibrated by applying voltages to the electrodes, thereby moving a movable body.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Translation of PCT International Application No. 2003-501988
A vibratory actuator needs two-phase power. A piezoelectric element of a vibratory actuator normally includes a piezoelectric body, and a feeding electrode and a common electrode which are independently provided to have two different phases, respectively. If the piezoelectric element is a single plane type piezoelectric element in which electrodes are formed on both surface of a single layer piezoelectric body and which has a thickness of several millimeters (mm), a voltage of several tens to several hundreds of volts has to be applied to sufficiently displace the piezoelectric element.
In recent years, the thickness of each piezoelectric body between electrodes is reduced by alternately stacking piezoelectric bodies and electrodes. Accordingly, even with the same magnitude of supply voltage, a voltage (field intensity) which is applied to each piezoelectric body per unit length is increased, thereby reducing a driving voltage.
However, for example, to realize 3 volt (V) driving using a lithium ion power supply, which has been used as a power source for recent cellular phones, the thickness of the piezoelectric body has to be reduced to several tens of micrometers (μm) or less. However, with such a small thickness of the piezoelectric body, a piezoelectric constant is reduced and the ratio of electrodes to the piezoelectric body is increased, thus resulting in reduction in efficiency.
In view of the efficiency and the number of devices for use, as a piezoelectric element driving method, a half bridge driving scheme or a single driving scheme is used in general. Either of those schemes allows only application of a voltage corresponding to a difference between a ground level and a power supply level to the piezoelectric element.
Using a full bridge driving scheme or a push-pull driving scheme, a reverse voltage of the power supply voltage can be applied to the piezoelectric element. Thus, even when a voltage of the same magnitude is applied thereto, twice the magnitude of voltage can be applied.
However, in a known vibratory actuator having a common electrode, a power supply circuit such as a full bridge circuit, a push-pull circuit and the like which is capable of applying a reverse voltage can not be used.
As a possible solution to this problem, a common electrode is divided. However, if each common electrode is merely divided, eight connection points with external electrodes, wires and the like are needed at an outer surface (for example, a surrounding surface) of a piezoelectric element. This causes deterioration of the properties of the piezoelectric element due to the weight of wires and the like.
Furthermore, with divided common electrodes provided, when a connecting electrode for connecting the external electrodes with one another is formed at the outer surface (for example, the surrounding surface) of the piezoelectric element, the number of the connection points can be reduced to four. However, in this case, an electrode has to be formed at each edge portion of the piezoelectric element (by so-called edge connection) and, when the piezoelectric element is brought in contact with peripheral equipment thereof, the electrode provided at the edge portion comes off or like problems arise. This results in reduction in reliability thereof.
In view of the above-described problems, the present invention has been devised and it is therefore an object of the present invention to allow full bridge driving in a piezoelectric element, a vibratory actuator and a driving unit while achieving improved reliability thereof.

Piezoelectric element, vibratory actuator and drive unit


A folding top for a vehicle includes a folding top fabric for covering a vehicle interior in a closed position and opening up the vehicle interior in an open position. The folding top has an A pillar portion for mechanical connection to an A pillar of the vehicle, a C pillar portion for mechanical connection to a C pillar of the vehicle, a B pillar portion between the A pillar portion and the C pillar portion for lateral connection to a B pillar of the vehicle. A tensioning cable extends from the A pillar portion via the B pillar portion into the C pillar portion on each side of the folding top fabric in order to tension the folding top fabric in the closed position.

It is known that vehicles are equipped with folding tops in order to close or to cover a vehicle interior in a closed position and to open up the vehicle interior in an open position.
Such vehicles are also called convertibles. In the known solutions, said folding tops are produced either from metallic materials or from fabric materials. If a fabric material is used as the folding top fabric, the folding top fabric is brought into a defined folding position in the open position in order to stow the folding top fabric and therefore the entire folding top in the open position in as space-saving a manner as possible in the rear region of the vehicle. In the closed position which is adopted for a desired covering of the vehicle interior in poor weather or for other reasons, the folding top fabric is stretched and pulled over the entire vehicle interior. The folding top fabric can therefore be moved to and fro between a folded and an unfolded or tensioned position. In order to ensure the tensioning, in the known solutions for the folding top fabric, a tensioning cable is provided which conventionally runs from the A pillar of the vehicle to the B pillar of the vehicle along a window frame of the second window. This leads to a tensioned folding top being able to be provided simply and cost-effectively. However, this leads to the problem that, with a simple folding mechanism, an arrangement of the folds of the folding top fabric may arise behind the B pillar in the region toward the C pillar. To keep said arrangement of the folds as small as possible is highly complex and in particular complicates the folding mechanisms for moving the folding top between the closed position and the open position. Furthermore, the arrangement of the folds will lead at high speeds to an undesired change in the wind resistance and to fluttering noises.


A battery-powered device comprising: a memory storing software essential to the provision of normal functions of the device; a first processing section (16) comprising a data processor capable of executing the software, the device being capable of operating the first processing section in a normal mode in which it can execute the software and a low power mode; a second processing section (5) having a clock (6) for maintaining a time, and being capable of triggering behavior of the device in response to the time of the clock preceding a user-set time by a pre-set advance interval; the device being configured to, in response to triggering by the second processing section when the first processing section is in the low power mode, cause the first processing section to enter the normal mode and to load the software.

This invention relates to pre-loading of data.
As mobile phones and other handheld electronic devices become increasingly sophisticated it is taking longer for them to reach an operational state after they have been turned on. Modern mobile phones can take over a minute to boot up. The reason for this is that the devices' operating systems, including the essential software that the devices require to reach an operational state, are becoming more sophisticated and require longer to load from non-volatile memory into working memory and to place the variables and other settings used by the devices during operation into an operational configuration. This is a problem because users would prefer to be able to use a device as soon as possible after they turn it on.
One solution to this problem is for users to leave a device powered on all the time, either in a fully operational mode, or in a suspended mode in which the processor is substantially disabled but the working memory is still powered. However, in the case of battery-powered devices this uses up battery power and reduces the time that the device can be used before charging. Also, some users prefer to turn their devices off entirely, so that it does not disturb them, for example by ringing if it is a mobile phone.
Another solution is for the device to provide a hibernation mode in which the content of working memory is cached to non-volatile memory when the device is powered down. Then, when the device is powered up the cached data can be retrieved and the device can be returned relatively quickly to its operational state. This is useful in devices that have ample non-volatile memory, such as laptops with large hard disks. However, for other devices it would generally require a considerable increase in size and cost.
There is therefore a need for an improved method of loading the essential software needed for normal operation of a device.
In addition to being turned on by a user manually operating a switch, some devices can turn on automatically. On example of this is that some mobile phones can turn on automatically when their alarm clock function is active and an alarm time is reached and/or the alarm is acknowledged rather than snoozed by a user. To achieve this such phones have—in addition to a main processing function that is used during normal operation of the phone—a background processing function that handles background processes whilst the phone is in its "off" state. The background function uses very little power compared to the main processing function. Operations handled by the background processing function include maintenance of a real-time clock, performance of alarm clock and reminder functions (at least whilst the phone is in its "off" state) and detection of external events that are to trigger the device to turn on, such as the pressing of an "on" button and connection to an external power supply.


A content addressable memory (CAM) device having an array including a plurality of rows of CAM cells each coupled to a match line; match flag logic having inputs coupled to the match line, and having an output to provide an internal match flag signal indicative of match conditions between a comparand word and data stored in the array; a plurality of match flag inputs to receive input match information from one or more other CAM devices; a match flag output to provide output match information to one or more other CAM devices; and cascade logic coupled to the plurality of match flag inputs and the match flag output for selecting which input match information received from the match flag inputs is logically combined with the internal match flag to generate the output match information.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor memories and specifically to content addressable memories.
2. Description of Related Art
A content addressable memory (CAM) device is a storage device having an array of memory cells that can be instructed to compare the specific pattern of a comparand data with data words stored in corresponding rows of the array. The entire CAM array, or segments thereof, are searched in parallel for a match with the comparand data. If a match exists, the CAM device indicates the match condition by asserting a match flag, and may indicate the existence of multiple matches by asserting a multiple match flag. The CAM device typically includes a priority encoder that provides the highest priority matching address (e.g., the lowest CAM index) to a status register. The highest priority matching address, the contents of the matched location, and other status information (e.g., skip bit, empty bit, full flag, as well as match and multiple match flags) may be output from the CAM device to an output bus.
CAM devices may be depth cascaded together to form a larger CAM device or system. For example, two 1024 (1 k)xc3x9764 CAM devices may be depth cascaded together to form a 2 kxc3x9764 CAM device. Depth cascading may be implemented in a first configuration by forming a chain of CAM devices each having a match flag input pin and a match flag output pin, and for each CAM device, connecting its match flag output pin to the match flag input pin of the next CAM device. The first CAM device in the chain, which may represent the highest priority addresses (e.g., lowest CAM index), has its match flag input pin connected to a predetermined logic level to indicate that there is no previous CAM device. The match output pin of the last CAM device in the cascaded chain provides a system match flag indicative of match conditions in the CAM devices.
In response to a compare instruction, each CAM device simultaneously compares a comparand word with data stored in its respective CAM array. If a CAM device has a match, it forwards its asserted match flag to the next CAM device (e.g., the next highest priority CAM device). The CAM device may then output its match address to a common output bus, and the lower priority CAM device will be disabled from outputting data to the common output bus. If, however, the CAM device does not have a match, it will not assert its match flag output, and the lower priority CAM device may provide its match address to the common output data bus (if it has a match).
If there are many CAM devices depth cascaded together, then the lowest priority CAM device in the cascade will only be able to output its data to the common output bus if no other CAM devices in the cascade have a match. In this first prior art configuration, the lowest priority CAM device must wait until the match flag signals from the previous CAM devices have rippled through each device in the cascaded chain. This may result in an undesirably long time to generate the system match flag, and for the last CAM device to output data to the common output data bus. Since match flag information must ripple through each device in this cascaded system, the time required to generate the system match flag, as well as the time required for the last CAM device to resolve its match priority, is linearly related to the number of cascaded devices, and may be expressed as t=tmf+(nxe2x88x921)xcex1, where tmf is the time delay associated with generating a match flag for a CAM device, n is the number of cascaded devices, and a is the delay associated with combining match information from a previous CAM device with the internal match flag for the CAM device. Where many devices are cascaded in this manner, the time t=tmf+(nxe2x88x921)xcex1 may become large and no longer fit within a period of the system clock. As a result, the clock period may need to be increased to accommodate the delay in generating the system match flag and resolving priority, which in turn may adversely affect the operating frequency of the cascaded system.
One solution to increase speed is to provide the match flag of each CAM device to all lower priority devices in the cascaded chain. This second prior art configuration eliminates the gate delay associated with waiting for the higher priority match flags to ripple through the cascaded chain, but undesirably increases the number of match flag input pins required for each CAM device linearly with an increase in the number of cascaded devices. Since each CAM device would receive the match flags of all previous CAM devices in the chain, the last CAM device of such a system having n devices requires nxe2x88x921 match flag input pins. Thus, although able to generate the system match flag much faster than the first prior art configuration, the second prior art configuration undesirably requires an additional match flag input pin for each additional cascaded device, and therefore consumes more silicon area than the first prior art configuration. In addition, connecting a match flag output pin to a match flag input pin of each lower-priority device may undesirably increase loading of the match flag output pin, which in turn may degrade performance.
Therefore, there is a need for a cascade configuration that achieves a balance between the number of match flag input pins required per cascaded device and the time required to generate a system flag for the cascaded devices.
A method and apparatus are disclosed for hierarchically cascading a number of memory devices in a manner that achieves a balance between the number of match flag input pins and the time required to generate the system match flag. In some embodiments, the number of match pins required for each cascaded device and the time required to generate a system match flag are each logarithmically related to the number of cascaded devices. In one embodiment, an m-level hierarchy of groups are defined for up to n memory devices, where m=log2n and m is an integer greater than 2. The first hierarchy may include n/2 groups of 2 memory devices, the second hierarchy may include n/4 groups of 4 memory devices, and so on, where the last hierarchy may include one group of n devices. Each group in a given hierarchical level includes a pair of groups from the preceding hierarchical level. At each hierarchical level, the match flag generated by the first of the group""s pair may be provided to the highest priority and the lowest priority device (e.g., the first and the last device) in the second of the group""s pair. In some embodiments, the system match flag may be generated in a time t=tmf+mxcex1, where tmf is the time required to generate a match flag, and xcex1is the gate delay associated with logically combining an internal match flag with match flags received from other devices.
In other embodiments, at each hierarchical level, the match flag(s) generated by devices in the first of the pair defined in the previous hierarchical level are selectively provided to all devices in the second of the pair defined in the previous hierarchical level. In such embodiments, the selective interconnections made between groups defined in different hierarchical levels may allow for generating the system match flag and resolving priority amongst the CAM devices in a time t=tmf+mxcex1.
In some embodiments, each CAM device includes cascade logic that allows input match information received from other (e.g., higher-priority) devices to be selectively combined with the device""s internal match flag to generate output match information and/or to resolve priority. The output match information may be selectively combined with other match information in another (e.g., lower priority) device. The cascade logic includes a memory element for storing one or more select values that determine whether one or more corresponding input match flags received from other devices will participate with the device""s internal match flag in generating the output match information. In one embodiment, the memory element is a look-up table that stores select values for all devices cascaded in the system and provides the select values to corresponding devices according to a unique device identification (ID) assigned to each device.

Content addressable memory device having selective cascade logic and method for selectively combining match information in a CAM device


A computer-implemented method, system, and article of manufacture for optimizing heat transfer in a 3-D chip-stack. The method includes the steps of: receiving a heat-removal effectiveness parameter for a plurality of channel-region areas in the chip-stack, receiving at least one of a flow value and temperature value for at least two of the channel-region areas, comparing the received values for different channel-region areas, and adjusting a flow rate of a liquid flowing to at least one of the two channel-region areas based on the heat-removal effectiveness parameter of the channel-region area receiving the adjustment and the results of the comparison step, where at least one step is carried out using a computer device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optimizing heat-transfer in 3-D chip-stacks. More particularly, this invention relates to optimizing heat-transfer in 3-D chips stacks using a heuristic approach.
2. Related Art
Three-dimensional integrated circuits are prevalent in today's semiconductor industry because they address and overcome several technical shortcomings. For instance, 3-D packaging, which involves stacking several chips into a single package, provides at least a partial remedy to the scaling obstacles presented by two dimensional alternatives.
Nevertheless, one problem presented by Three-dimensional stacks ("3-D chip-stacks") is that the proximity amongst the stacked layers can cause temperature variations that either damage the layers, or components therein, or make the layers, or components therein, operate improperly. For instance, "hot spots" can occur in certain areas of the chip, which can dramatically impede performance, and even permanently damage the chip.
The methods and systems for addressing the temperature and flow variations in 3-D chip-stacks are flawed for a variety of reasons, including lacking the ability of adequately eliminating hot-spots throughout the chip-stack, and for not being versatile enough to address the temperature and flow needs at particular portions of the 3-D chip-stack without compromising the needs of other portions of the chip-stack (which in turn affects the performance of the chip-stack as a whole).
Consequently, a need has developed to address the concerns presented by this problem.

Optimizing heat transfer in 3-D chip-stacks


The present invention discloses a downlink interference management method, applied to interference coordination between a serving base station of a cell serving at least one first user equipment and a neighboring-cell base station of the cell, including: obtaining, by the serving base station, downlink interference overload information, where the downlink interference overload information is used to indicate an interfered-with transmission resource of the first user equipment; and sending, by the serving base station, the downlink interference overload information to the neighboring-cell base station, so that the neighboring-cell base station performs interference coordination on the transmission resource. The downlink interference overload information sent by the serving base station to the neighboring-cell base station may instruct the neighboring-cell base station to perform interference coordination on the interfered-with transmission resource.

High rates and diversity are two typical requirements of future personal communications services. Dense network deployment can shorten a wireless communication range and provide a basic assurance for implementation of a high-rate connection. A time division duplex (TDD) mode can help a network serve diversified services, so as to satisfy different uplink/downlink service requirements of users for various applications. Therefore, a major trend of a future network architecture is to densely deploy stations in the TDD duplex mode.
Dense network deployment greatly shortens a coverage radius of each cell. In most cases, a quantity of users served by a cell in a dense network deployment scenario is far less than that in a macro cell scenario. With diversity of user services, services of each cell may fluctuate relatively greatly. To be specific, uplink/downlink services of a cell change rapidly within a short period of time. In view of this, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) proposes enhanced interference management and traffic adaptation (eIMTA) and studies a dynamic TDD subframe configuration of a cell. To be specific, within tens of milliseconds, each cell can dynamically select, based on a rapid change in service requirements of the cell, a TDD subframe configuration adapted to a service. Each cell configures, based on the service requirements of the cell, the TDD subframe configuration adapted to the service of the cell. This may result in different TDD subframe configurations between a plurality of neighboring cells. For the dynamic TDD subframe configuration, some TDD subframes in each TDD subframe configuration are referred to as fixed subframes, and other TDD subframes are referred to as flexible subframes. In terms of a fixed subframe, TDD subframe configurations in the subframe are corresponding to a same transmission direction, namely, an uplink transmission direction or a downlink transmission direction. In terms of a flexible subframe, different TDD subframe configurations in the subframe may be corresponding to different transmission directions. For example, one TDD subframe configuration in the subframe is uplink transmission, and another TDD subframe configuration in the subframe may be downlink transmission.
A greatest challenge posed by a dynamic TDD subframe configuration of each cell to network interference management is inter-cell interference. Particularly, in a dense network deployment scenario, there is a small difference between transmit power of a base station serving a cell and transmit power of user equipment. As a result, neighboring-cell uplink transmission greatly interferes with serving-cell downlink transmission and neighboring-cell downlink transmission greatly interferes with serving-cell downlink transmission.

Downlink interference management method, base station, and user equipment


The process of treating a disease of the central nervous system with an agent from one or more of the following three classes of agents: (1) nitric oxide scavengers, (2) peroxynitrite scavengers, and (3) agents that either interfere with the synthesis of iNOS in the cell or the enzymatic activity of iNOS in the cell.

The overproduction in the body of nitric oxide (NO) and/or peroxynitrite (ONOO.sup.-) has been suggested by some to be a contributing factor to diseases of the central nervous system, particular those that are immune-mediated and/or inflammatory.
The enzyme iNOS is responsible for the production of nitric oxide during an immune response. Nitric oxide combines with superoxide (O.sub.2.sup.-) to form peroxynitrite. Those molecular level considerations are relevant to the present inventions.
An extensively used model system to study multiple sclerosis, an example of a disease treated by the present invention, is experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in rats and mice. This model was used for the experiments described below.

Treatment of diseases of the central nervous system using uric acid as a scavenger of peroxynitrite


An electronic control device on an internal combustion engine side connected to an abnormal internal combustion engine detects an abnormality and outputs the abnormal signal; the target throttle opening angle signal is transmitted to the electric throttle actuator to set a throttle opening angle of an abnormal internal combustion engine to a predetermined opening angle; the abnormal signal is transmitted to the electronic control devices on a remote control device side of a normal internal combustion engine; and the electronic control devices on a remote control device side of a normal internal combustion engine, on receiving the abnormal signal, transmit the target throttle opening angle signal to the electronic control devices on an internal combustion engine side of a normal internal combustion engine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine, and more particularly, to a remote control system of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an abnormality occurs in an internal combustion engine in a propulsion unit on a boat equipped with a plurality of propulsion units, the engine can be configured such that an engine speed of the engine (i.e., engine speed) is reduced in response to the abnormality to prevent overheating of the engine. If an engine in a propulsion unit in a normal condition is operated in the same state, the engine speed the normal engine and the abnormal engine can become unbalanced and operation stability can deteriorate.
When an attempt is made to reduce the engine speed of the abnormal internal combustion engine, there can be a case where a propeller of the internal combustion engine is forcefully rotated by a water flow, so that the engine speed is not reduced to a target low speed.
In Patent Document JP-B-Hei 6-33074, a control system that reduces both of the engine speed an internal combustion engine having caused an abnormality and the engine speed of a normally operating other internal combustion engine is proposed. In this system, an abnormality detector, when an abnormality occurs in an internal combustion engine in any propulsion unit of two propulsion units, detects an abnormality to reduce the engine speed of an internal combustion engine by operating an abnormality warning device installed to an internal combustion engine having caused the abnormality, while an abnormality warning detector installed to a normally operating internal combustion engine is operated to reduce the engine speed of a normally operating internal combustion engine, preventing a forceful rotation.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, a conventional control system of an internal combustion engine can have a right side control system 50R to give a warning against an abnormality of an internal combustion engine in a right side propulsion unit and a left side control system 50L to give a warning against an abnormality of an internal combustion engine in a left side propulsion unit. So-called mechanical type remote operation system has a propulsion unit and a remote control device connected by a connector such as a cable, and the control systems 50R, 50L include the abnormality detector 51R, 51L, the controller 52R, 52L, the abnormality warner 53R, 53L, and the warning canceller 54R, 54L.
The abnormality detector 51R, 51L include the overheating detection circuits 55R, 55L to detect overheating of an internal combustion engine and the oil reduction detection circuits 56R, 56L to detect oil reduction.
In addition, the abnormality warner 53R, 53L include buzzers 57R, 57L to give a warning when oil reduction or overheating is detected, the lamps 58R, 58L to give a warning when oil reduction is detected, and the engine speed reduction circuits 59R, 59L to give a warning by reducing an engine speed of an internal combustion engine when oil reduction or overheating is detected by these detection circuits.
Moreover, the controller 52R, 52L have the warning signal output circuits 60R, 60L to output a warning signal to give a warning to a an internal combustion engine side of the other propulsion unit based on an abnormality detecting signal from the overheating detection circuits 55R, 55L or the oil reduction detection circuits 56R, 56L. A warning signal output by these warning signal output circuits 60R, 60L is entered into the warning signal input circuits 61R, 61L on the other internal combustion engine side, and the state is retained in the retaining circuits 62R, 62L. This simultaneously operates the engine speed reduction circuits 59R, 59L of an internal combustion engine in a normal propulsion unit, reducing an engine speed of an internal combustion engine and operating the buzzers 57R, 57L to warn an operator.
For example, when an internal combustion engine in the right side propulsion unit is overheated or the amount of oil becomes smaller than a standard amount, the overheating detection circuits 55R detects overheating or the oil reduction detection circuits 56R detects oil reduction, and the buzzer 57R and the lamp 58R operate to inform an operator of the abnormality. If the overheating detection circuit 55R or the oil reduction detection circuits 56R operates, the operation signal is transmitted to the engine speed circuit 59R of the internal combustion engine in an abnormal right side compulsion system and the engine speed reduction circuit 59L of the internal combustion engine in a normal left side compulsion system. The signal transmitted from the engine speed reduction circuits 59R, 59L makes spark plugs of the internal combustion engine in the abnormal right side propulsion unit and an internal combustion engine in a normal left side propulsion unit fail, reducing an engine speed of each internal combustion engine.
In some cases where a mechanical type remote operation system is used, each electronic control device connected to an internal combustion engine in a plurality of compulsion systems is connected to each other by a controller area network (CAN) which is internationally standardized. When an abnormality occurs in an internal combustion engine in any of propulsion units, if an electronic control device connected to the abnormal internal combustion engine detects an abnormality, it makes a spark plug of its internal combustion engine fail based on the abnormal signal, and the abnormal signal is transmitted to an electronic control device connected to the other normal internal combustion engine to make a spark plug of a normal internal combustion engine fail, so that an engine speed of each internal combustion engine is reduced.

Remote control system of an internal combustion engine for a boat


A member having a separated structure made by an alloy consisting of two regions having different compositions with each other is formed by casting a molten alloy into a prescribed shape, or by spray-quenching the same from a temperature of Tc+10° C. or more, wherein the molten alloy exhibits two phase separation in a liquid state having a temperature difference ΔT between the maximum temperature Tc (° C.) and minimum temperature Td (° C.) in the region of two phase separation in the liquid state being 10° C. or more, and the molten alloy has a mean composition with a difference of the volume fraction between the two liquid phases of 5% by volume or more. The suitable alloy is a Cu—Fe—X alloy, a Cu—Cr—X alloy, a Cu—Co—X alloy, a Cu—Bi—X alloy, an Al—Sn—X alloy or an Al—In—X alloy. The powder obtained by spray-quenching any one of the molten alloys of the Cu—Bi—X alloy, the Al—Sn—X alloy and the Al—In—X alloy has a separated structure comprising a surface portion having a solder composition and a core portion with a composition mainly comprising Cu and Al being excellent in electrical conductivity and heat conductivity and is suitable as a solder ball.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a member having a separated structure composed of two regions having different compositions with each other, and a method for producing the same. The member as used in the present invention includes a plate, rod, wire, pipe and powder.
2. Description of Background Art
High level and versatile properties are required for metallic materials in accordance with expanded use of the material in a severe environment. In some cases, each part of a material is required to have different property. For complying with such requirements, a surface treatment has been applied to the material, or a clad material or a material having a sandwich structure has been devised on order to meet such requirements. However, since these methods require a complicated process and sophisticated control techniques, it was a problem that the production cost increases.
A functionally gradient material has been also devised in recent years, wherein chemical compositions and structure are changed continuously or stepwise from the inside of the material to the surface thereof. Recently, it has been studied that the material is made to have a gradient of the composition and structure by gradually changing the ratio between a metal and ceramic by using, for example, a centrifugal force, plasma sintering or plasma spraying in order to produce a material comprising a surface layer having a high hardness as well as having highly wear resistant and heat resistant, and an inner layer having high toughness (for example, Bulletin of The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan, Vol. 6 (2001), No. 1, p9˜13). The application field of such functionally gradient material is quite wide, and various properties are expected for such materials.
An example of the functionally gradient material is a Cu core solder ball. Electronic appliances are required to be small size, lightweight and highly functional while having a high processing speed. A semiconductor package being small size and capable of being mounted in high density is required for complying with such requirements as described above. A BGA (Ball Grid Array) package has been particularly noticed as a plastic based package that is able to comply with multi-pin arrangement and easy packaging.
Solder balls as being spherical powder bodies are usually used for input-output terminals of the BGA package. Sn-37Pb eutectic solder balls and Sn-36Pb-2Ag solder balls containing a small amount of silver have been frequently used for the solder balls. However, hard-core balls that are able to precisely adjust the space between the BGA package and a printed circuit board have been urgently desired in recent years, and the copper core solder balls comprising copper cores on the surface of which the Sn-37Pb eutectic solder is plated have been developed. The copper core solder ball has good heat conductivity to permit the heat generated at semiconductor devices to be promptly transferred to the printed circuit board while being excellent in electrical conductivity.

Member having separation structure and method for manufacture thereof


A compressor housing includes a housing body for enclosing an impeller, an inlet portion for introducing air toward the impeller, and a port portion arranged adjacent to the inlet portion. A valve body for opening and closing a bypass passage, which bypasses the impeller, can be rested against the port portion. A connection hole, to which a return passage for returning blow-by gas of an internal combustion engine is connected, is formed in a side wall of the inlet portion. The inlet portion and the port portion have a common wall. A communication hole, which configures a part of the return passage, is formed in the common wall. The communication hole is formed such that the projection plane defined by projecting the communication hole onto a surface of the side wall having the connection hole along the axis of the communication hole is contained in the connection hole.

Conventionally, an exhaust gas turbine supercharger and compressor housing described in, for example, Patent Document 1 are known as examples of the aforementioned types of exhaust gas turbine supercharger and compressor housing. The compressor housing (3) described in Patent Document 1 encloses an impeller (7) and includes an inlet portion (17), through which air is introduced toward the impeller (7). A bypass passage (27), which bypasses the impeller (7), is formed in the compressor housing (3). An air bypass mechanism (31) having a valve body for selectively opening and closing the bypass passage (27) is arranged in the bypass passage (27). A port portion, against which the valve body can rest, is arranged adjacent to the inlet portion (17).
In the exhaust gas turbine supercharger, the supply of air toward the impeller through the inlet portion is suspended when, for example, the accelerator is deactivated. This moves the valve body of the air bypass mechanism to an open position, thus returning some of the air from the downstream side to the upstream side with respect to the impeller. As a result, surging is avoided.

Compressor housing and exhaust gas turbine supercharger


A quickly releasable vest capable of protecting a torso portion of a user is disclosed. The quickly releasable vest includes a self locking buckle assembly, a ferrule, an elongated strip, and a socket member. The self locking buckle assembly comprises a wedge fork with a base portion and a body portion, the base portion comprising a security means for webbing and the body portion comprising a pair of legs and a ferrule guide member. The ferrule is adapted to be slidingly disposed on the ferrule guide member. A proximal end portion of the strip is connected to a tape guide member of the ferrule. An opening on the socket member facilitates removably retaining and locking of a prong on each of the pair of legs. The wedge fork, ferrule, and elongated strip Is disposed on a torso panel and the socket member is disposed on the other torso panel.

Vests are configured to cover a torso portion of a user. The vests are disposed on the shoulder portion of the user by means of cables, buckles and the like. The vests are of different types such as exercise vests, cooling vests, protective vests and the like. The protective vests are used to protect the torso portion of the user against an impact. The protective vests may also be referred to as bulletproof vests. The bullet proof vests include bullet resistance armor.
The bulletproof vests for military operations worn by soldiers are heavier than the bulletproof vests worn by others like police or security guard because the soldiers need protection from powerful bullets from rifle or machine gun. The soldiers, according to mission, may also require various accessories such as pouches, magazines, water carrier, medical kit, small portable walkie-talkie sets and the like which can be positioned or fixed on the bullet proof vest as per the convenience of the soldier. The various accessories positioned on the bullet proof vest make the bullet proof vest heavy. During various emergency military operations such as, evacuation, running fast in forest or going through water, it will be necessary to quickly separate the vest from the body of the soldier for either better efficiency or to save his life.
Thus there is a need for a vest that is capable of being separated easily from a torso portion of a user.
A fastener is a hardware device configured to join or affix two or more objects together. Moreover, the fastener may be used to close a container such as a bag, a box, or an envelope. The fastener may be configured to removably or permanently join or affix two or more objects together. The fastener configured to removably join or affix two or more objects together may be fastened and unfastened as per a user requirement. The fasteners may be of different types such as a batten, a bolt, a screw, a button, a clip, a buckle and the like.
The buckle may be configured to removably connect two parts of any device together. Further, the buckle may be used for connecting opposite ends of a strap together.
The buckle may be used in various applications such as in wrist watches, in clothing belts, in vests and the like. Specifically, in military vests the buckle may be configured not only to connect the two portions of the vests but also to facilitate protection by locking the two parts of vests together. Generally, separation of buckle halves requires moving two release portion of the buckle toward one another with one hand and pulling the buckle halves apart from each other. Further, such separation of the buckle halves is inconvenient in emergency conditions. Furthermore, various traditional buckles used in military applications are unable to be easily detached in emergency conditions.
Accordingly, there is need for a quickly releasable vest that is capable of being released quickly and at the same time connection provided by a buckle assembly thereof is strong. Further, there is need for a quickly releasable vest including a buckle mechanism that is capable of being easily separated with limited motion of user's hands. Still further, there is need of a quickly releasable vest including a buckle mechanism that is configured to prevent accidental release thereof. Moreover, there is a need of quickly releasable vest including a buckle mechanism that is easy to operate.


A vending apparatus has a housing and at least one rotatable dispensing coil disposed within the housing. The coil is vertically oriented and rotates in a manner such that products placed between the rungs of the coil move progressively downward during rotation until each product is ejected from a bottom end of the coil. There are retaining walls surrounding the coil on opposite sides of the coil. The walls extend an entire length of the coil but do not encompass the entire circumference of the coil, so that two longitudinal portions of the coil located opposite one another are not surrounded by the retaining walls. A product having a length exceeding the diameter of the coil can be placed in the coil for vending so that the ends of the product extend beyond the coil through the two portions not surrounded by the retaining walls. The retaining walls prevent the product from rotating when the coil rotates, and keep the product moving progressively down the coil until it is ejected from the coil.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vending apparatus that is suitable for vending elongated objects. In particular the invention relates to a vending apparatus utilizing vertically oriented vending slots with vertical coils disposed therein. There is also a semicircular retaining structure disposed on each side of each slot, to prevent the products from rotating as the coil rotates.
2. The Prior Art
Standard vending machines typically have several vending slots disposed in horizontal rows in the machine. The slots are horizontally oriented, with a rotating coil disposed in each slot. The vended products are placed between the wires of the coils, and are released as the coil rotates after the required fee has been deposited. The released product is pushed to the front of the machine where it can then drop to the bottom for retrieval by the user.
One of the disadvantages of this type of apparatus is that the product often becomes stuck in the coil and is not released. The user then has to put more money into the machine to buy a second product, at which point two products are released.
There have been attempts to prevent these problems by devising vending machines where the slots are disposed vertically, so that gravity can aid in the removal of the product from the coils. Some versions of these devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,092 to Grossi, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,363,422, 4,369,896, 4,258,860 and 4,312,460, all to Boettcher, U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,781 to Armstrong et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,653 to Suzuki, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,754 to Kobayashi, U.S. Pat. No. 1,702,554 to Walker, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,748 to De Shon et al. While these devices allow the dispensing of small objects such as candy bars and bags of snack foods, they are not suitable for dispensing irregularly shaped items, especially those that are long and thin, such as beef jerky, powdered drink mix tubes, cigars and writing implements.


An improved bracket assembly for receiving a brake assembly and a brake actuator is provided. The bracket assembly includes a tube configured to receive a camshaft of the brake assembly. A brake spider mounting flange is disposed proximate a first end of the tube, defines an aperture configured to allow the tube to extend therethrough, and is configured to receive a brake spider of the brake assembly. An actuator mounting arm is disposed proximate a second end of the tube, is configured for coupling to the brake actuator, and has inboard and outboard members. Each of the inboard and outboard members has a body having a first end affixed to the tube and an actuator mounting flange extending from a second end of the body. The actuator mounting flanges define aligned bores configured to receive a fastener extending from the brake actuator.

a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicle brakes. In particular, the invention relates to a bracket assembly for mounting a brake assembly and a brake actuator that is better able to withstand mechanical stress within the bracket assembly as compared to conventional bracket assemblies yet is easier to manufacture than conventional bracket assemblies.
b. Background Art
In a conventional drum brake, a brake drum rotates with a wheel or wheels proximate to one end of an axle. The drum defines a radially inner braking surface. A brake spider is disposed about the axle and a pair of brake shoes are pivotally mounted at one end to the brake spider. The opposite end of each brake shoe is engaged by an actuating member such as a cam to move the brake shoes between positions of engagement and disengagement with the braking surface of the brake drum. The cam is driven by a brake actuator acting on one end of a camshaft supporting the cam.
Referring to FIGS. 1-2, in one conventional drum brake, a bracket assembly 10 supports various components of a brake assembly 12 and a brake actuator 14 and positions them relative to one another. The bracket assembly 10 includes a tube 16 through which the camshaft 18 extends and a mounting arm 20 and mounting flange 22 welded to either end of the tube 16 and configured for coupling to the brake actuator 14 and a brake spider 24, respectively. A support 26 is often installed between the vehicle axle 28 and the tube 16 and a gusset 30 is often installed between the tube 16 and arm 20 in order to reduce stress on welds within assembly 10 and to reinforce arm 20.
The above-described design for the bracket assembly 10 has several drawbacks. The mounting arm 20 supporting the brake actuator 14 must be relatively thick to withstand the loads generated by actuation and vibration of the brake actuator 14. The thickness of the arm 20 requires heavy tooling in order to manufacture the arm 20 and prevents formation of intricate features on the arm 20. The gusset 30 used to reinforce the arm 20 provides support to one only end of the arm 20 and requires two additional welds—one weld between one end of the gusset 30 and the tube 16 and another weld between the opposite end of the gusset 30 and the arm 20. Further, even with the addition of the gusset 30, bending and torsional loads cause significant mechanical stress in the welds and significant structural deflection that results in increased air consumption during braking.
The inventor herein has recognized a need for a bracket assembly for mounting a brake assembly and a brake actuator that will minimize and/or eliminate one or more of the above-identified deficiencies.

Rigid bracket assembly for mounting a brake assembly and brake actuator


The present invention relates to a receiver for receiving a time division multiplexed (TDM) optical signal, which is formed of a plurality of interleaved optical pulse streams. Each optical pulse stream includes a plurality of optical pulses. The receiver includes a detector for detecting at least a first optical pulse stream of the optical signal and an optical hybrid for coherently mixing the first optical pulse stream with a reference pulse stream. The first optical pulse stream and the reference pulse stream impinge simultaneously upon the detector.

In optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) systems, each of N optical pulse streams is modulated with information from a respective data stream. Each of the N optical pulse streams is formed from a plurality of optical pulses. The N optical pulse streams are interleaved in time to produce a single optical signal, which is transmitted into an optical network. The optical signal also includes a stream of framing pulses. Thus, the optical signal comprises N+1 optical pulse streams. The framing pulse stream is a stream of periodic pulses that generally do not carry information from a data source but are used as a time reference at the receiving end of the system to facilitate recovery of information from the N information-carrying optical pulse streams.
To generate the N optical pulse streams and the framing pulse stream, a light source, for example, a mode-locked laser, is used to generate a periodic train of pulses with widths on the order of a few tens of picoseconds (ps) or less. The laser pulse width is much shorter than the bit period T, which is the time period between consecutive pulses from the laser. The laser output is split into N+1 channels. Once the laser output has been split into N+1 channels, each of N optical pulse streams is modulated by a respective data source. The framing pulse stream is generally not modulated.
Various optical properties of the pulses of the N optical pulse streams can be modulated to encode information from a digital data source. When light intensity is modulated between at least two values, the modulation technique is amplitude shift keying (ASK). When the phase of the light is modulated between at least two angular values, the modulation technique is phase shift keying (PSK). The N modulated optical pulse streams are then interleaved with one another and with the framing pulse stream to form the optical signal. The N+1 optical pulse streams are interleaved such that pulses of different pulse streams do not overlap with one another.
In a bit interleaved OTDM stream, the ith optical pulse stream, where i=1, 2, . . . , N is delayed by iτ, where τ=T/(N+1). Generally, the pulse width of each pulse is shorter than τ, which is the bit interval in the optical signal. The framing pulse stream is typically undelayed. The delays offset pulses of the N optical pulse streams and framing pulse stream from one another by a time τ. Thus, when interleaved, the pulses of the N delayed data streams and the framing pulse stream do not overlap with one another.
At the receiving end of an OTDM system, the data carried by the N data streams is recovered. Data recovery in OTDM systems includes both selection, which is the separation of a particular channel from the other pulse streams in the optical signal and the demodulation of information from the separated channel. In certain cases, the pulses of the framing pulse stream can be used to assist demodulating a pulse stream. For example, in bit interleaved OTDM systems, sequential pulses of the framing pulse stream are spaced apart by a time period T that is equal to the time period between sequential pulses in each of the N information carrying channels. To demodulate a particular pulse stream, the framing pulses are first offset in time so that each framing pulse is temporally aligned with a corresponding pulse of the channel to be demodulated. Subsequently, a logical AND operation is performed between the pulses of the information carrying channel and the framing pulse stream to select a particular pulse stream to be modulated.
A number of methods have been proposed to perform the logical AND operation. A first method is a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM). A NOLM includes a 3-dB directional coupler and a fiber loop connecting both outputs of the coupler. Another coupler is used for insertion of control pulses. The input signal splits into clockwise and counterclockwise streams after passing the coupler. These streams gain different phase shifts while propagating around the loop due to the non-linearity of silica fiber itself. Depending on the phase shift each stream acquires propagating around the loop, the two streams will experience constructive or destructive interference at the coupler. In NOLM systems it is necessary to either use a long fiber of about a few kilometers or to use pulses having a high peak power in order to get pulse switching because silica fiber possesses only weak non-linearity.
The second configuration is called a terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer (TOAD), as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,433 to Prucnal et al. The TOAD includes a separate non-linear element (NLE) in the loop to change the phase shift acquired by each stream. The non-linear properties of the NLE are controlled by control pulses. Therefore, the fiber loop includes another coupler for insertion of control pulses. The separate non-linear element can be, for example, a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), which is driven into saturation by the control pulse. The control signal and the first signal must pass the SOA after the second signal passed it. In this case the first signal experiences a phase shift due to the amplifier saturation. Because the resulting interference will not be completely destructive, the device will produce an output signal. In TOAD systems, pulse synchronization and SOA optimization are technically complicated.
Another approach to performing the logical AND operation is by use of a soliton trapping AND gate, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,739 to Islam. This method utilizes the property of solitons with orthogonal polarization states to propagate in a birefringent fiber with the same group velocity. While propagating along the fiber these two solitons are subjected to the wavelength shifts in opposite directions, and the narrowband output selector can register the signal at the shifted wavelength. However, the technique is complicated by the long fiber lengths that must be used to achieve the soliton trapping effect.
Known optical AND gates do not themselves recover information from optical pulse streams. Rather, receivers using such AND gates require an additional element, such as a detector that operates on a direct detection principal, to recover information from the output of the AND gate.
The rate and efficiency of optical communication using TDM systems would greatly benefit by finding a faster and more sensitive approach to demodulating and demultiplexing optical signals encoded as time division multiplexed optical signals.
Coherent optical detection exploits the coherence properties of the transmitted optical signal. Generally, the optical signal is mixed with a signal from a local oscillator, which is typically a laser at the receiving end of the system. Because of the mixing, coherent detection can be modeled as a type of optical interferometry. The signal intensity resulting from the mixed signals is detected by a photoreceiver, such as a photodiode.
An advantage of coherent detection over direct detection is the higher sensitivity at the receiving end in coherent detection. As shown by R. Ramaswami, K. N. Sivarajan "Optical Networks: A Practical Perspective", 1998, the coherent homodyne receiver sensitivity for bit error rates (BER) of 10−12 is 49 photons per 1 bit, while direct detection pinFET receiver without preamplifier has a sensitivity on the order of a few thousands photons per 1 bit, and preamplified receivers have the sensitivity of a few hundred photons per 1 bit to obtain a BER of 10−12.
A variety of optical schemes have been proposed for coherent optical receivers. One configuration, the single branch receiver, includes a 3-dB coupler (or beam splitter in a free space version), a local oscillator and a photo detector. Improved efficiency is achieved by a configuration using two identical photodiodes connected to two outputs of the coupler as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,052 to Wright et al. The resulting output signal is the difference of the signals from the two photodiodes, and it is equal to that of single branch photoreceiver. The power, however, of the local oscillator is more efficiently used. More advantageous receivers have been developed based upon polarization diversity (U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,120 to Tzeng, U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,312 to Delavaux) and phase diversity (U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,332 to Naito et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,359 to Okoshi et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,712 to Meissner) ones which are insensitive to fiber-induced fluctuations of the signal polarization state and phase.

Method and system for optical time division multiplexed fiber communications with coherent detection


A detectibility service for a storage infrastructure manager (SIM) operating on a storage area network (SAN) is disclosed directed to addressing a situation where there may be multiple sources of duplicate or contradictory information to the SIM about the presence and condition of an element in the SAN. The service can account for both authoritative as well as nonauthoritative sources of information in a SAN, which participate in the discovery process scanning for SAN elements. Both authoritative and nonauthoritative sources of information can be used to report a given SAN element during a probe, taking advantage of the more efficient processing of information from authoritative sources to override information from nonauthoritative sources regardless of the order in which the various scans may occur.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to networked storage devices in a computer system. Particularly, this invention relates to managing such storage devices in a storage area network (SAN).
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical storage area network (SAN) comprises multiple entities such as hosts, storage subsystems, host bus adapters, storage volumes, and ports. In addition, a connection between two devices is a relationship that may be tracked. One example where such tracking is valuable is demonstrated in the case where three objects exist in a SAN and two of those objects can see the third, but they cannot see each other; tracking relationships reveals this, whereas tracking only entities would not. The state of these various entities and relationships may often be in flux. At any moment, entities get created, deleted, and become unreachable. In addition, the attributes of the entities may change, e.g. in response to events occurring in the SAN.
Storage infrastructure management software may be used to manage such complex SANs comprising equipment from multiple vendors. One important aspect of such management software is the process of running discovery tasks, or probes, to discover the entities in the SAN and the relationships (associations) between those entities. (The various entities and relationships within a SAN may be collectively referenced as "elements" hereafter.) Another key aspect of such management software is the use of a configuration database to store information about the discovered entities and relationships.
One feature such a storage infrastructure manager (SIM) must provide is health and fault management. One aspect of such health and fault management is to alert the administrator (e.g. via standardized events such as SNMP traps, messages to a pager, or highlighting of the element in the SIM GUI) when elements in the SAN appear to be "missing". An element may be declared to be missing under a variety of scenarios. For example, an element is missing if it is not visible to the SIM through any of its SAN probing mechanisms. An element is also considered missing if the SIM is informed (via mechanisms, such as SNMP alerts or CIM indications, that it has in place to listen for events from SAN elements), that an entity (e.g., a storage volume) or relationship (e.g., a link between two ports) has been removed. An element is also missing if it is actually removed via the control interface or application programming interface (API) of the SIM itself.
Once a baseline discovery process of all elements in a SAN has been completed and the configuration database has been populated, it is relatively easy to process the missing element scenarios which either involve the SIM being informed about the event, or the removal occurring via use of the SIM's control interfaces. For example, when an event is received indicating that some element is no longer present in the SAN (e.g., a CIM indication informs the SIM that a storage volume has been deleted), or when the deletion occurs through the SIM's user interface or API itself, the configuration database can be updated in response, and an event can be generated to alert the administrator at the same time.
However, the scenario where an element simply becomes invisible to the SIM is more complex because there can be multiple sources of information that assist the SIM's discovery process and some types of information sources can provide duplicate or contradictory information about whether an element is visible to the SIM or not. Such informational inconsistencies must be reconciled by the SIM software before a conclusion about the visibility of the element can be reached. This problem is particularly significant because the disappearing device may not send a notice that it is going to disappear. This problem may be referred to as the "detectability problem."
Ideally, a SIM, once installed, would perform a full discovery of all elements on the SAN, populate its configuration database, and from then on, keep the database up-to-date regarding SAN elements that are no longer visible to it via the SIM either being informed directly, or via the removal of the elements through the SIM API. However, there are two practical issues that cause less than ideal conditions. Firstly, not all operations to manipulate the SAN elements (e.g., to delete a storage volume) are performed through the SIM interface because other means, such as individual element managers (i.e. management software specialized for a specific storage subsystem) can be used instead, bypassing the SIM. Secondly, some kinds of physical (re)configuration cannot be performed by management software, such as removing the cable between a host's fibre channel port and that of a switch. If all systems on a SAN diligently generated events for all configuration changes that occur (e.g., including physically connecting two ports together or removing such a link), then ideally, the SIM software could listen for such events and update its database to reflect detectability status in real-time. But this is not always the case and leads to the second practical issue: not all systems on a SAN currently generate such events correctly. This is especially true in scenarios where the event subscriber (i.e., the SIM software) is not operational when the event is generated. Support for features such as persistent CIM indications would help in this area, but such implementations are not widely available, and equivalent robust event delivery mechanisms do not typically exist in the SNMP world. In view of this, it is evident that there is a need to address the detectibility problem using additional mechanisms.
A subset of the detectibility problem has been addressed before in some prior art—namely, products such as the Tivoli SAN Manager and the IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center v2.x. However, the sources of information performing discovery of SAN elements on behalf of the SIM were presumed to be nonauthoritative, and thus, the logic for inferring detectability was focused on achieving consensus between distinct sources of information that could provide either duplicate or contradictory information. Other systems and methods have also been developed to manage networked storage devices.
However, there is still a need in the art for systems and methods to detect missing elements in a storage area network with multiple sources of information. Particularly, there is a need in the art for such systems and method to efficiently resolve duplicate or contradictory information from distinct sources. These and other needs are met by the present invention as detailed hereafter.

Detecting missing elements in a storage area network with multiple sources of information

International Business Machines Corporation


A pitch momentum stabilized spacecraft includes an earth sensor for generating roll signals. The roll signals are applied to torquers for proportional (P) or proportional-integral PI control of roll and yaw. According to the invention, the sensed roll signals are bandpass filtered at the orbit rate, phase adjusted and applied to the roll and yaw torquers for closing a high gain degenerative feedback loop at the orbit rate, which reduces orbit-rate components of roll and yaw. A second bandpass filter at the second harmonic of the orbit rate is also connected to the earth sensor, for producing second harmonic signals, which are phase controlled and summed with the fundamental orbit rate signals, for degeneration of attitude perturbations occurring at twice the orbit frequency.

This invention relates to spacecraft attitude control systems, and more particularly to such systems using sensed roll applied to a compensator, which uses orbit-rate bandpass filtering to reduce roll and yaw.
Satellites or spacecraft are in widespread use as platforms for communications systems and sensors. Advances in spacecraft design have resulted in spacecraft which carry progressively larger solar panels to provide power for increasingly more sophisticated electronic systems and more powerful transmitters, and which also carry progressively larger antenna structures for increasingly complex beamforming applications. These more advanced systems often require high pointing accuracy for their sensors and or antennas, so 3-axis stabilization of the satellite body is required.
As the satellite structures become larger, the environmental torques exerted on the spacecraft, as by solar wind, light or photon pressure, magnetic fields, particles and the like, tend to become greater. These larger disturbance torques tend to cause greater attitude perturbations than those experienced with smaller spacecraft, which tends to degrade the pointing accuracy.
An article entitled THE SYNTHESIS OF REGULATOR LOGIC USING STATE-VARIABLE CONCEPTS, by Bryson and Luenberger, appeared at pp 1803-1811 of the PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE Vol. 58, No. 11, November, 1970, and constitutes a primer for automatic control systems. As described at pages 1805 and 1806, an auxiliary dynamic system is termed a "filter" which is used to "estimate . . . state variables" of a system. This filter, used with state-variable feedback, constitutes a "compensator". A special filter design termed "observer" may be used to estimate x(t), in a system defined by x=Fx+Gu, when the system input u(t), the system output z(t)=Hx(t), initial conditions x(t.sub.0), and F and G are known. An open-loop estimate (x) of x(t) may be made by applying u(t) to the system, ##EQU1## but the open-loop estimate, in practice, quickly becomes inaccurate because F, G, u(t) and x.sub.o (t) are never accurately known. This difficulty is overcome by a closed-loop estimator termed an "observer", in which the closed-loop error z-Hx is fed back into equation (1) to produce ##EQU2##
These principles have been applied to satellite control, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,067, issued May 28, 1974 in the name of Mork. The Mork attitude control system does not require knowledge of yaw angle and therefore does not need sun-sensors or gyroscopes. It is advantageous to operate, if possible, without sun sensors and or gyroscopes, for they tend to be less reliable than some other types of sensors. In the Mork arrangement, a gimballed momentum source or wheel is oriented for momentum, principally along the pitch axis, but may be moved on its gimbals, whereby measurements of roll and yaw gimbal angles (.gamma..sub.x, .gamma..sub.y, respectively) give a basis for determining measured momentum values (H.sub..omega.x, H.sub..omega.z) along these axes. The yaw and roll axes are stabilized by the gyroscopic stiffness along the pitch axis. The yaw accuracy of the Mork system is improved by torque compensation logic, which models the expected disturbances about the roll and yaw axes, and which provides correction signals to the yaw and roll gimbal controls.
Mork's torque compensation logic receives as inputs a roll error signal (.phi.) from one or more roll sensors, and the roll and yaw gimbal angle (.gamma..sub.x, .gamma..sub.z) signals. The roll error signal .phi. and the roll gimbal signal .gamma..sub.x determine the measured momentum. The logic produces yaw gimbal angle command signal .gamma..sub.zc. The yaw gimbal is coupled to receive .gamma..sub.zc from the logic, and the gimbal angles are controlled by a gimbal motor to provide 3-axis stabilization by the reaction torques caused by the changing gimbal angles. Mork's logic multiplies .gamma..sub.x, the roll gimbal angle, by a constant .omega..sub.o, and adds to the result a compensation signal derived from signals representative of the momentum control torque about the roll axis, including yaw magnet drive, to thereby produce a first intermediate signal. Also, roll error signal .phi. is multiplied by a constant K.sub.2, to generate a product K.sub.2 .phi. which is integrated to produce a second intermediate signal. The second intermediate signal is added to the product of a constant K.sub.1 multiplied by .phi. to produce a third intermediate signal, which is added to the integral of the first intermediate signal to produce the desired yaw gimbal command signal for application to the yaw gimbal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,855, issued June 4, 1985 in the name of Lehner et al., describes a satellite 3-axis control system with momentum bias along the pitch axis. The yaw accuracy of the Lehner et al. system is improved by an apparatus for estimating and directly correcting yaw error, thereby avoiding the need for a sun sensor. FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of the Lehner arrangement. An earth sensor assembly (ESA) 10 measures the roll error angle and produces a roll error signal as well as a pitch error signal. An electronic logic arrangement (estimator) 12 is coupled to roll sensor 10 to estimate the yaw error, using the roll error and the measured momentum about the yaw axis as inputs. The roll signals, and the estimated yaw error, and disturbance torque signals produced by estimator 12 are summed together in a summer 14 to produce torquer drive signals. The torquer drive signals are applied to a magnetic torquer drive unit illustrated as a block 16, which applies appropriate signals to one or more coils of a set of torquer coils, illustrated together as a coil 18. In order to distinguish disturbance torques acting on the spacecraft from the effects of the magnetic torquing commanded by the estimator, the estimator must be provided with information relating to the torque contributed by the torquer. A feedback path illustrated as 20 is coupled from magnetic torquer drive 16 to estimator 12, and couples magnetic torquer drive signals to the estimator, where the torquer contribution may be subtracted from the overall disturbances to produce the environmental disturbance torques.
It has been discovered that the magnetic torques generated by the magnetic torquers may differ considerably from the commanded value, because of variations in the earth's magnetic field. Since the magnetic torques are subtracted from the total disturbing torques to produce environmental torques, this difference between commanded and actual torque may result in very large inaccuracies in the estimated disturbance torques, resulting in substantial errors in the yaw pointing accuracy. Inaccuracies in the magnetic coil current, which may be due to source voltage or temperature effects, may also affect the actual torque.
An improved roll-yaw control system is desired.

Spacecraft roll-yaw compensator with orbit-rate and harmonic bandpass filters


A method of providing a software application to different network clients from a server including maintaining one or more sets of state data, each set of state data describing the state of an instance of an application, each instance of an application corresponding to one or more network clients, updating the sets of state data in accordance with applications running on one or more computers connected to the server via a local area network and for at least one of the sets of state data generating an interface based on the set of state data and transmitting the generated interface to the corresponding network client(s).

Desktop computer programs such as flight simulators, word-processors, and spreadsheets quickly respond to user input. Providing this kind of inter-activity over the Internet, however, has posed something of a challenge. This challenge stems, in part, from the simple communication model that describes most Internet traffic: clients (e.g., web-browsers) request pre-written web pages from servers, and the servers send the requested pages back for display.
Programmers have developed a number of different techniques to make web pages more inter-active. For example, some web pages include, or refer to, programs known as "applets." When a browser receives a web-page featuring an applet, the browser executes the applet instructions, for example, to receive user input, change a browser GUI (Graphical User Interface) display, and communicate with the server providing the web-page. Some applets, however, include a large number of instructions and can require a significant amount of time to travel over the Internet to a user's browser.
Another technique for making web pages more responsive to users involves dynamic generation of web pages by servers. For example, PHP (Personal Home Page), ASP (Active Server Page), and CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripts can dynamically produce a web page based on script instructions and variables. Script processing, however, adds yet another task to web-servers faced with handling large bursts of browser requests for information.

Medical Learning Co., Inc./Web Simulator


A processing unit is configured to carry out at least one program function of a computer program, ascertain the execution time of the program function, and compare the ascertained execution time to a setpoint value to identify a software attack.

Processing units and operation methods are known. A program function of a computer program executable on the processing unit can be, for example, part of a machine program assigned to the processing unit. Alternatively, or in addition, it is possible for program functions of the computer program executable on the processing unit to be part of system libraries (libc, "stdio.h," etc.) or standard libraries, which are pre-installed on known processing units, for example, together with an operating system or, in general, a runtime environment, which means that when new computer programs are deployed for the processing unit, these program functions do not have to be provided separately on it.
It is known that attacks on existing implementations are possible, such that existing program functions, which are, for example, part of system libraries or standard libraries, are exchanged for manipulated program functions, which contain malicious code and the like in addition to the regular functionality of the existing program functions. In this manner, the manipulated program functions are moved, so to speak, into a man-in-the-middle attack position, which allows them to manipulate system calls and/or program function calls from application programs running on the processing unit and/or to change and/or copy their output and/or return values and possibly transmit them to an unauthorized receiver.

Processing unit and method for operating a processing unit


The process for preparing a cesium and rubidium salt-containing solution includes a hydrothermal digestion of an uncalcined pollucite and/or calcined lepidolite particulate having an average particle size up to 0.5 mm with an aqueous solution of Ca(OH).sub.2 in a suspension with a mole ratio of SiO.sub.2 to CaO of from 1:2.5 to 1:1.25 in a rotary tubular autoclave at a digestion temperature of 200 to 280.degree. C., under a pressure of from 15 to 65 bar and at a suspension density between 8 and 18% by weight for from 0.5 to 3 hours; filtering the suspension to remove insoluble solids and to form a digestion filtrate; adding at least one acid or acid anhydride to the digestion filtrate to adjust its pH to 6 and to form the cesium and rubidium salt-containing solution; and performing an evaporation after the hydrothermal digestion to obtain an increase in concentration of cesium salts and rubidium salts in the cesium and rubidium salt-containing solution and to adjust a density of the cesium and rubidium salt-containing solution to from 1.6 to 3.3 g/cm.sup.3. An optional aeration of the digestion filtrate with carbon dioxide to remove lithium and calcium ions in precipitated carbonates may be performed.

This invention relates to a process of preparing a solution which contains cesium and rubidium salts and has a density between 1.6 and 3.3 g/cm.sup.3. This process includes hydrothermal digestion of uncalcined pollucite and/or calcined lepidolite with an aqueous solution of Ca(OH).sub.2 at a digestion temperature of 200 to 280.degree. C. and under a pressure from 15 to 65 bars and at a suspension density between 8 and 18% by weight for 0.5 to 3 hours, separation from the insoluble solids, optional removal of calcium ions and lithium ions by an aeration with carbon dioxide and removal of the precipitated carbonates from the digestion filtrate and formation of the salts of cesium and rubidium by an addition of an acid or an acid anhydride to adjust the pH to at least 6. The density of the solution of cesium and rubidium salts is increased by an evaporation performed after the digestion, after the removal of the precipitated carbonates and/or after the addition of the acid or the acid anhydride.
The periodical "Tsvetnye metally--The Soviet Journal of Non-Ferrous Metals", Volume II, No. 5, pages 57 to 59 (1961) discloses a method of preparing cesium carbonate by a hydrothermal digestion of a pollucite-spodumene concentrate. The calcined minerals are subjected to a hydrothermal digestion with an aqueous solution of Ca(OH).sub.2 at 220.degree. C. and under a pressure of 20 atm for four hours. Optimum digestion conditions are achieved with 3 moles Ca(OH).sub.2 per mole SiO.sub.2. 88.3 percent by weight of the cesium contained in the mineral can be recovered and the alumo-cesium-alum can be recrystallized to prepare a cesium salt having a purity >99%. The Chemical Abstracts Reference 79/4949v (1973) discloses the conversion of Cs.sub.2 CO.sub.3 to CsHCO.sub.2 in a process in which the carbonate is reacted with formic acid in water.
Besides, the unpublished German Patent Application P 42 37 954.7 describes a process of preparing solutions which contain cesium salts and rubidium salts and have a density from 1.6 to 3.3 g/cm.sup.3 by a hydrothermal digestion of minerals which contain cesium and rubidium. That process has the process features mentioned first hereinbefore.

Process of preparing a solution of cesium and rubidium salts