A method and apparatus for offering a service to at least one client in a communication network for a specific client context, by means of a service provisioning unit. A history of client activities involving service usage in associated client contexts, is recorded in an activity database. Service templates are composed for associated client contexts based on the recorded history of client activities. When a context detector detects that the specific client context prevails, a service configurator selects a service template for the detected client context and configures a customised service from the selected service template. The customised service can then be offered to the at least one client.

With the emergence of 3G mobile telephony, new packet-based communication technologies using IP (Internet Protocol) have been developed to support wireless communication of multimedia. For example, communication protocols in GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) support packet-switched multimedia services, as well as traditional circuit-switched voice calls. New services are also constantly developed for both mobile and fixed users to increase the field of usage for their communication devices. It is also very useful to understand the needs and interests of users in different environments in order to create and offer services that are relevant and potentially interesting for the users in the prevailing circumstances.
A service and service-delivery control architecture called "IP Multimedia Subsystem" (IMS) has been developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a platform for handling multimedia services and sessions in the packet domain, based on IP transport. Thus, an IMS network can be used to initiate and control multimedia sessions for any fixed or mobile IP enabled terminals connected to any type of access networks.
Invoked multimedia services are enabled and executed by various application servers, either servers within the IMS network or external servers controlled by "third party" service providers. The sessions are controlled by various session managing nodes in the IMS network, and a database element HSS (Home Subscriber Server) stores subscriber and authentication data for subscribing clients. IMS is mentioned in this description for illustrative purposes only, although the present invention is not limited to using an IMS network. The advent of IMS has greatly fuelled the development of multimedia-based services.
Among other things, presence services have been introduced involving the publishing of presence data of clients to become available to other clients and applications. Presence data may indicate the behaviour of a client in some respect by basically defining the state or situation of the client and his/her equipment, commonly referred to as "device". The presence data or client state may include a client status, a device status, the geographic location, device capabilities, and other personal client information such as interests, occupations, personal characteristics, moods, etc.
Recently, a concept has also been developed to provide refined or adapted information on communication clients, e.g. to increase the usability of applications for invoked services depending on the client's current situation or behaviour. This concept is generally referred to as the distribution of "context" information, which may be implemented by using similar mechanisms as for the above-described presence services. It is desirable to develop "context-aware" applications to achieve services optimally adapted to the prevailing circumstances. The context information reflecting the client's situation can thus be shared in client groups in the same manner as presence data, or be used to create an optimal service.
A context server may be used to collect information on the client by receiving client data from various sources, such as "sensors" or the like adapted to measure or register various variables or the like characterising the current state, status or situation of the client. For example, sensors may be arranged to measure physical characteristics such as temperature and movements, or to register device activities or any of the client states mentioned above for presence services. Hence, the above-described context information and the presence data of a client actually reflect the behaviour of that client in some respect, e.g. in terms of device usage and geographic whereabouts.
The currently available mechanisms for providing presence data and context data for a client of interest to a requesting party are illustrated schematically in FIG. 1. The client of interest 100 is a user of a mobile terminal T, or a software agent implemented therein, for which various event publications are sent to a presence server 102, either from the terminal itself or from the communication network used, as described above. The presence server 102 may in turn send notifications to the requesting party 104, e.g. a subscribing client, regarding current presence data.
In addition or alternatively, one or more sensors 106 may be arranged as described above to provide raw context data to a context server 108, the data being received and stored in a context storage unit 108a. The shown sensors 106 may also represent functions reflecting client activities in the terminal T or in the used network, not shown. Moreover, existing routines in the communication network for, e.g., generating call data records for clients can also be used to provide context data.
The stored raw data may then be processed and refined in a context refiner 108b by applying predefined rules 108c on the raw data, in order to derive or calculate new refined context information from the raw data. The predefined rules 108c may include algorithms or the like that calculate certain parameters, draw conclusions or create compilations from the raw data.
The refined context can then be distributed to the requesting party 104 according to conventional routines, not described here further. A policy for controlling the context distribution may also have been defined basically by the "context owner", who may be a network operator or the client 100 himself/herself. The policy may dictate the extent of availability of the context data to requesters, or that a particular requester is allowed to receive only some part of the available context data, etc. It should be noted that the requesting party 104 may obtain a subscription to receive context information from the context server 108 on a more or less continuous basis, i.e. in a similar manner as for the presence data.
Typically, the context information pertains to an individual client who has a certain profile as defined by his/her current context. However, a client may also belong to an established group of clients, having an aggregate profile shared by its members. For example, members of a family group may have individual contexts while the family may have a common context with an aggregate profile shared by its members, whereas another group specifically interested in, e.g., football games may have a completely different profile.
WO 06/115442 discloses a mechanism where the particular needs of a requesting group of clients can be met by providing relevant context information regarding a specific object of interest, which information has been adapted to particular requirements and needs of the group. In this solution, a "customised" rule can be created for the requesting group defining conditions when requesting for refined context information. An aggregated context function creates an aggregated context for the group by collecting individual context data for each of the group's members, in order to create the customised rule valid for the group. The customised rule is sent to a context server (which may be configured basically as the context server 108 in FIG. 1) as an adapted request for refined context information on the object of interest. The context server then refines raw context data according to the customised rule and delivers the refined context data in response to the request.
It is thus common to form groups with plural members having mutual interests in some respect, in order to share information between the members by using any of the above-described mechanisms for presence services and client contexts.
When service providers offer various services to individual clients and groups of clients, e.g. by means of advertising, the services have typically been created on a more or less fixed basis requiring a certain amount of time and effort. In that case, the service and its parameters can be adapted to relatively static factors only due to the time it takes before it can be offered to clients. The service parameters therefore remain mostly unchanged throughout the lifetime of the service. Further, the clients have no possibilities to influence the character or nature of the services and must be content to select from the available services as they are offered by the service providers. The process of creating and configuring a service is often referred to as "service provisioning", which term will be used in the following.
As mentioned above, mechanisms have been developed for context-aware services that can be adapted to the environment and/or the client's current situation or behaviour, e.g. in a request-triggered manner as described in afore-mentioned WO 06/115442. For example, a particular offered service can be configured differently depending on whether the clients are located in a quiet village in daytime or in a bustling city centre at night. Thus, the service parameters may vary during the lifetime of such context-aware services.
However, it is not always possible to determine or detect the specific needs or interests of individual clients or groups of clients in particular prevailing circumstances, even if great amounts of sensor information are available. The services that are offered may therefore be of limited relevance and interest for some clients in some situations.

Method and apparatus for providing customised services in a communication network


Methods and systems enable a database reorganization to occur without a database outage. In one aspect, the method includes pausing transactions directed to the database, keeping a logical view of the database online. The method may also include taking individual partitions offline, changing the names of datasets associated with the individual partitions in a database schema, and bringing the partitions online, all while the logical view of the database remains online. The database schema may be changed to reflect the name of datasets associated with a shadow copy of the database that has been reorganized.

A database is an organized collection of data. Databases commonly organize the data into segments, records, and data set groups. In some instances, database data may be divided into partitions. The IBM IMS™ High Availability Large Database (HALDB) is an example of a partitioned database. A partitioned database may store the data of each partition in a number of different data sets. Similarly, a non-partitioned database may store data in a number of data sets. To access the data in such a database, the database may access a specific data set. The names of these data sets may be stored in a database schema and/or catalog file. The database schema generally describes the organization of the database, and may include the size and name of the data sets storing the data of the database, the partition associated with each of the data sets, relationships between partitions, etc. The schema may itself be a data set or some other repository of data that can be modified.
A database administrator may desire to reorganize one or more partitions in a database for various reasons. Database reorganization includes changing some aspect of the data in the database. For example, reorganization may include rearranging the data to improve system performance. Reorganization can include restructuring operations. For example, reorganization of a database may include restructuring operations such as changing the limit keys for partitions, moving data between partitions, changing segment lengths, changing the data access method, changing the parameters that determine where to add new data, etc. For the purposes of this disclosure, most physical changes to the database, such as changing key lengths, may not be considered reorganizing, with the exception of adding segments to the end of the database.
Database reorganization typically requires the database to be taken offline for some amount of time. For example, reorganizing a database may include creating a shadow, or copy, of the data, reorganizing the shadow, taking the database offline, and swapping the data sets of the database with the data sets of the shadow. This swapping generally occurs by renaming the database data sets to a new name and then renaming the shadow data sets to the former names of the database data sets. In such a swap, the database is taken offline so that the names of the data sets can be changed in the operating system catalog files. Renaming a data set requires exclusive accesses to the catalog file, which means applications, such as the database environment, cannot be online and using files during the rename. Furthermore, renaming generally occurs serially, so that other programs may interrupt a rename operation for multiple files, further contributing to the length of the database outage.
But databases have grown and may now have 10,000 data sets. Renaming hundreds or even thousands of data sets may take minutes rather than seconds because the names must be changed serially, one after the other. For businesses such as banking and other financial institutions, Internet retailers, and the travel industry, for example, such outages can have undesirable consequences, causing loss of customers, sales, and opportunities.


A mechanical-electronic shut-off system detects a shaft failure and initiates the shut-off of the fuel supply. It features, on the free end of a reference shaft (2) connected the to energy-consuming end of the respective shaft (1), an axially moveable signal trip element (13, 14) held under pre-load (12) whose locking arrangement (17,18) is released via a radial driver arrangement (17, 19) by rotary movement in the event of a shaft failure. The resultant relative rotation of the shaft (1) enables the signal trip element to move towards a sensor (21) or a switching element. An electric signal so produced instantly interrupts the further supply of fuel by means of an electronic control and avoids or controls a dangerous overspeed condition of the failed shaft.

This invention relates to a shut-off system for the avoidance of an overspeed condition in the event of a shaft failure, in particular for the interruption of the fuel supply of an aircraft engine in the event of a failure of the low-pressure turbine shaft, with the energy-consuming end of the respective shaft being connected to a coaxial reference shaft.
In particular on aircraft engines, but also on turbomachines in general, a shaft failure, especially a failure of the low-pressure turbine shaft, constitutes a considerable hazard to persons and property. In the event of a failure of a turbine shaft, the energy-generating end of the shaft, i.e. the part of the shaft which is connected to the turbine rotor, will run up in an uncontrolled manner since it is now disconnected from the energy-consuming end of the shaft. Consequently, the engine and/or the aircraft may be damaged or destroyed.
Various devices for the mechanical and/or electronic detection of a shaft failure and for the subsequent interruption of the energy supply (fuel supply) to avoid an overspeed condition and its negative consequences are known. Here, it is crucial that a shaft failure is detected as early as possible and the engine is shut off instantly by interruption of the fuel supply.
In an electronic device for the detection or avoidance of an overspeed condition known from Patent Specification U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,372, two inductive sensors are arranged on the toothed turbine shaft, i.e. on the energy-consuming end and on the energy-generating end, which produce a speed-proportional signal corresponding to the number of pulses counted. If a speed difference resulting from an increase of the speed of that part of the shaft which is connected to the turbine rotor, and thus a shaft failure, is detected, a solenoid fuel valve will be actuated and the fuel supply interrupted, avoiding further acceleration of the turbine rotor. However, the electronic shut-off systems are critical in that their response times are relatively long. For safety reasons, relatively long shut-off times require a higher material input in the area of the turbine which, in turn, leads to an increase in weight.
Furthermore, mechanical devices are described in which a reference shaft is coaxially associated to the turbine shaft and connected to the forward, energy-consuming end of the turbine shaft. In the event of a shaft failure, the resultant rotation of the turbine shaft relative to the reference shaft is used to mechanically actuate the fuel shut-off valve. In a known mechanical device of this type for the control of overspeed conditions in the event of a failure of the low-pressure turbine shaft connecting the low-pressure turbine and the fan of an aircraft engine, recesses are provided on the rear ends of both shafts. In the event of a shaft failure, the low-pressure turbine shaft will rotate relative to the reference shaft and the—initially offset—recesses in both shafts will come into coincidence, as a result of which a pre-loaded driver provided on the low-pressure turbine shaft will swing out radially and engage a wire loop provided at the end of a wire rope. The pull exerted on the wire rope is transmitted to a fuel shut-off valve to close it, thus limiting the overspeed condition by interrupting the fuel supply. The known mechanical devices using a reference shaft are disadvantageous in that their response depends on a comparatively large angle of relative rotation between the turbine shaft and the reference shaft. Also, the purely mechanical design of the shut-off system, and, in particular, the wire rope connection between the turbine shaft and the fuel shut-off valve, incurs high design effort and is susceptible to wear.

Shut-off system for the avoidance of an overspeed condition in the event of a shaft failure


Hydrostatic profile rail guide with a guide carriage that is hydrostatically mountable on a guide rail, whereby the guide carriage features a back and two sides that are attached to the back, between which the guide rail is located, whereby the back features a mounting surface on the side facing away from the guide rail for the mounting of, for example, a machine part, with the mounting surface concave when seen in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail.

DE 38 31 676 C1, for example, has disclosed a hydrostatic profiled rail guide, in which a guide carriage is mounted hydrostatically on a guide rail. The guide rail is provided with a center face which extends along its longitudinal axis and with two upper bearing faces which are arranged on both longitudinal sides of the center face and are arranged such that they are inclined with respect to said center face. Below each upper bearing face, a lower bearing face is provided which is arranged such that it is inclined with respect to said upper bearing face and with respect to the center face. As viewed in cross section through the profiled rail guide, a triangle is defined by an imaginary first parallel straight line to the center face, by an imaginary second parallel straight line to the upper bearing face and by an imaginary third parallel straight line to the lower bearing face. In this triangle, first and the second straight lines. Furthermore, an angle γ is formed in this triangle between the first and the third straight lines.
Two emergency running faces which delimit an angle β of at most 90° with the lower bearing faces of the head region are provided in the foot region of the guide rail on its two longitudinal sides below said two upper and lower bearing faces which are provided in the head region of the guide rail.
The guide carriage which is placed onto the guide rail is likewise provided with upper and lower bearing faces which interact with the upper and lower bearing faces of the guide rail. Pressure pockets are formed between the respective bearing faces of the guide rail and the guide carriage, in which pressure pockets a hydrostatic pressure can be built up. The hydrostatic pressure makes it possible to mount the guide carriage satisfactorily on the guide rail.
The back of the guide carriage is usually provided with a clamping face for clamping a machine part, for example. The machine part can be a tool or any desired other component. Said machine parts as a rule have a flat support face for resting on the clamping face of the back.
The possible applications of hydrostatic profiled rail guides of this type can be restricted by the fact that the limbs of the guide carriage can bend apart under a prevailing load. In this case, the pressure cushions which are built up in the pressure pockets cannot be maintained in some circumstances, with the result that satisfactory operation of the hydrostatic profiled rail guide is not ensured. Problems of this type can be eliminated, for example, by increasing the outer proportions of the guide carriage, with the result that the limbs of the guide carriage become more rigid. However, modifications of this type have the disadvantage that it is not possible to exchange profiled rail roller guides for hydrostatic profiled rail guides. The outer geometry of profiled rail roller guides is stipulated according to DIN 645-1. Known hydrostatic profiled rail guides cannot be used as a replacement for customary profiled rail roller guides, since a modification of the outer proportions is required in the case of comparable loadings of said hydrostatic profiled rail guides to ensure satisfactory operation, with the result that DIN 645-1 is not complied with.
It is an object of the present invention to specify a hydrostatic profiled rail guide in which proper operation is ensured.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the clamping face is arched concavely as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail. If the machine part is clamped onto this clamping face, it is tightened, for example, with screws. Said concavely shaped clamping face can be flattened during this tightening of the machine part, the back itself bending about a bending axis which is parallel to the longitudinal center axis of the guide carriage during this flattening, the free ends of the two limbs pivoting somewhat toward one another. When the machine part is bolted fixedly onto the clamping face of the guide carriage, a clearance between the guide rail and the guide carriage in the region of the bearing faces can be very small, for example from 5 to 10 μm. If this hydrostatic profiled rail guide is then pressurized, however, for example 100 bar, compressive forces which result in the two limbs of the guide carriage bending counter to their prestress act between the bearing faces of the guide rail and of the guide carriage. During this bending of the two limbs in the opposite direction, an ideal clearance which can be, for example, 25 μm is then set. That means that the desired clearances can be maintained under the provided operating loads between the bearing faces of the guide rail and of the guide carriage, even in the case of unfavorable loading of the hydrostatic profiled rail guide. No enlarged clearances are produced, with the result that no undesirably high volumetric flow of hydraulic fluid enters. This advantageous effect is made possible by the concavely shaped clamping face of the guide carriage, which concavely shaped clamping face makes a prestress which is introduced in a targeted manner possible in the back of the guide carriage, which prestress counteracts undesired contact of the limbs of the guide carriage. Defined bending of the back about an imaginary bending axis along the guide rail is possible by way of the profiled rail guide according to the invention.
The invention can also be described in other words by the fact that the clamping face is provided on both sides of the longitudinal center axis of the guide carriage with one clamping bar or clamping edge each, between which the clamping face is recessed. If the machine part is placed onto the guide carriage as described above, a spacing is formed between the flat support face of the machine part and the recessed clamping face of the back. If the machine part is then clamped to the guide carriage as shown above, the back is pulled with its clamping face in the direction of the flat support face of the machine part. As described above, the two limbs of the guide carriage pivot toward one another during this flattening of the concave or recessed clamping face of the back.
The guide carriage is preferably provided along its longitudinal center axis with a plurality of threaded holes which are arranged one behind another or with threaded shanks which protrude from the plane of the clamping face, in order to screw the machine part to the guide carriage. The screw forces which act on the screw connection act on the two limbs of the guide carriage with a lever arm which corresponds precisely to the spacing between the clamping edge and the longitudinal center axis.
It can be expedient for the proper design of the hydrostatic profiled rail guide according to the invention to define a first plane E1, in which the two clamping bars or edges are arranged. The recessed clamping face then lies in a plane E2 which is spaced apart from the plane E1. In the case of a concavely shaped clamping face, said concave clamping face is tangent to said plane E2. The spacing between said two planes E1 and E2 is then set in such a way that said spacing is reset to zero during clamping of the machine part onto the guide carriage. A stop size can therefore be defined by way of the set spacing h, with the result that the gap size between the bearing faces of the guide rail and of the guide carriage has a provided low spacing after this stop is reached. The desired clearance between said bearing faces is set only after the hydrostatic profiled rail guide according to the invention is pressurized.


Keyword spotting may be improved by using a competitor model. In some embodiments, audio data is received by a device. At least a portion of the audio data may be compared with a keyword model to obtain a first score. The keyword model may model a keyword. The portion of the audio data may also be compared with a competitor model to obtain a second score. The competitor model may model a competitor word, which may be a word that is similar to the keyword. The device may compare the first score and the second score to determine if a keyword is spoken.

Computing devices are commonly used to help users perform any of a variety of desired tasks. In some cases, the computing devices control equipment that is able to perform the desired task. For example, some computing devices are configured to turn on or off a light switch, adjust playback on an audio device, initiate a call on a mobile handset, adjust the temperature of an air conditioning unit, and the like. Voice control of such computing devices may be particularly helpful and convenient by allowing a user to perform a task without having to use his or her hands, or physically activate physical elements of a user interface (e.g., switches, keyboards, buttons, etc.). In some cases, computing devices with voice control listen for one or more keywords before performing the desired task. For example, a computing device may listen for the keywords "lights on" or "lights off" to turn on or off a light switch, "play song" to activate an audio player, "call" to initiate a phone call, "increase temperature" or "decrease temperature" to control an air conditioning unit, and the like.
Generally, such computing devices identify a keyword using various models that include information relevant to the control of particular devices. Such models can include a keyword model and a background model. The keyword model can include a sequence of one or more states (e.g., hidden Markov model (HMM) states, etc.) that together represent the keyword. Comparing an utterance with the keyword model (e.g., by aligning feature vectors derived from the portion with the states of the keyword model, or other process, as described below) yields a score that represents how likely the utterance corresponds with the keyword. Similarly, the background model can include a sequence of one or more states that together represent words other than the keyword, as described further below. Comparing the utterance with the background model (e.g., by aligning feature vectors derived from the utterance with the states of the background model, or other process, as described below) yields a score that represents how likely the utterance corresponds with a generic word. The computing device can compare the two scores to determine whether the keyword was spoken.
In some cases, this approach adequately identifies keywords. For example, a word that is clearly different than the keyword is unlikely to be identified as the keyword because the degree of similarity between the word and the keyword may be greater than the degree of similarity between the word and keyword generic word. However, in other cases, the computing device will falsely identify certain words as a keyword. For example, a word that is acoustically similar to the keyword might be erroneously identified as a keyword when the degree of similarity between the word and a generic word is greater than the degree of similarity between the word and the keyword.


A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Fancy Yoursula’, characterized by its compact, upright, outwardly spreading and mounded plant habit; very freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit; uniform and freely flowering habit; small decorative-type inflorescences with ligulate-shaped ray florets; orange bronze-colored ray florets; and natural season flowering date of about September 14th in the Northern Hemisphere.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemum×morifolium, commercially grown as a perennial garden Chrysanthemum plant, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Fancy Yoursula'.
The new Chrysanthemum plant is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of Chrysanthemum×morifolium 'Festive Yoursula', disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,324. The new Chrysanthemum plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within a population of plants of 'Yoursula' in a controlled greenhouse environment in De Lier, The Netherlands in September, 2006.
Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum plant by vegetative cuttings was first conducted in a controlled greenhouse environment in De Lier, The Netherlands in November, 2006. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


An etching method comprises a step of forming a via hole structure based on a photoresist film layer (210) for forming a wiring pattern, a silicon oxide film layer (201) which is a hard mask layer formed under the photoresist film, and an organic Low-k film layer (203) formed under the hard mask layer, wherein in the step, the organic film layer and the organic Low-k film layer are etched by using a mixture gas of N2 gas, H2 gas, and a CF gas.

As semiconductor circuits are highly integrated, fabrication of semiconductor devices having a multi-layer wiring structure is being rapidly developed. For the semiconductor devices having the multi-layer wiring structure, a trench wiring for interconnecting components arranged in horizontal directions as well as a via hole wiring for interconnecting components stacked in a vertical direction should be formed. Employed as such a multi-layer wiring structure is a dual damascene structure. Recently, a highly electromigration resistant metal having a low resistance, e.g., copper, is used as a wiring material and an organic Low-k material capable of ensuring a low dielectric constant, e.g., a SILK (manufactured by The Dow Chemical Company), is employed as an interlayer insulating material.
FIGS. 6A to 6C illustrate an exemplary process of forming a shoulder portion of a via hole of a dual damascene structure by using a photoresist (PR) layer for via hole formation. Formed on, e.g., a wafer for a formation of the dual damascene structure are a silicon oxide film layer (SiO2 film layer) 101, a silicon nitride film layer (SiN film layer) 102, an organic Low-k film layer (e.g., SiLK film layer) 103, a SiN film layer 104 and a SiLk film layer, in which a Cu wiring layer (Cu layer) 105 of a lower layer circuit pattern is formed, as shown in FIG. 6C. Herein, the SiO2 film layer 101 and the silicon nitride film layer (SiN film layer 102) are formed to serve as a first hard mask layer and a second hard mask layer, respectively, for use in forming a via and a trench. The SiLK film layer 103 is formed as an interlayer insulating film layer and the SiN film layer 104 formed underneath the SiLK film layer 103 serves as a stopper for use in forming the via hole. Formed on top of the stack of such layers is a photoresist film layer (PR layer) 107 having a pattern for use in forming the via hole.
In case of forming the via hole in the SiLK film layer 103, by using a gas (e.g., a gaseous mixture of a CF4 gas, an Ar gas and an O2 gas) capable of etching the SiN film layer 102 and the SiLK film layer 103, the SiN film layer 102 is etched according to a via hole pattern 108 of the PR layer 107 shown in FIG. 6A and then the SiLK film layer 103 is overetched down to a predetermined depth, e.g., at least a depth corresponding to a shoulder portion of the dual damascene structure (see FIG. 6B). Thereafter, an etching (ashing) process is performed on the PR layer 107 by employing an etching gas (e.g., a gaseous mixture of a N2 gas and a H2 gas) having a high selectivity against both the SiO2 film layer 101 and the SiN film layer 102. During this process, the PR layer 107 is removed and, at the same time, the SiLK film layer 103 is etched by using the SiO2 film layer 101 and the SiN film layer 102 as a hard mask, thereby deepening the via hole 108.
However, in case of simultaneously etching the PR layer 107 for use in the formation of the via hole and the SiLK film layer 103 serving as the interlayer insulating film layer by using the gaseous mixture of N2 gas and H2 gas as in the prior art, there remain resist residues D on a trench portion 110 (on the SiN film layer 102) formed in etching the SiO2 film layer 101 as shown in FIG. 6C. This results in a poor etching profile of the SiN film layer 102 generated during a subsequent etching process thereof due to the resist residues, which in turn causes etching residues in a following etching process of the SiN film layer 103. Particularly, when an antireflection film layer is provided underneath the PR layer 107, a greater amount of resist residues tends to remain after the etching.


A current steering circuit diverts bias current from a differential current summing amplifier's front end when the differential input exceeds a safe threshold level, thus preventing the amplifier's output stage from being overdriven. Diverting the front end's bias currents also turns off transistors within the amplifier's front end and thus protects the front end from damage which may otherwise result from excessive input signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to differential amplifiers and, more specifically, to clamps for current feedback differential amplifiers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Voltage feedback amplifiers are used in applications in which high linearity and low distortion are primary requirements. However, voltage feedback amplifiers are inherently slow in operation due to a requirement for charging or discharging stray capacitances at circuit nodes in order to change the voltage at those nodes.
Current feedback amplifiers are capable of much faster operation than typical voltage feedback amplifiers since the charging current available for charging and discharging the capacitances at circuit nodes can be significantly greater. Other well known advantages of current feedback amplifiers include fast slew rates and fixed bandwidth vs gain. Two key disadvantages of current feedback amplifiers are related to their low impedance feedback input node with its intrinsic linearity limits and excessive shot current noise.
A conventional current feedback amplifier may include a class AB push-pull input stage in the form of a transconductance amplifier as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,689, entitled "AMPLIFIER INPUT CIRCUIT", issued Oct. 25, 1988 to K. Saller et al. Two such A/B cells can be used as the front end of a differential feedback amplifier, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,274, entitled "SINGLE-ENDED AND DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIERS WITH HIGH FEEDBACK INPUT IMPEDANCE AND LOW DISTORTION", issued Apr. 25, 1995 to Dwight Birdsall et al.
Cancellation of common mode modulation errors introduced in input stage amplifiers has been accomplished by cross-connecting the back end amplifier outputs with the front end inputs through resistive feedback loops and interconnecting the front end amplifier outputs through a resistor. The overall amplifier has low shot noise since both of its voltage input terminals have high impedance,is fully differential, and achieves the advantages of voltage and current feedback.
High impedance clamps have been connected to the inputs of the back end amplifiers so that, whenever the front end input signals exceed a threshold, the clamps limit the signals at the inputs to the output amplifiers, thus ensuring that these amplifiers are not overdriven. However, the backend outputs are also clamped and the feedback loop is effectively opened. As a result, any further increase in the input signal appears across the resistor connecting the outputs of the front end amplifiers. Since this resistor is generally between 5 .OMEGA. and 10 .OMEGA., the resulting current could be quite large and may damage or destroy the front end amplifiers.

Current feedback differential amplifier clamp


A system that solves a parametric multi-objective optimization problem in a combined design space and parameter space using interval techniques is described. The design space contains design-space variables fixed for a selected design; the parameter space contains variable parameters for the selected design. Multiple-objective functions are specified for optimization. The system initializes a design-variable box spanning the design space and performs interval optimization process on the parameter space by subdividing the design-variable box into design-variable sub-boxes, and iteratively: (1) determining parametric Pareto fronts for a design-variable sub-box using an interval optimization technique; (2) comparing parametric Pareto fronts associated with a set of design-variable sub-boxes and determining the parametric Pareto fronts certainly dominated by other parametric Pareto fronts; (3) eliminating the design-variable sub-boxes associated with the certainly dominated Pareto fronts; and (4) subdividing remaining design-variable sub-boxes. An optimized solution is produced from the remaining design-variable sub-boxes and the associated parametric Pareto fronts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for performing interval computations within computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for solving a parametric multi-objective optimization problem in a combined design space and parameter space using interval techniques within a computer system.
2. Related Art
In many real-world optimization problems, there are often several objectives that one would like to optimize. In such cases, rarely do the optima of each objective coincide. Hence, one is left with tradeoffs between the individual objectives that must be incorporated in the solution. The goal of multi-objective optimization is then to determine a set of points that describe the optimal trade-offs between objectives.
An example of multi-objective optimization is that of minimizing price and maximizing performance. A common metric associated with these two objectives is the price-performance ratio. This number, however, oversimplifies the optimization problem. This oversimplification lies in the implicit assumption that a unit of price is equal to a unit of performance, which in general is not the case. For example, a college freshman and a national lab would most likely weight these two objectives differently when purchasing a computer. A more insightful approach to the problem is depicted in FIG. 1, which shows the price and runtime (inverse performance) of a set of points representing (fictitious) computers. Expressed in this manner, one would like to minimize each objective.
Unfortunately, minimizing both objectives simultaneously is generally not possible, and is not the case in this example. The best one can do is come up with an optimal trade-off. This trade-off is optimal in the sense that it is not possible to improve one objective without degrading at least one other objective. The filled circles in FIG. 1 are points which exhibit this optimal trade-off between the multiple objectives, which comprise the "Pareto front." Obtaining the Pareto front is one of the goals of multi-objective optimization, both in identifying optimal points and in providing a sensitivity analysis. This sensitivity analysis considers the shape of the Pareto front. Convex portions of the Pareto front (points which lie on the convex hull of all points) indicate an ability to satisfy all objectives relative to regions of the Pareto front which are non-convex (the "indented" region of Pareto front in FIG. 1).
In addition to determining the Pareto front, another goal of multi-objective optimization is to identify values of the objective functions' independent variables which are mapped to points on the Pareto front. In our example, processor speed, memory, system architecture, etc., are all independent variables (perhaps constrained) of both price and performance objective functions. One would like to know which sets of these independent variables map to points on the Pareto front. Such sets are termed "Pareto optimal sets."
Previously, we have proposed using interval techniques to solve multi-objective optimization problems (see "Method and Apparatus for Using Interval Techniques to Solve a Multi-objective Optimization Problem," with patent application Ser. No. 10/691,868, and filing date Oct. 22, 2003 by the same inventor as the present application; and the related patent, currently issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,295,956 on Oct. 24, 2007).
Note that these previous interval techniques capture all points on a Pareto front in the objective space, as well as the corresponding points of a Pareto optimal set in the design space. However, these techniques were specifically designed to solve the type of multi-objective optimization problems which depend exclusively on "design-space variables," which have fixed values once a particular design is chosen. However, in real-world design-optimization problems, there exists another type of multi-objective optimization problem where the objective functions depend on both the design-space variables and "parameters," which are variables that can be modified after a particular design is chosen. These types of design-optimization problems are referred to as "parametric multi-objective optimization problems," while the previous multi-objective optimization problems can be analogously referred to as "nonparametric multi-objective optimization problems." While both types of multi-objective optimization problems have important real-world applications, the parametric problems are typically significantly more complicated to solve, and hence have not been widely studied. We now illustrate this type of problems with the following example: an optimal airfoil design.
While aerodynamic shape optimization is a very complicated design problem with many objectives and constraints, we will look at a simplified case. We are concerned with two objective functions: minimizing the aerodynamic drag and maximizing the lift of the airfoil. Note that both of these objectives are functions of many variables related to the geometry of the airfoil. Most of these variables will be fixed for a particular design, such as the camber, length and thickness of the airfoil. Such variables are the aforementioned design-space variables.
However, some quantities, such as aileron or flap angle, can be modified after a design is selected, hence are not fixed once the design is chosen. We refer to these quantities as "parameters" instead of the design-space variables. Note that a parameter can take on a range of values during operation of a chosen design, hence a parameter is also referred to as an "operational variable." For example, the flap angle of the airfoil can be adjusted to different positions for optimal flight conditions during different stages of a flight operation. The question is then how to take into account these parameters such the flap angle into the design-optimization process.
One approach would be simply treat these parameters as some other design variables, and subsequently determine the Pareto front over the entire design space. At the other end of the spectrum, one could determine the Pareto front for a particular set, or sets, of parameters individually. Unfortunately, both of these approaches are flawed: the latter approach significantly undermines the effectiveness of multi-objective optimization; and the former approach fails to leverage the operational variability of some parameters when Pareto fronts are used to select designs.
Hence, what is needed is a technique for solving parametric multi-objective optimization problems which distinguishes between design-space variables and parameters without the above-described problems.

Using interval techniques to solve a parametric multi-objective optimization problem


A method for providing video data for video analytics processing includes capturing a plurality of individual frames of video data, using a video source that is disposed at an acquisition end. A plurality of data-frame-groups is formed, each data-frame-group being associated with a different time period of a plurality of consecutive and non-overlapping time periods. A data-frame-group that is associated with a specific time period comprises individual frames of video data that are captured during that specific time period. Additionally, each data-frame-group comprises relatively fewer individual frames of video data than are captured during the specific time period associated therewith. The plurality of data-frame-groups is transmitted from the acquisition end to a remotely located server via an IP network. In particular, the transmission of successive data-frame-groups is separated one from the other by an interval of time.

Modern security and surveillance systems have come to rely very heavily on the use of video surveillance cameras for the monitoring of remote locations, entry/exit points of buildings and other restricted areas, high-value assets, etc. The majority of surveillance video cameras that are in use today are analog. Analog video surveillance systems run coaxial cable from closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to centrally located videotape recorders or hard drives. Increasingly, the resultant video footage is compressed on a digital video recorder (DVR) to save storage space. The use of digital video systems (DVS) is also increasing; in DVS, the analog video is digitized, compressed and packetized in IP, and then streamed to a server.
More recently, IP-networked digital video systems have been implemented. In this type of system the surveillance video is encoded directly on a digital camera, in H.264 or another suitable standard for video compression, and is sent over Ethernet at a lower bit rate. This transition from analog to digital video is bringing about long-awaited benefits to security and surveillance systems, largely because digital compression allows more video data to be transmitted and stored. Of course, a predictable result of capturing larger amounts of video data is that more personnel are required to review the video that is provided from the video surveillance cameras. Advantageously, storing the video can reduce the amount of video data that is to be reviewed, since the motion vectors and detectors that are used in compression can be used to eliminate those frames with no significant activity. However, since motion vectors and detectors offer no information as to what is occurring, someone still must physically screen the captured video to determine suspicious activity.
Another disadvantage of network-based video surveillance and centralized video monitoring solutions is that the network may become overloaded due to the large amount of video data that is involved. This problem is particularly severe when the traffic has to pass over a wide area network, where a service provider typically is charging for the transit of data. In such systems, video data are transmitted constantly to a central location or server for processing and storage. Of course, a significant amount of video that is recorded today does not contain any relevant or actionable data. For instance, a surveillance camera may record video for hours before a person of interest walks into the field of view, or before a suspicious car drives into a monitored parking lot late at night, etc. As a result, there has been a push to develop methods that significantly increase the effectiveness of monitoring security and surveillance video.
The market is currently seeing a migration toward IP-based hardware edge devices with built-in video analytics, such as IP cameras and encoders, including passive infrared (PIR) based motion detection, analytics on a box, etc. Video analytics electronically recognizes the significant features within a series of frames and allows the system to issue alerts when specific types of events occur, thereby speeding real-time security response. Automatically searching the captured video for specific content also relieves personnel from tedious hours of reviewing the video, and decreases the number of personnel that is required to screen the video. Furthermore, when 'smart' cameras and encoders process images at the edge, they record or transmit only important events, for example only when someone enters a predefined area that is under surveillance, such as a perimeter along a fence. Accordingly, deploying an edge device is one approach that can be used to reduce the strain on the network in terms of system requirements and bandwidth.
Unfortunately, deploying 'smart' cameras and encoders or analytics on DVR at the edge carries a significantly higher cost premium compared to deploying a similar number of basic digital or analog cameras. Furthermore, since the analytics within the cameras is designed into the cameras, there is a tradeoff between flexibility and cost, with higher cost solutions providing more flexibility. In essence, to support changing functionality requires a new camera or a significantly higher cost initial camera or local DVR.
It would be advantageous to provide a method and system that overcomes at least some of the above-mentioned limitations.

Video analytics with burst-like transmission of video data


A mattress-like pad for human body support, comfort and recreational use in outdoor camping, in recreational vehicles, and in water craft. The pad, of rugged construction, includes a light-weight inner pad structure fabricated of a stacked arrangement of a multiplicity of like rectangularly configured layers of two-ply laminated sheet plastic material encapsulating between the plys of each layer a multiplicity of uniformly arranged, separated and sealed air bubbles. The air-bubble layers are maintained in their stacked arrangment by inter-layer fasteners located proximate only the corners of the stack so as to permit some shifting of the layers to accommodate human body support characteristics and permit tight rolling-up of the mattress-like pad for storage and carrying thereof. The inner pad structure is removably encased within a bag-like containment cover fabricated of polyvinylchloride-coated polyester woven open mesh fabric material. The head end of the cover includes an extending closure flap with fasteners whereby when the matress-like pad is rolled up upon itself from the foot end to the head end of the cover and over the closure flap, the fasteners of the flap interact with mating fasteners affixed to the underside of the cover to maintain the mattress-like pad in its rolled-up configuration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to body support pads and mattresses. More particularly, the invention relates to light-weight pads and mattresses-like items for body support, comfort and recreational pleasure on dry land, in land vehicles, and in water craft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over recent years there has been proposed, manufactured and marketed a multiplicity of pads and mattress items for out-of-water body and body part support and comfort in both sitting and prone body positions. These items have included home use and medically prescribed sleeping pads and mattresses formed with internal cushioning springs, sponge rubber materials, and compressible foam plastic materials or formed so as to require water or air inflation. They have also included light-weight sleeping pads and mattresses for: hiking and camping; use in recreational vehicles; and use in water craft where such items are formed-up by air inflation.
The prior art inflatable pads and mattresses, of the type described above, are satisfactory from the standpoints of storage compactness, light tote weight and body support functionality, however, are subject to deflation if punctured. Further, body pads and mattresses of the type fabricated of light-weight, compressible sponge rubber or foam plastic materials are rather expensive, are difficult to store, and the materials of construction are subject to degradation when exposed to camping and boating environments.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide improved sleeping pads and mattresses of light-weight rugged construction which afford body support and comfort by air buoyancy and which are not subject to sudden deflation by loss of air.
It is another object of the invention to provide improved light-weight pads and mattresses which provide body and body part support and comfort in both sitting and prone body positions and which can be rolled to a compact carrying or tote size.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide improved sleeping pads and mattresses of light-weight rugged construction which provide body and body part support and comfort by air buoyancy, which can be rolled into compact tote configuration, and which are not subject to sudden deflation by loss of air.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following summary of the invention and detailed description thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.


A floating-point processor and method detect a sticky bit during a floating point operation. The floating-point processor includes a sticky bit predictor circuit, a bit scanner, an exponent arithmetic circuit, and a mantissa arithmetic logic circuit. Input and output circuitry allow the floating-point processor to communicate with another processor. The bit scanner generates sticky significance values corresponding to the operands. When adding two operands, the sticky bit predictor circuit compares the sticky significance value of the smaller operand with an alignment value in order determine whether to set the sticky bit.

Engineering and scientific calculations require a high degree of precision and a wide dynamic range. The high precision minimizes the overall error associated with a computation. The wide dynamic range, on the other hand, ensures that calculations involving very large or very small numbers produce a valid result.
While the twin demands of precision and dynamic range can be represented with very long integers, this approach reduces computational speed and increases costs. Therefore, in order to reduce costs and increase speed, many conventional computers use floating-point notation. Floating-point notation is a numeric format which can represent large and small numbers with fewer bits than are required by very long integers. The computational circuitry that performs floating-point operations is often called a floating-point processor.
The basic principles of floating-point arithmetic are familiar to anyone who has used a scientific calculator. Basically, floating-point numbers are stored in two parts, a mantissa and an exponent. The mantissa specifies the digits in the number, and the exponent specifies the magnitude of the number (the position of the decimal point). For example, the numbers 234,500,000 and 0.0000678 are expressed respectively as 2.345.times.10.sup.8 and 6.78.times.10.sup.-5 in floating-point notation.
Most standard methods of representing floating-point numbers specify that numbers should be represented in normalized form whenever possible. A normalized floating point number is one in which the left-most digit (or bit, in a binary representation) of the mantissa is non-zero. A typical floating-point processor normalizes a number by left-shifting the most significant non-zero bit into the first bit of the mantissa. For each left-shift, the floating point processor increments the exponent by one.
Before the floating-point processor can add two operands, the floating-point processor "aligns" the two operands. The alignment process sets the exponents of the operands numbers to the same value. During the alignment process, the floating-point processor compares the exponents of the two operands, and increases the value of the smaller exponent to equal the value of the larger exponent. When the floating-point processor increments the smaller exponent, the floating-point processor also right-shifts the mantissa of the smaller operand.
One problem that may arise during this alignment process is that significant data can be right-shifted out of the smaller operand, causing a loss of precision as is illustrated in the following case: ##EQU1##
Before adding the two numbers, the floating-point processor right-shifts the mantissa of the second number three places: ##EQU2##
Clearly in this case the three least significant digits of the smaller operand "789" are lost, and the overall precision of the operand is degraded.
Thus, floating-point addition requires the alignment of one of the two input operands before the actual add can take place. As shown in the example above, significant (non-zero) digits may be "shifted out" and lost during the alignment process because of the finite width of the computational elements. The process of rounding can reduce this problem to insignificant proportions by capturing the bits which are "lost" or shifted out during the arithmetic operations.
There are a number of different rounding schemes in existence. Each specifies a different set of rules for deciding how to derive the final (rounded) result. Although various floating-point standards are available, a floating-point standard which is widely accepted is the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.) Binary Floating Point Standard 754, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The IEEE 754 standard specifies different rounding modes in which each mode defines a different set of rules for deciding how to derive the final (rounded) result. These rounding modes include: round-to-nearest, round-to-minus-infinity, round-to-plus-infinity, and round-to-zero. In addition, many major manufacturers have defined particular rounding schemes, such as Digital Equipment Corporation's DEC-round-to-nearest and the IBM round-to-zero mode.
In order to implement the various rounding modes correctly, conventional floating-point processors retain some of the bits shifted out of the mantissa. It is commonly known that in order to make a correct decision in all cases, it is necessary and sufficient to retain three additional bits to the right of the mantissa. These bits are known as the "guard," "round" and "sticky" bits.
The guard bit and round bit act as straightforward extensions of the operand mantissa, to the right of the mantissa's least-significant bit. The floating-point processor right-shifts data from the mantissa into the guard bit and the round bit. Subsequently, the floating-point processor may left-shift the data from the guard and round bits back into the mantissa during the normalization process.
Conventional floating-point processors selectively set the sticky bit once the floating-point processor shifts data past the round bit. Floating-point processors do not left-shift data out of the sticky bit, even if the sticky bit is set. Rather, the sticky bit acts as a memory, indicating, when set, that the floating-point processor has right-shifted significant data out of the mantissa beyond the round bit. In other words, the sticky bit is defined as the OR of all of the bits which are less significant than the round bit.
By considering the values of the guard, round and sticky bits at the time rounding is to be performed, conventional floating-point processors determine which of the closest representable numbers should be output as a result of the operation. One disadvantage of the prior art systems is that the sticky bit is calculated during the addition process. As a result, the time required to calculate the sticky bit can delay completion of the addition process. If, however, the time to calculate the sticky bit can be reduced, the time to complete an addition can also be reduced, thereby increasing the overall speed and performance of the floating-point processor.
Recently, the clock speeds of conventional floating-point processors have become increasingly faster so that any delays in the addition process can result in delays in the overall system performance. In order to optimize the time required to multiply two numbers, some floating-point processors separately scan a number during the multiplication process in order to predict the need to generate a sticky bit. Such systems, however, fail to scan a mantissa prior to an addition operation. Thus, instead of relying on a prescanned sticky significance value, prior art systems scan a mantissa during the addition process and therefore require the additional time associated with such scanning.
In addition, advances in parallel processing have resulted in improved floating-point performance. Parallel processing, however, requires the distribution of the workload among parallel processes. If the workload is unequally distributed, the slowest process delays the entire system.
Conventional floating-point processors do not determine a sticky significance value in parallel with other operations. For example, conventional floating-point processors normalize and align numbers prior to performing an addition. If the floating-point processor can determine the sticky significance value in parallel with the normalization or alignment processes the resultant floating-point additions can execute faster and make greater use of parallel architectures.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to develop a scheme in which the sticky bit can be calculated by scanning a mantissa prior to the addition process. Such a scheme would reduce the time needed to add two numbers. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to calculate the sticky bit in parallel with other floating-point operations so as to increase system throughput and optimize work distribution.

Sticky bit detector for a floating-point processor


A method for simulating a game of baseball via a computer network is playable by opposing managers running game application logic at remote computers communicating with an event outcome server. The server executes steps for receiving selected pitcher data and a pitcher control value from a first remote computer, and receiving, for an engagement with the selected pitcher data, selected batter data from a second remote computer. The server optionally modifies the pitcher control value according to the batter data, and generates a first random number for comparison to the pitcher control value. Based on the comparison, the server selects a set of probabilities representing possible outcomes of the engagement, where one selectable set favors the pitcher and another selectable set favors the batter. The server generates a second random number, determines an outcome of the engagement by comparing the second random number to the selected set of probabilities, and transmits instructions to the remote computers for updating status of the game on a visual display according to the outcome of the engagement. Pitcher data, control value, batter data, and probabilities are derived from historical statistics resulting from human performance in major league baseball.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer games, more specifically to a computer simulation of a baseball game, and most specifically to a computerized baseball game wherein events that determine the course of the game are influenced by discrete interactions between managers of opposing teams through decisions input to a game server through digital transmissions from the managers' remote computing devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Baseball simulation games probably date back to the late nineteenth century, a few decades after the real game of baseball had established itself as America's pastime. The earliest simulations arose out of necessity in vacant lots frequented by American youths, who adapted rules on the fly to cope with every circumstance—rules that were limited only by their unbounded imaginations. When short of the requisite number of players needed to man each of the nine positions on the baseball diamond, rules were created to make up for such deficiencies, e.g., the ubiquitous "ghost runner" would replace a runner on the base paths who was needed at the plate. Ground rules would be established to transform unlikely sites—city blocks, corn fields, streets and alleys—into baseball diamonds, so that a tree, a fire hydrant, or a patch of weeds could serve as third base. Players would be selected for each team by self-appointed captains, who would vie for the first pick according to the "eagle claw" ritual in which one captain would toss a baseball bat to the other with the knob oriented upward. The opposing captain would catch it with one hand to establish an initial grip, and each would place alternating grips at higher locations, hand over hand, until at last the winning captain was able to clasp the knob at the top and claim the first pick.
Indoor simulations and parlor games soon followed. For example, a standard deck of playing cards could be adapted for a baseball simulation game by assigning various outcomes to an at-bat according to a random draw from the deck, e.g. and ace denotes a single, a deuce a double, etc. A variety of mechanical baseball games and board games were also developed in the twentieth century, and are far too numerous for elaboration. Three, in particular, are worthy of further study, for incorporating the names of real-life major league ballplayers into a baseball simulation game, and for using real-life statistics compiled during the careers of these players as the basis for establishing probabilities to determine the outcome of simulated baseball events.
The first of these was patented in 1925 by Clifford A. Van Beek of Green Bay, Wis. as U.S. Pat. No. 1,536,639 and eventually marketed under the name National Pastime. Van Beek's game simulated baseball through a series of player cards and play sheets. Each player card listed a table of numbers that simulated a corresponding real player's statistical performance, and each play sheet listed various possible outcomes for a particular event that could arise during the course of a game. A standard pair of six-sided dice were used to resolve events on a play sheet according to the numbers shown on the cards of the players involved in the event. Events and game play involved batting and fielding probabilities only, without influence from pitching statistics.
The second was a baseball simulation game developed in the 1930s in Lancaster, Pa. by Dick Seitz, who was inspired by the work of Van Beek. Seitz's game, which he called ABPA Baseball, incorporated playing cards, on-field statistics of major league players, a board to represent the playing field, and standard six-sided dice to generate random numbers to resolve outcomes. The ABPA game was eventually computerized in the 1980s, and published by McGraw-Hill for play on a Microsoft Windows platform. Game play is limited in that the events and outcomes are based on plate-appearances, as opposed to pitch-by-pitch.
A third game, All-Time All-Star Baseball published in 1971 by Time, Inc. and Sports Illustrated, featured tri-fold charts that included real player statistics for each of 20 major league baseball teams. A special set of three six-sided dice with results ranging from 10 through 39 were used to resolve events determined for each pitcher and batter. Though based on real life statistics, the pitcher outcomes were determined independently and in advance of the batter outcomes. The game was later released by Avalon Hill as Superstar Baseball with the tri-fold charts replaced by individual player cards based on the 25 best players from the history of each National League and American League team. Printed on each player card were outcome tables for each possible roll of the dice. The latest version included a four-part folding game board displaying a baseball diamond with locations for placing the cards for pitchers and batters that were involved in each at-bat, as well as special outcome tables involving wild pitches, stolen base attempts, sacrifice bunts, and advancing runners on fly balls, that added additional managerial decision components to the game.
With the advent of video games, manually operated baseball simulation games such as these have declined immensely in popularity. And while video games for home systems such as MLB® 12 (Sony) and MVP Baseball (EA Sports) represent a certain state of the art, such systems with all their advanced features have certain drawbacks. For one, the systems are designed for interactive play against video graphics operated by a computer or by another human player. The games are therefore not suited for portability or remote play, because they require a video monitor and a specialized game console and controller. For another, in order for two players to participate, each needs to be in the same location and equipped with controllers designed for that particular system. But perhaps the biggest drawback is that regardless of the extent to which real-life statistics are introduced into the gaming code, the outcome of baseball events are dependent largely on the skill of the human player and his experience manipulating the controls of the particular gaming system. The video games are thus player-centric, and fail to capture accurately the experience of acting as a big-league manager who plays an entirely mental or intellectual game.

Interactive baseball simulation between remote team managers


An image forming apparatus comprising: a recording unit; a reading unit rotatably supported to the upper portion of the recording unit so as to be openable and closable about one end as a fulcrum and reads an original; an L-shaped guide groove which is provided for the recording unit and in which a long groove portion and a short groove portion are connected by a bending portion; and a stay at one end is fitted into the guide groove and coupled therewith, the other end is swingably coupled with the reading unit. The guide groove has a restricting mechanism configured to alternately guide the projecting portion to the long groove portion and the short groove portion when the projecting portion moves from the bending portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a reading unit is closably attached to an upper portion of a recording unit and which has a scanner function, a printer function, a copying function, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among image forming apparatuses each having a recording unit for forming an image onto a sheet and a reading unit for reading an original, there is an image forming apparatus with a construction in which the reading unit is closably attached to the recording unit. According to such a construction, by opening the reading unit, an access to a discharge tray just under the reading unit or an access into the recording unit for the purpose of executing a jam process or a maintenance operation can be easily performed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-010949 discloses an apparatus in which a pair of stays are rotatably supported to both sides of an upper portion of a recording unit and the other edge of each stay is slidably connected along a guide groove formed in a reading unit. The stay is urged by a spring in such a direction as to open the reading unit. A moment in such a direction as to open the reading unit acts on the reading unit by the urging force even in consideration of a moment that is caused by a weight of the reading unit itself and the reading unit is held in its opening state, thereby avoiding a drop shock and preventing a finger of the operator from being nipped when the reading unit is closed.
However, a relatively strong spring force is necessary in order to hold the reading unit in its opening state. In a state where the reading unit was closed, the spring has further been charged and locked. In order to prevent a creep due to the spring force, it is necessary that ambient parts are formed in rigid shapes and are made of a strong material. A structure is also complicated. Due to those reasons, a size and costs of the apparatus are increased.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-184530 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a stay is rotatably supported to a recording unit and a projection provided for a reading unit is slidably connected along a guide groove formed in the stay. According to the apparatus, the guide groove formed in the stay is formed by a ring-shaped groove having: a first groove along which the projection slides when the reading unit is opened; and a second groove along which the projecting portion slides when the reading unit is closed. The apparatus is constructed in such a manner that the projection of the stay is circulated once along the guide groove by the one opening/closing operation. A stay position control spring for preventing a backward-running or an ahead-running of the stay and the like are also provided. The second groove is narrower than the projection. When the projection moves in the second groove, the projection is flexuously deformed, thereby preventing the drop shock, finger-nipping of the operator, or the like when the reading unit is closed. If the reading unit is slightly closed after the reading unit was opened to a full-open state from the closed state, the reading unit can be held in the opening state. When the reading unit is opened to the full-open state again, the reading unit can be closed.
However, since the ring-shaped guide groove constructed by the two different paths at the time when the reading unit is opened and when it is closed is necessary, a space efficiency is low and an enlargement in size of the apparatus is caused. In such an apparatus, by arranging the guide groove near an opening/closing axis of the reading unit, the ring-shaped guide groove can be miniaturized. However, when the reading unit is held at the opening position, since a load caused by an external force increases depending on leverage, it is necessary to take such a countermeasure that a strong material adapted to endure the unprepared operation of the operator is used or the like, resulting in an increase in costs. Since the backward-running or the ahead-running of the stay is prevented by the position control, there is also a case where even if the external force which is applied to the stay is very small, the backward-running or the ahead-running occurs and the opening/closing operation of the reading unit becomes unstable.
The invention is made in consideration of such a technical problem. It is an object of the invention to provide an image forming apparatus in which a reading unit is closably constructed for a recording unit, wherein an opening/closing operability of the reading unit can be improved without enlarging a size of apparatus.


In a multi-rank memory module having a terminal resistance of a data input/output pad 13 and a terminal resistance control pad 14 that inputs a signal that controls on/off of the terminal resistance, a high-speed operation is enabled with the aid of an enclosed terminal resistance, even in cases where the number of ranks is greater than that of terminal resistance control terminals (ODT terminals) provided on the memory module. To this end, a terminal resistance control pad 14 of a memory chip 12, having a longer length of an interconnect between a data bus 19 on a module substrate 8 and a data input/output pad 13, is connected to a terminal resistance control interconnect 18 or 21 to control the on/off of the terminal resistance from the ODT terminal. A terminal resistance control pad on a memory chip 11, having a shorter length of an interconnect between the data bus 19 on the module substrate and the data input/output pad 13, is connected to a fixed potential 20 to turn on the terminal resistance.

In a server or a personal computer, large capacity semiconductor memories, such as dynamic RAMs, are used in larger quantities. In a system employing these memories in larger quantities, it is a frequent practice that a plurality of memory chips is mounted once on a memory module, which memory module is then plugged into a module socket provided in the system. The purpose of doing so is to assure facilitated memory extension and exchanges. The demand from the market for higher operating speeds and larger capacities is rather strong with these memory modules.
To increase the operating speed of the memory module, the memory module that uses a synchronous memory to speed up data transfer between the memory and the information processor, such as CPU, has come to be used. With the synchronous memory, a memory controller that controls the synchronous memory is provided on the information processor side. The memory controller transmits read or write commands to the synchronous memory in synchronization with a clock from the memory controller so that data may be read out from or written in the memory based on these commands. The inner part of the synchronous memory is pipelined so that the commands sequentially supplied from the memory controller are executed in parallel. In connection with the memory module, employing the synchronous memory, such a system has made its debut in which a terminal resistance is enclosed within a semiconductor memory chip and in which the terminal resistance is controlled to be turned on or off to reduce signal reflections to speed up the data transfer. For example, in DDR2-SDRAM (Double Data Rate 2-Synchronous DRAM) or DDR3-SDRAM (Double Data Rate 3-Synchronous DRAM), a terminal resistance is enclosed at a DQ (data input/output) terminal or a DQS (data strobe) terminal. In addition, a terminal resistance control terminal (On-Die Termination terminal, acronymed to ODT terminal) is provided to control the on/off of the enclosed terminal resistance from outside. With the use of the ODT terminal, the terminal resistance may be controlled from the memory controller to increase the transfer rate.
On the other hand, to enlarge the capacity of the memory module, development of a multi-rank memory module that loads a plurality of memory chips of a plurality of ranks in a single memory module is progressing. The rank is a unit of the memory chips to which a command may be afforded independently from the memory controller side. In the case of a memory module that connects to a data bus of 72 bits composed of 64 data bits and 8 ECC bits, 72/4=18 memory chips are needed in order to have access simultaneously to the 72-bit data, if the memory chip is of a 4-bit formulation. These 18 memory chips are loaded in a 1-rank memory module, whereas a doubled number of memory chips, that is, 36 memory chips, are loaded in a 2-rank memory module. The memory controller affords rank-based write and read commands, no matter whether the memory module is of a single-rank formulation or a multiple-rank formulation. If the memory controller side affords a command as it specifies the rank, the memory chip of the rank, the command is to be afforded to, is selected by a chip select signal from the memory chips of a plurality of ranks, and the command is afforded to the so selected memory chips of the rank of interest.
The semiconductor memory, having enclosed therein the terminal resistance, or the memory module or system, employing the semiconductor memory, having enclosed therein a terminal resistance, is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. The method for connecting the memory module in a memory system that is able to cope with larger capacities or higher operating speeds is disclosed in Patent Documents 3 and 4.
A memory system, employing a 2-rank memory module, in which the values of the enclosed terminal resistance are dynamically switched, is disclosed in Patent Document 5.    [Patent Document 1] JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2006-129423A    [Patent Document 2] JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2008-46797A    [Patent Document 3] JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2005-346625A    [Patent Document 4] JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2007-164787A    [Patent Document 5] U.S. Pat. No. 7,342,411

Memory module, method for using same and memory system


The present disclosure relates generally to prosthetic devices for use in restricting food and caloric intake into the stomach and of absorption of the food components in the stomach and small intestine. The system includes an elongated bariatric sleeve having a normally superior or upper proximal end and a normally inferior or lower distal end. An elongated lumen support member is positioned within the first lumen in contacting relation with the first membrane for maintaining the first lumen in an open position. A proximal anchor ring with a central aperture and a catheter channel is connected to the proximal end of the sleeve to the collar member. The anchor is inflatable or expandable memory material for anchoring the sleeve in superior relation to a pyloric valve of the patient's stomach. An anchor weight is connected to the distal end of the first flexible tube. The device further includes a tether or a delivery catheter connected to a gastric port to aide in minimizing movement of the device and the device for delivery of nutritional and pharmaceutical compositions through the gastric opening and into the second lumen where they may be absorbed by the proximal duodenum and jejunum of the small intestine. The system can also include an intragastric displacement balloon.

In recent years obesity and related disorders, such as diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, have increased substantially. When compliance with diet, exercise and behavioral therapy fail to achieve weight loss, pharmacotherapy may be instituted. However, pharmacotherapy has had only modest success and may be discontinued if a patient experiences unpleasant side-effects. Long term safety of pharmaceutical use for treatment of obesity is uncertain, and patients generally regain lost weight when the therapy is discontinued. A variety of surgical treatments have recently become available for obesity, but typically as a last resort. These surgical treatments have the advantage of more rapid initial weight loss and remission of diabetes mellitus than other non-invasive therapies. However, surgery is expensive, subject to risks of morbidity and mortality, and its efficacy may be reduced by patient noncompliance with post-surgical dietary restrictions. If patients fail to limit food intake, their bodies may undergo compensatory anatomical changes that partially overcome the effects of surgery. The most invasive surgical procedures tend to achieve the greatest long term percent change in weight, but also tend to be the most costly, require longer periods of recuperation and careful long term management of nutrients to avoid malnutrition.
There have been attempts to achieve the benefits of surgery using minimally invasive procedures that employ various medical devices. Current medical device therapy for obesity and metabolic disease includes insertion of tubular prosthetic barrier devices into the stomach and/or small intestine. However, these bariatric sleeve devices are generally inserted surgically or endoscopically, and any modification or removal necessitates additional surgical or endoscopic procedures. Bariatric sleeve devices generally consist of a floppy, elongated tube that is attached at the proximal end to a portion of the stomach or small intestine by suturing or use of a barbed anchor. The sleeve extends distally into at least a portion of the small intestine. Consumed food passes into and through the tube, which prevents absorption by adjacent portions of the small intestine.
These devices are generally anchored at the proximal end by a metal cage structure which is placed in a portion of the stomach or duodenum. Such attachments are near the proximate end of the device and subject to movement allowing seepage of nutrients and overall ineffectiveness of the device. Peristalsis in the small intestine generally makes similar anchoring of the device at the distal end difficult or impossible. In the small intestine, the uncontrolled distal end is subject to displacement by peristaltic contractions, which may contribute to observed distal migration or proximal invagination. These problems serve to limit sleeve length, and the corresponding effectiveness of the device. Bariatric sleeves are constructed of an impermeable material in order to effectively prevent absorption of food through the sleeve. However, this construction also prevents absorption of some nutrients, which necessitates patient supplementation with vitamins and minerals in order to avoid malnutrition. However, such supplementation is difficult because orally administered supplements may be blocked from absorption by the impermeable sleeve. Alternate methods, such as intravenous administration, are invasive and generally cannot be self-administered.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for the treatment of obesity that may be easily inserted, positioned, modified and removed from a patient using minimally invasive techniques, that includes a shape-retaining structure to facilitate placement and to avoid collapse and displacement, that provides distal control to avoid forward and distal migration and proximal invagination or eversion, as well as preventing rotation or twisting at points along the sleeve and that provides for easy delivery, effective absorption, and control of nutritional supplements.

System and method for gastric restriction and malabsorption


Disclosed is a hydroxycitric acid salt composition comprising calcium and potassium salts of hydroxycitric acid, preferably in a defined proportion which yields a very pure, stabilized preparation that is substantially tasteless for optimal use in a variety of foods items. The HCA salts are prepared by a process that includes treating an aqueous extract of Garcinia cambogia or Garcinia indica fruit with a liquid quaternizing agent such as a trialkylamine in which the alkyl groups are octyl, caprylyl, isooctyl, lauryl or decyl.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to hydroxycitric acid (HCA) and its salts, and more specifically to water soluble mixtures of calcium and potassium salts of HCA, and to methods of making the calcium and potassium salts and mixtures thereof. The invention also relates to the use of such compositions as nutraceuticals or dietary supplements.
2. Description of Related Art
The fruit acid hydroxycitric acid (HCA) is a naturally occurring fruit acid found in the rinds of the fruit of Garcinia cambogia, Garcinia indica and Garcinia mangostana. The identification of the acid, methods of isolation and analytical methods for estimating concentration were elucidated by Y. S. Lewis et al. in METHODS OF ENZYMOLOGY (Academic Press, N.Y. (1969)). Hydroxycitric acid has been investigated for its nutritional importance, and studies have shown that pharmacologic amounts of HCA can accelerate metabolism, leading to weight loss, improved glucose metabolism, can suppress the appetite, and can produce other physiological effects. Various researchers have evaluated HCA for its weight control properties, fat burning properties, lipid level lowering effect, appetite regulation, metabolic rate increase, and other effects. A number of U.S. patents have been granted based on the results of those studies and on various methods of extracting HCA from the Garcinia fruit. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,314 (Moffett et al.) describes a certain hydroxycitric acid concentrate and food products prepared therefrom. By that method, free hydroxycitric acid having a concentration ranging from 23 to 54% in aqueous media is obtained.
It has been found, however, that the free acid form of HCA is unstable, forming lactones which generally do not possess the desired bioactivity. Therefore, food preparations that incorporate the free acid in liquid form will not provide the full benefit of the functional product (i.e., HCA) in the final preparation. The liquid form of free HCA tends to be unstable during storage, so it may not be the optimal form for incorporation of HCA in food products.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,603 (Majeed et al.) administration of potassium hydroxycitrate for the suppression of appetite and induction of weight loss is disclosed. This salt is prepared by treating Garcinia-extracted HCA with methanolic potassium hydroxide, and the potassium salt of HCA is dried under vacuum. In powder form, potassium hydroxycitrate is very hygroscopic in nature, and typically has very poor keeping qualities. Another drawback of this type of preparation is that the assay of HCA may be too low for some applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,172 (Balasubramaniam et al.) describes certain compositions containing soluble double metal salts of hydroxycitric acid. Group IA and IIA (i.e., Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba and Ra) salts of HCA are formed as powders after precipitating the Garcinia-extracted HCA solution with polar solvents. This process can contain solvent residues and high levels of chlorides in the final product, however. Potential contaminants such as chloride and oxalic acid limit application of the product where the original taste, color and fragrance of the base material, such as a food or beverage, cannot be compromised. Another drawback of a method such as this is that it can be quite cumbersome due to the number of steps.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,714 (Clouatre et al.) describes the use of commercially available pharmaceutical preparations of a calcium, magnesium, potassium or sodium salt of hydroxycitric acid for increasing a person's glucose metabolism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,901 (Shrivastava et al.) describes a method of making a purified magnesium hydroxycitrate preparation, and discusses its use as a medicament for treating cardiovascular disease. No food supplementation or body weight effects were noted in rabbits that were fed the magnesium hydroxycitrate preparation.
It is well known that hydroxycitric acid is unstable in its free acid form, so it is typically prepared as its salt for stability and for use in any of the applications mentioned above. Some commercially available and commonly used salts include calcium salts of HCA standardized for 50%, 55% and 60% levels of HCA. The potassium salt form is also readily available as a 45%, 50%, 55% and 60% salt. One drawback of typical commercially available calcium HCA salt preparations is that they are not very soluble in water. This severely limits its applicability for use in drinking water, beverages, ice cream, candies and in food. Another disadvantage of most calcium salts of HCA that are available today is that they typically deliver only a maximum assay of 60%, thereby limiting the total availability of HCA in any composition.
The potassium salt of HCA overcomes the major disadvantage of the calcium salt (i.e., insolubility) due to the good water solubility of the potassium salt of HCA. However, due to the high level of potassium in the salt, the potassium salt leaves a strong pungent taste of potassium. This tends to interfere with the taste profile of the food, or beverage, which limits the amount of potassium hydroxycitrate that can be incorporated into a food to levels that are below the amount needed to achieve the desired functional effects of the HCA in the recipient. Another disadvantage often encountered with the potassium salt is a tendency to form lumps during storage due to its highly hygroscopic nature, thus reducing the shelf life of the HCA salt. Commercial manufacture is also made cumbersome due to the undesirable hygroscopic property. The assay of HCA in conventional potassium hydroxycitrate preparations is also typically low, at 60% or less.
PCT Published Patent Application No. WO 99/03464 (Raju) describes certain hydroxycitric acid compositions containing 40% or more HCA, 5-13% calcium and about 9-20% potassium or about 5-10% sodium for use as dietary supplements and food products to reduce body weight. Hydroxycitric acid lactone content is said to be less than approximately 4%. A synergistic relationship between the calcium content and the potassium (or sodium) content is described. An acetone refining step is employed in preparing the HCA extract. As previously mentioned, potentially toxic residues of chemicals employed during manufacture may be a concern in some HCA compositions intended for consumption.
There exists a need for a pure, stable, highly soluble formulation of HCA salts that addresses the above-identified problems and eminently lends itself for incorporation into consumables such as drinking water, beverages, nutraceuticals, power bars, ice cream, and the like. Such products are useful as diet aids to help with weight reduction. Also needed is a better and more commercially attractive way to prepare such HCA salt formulations.

Hydroxycitric acid salt composition and method of making