A punch type substrate strip includes a plurality of substrate units, a plurality of slots and at least one plating-trace collecting hole. The slots are formed around the substrate units. The plating-trace collecting hole is located outside the substrate units. The substrate strip is provided with a plurality of connecting pads, a plurality of first plating traces and at least one second plating trace. The connecting pads are disposed in each substrate unit, and the first plating traces and the second plating trace are electrically connected to the connecting pads. The first plating traces have a plurality of first broken ends located in the slots. The second plating trace is extended across a region located between the slots, and has a second broken end located in the plating-trace collecting hole. Accordingly, more extensive space for plating traces can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a punch type substrate strip, and more particularly to a punch type substrate strip, wherein the layout space of broken ends of the plating traces can be increased after plating.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional punch type substrate strip includes a plurality of substrate units which are integrated thereon. The substrate units function as chip carriers for manufacturing various integrated circuit (IC) packages or integrated circuit (IC) modules. Then, the IC packages or the IC modules are separated from each other by means of punching. Since the size of the IC package is gradually minimized, the density for the circuit layout of the substrate unit is gradually increased. Relatively, the space of the circuit layout is gradually reduced. If the inner circuit of the substrate unit is directly changed, then the electrical communication, the electrical shield, the added cost of circuit layers and the strength of the combined dielectric layers of the substrate unit are affected. Thus, it is important to improve the spaces of two side edges of the substrate strip in order to avoid changing the inner circuit of the substrate unit. Otherwise, the original design of the final product will be affected.
Taiwan Patent Number 1246380, entitled "Fabrication Method of a Printed Circuit Board", discloses a method for making a broken circuit of a conductive finger. A plating trace is adapted for electrically connecting a ground/power line to a plating bus located around a printed circuit board. Furthermore, a transmission line (i.e. additional line of the plating trace) is adapted for electrically connecting a ground/power line to a conductive finger. Then, a solder mask is patterned and formed so as to specially expose out the conductive finger and to cover the transmission line, whereby the conductive finger is plated. Then, the transmission line is removed by means of etching so as to form a broken circuit between the conductive finger and the plating bus, thereby prevent the conductive finger (or the inner circuit connected thereto) from damage of electrostatic discharge. The broken circuit is located at the original location of the transmission line and inside the printed circuit board, and thus the design of the inner circuit of the substrate has been changed and the manufacturing processes have been increased. In addition, the printed circuit board has no slots, and thus the method for making the broken circuit of the conductive finger cannot be applied to a punch type substrate strip.
Furthermore, Taiwan Patent Publication Number 479334, entitled "Method for Manufacturing Plating Traces for Ball Grid Array Chip Package", discloses a method for making broken circuits of plating traces. In the prior art, a punch type substrate strip includes a plurality of plating traces adapted for respectively electrically connecting conductive fingers to a plating bus located outside substrate units. After a plating process, a slot is formed in next process and located at the original location of the plating bus, whereby the broken circuits of the plating traces are formed, and thus the plating traces are respectively electrically isolated. However, the layout of most of the plating traces is restricted by the length of the slot.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional punch type substrate strip 1 includes a plurality of substrate units 10. Also, the punch type substrate strip 1 includes a plurality of slots 20, which are formed around the substrate units 10, so as to be conveniently punched. The substrate strip 1 is provided with a plurality of connecting pads 11 and a plurality of plating traces 12. The connecting pads 11 are disposed in the substrate units 10, and the plating traces 12 are electrically connected to the connecting pads 11. The plating traces 12 have a plurality of broken ends 12A located at the inner long edge 21 of the slot 20. When the layout space of the plating traces 12 is not enough, it is necessary that a plurality of plating traces 13 are laterally extended to the inner short edge 22 of the slot 20. The plating traces 13 also have a plurality of broken ends 13A at the inner short edge 22 of the slot 20. The amount of the broken ends 13A is restricted by the width of the inner short edge 22 of the slot 20, and thus there is not more extensive space for dense plating traces to be provided.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a punch type substrate strip capable of solving the above-mentioned problems.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


A short-circuiting and brush-lifting device comprises a rotatable actuating ring having with brush-actuating rods levers cause the brushes of the motor to lift up via the rotating actuating after the slip rings have been short-circuited as a result of the axial displacement of a short-circuiting ring. To make the device wear-resistant and insensitive to contamination, the actuating ring supports three rollers, with which it abuts in the starting position on the spring-loaded short-circuiting ring. The actuating ring is guided exactly in parallel by three axial guide rods, which are disposed perpendicularly to the brush-actuating rods. The configuration of all articulated joints of these rods is adjusted so as to allow the points of maximum excursion of the deflection of the articulated joint of the axial guide rods and the brush-actuating rods are exhibited at staggered times. In this manner the brush-actuating rod runs through its point of maximum excursion first and, after that, the axial rod runs through its point of maximum excursion. The clearance between the short-circuit contacts of the short-circuiting ring and the short-circuit contacts of the slip rings is smaller in the starting position is than the axial movement of the actuating ring during the short-circuiting operation, so that the brushes do not lift up until after the short-circuiting operation has taken place.

The invention relates to a short-circuiting and brush-lifting device for asynchronous motors equipped with a slip-ring rotor. In such a rotor the slip rings have short-circuit contacts without any axial spring mounting, which enable the slip rings to be short-circuited by a short-circuiting ring that is displaceable in the axial direction. This device also includes a device for triggering the axial displacement of the short-circuiting ring and a rotatably supported actuating ring. The actuating ring surrounds the rotor shaft and can twist between a starting position and an operating position. Guide rods (brush-actuating rods) having the same length are secured on the actuating ring by articulated. With the assistance of levers, these guide rods cause the brush-holder studs to rotate and the brushes to lift up only when the slip rings have been short-circuited.
A known short-circuiting and brush-lifting device is disclosed in the article by Moeller Werr in Electronic Engineering Handbook (Leitfaden der Elektrotechnik), vol. III Design and Strength Calculations for Electrical Machines (Konstruktion und Festigkeitsberechnungen elektrischer Maschinen), third edition, p. 122, in particular illustration 122.1. These devices are used so that after the slip-ring rotor runs up to speed over resistance, the asynchronous motor with its short-circuited rotor winding and lifted brushes can operate with low losses and without wearing out the brushes.
In this known device, the actuating ring is supported in rollers and rotatably secured to end shield. It serves to join several brush-holder studs with guide rods or lugs having the same length, which are each secured by an articulated joint to the periphery of the actuating ring and are uniformly distributed around the periphery. If the actuating ring is turned by gear teeth, which gear into a gear wheel, in the direction allocated to short-circuiting, then, the guide rods effect a rotation of the brush-holder studs with levers and lift up the brushes. A cam is connected to the gear wheel that triggers the rotation of the actuating ring, which causes the short-circuiting ring to be displaced in the axial direction. However, this short-circuiting ring contacts the short-circuit contacts of the slip rings before the brushes are lifted up and consequently short-circuits them. Since force is introduced to the short-circuiting ring at only one single point, there exists a danger that the short-circuiting ring will become skewed, because it is small in length in relation to the inside diameter. By providing a bearing arrangement on the rotor shaft with a small clearance to prevent this, this arrangement would also be sensitive to contamination, in the same way as the gear tooth engagement and the cam. Moreover, this short-circuiting and brush-lifting device is expensive, since different devices are provided for short-circuiting the slip rings and for raising the brushes.
In German Patent Number 10 05 173, an electrical machine is described having a short-circuiting and brush-lifting device. This device has a ring supported in the brush carrier housing for short-circuiting the slip rings and raising and lowering the brushes. The slip rings are short-circuited by toggle switches, which are actuated by an axially displaceable connector ring. The connector ring is moved with the assistance of a connecting link guide via a rotatable control ring. Levers for actuating the brush-lifting device are also connected to the control ring.
However, it is costly and difficult to convert a rotary motion into the axial movement of the connector ring. Moreover, there is a danger that the connector ring could become skewed.
An object of the present invention is to provide a short-circuiting and brush-lifting device which works with the lowest possible rate of wear and is insensitive to contamination.

Short-circuiting and brush-lifting device for asynchronous motors equipped with a slip-ring rotor


A tire position determination system including tire pressure detectors respectively attached to tires, axle rotation detectors respectively corresponding to axles, and a receiver located on a vehicle body. Each tire pressure detector detects when reaching a specific position on a rotation trajectory of the corresponding tire and transmits a radio wave including the tire ID. An ID temporary registration unit temporarily registers tire IDs to the memory that are received from the tire pressure detectors existing in a signal receivable area of the receiver. An ID registration acquires axle rotation information from each axle rotation detector whenever receiving the radio wave from each tire pressure detector, and specifies a tire ID of a tire that rotates in synchronism with rotation of each axle to determine the tire position of the tire.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-224230 describes a conventional example of a tire pressure monitoring system. In the system, a tire pressure detector is attached to each tire to detect the pressure of the tire. A receiver is mounted on the body of the vehicle to receive a tire pressure signal transmitted from each tire pressure detector through wireless communication. In such a system, the ID of each tire needs to be registered in advance to the receiver in association with the position of the corresponding tire so that the tire can be located when low pressure is detected.
In the tire pressure monitoring system, the tire ID needs to be registered to the receiver whenever tires are changed, for example, in accordance with the season. This is burdensome.

Tire position determination system having tire pressure sensors and using axle rotation detectors

KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOKAI RIKA DENKI SEISAKUSHO


A sub-1 μL pipette having a small diameter metal tube that is concentrically located within the tip mounting shaft/portion of the pipette and extends from the distal end thereof by some predetermined distance so as to seal against the interior of a pipette tip that is installed to the tip mounting portion. The use of a small diameter metal tube and sealing of the metal tube against the inner surface of the pipette tip near a distal opening of the pipette tip allows for a minimal ullage volume.

Generally speaking, and as would be well understood by one of skill in the art, a pipette is a device that is normally used in conjunction with a pipette tip to transfer or distribute a measured volume of liquid from one location to another. Air-displacement pipettes, which are of the most interest with respect to this application, operate generally by creating a vacuum via the retraction of a piston located in the pipette body. Thus, when the open end of an associated pipette tip is submersed in a liquid, the resulting vacuum draws air from the pipette tip and an amount of the liquid is consequently drawn into the tip to replace the evacuated air. Movement of the pipette piston is regulated such that a desired measured amount of liquid is drawn into the tip during the aspiration phase of the pipetting operation.
Air-displacement pipettes are available in a wide volume range of between about 0.2 μL to several thousand μL. However, despite the fact that small volume air-displacement pipettes are available, pipetting volumes below 1 μL has remained very difficult. For example, a recent survey of researchers who own 2 μL pipettes and pipette liquids at volumes of 1 μL and lower, revealed that close to 50% of respondents identified inaccuracy and low precision as a major problem.
After ample research, it is believed that the ongoing difficulties associated with sub-1 μL pipetting are attributable to several different factors. One factor is believed to be the lack of inertia of the liquid dispensed from a pipette tip at sub-1 μL volume levels. That is, when expelled from a pipette tip, very small liquid volumes lack the inertia that is clearly present in larger dispense volumes (e.g., 1,000 μL). In the case of such a larger dispense volume, all of the liquid will be expelled with significant inertia out of the pipette tip without the need to touch off the tip on the side of the containing vessel. This is not the case when a sub-1 μL liquid volume is dispensed.
Another factor that is believed to contribute to the difficulties associated with sub-1 μL pipetting is the capillary action of the pipetted liquid and the surface energy of the plastic from which the pipette tip is molded. Particularly, the capillary action of the liquid is stronger in a small-diameter, small-volume pipette tip, which tends to retain liquid in the tip.
Another factor that is believed to contribute to the difficulties associated with sub-1 μL pipetting is ullage volume which, as used herein, is defined as the volume of air in the pipette and tip above the surface of aspirated liquid in the tip. Because the pipetting aspiration process always starts with the pipette piston in the same location, and the ullage volume is independent of the pipette volume setting and the amount of liquid aspirated, the ullage volume can be calculated from the geometry of the pipette piston, seal, shaft and tip.
It has been determined that the ratio of the aspirated liquid volume to the ullage volume is a good indicator of how "stiff" the pipette system is and how effective the dispense stroke of the pipette will be. Because this ratio is unfavorable in most small volume (e.g., below 20 μL) pipettes, many manufacturers use an extended blowout stroke to ensure that all of the aspirated liquid will be dispensed from the pipette tip.
While pipetting sub-1 μL liquid volumes has remained very difficult, the need to pipette such small liquid volumes has grown significantly. There are several reasons for the increased demand, most likely led by the increasing cost of reagents. In any case, there is an evident need for an improved sub-1 μL pipette. Exemplary pipette embodiments described and shown herein meet this need.


A system for aiding to make a medical care schedule and/or record is provided with: a plurality of files for respectively including medical care data in correlation with execution timing data; a display controlling device for (i) generating first display data to display the medical care data composing the medical care schedule and/or record for one patient, as for only a partial period for the one patient, and (ii) generating second display data to display a table identification mark information, as a patient chronological table in which the table identification mark information is arranged at a position corresponding to the partial period on a time axis indicating the whole period of the medical care schedule and/or record; and a selecting device for selecting one of a plurality of table identification mark information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a new system for aiding or navigating a person related to medical care such as a medical doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, a medical office worker and so on, to make a medical care schedule and a medical care record. The present invention also relates to a compute: readable program storage device and a computer data signal embodiment in a carrier wave, which allow a computer to function as the aiding system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a medical doctor performs an observation or examination for the patient. Then, at first the medical doctor makes up a medical care schedule in his or her mind as for a test, a medical service, an arrangement for hospitalization, a medical operation, an administration of medicine etc., after that in accordance with the observation and the diagnosis Then, for example, the medical doctor may make such a schedule by writing, on a so-called "instruction table" sheet for exclusive use, the medical care schedule or plan for the patient such as the schedule and content of the test and the medication, the schedule and content of the medical operation, the schedule and content of the post-operation treatment or examination and so on. As for a medical care record for the medical care actions performed on the basis of the schedule, recording by using an electric medical record is becoming widespread in place of a conventional medical record of a paper or sheet.
Recently, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2706645 (Japanese Patent Application Laying Open NO. Hei 9-185651) corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,197 and Japanese Patent No. 2815346 (Japanese Patent Application Laying Open NO. Hei 10-214302) corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,018 which have been applied by the present inventor, it is also possible to make such a medical care schedule and a record on a medical care schedule table, in which medical care actions of various types for one patient are arranged in first rows for each type of the medical care actions and in second rows orthogonal to the first rows for each date, displayed on a computer display. Namely, it is possible to make such a medical care schedule and a record on a medical care schedule table which is displayed by executing a program called as a "care map" or on a medical care schedule table which is generally called as a "critical pass", (hereinbelow this kind of medical care schedule table is simply referred to as a "care map" as the occasion demands), by filling each item in the care map in accordance with the diagnosis or observation of the medical doctor More concretely, the medical care schedule maker or recorder such as a medical care doctor sets medical care items related to the pertinent patient as the items to constitute the ordinate (first row) of the table and also sets an appropriate term assigned to the date constituting the abscissa (second row) of the table in which the medical care actions belonging to the set items will be performed, in accordance with the diagnosis or observation, so that the frames of the care map are constructed. Further, he or she inputs the medical care actions to be performed into each frame of the care map at the date and item corresponding thereto (hereinbelow, each frame of the table is called as a "cell" as the occasion demands). Then, after the scheduled medical care action is performed, a performance or result data remains as a confirmed data ill each cell of the care map in place of the schedule data. Namely, in tis care map, the schedule data is shown with the performance or result record data.
According to the above mentioned care map, since the hospital concerned personnel such as the medical doctor, the nurse, the pharmacist etc., who actually performs the medical care schedule, share the performance or result record data and the schedule data, it is possible to make the medical care schedule with little loss and perform the medical care schedule while appropriately adjusting or amending it in cooperation with each other e.g., inputting and changing the data associated with each cell (or each item) in the care map at each of the terminals with reference to required result data as the occasion demand.
Especially, according to the research of the prevent inventors, it is ideal, for making an appropriate medical care schedule for each patient, to deal with a performance or result record data on one patient on the care map not only by a unit of one hospitalization, but also by an unified unit of a plurality of hospitalizations or a plurality of attendances to a hospital or hospitals, and further by a long term such as a decade and ultimately by a patient's life, if they are possible, because the clinical history of the patient can be referred to upon making the schedule. In this case, it is more ideal to deal with the result data on the same patient on the same care map not only at one health care facility such as one hospital, but also at a plurality of health care facilities to which the same patient has attended.
However, according to the above mentioned care map, under the actual scene of the recent sophisticated and complicated medical care, inputted electronic data i.e., medical information is quite various and accumulated data related to the same care map have basically increased.
Especially, as one patient's term which should be treated with the above mentioned care map becomes long, the accumulated data related to the care map become vast. Also, as the health care facilities for one patient which should be treated with the same care map increase in number, the accumulated data related to the same care map become vast.
As a result, in referring to the medical care information on one patient on the above mentioned care map, it becomes extremely difficult for the doctor or the like to find out the exact information on a certain disease to which the doctor or the like would like to refer under each individual concrete circumstance, for example, under the circumstance that a medical care schedule for a patient who has myocardial infarction is being made, even by using a recent scrolling technique or the like. For example, if the care map lists the various information such as medical information recorded in hospitalizing with fracture, medical information on an operation for empyema, diagnosis information on gastric ulcer, a result of visual acuity test, and so on, it becomes extremely difficult to find out the most important medical information on the myocardial infarction on the care map. Moreover, for example, even if the doctor or the like would like to find what the first liver trouble is lie, in making a medical care schedule of a liver trouble for middle-aged, it would be extremely difficult to hunt out the decades-old record on the care map in other medical information on dozens of and hundreds of hospital visits and hospitalizations.
Like the above mentioned, it adversely becomes difficult to achieve the care map's basic object which is to refer to all kinds of medical care information on the care map efficiently, if too much medical information is store. This makes it difficult to deal with the medical care information on one patient as long term as possible and to deal with the information which covers a plurality of medical care facilities on the same care map.

System for aiding to make medical care schedule and/or record, program storage device and computer data signal embodied in carrier wave


A cluster data processing method and system based on a unique identity control without requiring continuous network connection between the servers in the cluster and an external computer. The cluster sends a first data containing a controlling identity record to the external computer. The controlling identity record includes a unique identity and a control information. A load-balancing device of the cluster receives from the external computer a second data, which contains a controlling identity record corresponding to that of the first data. The cluster routes the second data according to the control information in the controlling identity record of the second data. The disclosed method and system may help avoid the overload problem of server resources and prevent low performance caused by continuous network connection that has to be maintained between the cluster and external server 190 in existing technology.

This disclosure is related to the field of data processing technologies, and particularly to data processing methods systems based on a cluster.
As the computer and network technologies continuously develop, the ever-increasing processing demand and requirement for reliability of servers can no longer be satisfied by simply enhancing the hardware performance of the servers. Under this circumstance, cluster computing technology has gradually received widespread attention and use. A cluster refers to a kind of parallel or distributed system made up by a number of integrated computing devices (such as personal computers and servers) and used as a unified computing resource. If one of the servers in the cluster has failed to function, other servers within the same cluster could take over its services and jobs to provide a highly reliable network service. Furthermore, by using cluster computing technology, the load originally taken by a single server can be shared by other servers in the same cluster. This greatly increases the processing power of the system.
A cluster is formed by servers b0, b1, . . . bi and a load-balancing device. After receiving an external processing request, the load-balancing device selects a server from the cluster using a certain strategy based on physical aspects of the system to provide service to the outside. The selection, for example, may be based on current network connection of a server in the cluster. Under normal conditions, each server in the cluster provides a similar service. However, sometimes different servers may play different roles to provide different services. For instance, server b0 may handle data of major customers, while servers b1 and b2 may deal with data of general customers. In this case, as server b0 sends one or multiple sets of data containing a unique identity to the external server, the external server returns data of the processing result containing the same unique identity, requesting the returned data to be still processed by the same server b0.
In order to correctly return the processed data to the relevant server b0 in the above process, the usual practice in existing technology is to maintain network connection between external server and the cluster server b0 after the external server receives the data from the cluster server b0. Upon completing the processing, the server can then return the processing result to the server b0 directly through the maintained network link. However, this places a burden of network connection on the external server. This problem becomes more prominent when there are many targets to be served by the external server. An excessive number of network connections greatly consumes the resources of the external server and reduces its processing capabilities.
Therefore, new designs are desirable that can help correctly transmit the processed data from an external server to a relevant server in the cluster is an ongoing problem commonly faced in the field of cluster computing technology.

Method and apparatus for cluster data processing


Steel work gases (blast-furnace gases, coke-oven gases, converter gases, etc.) are burnt with an exhaust gas from a gas turbine, optionally with a supply of natural gas and of air, in a combustion section between the outlet of the gas turbine and the inlet of a recovery boiler, the steam from which is utilized especially for producing electrical energy.

The present invention relates to the treatment of steel work gases such as blast-furnace gas produced in metal treatment plants.
Currently, steel work gases (blast-furnace gases, coke-oven gases and converter gases) are burnt in conventional boilers, using atmospheric air as oxidizer. This arrangement does not allow significant thermal and/or electrical powers to be achieved. More recently, it has been proposed to burn steel work gases in gas turbines, thereby requiring expensive pretreatments (dust removal, compression to pressures up to 30 bar) of these gases and consequently require the compressors and combustion chambers of the turbines to be adapted.
The object of the present invention is to provide a novel process for the treatment of steel work gases, allowing them to be treated and utilized in an optimum fashion by burning them in a combustion section of a gas turbine and, downstream, in a recovery boiler, thus combining the production of electricity by the turbine with the efficient production of thermal energy in the recovery boiler.
To do this, according to one feature of the invention, the process for the treatment of steel work gases is characterized in that it comprises the steps of sending the steel work gas into at least one combustion section between the gas outlet of a gas turbine and the gas inlet of a recovery boiler and of burning the steel work gas in the said combustion section in order to produce steam in the recovery boiler.
Moreover, such a process offers great operating flexibility, being suitable for plants in which the flow rate and/or calorific value of the steel work gas vary/varies greatly.
This type of process also makes it possible to treat large volumes of steel work gas and, correspondingly, to achieve considerable installed powers, exceeding 200 MW.
According to other features of the invention:
the process includes the step of furthermore introducing a stream of fresh air, at least locally, into the combustion section in order to ensure combustion of the steel work gas;
the process includes the step of furthermore introducing a stream of combustible gas, at least locally, into the combustion section in order to guarantee combustion of the steel work gas, especially when its calorific value becomes very low.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the following description of embodiments, the description being given by way of entirely non-limiting illustration, with reference to the appended drawing in which:
the single FIGURE schematically represents a combined plant for the implementation of a process according to the invention.

Combined installation for the treatment of steel work gases

L""Air Liquidexe2x80x94Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l""Etude et l""Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


The invention is a microphone bleed simulator which processes the audio signals recorded with one spot microphone and one room mic (or one spot mic alone) and simulates the sound that would be created in a typical studio recording environment wherein multiple spot microphones and multiple room microphones distributed throughout that environment all pick up sounds from any given sound source. Such multiple microphone contributions to the mixed sound are what imbue actual recordings with much of their characteristic sound quality and sense of realism, and what make recordings of ensemble instruments sound as though the players were performing together in one place. The system and method of the invention artificially simulates this natural microphone bleed and provides the means to create scaleable, realistic multi-channel sound mixes in formats such as stereo, 5.1 and 7.1 surround. The invention is particularly well suited to processing sampled or synthesized sound.

This invention relates to the recording of orchestral sounds, choirs, or any type of music or sound effect and to the subsequent playback in a manner that simulates a particular position on a sound stage and particular features thereof (such as size, shape and acoustics). By way of example, the invention can be used to recreate the sound of a conventional symphonic recording setup that uses numerous spot microphones and five to seven surround sound (sometimes called "Decca Tree") microphones.
As little as one microphone and one channel of actual audio for sound storage (in digital or analog format) of each individual sound source may be used. Multiple sources (e.g., multiple instruments within an orchestra) are recorded individually and stored discretely on recording media. The invention is particularly well suited for use with a multiplicity of sound sources which are distributed around a real or virtual environment, and for reproduction of the sounds made by those sources on an expanded stereo or a 7.1 stereo surround sound system (although it is suitable also for fewer or more reproduction channels).
Unlike conventional reverberation and spatial effects systems that are entirely post-production oriented, meaning they are used after sound is recorded, this invention may benefit from a specific microphone placement and recording technique used in conjunction with specialized processing upon playback. As a result, the invention may capture the sound quality of a recorded space, and it may permit continuously variable control of the size and liveliness of the apparent recording environment.
The invention enhances the quality and controllability of sampled sound libraries, and it is also applicable to many other situations where one wishes to have real-time, continuously variable control of the apparent size of the acoustic sound field upon playback of recorded or synthesized sound. The invention is applicable for both studio production use as well as for live performances of sampled or synthesized music and for computer gaming. It can also be applied to benefit broadcast and other means of sound distribution such as CD, DVD, Internet and other means, including future means, of audio distribution, storage and reproduction.
Many years ago, recordings for home listening were made in simple 2-channel (left-right) stereo. (This, of course, was subsequent to the "ancient" monaural days.) For sound reproduction in motion picture theaters, a center channel was added to the stereo channels to keep the "audio image" from appearing to drift. So, theatrical recordings were made in 3-channel (left-center-right) stereo. Then along came 5-channel stereo recording that created expanded stereo for wide-screen presentations (adding far left and far right to the left-center-right sound field). (Other channel allocations and speaker placements were used as well.) A "subwoofer" or very low bass channel was added, and this arrangement can be referred to as 5.1 (pronounced "five-dot-one") expanded stereo. Typically in 5.1 expanded stereo sound production, the subwoofer channel is artificially created from the 5-channel stereo mix, although special effects can be added to the subwoofer channel (such as rumble to simulate rocket engines, explosions, earthquakes and so forth). Left and right rear speakers have also been added. These rear speakers are often referred to as "surround" speakers and the audio channel feeds to them are referred to as "surround" channels. In many motion picture theaters today, there are three speakers (a left speaker, a center speaker and a right speaker) behind the projection screen (i.e., at the front of the auditorium), a subwoofer (low frequency speaker) usually in front and below the screen, and two speakers in the rear of the auditorium (a left rear (or left surround) speaker and a right rear (or right surround) speaker), with a separate audio channel feeding each speaker. This system is usually referred to as a "5.1 stereo surround" system or simply a "5.1" system. Many home theater systems emulate the motion picture theater systems and 5.1 stereo surround has become a standard for high-quality motion picture soundtracks and digital video disc (DVD) soundtracks.
Some high-end productions are being released in 7.1 ("seven-dot-one"), adding far left and far right channels to the behind the screen speakers. Some are experimenting with other formats involving different numbers of channels.
In the prior art recording of orchestras, for greater realism and ease of production, symphonic recording sessions would be done in a very large room with 50 to 100 musicians all playing as though they were in a live concert. This assembly of musicians typically would be recorded using from 15 to 25 microphones ("mics"). The audio signals from the mics would be mixed down (combined) to fewer channels, which channels were ultimately preserved on discrete tracks of a professional digital or analog recording system.
This "ideal" situation is seldom available, and more frequently symphonic recordings (such as for motion picture soundtrack scoring) are made with sections of about 10 instruments at a time in multiple recording sessions. The effect of a "full orchestra" is created by mixing together the results of these multiple sessions. This compromise is made primarily to avoid the high cost of hiring a large orchestra and of renting a large enough studio or hall in which to record it. Using a process called overdubbing, a musician can listen in headphones to previously recorded portions of the program while recording additional material, thus allowing the musician to synchronize his/her playing and to control the timber and volume of the instrument similarly to what would naturally occur in a full orchestra environment. Thus, one musician can, in sequence, play several parts or different instruments. However, the overdubbing process does not provide the same sonic quality as can be achieved with all members of the orchestra actually present at once in a large space.
Despite the pressure for economy, the need for superb sonic quality has not diminished, especially for large-sounding motion picture (or television) scores. There is still a demand for the "large sound."
Primarily in response to the high cost of live musical scoring, digitally sampled music technology has been taking over the recording industry. Using sampling technology, a library of recorded instrument sounds can be played to create soundtracks without the need for any (or at least not as many) live players. The libraries are played using digital devices known as samplers, which may be embodied as computer programs, or the samplers may be embodied in dedicated hardware systems. Unfortunately, there are myriad difficulties when using today's sample libraries or even using synthesizers.
The overall systems (library and sampler) seldom deliver their promised realism, economy, or simplicity of use. Many sampled instrument libraries only go as far as 2-channel stereo, although some have been created to satisfy the 5.1 format. The 7.1 format has not yet been tackled by samplers, and even the latest releases of 5.1 libraries pose serious technical and performance issues in practical application only a handful of libraries sold in recent years are entirely new productions, with most libraries using at least some reworked recordings from older, poorer quality libraries. Since leading-edge sound quality is difficult to find in samplers, and is not uniform across the sounds offered, and since the 5.1 sampler systems are either too complex or just plain fail to function satisfactorily when pressed to the limit (i.e., recreating the sound of about one hundred different instruments at a time to simulate a full orchestra), simple 2-channel stereo libraries have continued to sell. In other words, there is a large gap between what the market would like to have at its disposal, and what is practically achievable from currently available products.
To extend the utility of 2-channel stereo libraries, end users have attempted to simulate the 5.1 surround sound environment by using 5.1 surround reverb software programs. Typical embodiments would be the plug-in software "processors" like those sold by Lexicon of Sandy, Utah or TC Electronics of Risskov, Denmark, and intended for use with ProTools™ software/hardware platforms of Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, Inc., of Daly City, Calif. Although these are useful tools, they do not accurately simulate the sound of multiple microphones picking up all the instruments during a live recording session in a single space (such as an auditorium or studio).
Today's hardware-based and software-based 5.1 reverbs treat each signal as though it were being picked up by five room microphones, typically in a so-called "Decca Tree" configuration. A Decca Tree arrangement usually consists of five microphones many feet above and in front of the sound source (three in a frontal triangle plus added far left and far right microphones). This arrangement was first popularized in Decca Records' London studios many years ago. Other arrangements of five microphones are simply known as 5-channel sound. Such reverbs do not simulate the additional spot microphones that are present during recordings of a full complement of musicians in a larger (or even in a smaller) recording studio or hall.
The difference between typical 5.1 reverb-processed surround and live 5.1 surround recording must be understood in order to appreciate all that the invention described herein does to advance the state of the art. Reference here is made to FIG. 10, which includes an overhead view of a traditional live orchestra arrangement for over a hundred musicians playing an even greater number of instruments 22 (including violins, flutes, brass, percussion and so forth), which are depicted in the drawing as rectangular and circular shapes, positioned in the orchestral stage portion 32 of a recording studio 34 (which could be a concert hall). Spot mics 24 are distributed throughout the area of the sound stage where the orchestra is positioned, and room mics 26 are positioned near the front of the orchestra and significantly higher than the spot mics. The spot mics are typically directional mics and primarily pick up the sonic character of the instruments near them. In FIG. 10 twenty five spot mics are shown, which would be within the range typically used for recordings of a full orchestra. The room mics are typically omni directional mics and pick up more of the sound of the environment as well as the blended sound of many instruments. In FIG. 10, seven room mics 26 are shown. One each is positioned, respectively, at the far left, left, center, right and far right above the front of the orchestral stage (which is coincident with the front of the part of the studio representing the audience area 36). The two remaining room mics are positioned to the far left and far right of the rear of the audience area 36. These two remaining mics are intended to pick up the sounds which would reverberate from the rear of the audience area 36.
During a live orchestral recording session, each microphone, including each of the spot mics 24 and room mics 26 in the studio (or on stage), picks up sounds from all the instruments present. This "mic bleed" is what gives live ensemble recordings a feeling of space and depth as well as the impression that all the musicians were playing in the same location at once. This is true whether the recording is for a full performance of a musical program or whether it is for the purpose of deriving digital samples that capture the sound of the studio or hall. Orchestral recording is discussed here because it is among the most complex and challenging, but the descriptions apply equally to almost any kind of sound recording. The five front room microphones (far left—left—center—right—far right) are located high in the air and near the front of the orchestra, and they serve to capture much of the sound of the studio (or hall) as well as of the orchestra itself (or the sound of a section of the orchestra if the recording is being done with a subgroup of musicians), but the room or surround mics are not the only mics contributing to the recording. Numerous spot mics which are placed lower and closer to specific instruments or instrument sections, are mixed into the overall recording at which time they are panned to the appropriate left-to-right location in the stereo sound field.
Many recording engineers have tried to use only or primarily the room microphones (typically in a "Decca Tree" microphone array or some variation thereof) to capture the entire performance, but they have generally found the results to be unsatisfactory. Such room-mic-only recordings can seem "muddy" or lacking in clarity and definition. The "presence" (i.e., the midrange/high frequency spectral content) of any given sound source is better captured by a nearby microphone, and that is why spot mics are almost always used in conjunction with room mics to achieve satisfactory results. However because the room and spot mics are picking up the same sound but in different locations, there often are phase-related sonic cancellations, which make it very difficult to optimize the placement and mixing of the various mics. Among its other benefits, the invention controls this phase cancellation problem.
Typically, in prior art methods, which pick up sounds that are to be similarly panned, spot mics are sub-mixed into "stems" (in which case each spot mic is not recorded discretely, but instead is recorded along with other spot mics as part of a group or stem). This means that existing master recordings are generally unsuitable for use with this invention, as will become evident once the method of this invention is understood. Although the microphone closest to one instrument will predominantly pick up the sound of that instrument, it also picks up the sound of every other instrument playing, the phenomenon previously mentioned as "mic bleed." The bleed sound from more distant instruments is usually detected at a lower volume level than the sound of the instrument(s) nearest to a given spot mic due to normal acoustic attenuation over distance. Also, because sound travels at a finite speed (about 1.1 feet per millisecond), the sound from a particular source reaches the spot mic nearest it sooner than its sound reaches a remotely spaced spot mic. Additionally, the sound arriving at the remotely spaced spot mic is diminished in high frequency content due to the differential attenuation of higher frequencies by the air itself. Thus the spectral balance of an instrument in the bleed sound picked up by each more distant spot mic is not the same as sound picked up by the spot mic nearest to the instrument. The more distant a sound source is from a given spot mic, the more reverberation is present (rapid, blended sound reflections primarily from sound bouncing off the floor, ceiling and walls). Such reverberation decays more slowly than the direct sound from the sound source. Also, the orientation of each spot mic (or room mic, for that matter) with respect to a given sound may differ, introducing additional phase shift with respect to that same sound as it is sensed by each of the various mics. Thus, the bleed in different spot mics comprises different "versions" of the sound from a given source, depending largely upon the spot mic distance from the source. With each instrument (or other sound source) bleeding into all the other spot microphones, the overall captured sound field from all these spot mics imbues a "color" and a recognizable characteristic to the recorded sound, one that gives the impression of a particular sized recording space.
The sound mix of all the spot mics provides most of the character and impression of size to a recording. The sounds recorded by the spot mics are enhanced by the elevated room microphones such as those in a Decca Tree. By way of example, if one records a single instrument in a large hall with only the nearest spot mic, and no other spot mics—that recording does not sound as spacious or appear to be as realistic as one recorded with all the typical spot mics and Decca Tree room mics contributing to the recording. In fact, it sounds almost as though it were recorded in a much smaller room. Adding conventional sound effects and reverberation processing will make the sound appear "larger" but cannot fully overcome the lack of realism and spaciousness, particularly when recording with multiple "spot-mic'd" sources. Even with a five room mic sound array added to the mix, the sound still lacks the depth and spaciousness that can be heard when all the spot mics and room mics pick up bleed from all the instruments and contribute this sound to the mix.
For prior art sampled sound, several obstacles arise for sampler playback if the samples were recorded with the typical 15 to 25 spot mics plus the 5 room mics picking up the orchestra (or any group of musicians or singers). The first and most obvious issue to anyone who has tried to use sample libraries is that the sound of the hall is "locked in" through this technique, particularly if the sample recording was done in a large space. In this instance, the long time delays and natural sound reflections in a large recorded space become part of the sampled sounds and cannot later be removed or altered appreciably. This is an insurmountable obstacle when one needs the sound of a smaller environment and the samples were recorded in a large environment. Going the other way, small studio recordings can be "stretched" somewhat through the addition of artificial reverberation and delay processing, but this does not accurately create the sound field achieved from mic bleed when spot microphones would be laid out further apart in a larger space. Because one does not have access to each spot microphone in a mixed-down multi-instrument sample recording (even if it is in 5.1 format), there is no way to alter the relationship of the spot mic contributions, nor do conventional reverbs provide means to simulate the way the spot mics function to create the impression of the live sound field.
When smaller numbers of musicians are recorded in smaller studios, as is more often the case today, the deficiency of not having the correct spot microphone scaling is especially evident. Many engineers, composers and musicians may be unaware of why the sound seems "too small" or incorrect, and so when they attempt to scale up the sound of a smaller studio using conventional 5.1 reverb embodied in software or hardware based systems, they find that no amount of conventional post-production reverberation effects can truly emulate the spaciousness of the sound which would have been achieved in the larger environment with the mic bleed. Even if they manage to come close to the "right sound" for one or a few instruments, the effect deteriorates when a whole section of instruments or an entire orchestra is processed—even using the most advanced 5.1 reverb systems. This inability to satisfactorily scale the orchestra (or other group) occurs because the individual instruments in the sample library lack the correct and unique spot mic "bleed" contributions; treating the sum of all the instruments with reverb processors as though they came from one (or even 5) locations simply cannot emulate what happens with an array of five or more room mics and a large array of many spot mics.
The inability to accurately and continuously scale the apparent size of the recorded space, particularly to make it smaller, is a drawback with conventional sample libraries and, as stated above, it is a deficiency that can barely be compensated using reverberation and effects processing. However, there is another major obstacle to the implementation of surround stereo recordings with sampler technology. That is, today's best full-orchestral library samplers with surround sound capability are difficult to set up and use. The means by which conventional samplers function to provide changes in the characteristics of notes played typically requires that several "versions" of a given note be loaded at once, multiplying the number of samples that must be processed in real time. Because the demand on computer resources rises and falls as a prior art sampler is played, the internal computer data busses and input/output ports can suddenly and unpredictably "choke" (create glitches in the sound or crash completely) if the user demands playback of "just that one more note." Consequently real-time, one-take performance is difficult to achieve from a large-scale 5.1 sample library.
Setting aside the practical aspects noted above for a moment, there are serious sonic issues even assuming one manages to get the prior art sample library playing satisfactorily and reliably. True 5.1 recordings of a sound have many open mics (that is, they have many microphones picking up and recording the sound). Not only do the mics pick up the sounds of the instruments, all these mics also pick up the sound of the room—which includes undesirable noise such as air conditioning rumble, coughs, flipping pages of music and shuffling feet. Besides room noise, for each "live" mic there is a degree of electronic noise present (even a simple carbon resistor generates electrical noise due to thermally-stimulated molecular activity). When one plays back a 5.1 recording of a typical complement of 25 spot and room microphones, one hears 25 mic's worth of electric noise, plus five or six times the ambient room noise. This noise is then multiplied by each note being played; add another note to a chord, and you get another dose of all that room and mic noise. Indeed, noise builds up rapidly, even with what seemed like a very quiet studio to the naked ear. Thus, even a genuine, well-recorded prior-art 5.1 sample library would not sound as good as would a live performance or a single-take recording of an orchestra with just one set of open mics that are heard just once. As discussed below, a sample used with the current invention has the sound picked up by only one mic (typically a spot mic) or two mics (a spot mic and a room mic).
Yet another problem occurs with conventional sampled libraries. Each individual recorded note is not simply stored in the sampler but rather it is digitally edited. In some cases this is done to make it possible to sustain a note (as if it were played by a bowed violin, a horn, or a piano with the sustain pedal depressed), however long the original recorded note might have been, for as long as a keyboard's key is held down. Thus, instead of storing the full note, the sampler version has a truncated note, with the ends "chopped off" at precisely chosen times (or more accurately stated, precise locations in the sonic continuum of the note) selected so that the end of the note can be dove-tailed into the beginning of the note in a process known as "looping." When a key is released (i.e., when a note is no longer wanted), any looped sound ceases and the sampler now plays the "decay" or final portion of the recorded sound. With a conventionally recorded note's sound, the reverberation of the room in which the note was played is largely heard at the end of the note and is inextricably mixed with the sound of the note trailing off to silence. Sometimes the person playing these sampled notes wants the sound to end more quickly than was originally recorded, and so a sampler function can be invoked which truncates (chops off the decaying sound) at the end of such notes. Unfortunately, truncating a note causes a significant loss of the reverberant information as well so the impression of the size and depth of the recorded environment is lost. Using the subject invention to process recorded notes, even if they are truncated, overcomes the problem found with conventionally truncated samples in that the room characteristic is still present (i.e., added by the invention's processing that creates "lingering" reverberation when a note is released).


A video-based vehicle headlight state monitoring method and system. A vehicle image can be captured by an image-capturing unit and converted to a grayscale image. The grayscale image can be processed to locate a front license plate and identify a position of a headlight region in front of the vehicle utilizing an algorithm. An average digital count with respect to brightness of the headlight region can be compared with average digital count with respect to brightness of several parts of the vehicle and a background region to determine the vehicle headlights ON/OFF status. The headlights can be considered ON if the digital count level of the headlight region is higher than the digital count of the several parts of the vehicle and the background region. A warning signal can be initiated to turn the headlights on during a special situation utilizing a signal generator.

Headlights are usually attached to the front of a vehicle such as, for example, a car or a motorcycle with the purpose of illuminating the road ahead during periods of low visibility such as darkness or precipitation. Headlights must be turned on for night driving, during rain, snow, fog, inclement weather, and during dawn and dusk when visibility is reduced. Some states also have laws that require usage of headlights while driving through a construction zone, through a tunnel, and other special situations. Although many newer vehicles posses automatic headlights, the automatic headlights don't turn on during such special situations. Conventionally, enforcement with respect to the usage of the vehicle headlights is done visually by a law enforcement officer, either remotely or locally.
Based on the foregoing, it is believed that a need exists for improved vehicle headlight state monitoring systems and methods. A need also exists for an improved system and method for automatically verifying usage of vehicle headlights utilizing an image-capturing unit, as will be described in greater detail herein.

Vehicle headlight state monitoring methods, systems and processor-readable media


A discharging nozzle is provided in an inside space of a metal cylinder for supplying an assist gas from an inside of the metal cylinder. The gas discharging nozzle shuts a high density energy beam intruding into the inside space of the metal cylinder through a hole, so that the energy beam is prevented from being emitted to an opposite side inner surface of the metal cylinder. Dross formed during the cut-machining is drifted and swept to the outside by an assist gas flowing out from the inside space of the metal cylinder through the hole, and is blown out by the assist gas flowing on an outside surface of the metal cylinder around the hole, thereby preventing the dross from sticking to peripheral area of the hole.

This application is based on and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-227246 filed on Jul. 27, 2000.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to high density energy beam machining method and apparatus for the same in which high density energy beam is emitted to perform cut-machining.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, when a work piece is cur-machined for removing unnecessary parts, forming a hole, and forming a thin groove, a high density energy beam machining method is used. In this method, a high density energy beam is emitted to a portion of the work piece, which is to be cut (cut-machined portion), for fusing and cutting the cut-machined portion. Generally, while this cut-machining is performed, assist gas such as nitrogen and oxygen is injected simultaneously with the emission of the high density energy beam for quickly removing dross and vaporized substance generated by the cut machining. In this way, the dross and vaporized substance are prevented from sticking to the work piece and a condensing lens of a work nozzle.
When the work piece is, as described above, cut-machined by blowing the assist gas from emission side of the high density energy beam, the dross D mostly flows to the lower side of the cut-machined portion due to the assist gas, and sticks to the periphery area of the cut-machined portion.
For preventing the dross from sticking, it is considered that assist gas is supplied from both the emission side of the high density energy beam and the opposite side thereof. Here, the assist gas supplied from one of them flows toward an opposite side through cut portion formed by the emission of the high density energy beam, and the assist gas supplied from the other of them flows along an inside or outside surface of the work piece.
According to the structure, when one of the assist gases flows through the cut portion and to the opposite side, the dross generated during the cut-machining is drifted and swept to the opposite side of the work piece through the cut portion. At the opposite side to which the dross is drifted and swept, the other assist gas flows along the inside or outside surface of the work piece, so that the dross drifted and swept to the opposite side is blown by the other assist gas. Thus, the dross is effectively prevented from sticking.
However, when the above described method is used for forming holes on a work piece having a hollow space thereinside, for example, when it is used for forming through holes on a cylindrical side wall of a cylindrical work piece, as shown in FIG. 9, a gas discharging nozzle 101 is disposed at one end of the cylindrical work piece 102. The high density energy beam HB is emitted from a work nozzle 103 to form a hole 104 on the work piece 102, and the assist gas supplied from the gas discharging nozzle 101 into the work piece 102 flows out to the outside through the hole 104. In this case, there arise following disadvantages.
Since the assist gas supplied from the gas discharging nozzle 101 into the work piece 102 flows out to the outside through the hole 104, the dross does not stick to an inner surface of the work piece. However, when the hole 104 is formed, the high density energy beam HB passes through the hole 104 and is emitted to the opposite side inner surface of the work piece, so that the emitted inner surface might be partially burned and melt.
When a large number of holes are formed, pressure and amount of the assist gas flowing out from the hole 4 is decreased, so that the pressure drifting and sweeping the dross is decreased. As a result, the dross tends to stick around holes being formed later.
A first object of the present invention is to prevent the high density energy beam passing through a cut portion formed by the energy beam from being emitted to an opposite side inner surface of a work piece.
A second object of the present invention is to prevent dross from sticking to the peripheral area of the cut portion.
According to the present invention, a discharging nozzle is provided in an inside space for supplying an assist gas from an inside of the work piece. The gas discharging nozzle shuts the high density energy beam intruding into the inside space of the work piece through the cut portion, so that the energy beam is prevented from being emitted to an opposite side inner surface of the work piece. The dross formed during the cut-machining is drifted and swept to the outside by an assist gas flowing out from the inside space of the work piece through the cut portion, and is blown out by the assist gas flowing on an outside surface of the work piece around the cut portion, thereby preventing the dross from sticking to peripheral area of the cut portion.

High density energy beam machining method and apparatus for the same


An optical fiber (100A-100D) is provided with a cylindrical core (102) and a first optical cladding layer (104). The core (102) is formed of a core material (105) that is optically transmissive. The core material (105) has a core index of refraction that is continuously variable over a predetermined range of values responsive to a first energetic stimulus, such as thermal energy, photonic energy, magnetic field, and an electrical potential. The core (102) includes a bore (103) axially disposed within the first optical cladding layer (104). The bore (103) is filled with the core material (105). The first optical cladding layer (104) is disposed on the core (102). The first optical cladding layer (104) is formed of a photosensitive material. The photosensitive material has a first cladding layer index of refraction that is permanently selectively configurable responsive to an exposure to a second energetic stimulus. The first optical cladding layer (104) has gratings (114-1, 114-2) inscribed therein.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The invention concerns fiber optic devices, and more particularly, fiber optic devices having capillary waveguides.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical fibers are used for data transmission within Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed (DWDM) based networks. Devices within DWDM based networks transmit a number of signals through a single optical fiber. This is accomplished by transmitting each signal at a different wavelength along the longitudinal axis of the optical fiber. Consequently, DWDM based networks also include devices at a distal end of the optical fiber to filter a signal with a specific wavelength from a set of received signals. Tunable optical bandpass filters are often used for this purpose. In general, it is desirable for these filter devices to provide (1) wide tuning range, (2) negligible cross-talk with adjacent channels, (3) fast tuning speed, (4) low insertion loss, (5) polarization insensitivity and (6) stability with respect to environmental changes.
Various techniques are known for the purpose of implementing optical band pass filters. One such technique makes use of a fiber optic grating system. Fiber optic grating systems filter or scatter particular wavelengths of light communicated down the length of the fiber. Fiber gratings are formed by creating a periodic perturbation of the properties of the fiber. Typically, the periodic perturbation is with respect to the refractive index of the core. For example, a fiber optic grating system can include a core with a specific refractive index that varies along the length of the fiber.
Two basic types of grating systems which are known in the art include long period gratings and short period Bragg gratings. Short period fiber gratings are generally characterized as having a sub-micrometer period. These types of devices operate by coupling light from the forward propagating core mode to a backward propagating core mode. In general, the short period fiber Bragg grating will have selected narrow band reflection of specific wavelengths. Short period grating filters are usually tuned by applying stress to the grating.
In contrast, long period gratings in optical fibers typically have a period in the range of a few tens of micrometers to one (1) millimeter. Such long period gratings promote coupling between propagating core modes and co-propagating cladding modes. Long period gratings generally attenuate a certain wavelength and offer wider bandwidths.
Various techniques have been proposed for tuning optical filters as described herein. For example, special materials have been used to form the cladding material surrounding the optical fiber core. These materials interact with optical energy extending into the cladding. Changing the index of refraction for these cladding materials tunes the frequency response of the device. One example of such a device is an optical fiber with air channels or capillaries in the cladding region of the fiber. The capillaries contain a fluid having a specific index of refraction. A long period grating is inscribed in the core which couples light of certain wavelengths into forward propagating cladding modes. Power at these wavelengths is attenuated. The response of the filter is tuned by moving the fluid into and out of the region where the grating is provided. Changing the position of the fluid in this way has been used to change the attenuation and/or wavelength of the transmission notch.
Other methods for tuning optical filters are also known. For example, a fiber can be physically stressed to modify its frequency response. Acousto-optic tunable filters use flexural waves propagating along a length of the fiber to tune the reflection wavelength of the optical grating. An electro-optic approach can also be used to modify the filter response. In particular, a long period grating can be formed in a core of a specialty fiber. A thin inner cladding of silica can be disposed over the core and an electro-optic outer cladding can be formed over the inner cladding. An applied voltage is used to change the refractive index of the outer cladding. This modification of the index of refraction of the outer cladding tunes the wavelength that is filtered.

Capillary waveguide tunable optical device


A content distribution system and method which prevents unauthorized access to secured content such as movies and music. The system includes a source, a receiver, an authorized security device such as a conditional access module (CAM) for decrypting authorized content and an output device for outputting content. The system can also include a backend for managing accounts and system operations. One aspect of this invention is that the content data is derived from the Internet. The system allows for the verification of authorization to play secured content, the addition of watermarks to the secured content, the conversion of the secured content to a displayable form and the means for preventing output of the secured content.

Preventing unauthorized access to digital content is an important problem in numerous applications. The present invention broadly relates to and provides a solution to this problem. In some commercial applications, where the content includes, for example, valuable audio or video content, unauthorized access by those who obtain the content may tend to reduce the profit margin of the content provider(s), who typically provide the content, e.g. to various listener and/or viewers, for a fee. In particular, with the advent of high definition video, this problem is even more serious because the digital data is of sufficient resolution to be shown on a full size theater screen. This opens up a whole new area for content pirates to market their stolen property. While the description which follows may sometimes be described in the context of audio/video/data as an example of content to be provided, the invention is not so limited and may equally to any type of information or content data from any source, including without limitation audio and/or video data or other type of data or executables. If the unauthorized accesser is a content pirate, he or she may pose a serious threat to a content provider by inducing others to pirate the content as well. More particularly, the pirate may generally sell pirated access to the content at a lower cost than the legitimate content provider because the pirate obtains access to the content by using the legitimate provider's infrastructure and therefore does not have to invest resources to produce and disseminate the content. This becomes even a greater concern where the pirate may copy and mass produce a relatively inexpensive component which allows a large number of users to obtain access to the content without authorization by the legitimate content provider. As a result, content providers have resorted to increasingly expensive and complex schemes to prevent unauthorized access to their information and content, i.e. to prevent pirating.
The present application is directed to the same general technology as co-pending commonly assigned patent application Ser. No. 09/253,013, entitled "Information Access Control System and Method" naming Goldshlag et al. as inventors (the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein). The present application presents a more complete architecture and method for content distribution. The present invention, while employing many common encryption/decryption techniques with Ser. No. 09/252,013, provides a more comprehensive overall architecture and methodology for securely managing content from content authoring to ultimate display.
One plan for controlling access to content involves the use of an IRD (integrated receiver device) with smart cards as a security module. This plan was proposed by Fiat and Schamir in a paper titled "How To Prove Yourself: Practical Solutions To Identification And Signature Problems" The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot Israel (1986), and involves the use a trusted center to encode a smart card with personal information and secret values relating to the access. The smart card proves its identify to a verifier (IRD) which in turn must have knowledge of the secret values used to place the information onto the smart card. While the Fiat-Schamir plan is designed to make it difficult to forge personal information of one card, it does not prevent mass distribution of the forged card when and if the pirate has broken the smart card secrets used to prove identity. Also see, U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,688 to Schamir.
Another approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,609 to Cohen et al., which uses a smart card in a system for controlling access to broadcast transmissions. Cohen uses a verifier function in an IRD to authenticate the authenticity of a smart card, a secret-learning operation, and a blacklisting operation that prevents previously detected illegal cards from gaining access. However, as indicated by the presence of the blacklisting operation, the system proposed in Cohen et al. can talk to any smart card that is not on the blacklist, and is thus susceptible to a pirated card (or a plurality of pirated cards) that has not yet been blacklisted. Furthermore, the verification process proposed by Cohen et al. is triggered by the broadcast source. Thus, a pirate could simply remove the verification commands from the broadcast stream thereby circumventing the verification process altogether. Another practical problem resulting from use of the broadcast source to trigger the verification process is an architectural one whereby what should be a local level decision (when and whether to challenge a smart card) is turned into a system level decision. Finally, the verification process in Cohen et al. is not tied to the transaction between the smart card and the verifier. Thus, a pirate could use a legitimate card for access authentication, i.e., to authenticate its right to access the content of the broadcast, and then use a pirated card to avoid being billed for the access, i.e. to avoid recording that the access was actually made by the legitimate card holder. This type of pirating is referred to herein as an example of a type of attack known as a conduit attack.
Another security approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,675 to Diehl et al., which proposes to relate data between successive data packets, thus detecting when a packet has been removed. Particularly, Diehl et al. propose to inform a legitimate smart card when it is being avoided. However, a pirated card could simply ignore such information and provide pirated access to the content.
In yet another approach, proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,068 to Johnson et al., a determination is made whether a processing device and a user device, which contains a storage device, are authorized to operate with each other. The Johnson et al. approach determines whether a user device, in this case, a device which generally corresponds to a set top box, is valid by authenticating the user device to a provider device, in this case, a device which generally corresponds to a backend module. However, this approach does not determine if the provider device is valid, i.e. if the provider device is authorized to operate with the user device or with a provider device. Accordingly, a pirate who successfully reverse engineers and modifies the provider device could overcome the security protocols in Johnson et al., and more importantly, could mass-produce the pirated provider device for distribution to and by users.
Another approach is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,876 to Peterson, Jr.. Peterson authorizes access through a smart card that delivers key content to a processor that allows a playback device to reproduce content from a recording medium. The system proposed by Peterson uses a public key held at an authorization center and a private key held by the card. However, there is no pairing operation between the card and the processor, and there is no shared secret key between the card and the processor. Therefore, if a pirate successfully broke the encryption mechanism he/she could mass-produce and widely distribute pirated cards, causing harm to the content provider.
Another approach is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,045 to Clark, which uses a smart card to create a secure boot application on a computer by using the smart card to verify the executable files that the computer will run. The smart card and the computer share a secret that is installed by an administrator and the smart card and the computer executes an authentication operation. However, once an attacker figures out the code, the pirated smart card would be able to authenticate itself. Furthermore, since there is no notion of challenge to the card by the computer, the authentication is replayable. Therefore, a card that is no longer valid may continue to be used.
Finally, another approach proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,176 to Audebert, controls access to a particular function on a computer by using a renewable card. This is a transaction based system in which the card and the computer negotiate access and a key changes each time access occurs. However, this approach is limited to the particular function which is to be accessed on the computer, and is not useful for a system which deals with many different unpredictable functions/programs such in an information dissemination system, i.e. a system in which each different program (movie, song, article, executable, etc.) would be a different function.
What is needed is a system and method for protecting valuable content; a method and system which is robust, which may be tailored to the needs of a particular content provider, and which overcomes the above noted deficiencies.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Digital content distribution system and method

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


A semiconductor light emitting device is provided which comprises: a semiconductor light emitting chip 2 mounted on a top surface 12 of a support plate 1, wiring conductors 3 disposed adjacent to side surfaces 11 of support plate 1, and a plastic encapsulant 6 for sealing side surfaces 11 of support plate 1 and wiring conductors 3. Each of wiring conductors 3 has one end 13 electrically connected to an electrode 2a of semiconductor light emitting chip 2 and the other end 14 extending away from support plate 1. Plastic encapsulant 6 is formed with openings 7 upwardly extending from a bottom surface 6b of plastic encapsulant 6 between side surface 11 of support plate 1 and an outer surface 6c of plastic encapsulant 6 to open each bottom surface 3b of wiring conductors 3 to the outside through opening 7 so that heat from semiconductor light emitting chip 2 can effectively be radiated to the outside through wiring conductors 3 and opening 7 when a large current is supplied to semiconductor light emitting chip 2 to turn it on with a high brightness.

A semiconductor light emitting device is known which comprises a metallic support plate, a semiconductor light emitting element secured on the support plate, wiring conductors disposed adjacent to a top or side surfaces of the support plate to extend away from the support plate and a plastic encapsulant for sealing side surfaces of the support plate and wiring conductors. Each one end of the wiring conductors is electrically connected to a top electrode of the semiconductor light emitting element and each the other end of the wiring conductors is led out of the plastic encapsulant.
Recently, attempts have been made to apply the semiconductor light emitting devices of this kind to a light source of tail lamps or the like for automobiles, and in such a case, the light emitting devices have to light up at such an intensified emission level as to be able to positively observe lighting up or out of the devices from a distance. To this end, a semiconductor light emitting device of high optical output has been developed which can produce a light of high brightness when relatively large electric current of for example more than 350 mA is supplied through the semiconductor light emitting element as a result of study on materials and structures of the element. However, when a large electric current over 350 mA is delivered to the light emitting element, it produces an increased amount of heat during operation so that surfaces of semiconductor light emitting element may exceed a temperature of 150° C. Prior art semiconductor light emitting devices cannot produce light of high brightness because it cannot efficiently radiate heat generated from the light emitting element.
By way of example, U.S. Patent Publication 2005/0236638 to Kohji Tsukagoshi published Oct. 27, 2005 discloses a semiconductor light emitting device which comprises a support plate and a plastic encapsulant for sealing the support plate. The plastic encapsulant is formed with notches on opposite sides of the plastic encapsulant and on a bottom side of the support plate to lead each outer end of wiring conductors out of the plastic encapsulant through the notches so that exposed length of wiring conductors can be extended to the outside of the plastic encapsulant by these notches to discharge more amount of heat from the semiconductor light emitting element through the wiring conductors.
Even with the improved radiation of heat from the semiconductor light emitting element from the other end of wiring conductors, the device still cannot sufficiently release heat from semiconductor light emitting element to the outside of plastic encapsulant.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor light emitting device capable of dissipating a full amount of heat from a semiconductor light emitting element through wiring conductors when the light emitting element is turned on with a large current flowing through the light emitting element.

Semiconductor light emitting device excellent in heat radiation


A method is designed for recording data on a recordable area of an optical disk by irradiating thereto an optical beam having a writing power effective to write the data in the recordable area including a non-recorded area which is blank and a recorded area which is recorded with old data. The method is performed by the step of performing either of an initial writing operation or an overwriting operation for recording of new data on the optical disk, the initial writing operation irradiating the optical beam onto the non-recorded area to initially write the new data, the overwriting operation irradiating the optical beam onto the recorded area to write the new data over the old data, and the step of controlling to change the writing power of the optical beam between the initial writing operation and the overwriting operation so as to secure the recording of the new data in both of the initial writing operation and the overwriting operation.

The present invention relates to an optical disk recording method and apparatus for recording information on an overwritable optical disk, such as CD-RW, DVD-RAM or DVD-RW, and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus for optical disk recording by a proper writing power at either of the time of initial writing and the time of overwriting.
To compensate for a peculiarity of a disk medium, characteristics of a laser diode (LD) and variations in an optical power of LD, and to perform recording with the optimum optical power, an optical disk recording apparatus executes OPC (Optimum Power Control) to acquire the optimum power for the medium beforehand. CD-RW uses a γ method as OPC. That is, test writing of test data is carried out while changing a writing power of an LD step by step at a predetermined recording speed (linear velocity) by using a PCA (Power Calibration Area) located typically in the innermost track of an optical disk. Upon reproduction of the test data, if a reproduction signal (EFM signal) has a waveform as shown in FIG. 9, a modulation degree (Modulation) m11 is determined from the following equation 1:m11=I11/Itop  [Eq. 1]
Here, Itop denotes an amplitude to a peak value P from an EFM reference level, and I11 denotes an amplitude equivalent to a difference between the peak value P and a bottom value B. The modulation degree m11 is acquired with each writing power and its normalized slope γ is determined from the following equation 2:γ=(dm11/dP)/(m11/P)  [Eq. 2]
The determined m11 and γ may have characteristics as shown in FIG. 10. As the writing power increases, m11 increases gradually and γ decreases gradually. Provided that the writing power at which a γ target is obtained is a Ptarget, optimal writing power Po is determined from the following equation 3:Po=Ptarget×ρ  [Eq. 3]
Here, the parameter ρ is used to calculate the optimal writing power Po from the Ptarget. The optimal writing power Po can minimize jittering at the time of initial writing. Such a value of the parameter ρ only exists one for each medium and each recording speed.
With respect to CD-RW, however, there may be a case where an overwriting characteristic is present and the optimal writing power which has been determined by the γ method should not necessarily be the optimal value for minimizing of the jitter indicative of recording quality. It is seen from FIG. 10 that the writing power at a bottom point of the jitter at the time of initial writing indicated by a broken line obviously shifts from another bottom point of the jitter at the time of DOW1 (Direct Over Write Once) indicated by a dot-dash line. In this case, it can be said that executing OPC makes the recording quality rather poor, and causes a recording quality detarioration that should not be ignored.

Optical disk recorder optimizing laser power for initial writing and overwriting


A method for automating configuration of devices in a network having a network bus for communicating with the devices, wherein the network is implemented in a physical environment the method comprising detecting a device assembly that is connected to the network bus, wherein the device assembly includes a plurality of devices assembled thereon in a predetermined physical order; upon detecting a device assembly connected to the network bus, determining whether the detected device assembly is of a predetermined first type; upon determining that the detected device assembly is of the first type, reading data from the plurality of devices assembled thereon in an order corresponding to the predetermined physical order of the plurality of devices as assembled on the device assembly; and identifying a physical location in the physical environment of each of the plurality of devices on the first-type device assembly based on the order in which data of the plurality of devices is read from the first-type device assembly.

A data center may be defined as a location, for example, a room that houses equipment such as computer systems arranged in a number of racks. A standard rack, for example, an electronics cabinet, is defined as an Electronics Industry Association (EIA) enclosure, 78 in. (2 meters) wide, 24 in. (0.61 meter) wide and 30 in. (0.76 meter) deep. These racks are configured to house a number of computer systems, about forty (40) systems, with future configurations of racks being designed to accommodate 200 or more systems. The computer systems typically dissipate relatively significant amounts of heat during the operation of the respective components. For example, a typical computer system comprising multiple microprocessors may dissipate approximately 250 W of power. Thus, a rack containing forty (40) computer systems of this type may dissipate approximately 10 KW of power.
Efficient environmental control of a data center requires detailed knowledge of environmental conditions through the data center. Thus, sensors are typically positioned throughout the data center to detect temperature, pressure, humidity, or mass flow rates of air. In order to detect these conditions with a relatively high degree of granularity, large numbers of sensors are required to be placed throughout the data center. The sensors are typically configured to transmit detected condition information to a particular computing or monitoring device that acts as a data center controller to control environmental actuators for the data center. For example, the controller is used to control computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units that operate to deliver cool air to the data center to keep computer systems therein from overheating.
Because of the relatively large number of sensors typically employed in a data center, the data center controller must be configured to provide association between the sensor readings and the sensor position. Also, in a dynamic environment of the data center, where equipment is added to or removed from the data center to accommodate dynamic information technology (IT) needs, associated sensors also must be added to or removed from the data center. Thus, there is a need to track the addition and removal of sensors in the data center so as to configure the sensors accordingly before they are used by the data collection system.
Conventionally, sensor configuration tasks are typically handled by one of two methods, local hardware configuration or table-based remote software configuration. Both of these methods are labor intensive and error prone. In local hardware configuration, sensor identifying information is set by a physical switch or by manipulation of the register setting on the sensor to provide sufficient sensor configuration details for proper assembly. This requires a trained sensor installer with detailed knowledge of settings and global installation design. This method also requires hardware switches or programmable memory and programming devices for each setting change. In table-based remote software configuration, a remote database is used to track configuration parameters. Settings are often manually determined and input into the database. This method requires real time cooperation between the sensor installer and the database maintainer.
It would be beneficial to more efficiently configure sensors as they are added to or removed from a network.

Automatic configuration of devices in a network

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.