A switching means (BSC/MSC/VLR) of a mobile radio communication network (PLMN) contains a subscriber type determining means (SSTDM) which determines on the basis of call set-up messages whether in particular the second subscriber station (WS) of an IP-network (INTRANET) is capable of performing an audio data encoding/decoding, in particular a GSM speech encoding/decoding. The subscriber station type determining means (SSTDM) switches off an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC) in a base station controller (BSC) if the second subscriber station (WS) is capable of performing the speech encoding/decoding. Thus, a deterioration of the speech quality due to performing unnecessary audio data encoding/decoding is avoided and the bandwidth in the PLMN/data network can be utilized more efficiently.

The invention relates to a method, a switching means and a telecommunication system for performing data communications between a first subscriber station of a mobile radio communication network and a second subscriber station which is connectable to said mobile radio communication network. The second subscriber station can be connected to the mobile radio communication network through the internet and/or a conventional public switched telephone network.
In particular, the invention relates to performing data communications between a mobile station of the mobile radio communication network and a second subscriber station connected to a data network (such as a data network running internet protocol (IP)). Such a second subscriber station can e.g. be an internet telephone constituted by a special internet telephone hardware or software on a workstation capable of supporting the internet protocol.
The mobile radio communication network can be a GSM-based mobile radio network (GSM: Global System of Mobile Communications), such as a D1, D2 or E-plus radio communication network in Germany.
In public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), conventionally each subscriber participating in a call has a separate telephone hand set into which the subscriber talks and from which speech is reproduced. Such conventional telephone hand sets can be radio telephones (which allow a free movement of the subscriber at home) which may use analog or digital transmission techniques even when being connected to a conventional public switched telephone network, such as German Telecom in Germany. Several conventional telephones may be interconnected in a private branch exchange system which interconnects the several telephones to one or more outside lines (conventional lines or ISDN lines).
Additionally, most subscribers nowadays also own a mobile radio telephone together with a subscription to a mobile radio communication network. The mobile radio telephone uses entirely digital transmission techniques for communicating with entities in the mobile radio communication network, e.g. with the mobile switching center thereof. Calls between mobile radio telephones or between a conventional telephone hand set and a mobile radio telephone are routed through the mobile radio communication network and the public switched telephone network.
Instead of just routing a telephone call from a public switched telephone network to a private branch exchange system (PBX), it is now also possible to route a call first to a computer network. Such a computer network can e.g. be constituted by a company intranet. Normal workstations of the computer network which have been upgraded with software or hardware to operate as a conventional telephone and/or as an internet telephone can be part of the computer network. Such computer-based telephones become more and more widespread such that it is soon anticipated that at least one party in a telephone communication is using a computer-based telephone instead of a conventional telephone hand set. Some computer networks or intranetworks as well as their interconnected workstations including the telephone software/hardware already use internet protocols for communication. This is e.g. described in an overview article by Linden decarmo xe2x80x9cInternet Telephone Standardsxe2x80x9d, PC Magazine, Feb. 18, 1997, pages 185 to 187.
Although the workstation running the telephone software and/or the mobile radio telephone of the mobile radio communication network constitute quite advanced units with respect to their digital speech coding/decoding units, the analog voicexe2x80x94when spoken into the microphone of the respective telephonexe2x80x94must still be digitized and compressed due to the restrictions imposed on the bandwidth in the available transmission channels, e.g. when the call still needs to be routed through the public switched telephone network. If e.g. a call is originated from a mobile radio telephone of a digital mobile radio communication network, the call will undergo several speech coding/decoding stages before reaching the final called subscriber station. Since each coding/decoding introduces errors, such several stages of decoding/coding processes drastically deteriorate the speech quality received at the called subscriber station.
For example, the compression protocols used in the GSM network and internet telephony are not the same and therefore there is a need for several coding/decoding (audio data compression/decompression) stages.
If internet telephones become more and more common in the future, it might be wise from the network utilization point of view to route the call from the telephone network to the IP-network (IP: Internet Protocol) from the network unit where the call is originated from. The possibility to route the call to a mobile subscriber in an IP-network directly to the serving mobile switching center opens new possibilities for cooperation between owner of IP-networks and mobile operators. For example, an international call from an internet telephone can be routed in the IP-network instead of the public switched telephone network PSTN.
Presently, several possibilities for setting up a call between a mobile radio telephone (a first subscriber station) of a mobile radio communication network and a workstation running a telephone or internet telephone software (a second subscriber station connectable to the mobile radio communication network) can be imagined, as will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 11. The invention uses all such call set-up possibilities.
a) Call from a Mobile Station to a Workstation Connected to an Internet Protocol Network
FIG. 7a shows an example of a telephone communication system where a mobile station is transmitting digitally (via a TDMA method) digitally coded speech via an antenna ANT to a switching means BSC/MSC of the mobile radio communication network PLMN. Here the switching means comprises a base station controller BSC and a mobile switching center MSC. The base station controller BSC inherently comprises an audio data (speech) coding/decoding means which is indicated with CODEC in FIG. 7a.
Basically, as will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 7b, the call originated from the mobile station MS is decompressed in the audio data coding/decoding means such that a data rate of a bandwidth of 64 Kbit/s is transmitted through the public switched telephone network PSTN to the company intranet. Here, the call may be routed through a private branch exchange system PBX to the data network (IP-network), to which the individual workstations WS1, WS2, . . . , WSn are connected. Since the workstations WS1, WS2, . . . , WSn run a digital telephone network, the data arriving from the PSTN is digitally decoded after which an audio data (speech) coding/decoding means CODEC in the workstations WS perform the final digital/analog conversion. The PBX in FIG. 7a has a CODEC which can compress (i.e. code) the received speech using a protocol supported by the WS.
The call set-up in FIG. 7a is as follows. The mobile station MS sends a call set-up message including a calling number of the second subscriber station WS which is served by the PBX. Thus, the PBX must have the information that the called second subscriber stationxe2x80x94i.e. the workstation running the telephone softwarexe2x80x94wants all calls arriving for it to be diverted to the internet telephone software running on the workstation. In this case, the PBX needs protocol translation and speech coding between the PSTN and the internet telephone software running on the workstation. Since e.g. the internet telephone uses a packet-based transmission, the PBX must also perform the analog-to-packet conversion. Although the mobile station MS on one side and the workstation WS on the other side each run very advanced digital coding and transmission techniques, intermediate speech coding/decoding is still performed in the base station controller BSC and the PBX. This can deteriorate the audio data (speech) quality and slow down the transmission process as is explained in FIG. 7b.
FIG. 7b shows the data rates during the compression/decompression for the situation in FIG. 7a. At {circle around (1)} an analog/digital converter in the mobile station converts the analog speech to a 64 kBit/s PCM signal. The CODEC of the mobile station MS compresses this PCM signal to 13 kBit/s (in case of a full rate coding) which is then transmitted to the switching means. At {circle around (3)} the CODEC of the base station controller BSC performs a decompression of the 13 kBit/s PCM data into a 64 kBit/s PCM data. At {circle around (4)} the gateway compresses the incoming 64 kBit/s PCM data for example to a 6.3 kBit/s PCM data, for example using G. 723. Finally at {circle around (5)} the workstation WS performs a decompression of the 6.3 kBit/s data, performs a D/A conversion and outputs the sound. Using two (lossy) speech codings reduces the quality of the sound. As a result the received sound in the workstation is not the same as in the GSM network. While FIG. 7b shows the situation for the GSM full rate speech coding, as its implementations are available on computers quite easily, it should be understood that the same problem likewise occurs with other speech coders specified for GSM, for example speech coders using half rate speech coding (GSM 06.20(prETS 300 581-2): xe2x80x9cEuropean Digital Cellular Telecommunication System (phase 2); half rate speech transcodingxe2x80x9d or enhanced full rate coding (GSM 06.60(prETS300 762-1)).
FIG. 8 shows another configuration of a telecommunication system, where communication between the mobile station and the workstation is carried out through the PSTN and the internet. The PSTN and the internet communicate through an internet PSTN-gateway IG. The IG is a server run by the operators of the PSTN or the PLMN. Here, the workstation WS is identified by a number which the operator has issued for this internet telephone device (i.e. for the software or hardware running on the workstation).
Thus, when setting up a call, the mobile station calls a number of the second subscriber station which the operator has issued. When the call arrives at the internet PSTN-gateway server IG, the server will set up the protocols to be used between the gateway and the internet telephone. During the call, it will do the protocol changes between the internet telephone and the normal telephone call arriving from the PSTN. Obviously, the internet and the workstation running the telephone software can communicate via packet transmission fully digitally. Nonetheless, the audio data coding/decoding (compression/decompression) is done in the base station controller BSC, before the call is routed into the PSTN.
b) Call from a Workstation/Mobile Station of the PLMN to a Workstation of the IP-network
FIG. 9 shows a telecommunication system where the mobile station MS is connected to a computer WS running an internet telephone program. The call is routed from the mobile switching center MSC through a direct access unit DAU to the internet and from there to the company intranet to which workstations WS are connected that also run internet telephone programs.
Since the PSTN is not involved in the setting up of the call, the complete call is handled as a data call, not as a speech call. The mobile radio communication network routes the data call via internet to the second subscriber station WS using the user name and IP-address (or fully qualified domain name) of the second subscriber station. The mobile radio communication network is transparent in this case and from the user""s point of view, the call is just like any other call between two computers running an internet telephone program over the internet.
However, in this case, when transferring speech data as a pure data call, only a data rate of 9.6 kBit/s can be used. Thus, a sound quality at the WS is less than in a speech call. The GSM network may offer other solutions in the near future, which will allow pure data calls with data rates up to four times of that, but their usage for speech calls will be far more expensive than normal speech calls.
c) Call from a Workstation to a Computer Connected to a Mobile Station
FIG. 10 shows a telecommunication system where a workstation WS of a data network (IP-network) incorporated in an intranet sets up a call to a computer or workstation WS connected to a mobile station MS of the mobile radio communication network PLMN. Since the internet uses a packet-orientated transmission, the PLMN has been expanded with GPRS features (GPRS: General Packet Radio Service) allowing a packet orientated transmission.
Such a GPRS-system comprises (amongst others) the serving GPRS support node SGSN and the gateway GPRS support node GGSN. Also in this case, the call is handled as a pure data call.
When a connection is to be established, the IP-number of the computer to be called (i.e. the first subscriber station WS/MS) is known by some unit in the mobile radio communication network. This unit is the gateway GPRS support node which knows to which serving GPRS support node the data should be sent. Therefore, the workstation WS first makes a connection to-this unit GGSN, which then knows how to make a connection via the mobile station MS to the computer WS connected to it.
Although such a call setup is in principle possible, it is not very cost effective nor efficient, as the GPRS network is specially designed to handle short data bursts instead of continuous long data streams like digitalized speech.
d) Call from a Workstation Connected to an IP-network via Internet/PSTN to a Mobile Station MS
FIG. 11 shows a telecommunication system where the call originated from the workstation is routed through internet and an internet PSTN-gateway server to the PLMN and thus to the mobile station MS. Here, the workstation WS contacts the gateway server IG using the IP-address of that server. Thereafter, the workstation WS provides the calling telephone number of the mobile telephone MS. The gateway IG then makes a normal PSTN-MS call using this number. During the call, the gateway IG does the decompression of the speech used in the internet telephone protocol between the workstation WS and the gateway IG and for the other direction it does the speech compression for the speech data received from the PSTN.
Thus, also in FIG. 11, two sites are present where a speech compression/decompression (encoding/decoding) takes place, namely in the BSC and the IG. This has obviously a deteriorating effect on the speech quality.
In the examples in FIGS. 7 to 11, the workstation running an internet telephone program can be any computer connected to an IP-network that is using an internet telephone program which allows the user to make calls over the IP-network to any other user or any other workstation running an internet telephone program. If the user has an access to an internet PSTN-gateway he/she can also make calls via this gateway to any other normal telephone.
The internet PSTN-gateway server IG acts as a gateway between internet and PSTN. It can establish a connection to any telephone using a normal telephone number. It can also connect a user on a workstation by knowing its IP-address and user name. This gateway may contain a database on the IP-number corresponding to a telephone number. This gateway can also be part of a private branch exchange system PBX, namely it can be part of the private branch exchange. The gateway performs a translation from uncompressed 64 kbit/s digital speech (received from the PSTN) to compressed speech using a protocol negotiated during the call set-up phase between the server IG and the internet telephone program. In the other direction, it decompresses the speech from the IP-network and forwards it to the PSTN.
Although, in FIGS. 7 to 11, the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) is used for routing the call to the correct destination on the basis of a telephone number, in a call set-up phase, it is possible to inquire the capabilities of the exchanges along the route (e.g. Do all the exchanges provide support for a certain service etc.). It should further be noted that even in a configuration like FIG. 11, all traffic is communicated digitally, although there may still be some analog exchanges present.
As was explained with reference to FIGS. 7 to 11 above, it is envisaged that calls can be set up between mobile stations and workstations running a telephone software through various paths, e.g. directly through the internet or indirectly through the PSTN and then through the internet. It is also possible to connect a computer running a telephone software to the mobile station and then likewise set up a call to a workstation running an internet telephone software.
However, due to several compressions/decompressions, the speech quality deteriorates on the transmission path between the mobile station and the workstation.
Thus, the object of the present invention is
the provision of a method, a switching means and a telecommunication system, which maintain a high speech quality between a first subscriber station of the mobile radio communication network and a second subscriber station connectable to the mobile radio communication network, in particular for cases when the second subscriber station uses a telephone software running on a computer.
This object is solved by a method for performing data communications between a first subscriber station (MS) of a mobile radio communication network (PLMN) and a second subscriber station (WS) connectable to said mobile radio communication network (PLMN), wherein at least said first subscriber station (MS) comprises an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC), comprising the following steps: sending a call set-up message from said first or second subscriber station (MS) to a switching means (BSC, MSC/VLR) of said mobile radio communication network (PLMN) to set up a call between said first and second subscriber stations (WS, MS); determining on the basis of said call setup message whether said second subscriber station (WS) is of a type also comprising an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC); setting up a call between said first and second subscriber station (WS); switching off an audio data encoding/decoding means (DECOD) in said switching means (BSC, MSC/VLR), if said second subscriber station (WS) also comprises an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC); and encoding/decoding audio data at said first and second subscriber station (MS, WS) using said respective encoding/decoding means (CODEC) and communicating said coded audio data through said switching means (BSC, MSC/VLR) without applying an audio data coding/decoding thereto in said switching means (BSC, MSC/VLR).
Furthermore, this object is solved by a switching means (BSC, MSC/VLR) of a mobile radio communication network (PLMN) for communicating data between a first subscriber station (MS) of said mobile radio communication network (PLMN) and a second subscriber station (WS) connectable to said mobile radio communication network (PLMN), wherein at least said first subscriber station (MS) comprises an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC), comprising: an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC) including first state in which digital audio data received from said first/second subscriber station is encoded/decoded; and a second state in which digital audio data received from said first/second subscriber station is passed without applying an audio encoding/decoding thereto; subscriber station type determining means (SSTDM) for determining whether said second subscriber station (WS) is of a type comprising an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC) on the basis of a call-set-up message sent from said first or second subscriber station (MS) in a call set-up phase; and control means (CNTRL) for switching said audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC) of said switching means into said second state when said subscriber station type determining means (SSTDM) determines that said second subscriber station (WS) is of type also having an independent audio data encoding/decoding means (DECOD).
Furthermore, this object is solved by a telecommunication system (PLMN, PSTN, INTRANET; INTERNET, IP-NET), comprising: a mobile radio communication network (PLMN) to which at least one first subscriber station (MS) having an audio data coding/decoding means (CODEC) is connected; an intranet to which at least one second subscriber station (WS) is connected; and internet and/or a public switched telephone network (PSTN) connected between said mobile radio communication network (PLMN) and said intranet; wherein said mobile radio communication network (PLMN) comprises a switching means (BSC, MSC, VLR) for communicating data between one first and one second subscriber station (MS, WS) including: an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC) including a first state in which digital audio data received from said first/second subscriber station is encoded/decoded; and a second state in which digital audio data received from said first/second subscriber station is passed without applying an audio data encoding/decoding thereto; subscriber station type determining means (SSTDM) for determining whether said second subscriber station (WS) is of a type comprising an audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC) on the basis of a call-set-up message sent from said first or second subscriber station (MS) in a call set-up phase; and control means (CNTRL) for switching said audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC) of said switching means into said second state when said subscriber station type determining means (SSTDM) determines that said second subscriber station (WS) is of type also having an independent audio data encoding/decoding means (CODEC).
Therefore, according to the invention, the switching means of the mobile radio communication network comprises an audio data encoding/decoding means which has two states. In a first state, the digital audio data coming from the mobile station or being transmitted to the mobile station undergoes normal compression/decompression. In a second state, the digital audio data from/to the mobile station passes through the switching means without applying any coding/decoding to it.
Whether the first or second state of the audio data encoding/decoding means is selected is determined by a subscriber station type determining means. Whenever the subscriber station type determining means determines that the second subscriber station is a workstation computer running a telephone software being connected to an Internet protocol network, the subscriber station type determining means recognizes that digital uncompressed data can be sent/transmitted directly to the workstation on the basis of this determination, the control means switches the audio data encoding/decoding means of the switching means into its second state, such that the data between the first and second subscriber station (the mobile station and the workstation) is freely communicated without applying any additional and unnecessary speech encoding/decoding to it. Since unnecessary speech compression/decompression is avoided, the speech quality is improved.
Depending on the configuration of the telecommunication network, the switching means of the mobile radio communication network either receives a message from a calling workstation that the workstation does not need compressed/decompressed speech data or the switching means itself can enquire whether the called second subscriber station is one that supports a telephone software on a computer. Preferably, the switching means of the mobile radio communication network, the gateway exchange of the public switched telephone network or the internet PSTN-gateway are connected to a respective memory where the specific details of the first and second subscriber stations are recorded. Therefore, independently as to whether the mobile station or the workstation originates the call, it can always be ensured that there is no unnecessary speech compression/decompression after the call has been set up.
Further solutions of the above object are listed in claims 33-46. Further advantageous embodiments and improvements of the invention are listed in the dependent claims. Hereinafter, the invention will be described with reference to its embodiments and the attached drawings. In the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals designate the same or similar parts throughout.

Method, switching means and telecommunication systems for performing data communications between subscriber stations


This invention relates to phosphoresent, polymer-containing compositions suitable for use in footwear and to phosphorescent shoes, shoe soles, and other molded or extruded shoe parts made from such compositions.. One aspect of this invention is directed to a polymeric composition comprising:. (a) between about 25 and 75% by weight of an elastomeric polymer; PA1 (b) between about 20 and 50% by weight of a processing oil; PA1 (c) between about 0.005 and 0.5% by weight of at least one stabilizer; and PA1 (d) between about 3 and 30% by weight of a phosphorescent pigment. This invention relates to phosphoresent, polymer-containing compositions suitable for use in footwear and to phosphorescent shoes, shoe soles, and other molded or extruded shoe parts made from such compositions.

This invention relates to phosphorescent polymer-containing compositions and to phosphorescent articles made from such compositions in whole or in part.
More particularly, this invention relates to phosphoresent, polymer-containing compositions suitable for use in footwear and to phosphorescent shoes, shoe soles, and other molded or extruded shoe parts made from such compositions.
Polymers and in particular thermoplastic elastomers and compositions containing them have been widely used to make a variety of articles, especially footwear. These polymers and polymeric compositions are used for shoes, soling, foxing, etc.
A great number of patents have been issued that are directed to such compositions and methods for making them. Examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,132 of Zweig issued on Aug. 5, 1980 and entitled HDPE-Containing Footwear Compositions, and 4,332,760 of Warfel issued on June 1, 1982 and entitled Direct Production of Elastomer Compounds From Reactor Solution.
The disclosures of both of the above patents are incorporated by reference in this application.

Phosphorescent polymer-containing compositions and articles made therefrom


Methionine aminopeptidases catalyse the co-translational removal of amino terminal methionine residues from nascent polypeptide chains. A newly-discovered enzyme, designated methionine aminopeptidase type-3 (MetAP-3), has a substrate specificity which is similar to MetAP-1 and MetAP-2, although it is not inhibited by fumagillin, an irreversible inhibitor of MetAP-2. MetAP-3 also preferentially localizes to mitochondria, unlike MetAP-1 and MetAP-2, which accumulate in the cytoplasm. One embodiment of the present invention relates to human cDNAs encoding polypeptides comprising MetAP-3. Other embodiments of the invention relate to nucleic acid molecules derived from these cDNAs, including complements, homologues, and fragments thereof, and methods of using these nucleic acid molecules, to generate polypeptides and fragments thereof. Other embodiments of the invention relate to antibodies directed against polypeptides comprising MetAP-3, and methods to screen for compounds or compositions that preferentially or specifically effect the activity of polypeptides comprising MetAP-3.

Angiogenesis
Angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation, is essential for the exponential growth of solid tumors and tumor metastasis. Radiological and cytocidal treatments, combined with regimens involving selective inhibitors of angiogenesis should lead to dramatic reductions in tumor growth. One well-known angiogenesis inhibitor was first discovered as fungal contaminant in bovine endothelial cell cultures that inhibited cell proliferation (Ingber et al. Nature 348:555-557, 1990). The responsible organism was subsequently identified as A. fumagatus, and the product identified as fumagillin, a widely recognized amebicide and antibiotic (McCowen et al., Science 113:202-203 (1951)). Fumagillin was found to be a potent inhibitor of endothelial cell proliferation, but its therapeutic window was insufficient for further clinical advancement. TNP-470, a fumagillin-like derivative with 50-fold higher potency, was subsequently developed from a directed chemical approach (Ingber et al., Nature 348:555-557 (1990), Kusaka et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 174:1070-1076 (1991)). This compound's therapeutic use is limited, however, by its lack of oral availability and dose-limiting neurotoxicity.
Until recently, the molecular target for fumagillin or TNP-470 was unknown. In 1997, the target protein was isolated, purified, and identified by mass spectrometry as the type-2 methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP-2). Fumagillin, and its analogs TNP-470 and ovalicin, are now known to irreversibly bind and potently inhibit MetAP-2, but not the type-1 enzyme (Griffith, E. C., Su, Z., Turk, B. E., Chen, S., Chang, Y-.H., Wu, Z., Biemann, K., and Liu, J. O. (1997) Chem. Biol. 4, 461-471; Sin, N., Meng, L., Wang, M. Q. W., Wen, J. J., Bornmann, W. G., and Crews, C. M. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 6099-6103). Together, these results identified MetAP-2 as a target for the development of anti-angiogenesis agents.
TNP-470 is currently being studied in clinical trials as a therapy to treat cancer. TNP-470 has been shown to mediate its effects in animal models by inhibiting new blood vessel formation at the site of tumor growth (Kruger E. A., and Figg W. D. (2000) Expert Opin. Investig. Drugs 9, 1383-96). How this class of compounds suppresses de novo angiogenesis through inhibition of MetAP-2 remains unclear. Although MetAP-2 has been shown to be a target of these suicide inhibitors, other methionine aminopeptidase enzyme homologs may exist that could contribute to the efficacy or neurological side effects observed in the preclinical animal models and the clinical trials for TNP-470 (Castronovo, V., and Belotti, D. (1996) Eur. J. Cancer 32, 2520-2527).
Methionine Aminopeptidases
Most proteins are encoded by messenger RNAs that dictate that the amino terminus of a nascent polypeptide chain is methionine. More than 60% of all cytosolic proteins lose this initiator methionine, however, in a co-translational excision process catalyzed by methionine aminopeptidase enzymes (Arfin, S. M., Kendall, R. L., Hall, L., Weaver, L. H., Stewart, A. E., Matthews, B. W., and Bradshaw, R. A. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92, 7714-7718). Methionine aminopeptidases were first isolated from eubacteria and shown to be cobalt-containing enzymes with molecular masses of about 30 kDa (Ben-Bassat et al., J. Bacteriol. 169:751-757 (1987), Suh et al., Gene 169:17-23 (1996), and Miller et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 91:2473-2477, 1987). Their structures include a novel protease fold, with pseudosymmetry around a pair of cobalt ions (Roderick and Matthews, Biochemistry 32:3907-3912, 1993).
Enzymes with the same substrate specificity, but with larger molecular masses, were isolated from yeast and pig. Highly homologous regions at the C-terminal domain (˜30 kDa) of the eukaryotic and the prokaryotic forms were discovered, although the N-terminal domain of the eukaryotic enzymes was found to be unique (Kendall and Bradshaw, J. Biol. Chem. 267:20667-20673 (1992)). The N-terminal domain of the yeast enzyme contained sequences consistent with two zinc-finger structures, indicating a potential site of nucleic acid interaction. This class of enzyme was designated methionine aminopeptidase type I (MetAP-1). The porcine enzyme lacked the zinc-binding domains, but contained a block of polylysine and aspartic residues within the N-terminal domain, and was described as Type II (MetAP-2). Both isozymes have been found from Archebacteria to man, indicating a critical metabolic function (Arfin et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 92:7714-7718 (1995), Bradshaw et al., TIBS 23: 263-267 (1998)).
The single prokaryotic and two eukaryotic methionine aminopeptidases that have been characterized extensively demonstrate a substrate preference for proteins that contain a small or uncharged amino acid (Ala, Cys, Gly, Pro, Ser, Thr, or Val) at the second position next to the initiator methionine. In prokaryotes the initiator methionine is formylated while still bound to the initiator tRNA. Removal of the formyl group from tRNAfMet by a peptide deformylase is an absolute prerequisite for methionine removal by MetAPs (Solbiati, J., Chapman-Smith, A., Miller, J. L., Miller, C. G., Cronan, J. E. (1999) J. Mol. Biol. 290, 607-614).
The biological consequence of amino terminal methionine removal is poorly understood, due in part to the essential nature of this process, as revealed by the lethality of bacterial and yeast MetAP deletion mutants (Chang, S. Y., McGary, E. C., and Chang, S. (1989) J. Bacteriol. 171, 4071-4072; Li, X and Chang Y-.H. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92, 12357-12361). The absolute requirement for methionine removal could be for any of a variety of reasons, including 1) exposure of a glycine residue for myristoylation, 2) destabilization of a protein by targeting its degradation and/or 3) optimal protein function due to stabilization by amino terminal acetylation.
Methionine aminopeptidase-2 is bi-functional. One action is the removal of the N-terminal methionine residues from their protein substrates. MetAP-2 can also bind to and prevent phosphorylation of the α-subunit of the peptide change initiation factor eIF-2 by one or more eIF-2 kinases (Datta et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85: 3324-2238 1(1988), Wu et al., J. Biol. Chem. 268:10796-10781 (1993)). This action promotes protein synthesis within the cell. The eIF-2 phosphorylation inhibitory activity of MetAP-2 is unaffected by TNP-470 binding, indicating that the loss of aminopeptidase activity is involved in the anti-angiogenic activity of TNP-470 (Griffith et al., Chem. Biol. 4:461-471 (1997)). The function of methionine aminopeptidase activity in endothelial cell proliferation during tumorigenesis is unclear, although inhibition of MetAP-2 may play a role in altering the stability of one or more protein(s) whose abnormal presence or absence results in endothelial cell dysregulation. Several signaling proteins also appear to be modified by the covalent attachment of myristic acid to a glycine residue which occurs only after the initial amino-terminal methionine removal by MetAP-2 (Peseckis et al., J. Biol. Chem. 267:5107-5114 (1993)). Inhibition of methionine aminopeptidase activity may prevent this covalent attachment, resulting in improper functioning of a signal component specific to endothelial cell cycle regulation (Sin et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 94:6099-6103 (1997)).
The Use of Methionine Aminopeptidases and Inhibitors of Methionine Aminopeptidases
N-terminal processing agents, such as the methionine aminopeptidases, also function to initiate post-translational peptide or protein modifications which may control or induce activation, translocation, or protein turnover (Bradshaw et al., TIBS 23: 263-267 (1998)). Because this initial processing is important for normal protein functioning, it is possible that alteration of methionine aminopeptidase activity is a factor in a variety of diseases, including angiogenesis. Therapies could then be developed which can modify methionine aminopeptidase activity to restore proper protein processing.
Methionine aminopeptidase activity can also be used to modify recombinant proteins expressed and harvested from E. coli or other expression systems. Recombinant proteins that retain the N-terminal methionine, in some cases, have biological characteristics that differ from the native species that retain the N-terminal methionine, including the induction of undesireable antibodies. Methionine aminopeptidases could lower the cost of manufacturing processes designed produce recombinant proteins that mimic the structure of native species which are used to treat or reduce the symptoms of various diseases (Sandman et al., Biotechnology 13:504-6 (1995)).
Clearly, an understanding of methionine aminopeptidase activity and its role in various tissues can provide useful therapeutic and diagnostic insight into angiogenesis and tumor metastasis. The known MetAP-2 inhibitors are not good candidates for clinical use as angiogenesis inhibitors due to their neurotoxic effects. Differential expression of mammalian MetAP-1, MetAP-2, or other unidentified methionine aminopeptidases may partially or totally account for the observed variation in sensitivity of different cell types to inhibition by TNP-470 and other MetAP-2 inhibitors, and thus account for the toxicity of these compounds.


The invention provides systems for handling biofluids including the transport, capture, collection, storage, sensing, and/or evaluation of biofluids released by tissue. Systems of some aspects provide a versatile platform for characterization of a broad range of physical and/or chemical biofluid attributes in real time and over clinically relevant timeframes. Systems of some aspects provide for collection and/or analysis of biofluids from conformal, watertight tissue interfaces over time intervals allowing for quantitative temporal and/or volumetric characterization of biofluid release, such as release rates and release volumes.

Emerging wearable sensor technologies offer attractive solutions for continuous, personal health/wellness assessment, forensic examination, patient monitoring and motion recognition. Recent advances in epidermal electronics provide classes of skin-mounted sensors and associated electronics in physical formats that enable intimate contact with the skin for long-term, reliable health monitoring.
An important measurement mode in such devices may involve the analysis of body fluids (e.g., blood, interstitial fluid, sweat, saliva, and tear), to gain insights into various aspects of physiological health. Such function in wearable sensors, generally, and epidermal electronics in particular, is relatively unexplored. Existing devices either use complex fluidic systems for sample handling or involve purely concentration-based measurement without sample collection and storage, or access to parameters related to quantity and rate. In addition, mechanical fixtures, straps and/or tapes that are typically required to maintain contact of these devices with the skin do not lend themselves well to continuous, long term monitoring without discomfort.

Soft, wearable microfluidic systems capable of capture, storage, and sensing of biofluids

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


In one example, a method includes generating, responsive to receiving a request for a recommendation for a group of users and based on first privacy level data for users of the group, an original list of recommendations for the group. In this example, the method further includes evaluating, by respective computational assistants associated with the users of the group and based on respective second privacy level data for the users of the group, recommendations from the original list of recommendations for inclusion in a pruned list of recommendations for the group, wherein the second privacy level is more restricted than the first privacy level. In this example, the method further includes, in response to the pruned list of recommendations including at least one recommendation, outputting, for presentation to the users of the group, the pruned list of recommendations.

Some computing devices may provide a user interface from which a user can chat, speak, or otherwise communicate with a virtual, computational assistant (e.g., also referred to as "an intelligent assistant" or simply as an "assistant") to cause the assistant to output useful information, respond to a user's needs, or otherwise perform certain operations to help the user complete a variety of real-world or virtual tasks. Some assistants may perform operations to simultaneously help groups of users, such as providing recommendations to groups of users based on group members' preferences.

Virtual assistant generation of group recommendations


Methods and systems of concealing access patterns to data storage, such as within servers of a cloud computing environment are presented. Server data storage is securely partitioned into smaller electronic data storage partitions of predetermined size. The client side maintains a shuffling buffer and position map for these blocks as stored on the electronic data storage partitions of the server. Concealment is performed with respect to accesses from the client to server using an oblivious sorting protocol. Access operation is concealed with each block being randomly assigned to any of the data storage partitions, and whenever a block is accessed, the block is logically removed from its current partition and logically assigned to a fresh random partition selected from all partitions, while the client maintains tracking of which partition each block is associated with at any point of time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to computer security, and more particularly to concealing access patterns to disk and memory.
2. Description of Related Art
Many enterprises and individuals encrypt data that they store in the cloud to achieve confidentiality and privacy. However, when data is accessed interactively (such as through online cloud storage services like Dropbox and SkyDrive), encryption is not enough to ensure privacy. By observing the locations of data accessed, an attacker can often easily recover information about the encrypted data without ever needing to decrypt it. It will be noted that cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than using a local server.
As cloud computing gains momentum, an increasing amount of data is outsourced to cloud storage, and data privacy has become an important concern for many businesses and individuals alike. Encryption alone may not suffice for ensuring data privacy, as the mere knowledge of data access patterns can provide a significant amount of information about the data as well. One example found in the literature described a sequence of data access requests q1; q2; q3 that were always followed by a stock exchange operation, whereby sensitive information can be obtained by the server, or at the server, even when the data is encrypted.
Oblivious RAM (or O-RAM) is a term which has come to mean a primitive intended for hiding storage access patterns, with the problem being initially studied in the context of software protection, i.e., hiding a program's electronic data storage (memory) access patterns to prevent reverse engineering. With the trend of cloud computing, O-RAM also has important applications in privacy-preserving storage outsourcing applications.
Accordingly, a need exists for a practical method and apparatus for implementing a form of Oblivious RAM for concealing access patterns to electronic data storage (e.g., disk and memory) for enhancing security.

Concealing access patterns to electronic data storage for privacy

The Regents of the University of California


A device that forms smooth cylindrical surfaces along a log being moved longitudinally past a cutting station. The device includes a feed conveyor that moves successive logs longitudinally past a cutting station. A planetary cutting head drive is situated at the cutting station. The drive rotates a cutting head about a first planetary axis spaced from the log axis. It also revolves the cutting head about a stationary second axis that is coaxial with the log axis. A smooth cylindrical cut is thus made about the periphery of the log as it is moved longitudinally parallel to its axis.

The present invention is related to log shaping machinery and more particularly to such machinery used to form substantially cylindrical logs as a construction material.
Natural wood logs are regaining popularity as a building material. Log homes have a special aesthetic appeal and can be energy efficient if properly constructed.
The insulative value of wood is not particularly high when values are measured through standard rectangular wooden boards. Logs, however, have a typical circular cross section that can lend a higher "R" value, depending upon the construction and type of wood. Conventional "R" values can vary not only with the thickness of wood, but also with its cross-sectional curvature. Annular rings and the cellular content of the wood add insulative qualities to the overall wood thickness. Escaping heat is trapped at successive circular barriers formed by the annular rings and within the tiny open cellular structure of the wood grain. The circular cross-sectional configuration of the logs forming a structure wall is therefore a very desirable feature.
One prevalent problem with log construction has been the requirement of properly fitting logs together to obtain continuous, closed joints along their full length. Logs have a natural taper from one end to the other. Log taper can partially be corrected in construction by reversing lengths (end-for-end) of successive logs as the wall is being constructed. This technique, however, only solves the problem where tapers are nearly identical. Ideally, logs should be perfectly round, both for proper insulation value and for highest structural stability.
It therefore becomes desirable to obtain a machine that will automatically form logs accurately with surfaces that are substantially cylindrical and centered about their longitudinal axes. The individual logs should be of uniform diameter to facilitate uniform construction of structural walls and to provide uniform insulative capacity.


A hand-held splicing device for melt butt splicing thermoplastic yarns or tapes together.. The splicing device comprises two-yarn clamping means, a diagonally positioned heat cutting element; means for bringing two clamped yarns in diagonal contact with the melting element and means for simultaneously lifting the severed yarns away from the cutting element and buttwise joining the melted ends together thereby fusing the yarns together. The device and mode of operation are characterized by convenience and ease of operation and afford a small strong splice especially desirable for carpet tufting operations.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the splicing of thermoplastic yarns, and in a further aspect relates to an apparatus for heat-splicing thermoplastic yarns and tapes.
2. The Prior Art
Thermoplastic yarn can be made by a number of methods including, for example, extrusion of relatively large diameter monofilaments or the extrusion of very small diameter filaments which are then entangled and/or twisted together to form larger diameter yarns. Thermoplastic yarns can also be made by extruding narrow films (or tapes) or extruding films and cutting the films into tapes. The tapes are then twisted into yarns. Such yarns are frequently used in the manufacture of carpets. The manufacture of fibrillated tapes which can be twisted into such yarns is, for example, described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,259. Splicing can be used to repair yarns as a result of inadvertent breaks as when too much tension is applied at the ends, or as a purposeful occurrence to form longer yarn lengths. Also in many instances, such as for example in carpet tufting it is desirable to tuft continuously in order to maximize production. Thus, it is desirable to splice roll ends together to avoid having to shut down the tufting operation to rethread new rolls when the existing rolls are used up.
Numerous methods have been used by the art to splice yarns. For example, published German Patent application DT No. 2,450,018, discloses a trigger actuated splicer utilizing a hot wire to cut yarn ends and to provide heat for fusing the yarns together. U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,181 discloses a gun-shaped splicing device utilizing V-shaped holder jaws and a hot-wire cutting-fusing operation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,614 discloses a splicer using a rotary action to bring the yarns in contact with a heating coil to fuse the yarns together and U.S. Pat. No. 2,863,492 discloses a splicing device using a heat bonded adhesive to splice the yarns. As pointed out in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,308, yarn splicing is not a simple matter because the splice must meet both strength and bulk limitations. More specifically the shear strength of the spliced tapes must not fall below a set value, for example, generally about 3 lb. tensile pull for a 1700-denier yarn; and the all-over diameter or maximum transverse width must not adversely effect the utilization of the yarn, for example, where the yarn is used for carpet tufting, the splice must be below the minimum eyelet size of the tufting needles later used in tufting carpet to prevent the yarn splice from binding in the needle. Also, the splicer should be easily handleable and effect the splicing operation as a simple continuous mechanical operation with minimum operator involvement so as to reduce human error to a minimum. Thus, even though numerous prior art methods are disclosed, there is substantial room for improvement in one or more of these areas depending upon the particular prior art splicing method or device used.

Apparatus for splicing thermoplastic yarns


A data output buffer of a semiconductor integrated circuit is operable in response to data input to data lines and comprises a first pull-down control circuit which generates a first pull-down signal in response to the data input to the data lines. A second pull-down control circuit generates a second pull-down signal in response to the data input to the data lines, the second pull-down signal being generated at a predetermined time after the first pull-down signal is generated and causing the first pull down signal to be deactivated. A first pull-down transistor shares an output node with a pull-up transistor and is responsive to the first pull-down signal to pull-down a predetermined amount of voltage at the output node. A second pull-down transistor is responsive to the second pull down signal for pulling down a residual amount of voltage at the output node.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit, and more particularly to a data output buffer for outputting data read from a cell array to circuitry externally to a chip.
As the density of a semiconductor integrated circuit becomes higher and the operating speed thereof increases, noise reduction becomes a more critical factor. There are many reasons that cause the semiconductor integrated circuit to generate noise. Most significantly, noise is generated at an output stage of a data output buffer (this is commonly known as a "data output driver") when the data read from a memory cell passes through an input/output line sense amplifier formed on a data input/output line and then travels externally to the chip. Since a transistor constituting the output stage of the data output buffer functions to buffer internal and external impedance, and has a large size channel in comparison with those of other components within the chip in order to access data at a high speed, a great amount of current flows instantaneously when a data output operation is performed (at this moment, a transition is made from the "high" level to the "low" level, or from the "low" level to the "high" level). As a result, ground noise is generated at the circuits which are supplied with a ground voltage as a power supply voltage on the same chip.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional data output buffer which is well known in the art. In FIG. 1, DO and DO represent data inputs read from a memory cell, and CLK represents a clock signal for enabling a pull-up and pull-down controller 100 of the data output buffer. Further, PU and PD output from the pull-up and pull-down controller 100 are applied respectively to pull-up and pull-down transistors 2 and 4 constituting the output stage of the data output buffer, to transfer the data output DOUT of the data output buffer to a data output pad (PAD or PIN: not shown). The components of the pull-up and pull-down controller 100 are not shown in FIG. 1 because the construction thereof is well known in the art.
The operation of FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2, showing an operational timing diagram thereof. First, the operation in which the data output DOUT of the "high" level is output will be explained. When an output operation of the data output buffer is disabled, the signals PU and PD are all at the "low" level, thereby causing the pull-up and pull-down transistors 2 and 4 to be turned off. In the meantime, if an external address changes to generate a data output DOUT of a "high" level, and the clock signal CLK goes to an activate "high" state, the pull-up and pull-down controller 100 is enabled, and the pull-up transistor 2 is turned on by the signals PU and PD respectively set to the "high" level and the "low" level according to the data inputs DO and DO. As a result, the voltage at an output node 6 goes to the "high" level. Thus, the data output DOUT of the "high" level is output, and a large amount of current flows instantaneously from a power supply voltage Vcc into a channel of the pull-up transistor 2.
Next, the operation in which the data DOUT of the "low" level is output will be explained. If the external address changes to generate the data output DOUT of the "low" level and the signal CLK goes to the active "high" state, the pull-up and pull down controller 100 is enabled. Thus, the pull-down transistor 4 is turned on by the signals PU and PD set respectively to the "low" level and the "high" level according to the data inputs DO and DO, thereby causing a voltage at an output node 6 to be discharged to the ground voltage Vss through a channel of the pull-down transistor 4. Therefore, the data output DOUT of the "low" level is output. At this moment, a large amount of the current flows instantaneously through the channel of the pull down transistor 4, generating the ground noises as shown in FIG. 2.
The ground noises generated by the current flowing into the ground line Vss causes error data at the output node 6 as shown in FIG. 2, resulting in a faulty operation of the system. Such undesirable operation is preformed through the large channel of the pull-down transistor 4 whenever the circuit outputs the "low" state, so that the operating speed of the chip is lowered and the chip performs the incorrect operation. This problem becomes serious in the high density semiconductor integrated circuit having a large number of the data output buffers within one chip such as a byte wide integrated circuit. Further, as the load of the output stage of the data output buffer become larger, the time required for a data transition is delayed longer.
In order to solve this problem, the data output buffer having a preset circuit formed in the output stage is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 1991-24802 filed on 28 Dec. 1991 by the same applicant, and hereby incorporated by reference. Here, the ground noises are removed by presetting an output line of the data output buffer with a predetermined voltage during the data output operation. However, such device is disadvantageous in that a number of data output buffers each should include (on the same chip) the preset circuits, according to the bit-wide memory trends of recently developed semiconductor integrated circuits. Since the preset circuit included in each data output buffer needs a control signal, it should have an extra circuit for generating the control signal. In this arrangement, the area occupied by the preset circuit on the chip is rather large. This is disadvantageous for the high density of the very large scale integrated circuit. In addition, under such circuit construction, the ground noises are not satisfactorily prevented from being generated at the ground line when the data output at the "low" level is output.

Data output buffer of a semiconductor integrated circuit


A die casting machine has a clamping device and an injection device. The clamping device has a fixed die plate which holds a fixed die, a movable die plate which holds a moving die, an electrically operated die opening and closing-use driving device which moves the movable die plate in a die opening and closing direction, and a clamping cylinder which generates a clamping force. The injection device has a sleeve, a plunger which capable of sliding in the sleeve, an electrically operated injection-use driving device which drives the plunger at least at the time of low speed injection, and an injection cylinder which drives the plunger at least at the time of high speed injection.

A molding apparatus has a clamping device which holds, opens/closes, and clamps the molds and an injection device which injects and fills a molding material (for example metal in a molten state) into the clamped molds.
As the clamping device, for example, there is the one disclosed in Patent Literature 1. The clamping device in Patent Literature 1 is configured as a so-called two-platen clamping device which does not have a toggle mechanism. Further, the clamping device in Patent Literature 1 is configured as a so-called composite clamping device which opens/closes the molds by an electric motor and performs clamping by a hydraulic cylinder.
As the injection device, for example, there are those disclosed in Patent Literature 2 and Patent Literature 3. The injection devices in Patent Literature 2 and Patent Literature 3 are configured as so-called hybrid injection devices which perform low speed injection by electric motors and perform high speed injection by hydraulic cylinders.
Note that, there is also known a so-called full hydraulic type molding apparatus which performs all of the opening and closing of the molds, clamping, and injection by a hydraulic cylinder (for example Patent Literature 4). The full hydraulic type molding apparatus in Patent Literature 4 has a hydraulic power unit which is configured by partially combining a hydraulic device (for example tank, pump, valve etc.) supplying hydraulic oil to the hydraulic cylinder in the clamping device and hydraulic equipment supplying hydraulic oil to the hydraulic cylinder in the injection device.


An integrated circuit counter includes a segmented thermometer coding counter architecture that reaches the thermodynamic energy minimum for a forward/reverse counting operation, requiring only one write or one erase operation per count so that energy consumption can be minimized, and circuit endurance maximized.

Special industrial applications targeted to remote locations or highly-distributed system architectures ("Smart Dust" sensors, for example) call for the operation of electronic systems that are to be powered by energy harvested from the environment, without the need for a local battery or wired energy source. Since the amount of energy that can be derived from vibrations (or other mechanical motion) of the apparatus, light impinging on it, or electromagnetic field in its vicinity is extremely small, these systems are required to be designed for extreme energy efficiency—in both their analog and digital components.
One such electronic device that is most commonly needed in sensors is a simple event counter. By way of example, water or electrical utility meters rely on physical phenomena capable of translating the flow of the physical entity to be metered into a quantized electrical pulse, which can then be counted to quantify the consumption. Vibration sensors, such as strain gauges, can exploit piezoelectric properties of materials to produce pulses that, once counted, provide information as to the frequency and pattern of the motion under observation. The same principle can be applied to sensors, such as rotational encoders and distributed sensing for haptics solutions.

Minimal-energy up/down counting apparatus and method for extremely low-power applications


Disclosed is an organic light emitting display which has a scan driver to supply scan signals to a plurality of scan lines, a data driver to supply data signal to output lines, with a demultiplexer on each output line to supply the data signal to a plurality of data lines is disclosed. The display also has a pixel portion comprising pixels connected to the scan lines, the data lines, and pixel power source lines. There is also a power source line placed between the pixel portion and the data driver to supply first power to the pixel power source lines, and a parasitic capacitor formed on each data line to charge voltage corresponding to the data signal. With this configuration, the number of output lines provided in a data driver is decreased, and an image is displayed with uniform brightness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light emitting display, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting display in which the number of output lines provided in a data driver is decreased, and an image is displayed with uniform brightness.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Recently, various flat panel displays have been developed, which replace a cathode ray tube (CRT) in a display because the CRT is relatively heavy and bulky. The flat panel display can be one of various technologies, including a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), and an organic light emitting display (LED).
An organic light emitting display comprises a plurality of organic light emitting diodes, where each organic light emitting diode emits light by electron-hole recombination. Such an organic light emitting display has advantages that include relatively fast response time and that power consumption is relatively low. Generally, the organic light emitting display employs a thin film transistor (TFT) for each pixel to selectively supply current to an organic light emitting diode according to a data signal. When current is supplied, the organic light emitting diode emits light.
FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) illustrates a conventional organic light emitting display.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional organic light emitting display comprises a pixel portion 30 comprising a plurality of pixels 40 formed near intersections of scan lines S1 through Sn and data lines D1 through Dm. The conventional organic light emitting display also has a scan driver 10 to drive the scan lines S1 through Sn, a data driver 20 to drive the data driver D1 through Dm; and a timing controller 50 to control the scan driver 10 and the data driver 20.
The scan driver 10 generates a scan signal in response to a scan control signal SCS transmitted from the timing controller 50, and supplies the scan signals to the scan lines S1 through Sn in sequence. Further, the scan driver 10 generates an emission control signal in response to the scan control signal SCS, and supplies the emission control signals to emission control lines El through En in sequence.
The data driver 20 generates a data signal in response to a data control signal DCS transmitted from the timing controller 50, and supplies the data signals to the data lines D1 through Dm. The data driver 20 also supplies the data signal corresponding to one horizontal line per horizontal period to the data lines D1 through Dm.
The timing controller 50 generates the data control signals DCS and the scan control signals SCS in response to external synchronization signals. The data control signal DCS is transmitted to the data driver 20, and the scan control signal SCS is transmitted to the scan driver 10. Further, the timing controller 50 rearranges external data and supplies it to the data driver 20.
The pixel portion 30 receives external first power VDD and external second power VSS. Here, the first power VDD and the second power VSS are supplied to each pixel 40. Each pixel 40 receives the data signal and displays an image corresponding to the data signal. Further, the emission time of the pixels 40 is controlled in correspondence with the emission control signal.
In the conventional organic light emitting display, the respective pixels 40 are placed near the intersections of the scan lines S1 through Sn and the data lines D1 through Dm. The data driver 20 comprises m output lines to supply the data signals to m data lines D1 through Dm. That is, the data driver 20 of the conventional organic light emitting display should have the same number of output lines as the number of the data lines D1 through Dm. Therefore, the data driver 20 comprises a plurality of data integrated circuits to have m output lines, thereby resulting in a problem of increased production cost. Particularly, as the resolution and the size of the pixel portion 30 increase, the number of output lines of the data driver 20 increases. Thus, the production cost of the organic light emitting display is increased.


An improved mill and drill pad fastener is described which uses a base and a polymeric pad which is less susceptible to cracking when a torque is applied such as is generated when a self-tapping screw is used. The improved fastener eliminates the need for a metal-reinforcing band around the polymeric pad component by the geometric design of the base, which also eliminates the ability of the pad to twist or to be pulled from the base. Additionally, a completely polymeric mill and drill pad fastener is described.

Mill and drill pad fasteners are commonly used in newer vehicle production for the attachment of polymeric body components to vehicle subassemblies. Traditional mill and drill pad fasteners are currently manufactured by using an extruded metal sheet configured to create a metal reinforcing band into which an epoxy or polyvinyl resin such as polyvinylchloride (PVC) is molded.
There are two main problems with the current mill and drill pad fastener. First, as self-tapping screws are inserted and screwed into the epoxy or PVC resin, the polymeric component of the fasteners tends to crack when a torque in excess of 5-5.5 Newton-meters is applied to the screw in the fastener.
And second, there is a problem in the ability to mill the fastener to the desired height. Since rarely is a vehicle assembled perfectly centered on its axis, there is the need to mill the fasteners to the desired height. With traditional fasteners, the presence of a reinforced metal band, which surrounds the polymeric pad, causes a rapid deterioration of the cutting edge of the milling tools used.

Apparatus for plastic body panel attachment


A portable modular building structure that includes a plurality of sections assembled adjacent one another. The sections include molded fiberboard panels, that optionally include interior plenums. In an embodiment, each panel has an upwardly curving profile, and mirror-image sections are attached to one another via a fastener, that may include tape or other mechanical fastener. The sections are positioned end to end, with the number of sections determining the overall length of the structure. An optional end section of the structure may include wedge shaped sections positioned end to end, forming a curved end.

Modular building is a technique of construction of temporary or permanent structures, such as construction camps, schools, classrooms, community centers, disaster relief housing, civilian or military housing, and industrial facilities. It is also highly desirable in remote areas where conventional construction techniques may be unavailable or unfeasible due to lack of resources, construction crews, or difficult access.
There are many known disadvantages of traditional site-built structures, that may be addressed by a highly mobile and cost effective modular building technique. For example, site-built structures are typically constructed from concrete, metal and wood. Increased or prohibitive costs may be involved in transporting the building materials and construction workers to the build site. Use of concrete requires the materials to be mixed and poured at the job site by a concrete mixing truck. Concrete is also prone to cracking due to thermal stresses and seismic activity. Likewise wood building materials often need to be suitably stored at the construction site, and for larger beams, whether wood or metal, heavy duty transportation or handling may be required. In addition, wood structures can be susceptible to infestation by pests, such as termites and mice. Wood also can deteriorate due to environmental factors such as fungus or other rot. Furthermore, typical wood, metal and concrete structures cannot be readily disassembled and moved to a different location, leading to waste of building materials if the building becomes unneeded.
Accordingly, there is a need for an easily transportable and readily assembled pre-fabricated building structure and assembly technique. There is also a need for a building structure that can be disassembled and either re-used or recycled. Further, there is also a need for a building process that is flexible, fast and environmentally friendly.

NOBLE ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION


A seal holding shuttle employable for fitting elastic seal members to a caliper includes in a main body thereof an abutment plate having a cavity formed therein to receive an adjust bolt, a support member for clamping each elastic seal member between the abutment plate and the support member in the elastically bent state, four or more pins located on the inner diameter side of the elastic seal member so as to support a plurality of outward bent projections of the elastic seal member and first driving mean for displacing the abutment plate or the support member. In addition, the seal holding shuttle includes a plurality of expansive squeezing members for expanding a plurality of inward bent projections of the elastic seal member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seal holding shuttle employable for fitting an elastic seal member to a caliper for use in a disc brake of a vehicle.
2. Related Art
A caliper for fitting elastic sealing members to a parking brake as illustrated in FIG. 9 has been hitherto known as a caliper employable for a disc brake. Referring to FIG. 9, a caliper 50 of the aforementioned type is constructed such that an adjust bolt 52 is caused to stand upright along the center axis of a cylinder 51 at the initial stage of a fitting operation. An annular seal member 54 as shown in FIG. 7 is fitted into a seal groove 53 at the position in the vicinity of the outer end of cylinder 51 in the course of the fitting operation.
An operation for fitting an elastic seal member 54 as mentioned above has been heretofore manually performed. However, since the fitting operation should be performed such that the elastic seal member 54 is reliably and firmly fitted into the seal groove 53 while subjecting to undesirable hindrance due to the presence of the adjust bolt 52, there arises a problem that a well-trained operator is required, and moreover, each fitting operation is performed at a low efficiency.

Seal holding shuttle for fitting elastic seal members to a caliper


An optical scanner for scanning various optical indicia uses one or more tunable optical components for noise reduction purposes. The scanner may include a narrow band-pass tunable optical filter for passing selected wavelengths of incoming light. The scanner may also have a tunable light source, such as a tunable laser source, whereby the wavelength of the generated laser light is sensed and controlled by the scanner""s electronic sub-system.

This invention relates to the field of optical scanners such as bar code scanners. More specifically, the invention relates to the use of tunable optical components for noise reduction within optical scanners.
Electro-optical scanners, such as bar code symbol scanners, are now quite common. Typically, a bar code symbol comprises one or more rows of light and dark regions, typically in the form of rectangles. The widths of the dark regions, i.e., the bars, and/or the widths of the light regions, i.e., the spaces between the bars, when partitioned into groups, indicate encoded information to be read.
A bar code symbol reader illuminates the symbol and senses light reflected from the coded regions to detect the widths and spacings of the coded regions and derive the encoded information. Bar code reading type data input systems improve the efficiency and accuracy of data input for a wide variety of applications. The ease of data input in such systems facilitates more frequent and detailed data input, for example to provide efficient inventories, tracking of work in progress, etc.
A variety of scanning systems are known. One particularly advantageous type of reader is an optical scanner which scans a beam of light, such as a laser beam, across the symbols. Laser scanner systems and components of the type exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,387,297 and 4,760,248xe2x80x94which are owned by the assignee of the instant invention and are incorporated by reference hereinxe2x80x94have generally been designed to read indicia having parts of different light reflectivity, i.e., bar code symbols, particularly of the Universal Product Code (UPC) type, at a certain working range or reading distance from a hand-held or stationary scanner.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a prior art bar code symbol reader 10 implemented as a gun shaped device, having a pistol-grip type of handle 53. A lightweight plastic housing 55 contains a light source 46, a detector 58, optics 57, signal processing circuitry 63, a programmed microprocessor 40, and a power source or battery 62. An exit window 56 at the front end of the housing 55 allows an outgoing light beam 51 to exit and an incoming reflected light 52 to enter. A user aims the reader at a bar code symbol 70 from a position in which the reader 10 is spaced from the symbol, i.e., not touching the symbol or moving across the symbol.
As further depicted in FIG. 1, the optics may include a suitable lens 57 (or multiple lens system) to focus the scanned beam into a scanning spot at an appropriate reference plane. The light source 46, such as a semiconductor laser diode, introduces a light beam into an optical axis of the lens 57, and other lenses or beam shaping structures as needed. The beam is reflected from an oscillating mirror 59 which is coupled to a scanning drive motor 60 energized when a trigger 54 is manually pulled. The oscillation of the mirror 59 causes the outgoing beam 51 to scan back and forth in a desired pattern.
A variety of mirror and motor configurations can be used to move the beam in a desired scanning pattern. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,798 discloses a rotating polygon having a planar mirror at each side, each mirror tracing a scan line across the symbol. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,387,297 and 4,409,470 both employ a planar mirror which is repetitively and reciprocally driven in alternate circumferential directions about a drive shaft on which the mirror is mounted. U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,660 discloses a multi-mirror construction composed of a generally concave mirror portion and a generally planar mirror portion. The multi-mirror construction is repetitively reciprocally driven in alternative circumferential directions about a drive shaft on which the multi-mirror construction is mounted.
The light 52 reflected back by the symbol 70 passes back through the window 56 for transmission to the detector 58. In the exemplary reader shown in FIG. 1, the reflected light reflects off of mirror 59, passes through an optical filter 47 and impinges on the light sensitive detector 58. The filter is typically designed to have a band-pass characteristics in order to pass the reflected (return) laser light and block the light coming from other light sources. The detector 58 produces an analog signal proportional to the intensity of the reflected light 52.
The signal processing circuitry includes a digitizer 63 mounted on a printed circuit board 61. The digitizer processes the analog signal from detector 58 to produce a pulse signal where the widths and spacings between the pulses correspond to the widths of the bars and the spacings between the bars. The digitizer serves as an edge detector or wave shaper circuit, and a threshold value set by the digitizer determines what points of the analog signal represent bar edges. The pulse signal from the digitizer 63 is applied to a decoder, typically incorporated in the programmed microprocessor 40 which will also have associated program memory and random access data memory. The microprocessor decoder 40 first determines the pulse widths and spacings of the signal from the digitizer. The decoder then analyzes the widths and spacings to find and decode a legitimate bar code message. This includes analysis to recognize legitimate characters and sequences, as defined by the appropriate code standard. This may also include an initial recognition of the particular standard to which the scanned symbol conforms. This recognition of the standard is typically referred to as autodiscrimination.
To scan the symbol 70, the user aims the bar code reader 10 and operates movable trigger switch 54 to activate the light source 46, the scanning motor 60 and the signal processing circuitry. If the scanning light beam 51 is visible, the operator can see a scan pattern on the surface on which the symbol appears and adjust aiming of the reader 10 accordingly. If the light beam 51 produced by the source 46 is marginally visible, an aiming light maybe included. The aiming light, if needed, produces a visible-light spot which may be fixed, or scanned just like the laser beam 51. The user employs this visible light to aim the reader at the symbol before pulling the trigger.
The reader 10 may also function as a portable data collection terminal. If so, the reader would include a keyboard 48 and a display 49, such as described in the previously noted U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,470.
In electro-optical scanners of the type discussed above, the laser source, the optics, the mirror structure, the drive to oscillate the mirror structure, the photodetector, and the associated signal processing and decoding circuitry can all be packaged in a xe2x80x9cscanning modulexe2x80x9d, which in turn is placed into the scanner""s, or terminal""s housing.
One of the factors which can affect scanner""s performance is it""s signal-to-noise ratio. The signal-to-noise ratio can be separated into two components, optical and electrical. The optical signal-to-noise ratio depends upon the amount of the reflected diffused laser light detected by the sensor 58, verses the amount of parasitic light impinging upon the sensor 58 which comes from other light sources such as an ambient light. In order to increase the optical signal-to-noise ratio, the band-pass filter is designed to transmit in the spectrum of the laser source and to block the light in other optical spectrums. A typical bandwidth of the optical filter used in bar code scanners is approximately 70 nanometers. In comparison, a typical bandwidth of a laser beam generated by a laser diode is on the order of few nanometers. The large difference between the filter bandwidth and the laser beam bandwidth is due to a number of variables.
The optical filter has to accommodate laser wavelength variations, as well as the laser wavelength changes due to temperature. In addition sufficient bandwidth must be allocated for filter variations and filter slope roll-off.
Therefore, a need exists for a scanner having very narrow optical band-pass filter. This would increase the scanner""s signal-to-noise ratio and improve the system""s performance in high optical noise environments.
The need also exists for a method of making a scanner having a narrow optical band-pass filter which would accommodate laser wavelength variations.
There is also a need for a scanner having a narrow band-pass optical filter which is capable of adjusting its filtering characteristics in order to track the laser wavelengths variations.
There is a further need for a scanner capable of controlling laser wavelengths, thus allowing the use of a non-tunable or partly tunable narrow band-pass optical filter.
Solutions for the above objects of the invention are fully disclosed in the drawings and the following pages of the specification.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in accordance with the present invention by a barcode reader and a method for reading barcodes in accordance with the present invention.
The barcode reader in one embodiment comprises a light source for generating a barcode illuminating beam and a detector for detecting return light reflected from a barcode illuminated by the illuminating beam and producing a signal corresponding thereto. A tunable optical filter is disposed before the detector to filter the return light. The tunable optical filter has an adjustable filtering characteristic that is adjustable to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the detector and thereby the barcode reader.
The light source is preferably a monochromatic light source, and most preferably, a laser light source. The tunable optical filter can be an interference type optical filter and preferably has a light collimator located in front of the filter to provide a collimated return light to the optical filter.
The filtering characteristic of the filter can be adjusted by changing an angle of incidence of the return light with respect to the optical filter. The optical filter is most preferably a band-pass tunable optical filter with a band-pass filtering characteristic, and in a preferred embodiment, the interference type optical filter includes interference coating layers preferably having a plurality of coating layers on one side of the optical filter.
In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of interference coating layers is separated into sets of layers, and one set of layers is located on one side of the optical filter, and another set of layers is located on the other side of the optical filter.
In one embodiment, the angle of incidence of return light is changed by an adjuster, which can be either passive or active. The passive adjuster is preferably a temperature sensitive bimetallic spring, and a preferred embodiment of an active adjuster is a sensor for sensing the temperature of the light source and an actuator for positioning the optical filter at an angle that increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the barcode reader.
The active adjuster can further include a lookup table for correlating a set of angular positions of the optical filter to a set of temperatures for the light source. The active adjuster can be an analog electromechanical adjuster.
In another embodiment, the active adjuster can sense the wavelength of the laser beam, and an actuator positions the optical filter at an angle that increases the signal-to-noise ratio based on the sensed wavelength. This can also be carried out by using a lookup table for correlating a set of angular positions to a set of wavelengths.
The tunable optical filter can also be an LCD type optical filter, an acoustic type optical filter, or a diffractive type optical filter.
In another embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the light source, detector and an optical filter, the reader has a controller for adjusting the wavelength of the illuminating beam to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal produced by the detector. In this embodiment, the optical filter has a static characteristic, whereas the wavelength of the light source is modulated by varying the temperature or the current to the light source. Alternatively, both the current and the temperature to the light source can be varied to adjust the wavelength of the beam.
The present invention also relates to methods for reading barcodes which include the steps of adjusting the filtering characteristic of a tunable filter to maximize signal-to-noise ratio, adjusting the filtering characteristic of the optical filter by changing the angle of incidence of the return light in order to increase the signal ratio, or controlling the wavelength of the illuminating beam to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the reader.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the invention taken with the attached drawings, wherein:

Scanning system with adjustable optical characteristics


For use with an optical scanning device, a reading head comprising a housing having at least one bore for accommodating therein a respective photo-multiplier tube and a non-intersecting lateral bore for accommodating therein a stimulating light source for producing a stimulating beam having a first wavelength. A focusing lens is mounted in association with the stimulating light source for focusing the stimulating beam on a film of the scanning device so as to produce stimulated fluorescent light having a second wavelength in the film at a point of contact by the stimulating beam. A window is provided within the housing for mounting therein a filter for transmitting therethrough the stimulated fluorescent light whilst substantially blocking reflections of the stimulating beam. The housing is mounted in spaced relationship with the film so as to direct the stimulating light beam perpendicular to the film such that a distance from the film to an internal periphery of the lateral bore within the housing is equal to a focal length of the focusing lens, and the stimulating light source is fixed within the lateral bore so that the focusing lens is in precise registration with the internal periphery.

It is known to use low dosage X-rays so as to provide latent images which may be stimulated off-line so as to expose the hidden images. Such a technique is disclosed, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,670. As disclosed in EP 423 891 the latent images are produced by X-rays which impinge on a specially coated film containing a suitably reactive material. The latent image is stored in the coating as a spatially distributed pattern of excited electrons which are trapped in a manner quantitatively indicative of an amount of electromagnetic energy spatially distributed on the film. A visible image can be derived from the resultant latent image by inducing the trapped electrons to fluoresce such that the intensity of the fluorescence is quantitatively indicative of the intensity of the spatially distributed X-ray radiation which was originally absorbed by the film. After the information has been extracted, the entire film is exposed to light, thereby leveling off all of the X-ray excitable electrons to a non-energized state, thus conditioning the film for re-use.
Image scanners have become very common for converting many types of analog input data into computer compatible information. Such scanners have a laser light source for directing on to a film which is generally disposed on a surface of a drum, and are further equipped with means for reading the light reflected by the film.
FIG. 1 shows such a radiographic latent image reader for exposing a phosphor storage sheet to an excitation laser beam as described in JP 6019014. A laser beam 30 from a laser light source 16 is reflected by mirrors 22 and 24, passes through a selecting mirror 26 and a condensing lens 28, and irradiates the recording surface 12 of a stimulatable phosphor 10. The fluorescence generating by the phosphor 10 is condensed by the lens 28, reflected by the mirror 26 and detected by a fluorescence detecting device 20 after its red light reflections are cut by a filter 34. By subjecting the reader to transverse motion in the direction shown by the arrow 15 so as completely traverse the width of the recording surface 12, the entire surface of the phosphor 10 may be read.
It is apparent, therefore, that in the system described in JP 6019014, complex imaging and scanning optics are required which are cumbersome and space-consuming. This, in turn, militates against the provision of more than one scanning optics per drum so as to scan along only a fraction of thereof, thereby allowing different sections of the film to be scanned by more than one scanning optics simultaneously. As a result, such prior art systems are relatively slow.
It would obviously be desirable to replace the complex imaging and scanning optics of JP 6019014 with a compact unit allowing several such units to be provided along the width of the film, so as to allow parallel processing thereof. The prior art makes no attempt to address this requirement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,671 (Kato et al.) discloses a radiation image readout device for reading a stimulatable phosphor. The radiation image readout device includes a photosensor for detecting light produced by the phosphor upon its being stimulated, and a reflecting optical element like a mirror located between the phosphor and the photosensor for reflecting stimulating rays advancing between the phosphor and the photosensor towards the phosphor. The reflecting optical element has a very small size not to intercept the light emitted by the phosphor and detected by the photosensor as much as possible.
The stimulatable phosphor is mounted on a rotary drum and the photosensor is secured to a readout head which is movable in the direction of the axis of the drum. Stimulation of the phosphor is achieved by means of a laser mounted parallel to the drum's axis so as to direct a beam of laser light between the photosensor and the drum so as to be reflected by the mirror toward the stimulatable phosphor plate.
Such an arrangement is also not adapted for multiple reading heads since the stimulating laser beam is directed towards the photosensor along the axis of the drum. Consequently, at most two reading heads might possibly be employed in back-to-back arrangement with respective laser beams directed in opposite directions towards each other. There is no obvious way to employ such an arrangement for the simultaneous stimulation and reading of more than two points on the phosphor. Furthermore the arrangement lacks compactness, is relatively slow and expensive.

Reading head for an optical scanning device


Embodiments of the present invention may provide methods of controlling a memory device and memory devices including a memory array having an internal address input which specifies a location in the memory array accessed during read operations and write operations. An external address input receives an address value from a device external to the memory device. The received address value may be utilized to randomly access the memory array. An address register/restart address counter is operatively associated with the memory array and the external address input and configured to store a start address for at least a write operation to the memory array, to selectively generate a series of internal addresses to access the memory array based on the stored start address and to selectively return to the stored start address as a start address of a subsequent operation to access the memory array.

Memory devices typically store (write) and retrieve (read) data from a memory array based on an address. In conventional memory devices, such as the synchronous dual port memory device 10 illustrated in FIG. 1, the address utilized for a read or write operation may be either an external address or an internally generated count which originates at a loaded address or a zero address. As is seen in FIG. 1, the dual port memory device 10 includes a memory array 12, I/O controls 14 and 14', input latches 18 and 18', drivers 20 and 20', read/write control latches 22 and 22', and NOR gates 24 and 24' which control the drivers 20 and 20' to activate during read operations, AND gates 26 and 26' which provide a read/write control signal to the I/O controls 14 and 14', chip enable control gates 28 and 28' and chip enable latches 30 and 30'.
Also provided are counter/address registers 16 and 16'. The counter/address registers 16 and 16' latch the address on the external address bus of the device for read and write operations and provide this address to the memory array 12. The counter/address registers 16 and 16' also provide an internally generated count to the memory array as an address. The count may be reset to 0 by the CNTRST signal and started by the signal CNTEN. The memory array 12 may then be sequentially accessed, beginning with an externally loaded address or 0 by incrementing the count.
FIG. 2 illustrates a possible circuit to carry out the functions of the counter/address registers 16 and 16'. As seen in FIG. 2, a multiplexer 32 receives the external address A.sub.0 -A.sub.15 as one input. The multiplexer 32 is controlled by the ADS signal so that when ADS is active, the multiplexer 32 outputs the external address. A second multiplexer 34 receives the output of the first multiplexer 32 and outputs either the output of the first multiplexer 32 or all 0's based on the signal CNTRST. If CNTRST is active, then all 0's are output and if CNTRST is inactive, then the output of the second multiplexer 34 is the output of the first multiplexer 32. The output of the second multiplexer 34 is provided to a counter/register 36 which stores the output of the multiplexer 34 on each cycle of CLK. The output of the counter/register 36 is provided to the memory array 12 and also provided to an adder 38 and a third multiplexer 40. The adder 38 increments the address value output by the counter/register 36 by 1 and provides that value to the third multiplexer 40. The third multiplexer 40 provides its output to the first multiplexer 32. The output of the third multiplexer 40 is controlled by the signal CNTEN to output the value of the counter/register 36 if CNTEN is inactive and the incremented value of the counter/register 36 if CNTEN is active.
A truth table for the address counter control is illustrated in Table 1.
TABLE 1 Address Counter Control Pre- Ad- vious dress Address CLK ADS CNTEN CNTRST I/O MODE X X .Arrow-up bold. H H L Dout Counter reset (0) to Address 0 An X .Arrow-up bold. L H H Dout External (n) Address Utilized X An .Arrow-up bold. H H H Dout External (n) Address Blocked - Counter disabled X An .Arrow-up bold. H L H Dout Counter (n+1) Enabled - Internal Address generation
As is seen in the above truth table and from the circuit illustrated in FIG. 2, the address may be reset to Address 0 but may not be reset to an externally loaded address. To restart a read or a write operation which utilized internal address generation at an address other than 0, a new address is loaded from the external address bus. Accordingly, an additional address cycle may be required to restart any non-zero operations. Thus, if a write operation is immediately followed by a read or a series of read operations from the same initial non-zero or intermediate starting address, the initial starting address will be loaded for each operation. Additional dual port memory devices having a loadable address for read operations are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,441.
In other devices, such as first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffers, internal addresses may be utilized to access memory. These pointers to memory may be utilized to track the sequence in which data is stored in memory to create a FIFO from a random access memory. In particular in FIFOs with a "fast retransmit mode," a read address may be stored and used as a mark to return to begin transmission. Typically, this read address does not correspond to an external address and the FIFO typically reads to this address and then sets a mark to begin retransmission. An example of such a FIFO is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,485.

Memory devices having a restore start address counter