A method and computer program product are provided for controlling the control effectors of an aerodynamic vehicle including, for example, the respective positions of nozzles and aerodynamic surfaces, to affect a desired change in the time rate of change of the system state vector. The method initially determines differences between anticipated changes in the states of the aerodynamic vehicle based upon the current state of each control effector, and desired state changes. These differences may be weighted based upon a predetermined criteria, such as the importance of the respective states and/or the weight to be attributed to outliers. The differences between the anticipated and desired state changes are converted to the corresponding rates of change of the control effectors. Control signals are then issued to the control effectors to affect the desired change in the time rate of change of the system state vector.

During flight, the control of aerodynamic vehicles, such as aircraft, is principally accomplished via a variety of flight control effectors. These flight control effectors include aerodynamic controls such as the rudder, elevators, ailerons, speed brakes, engine thrust variations, nozzle vectoring and the like. By altering the various flight control effectors, the system state vector that defines the current state of the aerodynamic vehicle can be changed. In this regard, the system state vector of an aerodynamic vehicle in flight typically defines a plurality of current vehicle states such as the angle of attack, the angle of side slip, the air speed, the vehicle attitude and the like.
Historically, the flight control effectors were directly linked to various input devices operated by the pilot. For example, flight control effectors have been linked via cabling to the throttle levers and the control column or stick. More recently, the flight control effectors have been driven by a flight control computer which, in turn, receives inputs from the various input devices operated by the pilot. By appropriately adjusting the input devices, a pilot may therefore controllably alter the time rate of change of the current system state vector of the aerodynamic vehicle.
Unfortunately, flight control effectors may occasionally fail, thereby adversely affecting the ability of conventional control systems to maintain the dynamic stability and performance of the aerodynamic vehicle. In order to accommodate failures of one or more of the flight control effectors, control effectors failure detection and flight control reconfiguration systems have been developed. These systems typically remove the flight control effectors that have been identified as inoperable from the control system. These systems are therefore designed to detect the failure of one or more flight control effectors and to alter the control logic associated with one or more of the flight control effectors that remain operable in an attempt to produce the desired change in the time rate of change of the current system state vector of an aerodynamic vehicle requested by the pilot. These failure detection and flight control reconfiguration systems are highly complex. As such, the proper operation of these systems is difficult to verify. Moreover, these systems introduce a risk that a flight control effector that is actually functioning properly may be falsely identified as having failed and thereafter removed from the control system, thereby potentially and unnecessarily rendering the control system less effective.
Additionally, the control effectors of an aerodynamic vehicle generally have some limitations on their performance. In this regard, the rate of change accommodated by most control effectors is generally limited to a range bounded by upper and lower limits. By way of example, for aircraft, such as direct lift aircraft, that permit nozzle vectoring, the actual position which the nozzles may assume is typically limited to within upper and lower limits. Unfortunately, conventional control systems do not accommodate limitations in the range of settings and rate of change of the control effectors. As such, conventional control systems may attempt to alter a control effector in a manner that exceeds its limitations. Since the control effector will be unable to make the desired change, the control system may correspondingly fail to produce the desired change in the time rate of change of the system state vector of the aircraft.
In addition to the aerodynamic surfaces commonly utilized to control the flight of an aerodynamic vehicle, aircraft has been developed that can provide additional control by means of thrust variations and/or thrust or nozzle vectoring. For example, some multi-engine aircraft permit the plurality of engines to be driven differently so as to generate different levels of thrust which, in turn, can serve to assist in the controlled flight of the aircraft. As another example, vectoring nozzles that may be commanded to assume any of a range of positions and bi-directional nozzles that direct the exhaust in one of two directions have been developed. By controllably directing at least a portion of the engine exhaust in different directions, vectoring nozzles, which shall hereafter also generally include bi-directional nozzles, can also assist in the controlled flight of the aircraft.
While various control systems have been developed to control the flight control effectors during flight, these control systems generally do not integrate the control provided by aerodynamic surfaces during flight with the control needed in instances in which the aircraft has no, or a negligible, velocity such that the aerodynamic control surfaces, such as the rudder, elevators, ailerons or the like, do not significantly contribute, if at all, to the lift and attitude control of the aircraft. In this regard, direct lift aircraft have been and are being developed. Direct lift aircraft have control effectors, such as vectoring nozzles or bi-directional nozzles, that can direct the engine exhaust in different directions to provide lift and attitude control of the aircraft. By appropriately positioning the nozzles, a direct lift aircraft can takeoff and land in a substantially vertical manner. As such, during takeoff and landing, the aerodynamic control surfaces do not significantly contribute to the lift and the attitude control of the direct lift aircraft. Instead, the lift and attitude control are principally provided and controlled by any thrust variations provided by the engines and the vectoring of the associated nozzles.
In order to control the lift and attitude of an aircraft during a vertical takeoff or landing, control systems have been developed to control the engines and the associated nozzles. For example, one control system employs an optimization algorithm, termed an L1 optimization algorithm. While generally effective, this optimization algorithm suffers from several deficiencies. In this regard, the optimization algorithm is computationally complex, thereby requiring substantial computing resources and being difficult and costly to expand or scale to accommodate more sophisticated control schemes, such as the control scheme necessary to control vectoring nozzles as opposed to simpler bi-directional nozzles. The computational complexity of the optimization algorithm may also cause the solution to be approximated in instances in which the optimization algorithm cannot arrive at an exact solution within the time frame required to maintain stability of the aircraft. In addition, the optimization algorithm may not converge in all situations. In instances in which the optimization algorithm may not converge, the prior solution, i.e., the solution from a prior iteration of the optimization algorithm, would continue to be utilized, thereby resulting in a sub-optimal solution.
As such, it would be desirable to provide an improved control system that effectively integrates the various control effectors including the aerodynamic surfaces and the thrust variations and nozzle vectoring so as comprehensively control the aerodynamic vehicle during different stages of flight, including for example, the vertical takeoff and landing of a direct lift aircraft during which thrust variations and nozzle vectoring dominate the control scheme as well as in flight during which the aerodynamic surfaces provide a greater measure of control. In addition, it would be desirable to develop a method of controlling the control effectors of an aerodynamic vehicle, such as a direct lift aircraft, which provides increased flexibility with respect to the removal or inclusion of a flight control effector that may have failed. In addition, it would be advantageous to provide a method for controlling the control effectors of an aerodynamic vehicle, including a direct lift aircraft, in a manner that recognizes and accommodates limitations in the settings and rate of change of at least some of the control effectors.

Method and computer program product for controlling the control effectors of an aerodynamic vehicle


A signal processing apparatus for an optical disk system which apparatus has a variable gain amplifier that amplifies with a variable gain a light-detected signal obtained from an optical disk on which to perform playback processing so as to make a level of the light-detected signal coincide with a first reference level. The apparatus comprises a comparator that compares the level of the light-detected signal amplified by the variable gain amplifier with the first reference level; a gain adjuster that generates and supplies a control signal to adjust the variable gain according to a result of the comparing to the variable gain amplifier; and a gain adjustment controller that, when the level of the light-detected signal amplified is within a level range including the first reference level, controls a level of the control signal of the gain adjuster to be held at its preceding value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus and method for an optical disk system.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical pickup is an apparatus that performs record/playback of information on/from optical disks by using an optical system that is a combination of a light source, a lens, a photo-detector, and the like. A signal obtained by this optical pickup from the optical disk (hereinafter, called a light-detected signal) varies in level due to variations in characteristics of optical disks such as reflectivity, variation in the manufacture of the optical system including the photo-detector of the optical pickup, variation in the amount of light depending on an operation mode, either a record, playback, or erase, and the like. Accordingly, optical disk systems to perform record/playback of optical disks are usually provided with an AGC (Auto Gain Control) circuit to make the level of the light-detected signal coincide with a predetermined reference level. See, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3272003.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an optical disk system having a conventional AGC circuit 40. Information recorded on an optical disk 10 is read out by an optical pickup 20 in the form of returned laser light, and is converted to electricity to obtain a light-detected signal. This light-detected signal is a signal on which a DSP 50 performs various optical disk playback processes (such as decoding and a servo process). An RP signal, an FE (Focus Error) signal, a TE (Tracking Error) signal, and the like are produced from the light-detected signal.
Note that because the light-detected signal is minute in level at the stage of being detected by the optical pickup 20, a preamplifier 30 amplifies the light-detected signal to a level that can be handled by the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 50 and the like at the later stage. And, the light-detected signal amplified by the preamplifier 30 is supplied to the AGC circuit 40 to accommodate to the level variation. As a result, the light-detected signal stabilized at an almost constant level is supplied to the DSP 50, and after decoded according to the standard of the optical disk 10, is outputted as a playback signal (an audio signal, a CD-ROM signal, a video signal, etc.) to a speaker 60 and the like.
The AGC circuit 40 is constituted by an analog circuit comprising a VCA (Voltage Control Amplifier) 41 that amplifies or attenuates the light-detected signal with a variable gain according to a control voltage, a detector 42 for detecting the output of the VCA 41, and a VCA control circuit 43 that generates and supplies the control voltage to make the output of the VCA 41 detected by the detector 42 coincide with the predetermined reference level to the VCA 41. An internally generated voltage obtained by dividing a supply voltage VCC according to a predetermined ratio is usually used as the reference level in the VCA control circuit 43.
However, with a conventional mechanism for stabilizing the level of the light-detected signal like the AGC circuit 40 of FIG. 15, various noise factors such as variations in characteristics of the optical disk and the optical pickup depending on environmental conditions and the like, and variations in the amount of reflected light due to stains or scratches on the optical disk may cause unexpected, minute variation in the level of the light-detected signal.
In the conventional mechanism, the stabilization reference for the light-detected signal is set at a fixed level by an analog component such as a voltage divider. Hence, the conventional mechanism is not flexible enough to deal with the unexpected, minute variation in the level of the light-detected signal, but allows the level control to follow the minute level variation. As such, with the conventional mechanism, it is difficult for the light-detected signal to settle in level, and thus the problem occurs that optical disk playback processing cannot be appropriately performed on the light-detected signal.

Signal processing apparatus and method for optical disk system


Systems and methods for searching for objects located in a virtual world include having a virtual construct such as a bot crawl the virtual world by moving from place to place. Object information is collected about the objects associated with the place and the object information is stored in a searchable database. Users can search the database for objects in the virtual world. The information can be further filtered or classified to aid in searching.

We describe a system for collecting, filtering, processing, and ranking information related to user-generated content in 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life™, for the purpose of creating a search service for 3D content.
3D objects in virtual worlds have associated meta-data that may include a title or name, a short description, the objects' location in the virtual world, information about the owners and the creators of the objects, the objects' textures (e.g., images), the objects permissions, and several flags that indicate, for example, whether the object is for sale and for how much. In addition an object can have other associated resources, including blocks of text or sounds, and contained objects from which additional meta-data can be obtained. Similarly, virtual worlds include the notion of virtual land, called places, that also has similar meta-data. Places are often defined by a finite 2D area with extremely large height.
The invention described here pertains to collecting as much information as possible from the virtual world, and then (1) filtering out information that is of no public interest, (2) processing the information so that the most useful parts get used; and (3) ranking the search results according to relevance.
Thus, there is still a need for methods of searching a virtual world for virtual objects.

The Regents of the University of California


An example antenna device includes a conductive ground plane and first and second antenna elements connected to the conductive ground plane through first and second feeding points, respectively. Directivities of the first and second antenna elements are arranged to be approximately perpendicular to each other. A phase adjusting circuit is configured to provide a phase difference of approximately 180 degrees between first and second received signals by the first and second antenna elements, respectively and a combining circuit is configured to combine the first and second received signals having a phase difference of approximately 180 degrees therebetween to obtain a combined signal. A radio unit is configured to process the combined signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, for example, an antenna device for a mobile communication terminal and a signal receiving method, and particularly to noise suppression techniques for an antenna.
2. Related Art
When a signal of digital terrestrial broadcasting, for example, is received with an antenna element contained in a mobile communication terminal such as a notebook personal computer (PC), noise produced in the terminal device itself may greatly affect reception characteristics of the antenna element. Some built-in, commercially available antenna devices for receiving digital terrestrial broadcasting have a low noise amplifier (LNA) inserted therein for compensating for a lowered gain due to the built-in structure. However, they suffer from a problem that the LNA also amplifies noise mixed with the signal and remain less effective. Further, an antenna element contained in a mobile communication terminal such as a notebook PC has problems of narrower bandwidth and lower gain of an antenna, for example.
As a technique for suppressing an undesired signal such as noise mixed therein, JP-A 2001-28561 (Kokai) describes providing a plurality of antenna elements, and using feedforward control through a multi-stage amplifying circuit and a phase circuit to cancel a signal received at each antenna element. However, this technique requires a plurality of amplifying circuits and phase circuits, and a circuit for controlling them, presenting a problem of a complex configuration.

Antenna device and signal receiving method


A new interface and a method for making the same, and more particularly, an electrical transmission-line interface and a method for making the same. On a substrate having semiconductors, a driver or receiver circuit is provided to interface with an electrical transmission-line. Integral means for the electrical transmission-line alignment, support and transit through a sealed environment is also provided. A fluid tight seal can also be provided for the various components that are in the interior of the housing. Variable time-delay means is provided for a computer clock system or other microwave applications.

Interconnection for computer communication applications such as clock distribution, memory and interprocessor data bus, matrix or cross-point switches are key elements in system architecture, package design, function, and performance. Arrays of transmission-lines into fluid-sealed semiconductor chip packages further pose problems in strain-relief at device interfaces, fan-out distribution, integrability, and spatial efficiency. Some of these known problems have been resolved by this invention.
Dense pin-in-hole electrical connectors for today's multichip module (MCM) packaging generates electromagnetic inductance and coupled noise. Furthermore, as the electrical signal passes from the I/O pin to the surface of the MLC substrate, the Delta-i noise induced within multilayer ceramic substrates by semiconductor chips, simultaneously switching logic levels further degrades the electrical signals. In general, these problems of noise and dispersion increase directly with increasing signal frequency, particularly above 100 megahertz.
The distribution of a master oscillator or a system clock to the multichip array on the substrate requires controlled, adjusted time-delay offsets to guarantee simultaneous clock signal arrivals. Departures from simultaneity are known as "skew," and, translate directly into computer cycle-time performance.
This invention addresses these concerns and provides means for resolving some of the issues. For example, it was found that direct connection to the substrate interface minimizes connector and substrate noise. Therefore, the preferred connection for high frequency operation is a cable-TCM interface, where the connection penetrates the side of the TCM (Thermal Conduction Module) and where a receiver is provided at the substrate surface. Strain-relief of the relatively rigid coaxial cable and provision for fluid sealing of the cable-module interface are also addressed in this invention.
The requirement to compensate for clock arrival time differences related to propagation times for nets of different lengths has also been addressed by this invention. The designed delays that are deliberately introduced between ICE's (Interface Control Element), SCE's (System Control Element), etc. within and between printed circuit (PC) boards of thermal conduction modules (TCM) are similarly accommodated by this invention.
Some of the important features of this invention are:
(1) the transmission-line to the module interface, PA1 (2) transmission-line substrate interface, PA1 (3) variable delay-line embodiments, PA1 (4) transmission-line guide, support, fluid seal and strain-relief means, and PA1 (5) separability of the upper and lower module half-planes for repair, test, or engineering change. PA1 a) penetrating the controlled environment of the TCM (Thermal Conduction Module) with one or more coaxial cables; PA1 b) aligning and securing the coaxial cable through a guide groove; PA1 c) locating and aligning the coaxial cable ends to receiver, driver, or both; PA1 d) mounting of receiver and/or driver devices on the substrate of the TCM; PA1 e) effecting a separable interface between the coaxial cable and the receiver or driver circuits, and PA1 f) providing integral variable time-delay means. PA1 a) a substrate, PA1 b) at least one electrical contact pair in contact with at least one surface of the substrate, PA1 c) at least a portion of at least one transmission-line electrically communicating with the at least one electrical contact pair, PA1 d) a housing protecting the at least one electrical contact pair and the substrate, and, PA1 e) means in the housing for communicating an electrical signal through the housing to the electrical contact pair from the at least one transmission-line. PA1 a) a substrate, PA1 b) at least one electrical contact pair in contact with at least one surface of the substrate, PA1 c) at least one electrical transmission-line, PA1 d) means for guiding the at least one electrical transmission-line to the at least one electrical contact pair, PA1 e) means for aligning and securing the at least one electrical transmission-line to the at least one electrical contact pair, PA1 f) a housing protecting the at least one electrical contact pair and the substrate, and PA1 g) means in the housing for communicating an electrical signal through the housing to the at least one electrical contact pair from the at least one electrical transmission-line. PA1 a) securing at least one electrical contact pair in contact with at least one surface of a substrate, PA1 b) securing at least one electrical transmission-line to the at least one electrical contact pair, PA1 c) providing a housing to protect the at least one electrical contact pair and the substrate, and PA1 d) providing means in the housing for communicating an electrical signal through the housing to the electrical contact pair from the at least one transmission-line. PA1 a) securing at least one electrical contact pair in contact with at least one surface of a substrate, PA1 b) providing means for guiding at least one electrical transmission-line to the electrical contact pair, PA1 c) providing means for aligning and securing the at least one electrical transmission-line to the at least one electrical contact pair, PA1 d) providing a housing to protect the at least one electrical contact pair and the substrate, and PA1 e) providing means in the housing for communicating an electrical signal through the housing to the at least one electrical pair from the at least one electrical transmission-line.
Problems in strain-relief at device interfaces, fan-out distribution, integrability, and spatial efficiency are some of the other problems that one has to contend with. Some of these known problems have been resolved by this invention.
The present invention teaches compatible designs for interfacing external transmission-lines into a fluid-sealed, temperature-controlled module, and, direct distribution within the module to selectable semiconductor chip positions. The present invention further teaches direct surface connection of the transmission-line to the substrate surface, and thus avoids the passage of the electrical signal through the module layers or cooling structures.
This invention also allows the presence of C-4s and the semiconductor chips on the substrate while providing unique means for electrical interconnection of the transmission-line to a receiver on the substrate surface. Means for suitably bonding the transmission-line or the signal conductor to a via in the substrate is also provided.
Another, unique feature of this invention are the bellows for the transmission-line which provide, fluid sealing and strain-relief for the connection of the transmission-line at the substrate surface.

Apparatus and a method for an electrical transmission-line interface

International Business Machines Corporation


Systems and methods for creating a motion control photography set are disclosed. One embodiment includes a master control that receives control signals for a plurality of device actors, such as robot arms, lighting, and camera controls, and synchronizes the plurality of control signals with a global timeline to create a plurality of synchronized signals, such that the control data for each actor of the device actors is associated with a corresponding position in the global timeline. According to another embodiment, the set also includes a master input that conveys a master input signal to the master control indicating a position in the global timeline and a rate of progression through the global timeline. In response to the master input signal, the control data for each actor of the device actors is sent to respective device actors at an adjustable rate of progression through the global timeline.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the use of automated systems and controls in the creation of audiovisual film scenes. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods of using a master control with motion control to create a film scene.
Motion control is a type of automation, where the position of an object or objects is controlled using some type of device such as a robotic arm. In the production of videos, films, commercials, movies, and other such audiovisual works, the placement and movement of the camera and objects in a scene being captured by the camera may be a major consideration and source of time and expense. The use of motion control is known in the film industry, where a camera may be mounted and controlled as part of the creation and recording of a video scene. This technique is commonly referred to as motion control photography.
In certain scenes, it may be necessary to create multiple takes of the same scene. This may be necessary due to mistakes, a desire to alter elements of the scene, or to enable special effects. The need for precise control and repetition of camera movements is especially true where overlays or special effects are using elements from multiple takes in the same scene. Similarly, when a scene may be shot from multiple angles using, for example, a model of a plane or some other player appearing in the film, precise motion control may allow multiple scenes to more accurately be presented as representing a single event. Precise control may allow a set with moving objects and cameras to be filmed repeatedly with minor changes between takes. Desired minor changes may include removing people or objects. In the most basic form, this may enable a special effect of making someone disappear. The ability to have objects moving in a nearly identical fashion as the disappearance happens, through the use of multiple takes, may make the scene more seamless, believable, or preferable to a scene where a jump in background objects occur at the moment of disappearance. Precise motion control can enable images created in a computer to be more seamlessly added to a real world video scene in conjunction with multiple takes. Correcting a mismatch between movements in different takes may be extremely expensive or impossible. Motion control may enable accurate control and matching of scenes for these purposes, thus reducing cost and enabling improved effects. Motion control in the film industry, however, can be very expensive, and is typically created in an environment where custom modifications and arrangements are used in most instances to match custom scenes and locations.

System and method for improved video motion control


Routing of packets is controlled in a communications network including an infrastructure of packet switching nodes interconnected by packet transport links, and a plurality of access nodes to which a routing path, defined by data held in packet switching nodes located along the routing path, may be directed in the infrastructure for a given network address.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the routing of telecommunications signals, in particular the routing of packet-based communications such as those used in the "Internet" using the so-called "Internet Protocol" (IP). It relates in one embodiment to a method of routing such communications to both fixed and mobile telecommunications mediums, such that similar services can be used in the same way by users on either medium, and to allow system operators to reduce costs by greater commonality of switching and other network-based facilities.
2. Related Art
Present mobile medium systems are arranged such that a mobile user and associated systems collaborate at the interface with the network (typically the radio base station) to enable a mobile node to change from communicating with one base station to communicating with another, and to enable the network to update intelligence points of the new location. In cellular networks, these intelligence points are the Home and Visitor Location Registers (HLR and VLR), whilst in "Mobile IP" these locations are known as the Home and Foreign Agent. In both cases the "Visitor" Location Register or "Foreign" Agent maintains a record only of those users currently co-operating with base stations under their supervision, whilst their "Home" counterparts maintain a permanent record of their associated users, including a record of which VLR or Foreign Agent each one is currently working with. The address on an incoming message identifies the relevant HLR/Home Agent, to which reference is made to identify the appropriate VLR/Foreign Agent for more specific routing details. This allows minor changes in location to be effected within the VLR/Foreign Agent, locally to the user's current location without informing the HLR/Home Agent, which could be some distance away, thereby greatly reducing the signalling overhead.
The additional cost of mobility is the provision of this Home Agent/Foreign Agent interface, and especially with packet systems, the cost of tunnelling (forwarding messages from one address to another), address exhaustion (the inability to re-use an address from which forwarding is taking place) and triangular routing.
In a fixed medium system, IP routing is based on the distribution of IP address blocks or prefixes, with an associated metric or route cost, from potential destinations to potential senders so that they and intermediate routers can determine the best next hop (neighbour router) towards that destination. These routes are pre-computed for all destinations in the network so that senders can immediately send information when generated. Pre-computation of routes, and deployed routing exchange technology, is possible when the sources and destinations have a fixed location, and communication bandwidth is rich enough for exhaustive exchange of routes. As the proportion of roaming increases however, such models break down and a more dynamic routing approach is required.
A proposal referred to as "HAWAII" was published 19 Feb. 1999 as an Internet-draft entitled "IP Micro-Mobility Support Using HAWAII", R. Ramjee, T. La Por, S. Thuel, K. Varadh, posted on the Internet Engineering Taskforce Internet site at HTTP://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-rimjee-micro-mobility-hawaii-00.txt. HAWAII uses specialised path set up schemes which install host-based forwarding entries in specific routers when in a routing domain to support intra-domain micro-mobility, and defaults to using "Mobile-IP" for inter-domain micro-mobility. In HAWAII, mobile hosts retain their network address while moving within the domain. The HAWAII architecture relies on a gateway router into a domain, referred to as the domain root router, to which default routes within the domain are directed. Each mobile host is assigned a home domain based on its permanent IP address. The path set up scheme updates a single routing path in a domain so that connectivity to the mobile host is possible both before and after handoff at the wireless link layer. Only routers located along a single routing path between the domain root router and the base station currently serving the mobile host have routing table entries for the mobile host's IP address. The remainder of the routers in the domain route any packets addressed to the mobile host upwards along default routes which rely on the tree-like nature of the routing domain, rooted at the domain root router, to provide an intersection with the downrouting towards the mobile host along the single routing path for which the routers have individual host entries for the mobile host's IP address.
In HAWAII, mobility between domains is supported by "Mobile IP" mechanisms. The home domain root router is designated as the Home Agent, and encapsulated IP packets are forwarded via the Foreign domain root router.
Drawbacks with the HAWAII proposals include the concentration of Mobile IP tunnels in few nodes in the core of the network, the domain root routers, such that failure of any of these nodes may result in large-scale failure of all Mobile IP state and associated sessions handled by the failing node. Furthermore, since all routing from outside the home domain into the home domain, and in the reverse direction, must occur via the home domain root router, failure of the home domain root router may also result in large-scale failure.
A proposal by the present inventors, referred to as "Edge Mobility Architecture" (EMA), provides "Mobile Enhanced Routing" (MER) to allow the movement of IP addresses allocated to a mobile node by altering routing in the infrastructure of a packet switching networks. A proposed type of routing update limits the amount of signalling required to alter a route for an IP address by propagating a unicast update message between a new and an old access router for the mobile node. As the mobile moves between access nodes, the routing paths created become less efficient.
It would be desirable to provide an improved method of, and apparatus for, altering routing in the infrastructure of a packet communications network.

British Telecommunications public limited company


The present invention relates to an authentication method for electronic apparatus and authentication system, which comprises the steps of: enabling an electronic apparatus to be moved by a user from a first position to a second position; enabling an inertial sensor embedded in the electronic apparatus to detect and thus constructing a three-dimensional continuous trajectory of the electronic apparatus's movement from the first position to the second position in a Cartesian coordination system composed of a first-direction axis, a second-direction axis and a third-direction axis; and enabling a processor embedded in the electronic apparatus to perform either a process for registering the three-dimensional continuous trajectory as a standard movement trajectory; or a comparison between the three-dimensional continuous trajectory and a previously registered standard movement trajectory so as to authenticate the correctness of the three-dimensional continuous trajectory and thus authenticating the electronic apparatus.

With rapid advance of technology, there are more and more types of mobile devices becoming available on the market. It seems like only years ago the devices that can generally be referred as mobile devices only include personal digital assistants and cellular phones. But today, recent development in mobile collaboration system had provided us with a variety of mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablet computers. Smart phones are among the most preferred mobile devices, which offer all the conveniences of a personal computer, along with a very small form factor. For instance, using a smart phone, a user is able to download and install an application from App Store, web surfing, on-line shopping, share information via social networking sites, check e-mails, play video games, and so on. Regardless all the conveniences that can be provided by smart phones, the use of smart phone can relatively create certain security risks to our privacy, especially when the smart phones of today are becoming more powerful for allowing more personal information to be registered in the smart phones. Comparing with conventional computing devices, smart phones are selected to be used by more and more users as pocket notebooks for storing sensitive personal information, such as personal details, personal address list, personal data shared on social networking sites, personal account for network transaction, information relating the exact where about of the smart phone user, document stored in the smart phone, and so on.
There are already many means available for protecting your personal information and prevent others from using your smart phone without your permission. One common general-purpose online access control mechanism is the screen lock, which can either be a PIN, a passphrase, or an Android pattern, and is to be used for keeping safe all the sensitive documents, passwords, and other credentials stored in a smart phone when such smart phone is lost or stolen. Currently, the PIN screen lock and the Android pattern screen lock are most commonly used in smart phones, whereas comparatively the Android pattern is preferred since Android pattern is easier to remember and input than PIN is. Nevertheless, those conventional screen locks are still very vulnerable to "smudge attack", "shoulder surfing attack", or even simply spying when a screen lock of weak password strength is used.
Taking an Android pattern screen lock for example, using which a user will be asked to draw or swipe a specified pattern on touch screen to unlock his/her phone. However, by doing so, your fingers will leave a grease trail on the touch screen, and thus any person with malicious intent can photograph the touch screen and process the captured image using a simple image processing software so as to obtain the Android pattern screen lock. For preventing the aforesaid smudge attack, instead of the touch screen, a camera mounted on a smart phone is used for detecting the moving trajectory of a user's hand that is drawing a specific pattern in air so as to input the Android pattern screen lock without leaving a grease trail. However, the drawing of an Android pattern screen lock on air, or the swiping of an Android pattern screen lock on a touch screen, or even the typing of a password can all be easily captured by any person with malicious intent either by watching or by photographing, and thereby, after cracking the screen lock, any data in your smart phone is accessible to the malicious person. Moreover, since the draw of an Android pattern screen lock is restricted by connecting the dots on the screen serially and sequentially from one dot to only its neighboring dot without double tapping on the same dot, and also since the detecting of a user's hand movement can only result a two-dimensional trajectory on a planar surface, thus the password strength of such Android pattern screen lock is weak that it can be cracked easily, and thus the overall risk to a security breach using such Android pattern screen lock is not satisfactory.

Authentication method and code setting method and authentication system for electronic apparatus

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for performing response based cache redirection to a cache proxy. A device intermediary to a plurality of clients and a plurality of servers and in communication with a plurality of cache proxies, receives a request for content from a client. The request is for content from a server of the plurality of servers. The device forwards the request to the server. The device identifies a cache redirection policy that specifies an amount of bytes of a response to buffer to calculate a signature of the content of the response. The device computes the signature of the content of the response based on the amount of bytes of the response received from the server and buffered by the device. The device selects a cache proxy based on the computed signature and forwards the request of the client to the selected cache proxy.

Cache redirection allows an intermediary device intermediary to one or more clients and one or more servers to evaluate a client request received by the intermediary device to determine whether the client request is cacheable. A request is deemed cacheable if the content requested by the request can be stored in a cache of the intermediary device. If the request is cacheable, the intermediary device can provide the requested content from one or more cache servers, thereby reducing the traffic passing between the clients and the servers. Typically, the intermediary device determines if a request is cacheable or non-cacheable by inspecting the request itself.
At present, a cache redirection feature of an intermediary device only operates at the HTTP Request side. There is a transparent cache redirection virtual server (*:80 HTTP) that is configured on the intermediary device. A client can send a HTTP request, that is transparently intercepted by the intermediary device. At the time the intermediary device receives the HTTP Request (HTTP Request time), a cache redirection module of the intermediary device inspects the HTTP request to determine whether the content is cacheable or not based on one or more cache redirection policies. The cache redirection policies are evaluated at the time the intermediary HTTP Request time. If the intermediary device determines that the content is cacheable, the intermediary device forwards the request to the HTTP Cache. Conversely, if the intermediary device determines that the content is not cacheable, the intermediary device forwards the request to the origin Web/HTTP server.

Systems and methods for performing response based cache redirection


A device for mixing particulate material and liquid comprises a container (1), an inlet (9) for the introduction of particulate material (P1) into the container (1), a spraying means (15, 16) for spraying liquid over the particulate material in the container, an agitator (17, 17', 22, 22') arranged in the container (1), and an outlet (10) for discharging material mixed with liquid from the container (1). A fluidization means (6, 12, 13, 14) is adapted to fluidize the particulate material in the container (1) during the mixing operation.

This invention concerns a device for mixing particulate material and liquid, for instance for mixing water and absorbent material which is reactive with gaseous pollutants in flue gases and which, during cleaning of the flue gases, is to be introduced into these gases in moistened state in order to convert the gaseous pollutants to separable dust, said device comprising a container, an inlet for the introduction of particulate material into the container, a spraying means for spraying liquid over the particulate material in the container, an agitator arranged in the container, and an outlet for discharging material mixed with liquid from the container.
When gaseous pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, are to be separated from flue gases, the gases are conducted through a contact reactor in which particulate absorbent material reactive with the gaseous pollutants is, in moistened state, introduced into the flue gases in order to convert the gaseous pollutants to separable dust. The flue gases are then conducted through a dust separator, in which dust is separated from the flue gases and from which the thus-cleaned flue gases are drawn off. Part of the dust separated in the dust separator is conducted to a mixer, where it is mixed and moistened with water, whereupon it is recycled as absorbent material by being introduced into the flue gases along with an addition of fresh absorbent. As fresh absorbent, use is generally made of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide).
Devices of the type mentioned by way of introduction are used as mixers in order to perform the above mixing operation involving absorbent material and water. In these prior-art devices, the agitator consists of one or more shafts, on which are mounted agitating means in the form of helical flanges, blades, paddles or the like. However, these prior-art devices are not always capable of producing a homogeneous mixture in which the water is evenly distributed in the particulate material. As a result, moist lumps of material may form, especially when the particulate material contains a large proportion of hydrophobic particles, as is the case with fly ash.
In order that the flue gases should be efficiently cleaned, it is, of course, essential that the absorbent material is supplied to the flue gases in the form of a homogeneous mixture in which the moisture is evenly distributed.
A special object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a device which is especially adapted to be used for mixing absorbent material and water in the flue-gas-cleaning method described above and which then results in a homogeneous mixture.
A more general object of the invention is to provide a device which not only results in a homogeneous mixture of particulate material and liquid, but which also has a lower energy consumption than equivalent prior-art devices.
According to the invention, these objects are achieved by a device wherein there is provided a fluidization means adapted to fluidize the particulate material in the container during the mixing operation.
In a preferred embodiment, the container has an upper bottom and a lower bottom, which between them define a chamber and of which the upper bottom is air-permeable, and there is provided an air-supply means adapted to supply air to the chamber with a view to fluidising the particulate material in the container.
Preferably, the agitator consists of at least one rotary shaft which extends along the container and on which a plurality of discs, through the centers of which extends the shaft, are mounted in inclined state at an axial distance from one another. Conveniently, these discs have an elliptic shape and are, about their minor axes, so inclined in relation to the shaft as to have a circular axial projection. In a preferred embodiment, the discs are inclined at an angle of 45.degree.-80.degree., preferably about 60.degree..

Device for mixing particulate material and liquid


A system and methods for progressive feature evaluation of an electronic document image to identify user supplied elements is disclosed. The system includes a controller in communication with a storage device configured to receive and accessibly store a generated plurality of candidate images. The controller is operable to analyze the electronic document image to identify a first feature set and a second feature set, wherein each of the first and second feature sets represent a different form feature, compare the first feature set to the second feature set, and define a third feature set based on the intersection of the first and second feature sets, wherein the third feature sets represents the user provided elements.

Electronic documents have replaced traditional physical documents in a number of transactions such as online shopping, electronic bill payment and both business and personal correspondence. As the popularity of electronic documents and transaction gross, there still remains a number of transactions which are mainly performed and executed utilizing traditional physical documents. For example, transactions related to the banking, healthcare and financial industries are often conducted utilizing a physical document in order to preserve the signature or signatures of the executing parties. In these instances, the transactions and signatures are often memorialized on standardized forms containing preprinted typographical elements corresponding to required information.
Upon completion of these forms by a user, the documents may be physically sent or electronically communicated to a document receiving organization for further collating and processing. The document receiving organization may be contracted to clients within the banking, healthcare and financial industries and charged with reviewing and verifying each of the received physical documents or electronic document images. The review and verification processes performed by the document receiving organization ensure the presence of required information such as, for example, signatures, account numbers, contact information, notary or other governmental seals and the like. Information gathered during the review and verification processes is, in turn, entered into a database for use by the contracting clients.
Known review and verification processes are time-consuming and manually intensive. Automated review and verification processes are unreliable due to the vast numbers and versions of forms that may be provided to the document receiving organizations. Document receiving organization may desire an efficient and reliable mechanism for automating the review and verification process by identifying and separating user provided information from the form.

System and method for identification and separation of form and feature elements from handwritten and other user supplied elements


A method and apparatus for implementing and managing a network architecture capable of delivering wireless telephony and data services of carrier class quality over a local or wide-area network using industry standard wireless protocols is disclosed. A high bandwidth microwave ring array provides redundant point-to-point communications between nodes that are located to optimize geographical coverage through radio-frequency wireless transceivers. The total system is managed and monitored through web-based software to provide the speed and reliability of wired systems at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems, facilitating service in rural areas or areas of dispersed populations where other communications infrastructure is impractical.

This invention relates to telecommunications systems, and particularly to large bandwidth wireless telecommunications systems and services. Wireless communications services have traditionally lacked the bandwidth, speed and reliability of hard-wired systems based on electrical or optical transmission media. For this reason, the flexibility and cost advantages of wireless systems have not been fully realized in communications networks that require what are generally known as carrier grade standards.
Throughout the world, and particularly in large nations with significant populations of scattered rural or suburban communities, the high cost of implementing carrier grade standards through hard-wired networks typically creates a disparity in service commonly known as the digital divide. For example, the United States, with its large geographic areas and uneven population distribution, may be disadvantaged by this digital divide. Rural communities or small remote urban/suburban centers share the cultural, educational, and technical interests and capabilities of the major urban centers but are often too geographically dispersed to warrant (from an economic cost-benefit standpoint) the installation of communications systems (notably data communications) that meet the requirements for full participation in the digital world.
Existing hardwired telecommunications lines and switching systems often lack the capability to provide high bandwidth connectivity to scattered populations. In many areas, no major telecommunications provider is active and small local companies provide limited services. Cellular telephony lacks the consistency and reliability of a hard-wired system, and typically enables only a low bandwidth solution. At the same time, emerging wireless solutions used in data communications, including the 802.11b and 802.11g wireless standards, are limited in range and thus form small, disconnected islands of wireless capability. Traditionally, each such island of wireless connectivity had to be connected to others via hard-wired communication links.

Method and apparatus for implementing and managing a network architecture


Apparatus, systems, articles of manufacture, and methods are disclosed for physical keyboards with multi-display computing devices. An example computing device includes a first display and a second display coupled to the first display via a first hinge. The example computing device also includes a keyboard coupled to the second display via a second hinge.

Some multi-display computing devices include a software-based keyboard that appears on one of the displays of the computing device to enable the user to type. User experience typing on a software-based keyboard is typically unsatisfactory compared to a physical keyboard.
The figures are not to scale. Instead, the thickness of the layers or regions may be enlarged in the drawings. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

Physical keyboards for multi-display computing devices


A flow diverter tool assembly is employed for flushing debris from a portion of the bore of a subsea production tree. The flow diverter tool assembly has a housing having a passageway there-through and a seal disposed on an exterior surface of the housing. The seal contacts the inner wall surface of the bore of the production tree, dividing a lower portion of the bore below the seal from an upper portion of the bore above the seal. One or more outlets from the passageway through the exterior surface are disposed along the housing below the seal. A bypass device such as a slip-joint is disposed above the seal to facilitate removal of the flow diverter tool assembly from the bore of the production tree after its use.

1. Field of Invention
The invention is directed to a flow diverter tool assembly, and, in particular, to a flow diverter tool assembly used to clean debris out of a portion of a production tree on an oil or gas well.
2. Description of Art
Subsea production trees with tubing hangers landed therein, referred to as "horizontal" or "spool" trees, are known in the art. Installation of production trees and completion of oil and gas wells prior to running the tubing routinely result in debris collecting in the bore of the production tree in the area where the tubing hanger lands and seals. Debris can also be collected within the bore of the production tree as a result of the production of oil or gas from the well formation. The collection of debris when the tubing hanger is removed or prior to installation may have an adverse impact on sealing the tubing hanger to the bore of the production tree and may clog ports intersecting the bore. Accordingly, it is desirable in the art to provide a tool capable of being placed within the bore of a horizontal production tree to flush out, or clean out, at least some of the debris contained within the bore of the production tree.
Prior devices and methods of cleaning, or flushing, the bore of a production tree include using a jetting sub lowered into the bore. Fluid is pumped through the jetting sub indiscriminately flushing the bore. One drawback to this prior attempt is that it is incapable of accurately directing the flow of fluid through the jetting sub into the ports of the tree. Therefore, it is desired in the art to provide a flow diverter tool assembly and method of flushing a bore of a subsea production tree that can provide directed flow of fluid from the tool to more accurately target debris for removal from the bore and which assures flow through the intersecting ports of the tree.

Flow diverter tool assembly and methods of using same


The disclosed subject matter includes, an airborne data library onboard an airborne platform, configured for automatic management of situation awareness data (SAD), the airborne data library comprising an onboard data management system; the on-board data management system comprises a data management unit and an onboard data-repository; the data management unit being operatively connectible to at least one computer processor and configured to: establish a communication link with at least one situation awareness data (SAD) source; obtain situation awareness data from the at least one SAD source; process the SAD based on data management logic being accessible to the data management unit.

Network centric warfare is a military doctrine which strives to integrate advanced information and communication technologies for the purpose of enabling rapid information-sharing between geographically dispersed forces in battlefields.
Communication relay stations are used in the field of communication for various purposes, such as: increasing communication range, overcoming physical obstacles obscuring communication line of sight, increasing flexibility, and security of communications systems, etc.
Unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs, also known as unmanned airborne systems (UAS) or drones) facilitated as relay stations can circle a certain mission area while serving as a communication relay point for forwarding communication transmission between various forces in mission areas. Using UAVs as a network centric warfare component enables in general to increase the robustness as well as the range, quality, flexibility and quantity of information sharing.


In one embodiment, a computer system has a plurality of chassis interconnected by cables. Each cable initially connects a unique port pair consisting of a port of one chassis and a port of another chassis. The disconnection of cables is monitored, including electronically recording a disconnection sequence in which the port pairs are disconnected by removing each cable from at least one port of the respective port pair. Visual guidance is provided for re-cabling the computer system by sequentially identifying the port pairs in a reversal of the disconnection sequence, wherein identifying each port pair includes illuminating visual indicators associated with the ports of each port pair with a matching illumination pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to scalable computer systems, and more particularly to interconnecting multiple server chassis of a scalable computer system.
2. Background of the Related Art
Large computer systems are commonly assembled from a plurality of rack-mountable server chassis, such as in a datacenter. A datacenter typically includes numerous equipment racks which collectively support a large number of server chassis in a high-density server configuration. Each server generally includes a plurality of connection ports providing scalability by allowing any number of chassis to be interconnected in a desired configuration. The particular configuration of such a computer system is determined in part by the specific connections made between ports using cables, and may require or be facilitated by making the connections in a particular sequence. The numerous connections and the specific manner in which chassis must be connected to achieve a particular configuration can make assembling a computer system on-site challenging and time-consuming.
Furthermore, a computer manufacturer or system designer may desire to set up, configure and test a system in one facility before the system is shipped to its ultimate destination. Once the system has been qualified, the system is disassembled for shipment. However, if the cables do not connect the system components in the same manner as they were connected during qualification, then the system may not perform the same as it did in the test facility.

Electronic guidance for restoring a predetermined cabling configuration

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A method of modeling and analyzing load across servers in a cloud computing environment. The method comprises analyzing a processor, a memory, and an input/output utilization of each of a plurality of servers, where each server is comprised of at least one logical partition. A chart displaying a usage pattern is presented for each server. A list of logical partitions is presented for each server of the plurality of servers. A selection of at least one logical partition on a first server of the plurality of servers and a selection of a second server of the plurality of servers is received. The utilization impacts of moving the logical partition to the selected second server are modeled and an updated chart displaying the usage pattern for each server based on the modeled migration of the logical partition is presented. The modeled optimal location stored in a disaster recovery plan.

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service where shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices over a network. Cloud computing provides computation, software, data access, and data storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location of the system that delivers the services. Many cloud computing infrastructures consist of services delivered through shared data centers and appearing as a single point of access for users' computing needs. Data centers may consist of a plurality of servers and typically utilize dynamically scalable and often virtualized servers.

Server maintenance modeling in cloud computing


A track and hold amplifier for use in analog/digital-converters comprises, in succession, an input buffer, a pn-junction switch and hold a capacitor. A feedback is provided between the hold capacitor and the input buffer and a second pn-junction switch is provided to disable the feedback during the hold mode.

This invention relates to a track and hold amplifier comprising an input buffer for receiving an input signal and for transferring the received input signal to a first terminal of a pn-junction switch having a second terminal connected to a hold capacitor, and means to supply a switching signal to said first terminal of the pn-junction switch for translating the buffered input signal through the switching pn-junction to the hold capacitor during a track mode and for blocking this transfer during a hold mode. A track and hold amplifier of this kind is known from the article xe2x80x9cA 12-b, 60-Msample/s Cascaded Folding and Interpolating ADCxe2x80x9d, by P. Vorenkemp and R. Rovers in IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, Vol 32, No 12, December 1997, Pages 1874-1886.
A track and hold amplifier is often used in the input of an analog to digital converter to separate the sampling operation from the quantization operation. Present day multistep AD-architecture has a number of comparators, which do not operate simultaneously. However, it is necessary that all the comparators see the same analog signal value. The function of the track and hold amplifier is to determine the voltage level of the input signal at the sampling instant of the track and hold amplifier, and to maintain this value during a certain time period, so as to ensure that all comparators see the same analog input value. Moreover, each comparator has input capacitance which causes the input signal level to be compared to reach its correct level only after some delay. Therefore, without a track and hold amplifier, the comparator would compare an incorrect signal level, especially at higher signal frequencies. The track and hold amplifier samples the input signal at the correct value and maintains this value during the hold mode, so that the comparator-input has enough time to reach its correct signal level for subsequent quantization.
A drawback of the abovementioned prior art track and hold amplifier is that during the track mode larger currents flow into the hold capacitor, especially at higher signal frequencies. These larger currents flow into the holding capacitance through the pn-junction switch. This results in large non linear signal distortion and consequently in incorrect signal sampling. The signal distortion, caused by the pn-junction, may easily reach values of some tens of millivolts, which is too large for modem applications, where the total signal amplitude is not more than 1 Volt.
The present invention has it for its objects to overcome this drawback of the prior art track and hold amplifier. The track and hold amplifier of the present invention is therefore characterized by a feedback connection from the second terminal of the pn-junction switch to the input buffer and means to enable the feedback during the track mode and to disable the feedback during the hold mode. The feedback from the second terminal of the pn-junction switch to the input buffer reduces the signal distortion to the first terminal of the pn-junction switch, where it does no harm. However, this feedback has a detrimental effect on the hold feedthrough of the amplifier because the input signal could reach the holding capacitance through this feedback path. Therefore the feedback is disabled during the hold mode. The feedback may for instance be disabled during the hold mode by cutting off the current through the input buffer. The however has, inter alia, the drawback that the input impedance of the amplifier varies with the track and hold switching signal. A preferred arrangement according to the invention is therefore characterized in that said means to enable the feedback during the track mode and to disable the feedback during the hold mode comprises a second pn-junction switch within said feedback connection and second means to supply the switching signal to the second pn-junction switch.
The said second means to supply the switching signal to the second pn-junction switch may cause a large voltage jump on the part of the feedback connection between the input buffer and the second pn-junction switch. This voltage jump may cause interference of the voltage of the hold capacitor through the junction capacitance of the second pn-junction switch. It is a further object of the invention to limit this interference and the track and hold amplifier of the invention may be further characterized by clamping means connected to the part of the feedback connection between the input buffer and the second pn-junction switch.
It is another object of the invention to provide a track and hold amplifier which is characterized by resistive means between the second terminal of the first pn-junction switch and the hold capacitor for increasing the stability of the feedback path.


A transfer device for a foldable container which has an approximately cubical shape when unfolded and is provided with a pour spout at one surface is described; a plurality of such containers, which have been folded into an approximately triangular shape by inverting one half of the container within the other half of the container, are extracted one at a time and transferred to the next processing step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for extracting one at a time approximately cubically shaped containers, formed of a thin film material such as polyethylene and used to hold food or chemical products which are in a liquid state, from a plurality of triangularly folded stacked containers and transferring the extracted container to the next processing step (for example, to the filling position for receipt of the liquid material to be contained).
2. Background Art
A cubically shaped container 1, such as that shown in FIG. 11, formed from a thin flexible film material such as polyethylene, is widely used as a container convenient for use in the transportation of liquid materials such as soy sauce or mirin (Japanese rice wine) or of industrial chemicals. A pour spout 3 is formed below the edge of one surface of container 1, and is closed by twist-on cap 2. Container 1 is filled via pour spout 3 with the liquid to be contained. As is shown in FIG. 13, pour spout 3 has a flange 4a and comprises a thread ring 4 into the outer surface of which a screw thread 4b, onto which cap 2 is screwed, has been cut. When container 1 is empty, thread ring 4 is retracted back in a position within container 1 thereby allowing container 1 to present a flat outer surface which facilitates even stacking.
Prior to filling container 1 with a liquid material, that is to say in the case where transporting and depositing several empty containers, one half of the container is folded within the other half of the container by being inverted along the diagonal plane which extends between a pair of diagonally opposing edges and passes through the center of the container, as is shown in FIG. 12. By thus folding the containers, the empty space therein is almost completely compressed and the containers 1, when stacked and viewed from the side, have a triangular shape. As shown in FIG. 14, a stacked configuration 1A of containers 1 is formed by stacking several thus folded containers on top of one another.
However, in extracting one at a time containers 1 from the stacked configuration 1A of containers 1 and filling with the material to be contained, it sometimes occurs that the rigidity of the container 1 itself is low therefore making handling difficult. It was therefore not possible to eliminate reliance on manual labor, this creating a serious impedance to automation. Moreover, where filling container 1 with a liquid product for consumption, in consideration of the strict hygienic standards demanded in this case, it was highly desirable to eliminate the reliance on human labor by automating the process wherein containers 1 are extracted one at a time from stacked configuration 1A of containers 1 and transferred to the next processing step.

Transfer device for transferring foldable container


A spatial data search method, system and apparatus for identifying particular data of significance around a reference vector through the spatial data. The method involves determining a reference vector within a spatial region for which spatial data exists, loading a portion of the spatial data including the data around the reference vector into a memory buffer, and searching the spatial data in a prioritized order. The method, system and apparatus have particular utility in searching geographic data for a terrain awareness and warning system (“TAWS”) and display in an aircraft. Embodiments of the present invention provide advantages over existing sequential and radial search methods, significantly reducing the processing and calculations required and providing faster alerts to pilots.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to searching data relating to a spatial region using a prioritized search order, and more particularly to a Terrain Awareness Warning System ("TAWS") for use by an aircraft for searching terrain elevation data for a geographic area to determine aircraft terrain clearance.
2. Background Art
Various systems are known in the art that provide warnings and advisory indications of hazardous flight conditions. Among such systems are systems generally known as Ground Proximity Warning Systems ("GPWS") which monitor the flight conditions of an aircraft and provide a warning if flight conditions are such that inadvertent contact with terrain is imminent. Among flight conditions normally monitored by such systems are radio altitude and rate, barometric altitude and rate, air speed, and flap and gear positions. These parameters are monitored and an advisory signal and/or warning signal is generated when the relationship between the parameters is such that terrain impact is likely to occur.
Other systems improve upon earlier GPWS by utilizing ground-based navigational information. Monitoring stored terrain data and providing modified ground proximity warnings may provide more accurate warnings. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,244, and 4,675,823 each disclose terrain advisory systems that utilize ground-based navigational systems and stored terrain data to provide various ground proximity warnings in relation to the position of the aircraft. U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,080 discloses a Global Positioning System ("GPS") and stored terrain data to provide warning indications.
Satellite-based navigational systems, such as GPS, which can track longitude, latitude, altitude, groundtrack, and ground speed, are becoming an important and reliable source of information for aircraft. An aircraft's Forward Looking Terrain Avoidance ("FLTA") system looks ahead of the aircraft during flight along and below the aircraft's lateral and vertical flight path to provide suitable alerts if a potential threat exists of the aircraft colliding or coming too close to terrain. The computation involves searching through a terrain database for terrain cells that are within the search area and violate the Required Terrain Clearance ("RTC"). The RTC is the value set by the Federal Aviation Administration as the permitted flight "floor" for various phases of aircraft flight. The RTC indicates the clearance distance from terrain below which the aircraft should not fly. Searching the search area and finding the cells in violation is expensive in both processor and memory resources.
Two common methods of searching terrain data are sequential and radial. Both of these methods suffer from the deficiency that they expend precious processor and memory resources. For the sequential search method, some common deficiencies include: First, every cell in a rectangular area encompassing the search area is searched, even those cells that are outside the search area boundary. This requires a determination of whether a cell is within the search area or not, which could be complicated and expensive. Second, a large data buffer is needed to store the cells found during the search, the dimension of the buffer needed is difficult to determine accurately because the upper bound could equal the size of the search area which varies by the speed of the plane. Third, sorting the cells in the result buffer by distance to the aircraft position is expensive, especially if a large number of cells are returned in the search and if both distance and bearing are considered.
For the radial search method, some common deficiencies include: First, many possible flight directions are searched, even some of those that are highly unlikely. This requires expensive processing time to be spent on searching all flight directions even when the aircraft is flying straight. Second, because the search is performed in a plurality of radial arms originating at the same point and extending in a fan shape over the underlying data sectioned into a square grid, many cells near the origin of the arms are searched numerous times, and some cells farther from the origin are potentially missed if the radial arms become too far apart at their extents. Third, the position of each point on each radial arm is calculated and terrain data is searched throughout the full database. This is complicated and expensive. Fourth, a large data buffer is needed to store the cell identities found during the search, and the dimension of the buffer needed is difficult to determine accurately because the upper bound could equal the full number of the search points on all radial arms. Fifth, in systems which sort the results, sorting the cells in the result buffer by distance to the aircraft position is expensive, especially if a large number of cells is returned in the search and if both distance and bearing are considered.
Both conventional systems require extensive processor search time and memory storage for crucial Terrain Awareness and Warning systems ("TAWS"), for which the costs of developing, repairing and maintaining are increasing. The additional time required for these searches also reduces the time available for the processor to perform other tasks and lengthens the time in which search results can be made available to a pilot of the aircraft.

System, method and apparatus for searching geographic area using prioritized spatial order


A x-ray tube comprising an anode sealed to a flexible coupling. The flexible coupling can allow the anode to deflect or tilt in various directions to allow an electron beam to impinge upon various selected regions of an anode target.

X-ray tubes can include a target material for production of x-rays in response to impinging electrons from an electron emitter. It can be advantageous to have multiple target regions, and the ability to selectively direct the electron beam to each region. For example, a new region of the target can be used when a previously used region has worn out or become too pitted for further use. Another advantage is selecting x-ray energy spectra emitted from different target materials in different target regions. For example, if the target includes a silver region and a gold region, x-rays emitted when the electron beam is directed at the silver region will have a different energy spectra than x-rays emitted when the electron beam is directed at the gold region.
Redirecting the electron beam to different regions of the target can be undesirable due to a different resulting direction or location of emitted x-rays. If x-rays are emitted in one direction while using one region of the anode, then emitted in another direction while using another region of the anode, the x-ray user may need to re-collimate and/or realign the x-ray tube with each different use. This need to re-collimate or realign optics can be undesirable.
Information relevant to attempts to address these problems can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,753,020, 2,298,335, 2,549,614, 6,560,315, 3,900,751, 7,973,394, and 5,655,000; U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2011/0135066; and Japan Patent Number JP 3,812,165.

Tiltable or deflectable anode x-ray tube

Abstract: A method of utilizing different regions of an x-ray tube target by tilting or deflecting an x-ray tube anode to cause an electron beam to impinge on a selected region of the target.


Lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system for conditioning a radiation beam, a support for supporting a patterning device for imparting a cross-sectional pattern to the radiation beam to form a patterned radiation beam, and a substrate table for holding a substrate. A projection system is provided for projecting the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate. Conditioning optics and an adjustable aperture are provided to condition the radiation beam from the illumination system, and a detector is provided to detect the size and divergence of the radiation beam propagated through the aperture and to provide a feedback signal in dependence thereon. An actuator serves to effect adjustment of at least one of the optics and the aperture to vary at least one optical characteristic of the radiation beam, and a control device is provided to control the actuator in response to the feedback signal from the detector.

Lithographic apparatus comprises a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a target portion of a substrate. Lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. comprising part of, one or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer) that has a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively exposed. Lithographic apparatus may be of the transmissive type, where radiation is passed through a mask to generate the pattern, or of the reflective type, where radiation is reflected from the mask to generate the pattern. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion in one go, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through the projection beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
Developments in the field of lithography for improving projection image quality have demonstrated the need to improve certain optical characteristics of the radiation beam. Generally these optical characteristics comprise the homogeneity or uniformity of the beam, the size and/or shape of the beam, the pointing direction of the beam, the position of the beam with respect to the optical axis, and the divergence of the beam, all of which will be referred to collectively hereafter as "optical characteristics" of the beam. Currently only limited options are available to control such beam optical characteristics in lithographic apparatus. In particular it is possible for the optics of the illumination system of such apparatus to be adjusted by means of adjusting screws during installation based upon information received from a beam analysis module.
The characteristics of the radiation beam have an effect on the angular distribution delivered by the illumination system. In the current state of the art, the angular distribution is changed by changing the positions of optical elements within the illumination system in a predetermined way. However the optical characteristics of the input radiation beam are not taken into account in the control of the angular distribution.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,870,603 discloses lithographic apparatus incorporating a tiltable steering mirror for directing the radiation beam to a projection system, and for adjusting lateral displacement of the beam in X- and Y-directions relative to an aperture formed by a diffractive optical element within the projection system. A processor is provided for receiving information relating to the tilt of the mirror, as well as information relating to the beam intensity measured by a detector within the illumination system. By varying the tilt angle of the mirror and making corresponding measurements of the beam intensity, it is possible to determine the beam size. Furthermore the beam size can be adjusted by means of an optical conditioning unit through which the beam is passed before being supplied to the mirror. However, it is not practicable to use such an arrangement for adjusting the size and divergence of the beam to match the beam to a target pupil shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,160 discloses exposure apparatus incorporating a beam expander and a zoom expander for adjusting the shape and size of a radiation beam supplied to a projection system. Furthermore a photodetector is provided on the support for the substrate to be exposed to provide measurements of the illuminance at the image surface of the projection system. Such an arrangement does not enable adjustment of the beam on the basis of the detected size and divergence of the beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,122 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,016 also disclose arrangements for adjustment of the radiation beam in an exposure system, but such arrangements again to do enable adjustment of the beam in dependence on the detected size and divergence of the beam.

Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method


A video transcoding system includes a video decoder, a video encoder, and a video interface. The video decoder is configured to decode a received video signal. The video encoder is configured to encode video data decoded from the received video signal by the video decoder. The video interface couples an output of the video decoder to an input of the video encoder and is configured to transfer video data having a first chroma subsampling ratio. The video decoder is further configured to provide video data having a second chroma subsampling ratio that includes fewer chrominance samples than the first chroma sampling ratio to the video interface, and to provide non-video information generated from decoding the received video signal to the video interface using video interface bandwidth usable based on a difference between the first chroma subsampling ratio and the second chroma subsampling ratio.

As the number and type of devices capable of rendering video increases, broadcast and internet protocol video transmission systems must be adapted to provide video content to the devices. Video rendering devices may range from large screen home entertainment systems to handheld portable devices, while video transmission systems encompass terrestrial broadcast, cable, wireline, and various wireless systems. To accommodate the breadth of video rendering devices, the video transmission systems transcode video content to various resolutions, frame rates, and/or bitrates in accordance with carrier bandwidth and video coding standards supported by the rendering devices. Examples of available video coding standards include MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 part 2 standardized by the International Organization for Standardization ("ISO"), H.261 and H.263 standardized by the International Telecommunications Union ("ITU"), and H.264, also known as Advanced Video Coding ("AVC") or MPEG-4 part 10 standardized jointly by both ISO and ITU. The substantial number of video standards, and the widely varying capabilities of video rendering devices, make techniques for efficiently transcoding and transferring video and related information desirable.