Raman-active compounds such as polydiacetylenes are provided in the form of particles whose maximum dimension is 40 .mu.m. They can be formulated into inks, for the purpose of printing on security documents which are thus readily capable of authentication.

Security-printed items such as banknotes, cheques, passports, licences and tickets need to be produced in a manner which allows genuine articles to be authenticated. The security printing industry has seen a wide variety of measures being adopted, ranging from easily-recognisable visual features through discrete visual features to machine-verifiable characteristics. As with the visual features some machine-readable attributes may be relatively readily apparent, such as fluorescent features, while others may be more concealed, requiring specially-made authenticating apparatus.
A security printer is able to select a variety of measures to prevent counterfeiting and forgery and to allow authentication. Any one document will include a range of them, and the choice of those that are actually included in any one document or part of a document presents a formidable obstacle to wrong-doers.
There is a constant need to add to the measures which are employed, particularly those which lend themselves to present-day security printing manufacturing and sorting equipment such as automatic banknote-sorting equipment.
The Raman spectra of chemical compounds have been used for many years as a means of identification. Raman spectra arise when laser light incident upon a sample of the material is scattered: the scattered light includes light of the laser wavelength plus, at much lower intensity, light of additional wavelengths which are characteristic of the compound. The additional light appears at frequencies which are shifted from that of the laser beam by amounts equal to the frequencies of collective vibrations of the atoms in the compound. These frequencies are determined by the masses of the atoms comprising the material and the forces which hold them together. As these are almost always unique for every chemical compound, the Raman spectrum is often used as its fingerprint. In this way, the compound may be identified in various conditions, for example as a crystal, in solution, as a powder and in mixtures with other compounds.
In most respects, conventional Raman scattering spectroscopy provides very similar information to that obtained from infra-red absorption spectroscopy. As the instrumentation is usually considerably more expensive than that for a comparable infra-red apparatus, Raman spectroscopy has usually only been used when infra-red spectroscopy is incapable of providing required information.
Resonance Raman scattering (RRS) occurs when the wavelength of the incident laser beam is equal to, i.e. in resonance with, that of an optical absorption band in the material. The electrons responsible for the absorption are often located on a subset of atoms in the compound, known as the chromophore. Under resonance conditions, the Raman scattered light which is frequency- shifted by the collective vibrations of atoms in the chromophore will be greatly enhanced in intensity.
The intensity of RRS is particularly high for compounds, such as polydiacetylenes, in which the chromophore is a conjugated polymer backbone. The intensities of Raman lines due to collective vibrations of the backbone atoms of a polydiacetylene under resonance conditions can be at least 10.sup.4 times greater than those arising from atomic vibrations in the side-groups.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,534 and EP-A-0036899 disclose various carbazolyl polydiacetylenes, their synthesis, and also their use as photoconductors and non-linear optical materials. The polymers which are produced by the given procedures are generally crystalline.


The invention discloses a heating device for an electronic cigarette and an electronic cigarette. The heating device comprises a substrate and a control board and a heat generating unit mounted on the substrate, wherein the control board is provided with an avoidance hole and two inserting holes, the heat generating unit is provided with two conductive pins, one end of the heat generating unit is inserted into the avoidance hole, so that the heat generating unit is pre-mounted on the control board; and the two conductive pins are inserted into the two inserting holes, respectively, so that the control board and the heat generating unit establish an electrical connection. The technical solution of the invention is effective for facilitating the user to assemble.

Studies have shown the use of "heating non-burning". Related studies have shown that nicotine and some tobacco flavor components can be transferred to smoke in a manner of only heating but not burning tobacco at a lower temperature below 500° C. Compared to traditional burning cigarettes, low temperature cigarettes can significantly reduce the release of tar and harmful components as a whole. At the same time, there is basically no side stream smoke, which is of little harm to others and the environment.
The heat generating unit of the existing low-temperature flue-cured tobacco is usually fixed in the heat generating cavity of the electronic cigarette, and performs wire welding with the internal electronic component by a wire to establish an electrical connection, which is inconvenient to assemble.

Heating device and electronic cigarette having same


A computer tablet includes a wireless receiver, and a pen is configured to be manipulated by a person to ride against the computer tablet and thereby provide input to the computer tablet. The pen includes a wireless transmitter. A processor associated with the computer tablet outputs an alarm when a signal from the transmitter of the pen is not sensed by the computer tablet within a time period.

The onset of hand-writing recognition software in devices such as laptops has seen a significant advance in technology, but this new technology also comes logistical concerns that need to be addressed. Every device that has the capability of handwriting recognition must also include hardware to be used to electronically communicate the data. This data is then interpreted by the processor of the computer. After a user is done transcribing data to the device using an electronic writing tablet and compatible electronic pen, it is understandable that human error can result in the separation of the pen from the computer tablet itself, which is typically part of a larger device such as a laptop. Many times the electronic pens are forgotten or lost. However, the cost of electronic pens can be significantly high and they cannot be easily and readily replaced. Without the compatible electronic pen, the tablet becomes unusable. The same considerations apply to pens used as pointing devices.
To address the above concerns, one method for ensuring that the electronic pen and writing tablet remain in close vicinity to each other so as to not lose or misplace the electronic pen includes fastening both objects to opposite ends of a cord so that it is not possible to separate the two. This can also create the inconvenience of having the cord obstruct a clear writing path on the tablet for the user and can be difficult to manage.

System and method for alarming for misplaced computer tablet pen


The invention relates to a new type of reel unit for a fishing line for use on a fishing rod, made up of a housing, a spool rotatably mounted on the housing that can be rotated via a gear unit by means of a hand crank for reeling in and reeling out the line, and a holder for mounting the reel unit to the fishing rod.

The invention relates to a reel unit (multi-reel) to a holder for a reel unit and to a fishing rod comprising such a reel unit.
Reel units for reeling in and reeling out a fishing line are known in various designs. In particular, reel units are also known in which the reel is provided on the fishing rod so that it can rotate on an axis, which is oriented perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the plane enclosing the rod. The manual turning of the reel is effected by means of a crank that is provided on the side of a housing and that is connected by a driven gear unit to the reel. The gear unit is provided with a return stop, which can be manually released and when in non-released position enables turning of the reel for the purpose of reeling in the fishing line, but prevents the reel from turning in the opposite direction. If a line guide is present, it points forward.
Normally the reel unit is mounted upright, i.e. on top of the rod. The crank for manual actuation of the reel is located on the right side of the housing. This design was originally taken over from the United States, since many left-handers there hold the rod with the left hand and turn the crank with the right hand. For right-handers, who want to hold the rod with the right hand and turn the crank with the left hand, this design is unsuitable. With a reel mounted upright, the crank would have to be located on the left side of the housing. Therefore, different versions of the reel unit are necessary for left-handers and right-handers. The same applies if the reel unit is to be mounted suspended, i.e. beneath the rod. In this case, different versions are likewise necessary for left-handers and right-handers. If a line guide is provided, it is not possible to use a version intended for upright mounting of the reel for suspended mounting.
It is an object of the invention is to present a reel unit that enables all possible mounting variants, i.e. both for left-handers and right-handers and for upright or suspended mounting.

Reel unit for use in a fishing rod, holder for a reel unit and fishing rod comprising said reel unit


A reference light source produces a reference light having a predetermined light intensity. A sensitivity measuring device acquires a detection signal from an operation, in which the reference light having been produced by the reference light source is photoelectrically detected with the photomultiplier. The sensitivity measuring device measures a sensitivity of the photomultiplier in accordance with a relationship between the thus acquired detection signal and a reference signal, which has been set previously and which has a level in accordance with the predetermined light intensity of the reference light.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a radiation image read-out apparatus for performing a radiation image read-out operation by use of a photomultiplier.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has heretofore been proposed to use stimulable phosphors in radiation image recording and reproducing systems. Specifically, a radiation image of an object, such as a human body, is recorded on a sheet provided with a layer of the stimulable phosphor (hereinafter referred to as a stimulable phosphor sheet). The stimulable phosphor sheet, on which the radiation image has been stored, is then exposed to stimulating rays, such as a light, which cause the stimulable phosphor sheet to emit light in proportion to the amount of energy stored on the stimulable phosphor sheet during exposure of the stimulable phosphor sheet to the radiation. The light emitted by the stimulable phosphor sheet, upon stimulation thereof, is photoelectrically detected and converted into an electric image signal by use of image read-out means, such as a photomultiplier (hereinbelow referred to as the PMT). The image signal is then processed and used for the reproduction of the radiation image of the object as a visible image on a recording material.
As for the PMT utilized in the radiation image recording and reproducing systems described above, the sensitivity (i.e., the level of an output signal with respect to a light intensity of incident light) of the PMT is determined by the level of an applied high voltage. However, even though PMT's are of an identical type, the characteristics vary for respective PMT's. The level of the high voltage required to obtain a desired sensitivity varies for the respective PMT's. Therefore, at the time of delivery of each of the radiation image recording and reproducing systems to a user, the level of the high voltage has heretofore been set appropriately for each of the radiation image recording and reproducing systems such that a desired sensitivity of the PMT is capable of being obtained. (The setting of the level of the high voltage is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 3(1991)-132644 and 2001-100340.)
However, recently, it has been found that the sensitivities of the PMT's become low due to the use of the PMT's. In particular, as for the PMT's utilized in the radiation image recording and reproducing systems described above, it has been found that, since a large anode current flows through each of the PMT's, the sensitivities of the PMT's become markedly low. FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between a cumulative dose of radiation having been delivered to a stimulable phosphor sheet, i.e. a cumulative addition value of anode currents flowing through a PMT, and a sensitivity of the PMT. It has been experimentally found that, as illustrated in FIG. 4, in cases where the cumulative dose of the radiation becomes large, the sensitivity of the PMT becomes as low as approximately one tenth of the original sensitivity.
Therefore, in cases where the voltage applied across the PMT is set appropriately at the time of the delivery of the PMT to the user, the sensitivity of the PMT becomes low due to the use of the PMT. Accordingly, particularly, appropriate detection is not capable of being made with respect to the light having a low light intensity, which light is emitted from a site of the stimulable phosphor sheet having been exposed to a small dose of the radiation. Also, in cases where a visible image is reproduced from an image signal having been obtained with the PMT whose sensitivity has become low as described above, it is not always possible to discriminate only through the seeing of the reproduced visible image whether the image quality of the reproduced visible image is due to the lowering of the sensitivity of the PMT or is due to the original quality of the radiation image having been stored on the stimulable phosphor sheet. In such cases, there is the risk that an appropriate image diagnosis will not capable of being made.
Further, it is considered that the lowering of the sensitivity of the PMT depends upon the cumulative value of anode currents, which have flowed through the PMT. Therefore, the extent of the lowering of the sensitivity of the PMT is not capable of being detected accurately in accordance with only the period, for which the PMT has been used, or the number of times of the radiation image read-out operations, which have been performed by use of the PMT. (The aforesaid problems with regard to the detection of the extent of the lowering of the sensitivity of the PMT are described in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7(1995)-031373.)


Method for determining a model upstream pressure (PTMC—mod) using a mathematical model in a motor vehicle brake system. An electrically controllable hydraulic valve (7a, 7b) control brake pressure on a wheel brake. Wheel sensors (10a, 10b) provide a vehicle speed signal. From the vehicle speed signal (vref) generating at least a first low pass filtered vehicle speed signal (Vref—fast, Vref—hard, Vref—soft) for using with a first limit frequency (fg1, fg2, fg3), from whose time profile the point in time (t1) of a significant decrease is detected, used for determining a time duration (Timer) starting with deceleration of the vehicle, which ends at the onset of regulation of the braking process. For the classification of the actuation speed of the brake pedal (16) the time duration (Timer) is compared with one or more threshold values (SW1, SW2). Depending on the comparison, determining a model upstream pressure (PTMC—mod) using the mathematical model.

Depending on equipment variants, electronic motor vehicle brake systems frequently includes additional functions besides the basic ABS function, such as traction control system (TCS), electronic stability program (ESP), adaptive cruise control (ACC) etc., which in part use subfunctions of the ABS control system.
There are various expensive variants of previously described motor vehicle brake systems on the market; such brake systems that can perform the brake regulation task to be carried out without pressure sensors may be mentioned here in connection with the present invention. Practically all the internal computing variables that are necessary for brake regulation are obtained on the basis of the wheel revolution rate sensors connected to the brake system. Thus especially with the controllers, on which the invention is based, there is no pressure sensor for the upstream pressure applied by the driver, that is the TMC (tandem master cylinder) pressure, as is usual with ESP controllers.
For brake systems without TMC pressure sensors, the upstream pressure (TMC pressure) and the wheel pressure are computed with a model, wherein their difference represents the relevant difference pressure for inlet valve control.
It is thus known from WO 2005/007475 AI to determine the upstream pressure (TMC pressure) by means of the stopping behavior of the ABS return pump operating in the PWM mode by using the generator voltage detected during the switch-off phase as a measure of the upstream pressure.
The wheel pressure can be computed iteratively, starting from a starting value at the point in time of the onset of brake regulation by means of a model, which uses as input variables the modeled TMC pressure, the modeled wheel pressure from a previous computational step (from the last loop) and valve switching times of an inlet and outlet valve of the corresponding wheel.
Up to the point in time of the onset of brake regulation, the associated inlet valves are in the normal, i.e. open, state, so that the pressure in the wheel essentially corresponds to the upstream pressure, i.e. to the pressure in the TMC (tandem master cylinder). Since at the point in time the ABS return pump is still not delivering any voltage information, the starting value for TMC pressure and the wheel pressure can be determined by analysis of the deceleration of the vehicle and the time duration between a brake pedal operation and the onset of brake regulation.
For this, reference is made to DE 10 2006 056 673 A1, which describes a brake regulation method for a motor vehicle brake system, which uses the signal of an upstream pressure sensor during anti-locking regulation at least for the computation of the current wheel pressure, and in the event of a failure of the upstream pressure sensor or in the event of a faulty upstream pressure sensor forms a substitute upstream pressure sensor from a vehicle-specific brake pressure-deceleration characteristic stored in the brake system, wherein a special brake pressure-deceleration characteristic is provided both for the rear axle and also for the front axle.
The known brake regulation method models the upstream pressure such that the value determined from the deceleration of the vehicle is subjected by means of the brake pressure-deceleration characteristic to a safety offset or a safety factor in order to prevent the upstream pressure from being underestimated by the controller, whereby otherwise excessively long valve opening times would arise. Furthermore, it is proposed to increase the pressure from the pressure-deceleration characteristic by a factor or an offset if the brake pedal is depressed very rapidly by the driver (so-called hard braking), since otherwise because of dead times within the deceleration signal generation and within the hydraulics there can be differences between the actual deceleration of the vehicle and the corresponding deceleration signal. The deceleration of the vehicle is computed from the signals of wheel revolution rate sensors.
However, the known method, especially for a high actuation speed of the brake pedal, i.e. for so-called hard pedal operation, does not always lead to a satisfactory result with regard to the model upstream pressure, because the deceleration of the vehicle cannot be computed with sufficient quality at the point in time of the start of brake regulation.
Furthermore, a method for modeling an upstream pressure for a motor vehicle brake system is known from DE 102006022701 A1, with which at the start of a deceleration of the vehicle a counter is started that is incremented with a specified value G and is reset if the speed of the vehicle increases. At the start of regulation the upstream pressure is computed from the counter value by multiplication with a vehicle-specific and axle-specific parameter and is used as a starting value for the brake regulation. The value G used as the gradient of the increase models the gradient of the TMC increase for the upstream pressure and is reduced on reaching specified counter values by means of a reduction factor, which causes flattening of the modeled pressure rise gradient. For brake regulation by means of another model, which is known e.g. from WO97/27090, the starting value for the upstream pressure is used to determine a model wheel pressure for regulation.
The known method in accordance with WO97/27090 for determining the model upstream pressure is based on a computation of the locking pressure level at the start of brake regulation based on the deceleration of the vehicle, which is determined from the wheel speed signals.
The object of the invention is to specify a method mentioned above, with which a model upstream pressure can be determined with high reliability and high robustness against disruptive influences.
This object is achieved by a method with the features described herein.

Method for determining a model upstream pressure by means of a mathematical model in an electronically regulated motor vehicle brake system


A method comprising receiving first data representative of a query. A representation of the query is generated using an encoder neural network and the first data. Words for a rephrased version of the query are selected from a set of words comprising a first subset of words comprising words of the query and a second subset of words comprising words absent from the query. Second data representative of the rephrased version of the query is generated.

Computer-based query-answering systems can provide answers to queries, which may be submitted by users in the form of text or speech, for example. The effectiveness of such systems for answering queries may be improved by rephrasing queries that these systems are unable to answer, or are unable to answer satisfactorily. However, methods for rephrasing queries may be improved, for example to improve efficiency or speed, or to improve the accuracy of rephrased versions of queries.

Query rephrasing using encoder neural network and decoder neural network


The present invention relates to a capped stile for an entry door having an interior backer element and an exterior cap element secured thereto. The exterior cap element is formed from a moisture resistant, foamed polymer composite and has a specific gravity of about 0.9 or less. A door having the disclosed capped stile, and a method of forming a door, are also disclosed.

Exterior entry doors have traditionally been fabricated from wood. Although wood provides a very satisfying aesthetic appearance, it is prone to rotting; cracking, and splitting. Additionally, wood is expensive and is considered a limited natural resource. For these reasons, the door industry has looked to other materials for fabricating doors. Composite materials are sometimes selected in lieu of natural wood for entry door production. Generally, such doors comprise first and second door facings spaced apart from and parallel to one another. The door facings may be substantially planar, or contoured to include panels and the like. Various techniques are known for providing the door facings with contours and decorative appearances.
The molded door facings are secured to a frame positioned between the facings. The frame typically comprises upper and lower rails at the top and bottom of the door facings, and stiles at the opposite sides of the door facings. The rails and stiles are preferably selected to provide an aesthetic appearance matching that of the door facings. Also, the physical properties of the rails and stiles and other components selected preferably are compatible with the intended uses and environment of the door. For example, a stile is typically used for hinge-mounting a door to a doorjamb. Accordingly, the stile should possess physical properties, such as screw retention properties, consistent with this and other intended uses.
Fiberglass composite door facings were developed as an improvement over traditional wood doors, and resist rotting, cracking and splitting. Although such doors include door facings formed from fiberglass, their stiles and rails are typically formed from solid wood. Wood rails, stiles, and other components exposed to the environment suffer from the same drawbacks mentioned above with respect to traditional wood doors, including rotting, cracking, and splitting.
Conventional polymer rails, stiles, and other door components have been proposed, but often lack the aesthetic and physical properties of wood, exhibit inferior paintability characteristics, and possess poor screw retention. Further, such components are expensive and often have unsatisfactory expansion characteristics. For these reasons, some conventional polymeric stiles have not proven commercial viable.
Other designs provide for edge inserts formed from a relatively inexpensive plastic, such as polystyrene, which are mechanically joined to the door frame. However, the plastic used in such designs tends to melt during door trimming and cutting operations, and therefore has also not proven to be a commercially viable option for many door manufacturing processes.
Still other designs use polymer composites having a relatively high amount of filler materials in order to reduce costs. However, the resulting door stiles formed from such composites are too hard to machine during door processing, and thus have also not proven to be an acceptable design. In addition, the resulting exteriorly exposed surface along the door edges of such designs is often not acceptable in the market.


Provided are a method, system, and program for managing data read operations of a read command such as a read command packaged in an Internet Small Computer System Interface packet. In one embodiment, a network adapter has a microengine which obtains read target data from a cache coupled to the network adapter to respond to a read command packaged in a packet sent by an initiator over a network. If the network adapter cache does not have the target data addressed by the read command, the read command is forwarded to a target controller coupled to a storage unit to process the read command.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and program for managing data read operations including iSCSI data read operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a network environment, a network adapter on a host computer, such as an Ethernet controller, Fibre Channel controller, etc., will receive Input/Output (I/O) requests or responses to I/O requests initiated from the host. Often, the host computer operating system includes a device driver to communicate with the network adapter hardware to manage I/O requests to transmit and receive over a network. The host computer may also implement a protocol which packages data to be transmitted over the network into packets, each of which contains a destination address as well as a portion of the data to be transmitted. Data packets received at the network adapter are often stored in a packet buffer. A transport protocol layer can process the packets received by the network adapter, and accesses any I/O commands or data embedded in the packet.
For instance, the computer may implement the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) to encode and address data for transmission, and to decode and access the payload data in the TCP/IP packets received at the network adapter. IP specifies the format of packets, also called datagrams, and the addressing scheme. TCP is a higher level protocol which establishes a connection between a destination and a source. Another protocol, Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) establishes a higher level connection and permits, among other operations, direct placement of data at a specified memory location at the destination. Another high level protocol is the Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) protocol which is designed to transport SCSI commands and data over an IP network between an Initiator device such as a client, and a Target device such as a server.
The term "iSCSI" refers to the protocol defined and described by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) standards body, and any variant of that protocol. One example of an iSCSI packet configuration comprises an Ethernet package encapsulating an Internet Protocol (IP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) package layers, which further encapsulate an iSCSI package that includes one or more SCSI commands. In network data transmission operations, an initiator device transmits data or commands over the network to a target device. The TCP/IP package includes error correction code to determine whether the transmitted packet has changed during the transmission as the packet passes through switches and routers. Both an initiator of such an iSCSI command and the target generally can accommodate the Ethernet, TCP/IP, and iSCSI protocols when processing each part of the transmitted package. The target device, upon receiving the packet, will use the Ethernet protocol to access the TCP/IP package, the TCP/IP protocol to access the iSCSI package, and iSCSI protocol to access the SCSI commands within the iSCSI package.
A target device such as a server, storage controller or host computer, for example, often includes an iSCSI target controller or subsystem to access the SCSI commands within the iSCSI package, and to perform the SCSI commands. For example, if the SCSI command is a read command, the iSCSI target controller can read data from a target address specified in the read command from storage coupled to the target device. Data is often stored in non-volatile storage units such as disk drives and tape units which tend to be relatively slow as compared to non-volatile memory such as random access memory (RAM). Hence, in some prior target devices, the target controller may have a cache in which a cache manager can temporarily store data in anticipation that the cached data may satisfy the next read operation in the queue.
There are a number of data caching techniques including "read-ahead" techniques in which more data than is needed to satisfy the presently pending read request, is cached in the cache. The particular caching technique used may depend upon the application being performed. For example, in a backup operation, the data read from the storage unit tends to be read in a linear fashion. Hence, data may be cached for efficient read operations by caching data from the storage unit in sequential order.
Protocol layers such as the transport layer can be performed by host software such as the network adapter device driver, an application or the operating system. However, software such as a driver for a network adapter, can utilize significant host processor resources to handle network transmission requests to the network adapter. One technique to reduce the load on the host processor is the use of a TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE) in which TCP/IP protocol related operations are implemented in the network adapter hardware as opposed to the device driver or other host software, thereby saving the host processor from having to perform some or all of the TCP/IP protocol related operations. In addition, the offload engine can perform certain iSCSI protocol related tasks. For example, the Intel PRO/1000 T IP Storage Adapter, can perform error checking of an encapsulated iSCSI packet using the iSCSI error checking codes, before the iSCSI packets are forwarded to the iSCSI target controller for extraction and processing of the SCSI commands.
Notwithstanding, there is a continued need in the art to improve the performance of data transfer operations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method, system, and program for managing data read operations on network controller with offloading functions


An n-bit input count value is split into high-order n-1 bits and a low-order one bit so that the overflow signal 3a of the n-1 bit counter 2 for counting the high-order n-1 bits and the output signal 4a which is obtained by delaying the overflow signal 3a by half the cycle of the input clock by means of the delay circuit 4 are switched by the switch circuit 5 according to the low-order bit stored in the 1-bit register 6 to achieve a signal having a minimum decomposition width which is half the cycle of the input clock 7a.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a timer circuit which counts a set input count value (digital data) in response to an input clock to output an overflow signal or a waveform signal at a time corresponding to the input count value.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally speaking, a timer circuit consists of an n-bit counter for counting an n-bit input count value in response to an input clock and an overflow detection circuit for detecting an overflow of this counter to output an overflow signal. A timer circuit having a waveform output function comprises a waveform generator circuit responsive to the overflow signal to output a waveform signal which changes from "1" to "0" or "0" to "1", in addition to the above-mentioned elements. The timer circuit having the waveform output function is structured as shown in FIG. 6. In the figure, reference numeral 1 represents a data bus, 3 an overflow detection circuit, 8 a waveform generator circuit, 9 an n-bit counter, 1a an n-bit input count value, 3a an overflow signal, 7a an input clock, 8a an output waveform signal, and 9a a count value. A timer circuit without a waveform output function is not provided with a waveform generator circuit 8. The n-bit counter 9 receives the the n-bit input count value la from the data bus 1 and counts the value in response to the input clock 7a. Then, the n-bit counter 9 outputs the count value 9a to the overflow detection circuit 3. The overflow detection circuit 3 detects an overflow of the n-bit counter 9 from the count value 9a and outputs the overflow signal 3a to the waveform generator circuit 8, which is responsive to the overflow signal 3a to output the output waveform signal 8a which changes from "1" to "0" or from "0" to "1".
FIG.7 is a waveform diagram illustrating the operation of the conventional timer circuit (same structure as that of FIG. 6) in the case of a 4-bit input count value. In the figure, reference letter (A) represents the waveform of the input clock 7a of the n-bit counter 9 (4-bit counter), (B) the count value 9a of the 4-bit counter 9, (C) the waveform of the overflow signal 3a from the overflow detection circuit 3, and (D) the waveform of the output waveform signal 8a from the waveform generator circuit 8. Next, the operation of the conventional timer circuit (4-bit timer circuit) will be described with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. A timer value "5" ("0101" in binary code) is first set to the 4-bit counter 9 from the data bus 1. The 4-bit counter 9 counts the timer value "5" upon a fall in the input clock 7a. When the 4-bit counter 9 counts "1" ("0001" in binary code) and "0" ("0000" in binary code), it outputs the count value 9a of "0" to the overflow detection circuit 3. The overflow detection circuit 3 detects an overflow from the count value 9a of "0" and outputs the overflow signal 3a to the waveform generator circuit 8. When the waveform generator circuit 8 has received the overflow signal 3a, it outputs the output waveform signal 8a having a cycle T0 and whose waveform is changed from "1" to "0". The waveform of this output waveform signal 8a has been changed from "0" to "1" at the start of counting by the 4-bit counter 9.
This timer circuit has a minimum decomposition width which is based on the input clock and is decreasing with advances in technology. The reason for this is that when the minimum decomposition width of the timer circuit is reduced, the accuracy, for example, of the overflow signal generated from the counter can be improved. In addition, when the timer having a small minimum decomposition width is used in a power control circuit of a PWM control system, voltage generated from a power supply can be finely controlled. Therefore, in order to achieve these advantages, the frequency of the source input clock must be raised to reduce the minimum decomposition width of the conventional timer circuit.
As described in the foregoing, in the conventional timer circuit, the 4-bit counter 9 counts a set count value upon each fall in the input clock. Therefore, the point where the overflow signal 3a is generated from the overflow detection circuit 3 coincides with the cycle of the input clock 7a (1 to 5 in (A) of FIG. 7), and the minimum decomposition width of the overflow signal coincides with the input clock 7a. Therefore, to reduce the minimum decomposition width, the input clock must be speeded up. In the conventional timer circuit having a waveform generation function, the overflow signal 3a ((c) of FIG. 7) triggers a change in the output waveform signal 8a from "1" to "0" or from "0" to "1". Therefore, the point where the output waveform signal 8a is changed coincides with the cycle of the input clock 7a like the overflow signal 3a. In other words, since the minimum decomposition width of the output waveform signal coincides with the input clock, the input clock must be speeded up to reduce the minimum decomposition width. In this way, in the conventional timer circuit, the input clock needs to be speeded up to reduce the minimum decomposition width, but when the frequency of the input clock is raised, the operation speed of circuit elements such as a transistor incorporated in a circuit needs to be increased. Therefore, the conventional timer has the problem that the entire device must be designed adjusted to the frequency of the input clock in addition to the development of circuit elements.


An image forming apparatus comprises an identifying section configured to analyze image information and identify object information and detect the size of the object information and a concentration difference between the object information and the background information, an image processing section configured to perform image processing based on at least one of the size of the object information and a concentration difference relative to the background information, and a printer section configured to form an image based on image information on which the image processing is performed. By doing so, it is possible to effect proper image correction while giving consideration to a color “area” effect.

Connectionally known in the image formation of a color printing system is a system for performing processing for each kind of drawing object by effecting a switching of color processing parameters of color-conversion color lock-up tables (hereinafter referred to as color conversion tables) and halftone cells on a threshold table used at the tone processing time. An expanded type of system is also proposed which, when a drawing object is an image, decides the kind of image with a command in a page description language (PDL) and, by doing so, performs processing by effecting a switching of color processing parameters.
As the examples of the prior art, there are Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 2001-69360 and 2000-331147 and these disclose the technique for deciding the attribute of the drawing object in the color image processing method and performing color processing based on the result of decision.
When a human looks at an object, what is called a color "area" effect works. The color "area" effect means an effect by which the lightness and saturation of an object look different due to its color-drawn area. In the above-mentioned prior art technique, color correction while giving consideration to such a color "area" effect is not made and it is, therefore, not possible to obtain any adequate printing result. Thus a problem is involved. Even in the switching of halftone cells, such a switching is not effected in a way to give consideration to the relation of the halftones between the adjacent objects and, depending upon a combination of such halftones, there is a problem with which a printed thing looks unnatural sometimes.
Further, the kind of image is not specified in a way to make adequate use of image information to be printed and color conversion and tone correction are not made in a way to be matched to the kind of image. And any adequate color correction is not effected in a way to be matched to the kind of image, so that a problem is involved.

Image forming apparatus performing image correction for object, and method thereof


A system and method that allows a user to use their everyday language or user defined words to operate a computer in a highly efficient way. In short, every word, letter, control character and symbol is potentially actionable. A computer user's productivity is dramatically increased by making available those functions that enable a user to produce most of his work through simple, language-based commands. The present invention provides an intuitive interface, referred to as a semantic user interface (SUI), that enhances the operation of the current standard window-based interface in a manner that is simple, richer and natural. By leveraging all of the richness and power inherent in a user's language, the present invention provides an important tool that allows the personal computer to operate in a manner that is much closer to our natural way of interacting. A user is allowed to enter "commands" in his everyday natural language in order to control the operations of the computer. All commands are language-based and user-defined. These commands can be entered from any context of the user's computer (e.g., any application or operating system workspace). The commands allows a user to launch applications and navigate within applications by using language rather than clicks from a pointing device such as a mouse. It also allows the replacement of keystrokes with stored words or keystrokes. The system also keeps a complete archive record of all the text content the user provides as input, regardless of which application program or operating system window the user is operating in at the time. The combined set of all user defined commands and the memory of all the input text that is stored in the archive constitutes the personality profile and is transportable from one computer to another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a semantic interface for a computer system, and more particularly, to a system and method of providing a semantic interface that allows a user to access via a set of user defined words a plurality of services, including command, navigation and substitution, within all contexts of his/her computer system.
2. Related Art
Computers have revolutionized the way individuals in all aspects of life perform tasks. A user interface provides a mechanism for individuals to access all the features and functionalities of their computer. Without a user friendly interface, these features and functions are typically inaccessible to the computer operator. The prevalent user interface in the industry today uses windows, icons, menus and pointing devices. The text stream entered by the user, however, has been essentially ignored.
This window-based user interface (also referred to as a graphical user interface or GUI) was first conceived by Xerox, commercialized by Apple Computers (e.g., the Macintosh), and brought to the mainstream by Microsoft Corporation (e.g., Windows 95). The GUI is powerful for organizing the capabilities and resources available in a computer. It enables the user to incrementally explore and discover his computer's capabilities and controls. It keeps everything in a convenient visual context, using helpful metaphors, like desktops and windows.
The GUI provides a menu hierarchy which is accessible via a pointing device or mouse. One of the cornerstones of this interface is the ability for the user to interact directly with objects and elements. This can be a great advantage in some cases, but it can result in making simple tasks that are often repeated into tedious choirs of navigation through a maze of GUI windows. To provide the ability to directly manipulate the elements or objects, you must enable the user to work at an "atomic" level, losing the ability to group a related series of basic actions into one high level action or use of conditionals.
Under this paradigm, we can no longer access or work with objects that are not visible or unknown to us. This situation is not unlike going to eat in another country where we do not know the language. We are thus forced to go to the kitchen and point to whatever food we want. It is clear that we do not want to go to the kitchen in order to eat; we would rather express ourselves using all the richness that our natural language allows. In order to accomplish this goal, the computer has to respond to human language and not the other way around. In reality, we want to be able to go to our favorite restaurant and say "give me my usual order" and receive exactly what we ordered. This is personal attention and awareness of your eating profile. This is, in essence, what we want from our personal computer.
Advocates of the window-based user interface firmly believe that the user should always be in control. The window-based user interface provides permanent feedback to the user by providing windows with menus. The down side of this is that the user must always be in control even if he does not want to be or he cannot be because of the complexity of the task. Windows 95, for example, has started a trend in allowing the user to delegate his control to an agent, through a concept of smart and thoughtful "agents." Such tasks like un-installing software, are, for example, automatically performed by Windows 95.
There are many tasks that a user must repeat again and again when using a GUI, such as opening certain files and activating certain controls. For such tasks, the GUI presents the user with a single logic set, implemented within the limited screen real estate of his computer monitor. Also, the GUI recognizes none of the user's words. Even the simplest functions requires the user to change mode from the keyboard to hand/eye mouse control. To use the GUI, he must lift his hand from the keyboard to the mouse. He must also lift his eyes to the screen to locate the desired graphical element, and then manipulate the mouse while visually monitoring the result. This is like having to look at someone every time you want to say a word to that person.
Computer systems must provide users with a mechanism to undo a previous action when a mistake has been made. These same systems must also provide a strong warning if an intended action will be irreversible. This is not a great concern when you are a novice user, but when you become a more experienced user, this feature will turn against you and unnecessarily increase your workload. Take for instance the simple task of copying a file to a floppy that does not have enough free space. The Macintosh window-based interface provides a warning that you must throw away X Kb in order to make space. The user, in an attempt to make space, discards X Kb of data from the floppy and places it in the trash. The user once again attempts to copy the file onto the floppy, only to be told that there is not enough room, but would you like to throw out the trash. This is what you wanted from the start! What was a good feature quickly becomes a nuisance.
The problem stems from the inability of the computer to fully understand even our simplest intentions; it lacks our personality profile. In order to overcome this problem, the computer needs to build a deeper model of each user's intentions and history in order to better serve the user's needs and to eliminate unnecessarily repetitive activities. The core requirement here is to provide mechanisms to ascertain how users work and to track their activities in an unobtrusive way.
Current wisdom states that the more static and unchanging our environments, the simpler and better it is for us. As we grow in knowledge and understanding of what the computer can do for us, we are willing to accept changes and learn to cope with them in our quest to increase our personal productivity. Unfortunately, current computer user interfaces have limited abilities to allow a user to express themselves. If computers could communicate with a richer language, it would not be so important that everything have a uniform look and feel.
The computer interface should allow the user to perform any task at any time, irrespective of the application that are currently running. In other words, if a user is working on a word processor and needs to make some calculations, he should not be required to leave his work and open another application via a menu driven user interface to complete the necessary arithmetic operations.
Every computer user has a unique pattern of use. Typically, 80% of a user's work product is accomplished through repeated use of only 20% of his software's available features. This is commonly referred to as Pareto's Rule, and the 20% of the tasks are often referred to as the "vital few." The 80% of available software features and functions that are not needed or used by any particular user must still be available to all other users through the GUI system of menus and windows. Every user's "80/20" profile is unique. Nevertheless, it is the need to organize 100% of the available functionality that necessitates the depth, nesting and complexity of current GUI system. As a result, the GUI is an inefficient fit, to a greater or lesser degree, for every individual user.
Over the years, a number of approaches have been invented to tackle this problem of inefficient fit. Because of their inherent limitations, none have been successful enough to reach the mainstream user. Software entrepreneurs have developed "shortcut" utilities of various designs. While not specifically marketed as such, the intention of these utilities is to address each user's "80/20" pattern of often repeated tasks. These "shortcut" utilities take two forms: macros triggered by key combinations and icon palette macros.
Macros triggered by key combinations typically take one or both of two forms, macro utilities and text replacement utilities. Macro utility programs provide shortcuts to functions and processes such as opening applications and files, making menu selections, and performing multi-step operations. Macro utilities, such as Tempo, MacroMagic, and Keboard Express for the "WinTel" platform and QuicKeys for the Macintosh are all activated by the user via keystroke combinations. Microsoft's Windows interface offers many key combination shortcuts macros to operate various controls, menus and etc. To activate these macros, the user must press at least one "control" key (e.g., <alt>), combined with pressing a single "non-control" character (e.g., <x>). Users find it very difficult to develop a mnemonically consistent scheme for remembering such key combinations, for two reasons. First, the combinations are mnemonically so arbitrary that it is difficult to use mnemonic logic to memorize the cryptic key combinations. Also, many key combinations only work a given way in specific application programs, further restricting the combinations that are available. The user's limited ability to remember and reflexively recall more than a few cryptic key combinations severely limit's the usability of macro utilities. Many people are so intimidated by the cryptic nature of macros they refuse to even consider their use.
Text substitution utilities provide the ability to replace a short string of typed text with long and/or formatted text. For example, a user may define the code word "evp" to trigger the substitution to "Executive Vice President", or define a short code word like "nad" to be replaced by a series of pre-defined text lines (name and address in this case). There are several utility software products available to do that within single applications. Text replacement utilities for single applications are, for example, included with Word 7.0 for Windows95. Other examples include ShortKeys for Windows and both SpellCatcher and TypeIt4Me on the Macintosh platform. Recognition of the user's words by these utilities is limited to the purpose of replacing one text string with another. These utilities are writer's aids only. They do not enable the user to also use words for controlling computer processes and functions.
Icon palette utilities are used to give macros a visual presence and context. The macros are activated via mouse clicks. The Icon pallets are an attempt to use a visual interface to overcome the cryptic and therefore hard-to-remember keystroke interface for macro utilities. Often, macro utility products offer icon palettes as a second, alternative interface for accessing the macros. In this approach, a computer macro (process or function) is assigned to a graphical icon, which is presented on an icon bar on the user's screen. Examples of such utilities are included in Norton Navigator for Window95 and in both QuickKeys and OneClick on the Macintosh platform.
By definition, these Icon pallet utilities are an extension of the GUI. Screen size, display resolution, and the user's preference in allocating scarce screen real estate limit the number of icons it makes sense for the user to display on his screen. Given that the users "vital few" can involve scores or hundreds of items, the Icon approach is severely limited by the visual real estate available and the amount of visual complexity the user can tolerate. Moreover, the user must memorize the relationship between the graphic depiction of each icon and the function or process each executes. As the users icon pallet population increases, the distinctiveness of each icon is reduced.
The existing shortcut utilities do not offer the user an integrated approach to creating, managing and using shortcuts for content services, retrieval services and command. Their interfaces are inconsistent and far too difficult to organize and remember. Because the user must assemble his shortcuts using a collection of different software products, he loses a lot of his gains in dealing with cumbersome and time-consuming management of his shortcuts.
It is clear from the above, that the current trend to rely solely on window-based user interfaces has seriously constrained a user's ability to fully utilize their computer. Although the window-based user interface has revolutionized the computer system, and has allowed millions of people to use computers, we have reached a point where a user's ability to fully appreciate and utilize all of the features and functionalities of their computer system has been compromised. Thus, what is needed is a system and method that provides a user with an efficient, convenient and natural way to utilize his everyday language to work with applications, files, control commands, and the like, that form his/her "vital few."


For incremental redundancy transmission on multiple parallel channels in a MIMO system, a transmitter processes (e.g., encodes, partitions, interleaves, and modulates) each data packet for each parallel channel based on a rate selected for the parallel channel and obtains multiple symbol blocks for the packet. For each data packet, the transmitter transmits one symbol block at a time on its parallel channel until a receiver recovers the packet or all blocks have been transmitted. The receiver performs detection and obtains symbol blocks transmitted on the parallel channels. The receiver recovers the data packets transmitted on the parallel channels independently or in a designated order. The receiver processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, re-assembles, and decodes) all symbol blocks obtained for each data packet and provides a decoded packet. The receiver may estimate and cancel interference due to recovered data packets so that data packets recovered later can achieve higher SINRs.

I. Field
The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for transmitting data on multiple parallel channels in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system.
II. Background
A MIMO system employs multiple (NT) transmit antennas and multiple (NR) receive antennas for data transmission and is denoted as an (NT, NR) system. A MIMO channel formed by the NT transmit and NR receive antennas may be decomposed into NS spatial channels, where NS≦min {NT, NR}, as described below. Ns data streams may be transmitted on the NS spatial channels. The MIMO system can provide increased transmission capacity if the NS spatial channels created by the multiple transmit and receive antennas are used for data transmission.
A major challenge in a MIMO system is selecting suitable rates for data transmission on the MIMO channel based on channel conditions. A "rate" may indicate a particular data rate or information bit rate, a particular coding scheme, a particular modulation scheme, a particular data packet size, and so on. The goal of the rate selection is to maximize the overall throughput on the NS spatial channels while meeting certain quality objectives, which may be quantified by a target packet error rate (e.g., 1% PER) or some other measures.
The transmission capacity of each spatial channel is dependent on the signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR) achieved by that spatial channel. The SINRs for the NS spatial channels are dependent on the channel conditions and may further be dependent on the manner in which the data streams are recovered at the receiver. In one conventional MIMO system, a transmitter encodes, modulates, and transmits each data stream in accordance with a rate selected based on a model of a static MIMO channel. Good performance can be achieved if the model is accurate and if the MIMO channel is relatively static (i.e., does not change much over time). In another conventional MIMO system, a receiver estimates the MIMO channel, selects a suitable rate for each spatial channel based on the channel estimates, and sends Ns selected rates for the Ns spatial channels to the transmitter. The transmitter then processes Ns data streams in accordance with the selected rates and transmits these streams on the Ns spatial channels. The performance of this system is dependent on the nature of the MIMO channel and the accuracy of the channel estimates.
For both conventional MIMO systems described above, the transmitter processes and transmits each data packet for each spatial channel at the rate selected for that spatial channel. The receiver decodes each data packet received on each spatial channel and determines whether the packet is decoded correctly or in error. The receiver may send back an acknowledgment (ACK) if the packet is decoded correctly or a negative acknowledgment (NAK) if the packet is decoded in error. The transmitter may retransmit each data packet decoded in error by the receiver, in its entirety, upon receiving a NAK for the packet.
The performance of both MIMO systems described above is highly dependent on the accuracy of the rate selection. If the selected rates for the spatial channels are too conservative (e.g., because the actual SINRs are much better than the SINR estimates), then excessive system resources are expended to transmit data packets and channel capacity is underutilized. Conversely, if the selected rates for the spatial channels are too aggressive, then the data packets may be decoded in error by the receiver and system resources may be expended to retransmit these packets. Rate selection for a MIMO system is challenging because of (1) greater complexity in the channel estimation for a MIMO channel, (2) the time-varying and independent nature of the spatial channels, and (3) interaction among the multiple data streams transmitted on the spatial channels.
There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to efficiently transmit data on multiple spatial channels in a MIMO system and which do not require accurate rate selection in order to achieve good performance.

Incremental redundancy transmission for multiple parallel channels in a MIMO communication system


One of the key features of the present invention is the use of a electrical conduit arrangement that allows for the tailoring of the magnetic field so as to provide for the greater amount of force to be brought to bear generally in the center of the work force area. The present invention provides for such capability by providing for a single central current conduit for forming longitudinally extending work pieces. The present invention also provides for the splitting, and/or direction (or curvature) reversal, of the electrical current pulse one or more times to likewise tailor the magnetic field of the work-coil or forming actuator.

Electromagnetic forming is a method of forming sheet metal or thin walled tubes that is based on placing a work-coil in close proximity to the metal to be formed and running a brief, high intensity current pulse through the coil. If the metal to be formed is sufficiently conductive the change in magnetic field produced by the coil will produce eddy currents in the work piece. These currents also have associated with them a magnetic field that is repulsive to that of the coil. This natural electromagnetic repulsion is capable of producing very large pressures that can accelerate the work piece at high velocities (typically 10-200 meters/second). This acceleration is produced without making physical contact to the work piece. The electrical current pulse is usually generated by the discharge of a capacitor bank. This field has been developed by many individuals and companies and is widely used for the forming and assembly of tubular and sheet work pieces. Several excellent reviews of the field are available, including Moon, F. C., Magneto-Solid Mechanics, ASTME, High Velocity Forming of Metals, revised edition (1968); Plum, M. M., Electromagnetic Forming, Metals Handbook, Maxwell Laboratories, Inc., pp. 644-653; and Belyy, I. V., Fertik, S. M. and Khimenko, L. T., Electromagnetic Metal Forming Handbook, Khar'kov State University, Khar'kov, USSR (1977) (Translation from Russian by M. M. Altoynova 1996), all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Examples of prior art patents involving electromagnetic forming include U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,667 to Gunkel et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,393 to Weir aet al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,617 to Cherian et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,081 to Hansen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,832 to Cherian et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,977 to Wilson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,127 to Sano et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,862 to Hill, U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,640 to McDermott et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,457 to Richardson et al., all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Electromagnetic forming can be carried out on a wide range of materials and geometries within some fundamental constraints. First, the material must be sufficiently electrically conductive to exclude the electromagnetic field of the workcoil. The physics of this interaction have been well characterized.
Another key constraint is coil strength. Generally equal and opposing external forces will exist on the work-coil and work piece. In addition, the current that runs through the coil can induce large internal transient forces that are separate with the repulsion from the work piece. These can also lead to coil failure. In the development of electromagnetic forming coils the issue of robustness has generally been addressed by wrapping what is often called a `field-shaper` with many windings of coil from the power source. The main mechanical forces are transmitted through the massive field shaper which accepts the pressure from the work piece acceleration. This concept is used to make the `wafer coils` which are generally acknowledged to produce the highest pressures from production coils designed for thousands to hundreds of thousands of operations without a rebuilding procedure. In many other designs the deformation of the work coil or fracture of insulation and arcing usually causes the coils to fail after a number of operations. That number is set roughly by the construction of the coil and the average energy of the operations performed.
To date, all of the coils that have been reported to have been used for electromagnetic forming typically have had roughly cylindrical symmetry, such as shown in schematic form in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a standard unidirectional coil through which the current pulse is passed from the positive pole 11 to the negative pole 12. The coil 10 is supplied with a current pulse from a power source which typically is a simple bank of capacitors with appropriate charging circuitry and discharge bus work, as is well-known in the art (not shown).
The most common such coils are those based on simple solinoidal windings used for the expansion or compression of tubes. Less common, but still abundantly mentioned in the literature, are `pancake coils` that use a flat spiral geometry. Such coils are commonly used to form bulge-like features in flat metal sheets. These coils do suffer from limited strength and as a result of this a number of specialized coils using massive field shapers have been developed and are taught in the art. Both field shaper geometry and the standard flat spiral geometry are limited in that the magnetic pressure drops to zero at the center of the actuator.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a cross-section along line 1A--1A of FIG. 1, the magnetic field produced in the work-force area has a area of weakness in the center of the work-force area. Careful analyses have been performed on the flat spiral coil (G. Fenton, N. Takatsu, M. Kato, K. Sato and T. Tobe, JSME International Journal, 31, 142 (1988)) which show that the magnetic pressure is actually a maximum at the outer edge of the coil. This is a distinct disadvantage in most practical cases as the maximum displacement and force are generally desired at the center of work-force area adjacent the coil.
Secondly, such a geometry is disadvantageous because all of these coils are typically based on circular symmetry. This makes it very difficult to envision ways to form many shapes such as those including elongated features or those with complicated shapes which may be extended from the plane of the work piece.
Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to produce electromagnetic actuators that can provide maximum force and displacement and force at the center of the actuator coil, and which can be produced in robust arrangements that resist and maximize mechanical stress in the forming operation. It is also desirable to provide an actuator that produces a relatively uninterrupted magnetic field over the region where forming is desired.
It is also advantageous to be able to produce electromagnetic actuators that can be conveniently applied to the formation of elongated metal pieces, as well as the formation of other metal shapes of a wide variety of geometries.
It is also an object of the present invention to eliminate some of the drawbacks in the prior art by allowing one to tailor the spatial distribution of pressure more effectively and by permitting the building of stronger, more robust coils (i.e., typically of thicker conduit cross-section) to balance internal magnetic forces.
The present invention also has as its goal to allow one to produce electromagnetic actuators that provide more uniform force distribution and/or force distribution that are tailored to suit the geometry of the component being formed.
The present invention also allows such actuators to be more easily incorporated into, and used with, molds, forming dies and tool bodies.
In view of the following disclosure, other advantages of the invention, and the solution to other problems using the invention, may become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Electromagnetic actuator method of use and article made therefrom


Systems and methods are described allowing dynamic selection of media items for presentation within a media stream based on dynamically-generated information that describes the content of the media stream or the stream's consumer. Systems may include meta data servers and media servers that work together to dynamically select media items and dynamically build a media stream containing the selected media items to the consumer. The media items are selected based on dynamically-generated meta data. Such meta data may be generated by previous consumers of the media stream and provide an accurate and dynamic description of the contents of the media stream. Because the media items are dynamically selected based on dynamically-generated meta data, even though the same media stream may be requested by different media consumers, each media stream is individually generated and may be a unique stream that reflects the impressions of previous consumers of the stream.

The Internet is increasingly being used to transmit, store, view and share media files. These media files are sometimes short (two minutes or less) and sometimes longer, sometimes as long as several hours. As media consumers have adopted the use of the Internet for media delivery, the streaming media on demand, i.e., that is transmitting a stream of media content to the consumer for immediate playback on the consumer's device, has greatly increased.
One benefit of streaming media is that the contents of the media stream, e.g., the distinct media items that combined to make the stream of media, can be selected dynamically and in real-time. For example, a consumer may request a current events news program be streamed to the consumer for viewing and the resulting stream may be generated by assembling various independent media items such as news stories which are then sequentially transmitted to the consumer in as a single continuous stream of media data.
Current streaming media systems have been developed using the television stream as a template, and therefore mimic television's model of inserting seemingly random advertisements into the stream at specified points in the stream, known as commercial breaks. The advertisements bear no contextual relationship with the underlying media content and therefore rarely engage the consumer's attention.

Method and system for media-based event generation


A method for determining the approximate surface conductivity of a photoreceptor surface. The method involves forming a latent image of a series of lines of different widths on the surface, developing the image, and then printing the image. Based on which lines print, the surface conductivity can be computed once the developability of isolated lines is established through a calibration procedure.

The exemplary embodiment relates to a technique for quantifying surface resistivity or the degree of lateral charge migration (LCM) on a photoconductor surface.
Distortion, loss, or decay of latent images on a photoreceptor surface are detrimental to the quality of a final image carried on the photoreceptor. If the electrostatic latent image changes during the time between formation of the image and application of toner, the resulting final image can deviate significantly from the initial exposed image.
A major factor leading to such distortion, loss or decay of latent images is lateral charge migration (LCM) along a surface of the photoreceptor. If the photoreceptor surface is conductive, lateral charge migration can occur causing degradation of an electrostatic latent image retained by the photoreceptor.
In order to address this problem and provide strategies and materials for limiting or reducing the extent of LCM on a photoreceptor surface, it would be beneficial to identify a technique for quantifying LCM or rather, surface conductivity of the photoreceptor surfaces.
Attempts have been made by artisans to analyze electrostatic latent image blurring. And attempts in providing numerical simulations of lateral conductivities have been proposed to serve as models for further investigation. Although satisfactory in many respects, a need remains for a technique and method for readily identifying and ideally, quantifying, LCM or surface conductivity value of a photoreceptor surface.
Additionally, external agents can detrimentally affect photoreceptor life by promoting LCM or inducing LCM. Depending on the level of exposure and aggressiveness of the external agents such as corona effluents or amine salts, LCM can be induced in as little as a few prints. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to readily determine the extent of LCM so that strategies may be better formulated to reduce the effects from external agents.

Effective surface resistivity through image analysis


A method for identifying an electrical device connected to a mains grid is provided, the method comprising measuring at least one electrical characteristic on the mains grid with a sensor connected to a socket of the mains grid; comparing the at least one electrical characteristic with a plurality of stored candidate electrical characteristics each corresponding to one of a plurality of candidate electrical devices; and identifying the electrical device based on the stored candidate electrical characteristic that is closest to the at least one electrical characteristic. A corresponding system and a corresponding sensor are provided as well.

In any household many power consumers are connected to a mains grid. Often, the user of the power consumers does not know which devices are connected and consume power.
In order for people to use less energy/electricity in their homes, they need an itemized bill that clearly shows the usage and energy cost for each of their appliances. Without itemized data, consumers can take action to conserve, by either installing more energy efficient appliances (air conditioners, close washers/dryers, hot tubes, ovens, lighting, etc.) for changing their usage patterns in areas where pricing of energy/electricity varies by time of day, of simply turning loads off when not in use. The problem is that people do not want to incur the significant expense required to install power sensors on each of their appliances in the electric loads.
There is a need for an easy detection and analysis of appliances connected to the mains grid.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method, a system and a sensor for identifying an electrical device connected to a mains grid that is easy to use.
The object of the invention is solved by a method for identifying an electrical device according to claim 1, a system for identifying an electrical device connected to a mains grid according to claim 7 and by a sensor for identifying an electrical device connected to a mains grid according to claim 11.
Further details of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

Method, system and sensor for identifying an electrical device connected to a mains grid


A method of processing signals of a timing controller of a liquid crystal display module, wherein the signals are processed according to a rising edge or a falling edge of a synchronizing signal to generate the control signals for the liquid crystal display module, the control signals including start vertical signals STV (including STV1 and STV2) and gate-on enable signals OE. Then, the gate clock signal CPV, STV1, STV2, and OE pause to be outputted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a method of processing signals. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of processing signals of an LCM (LCD Module, Liquid Crystal Display Module) timing controller.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,818, as shown in FIG. 1, an LCM 10 has a timing controller 12 which generates signals, such as a gate clock signal CPV, start vertical signals STV1, STV2, or a gate-on enable signal OE for a gate driver 16 and a source driver 18 of a LCD panel 14 after receiving a horizontal synchronizing signal HSYNC, a vertical synchronizing signal VSYNC, and a data enable signal DE.
In another mode, as shown in FIG. 2, the timing controller 12 which generates signals, such as a gate clock signal CPV, start vertical signals STV1, STV2, or a gate-on enable signal OE for a gate driver 16 and a source driver 18 of a LCD panel 14 after receiving a data enable signal DE.
In the method of processing signals of a conventional timing controller, as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, a next control signal is generated according to a memory value of a previous horizontal or vertical cycle. When an LCD module is in DE mode or in the mode of three synchronizing signals HSYNC, VSYNC, DE, a conventional timing controller decodes control signals according to the memory values of horizontal and vertical cycles. For example, in a vertical blank period VB (v-blank) of the data enable signal DE, the start vertical signals STV1, STV2 are generated according to the gate clock signal CPV.
Refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 which correspond to the methods of processing signals in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 respectively. The timing controller processes signals according to the memory values of horizontal and vertical cycles, such as the vertical blank period VB (v-blank), the gate clock signal CPV. Since signals of the horizontal and vertical cycles are unstable, the horizontal or vertical cycle of a video signal is caused to vary. As far as the timing controller is concerned, the cycle variance incurs erroneous operations of control signals. For example, the gate clock signal CPV does not generate the start vertical signals STV1, STV2 until after the vertical blank period VB(v-blank) of the data enable signal DE, and the display frame of the LCD module is therefore caused to jitter or bounce. The start vertical signals STV include: a first start vertical signal STV1, for determining a start scan location of a frame; and a second start vertical signal STV2, for offsetting the flicker and display brightness.

Method of processing signal of LCM timing controller


Techniques for secure debugging and monitoring are presented. An end user requests a secure token for logging information with a remote service. A secure monitoring and debugging token service provides the secure token. The remote service validates the secure token and configures itself for capturing information and reporting the captured information based on the secure token.

Enterprises may rely on end-users or developers to assist in tracking and resolving issues with services provided by the enterprises. However, this may create a problem when detailed information is displayed to the end user. In fact, it is common for hackers to use debug information to break the security of a system. Thus, by providing this type of control to the end-users, the enterprises may expose their systems to security risks.
From a business perspective, there may be periods of time where an increased level of tracking is required as result of: a business concern, troubleshooting a system issue, behavior pattern deviances, and/or other potential security risks. There are several problems created when web services need to provide more debug and monitoring information. If an administrator turns on advanced debugging or monitoring for the system, then too much data may be generated, which can cause the enterprise service to appear unresponsive or broken. Additionally, the amount of information generated may result in storage problems; or create a security vulnerability by exposing sensitive information.
So, an administrator may want to vary end-user monitoring based on the security risk of individuals or the administrator may want to allow end users to influence how much debugging or monitoring is done on their accounts. This is typically achieved by placing a cookie on the browser that turns on "debug" or "monitoring" to a specific level. The cookie can be set automatically, or set by the end user that selects an option to enable debugging. The problem is that there is often no security on the cookie set. Basically, any user can set any cookie on any browser once he/she has seen the cookie, which means a hacker can set the same cookie thereby enabling debug, which may disclose information about the system that can be used to break in that system (creating a security hole). It is also well known that the set of values of a cookie used for enabling debugging capabilities is commonly posted on hacker web sites.
Another common problem with uncontrolled or unsecure debugging and monitoring is that the browser view, which is viewed by an end user comes from many web services; some of which may not be owned or operated by the end user's company. A simple cookie that is used to enable advanced debug information does not have enough data or security for an external web service to trust the request and send advanced debug or monitoring data.


Embodiments of circuits and systems for a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier employing output harmonic resonators are disclosed. The RF power amplifiers may include amplification circuitry having unit cells and output harmonic resonators co-disposed on a chip. In some embodiments, each unit cell may be coupled with a respective output harmonic resonator. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

Radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers are used in wireless transmission devices to amplify an RF signal for transmission. Power consumption is a concern for users and manufacturers of these wireless transmission devices. One of the factors in determining the power consumption in such devices is the direct current (DC)-to-RF conversion efficiency of the RF power amplifiers. DC-to-RF conversion efficiency may be a measure of how much DC power is converted into RF energy.
High DC-to-RF conversion efficiencies have been demonstrated at a unit-cell level. However, when RF power amplifiers employ multiple unit cells, efficiency degrades due to these devices failing to provide desired impedance matching across fundamental and harmonic operating frequencies.

Power amplifier with output harmonic resonators


Description of a thermo-transfer color ribbon with (a) a carrier, (b) a layer of a first thermo-transfer color formed on one side of the carrier, containing a luminescent pigment and (c) a layer of a second thermo-transfer color formed on the first thermo-transfer color layer containing a non-luminescent pigment, whereby, where needed, additional layers may be located between the carrier and the layer of the first thermo-transfer color and/or the layer of the first and the second thermo-transfer color. Said thermo-transfer ribbon is characterized in that in the remission spectrum of the non-luminescent pigment, in the wave length range of the light emitted by the luminescent pigment there is a remission maximum or an ascending flank of remission. The thermo-ransfer ribbon furnishes print-outs of high optical density without affecting the luminesce output of the luminescent pigment.

The invention concerns a thermo-transfer color ribbon for luminescent lettering or coding.
Modem sorting machines, as they are being employed for a multitude of objects, such as for instance, letters, respond to luminescent coding, which is not necessarily visible to the human eye. For that purpose, the to be sorted pieces are provided prior to the sorting process with symbols which contain luminescent material. Thermo-transfer color ribbons are increasingly being used for this purpose, which have a layer of thermo-transfer dye with luminescent pigment contained therein. The luminescent transfer dye, which is transferred to the substrate surface, is very thin and transparent for visual inspection.
Luminescent dyes have the property of absorbing ultraviolet light and visible light in the blue part of the spectrum and radiate the absorbed part at the lower end of the spectrum. From among the great number of organic compounds which radiate visible light under the effect of shortwave rays, only such substrates are suitable as luminescent dyes or lumogens which distinguish themselves in solid, non-dissolved state through intensive fluorescence. Of greatest technical interest are those luminescent dyes, which fluoresce colored in daylight and which are utilized as day-glow fluorescent pigments. Soluble dyes of this type are for example, Rhodamin, Eosin, brilliant sulfoflaven FF as well as the intensively yellow-green fluorescing pyranin, also color pigments, for example 2.2-dihydroxy-alpha-napthaldiazine and anthrapyrimidine. Since the dyes are organic in nature, it is necessary to dissolve them with an organic medium or carrier. One uses predominantly tinted carrier materials, for example, pulverized polymerisates, which have been tinted with soluble dyes or finely dispersed pigments. The material types which correspond to the requirements as a carrier or a matrix for the dyes are transparent organic resins. By reacting acid polyester resins with alkaline dyes or by pulverizing solidified dye solutions one likewise obtains tinted carrier substances. Urea formaldehyde resins, acrylic resins and melamine resins are also used as carriers, on which the dyes are lacquered on, where necessary. Day-glow fluorescent pigments are organic synthetic material particles, which are tinted with fluorescent dyes. The physical structure of the pigment particles is primarily amorphous. The day-light fluorescent pigments are sold on the market under the names Lumogens (BASF), Day Glo.RTM. Colors, Goldfire Colors, Fluorzink or Brillink-Glow-Colors.
Thermo-transfer ribbons have been known for some time. They have foil-like carriers, for example made of paper, of a synthetic material or similar, a thermo-transfer color, specifically in form of a synthetic-and/or wax-bonded dye-or a carbon black layer. In thermo-print technology, the thermo-transfer color is softened by means of a thermal print head and transferred to a substrate. Thermal printers or thermal print heads, which are utilized for this purpose are known, for example, from DE-AS 20 62 495 and 24 06 613 and also from DE-OS 32 24 445. The various steps of the process are detailed as follows: A letter is formed on the thermal print head of the printer, which consists of heated dots and is to be printed onto a piece of paper. The thermal print head presses the thermo-transfer ribbon on the printing paper. The heated letter of the thermal print head, having a temperature of up to approximately 400.degree. C., causes the thermo-transfer color to be softened at the heated spot and be transmitted on the piece of paper in contact with the same. The used portion of the thermo-transfer ribbon is then passed to a spool.
For printing, socalled serial printers or line printers can be used. The serial printers operate with a relatively small, movable print head of up to approximately 1 cm.sup.2. On it are arranged, in vertical direction to the writing direction, 1 or 2 rows of dots (dot=selective approach heating point). The dot diameter ranges from approximately 0.05 to 0.25 mm. The number of dots per line is between 6 and 64, which corresponds to a resolution of 2 to 16 dots/mm. It is typical with respect to the serial thermo head, that it is moved during the printing process in horizontal direction vis-a-vis the transport direction of the paper. In contrast to the serial print head, with respect to a line print head we are dealing with a stationary head or strip. Inasmuch as the print strip is not mobile, it must span across the width of the substrate which is to be printed. Resolution and dot size correspond to those of serial heads. When luminescent material is deposited on white paper, the whiteness of the paper serves as light reflector. The largest portion of the incident light is reflected back by paper through the printed luminescent material. The reflected light noted by the observer contains both incident light and also luminescence light.
If the luminescent material is transferred to the surface of a darkly colored paper, then a portion of the incident light, which has passed through the luminescent light, is absorbed by the paper. The amount of available light due to re-reflection is decreased. In addition, that portion of light emitted by the luminescence layer is being absorbed, which is radiated in the direction of the paper surface.
In order to compensate for the luminescence intensity differences, which is based on the type of carrier, DE-OS 30 42 526 proposes a fluorescent print ribbon, which is characterized by addition of a blocking material to the fluorescence pigment material, in order to block absorption of incident light in the medium, onto which the pigment and the blocking coating is transferred during printing. The blocking material is preferably transferred as second layer over the pigment material layer. Both layers are transferred to the substrate in reverse order during the printing process. The blocking material contains reflecting metal particles or mother-of-pearl type pigments.
DE-AS 12 22 725 discloses a transfer material for luminescent lettering with a coating support of paper or foil and a luminescent color layer arranged thereon, whereby a pigmented cover layer is positioned over the luminescent, light radiation reflecting color layer which participates in the writing process. The cover layer preferably contains titanium white and/or aluminum print etching powder.
The known suggestions are aimed at preventing an absorption in the substrate of the incident light, which passes through the luminescence layer, so that this part is reflected and again passes through the luminescence color layer, in order to thus increase total excitation yield. The disadvantage hereby is that the luminescence light noted by the observer is always mixed with the reflected part of the incident light. The luminescent print outs therefore always appear pale, i.e., they have a low optical density.
If one attempts to increase the optical density of the print-outs by addition of a non-luminescent pigment to the layer of the luminescent pigment, one notes that with an addition of extraneous pigments of more than 1%, fluorescence quality will be significantly affected. With increased additional amounts, the brilliance of the fluorescence pigments, fluorescence intensity and purity of color will increasingly be affected because of the appearance of interferences. Still larger additional amounts lead to an almost complete extinction of the fluorescence. From a fluorescence yield aspect, an acceptable additional amount of 1% or below would only insignificantly increase the optical density.

Thermo-transfer color ribbon for luminescent lettering


An internally-situated filter assembly for an aquarium tank includes an upright tank partition wall mounted within the aquarium for dividing the aquarium into an aquarium compartment and a filter compartment, an inlet formed in the partition wall generally adjacent to the top end thereof for allowing tank water in the aquarium compartment to flow into the filter compartment and an outlet formed in the partition wall for allowing filtered tank water to flow from the filter compartment into the aquarium compartment. A filter is mounted in the filter compartment generally beneath the inlet so that tank water may be fed thereto under the influence of gravity from the aquarium compartment and a catch basin is formed beneath and adjacent the bottom end of the filter compartment for collecting filtered water from the filter. A pump returns filtered water collected in the catch basin to the aquarium compartment. The filter assembly is especially intended for small salt water reef tanks.

The present invention relates to a filtration system for an aquarium which is particularly intended for use with salt water fish, commonly referred today as "reef tanks". In particular, the present invention relates to a highly simplified and efficient, self-contained, gravity fed, wet/dry filtration system which is intended to allow one to maintain a reef tank with a high number of marine aquatic specimens.
Various aquarium filtration systems are, of course, well known and in wide use for both fresh water and salt water tanks (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,036,756 and 3,313,421). In both aquariums for home and professional use, it is well known to use a filtering system for removing impurities and waste material from the aquarium water, which comprises a separate filtering system external to the aquarium tank which has a siphon housing assembly and a filter-holding tank assembly. In this system, water is siphoned from the tank into the filter assembly, filtered, and then returned to the tank via a pump and further siphon. While generally satisfactory, these filter assemblies are rather cumbersome and unsightly, requiring the use of siphons which necessitate the provision of holes in the tank cover. In addition, priming the pumps of such filtering systems has proven to be a messy and inconvenient operation and, at best, it often involves a complicated and difficult procedure. A variety of in-tank bottom filtration systems are also known (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,294,239 and 4,817,561), but these are generally inefficient, difficult to use and ineffective.
There are also many references to marine biological filtration systems. For example, Brock, U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,766, discloses a two-compartment filter assembly, the first being provided with a drip pan feed and an unsubmerged filter bed holding "splitrock" upon which aerobic bacteria are situated. Katz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,813, discloses a balanced system for purifying aquatic media, which comprises three filtration systems, namely, biological filtration, mechanical filtration and algae propagation. Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,566, discloses a system for purifying aquarium water which includes a filtration system, including a perforated plate for supporting a bed for establishing and maintaining a bacterial culture which cleans the aquarium water flowing therethrough.
However, here too, various disadvantages are found in these prior art devices when it is intended to use the same in conjunction with particularly small salt water or reef tanks and/or to maintain large numbers of marine aquatic life. For example, they generally are impractical by size and/or design for use with small volumes of water, i.e., 5.5, 10 or 20 gallon tanks. They are cumbersome to use (use of siphons, priming, etc.) and they generally do not provide sufficient filtering to support a high bio mass (i.e., number) of aquatic life. In fact, to the best of applicant's knowledge, there is no in-tank filter system available which affords a biological ecosystem for the long term maintenance of marine specimens in a small tank.