A microprocessor's program counter is made available external to the device on a dedicated bus. Thus, an emulator can readily generate a list of executed instruction addresses by monitoring the bus. This eliminates the conventional requirement of monitoring system bus traffic and attempting to extract and reconstruct the instruction execution sequence.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to in-circuit emulation and, in particular, to a technique for providing a microprocessor's program counter value external to the device on a dedicated bus so that an emulator can readily generate a list of executed instruction addresses by monitoring this bus.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A microprocessor is useful only if it is possible for systems designers incorporating the microprocessor to "debug" their systems. One particular challenge of developing a microprocessor system design is to identify "bugs" that arise only rarely or only at full frequency operation.
Microprocessor system designers rely on so-called in-circuit emulation techniques to monitor a working system and trace information relating to the ongoing operation of the system to diagnose bugs. One of the most important elements of information to be traced is the value contained in the microprocessor's program counter register.
A microprocessor's program counter register contains the address of the instruction that is presently being executed by the microprocessor. Therefore, by tracing the address value contained in the program counter register, the sequence of instruction execution in the program operating the system can be monitored.
The conventional approach to tracing program execution has been a three step process. First, traffic on the system bus is monitored to trace instruction and data transfers between the system's processing unit and remote main memory. Second, instruction read references are extracted from the bus traffic. Third, the probable sequence of instruction execution is reconstructed based on the extracted instruction read references.
There are several underlying assumptions associated with this conventional approach. One assumption is that the latency between reading an instruction from the system bus and executing the instruction is not significant. This assumption is necessary because there is normally no method of determining when a particular instruction begins execution. A second assumption is that all instruction and data transfers to the processing unit are observable on the system bus. This assumption permits the extraction of instruction read references from the bus and the reconstruction of instruction execution utilizing a software disassembler.
Problems with the conventional approach to in-circuit emulation occur when instruction read references are not observable on the system bus. This can occur either because the microprocessor has a large instruction prefetch queue which, based on the occurrence of exceptions or other anomalies, may not represent the true sequence of instruction execution, or because it includes a local instruction cache so that instruction read references may be serviced by the cache and not appear on the system bus. An instruction cache can normally be disabled at the cost of running the microprocessor at reduced performance. A prefetch queue, however, is an integral part of the processor and cannot be disabled or bypassed.
The prior art technique for solving this problem is to design an external discrete implementation of portions of the particular microprocessor to be emulated. This permits instruction address reconstruction from system bus traffic and from key signals provided by discrete hardware in the emulator.
An additional emulation problem has been correlating the trace listing of executed instructions with a program listing, since the program listing consists of virtual addresses, while the trace listing consists of physical addresses. The difference is due to address translation at run time performed by a memory management unit. The processing unit's integrated memory management unit translates the virtual addresses generated by the executing program to the physical addresses used to access main memory via the system bus. In some circumstances, this translation will not be 1:1; that is, more than one virtual address can be translated to a single physical address. In such cases, it is impossible to determine the virtual addresses of memory references for an executing program by merely observing the physical addresses of the instruction read references on the system bus. Thus, the task of translating addresses from physical back to virtual is not normally possible because of insufficient information available to the emulator. When this translation is important, an external MMU-like device must be built with discrete or custom hardware to provide this functionality in the emulator.

Apparatus for and method of providing the program counter of a microprocessor external to the device


The invention refers to an automatic controlled aerating and humidifying device and for a creel with yarns directed to a textile machine. The invention includes an air conditioning unit (12) in coaxial position to a frame (10) carrying yarns and which is equipped with a device (17, 17a) to receive clean and humidified air coming from a centralized generator of fresh and humidified air and to supply it from one end to another end towards or through yarn bobbins or reels, and with a device (18) defining a chimney-like passage to suck used and dirty air from the bottom and move it away towards a filtering device.

In numerous yarn treatments and in the machines employed to manufacture textile products it is usual to bear a multiplicity of yarn bobbins or reels on a rack structure, commonly called creel. The creel is adjacent to the textile machine to be fed, but at a short distance from it. It is also usual to lead the yarns of the twisting bobbins or reels to the textile machine both through thread guide eyes and through continuous tubular guides.
When yarns are taken and unwound by twisting bobbins or reels, they show a remarkable tendency to release fly and some lint which is undesirable for a lot of reasons. Fly and lint tend to contaminate the atmosphere and represent a significant risk for the health of the operators employed on machines.
In addition, fly may have a negative influence on textile machines and cause considerable accumulations which may affect the correct operation of textile machines or penetrate into the fabric during manufacture thus giving rise to fabric defects.
Therefore, it is necessary and convenient to remove fly and lint from the atmosphere in which the yarns to be fed to the textile machine are present.
An attempt in this way was proposed in GB-A-2,087,543. This present publication proposes to remove any lint from yarns by blowing a current of air on the yarns themselves and by placing a filtering shield into the creel. However, such an execution involves some disadvantages as it requires a substantially closed environment for yarn twisting bobbins or reels. Consequently, the air to be blown on the yarns must be controlled and directed to the filter. Furthermore, the operation in a closed environment is often unsatisfactory as the casing defining the environment represents an obstacle for access and easy replacement of yarn twisting bobbins. In addition, the filtering shield needs a regular cleaning. The presence of a casing makes cleaning difficult, too. Furthermore, the cleaning of the filtering shield implies a waste of time and productivity as the machine cannot work during cleaning operations, with a considerable drop in its performances. On the other hand, if the filter is not clean, the whole installation becomes inefficient. The cleaning time should be eliminated by removing filters or obstructions within the creel.
The above mentioned patent publication also proposed to increase the humidity content during yarn unwinding from the twisting bobbin or reel by spraying some water by means of an atomization nozzle on the yarn itself, while it is leaving the twisting bobbin. Such humidification may reduce the ability of the yarn to carry static electricity and also reinforce yarns by slightly modifying cells and structure of fibers.
However, the present applicants have ascertained that water spraying on yarns through an atomization nozzle is an unsatisfactory and inefficient method to increase the humidity content of yarns themselves. As a matter of fact, it ensures a poor control of the humidity content of yarns, and the filtering shield gets obstructed even more rapidly because of humidity and wet fly.
In practice, along with all previous attempts to remove fly from yarns and increase the yarn humidity content, the adoption of a casing around the whole creel structure is an essential element of the above mentioned patent publication.
Other documents, such as EP-0,335,230, DE-3,833,434 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,349, refer to a creel with a fly removal system also with closed structure. The document EP-0,305,818 describes a creel with partially open structure, while further documents, such as EP-0,160,231 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,067, refer to creels with open construction with air circulation, with or without filtering shield. Therefore, it is evident that the well-known constructions are unsatisfactory for a lot of aspects. In fact:
they have difficult access for operators when their structure is closed; PA0 they may be harmful to the operator's health, as some creel constructions blow the lint into work environments; PA0 they are inefficient, as the filtering shield, when present, gets obstructed rapidly; PA0 they are not very economical, as the time required to clean filters can also exceed 10% of the working time of a machine, even more in presence of singed yarns; PA0 in some cases, their operation is complicated, e.g., it is necessary to have the yarn ends passed behind the standards supporting bobbins; PA0 the creels equipped with a device to increase air humidity content around twisting bobbins or reels can only be controlled with difficulty and tend to get obstructed or to have an excess flow.

Automatic controlled aerating device for creel


A solid-state image pickup device including a layered structure which includes an electric-charge transfer section The photosensors include a first photosensor particularly sensitive to light of a first wavelength and a second photosensor particularly sensitive to light of a second wavelength shorter than the first wavelength. The first photosensor and the second photosensor are adjacently located but separated by a potential barrier section. A read gate located beneath the first photosensor and transports electric charge from the first photosensor to an electric-charge transfer section located beneath the second photosensor.

A recent solid-state image pickup device utilizing a semiconductor has its chip area reduced by shrinking the size of a pixel device. As a result, the cost per chip can also be lowered as well. In addition, the size of an image pickup apparatus (or a camera system) itself can also be decreased.
The image pickup device includes mainly a photoelectric conversion device for converting a light beam coming from a lens into a signal electric charge and a transfer CCD (Charge Couple Device) for delivering the signal electric charge to an amplifier for converting the signal electric charge into an output voltage. In a typical configuration of a pixel cell of an image pickup device, a photoelectric conversion device and a transfer CCD are laid out horizontally. With such a layout, however, it becomes practically difficult to shrink the size of the image pickup device during a fabrication process. In order to solve this problem, a solid-state image pickup device has been proposed recently as a device with a layered structure in which a photoelectric conversion device is provided above a transfer CCD. For more information, refer to documents such as pages 3 and 4 as well as FIG. 2 of Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-257337.
In accordance with this conventional technology, however, transfer CCDs provided below a photoelectric conversion device for RGB (Red, Green and Blue) pixels are not separated away from each other. For this reason, a light beam having a large wavelength as is the case with a red-color light beam for a red-color pixel of the RGB pixels penetrates the photoelectric conversion device and hits the transfer CCDs to raise a smear problem caused by mixing of a noise signal with signal electric charge being transferred. In order to solve this problem, a generation rate of smears for the depth of the semiconductor area of the transfer CCD was examined with the depth of a photosensor taken as a parameter. Results of the examination are shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. In FIGS. 9A and 9B, the depth of a photosensor is taken as a parameter, the vertical axes each represent the generation rate (or the cumulative generation rate) of smears and the horizontal axes each represent the depth of the semiconductor area of the transfer CCD. To be more specific, FIG. 9A shows examination results for a red-color light beam having a wavelength of 700 nm. On the other hand, FIG. 9B shows examination results for a green-color light beam having a wavelength of 550 nm. In the case of a structure with X=5 μm and ΔX=0.5 μm where notation X denotes the depth of the photosensor whereas notation ΔX denotes the depth of the semiconductor area of the transfer CCD, for example, the generation rate of smears for a light beam with a wavelength of 700 nm (that is, for a red-color light beam) approaches about 4% as shown in FIG. 9A. For a light beam having a wavelength of 550 nm (that is, for a green-color light beam), on the other hand, the generation rate of smears is about 1% as shown in FIG. 9B. As is obvious from the results of the examination, the generation rate of smears for a red-color light beam is extremely high.

Solid-state image pickup device, method for transferring charge in solid-state imaging device and method for manufacturing solid-state imaging device


A multi-functional device configured to receive a function execution request transmitted from a terminal device without using a driver program, transmit a relation information request for requesting transmission of user relation information to the terminal apparatus, in a case where the function execution request not including individual relation information relating to individual identification information is received from the terminal apparatus, and control a specific function engine of the multi-functional device to execute a specific function, in a case where the function execution request including individual relation information relating to individual identification information is received from the terminal apparatus in response to the transmitting of the relation information request to the terminal apparatus and on condition that individual permission information associated with the individual identification information in a table indicates that use of the specific function is permitted.

Regarding a multi-functional device configured to execute a plurality of functions including a printing function, a scan function, a facsimile function and the like, a technology for limiting a function that can be used by each user has been known. For example, a related-art network facsimile apparatus changes a function that can be used by an operation user between a case where the operation user operating the apparatus is a registered user and where the operation user is a general user who is different from the registered user.

Multi-functional device and storage medium


The present invention relates to a method of treating aqueous fluids for the purpose of increasing the heat absorption characteristics thereof. The method also relates to treating aqueous fluid in applications where it is desired to use a certain amount of heat input to achieve a higher temperature for the fluid or where it is desired to achieve a certain temperature for the fluid using a lesser amount of heat input or to accelerate fluid heating. The treatment comprises directly injecting into the fluid electromagnetic radiation, most preferably electromagnetic radiation having a frequency between 1 KHz and 1000 MHz. In the most preferred embodiment, electromagnetic radiation is injected through a conductor directly in contact with the fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of treating aqueous fluids, and more specifically to a method for increasing the rate of heat absorption by an aqueous fluid. Still more specifically, the invention relates to a method of increasing the rate of heating of aqueous fluids by injecting into the fluid electromagnetic radiation, most preferably radiation having a frequency in the radio frequency range, with injection occurring through a conductor in direct contact with the fluid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous residential and industrial processes involve supplying heat to an aqueous fluid for various purposes. One common example would be the heating of fluid in residential hot water heating systems. Another example for industrial or commercial applications would be heating water in a boiler or other system for providing heat to the building or factory interior. It is also desirable in many applications to achieve as high a temperature as possible within a constrained period of time, e.g. quickly achieving a certain level of temperature in automobile radiators.
Prior to the present invention, it has always been believed that for a milliliter of pure water, one calorie of heat is required to raise the temperature of that quantity of water one degree. As will be demonstrated graphically in the following specification, the present invention provides a technique for reducing the amount of heat to achieve that amount of heating or, said another way, additional heating can be accomplished using the same quantity of heat input. Any system which would enable either of these two results to be achieved would provide substantial economic benefits by reducing energy consumption or speeding industrial processes and would therefore represent a substantial advance in this technology.
Numerous systems have been proposed over the years for treating aqueous solutions to obtain improvements in certain methods or to achieve certain properties for the treated solution. Several examples of the types of treatment include those involving the use of electromagnets, permanent magnets, ultrasound, electrostatic fields and the like. While some within the scientific community are convinced of the effectiveness of such treatment methods, considerable skepticism remains, and the devices which have been marketed have not received a high degree of commercial success. The types of applications with which such treatment methods have been employed are also widely varied. Some will be described below in connection with the description of certain specific prior art, but generally, they have included the treatment of aqueous solutions to prevent scaling in boilers, cooling towers and the like; the treatment of emulsions; the treatment of certain non-aqueous materials such as fuels for increasing the fuel burning efficiency thereof; the treatment of automobile radiator fluid; and other diverse applications.
Several representative samples of such prior art treatment systems will now be disclosed briefly, but particular attention should be direct to the Morse patents, the backgrounds provided therein, and the references cited against same.
One such treatment device, called the Ion Stick, utilizes the application of an electrostatic field, as illustrated in a brochure entitled "The Ion Stick", copies of which are provided with this specification. This device is a non-chemical, non-polluting electrostatic water treater energized by its own power pack. Another electrostatic treatment method and device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,887 issued Oct. 8, 1985 to Arnesan, et al.
Other devices employ fixed magnets for water treatment. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,306, issued Feb. 28, 1989 to Mitchell and entitled "Apparatus for Magnetically Treating Fluids", and U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,143, issued to Carpenter on Jan. 4, 1983 for "Apparatus for Magnetically Treating Liquid Flowing Through a Pipe and Clamping Means Therefor".
A different magnet arrangement for water treatment is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,113, issued to Holcomb on Dec. 19, 1989 for "Magnetic Water Treatment Device". In this patent, Holcomb discusses the use of a plurality of rectangular magnets attached to the exterior of a pipe. The magnets are arranged in pairs adjacent the pipe such that the positive pole of one pair is oriented to one end of the support housing and the negative pole is oriented toward the other end of the housing. Another similarly constructed housing is secured to the opposite side of the pipe, but reversed with respect to magnet polarity. Thus, the positive pole of the first set faces the negative pole of the second set to cause an "attractive" mode of magnetic flux treatment. Applications such as scale prevention, as well as use in washing machines, swimming pools, ice rinks, livestock watering, and coffee brewing are suggested. The patent also suggests that the taste of treated water is superior to that of untreated water. The patent further mentions that the magnetic force fields can be generated through wound iron coils coupled to a DC generator.
The assignee of the present invention is the owner of several patents relating to electromagnetic water treatment devices, including Stickler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,425, issued May 24, 1988 for "Cooling System for Magnetic Water Treating Device" and Stickler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,479, issued Apr. 21, 1987 for "Electromagnetic Water Treating Device". Both use a pipe core of alternating magnetic and non-magnetic sections with an electromagnet surrounding the pipe through which the fluid to be treated passes.
The prior art is replete with devices that employ electromagnetic energy for water treatment. Many such devices employ electromagnetic energy at a fixed frequency. Examples of such fixed frequency devices are U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,719, issued Oct. 4, 1983 to Van Gorp and entitled "Magnetic Water Treatment Apparatus and Method of Treating Water"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,323, issued Sep. 8, 1981 to Brigante and entitled "Free Flow Non-Corrosive Water Treatment Device"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,743, issued May 13, 1952 to Vermeiren and entitled "Electric Device".
Several other United States patents disclose specific methods and/or devices which employ varied and/or mixed frequency electromagnetic energy. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,776, issued to Avanpoto, discloses a method of using various wavelengths of electromagnetic energy, mostly within the ultraviolet and x-ray spectra, to cause ionic species within a flowing water system to become more susceptible to attraction by a subsequent magnetic field.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,884, issued to Waltrip, discloses a sewage treatment method which employs multiple signal generators to simultaneously provide audio frequency and/or radio frequency energy at a number of different frequencies. The frequency output of each separate signal generator may be selected on the basis of the mineral content of the untreated sewage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,975, issued to Williams et al., discloses a method of recovering alkali metal constituents from coal gasification residues by subjecting the residues to electromagnetic energy in the radio frequency-microwave (0.1 to 10.sup.5 MHz) range. Such electromagnetic radiation is purported to facilitate extraction of the metal.
Another treatment system is disclosed in a patent owned by the assignee of the present invention, namely Larson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,747, issued Sep. 12, 1989 for "Electromagnetic Fluid Treating Device and Method". An electromagnetic field having a voltage which operates in the range of 1 KHz to 1,000 MHz is applied to a non-ferromagnetic conduit in which a ferromagnetic core is mounted. The core acts as a sacrificial anode and as a receiving antenna for the radio frequency radiation.
Also designed for use in fighting scale formation, a device known as the "Aquabel" has been sold and purportedly involves an electronic circuit producing electromagnetic signals which are transmitted into water through cables coiled in a spiral shape around the water line. A copy of a brochure relating to this device is included with this specification.
Electromagnetic radiation, in the form of microwave radiation, is discussed as a treatment mechanism for emulsions in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,629, issued to Wolf on Apr. 15, 1986.
An electromagnetic process for altering the energy content of dipolar substances is disclosed in British Patent 417,501, issued Dec. 28, 1934, to Johnson. According to Johnson, irradiating colloids with electromagnetic energy having a wavelength characteristic of the colloid will alter the mobility and viscosity of the colloid. Also, treatment of organic substances such as milk or meat will prevent aging of the substance. Another use is the treatment of living organic matter, such as bean seeds, to increase their growth.
Other methods and devices which involve the treatment of water using electromagnetic energy having a variable frequency include German Patent 463,844 issued Aug. 6, 1928 to Deutsch and British Patent 606,154, issued Aug. 6, 1948, to Brake.
Yet another type of scale prevention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,773,275, issued Aug. 19, 1930 to Neeley, which discloses supplying an electric current to the water by subjecting the water to electromagnetic fields or by having it come into contact with electrically charge surfaces.
Another water treating technique is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,748, issued Sep. 12, 1989 to D. Morse and entitled "Method and System for Variable Frequency Electromagnetic Water Treatment". In this patent, a conductor in direct contact with a fluid to be treated is coupled to a generator of electromagnetic radiation, preferably in the radio frequency range. According to the patent, the radiation is injected at a frequency which is related to the electromagnetic radiation absorption or emission profile of the particular system being treated. This patent focuses on the use of that device for the elimination and prevention of scale buildup in boiler systems and the like. The Morse patent is also owned by the assignee of the present invention. A continuation-in-part of the aforementioned Morse patent issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,268 on Oct. 16, 1990.

Method of accelerating the heating of aqueous fluids


There is provided an incoherent UWB-IR communication method by which erroneous demodulation is difficult to occur even in a multipath environment. Thus, the present invention includes an incoherent wireless communication method including a first step of modulating transmission data, a second step of converting the modulated transmission data into pulses and converting the pulses received from the external into reception data, and a third step of demodulating the reception data, wherein the pulses used in the second step includes a plurality of pulse sequences and the plurality of pulse sequences is such that the peaks of cross-correlation values are lower than the peaks of autocorrelation values.

There is widely known an Ultra Wide Band-Impulse Radio (UWB-IR) system as a background art of the present technical field. The UWB-IR system is a system for making communication by sending a waveform of a pulse width in a very short time, and a communication signal has a remarkably wide frequency bandwidth due to a short-time pulse width. Pulse polarity modulation, phase shift keying, on off keying, pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), pulse position modulation (PPM) and the like are known as modulation systems used for the UWB-IR communication system. The pulse polarity modulation and the phase shift keying among them are a system for sending information on a phase of a carrier wave, in which phase continuity and phase reproduction are required on the transmission side and the reception side, respectively, which causes a complicated configuration of the transceiving device. The communication system for communicating information on a phase of a carrier wave is called coherent communication method. On the other hand, the pulse amplitude modulation PAN, the on off keying (OOK) and the pulse position modulation PPM do not require phase information for demodulation, and thus a configuration of the transceiving device is simple. In particular, the on off keying (OOK) and the pulse position modulation PPM perform demodulation by determining the presence and positions of pulses, and thus a device configuration is so simple and can be realized at low cost.
For example, PTL 1 discloses therein a UWB-IR communication method for transmitting information by changing positions in time domain (timing) for sending pulses depending on transmission data (FIG. 5 in PTL 1). There is illustrated an example in which a signal for which a pulse position is delayed by d is used when transmission data is 0′ unlike when transmission data is 1′. Further, NPL 1 similarly discloses therein a UWB-IR communication method for transmitting information by changing positions in time domain (timing) of transmission pulses according to transmission data (Equation (1) in NPL 1).
According to Equation (1) in NPL, there is described a method in which a position in time domain (timing) at the j-th pulse is changed by dj(k)(u) according to transmission data thereby to generate a transmission signal.

Incoherent UWB-IR transceiving method with improved multipath-resistance


A method and apparatus for detecting objects (e.g., bags, vehicles, etc.) left in a field of view are disclosed. A long-term representation and a short-term representation of the field of view are constructed, and a difference between the long-term representation and the short-term representation is calculated. One or more criteria may optionally be applied to this difference to determine whether the difference represents an object that was left in the field of view.

In certain sensitive locations where security is a concern (e.g., airports, train stations, military bases), people and objects are often closely monitored to detect suspicious (e.g., potentially dangerous and/or malicious) activity such as the leaving of objects (e.g., unattended bags, stopped vehicles, etc.) and other activity that might indicate a security threat.
Many existing left object detection applications for monitoring such activity rely on explicit long-term tracking of multiple objects in a scene, and a left object is signaled when one or more tracked objects come to a standstill for a preset period of time. Since accurate long-term tracking of multiple objects in general scenes is still an unsolved problem, these methods are prone to error due to confusion, caused, for example, by occlusions and normal variations in ambient illumination and local changes due to shadows cast by static structures such as buildings, tress, poles, etc. These errors often result in false alarms being generated, e.g., where innocent activity or movement is mistaken for suspicious activity. Thus, a significant amount of time and resources may be wasted on relatively trivial occurrences and panic may be unnecessarily generated. Alternatively, methods that operate on a reduced sensitivity in order to compensate for this tendency to generate false alarms often tend to overlook real security threats, which can also have disastrous consequences.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for detecting left objects that is capable of detecting such objects with a low false alarm rate.

Method and apparatus for detecting left objects


A method for generating an image of a subsurface feature, comprises providing seismic data containing information about the feature, comprising i) a first dataset comprising a first up-going wave-field and a first down-going wave-field, ii) a second dataset comprising a second up-going wave-field and a second down-going wave-field, wherein the second dataset is collected at a time that is later than the first dataset by a time interval, creating an up-going 4D difference dataset U by subtracting one of the first and second up-going wave-fields from the other and creating a down-going 4D difference dataset D by subtracting one of the first and second down-going wave-fields from the other, creating a weighting function W that is a function of the similarity of the difference datasets, and creating an image of the feature by generating a 4D similarity stack, where the 4D similarity stack is defined as (U+D)*W/2.

In the field of seismic data processing, "4D-noise" is an expression used to describe non-repeatable noises recorded during seismic surveys that do not disappear when time-lapse seismic signals are compared. In deepwater seismic applications, 4D-noise can result from many sources, including imperfect repeats of acquisition geometry, differences in multiple energy due to changes in water velocities, seismic interference noise from other vessels, swell noise, etc. Likewise, 4D-noise onshore can result from seasonal changes in the shallow subsurface, time-varying receiver ghosts, etc.
In deepwater environments where seismic recordings are made using ocean bottom sensors such as nodes (OBN) or cables (OBC), it is possible to produce two independent images of the subsurface using the conventional up-going wave-field and the down-going wave-field, respectively, via the well-known technique of mirror migration. It is useful to think about how the 4D-signal and 4D-noise compare within these two types of images. The 4D-signals that result from changes in reservoir properties should be the same on both the up-going and down-going data once the signals have been corrected for differences in wavelets and effective fold. In contrast, 4D-noise behaves quite differently. For example, 4D noise due to multiple contamination as a result of differences in water velocities will arrive at different times relative to a horizon of interest on the up- and down-going wave-fields. Similar issues arise in any instance in which it is desirable to generate a single image from two independent but simultaneous images of the subsurface, namely the signal in both images will be the same but the noise in both images will be different.
One way of take advantage of the difference in noise signals is to stack the up- and down-going wave-fields, which effectively doubles the fold of the survey and statistically suppresses noises by a factor of 1/√{square root over (2)}. This method does not always give the desired level of enhancement, however and it remains desirable to provide an improved technique.

Suppressing 4D-noise by weighted stacking of simultaneously acquired wave-fields


Provided is a variable reluctance type angle detector whose exciting winding resistance can be reduced to increase an exciting current without an increase in exciting power source voltage, thereby reducing an influence caused by a noise. The variable reluctance type angle detector includes: a stator including a plurality of teeth (2) inwardly formed at intervals in a circumferential direction, exciting coils (5) excited by a power source, and a-phase output coils (6) for outputting a change in magnetic flux as a voltage, the exciting coils (5) and the a-phase output coils (6) being formed in the teeth (2) by winding a wire on each of the teeth; and a rotor (4) including an iron core having a shape in which a gap permeance between the iron core and the stator (3) is sinusoidally changed, in which the exciting coils (5) formed in the teeth (2) which are different from one another are connected in series in a circumferential direction to produce a plurality of exciting coil groups and the exciting coil groups are connected in parallel to form an exciting winding (9).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable reluctance type angle detector for detecting a rotation angle of a motor or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional variable reluctance type angle detector includes a stator in which an exciting winding and n-phase output windings are provided in slots and an iron core having a shape in which a gap permeance between the iron core and the stator is sinusoidally changed corresponding to an angle θ.
In order to form the exciting winding, all exciting coils in which wires are wound in a winding direction which is alternately changed to a normal direction or a reverse direction in each of the slots, are connected in series such that the number of poles of the exciting winding is equal to the number of teeth (the number of slots) of the stator.
In order to form the output windings, output coils in which wires are wound are connected in series such that a voltage induced in the output winding of one phase is sinusoidally distributed.
When a sinusoidal voltage is applied to the exciting coils in the above-mentioned structure, a sinusoidal current flows into the exciting coils, thereby generating magnetic fluxes in the teeth.
A magnetic flux density of each of the teeth is determined based on a gap permeance between each of teeth of the stator and a rotor. Therefore, an output voltage is produced in each of the output windings as a composite value of magnetic fluxes which cross the output coils wound on the respective teeth.
The gap permeance is changed according to a rotational position of the rotor, so an amplitude of the output voltage changes. Therefore, the angle of the rotor can be obtained from the amplitude of the output voltage (see, for example, JP 3182493 B).
For example, when the conventional variable reluctance type angle detector is attached to a motor driven by an inverter, a noise caused by switching of the inverter is induced to an output winding of the conventional variable reluctance type angle detector, thereby deteriorating the detection precision of the rotational angle.
In order to reduce the noise, it is expected that an exciting ampere-turn is increased to increase an amplitude of a signal component from the output winding. However, a power source is shared with another device, so an exciting power source voltage is limited, with the result that the exciting ampere-turn cannot be freely increased.
Even when an exciting current can be increased, a current density of an exciting coil increases, so that the exciting coil is likely to overheat.


A method is provided for the accounting of data transmission costs in a mobile radio network, in particular text and/or image data with or without sound, such that data which is or will be transmitted is assigned at least one cost signal for the costs of sending one or more replies relating to the transmitted data, and that this or these cost signal(s) are transmitted to the recipient(s) of the data.

Existing mobile radio networks, such as the network which operates in accordance with the GSM standard, offer only limited possibilities for transmitting non-spoken messages such as text data. For example, short messages having a maximum of 160 characters can be transmitted as texts. This arrangement is designated SMS (Short Message Service). The data sender has to pay for the cost of sending such text messages.
A charging method is disclosed in EP 0 753 957 A2 in which a GSM user as sender sends an SMS message to an Internet user as recipient. In the text field (i.e., in the user data) of the transmitted SMS message, the GSM user can also insert a reply stamp at his/her cost. If the recipient inserts this stamp in an SMS reply to the original sender in the reply text, this reply remains free of cost to him/her.
WO 00/41415 merely relates to a coordination procedure for obtaining replies from mobile radio device users in response to an inquiry via SMS messages. In this case, the respective answering mobile radio device user is, if appropriate, not charged for his/her SMS reply.
A corresponding coordination procedure is also provided by WO 98/09451 on the basis of SMS, in which a credit is made to the account of the person queried for returning a reply; e.g., to a survey to the sender of the latter.
A transmission of multimedia data, in particular still or moving images with or without sound, also will be possible in the future. A considerable increase in the data transmission volumes within such transmissions is expected, as is a considerable increase in the number of messages to be transmitted, together resulting in an increase in costs.
A transmission service for multimedia data is, for example, the so-called Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) in the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service) radio communication system. Details of this can be found in the specification ETSI TS 123 140 V3.0.1 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Functional description; stage 2 (e G TS 23.140 version 3.0.1 Release 1999).
The present invention addresses the problem of simplifying the control and manipulation of costs for subscribers to a mobile radio network.

Accounting of data transmission costs in a mobile radio/telephone network


In one embodiment, a system includes at least two detector devices, each detector device for independently detecting a phase event of a composite signal comprising one or more traveling wave signals to provide phase event information. The system further includes a processor configured to receive the phase event information from each detector device and to estimate a direction of arrival of at least one of the traveling wave signals based on the phase event information.

Traveling Waves are continuous in amplitude, in space and time. A transducer located in space samples every wave passing it, producing a composite continuous amplitude function of continuous time, thereby "capturing" the whole wave. In addition to a transducer or antenna, field deployed sensors typically include signal processing capability.
In order to measure phase, a reference is required. The reference may be a reference signal, as occurs in phase detectors, or time as used in Global Positioning Systems. The reference may be located at each sensor or at a central processing site. If the reference is deployed in the field, all the sensors use of the references must be synchronized. Typically, this would be accomplished by transmitting synchronization from a central site to the field. Later, the sensed signals are shipped from the field to the central site. Often to save synchronization cost, the whole wave is shipped from multiple field sensors to a central site, where the sensed signal is compared to a reference signal, eliminating the need for synchronization in the field. The price of shipping the whole wave from the field is usually the need for wide bandwidth transmission. Sensed signals may be shipped in analog or digitized form prior to being sent back.
In most prior art signal processing, computation aggregates all or parts of the signal over several wave cycles by, for example, frequency shifting, phase shifting and summing, heterodyning, time-domain low pass filtering, integration, cumulation, box car integrating, running mean, time sequence smoothing, trend line/curve fitting, or averaging of the signal. Aggregating the signal for several cycles requires the group of sensors remain relatively stationary during the cycles being combined.
Time Delay of Arrival (TDOA) is a generalization of radar ranging. Typically, a modulation structure is introduced by, for example, transmission of a pulse. By comparing the times of arrival of the modulation structure at multiple receiving sensors, the direction of the wave can be computed.
One important area where prior art has not engineered practical solutions is in providing flexible, low cost, light weight, directional reception of low frequency, long wave length signals. The use of antennae or transducers to determine wave vector direction is limited by the directionality of the transducer. The directionality of the transducer is limited by the size of the transducer compared to the longest wavelength of the wave being transduced. This leads to practical limitations in the case of low frequencies with correspondingly long wavelengths. Fundamental and practical limits arising from the physics and mathematics of waves dictate that significant directionality is only achieved when size of the entire antenna structure is significantly larger than the wavelength being received.
That the wavelength sets the natural geometric scale for the antenna or transducer array is discussed in Radar System Engineering, MIT Radiation Laboratory Series Volume 1 section 9-1 on page 271: " . . . . Another advantage of large antennas, having to do with the resolution of the radar set, is that the beamwidth varies inversely as the linear dimension of the antenna. Mathematically, the beamwidth Θ (degrees) is usually related to the width D of the antenna and the wavelength λ of the radiation by the approximate formula Θ≈70λ/D if D and lambda are in the same units." This relationship provides a rule of thumb for estimating the directionality that can be achieved when the size of an antenna system is known, or to estimate the size of antenna system needed if directionality is specified.
Freely propagating waves are used for many purposes, such as radio and TV broadcasts, microwave communications links, RADAR, SONAR, geophysical prospecting, earthquake mapping, ultrasonic imaging, satellite communications, cell phones and wireless networking.

Phase event detection and direction of arrival estimation


A driver prompting braking system includes a detection device adapted to sense at least one object in front of the vehicle; a detection system interfacing with the detection device, the detection system adapted to detect the at least one object; and a brake coaching system interfacing with the detection system, the brake coaching system adapted to determine a brake application timing for an operator of the vehicle to avoid the object and optimize fuel economy of the vehicle. A driver prompting braking method is also disclosed.

Operators of motor vehicles may compromise fuel economy due to later-than-optimal braking in the slowing or stopping of the vehicles. Earlier onset and gradual application of vehicle brakes may improve vehicle fuel economy or energy capture in the case of vehicles with regenerative braking capabilities.
Accordingly, a driver prompting braking system and method which prompts a driver of a vehicle as to the optimal time for brake application in slowing or stopping of the vehicle to enhance vehicle economy may be desirable.

Driver prompting braking system and method


A tracking method and apparatus of a communication system to prevent a timing difference and bit error rate performance degradation caused by unstable characteristics of a plurality of circuit devices are provided. The tracking method and apparatus include sampling signals received at receiving antennas, tracking sample values resulting from the sampling of the signals, and combining the tracked sample values.

1. Field
The following description relates to a communication system including receiving antennas and a time tracking method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless sensor network is gaining popularity with the rapid growth and commercialization of a wireless network technology. Also, wireless technology standards for exchanging data in wireless sensor networks are defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), for example, Bluetooth®, IEEE standard 802.15.4 (2011), ZigBee®, and other similar standards.
A wireless sensor device has a wide range of applications including home security, medical field, mobile healthcare, chemical and biological abnormality monitoring, machine abnormality and breakdown diagnosis, environment monitoring, disaster-related information sensing, intelligent transportation management, real-time security, and remote surveillance.
Sensors in wireless sensor networks and near field communication sensors need to be small in size, and require low power and low complexity to be able to operate a large number of sensors for an extended period of time.
Specially, strict requirements of low complexity and low power exist for a wireless body area network (WBAN) in which wireless communication is established between a sensor installed in a body and a nearby mobile device or another sensor installed in another body.
To attain low complexity and low power, there is a need to introduce an ultra-low power radio frequency (RF) structure rather than a conventional high power RF structure; however, an ultra-low power analog circuit, which is normally used in WBAN, degrades performance.

Communication system including multiple receiving antennas and time tracking method thereof


A rotor of a turbo engine, e.g., a gas turbine rotor, has a rotor base member, the rotor base member having a groove extending in the circumferential direction of the rotor base member, and having a plurality of rotor blades, each rotor blade having a blade, a blade root and a blade platform positioned between the blade and the blade root, and the rotor blades being anchored in the groove of the rotor base member by their blade roots. The groove and the blade roots have a profile, such that the blade roots of the rotor blades are insertable by a tilting motion or swiveling motion into the circumferentially extending groove of the rotor base member, and in the circumferential direction, a width of the blade root corresponds approximately to a width of the blade platform of the specific rotor blade.

Rotors of a turbo engine, e.g., gas turbine rotors, for example, have a rotor base member, as well as a plurality of rotor blades rotating with the rotor base member. The rotor blades may either be an integral component of the rotor base member, or may be anchored in one or more grooves of the rotor base member via blade roots. Rotors having integral blading are known as blisk or bling, depending upon whether the rotor base member is disk-shaped or ring-shaped. For rotors in which the rotor blades are anchored in a groove via blade roots, a distinction is made between rotors in which the blade roots of the rotor blades are secured either in so-called axial grooves of the rotor base member or in a circumferential groove of the same. An example embodiment of the present invention relates to a rotor of a turbo engine, e.g., a gas turbine rotor, in which the rotor blades are secured by their blade roots in a groove of the rotor base member extending in the circumferential direction, thus in a circumferential groove.
For rotors in which the rotor blades are secured by their blade roots in so-called circumferential grooves, the circumferential grooves have at least two diametrically opposed feed openings, in order to introduce the blade roots of the rotor blades into the corresponding circumferential groove. Conventionally, the feed openings may be formed by neckings in the region of groove-wall side pieces or limbs of the circumferential groove, the blade roots abutting with bearing flanks against the groove-wall side pieces during operation. Due to the feed openings, notch locations are formed on the groove-wall side pieces, which may be subject to a high level of stress during operation of the rotor. The service life of the rotor may thereby be reduced. Furthermore, conventionally, because of the design principle of rotor blades guided in circumferential grooves described above, the blade roots of the rotor blades, viewed in the circumferential direction, may have only approximately half the width of blade platforms of the rotor blades. Because of this, the forces which the blade roots are able to receive during operation of the rotor may be limited. The range of application of conventional rotors, in which the rotor blades are guided and secured via their blade roots in so-called circumferential grooves, may therefore be limited.

Rotor of a turbo engine, e.g., a gas turbine rotor


Controllable drill head containing an elongated body of which one end is attached to a bore pipe and a spout element is mounted in a turnable manner on the other, foremost end of the body, in and opposite to an opening in this body, wherein the head contains an elongated, elastic, bendable element which at one end carries the spout element and which has been mounted in the body in such a manner that when being in a rest position the movable element stretches out in the longitudinal direction of the body, but which is elastically bendable in the cross direction of the body so as to alter the direction of the spout element through bending, a mechanism for (3) stopping the foremost end of the bendable element with the spout element in the forward direction without the element bending through and to keep the spout element from changing direction, and a mechanism for exerting forward pressure on a part of the bendable element which is situated further away from the foremost end of the body than the foremost end thereof which is stopped by the body so as to provoke bending through of the bendable element.

Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a controllable drill head containing an elongated body of which one end is meant to be attached to a bore pipe and a spout element which has been mounted in a turnable manner on the other, foremost end of the body, in and opposite an opening in this body.


A computer system for dynamically configuring device drivers of removable system resources. The computer system comprises a processor, a system memory and an interface for receiving removable system resources such as feature cards. Each feature card includes a card memory area comprising: 1) a full device driver portion, and 2) a stub device driver portion. Upon insertion of a card into the computer system, the device driver stub code image is read from the card memory area and transferred into an area of computer system memory. The device driver stub code is then executed by the processor of the computer system from computer system random access memory. Conversely, the full device driver code is not transferred to the computer system random access memory; rather, the full device driver is executed while still resident on the card. Upon execution, the device driver stub enables access to the full card resident device driver by allowing memory mapping to the full device driver. The full device driver may then be activated by the processor. Upon removal of a feature card from the computer system, the device driver stub disables access to the full card resident device driver by disallowing memory mapping to the full device driver.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of computer systems. Specifically, the present invention relates to computer systems supporting an interface for removable system resources and the control of device drivers related thereto.
2. Prior Art
It is becoming increasingly more important to design and build computer systems that can be dynamically configured without powering down the computer system or requiring the operating system program logic to be reset or bootstrap initialized. Dynamic configuration includes the ability to add or remove system resources or special feature capabilities while a computer system is operating. These system resources and special features include expansion memory boards, parallel or serial input/output (I/O) ports, read only memory (ROM) or flash memory expansion boards, computer network interface cards, modem cards, smart cards, or other removable system resources or special feature mechanisms.
Such removable system resources and special features are often implemented in the prior art using removable electronic feature cards adhering to the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), Sunnyvale, Calif., Release 2.0 standard. These PCMCIA feature cards generally comprise electronic microcircuits within a thin housing including a detachable multiple conductor interface with which the feature card may be removably inserted into a slot in a computer housing. Once inserted, a feature card is accessible to and used by the processor in the computer system. The use of feature cards allows a computer user to select specific features or resources from a variety of feature cards offered by a computer vendor. In this way, the computer user achieves the desired level of functionality without being required to purchase unnecessary resources or computer system capabilities. The overall cost of the computer system for a specific application is thereby optimized. The use of removable feature cards is particularly significant for portable computers or lap top computers where space constraints increase the need for system resource optimization. The design and use of hardware devices under the PCMCIA standard are well known in the art. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other implementations of removable system resources are possible.
Virtually all computer systems operate with some sort of operating system or software processing logic. The use of an operating system in a computer system is well-known in the art. The operating system is responsible for managing the processing and transfer of information between various system resources. One well known technique for managing these resources is the use of device drivers. Device drivers are software modules comprising processing logic for controlling the low level or device specific components of a particular computer system resource. For example, a device driver may be used for controlling a magnetic disk drive device coupled to a computer system. In this example, the device driver would control the various hardware specific registers, latches, signals, or other components of the magnetic disk drive device. Similarly, other computer system resources such as serial or parallel input/output (I/O) ports, modem devices, computer network interface devices, or memory expansion boards are controlled by device drivers.
In conventional computer systems, device drivers are typically loaded into random access memory (RAM) during bootstrap initialization of the computer system. Many prior art computer systems require that device drivers be loaded at initialization time in order for random access memory to be allocated properly. Depending upon the complexity of the device controlled by the device driver, the device driver itself may be relatively small or a very large device driver that consumes many thousands of bytes of random access memory. Thus, many prior art systems require that a full system configuration of resources be installed and available at bootstrap initialization time. If system resources or interfaces are subsequently added or removed from the system, the inability to access a newly installed resource or the errant access to a now unavailable system resource usually results. Other prior art computer systems require that the computer system be powered down while new system resources or features are added or removed from the system. Still other systems must at least be newly bootstrap loaded in order to gain access to a new configuration of system resources. Thus, prior art computer systems cannot be readily reconfigured to a new arrangement of system resources.
Because prior art systems typically require that a full system configuration of resources be established at initialization time, the tendency exists for any or all system resources that may conceivably be used while a computer system is powered up to be installed during the initialization process. This tendency leads to the installation of resources that are never used during a computing session. The loading and installation of unused system resources increases the time required for bootstrap initializing the system and reduces the available random access memory (RAM), because of the RAM space required by unused device drivers. It is, therefore, important to install in a computer system only those device drivers actually needed during a computing session. In some cases, it may not be possible to load all of the device drivers necessary because of the random access memory storage constraints.
Some computer systems in the prior art provide means for interfacing with removable electronic feature cards. In order to mitigate the disadvantages described above, some of these computer systems store associated device drivers on the removable electronic feature card itself. In this way, random access memory space within the computer system does not need to be allocated for storage of the device driver. Moreover, processing time during initialization is not consumed by having to load the device driver into random access memory. Systems that configure device drivers on the removable feature cards have the advantage of optimizing memory allocation requirements within the computer system.
Systems that configure device drivers on removable feature cards, however, have several important disadvantages. First, if a feature card is removed from the computer system, the device driver controlling the operation of the feature card becomes inaccessible to the computer system. In most cases, the computer system requires access to a device driver in order to properly terminate the operation of the device prior to removal of the feature card. Typically, the computer system does not have sufficient time to access the device driver prior to removal of the feature card. Thus, system errors often result from an improperly terminated system resource.
Other computer systems having means for interfacing with removable electronic feature cards, provide a very limited capability for responding to insertion or removal of feature cards during post initialization operation of the computer system. Some computer systems do not recognize system resources connected to the computer system after the bootstrap initialization process has been completed. Other computer systems suspend or freeze the operation of the computer system if a system resource is removed after initialization is complete. Still other computer systems require that the system be powered down or the bootstrap initialization process be reinitiated if a new configuration of system resources is desired.
Thus, a better means for dynamically configuring system resources in a computer system is needed.

Device driver configuration in a computer system


A system and method for friction stir welding of small diameter tubing, wherein the small diameter tubing is held in a correct position with a grasp sufficient to perform FSW when the tubing is comprised of high melting temperature materials, wherein the small diameter tubing can be rotated by the positioning and holding system while a FSW tool is held stationary, or vice versa, wherein internal mandrels are also described which can fit inside the smaller dimensions of the small diameter tubing and expand to provide a counter force to prevent deformation of the tubing when forces are applied by the FSW tool, wherein new FSW tool geometries are also described which enable the FSW tool to direct more heat on a tool/workpiece interface to counteract a lack of contact between the FSW shoulder and the workpiece because of tube curvature, and wherein the FSW tool is positioned on a small diameter tube by trailing the joint to provide desirable heating at the joint/workpiece interface and surface finishing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to friction stir welding (FSW) and its variations including friction stir processing (FSP), friction stir spot welding (FSSW) and friction stir mixing (FSM) (and hereinafter referred to collectively as "friction stir welding"). Specifically, the invention relates to the problems that are unique to friction stir welding of high temperature materials when these materials are in the shape and size of a small pipe or tubular object (hereinafter "tube, tubes, or tubing"). The specific focus of the inventions are 1) holding a small diameter tube in order to perform friction stir welding, 2) preventing deformation of the small diameter tube caused by the force of a FSW tool by providing an internal mandrel, 3) providing a FSW tool that has a geometry that is uniquely adapted to performing FSW on a small diameter tube, and 4) the process parameters that must be used when performing FSW on a small diameter tube.
2. Description of Related Art
Friction stir welding is a technology that has been developed for welding metals and metal alloys. Friction stir welding is generally a solid state process. Solid state processing is defined herein as a temporary transformation into a plasticized state that typically does not include a liquid phase. However, it is noted that some embodiments allow one or more elements to pass through a liquid phase, and still obtain the benefits of the present invention.
The friction stir welding process often involves engaging the material of two adjoining workpieces on either side of a joint by a rotating stir pin. Force is exerted to urge the pin and the workpieces together and frictional heating caused by the interaction between the pin, shoulder and the workpieces results in plasticization of the material on either side of the joint. The pin and shoulder combination or "FSW tip" is traversed along the joint, plasticizing material as it advances, and the plasticized material left in the wake of the advancing FSW tip cools to form a weld. The FSW tip can also be a tool without a pin so that the shoulder is processing another material through FSP.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tool being used for friction stir welding that is characterized by a generally cylindrical tool 10 having a shank 8, a shoulder 12 and a pin 14 extending outward from the shoulder. The pin 14 is rotated against a workpiece 16 until sufficient heat is generated, at which point the pin of the tool is plunged into the plasticized workpiece material. Typically, the pin 14 is plunged into the workpiece 16 until reaching the shoulder 12 which prevents further penetration into the workpiece. The workpiece 16 is often two sheets or plates of material that are butted together at a joint line 18. In this example, the pin 14 is plunged into the workpiece 16 at the joint line 18.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the tool 10. A collar 22 is shown gripping both the shank 8 and the FSW tip 24, wherein the FSW tip is comprised of the shoulder 12 and the pin 14. As the tool 10 is rotated, torque is transmitted from the rotating shank 8 to the collar 22 and then to the FSW tip 24. When the tool 10 is being used on a workpiece that is a high melting (or softening) temperature material such as steel, the FSW tip 24 is in many situations exposed to temperatures in excess of 1000 degrees C. as it is rotated while traversing steel softened by frictional heating.
Referring to FIG. 1, the frictional heat caused by rotational motion of the pin 14 against the workpiece material 16 causes the workpiece material to soften without reaching a melting point. The tool 10 is moved transversely along the joint line 18, thereby creating a weld as the plasticized material flows around the pin from a leading edge to a trailing edge along a tool path 20. The result is a solid phase bond at the joint line 18 along the tool path 20 that may be generally indistinguishable from the workpiece material 16, in contrast to the welds produced when using conventional noon-FSW welding technologies.
It is observed that when the shoulder 12 contacts the surface of the workpieces, its rotation creates additional frictional heat that plasticizes a larger cylindrical column of material around the inserted pin 14. The shoulder 12 provides a forging force that contains the upward metal flow caused by the tool pin 14.
During friction stir welding, the area to be welded and the tool are moved relative to each other such that the tool traverses a desired length of the weld joint at a tool/workpiece interface. The rotating friction stir welding tool 10 provides a continual hot working action, plasticizing metal within a narrow zone as it moves transversely along the base metal, while transporting metal from the leading edge of the pin 14 to its trailing edge. As the weld zone cools, there is typically no solidification as no liquid is created as the tool 10 passes. It is often the case, but not always, that the resulting weld is a defect-free, re-crystallized, fine grain microstructure formed in the area of the weld.
Travel speeds are typically 10 to 500 mm/min with rotation rates of 200 to 2000 rpm. Temperatures reached are usually close to, but below, solidus temperatures. Friction stir welding parameters are a function of a material's thermal properties, high temperature flow stress and penetration depth.
Previous patents have taught the benefits of being able to perform friction stir welding with materials that were previously considered to be functionally unweldable. Some of these materials are non-fusion weldable, or just difficult to weld at all. These materials include, for example, metal matrix composites, ferrous alloys such as steel and stainless steel, and non-ferrous materials. Another class of materials that were also able to take advantage of friction stir welding is the superalloys. Superalloys can be materials having a higher melting temperature bronze or aluminum, and may have other elements mixed in as well. Some examples of superalloys are nickel, iron-nickel, and cobalt-based alloys generally used at temperatures above 1000 degrees F. Additional elements commonly found in superalloys include, but are not limited to, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, aluminum, titanium, niobium, tantalum, and rhenium.
It is noted that titanium is also a desirable material to use for friction stir welding. Titanium is a non-ferrous material, but has a higher melting point than other nonferrous materials. The previous patents teach that a tool for friction stir welding of high temperature materials is made of a material or materials that have a higher melting temperature than the material being friction stir welded. In some embodiments, a superabrasive was used in the tool, sometimes as a coating.
The embodiments of the present invention are generally concerned with these functionally unweldable materials, as well as the superalloys, and are hereinafter referred to as "high melting temperature" or "high softening temperature" materials throughout this document. Nevertheless, the tool to be taught herein can also be used in less harsh friction stir welding environments when low melting temperature materials are being used.
The present invention is useful for tools being used in many applications, but most especially when performing friction stir processing of high melting temperature materials.
Small diameter tubes (including casing and pipes) often require mechanically fastened connectors, often made of dissimilar materials, to maintain a seal over a wide temperature range. As a result, the joint is prone to leaking due to extreme temperature gradients as the two materials expand or contract at different rates. Tubular systems that transport liquid natural gas are one example of mechanical components that must function over an extreme temperature range.

Out of position friction stir welding of casing and small diameter tubing or pipe


Embodiments of the invention include instruments and methods for providing surgical access to a surgical site. Some embodiments include a flexible arm that adjustably holds a retractor blade to enable access to the surgical site.

Surgical procedures have generally become less disruptive to peripheral tissues as surgical techniques have progressed. Traditional surgical procedures used to treat tissues through incisions have often been very disruptive to peripheral tissues. Such procedures may include incisions through the skin, muscles, vessels, nerves, and other tissues, and may include long and deep incisions. Traditional procedures may include retractors that are either larger than is necessary to effectively perform a procedure or that are cumbersome to operated and therefore require longer periods of retraction than is necessary to perform a procedure. Traditional procedures, consequently, may lead to more trauma to peripheral tissues, more pain, and more lengthy and expensive recoveries. Cumbersome equipment that results in longer operating times may also lead to greater hospital, surgical staff, and physician expenses.
Modern surgical instruments and techniques have enabled less invasive and more expedient access to surgical sites. By way of non-limiting example, less invasive surgical instruments and techniques have been used in spinal surgery to separate and progressively dilate and retract tissues rather than to sever and retract the tissues. Developments in less invasive surgical instruments and methods have been significant, but there remains a need for enhancement of instruments and methods. Enhanced instruments and methods may include features that enable one or more of improvements to the efficiency, speed, access capability, or size of an instrument used in one or more methods.
Although particular embodiments of the surgical instruments and methods are described herein in association with particular spinal surgical procedures and surgical approaches, certain instruments and methods may be equally effective in other surgical procedures in the spine or in other areas of the anatomy.


An agent 10 is associated with a user as a representative of the user. The agent 10 includes a utility value calculation unit 15 that calculates an expected utility value indicating utility for the user with respect to an operating condition of the load device 20 and a cooperation processing unit 16 that judges whether an operating condition of the load device 20 is acceptable or not to the user and uniquely determines an operating condition to be instructed to the load device if the operating condition is not acceptable to the user cooperating with other agents 10. Agents 10 that do not accept the operating condition of the load device 20 determine the operating condition of the load device 20 such that one agent acting as a manager and the other agent acting as a contractor so as to make (some) concession to each other.

In general, in a building such as a residence, an office building, and a commercial facility, load devices such as air conditioners and lighting devices are widely used in order to adjust a surrounding environment of a user. When a plurality of users are in a space in which an environment is formed by this kind of load device, an agreement may be necessary among the users for determining the operating condition of the load device.
For example, in a case where the load device is an air conditioner and a plurality of users are in a room in which cooling is performed, it is possible that a user who attaches importance to comfort and prefers a lower temperature setting and a user who attaches importance to energy saving and prefers a higher temperature setting may co-exist. In this case, a situation may happen in which an agreement between the users about the temperature setting cannot be reached.
In order to deal with this kind of problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication 2005-172288 (hereinafter referred to as Document 1) proposes an air conditioning apparatus control system that is configured to judge whether a person entering a room is a registered user or not, and to determine, if the person is one of the registered users, the temperature setting so as to reflect the preference of the user. The technique described in Document 1 determines the temperature setting, when there are a plurality of users, by modifying each of preferred temperature ranges that are set respectively for the users using a weighting function so as to take care of potentially disadvantaged or vulnerable users with consideration for the gender and age of each of the users.
Incidentally, in the technique described in Document 1, since the temperature setting is derived by modifying each of preferred temperature ranges that are set respectively for the users using a weighting function according to the priority of each of the users, it may not be possible to set the temperature such that all the users are satisfied. In the technique described in Document 1, the temperature setting is performed in which the preference of a user who is considered to be the vulnerable is prioritized, and the temperature setting cannot be determined taking comfort, energy saving, or the like into consideration. Furthermore, in the technique described in Document 1, since only the temperature is taken into consideration, the technique described in Document 1 can be used for the purpose of determining a temperature setting of an air-conditioner, but cannot be applied to a load device such as a lighting device.

Device control apparatus, program, device control server, and device control system, for determining control contents of load device by performing negotiation on behalf of user


The jig includes an upper jig part, a lower jig part, a support plate, a guide jig part, and a spring. The upper jig part has a pressure protrusion for press-fitting a rotating shaft, and applies pressing force to the rotating shaft. The lower jig part supports a rotor casing in a direction which is opposite the acting direction of the pressing force. The support plate is mounted to the lower jig part, and supports the rotor casing in a direction which is opposite that of the force for press-fitting the rotating shaft. The guide jig part supports the rotor casing in a direction which is opposite that of reaction force generated in the rotor casing by the support plate. The spring elastically biases the guide jig part towards the rotor casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a jig for assembling a rotor and, more particularly, to a jig for assembling a rotor, which is capable of preventing a rotor casing from being deformed when a rotating shaft is press-fitted into the rotor casing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotor is a part that is used in a spindle motor installed in a hard disk drive or a CD drive. The rotor includes a rotor casing and a rotating shaft, which supports the rotor casing. A rubber ring is mounted to the rotor casing to prevent the slippage of a recording medium.
The rotor of the spindle motor is assembled such that the rotating shaft is press-fitted into the rotor casing using a jig to which a pressing force is applied. One example of the jig for assembling the rotor is schematically shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a conventional rotor assembly jig 200 includes an upper jig part 210, a lower jig part 220, and a guide jig part 240. A rotor 260 includes a rotor casing 261, a rubber ring 262, and a rotating shaft 263.
The upper jig part 210 functions to apply pressing force to the rotating shaft 263, and includes a plate-shaped body 211 and a pressure protrusion 212 for pressing the rotating shaft 263. At least part of the pressure protrusion 212 is inserted into the guide jig part 240 and directly presses the rotating shaft 263.
The lower jig part 220 functions to support the rotor casing 261, and includes a plate-shaped body 221 and a cavity 222 for receiving the rotor casing 261. The bottom of the cavity 222 is stepped to correspond to the rotor casing 261. A holder seat 223 is formed in the body 221 for insertion of a holder 264 of the rotor casing 261 into the holder seat 223.
The guide jig part 240 functions to guide the pressed rotating shaft 263 into the rotor casing 261, and has a through hole 241 which is open toward the holder 264 of the rotor casing 261.
As shown in FIG. 4, the rotating shaft 263 is press-fitted into the rotor casing 261 by pressing force.
First, the rotor casing 261 is seated in the cavity 222 of the lower jig part 220, and the guide jig part 240 is placed above the rotor casing 261.
Next, the rotating shaft 263 is inserted into the through hole 241 to be guided to the holder 264, and is press-fitted into the holder 264 by the pressure protrusion 212 of the upper jig part 210. At this time, the upper jig part 210 presses the rotating shaft 263 in the direction shown by arrow A due to the pressing force. When the lower surface of the upper jig part 210 meets the upper surface of the lower jig part 220, the insertion of the rotating shaft 263 is completed.
However, since a surface 265 of the rotor casing 261 having no rubber ring is not supported by the lower jig part 220, the rotor casing 261 is bent in the direction A where pressing force is applied, and is thus deformed when the rotating shaft 263 is press-fitted into the rotor casing 261.


Methods and systems for providing a mobility-limited user equipment device (UE) are disclosed. While a first base station serves a UE in a first coverage area on a first carrier, either the first base station or the UE makes a first determination that the UE is substantially stationary. Responsive to at least making the first determination, the first base station causes the UE to receive service on a second carrier concurrently with the first base station continuing to serve the UE in the first coverage area on the first carrier. By way of example, the first base station may provide the second carrier in the first coverage area, or a second base station may provide the second carrier in a second coverage area.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not itself prior art to the claims and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A typical cellular wireless network includes a number of base stations that radiate to define wireless coverage areas, such as sectors, in which user equipment devices (UEs), such as cellular phones, smartphones, tablet computers, tracking devices, embedded wireless modules, and other wirelessly equipped communication devices, can operate. In turn, each base station may be coupled with network infrastructure that provides connectivity with one or more transport networks, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or the Internet for instance. With this arrangement, a UE within coverage of the network may engage in air interface communication with a base station and may thereby communicate via the base station with various remote network entities or with other UEs served by the base station.
In general, a cellular wireless network may operate in accordance with a particular radio access technology or "air interface protocol," with communications from the base stations to UEs defining a downlink or forward link and communications from the UEs to the base stations defining an uplink or reverse link. Examples of existing air interface protocols include, without limitation, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) (e.g., 1×RTT and 1×EV-DO), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), among others. Each protocol may define its own procedures for registration of UEs, initiation of communications, handover between coverage areas, and functions related to air interface communication.
In accordance with a recent version of LTE, the air interface on both the downlink and the uplink may span a particular bandwidth (such as 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz) that is divided primarily into subcarriers that are spaced apart from each other by 15 kHz. Further, the air interface may be divided over time into a continuum of 10 millisecond frames, with each frame being further divided into ten 1 millisecond subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) that are in turn divided into two 0.5 millisecond segments. In each 0.5 millisecond time segment, the air interface may then be considered to define a number of 12-subcarrier wide "resource blocks" spanning the frequency bandwidth (i.e., as many as would fit in the given frequency bandwidth). In addition, each resource block may be divided over time into symbol segments of 67 μs each, with each symbol segment spanning the 12-subcarriers of the resource block and thus each supporting transmission of 12 orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) symbols in respective "resource elements." Thus, a base station and a served UE may transmit symbols to each other in these resource elements, particularly on subcarriers that are spaced apart from each other by 15 kHz and in time segments spanning 67 μs each.
The LTE air interface may then define various channels made up of certain ones of these resource blocks and resource elements. For instance, on the downlink, certain resource elements across the bandwidth may be reserved to define a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and other resource elements may be reserved to define a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) that the base station can allocate on an as-needed basis to carry transmissions to particular UEs, with still other resource elements being reserved to define a downlink reference signal. Likewise, on the uplink, certain resource elements across the bandwidth may be reserved to define a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and other resource elements may be reserved to define a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) that the base station can allocate on an as-needed basis to carry transmissions from particular UEs.
During a communication session, a UE may engage in communication of bearer data (e.g., application layer communications, such as session initiation protocol (SIP) signaling, voice communication, video communication, file transfer, gaming communication, or the like), transmitting to the base station bearer data on uplink traffic channel resources (e.g., portions of a resource block of a PUSCH channel during a scheduled TTI) and receiving from the base station bearer data on downlink traffic channel resources (e.g., portions of a resource block of a PUSCH channel during a scheduled TTI). Typically, the UE and the base station transmit such bearer data in the form of data packets.
An effective data rate for bearer data sent between the network entity and the UE (e.g., the rate at which the UE and the network entity exchange data packets) depends at least in part on a wireless data rate for communications between the base station and the UE (e.g., the rate at which the UE and the base station wirelessly exchange data packets with each other). Generally speaking, the effective data rate varies with the wireless data rate; as the wireless data rate decreases, the effective data rate decreases. The wireless data rate in turn depends at least in part on several factors.
One such factor is air interface quality between the base station and the UE in the serving coverage area. On a given carrier, the wireless data rate may vary directly with air interface quality. By way of example, good downlink air interface quality between the base station and the UE in the serving coverage area (e.g., when the UE receives strong downlink channel signals) usually allows for a higher wireless data rate than poor downlink air interface quality (e.g., when the UE receives weak downlink channel signals). Further, when air interface quality between the base station and the UE in the serving coverage area is poor, the UE and/or the base station may receive incomplete data packets. This may require the UE or the base station to retransmit such data packets, thereby further reducing the effective data rate.
A second factor is the bandwidth of the carrier on which the UE receives service in the serving coverage area. Typically, a wider carrier bandwidth may support a higher wireless data rate. A 20 MHz carrier will usually allow for a higher data rate than a 5 MHz carrier for instance.
While the maximum bandwidth for a data transaction between a base station and a UE using a single carrier is 20 MHz (in an LTE system), it may be possible to increase the bandwidth for wireless communications with a UE beyond 20 MHz. A revision of LTE known as LTE-Advanced now permits a base station to serve a UE with "carrier aggregation," by which a base station schedules bearer communication with the UE on multiple carriers at a time. With carrier aggregation, multiple carriers from either contiguous frequency bands or non-contiguous frequency bands can be aggregated to increase the bandwidth available to the UE. Using carrier aggregation, a base station may increase the maximum bandwidth to up to 100 MHz by aggregating up to five carriers. Each aggregated carrier is referred to as a "component carrier." Further, when multiple carriers are aggregated, one of the component carriers may be defined as a primary cell ("PCell") and the remaining component carriers may be defined as secondary cells ("SCells"). Further, a UE served with carrier aggregation may send and receive control signals and bearer data in the PCell and the SCells.

Methods and systems for serving a mobility-limited user equipment device using carrier aggregation


A liquid chromatograph analyzing device, which without an analyst having to set complicated processing conditions before measuring a sample, is able to processes unaffected by fluctuations in room temperature and appearance of ghost peaks. In a liquid chromatograph analyzing device, an automatic sampler, a liquid sending pump, a column oven and a detection device are controlled by a calculation processing device. In addition to chromatograph creation unit, which creates chromatograms of a sample based on input detection signals, the calculation processing device has a correction parameter holding section and correction formula setting unit. The correction formula setting unit provides to the liquid chromatograph analyzing device a functionality for the analyst to set correction formulas for incorporating in the chromatograms created by the chromatograph creation unit changes to environmental conditions such as fluctuations in temperature around the liquid chromatograph analyzing device.

A liquid chromatograph analyzing device includes an analysis section comprising an automatic sampler, liquid sending pump, separation column and a detection device, and a computation section comprising, for example, a PC (personal computer). The computation section creates a chromatogram of a measured sample based on detection signals obtained by the detection device (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
For example, with an analysis based on the temperature gradient method wherein the temperature of the mobile phase is changed with passage of time, because the baseline of the chromatogram drifts with the change in temperature of the mobile phase, background data for a chromatogram is obtained in advance by flowing a blank solution under the same conditions and measuring its chromatogram. As a correction process that is performed after a sample is measured, the background data can be subtracted from the chromatogram data that is obtained by measuring the sample, thus allowing the creation of a chromatogram that is free of the effects of baseline drift caused by a temperature gradient.    Patent Literature 1: Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-281897


A server system to manage esports live distribution distributes, to a viewer terminal, data for displaying an image of gameplay by players on the viewer terminal, and situation data. The situation data describes various situations, such as a viewer's watching situation, a game progress status, a player's operation situation, a reward generation situation, a posting situation of comments such as cheers, and an evaluation situation of players by viewers. In the viewer terminal, various types of situation data are compared with predetermined screen configuration change conditions, and when some of the conditions is satisfied, the present configuration of a watching screen is changed to a screen configuration associated with the satisfied condition to provide information for the viewer in such a manner as to facilitate understanding of a situation on each occasion.

Watching an image of gameplay by highly skilled players has been recognized as an entertainment equivalent to sports watching. Recently, this has been called "esports," and gameplay images have been distributed to viewers widely collected. Techniques for distributing gameplay video have been known since before, and one of the techniques is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-247562.
According to such a known technique regarding gameplay image distribution as in JP-A-2009-247562, for example, a portable terminal device is used to facilitate watching how other players play games without going to an actual gameplay site such as an arcade.
In the known technique, a watching screen of a gameplay image, that is, a screen watched by a viewer, includes the gameplay image as a main watching target, and an auxiliary information display section in some cases. On the known watching screen, the auxiliary information display section is fixedly disposed in a predetermined position relative to the gameplay image and has a predetermined size. In the auxiliary information display section, a user account and a handle of a player, a game title being played, a recording date, and other data are displayed. Display of the auxiliary information display section enables the viewer to know information regarding an origin of the gameplay image that the viewer is watching.
Distribution of the gameplay image is largely divided into two modes: recorded video distribution of distributing a video file recorded and edited; and live distribution.
In the recorded video distribution, gameplay is already over. Consequently, in the auxiliary information display section, data including a game result and a situation at a turning point is recorded and displayed as information resultant from looking back at gameplay after a game end. This display in the auxiliary information display section half cools heat of the viewer watching the gameplay.
In the case of live distribution, however, a start of distribution is managed by a schedule that the viewer can never intervene with. Such a circumstance often occurs that the viewer needs to start watching partway through the distribution. Therefore, expecting how the gameplay proceeds while considering a status of the live game currently in progress, the viewer is to watch the game in suspense and with excitement. This is similar to, for example, watching sports on television live. In the live distribution, a main image is the gameplay image. There is still room for improvement in display (i.e., how to provide information) in the auxiliary information display section in the live distribution.

Computer system, viewer terminal, method for controlling live watching, and program