A chest vibrating device for assisting in loosening of obstructions in the lungs or air way of a human user suffering from respiratory ailments such as cystic fibrosis, which has a rigid frame which is positioned around, and clamped onto the user's chest, the rigid frame transferring to the user vibrations generated by a motor rotating an off-set weight, where the vibrations assist in loosening obstructions in the lungs or air way of the user. Pads adjustable in orientation and position radiate inwardly from the rigid frame to contact the user's chest from opposite sides of the chest and hold the chest in place, the pads adjusting to comfortably contact and effectively transmit vibrations to users of varying gender and size.

In healthy individuals, clearance of mucus from the respiratory tract is accomplished primarily by the body's normal mucociliary action, coupled with coughing. Under normal conditions these mechanisms are very efficient; the mucociliary transport system continually transports a layer of mucus secreted in the lungs up the trachea and out of the respiratory system to be swallowed, while coughing displaces larger blockages. The mucociliary transport system depends upon cilia, small cytoplasmic extensions of cells lining the inside of the respiratory system. Cilia rhythmically move side to side, progressively shifting the layer of mucus to the trachea. Ciliary movement has a predictable rate (the Cilia Beat Frequency (CBF)), which in healthy individuals has a frequency of about 10-30 beats per second. Impairment of the normal mucociliary transport system (slowing the CBF below 10 beats per second) or hypersecretion of respiratory mucus results in an accumulation of mucus and debris in the lungs which may lead to severe medical conditions such as hypoxemia, hypercapnia, chronic bronchitis, and pneumonia. These conditions diminish quality of life, and may even prove fatal. Many medical conditions can produce abnormal respiratory mucus clearance, including pertussis, cystic fibrosis, atelectasis, bronchiectasis, cavitating lung disease, vitamin A deficiency, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and immotile cilia syndrome. Exposure to cigarette smoke, air pollutants, and viral infections also inhibits mucociliary function. Post surgical patients, paralysed persons, and newborns with respiratory distress syndrome also exhibit reduced mucociliary transport. Respiratory system blockages also occur in patients suffering from emphysema, tuberculosis, and disorders caused by many other pathogens which affect the respiratory system.
Chest physiotherapy (CPT) is used to enhance respiratory mucus transport. CPT may include mechanical manipulation of the chest, postural drainage with vibration, directed cough, active cycle of breathing, and autogenic drainage. External manipulation of the chest and respiratory behavioural training are accepted practices according to the American Association for Respiratory Care Guidelines, 1991. CPT involves a caregiver "clapping" or pounding on the chest and back over each lobe of the lungs, coupled with inhalation therapy. A typical CPT session requires half to three-quarters of an hour. While the mechanism by which CPT clears mucus is not entirely clear, the pounding dislodges air way secretions which drain towards the mouth and are removed by active coughing. Various kinds of CPT are often combined by physicians when designing regimes to enhance mucus clearance.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one important disorder in which CPT is used to help clear air ways or lungs. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited life-threatening genetic disease among Caucasians, afflicting about 1 in 600 children. One in twenty five persons of European descent carry the mutation which causes CF. This genetic defect disrupts cellular chloride ion transfer, causing mucus from the exocrine glands to become abnormally thick and sticky, eventually blocking passages within the pancreas, lungs, reproductive organs, and liver. Disruption of the pancreas inhibits enzyme secretion, sometimes resulting in osteoporosis. Thick mucus may block reproductive tracts, in particular lowering male fertility. Crucially, the thick mucus accumulates in the lung's respiratory tracts, causing chronic infections, scarring, and decreased vital capacity. Normal coughing is not sufficient to dislodge these mucus deposits. CF symptoms usually appear during the first 10 years of life, typically in infancy, and significantly reduce life expectancy. However, with advances in digestive enzyme supplementation, anti-inflammatory therapy, chest physical therapy, and antibiotics, the median life expectancy currently exceeds 30 years, and some patients live into their 50's and beyond. While some patient mortality results from severe gastrointestinal disruptions, the majority of CF patients (90 percent) ultimately succumb to respiratory system failure.
Most CF patients use CPT once to four times a day as part of their standard preventative care program to maintain vital capacity and inhibit infection. CPT requires the assistance of a second individual, ideally a nurse or respiratory therapist, but more typically a family member. Effective CPT requires precise pounding, and CPT is exhausting for the CF patient and caregiver. A tired or inaccurate caregiver often only provides incomplete relief. CF patient dependence upon a second individual to perform CPT severely limits the independence of the CF patient. Additionally, pounding involves sharp blows, which can bruise patients, and may even break bones, particularly in small children and CF patients who suffer from osteoporosis.
Over the past several decades, a diverse assortment of devices have attempted to provide an alternative to caregiver delivered CPT for persons suffering from disorders which obstruct lungs or air ways, including CF. CPT replacement devices typically mobilize and clear mucus by creating chest wall oscillations analogous to those experienced by a patient undergoing manual CPT. These devices differ in the kind of force applied and any resulting motion experienced by the subject, and by whether the force is administered locally, over a large area, to the entire chest, or the entire body. Inventions apply force by repeated chest constriction, chest vibration, and impact or blow-like forces (percussion) to the entire patient, or specific locations.
Most marketed devices address lung congestion by pneumatically generated vibrations. These devices are usually large and restrict user mobility, and fail to target the lower lobes of the lungs, the typical infection start point.
Percussion based devices have been described in the literature. Strom et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,107, discloses a hand-held pneumatic impact system, and Mulligan et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,394 describe a chest pack containing two reciprocating arms which simultaneously strike the user's chest on either side of the sternum. Percussion based devices possess many of the drawbacks associated with manual CPT therapy, the sharp impacts can injure young or frail patients, and therefore these devices are not suitable in all cases. Furthermore, the strength of the impacts and associated recoil makes manipulation and control of these devices inherently difficult.
A number of commercially available lung clearing devices use constriction, a repeated squeezing and release of the entire chest region. Constriction may be provided by a variety of means. Certain apparatus, such as the commercially available Vest Airway Clearance System ("The Vest™") distributed by Hill Rom, a subsidiary of Hillenbrand Industries, Inc. (described in Van Brunt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,797 and numerous other patents) apply pressure to the patient's chest pneumatically. The Vest contains air bladders which are periodically pressurized and depressurized by an external air pressure system, repeatedly squeezing the chest at a frequency of 5-20 Hz. Another vest apparatus with a distinct pneumatic pressure source, operating at 5-25 Hz, is described by Hansen, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,749. The device described in Van Brunt, U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,785 creates analogous patient body motions via a mechanism cyclically squeezing the subject's chest with an inflexible circumferential chest band. Arbisi et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,967 describe forces being applied to a subject by repulsion between numerous electromagnets mounted within a flexible vest or shirt like garment, the magnetic repulsion pressing a layer of electromagnets onto the subject. All these apparatus apply force over the entire chest, typically by surrounding the chest in a garment, and then repeatedly squeezing inward. These inventions are often bulky, for example, the pneumatic vests require a large external pressure source. Patients undergoing constriction based therapy often have difficulty breathing due to the way these devices compress the chest.
A wide variety of hand-held vibrators have been described for treating CF patients and other respiratory ailment sufferers. These devices may rhythmically pound the chest at high rates (ex. Denton et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,733, preferably impacting the chest at 115 Hz), move parallel to the surface of the subject (ex. Muchinsky et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,266), or both at once (ex. Muchinsky et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,334). Many of these hand-held units are not particularly portable, and have a large external mechanical power source. Additionally, these hand-held vibrators require an attendant to maintain the device in contact with the patient, and press the vibrator against the patient. Since these devices inherently move and vibrate, the person holding the vibrator must overcome these motions to keep the hand-held vibrator in place, an effort that can be tiring and inconvenient. Larouche et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,226, discloses a combined clapping and vibrating device where a nominally hand-held device is only practical once mounted on a bed by a supporting arm, presumably to address this problem. With hand-held vibrations, treatment is local and the user must reposition the vibrator from chest area to chest area, resulting in lengthy and potentially incomplete treatment sessions.
Other devices which assist clearing lungs and air ways vibrate the entire subject, or the subject's chest. One strategy involves submerging the subject in a bath, then transmitting vibrations from a source such as a audio speaker to the subject via the fluid (see for example Nedwell, U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,337, Rogers et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002/0014235, published Feb. 7, 2002). Obviously, these vibrators are large and essentially immobile, and impractical for daily home use. Vibrating beds such as the pneumatic design described in Hand et al. (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002/0195144, published Dec. 26, 2002) have similar limitations.
Another approach is to vibrate the air within the patient, rather than the patient's body (see for example Gibson, UK Patent No. 2,196,585, Jam, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2004/0069304, published Apr. 15, 2004, Benarrouch, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,235, Fowler-Hawkins, U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,769). One variant of this approach has been marketed by Scandipharm as "The Flutter™". The Flutter uses the patient's breath to oscillate a ball bearing, creating vibrations which are then transmitted down the patient's air ways. This technique is limited by the strength at which the patient's breath can oscillate the ball bearing, a potentially serious limitation when treating patients suffering from chronic respiratory illness. Furthermore, these techniques transmit vibrations by air, a much less mechanically efficient vibration transmission method than vibration transmission through solids.
There remains a need for a device which adequately provides a replacement for manual CPT, allows patient independence, and provides rapid, efficient, and consistent treatment.


A system and a method for automatic cluster formation by automatically selecting nodes based on a selection criteria configured by the user is disclosed. During a cluster re-formation process, a failed node may automatically get replaced by one of the healthy nodes in its network, which is not part of any cluster avoiding cluster failures. In case of a cluster getting reduced to a single node due to node failures and failed nodes could not be replaced due to non-availability of free nodes, the single node cluster may be merged with a existing healthy clusters in the network providing a constant level of high availability. The proposed method may also provide an affective load balancing by maintaining a constant number of member nodes in a cluster by automatically replacing the dead nodes with a healthy node.

A cluster is a collection of one or more complete systems, having associated processes, that work together to provide a single, unified computing capability. The perspective from the end user, such as a business, is that the cluster operates as through it were a single system. Work can be distributed across multiple systems within the cluster. Any single outage, whether planned or unplanned, in the cluster will not disrupt the services provided to the end user. That is, end user services can be relocated from system to system within the cluster in a relatively transparent fashion.
Generally, before taking advantage of the dependable accessibility benefits permitted by clustering technology, a cluster requires configuration, a task possibly undertaken by a system administrator. Configuring a cluster requires a determination of what are the cluster member configurations and on which nodes, i.e., application server middleware installations, these configurations reside. As a result, in many systems, cluster configuration is basically static, and, even presuming that the static configuration is error free, which may not be true, configuring still requires a system administrator to outlay significant time and planning. This time and planning is costly, and even more costly if errors exist requiring even more time and planning to correct an error in cluster configuration.
Clusters may also be used to address problems of data ownership and data consistency when failures occur in a cluster. A dynamic cluster involves changes in the membership of the cluster over time. Such changes may occur as a result of failures and dynamic cluster membership management involves tracking the membership of a cluster. Failure events may include node failures in a network, unresponsive nodes or processes, process failures, events preventing a node from operating in a cluster, or other events that can lead to a non-functioning cluster. Changes in the cluster may occur when members rejoin or new members join the cluster, affecting the relationship between cluster participants.
One solution for dynamic cluster membership is a centralized master and slave topology, for example a star topology. However, using a single centralized master and multiple slaves, i.e. a star topology with the central node acting as the master, may create a bottleneck. Such at topology may negatively impact scalability, and frequent data updates between master and slaves may result in lower performance. The ability of slaves to get membership information about each other may be limited. The failure of the central node itself may spawn complex computing problems, particularly in the event of multiple node failures. Addressing node failure may include implementing leader elections by remaining nodes, for example.

Method and system for forming a cluster of networked nodes

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A steel sheet has a composition comprising, in mass %, C: 0.0008 to 0.0024%, Si: less than 0.15%, Mn: more than 0.55% and less than 0.90%, P: more than 0.025% and less than 0.050%, S: 0.015% or less, sol. Al: 0.01% or more and 0.1% or less, N: 0.01% or less, B: more than 0.0003% and less than 0.0035%, Nb: more than 0.005% and less than 0.016%, Ti: 0.009% or less, and Sb: 0.002 to 0.030%, in which C and Nb satisfy the following formula (1), and the balance is Fe and unavoidable impurities, and in which a ds/d ratio of an average crystal grain diameter, at a ¼ thickness position of the sheet (d), to that at a steel sheet surface layer (ds), is 0.40 to 1.20, where d is 8 to 18 μm, and where−10≤([% C]−([% Nb]/93)×12)×10,000≤14.  Formula (1)

The panel components of an automobile, including a hood, doors, and a backdoor require high dent resistance, and a BH steel sheet having a tensile strength (TS) on the order of 340 MPa (bake-hardenable steel sheet; hereinafter, simply "340BH") is in wide use for this purpose. These components also need to meet various design and cosmetic requirements of automobiles while satisfying high bake hardenability (hereinafter also referred to as "BH characteristic") and high aging resistance. The 340BH steel sheet therefore requires desirable formability and a cosmetically appealing surface quality, in addition to high bake hardenability and high aging resistance.
However, traditional 340BH steel sheets involve press cracking in heavily stretched portions such as in areas around the tail lamp of a backdoor, and further improvement is needed for ductility. In many of traditional 340BH steel sheets containing Mn, P, and Ti, surface undulations (defects) called line patterns or ghost bands often occur after pressing, and there is a need to improve surface quality.
In this connection, for example, PTL 1 discloses a technique for providing a steel sheet on the order of 340 MPa having a uniform elongation of 18% or more with a high bake hardenability. In order to obtain such a steel sheet, the heating rate in the annealing process of a steel to a temperature in the range of 550° C. to soaking temperature is adjusted to 0.1×([% Nb]/[% C])° C./s or more, containing C: 0.0010 to 0.0040%, Si: 0.05% or less, Mn: 0.1 to 1.0%, and Nb: 0.005 to 0.025%, and satisfying [% Nb]/[% C]≤10, and [% Mn]/[% C]≥100.
PTL 2 discloses a method for providing a bake-hardenable high-strength alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet having excellent powdering resistance. This steel sheet is produced from a steel sheet containing C: 0.010% or less, Si: 0.5% or less, Mn: 0.15 to 0.8%, P: 0.030% or less, S: 0.03% or less, B: 0.0005 to 0.0050%, and Nb: 2×C (%) to 7.5×C (%), and at least one of Sn: 0.05 to 0.80%, Sb: 0.005 to 0.080%, and Cr: 0.020 to 1.5% is added, and reduced phosphorus that promotes coating detachment, with Sn, Sb, and Cr for adding strength.
PTL 3 discloses a technique for reducing nonuniform alloying of a coating by way of reducing the phosphorus that causes streak patterns. This is achieved by low-temperature annealing of a steel sheet containing C: 0.003% or less, Si: 0.1% or less, Mn: 0.20 to 1.0%, P: 0.01 to 0.03%, and Nb: 2×[% C]+0.01 to 8×[% C]+0.01(%).

Steel sheet and plated steel sheet, method for producing hot-rolled steel sheet, method for producing cold-rolled full-hard steel sheet, method for producing steel sheet, and method for producing plated steel sheet


Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for programmatically generating and/or revising promotion offers for a merchant based on one or more merchant self-service indicators. In providing such functionality, the system can be configured to, for example, facilitate registration and verification of merchant identities, determine promotion content and parameters based on merchant self-service indicators, and monitor and analyze promotion offers for merchants with similar merchant self-service indicators. The system may determine the relative successfulness of a promotion offer for a merchant and/or category of merchant. In some embodiments, the system may be further configured to revise the promotion offer programmatically and/or upon receiving the merchant's approval of the programmatically generated proposed edits to the promotion offer.

Merchants sell goods and services (collectively referred to herein as "products") to consumers. The merchants can often control the form of their product offers, the timing of their product offers, and the price at which the products will be offered. The merchant may sell products at a brick-and-mortar sales location, a virtual online site, or both.
Discounts have been used as part of some retail strategies. Discount techniques include providing coupons and rebates to potential consumers, but these techniques have several disadvantages. In this regard, a number of deficiencies and problems associated with the systems used to, among other things, provide discounts to consumers have been identified. Initial registration and setup to allow a merchant to provide promotions using a promotion system is typically a lengthy and involved process. This process may include separate steps by representatives of a promotion and marketing service to verify that a user who wishes to create a promotion is an authorized representative of the merchant, and that promotion offers prepared by the merchant are valid and likely to be of interest to consumers. The hands-on nature of the promotion generation process means that the process is not scalable as the number of merchants accessing the system increases, since each merchant must interact with a staff member of the promotion and marketing service for verification, promotion generation, and various other steps in the process. As more and more merchants join the system, more and more staff members are required to meet the needs of these merchants in a reasonable time frame.
Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, many of these identified problems have been solved by developing solutions that are included in embodiments of the present invention, many examples of which are described in detail herein.

Method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for providing a self-service interface


An anesthetics monitoring device includes an anesthetic vaporizer, from which the anesthetic can be supplied to a setting device supplying dosed amounts of anesthetic to an anesthetics device for dispensing the anesthesia to a patient. The device has a coding for the unmistakable assignment of the setting device to the type of anesthetic used. An automatic recognition of the anesthetic used and a setting to a metering and control unit for dispersing the anesthetic is guaranteed. Any incorrect metering and incorrect setting is prevented. For this purpose, the coding is brought into an operative connection with a receiver provided between the setting device and the anesthetics dispersing device. The receiver is equipped with a scanning apparatus which is connected to the metering and control dispensing unit by means of signal transfer lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an anesthetics device with an anaesthetic vaporizer which supplies an anaesthetic to another device. The vaporizer and its connection to the anesthetics device are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,693,853 and 4,825,860 respectively. a similar anesthetics device is known from German patent No. 35 23 947. The vaporizer has a setting adjustment which supplies dosed amounts of anaesthetic to fresh gas and then to the anesthetics device, and the vaporizer according to the invention has a coding for the unmistakable assignment of the type and concentration of anesthetic used.
In the known anesthetics device a storage container for an anaesthetic is connected to a setting device wherein the storage container engages with the setting device by means of appropriate code pins so that a dosing of the anaesthetic is adjusted to the respective physical properties of the anaesthetic influencing the dosing. The vaporizer and the setting device are connected to an anesthetics applicator, so that the dosed anaesthetic can be supplied to the anesthetics applicator. For an appropriate use of the anesthetics device, the anaesthetic required for the respective anesthetics does actually have to be connected to the pertaining vaporizer and the setting means. In addition, during an anesthetics procedure it is occasionally necessary to change the anesthetic. For this purpose either the vaporizer has to be replaced by another one or, if several vaporizers are connected to the anesthetics device, the vaporizer has to be switched. Herein it is imperative for the operator to ascertain that the desired vaporizer is actually connected and activated. This requires increased attention by the anesthesiologist, which cannot always be continuous, e.g. during applications of longer duration. There is a possibility of controlling the supplied anaesthetic by means of a meter, but only very complex meters have the capability of determining the kind of anesthetic from the metering itself and of choosing the corresponding calibration curve for the indication. More simple meters require manual switching to the kind of anaesthetic used, which can lead to incorrect dosing if an accidental switching error or an omitted adjustment to the new anaesthetic occurs.


An electromagnetic wave absorber contains cement and carbon nanotubes and has an absolute value of a complex relative permittivity in a range of from 2.0 to 10.0 in a frequency range of from 1 to 110 GHz and a minimum value of a dissipation factor of 0.35 or greater in the frequency range of from 1 to 110 GHz.

Electromagnetic waves of various frequencies are emitted in an environment having many electromagnetic radiation sources, such as electronic equipment and communication equipment. It has been pointed out that the electromagnetic radiation from such equipment can cause neighboring devices to malfunction or the equipment itself can be caused to malfunction by any extraneous electromagnetic wave. Therefore, these types of equipment are required to have electromagnetic compatibility (hereinafter "EMC") from the design and development phase.
With the advent of ubiquitous era, electronic equipment and communication equipment using microwaves and millimeter waves are increasing, and use of low-frequency bands has been being shifted to use of high-frequency bands. Examples of equipment using a high frequency band include fourth generation mobile phones (5 to 6 GHz), ultrafast wireless LAN (60 GHz), and automotive millimeter wave radars (77 GHz). Use of microwaves and millimeter waves is also beginning to increase in broader fields including a microwave energy transmission test in aviation/space projects or a high-power emitting radar system used in military-related applications.
While most of the frequencies set out in standards relating to electromagnetic interference (EMI) have been up to 1 GHz, the tendency toward use of high frequencies in electronic equipment and communication equipment has recently extended the frequencies to be used to about 18 GHz. It is predicted that manufacturers are obliged to perform EMI measurement in a still higher frequency range before the coming of a full-scale ubiquitous society.
From the viewpoint of safety of anechoic chambers, electromagnetic wave absorbers (hereinafter referred to as "wave absorber(s)" or simply "absorber(s)") have recently come to be required to have incombustibility. In particular, an anechoic chamber in which high power is emitted as in the above described microwave energy transmission test or high power emitting radar system test, there is a possibility of a wave absorber producing heat on receipt of the radiation, suffering damage, and reducing its absorbing performance. It is also pointed out that an absorber can ignite, or a device being tested can produce heat and ignite to cause the absorber to catch fire.
From the background described, there is a need for a safe anechoic chamber for microrwaves and millimeter waves that allows EMC evaluation of a wide range of microwave and millimeter wave equipment from general electronic components to special high-power systems. Accordingly, there has been a demand for a wave absorbing material that exhibits excellent radiation absorbing performance in the microwave and millimeter wave range and withstands high power emission tests. A number of proposals have hitherto been made on wave absorbing materials.
For example, Japanese patent 4697829 proposes a carbon nanotube composite molded material composed of a matrix and carbon nanotubes aligned in the matrix along a given direction, the carbon nanotubes being uncovered with a ferromagnetic material. Compared with carbon nanotube composite material in which carbon nanotubes are randomly dispersed, the proposed material is described as having high electrical conductivity with a smaller amount of carbon nanotubes and, when applied to wave absorption, exhibits anisotropy and is therefore useful for wave absorption. However, it is difficult with the structure described in Japanese patent 4697829 to obtain excellent wave absorbing characteristics in the broad frequency band of microwaves and millimeter waves. According to Japanese patent 4697829, the contemplated matrix materials are organic materials, such as thermoplastic resins, curing resins, rubbers, and thermoplastic elastomers. It is unfeasible with such matrix materials to provide wave absorbers withstanding a high power emission test.
JP 2005-231931A discloses a cement-based wave absorber obtained by mixing flaky iron oxide particles having a predetermined average thickness and a predetermined minimum width in the main plane into an inorganic water settable material and molding the mixture into shape. The wave absorber is described as exhibiting stable absorption characteristics in a high frequency range of the order of gigahertz and being able to be designed to be thin and lightweight with a high dielectric constant and a high dielectric loss. The wave absorber is also described as being incombustible, free from deterioration by ultraviolet rays, and capable of withstanding long-term outdoor use.
Composed mainly of an inorganic material, the structure of the wave absorber of JP 2005-231931A is incombustible and excellent in power durability and is therefore preferred for use in high power emission tests. Nevertheless, because of the use of a magnetic material as a main component, the frequency band the wave absorber serves to absorb is limited to several tens of gigahertz. That is, the wave absorbent is incapable of achieving excellent wave absorbing performance over a broad microwave and millimeter wave range of from 1 to 110 GHz.
Thus, we have not yet acquired a wave absorber having excellent electromagnetic radiation absorbing characteristics in a broad microwave and millimeter wave range, incombustibility, and high power durability.


An optical module includes a resin housing having an optical axis, a semiconductor device held in the resin housing in alignment with the optical axis, and a lens held in the resin housing in alignment with the optical axis. The resin housing includes a lens holder disposed in facing relation to the semiconductor device. The lens holder has a lens grip member disposed around the optical axis and projecting toward the semiconductor device. The lens grip member has a distal end projecting radially inwardly. The lens holder also has a lens seat at a proximal end of the lens grip member. The lens grip member and the lens seat are integrally molded with the resin housing. The lens is held by the lens seat and gripped by the lens grip member after the lens is forced past the lens grip member toward the lens seat. The lens grip member comprises three lens grip fingers circumferentially spaced at equal angular intervals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical module having a semiconductor light-emitting or -detecting device and a lens which are centrally aligned and held by a resin housing, and more particularly to an optical module in which a lens is fixedly held by lens grip fingers and a lens seat which are integrally molded with a resin housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optical modules have a semiconductor device, such as a semiconductor light-emitting device such as a semiconductor laser or the like, or a semiconductor light-detecting device such as a photodiode, and a lens which are held in central alignment with each other, and are used in the field of optical communications. For example, a computer system used for data communications has a semiconductor light-emitting device module and a semiconductor light-detecting device module which are installed as a module pair on a board. An optical module comprises a semiconductor device, a lens, and a housing which holds the semiconductor device and the lens and also fittingly holds the ferrule of an optical plug from the party to communicate with. When the optical plug is connected to the optical module, the semiconductor device is optically coupled through the lens to an optical fiber held by the ferrule. The housing generally comprises a holder which holds the semiconductor device and the lens and a receptacle which fittingly holds the ferrule. The holder and the receptacle are manufactured as separate members and fixed in central alignment with each other.
The lens incorporated in an optical module generally comprises a spherical lens or a gradient-index rod lens. The lens may also comprise any of various other lenses. Of those different lenses, the spherical lens is widely used because it is inexpensive as it can easily be manufactured highly accurately by mechanical machining only and it is easy to assemble in position as it has no directivity at all and does not need to be adjusted in orientation for installation. The lens may be fixed to the holder in any of various different ways. According to one process, the lens is put into and positioned in a recess in the holder (lens mount), after which a resin-base adhesive is coated around the lens and then thermoset. According to another process, a molded glass ring of low melting point which is slightly greater than the outside diameter of the lens is placed around the lens, and then melted with heat.
In the former process, since the liquid resin-base adhesive needs to be poured into a small region around the lens, it cannot easily be handled before thermoset. Inasmuch as the holder is usually made of a metal material, the bonded surface of the lens may crack with heat due to the difference between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the lens and the holder.
The latter process also suffers disadvantages in that the glass of low melting point tends to be devitrified and the bonding strength tends to be lowered when left to stand at high temperatures, and the cost is high. Because the molded glass ring of low melting point is produced by molding a powder of glass of low melting point under pressure, when the molded glass ring is placed in position, it scatters fine fragments and particles, which are applied to the surface of the glass. If the molded glass ring is melted with heat in order to fix the lens in place, the fine fragments and particles applied to the surface of the glass are also melted, and the melted glass itself flows around the lens, producing a localized film of glass on the surface of the lens. The glass of low melting point is not resistant to humidity, and is liable to be devitrified with time. If the glass on the surface of the lens is devitrified, then it will cause a reduction in the intensity of light passing through the lens. When exposed to humidity, fine cracks are developed in the glass on the lens, making the glass brittle. Therefore, the bonding strength of the glass is lowered possibly to the point where the lens may be dislodged. This shortcoming could be avoided by employing a countermeasure to make the glass resistant to humidity. Such a countermeasure, together with the fact that the molded glass ring of low melting point is relatively expensive, increases the cost of the optical module.


An airbag includes at least one panel defining an interior of the airbag, and a divider positioned in the interior so as to divide the interior into a first chamber and a second chamber. A first valve assembly is operatively coupled to the divider for controlling the gas flow between the first chamber and the second chamber. A second valve assembly is fixed within the first chamber and fluidly communicates with an exterior of the airbag. The second valve assembly is operably dependent on the first valve assembly, thereby dynamically controlling the inflation profile of the airbag.

The present invention relates a passenger airbag, which is filled with gas during an emergency situation such as, for example, a frontal or side impact.
Current airbag cushion designs may include multiple chambers and may incorporate an inter-chamber venting system that allows gas to flow from one chamber to another. These cushions are configured to rapidly contact a vehicle occupant when inflated, to limit movement of the passenger head, neck and thoracic regions. However, these cushion designs do not differentiate between these different regions with regard to the stiffness or resistance of the various portions of the airbag to contact with each region.
Research has shown that the masses of the various body portions contacting an airbag differ greatly. For example, the mass ratio of the Thorax to Head & Neck regions may range from between 5:1 to 8:1, depending on the sex of the individual. Due to the differences in body part masses and the dynamics of contact between the occupant and the cushion, it has proven difficult to design a multi-chamber airbag which provides optimum protection for each portion of the body contacting the airbag.
An additional challenge involves the use of a dual stage inflator. A dual stage inflator is typically employed to provide sequential production of gas depending on crash severity and depending on occupant size and/or position for example. A dual stage inflator may be defined as containing two combustion chambers, a primary and a secondary chamber, with each chamber when operated providing a first and second stage of combustion. In general, the primary chamber is configured to ignite and produce gases in the event of a crash event. The secondary chamber is provided to affect a greater restraint due to greater gas production should the occupant be recognized as being of greater weight and size, and/or, should the impending crash severity be calculated as requiring a greater or faster restraint. Although effective in these regards, a dual stage inflator is relatively more expensive than a single stage inflator or one that only includes a single combustion chamber with one stage of combustion. It would therefore be an improvement in the art to provide a solution that mitigates the need for a dual stage inflator but still affords the protection provided by a dual stage inflator.
Thus, a need exists for an airbag design which permits the stiffness or resistance to occupant impact provided by each portion of the airbag to be adjusted according to the time elapsed from the initiation of airbag deployment, the size of the occupant, and/or the masses of different portions of the occupant's body contacting an associated portion of the airbag.

Single stage dual chambered passenger airbag


An electrostatic precipitator type filter is combined with replaceable, polarizable trapping media. In one aspect of the invention, the media is fitted between polarizing plates. In another aspect, the media is coated in sections to form a conductive surface which serve as the equivalent to the charged plates of the precipitator. These electrodes may be alternately displaced to provide a ready means to effect electrical connections.

This invention relates to air filters. In particular, it relates to electronically-enhanced filters that include a trapping medium.
Precipitator-type air filters of the type depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 2,593,869 to Fruth (1952) operate by first ionizing particulate-carrying air to charge dust contained therein, and then pass the air between oppositely charged, end-on aligned parallel plates to which the dust adheres. Such precipitating air cleaners are highly efficient when the plates are initially clean. However, performance drops off as the plates become covered with collected dust. Hence, regular cleaning is required to maintain efficiency. This cleaning operation for precipitator-type air cleaners is awkward and costly to effect.
An advantage of filters of the trapping media type is that such media may be readily removed and replaced once they are filled with dust.
It is known that in trapping airborne particles in disposable filter media such as fibrous matrices of glass, wool and the like, the trapping capacity of such filter media can be enhanced by ionizing the air, and charging the dust therein, before it enters the filter medium. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,706,182 to Sargent (1972), and 4,244,710 to Burger (1981) both depict such an arrangement. In both of these references, ions are introduced into the airflow stream by ion emitters positioned at an upstream location in the airflow, at a spaced distance from the filter medium that is intended to trap and remove charged particles from the airflow. Prior inventions by the present inventor also rely on the upstream release of ions into an air flow as presented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,518,531 (1996) and 6,077,334 (Jun. 20 2000).
It is also known that the trapping of dust particles, especially charged dust particles, can be enhanced by using as a trapping medium an air-permeable matrix of non-conducting, polarizable material. Local dipoles formed within such medium help trap and bind dust particles. An example of a prior art reference based on this principle is U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,887, by the present inventor.
The present invention makes use of the airflow-aligned, charged parallel plate principle and, optionally, the ionization principle in conjunction with polarized media to provide an improved performance air filter.
The invention in its general form will first be described, and then its implementation in terms of specific embodiments will be detailed with reference to the drawings following hereafter. These embodiments are intended to demonstrate the principle of the invention, and the manner of its implementation. The invention in its broadest and more specific forms will then be further described, and defined, in each of the individual claims which conclude this Specification.
In one aspect of the invention a series of generally parallel, alternately charged metal electrodes, aligned to receive air-flow are edge-on, used as polarizing electrodes to polarize trapping media contained between electrodes. The trapping medium may be in the form of a fibrous dielectric pad and/or may comprise pleated panels of air permeable trapping material. The electrodes are preferably aligned parallel to the airflow (although this is optional, to provide a polarizing, transverse field though the trapping medium. The polarizing electrodes may be in the form of plates between which the trapping media is placed. Alternately, polarizing electrodes may be formed right on the trapping media surface as by sheets of conductive screening or fabric. This can also be effected by rendering surface segments of the trapping media conducting as well as by providing air permeable conductive layer laid over such surfaces. The electrodes and trapping media may conveniently be formatted as a cartridge for ready removal and replacement.
In all of these variants, ionization may be provided upstream in the arriving airflow by a series of ionizing needles or other ionizing elements such as fine wires or conducting strings (c.f. U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,577, Nov. 12, 1996 by the present inventor). Such ionization charges dust particles in the air flow, enhancing further the trapping efficiency of the media present in the polarizing field formed between the oppositely charged polarizing electrodes.
Conductive surface portions may be formed on alternating sections of trapping medium constructed as a continuous surface folded into pleated panels by coating the medium with a conductive material, such as fine carbon or aluminum, preferably mixed with a binder. Conductive surfaces may also be formed by transferring conductive panels of conductive, porous (air-permeable) media to the trapping media as by an adhesive.
With trapping media contained between polarizing electrodes, a high potential voltage source is connected to provide a polarizing potential difference between consecutive electrodes. This potential difference not only tends to polarize the intervening portions of the trapping medium but also creates an electrical potential field between the electrodes with a high field gradient. Dust particles, particularly charged dust particles, are drawn laterally in the air flow by this transverse field to contact and be retrained in the trapping medium.
By these arrangements an improved air filter of increased efficiency and cost effectiveness is provided.
The foregoing summarizes the principal features of the invention and some of its optional aspects. The invention may be further understood by the description of the preferred embodiments, in conjunction with the drawings, which now follow.


A QAM receiver is disclosed. According to one aspect, a QAM receiver includes a signal input for receiving an analog input signal. Further, the QAM receiver includes an anti-aliasing filter and a series connected analog/digital converter for converting the received analog input signal into a digital signal. A carrier freguency loon detects a carrier freguency of the received analog input signal. A clock phase loon detects a clock phase of the received analog input signal. A control circuit is switchable between a receive mode of operation and a test mode of operation. In the test mode, the control circuit applies a center freauency adiusting signal to the carrier freauency loon for adiustment of a center freguency and applies a freguency band adjusting signal to the clock phase loon for adiustment of a freguency bandwidth to measure power level values for the entire freauency band of the received analog input signal.

FIG. 1 shows a QAM receiver according to the prior art.
As shown in FIG. 1, the QAM receiver receives an analog signal from a transmitter S. The data signal coming from a data source is transmitted by the transmitter S to a tuner T via a transmission channel. The tuner T precedes the actual QAM receiver IC and is used for tuning to the received signal. The received signal is delivered by the tuner T via an anti-aliasing filter AAF to at least one analog/digital converter ADC. The ADC output signal is supplied to a mixing stage. The in-phase signal component I and the quadrature component Q are present at the output of the mixing stage. The in-phase signal I and the quadrature phase signal Q are multiplied by a control signal in the time domain. The output signals of the mixing stage are supplied to digital resampling filters. The resampling filters perform a resampling of the received signal which, at the same time, is subjected to band limiting. During this process, the resampling filters receive a control signal from a numerically controlled oscillator NCO within a clock phase loop. The control signal sets the time of the sampling in dependence on a filtered clock phase error signal TP.
At the output end, the resampling filters RES are connected to an automatic gain control AGC. The automatic gain control AGC is followed by so-called matched filters MF. During transmission via the real transmission channel, the received signal, as a rule, exhibits linear distortion and an additional noise component. The QAM receiver has the task of reconstructing the bit sequence of the data source from the received signal. The matched filters (MF) are digital receive filters which are matched to a transmit filter in the transmitter S, in such a manner that the amplitude of the received signal is maximum at the sampling times. The matched filter MF can be adaptively constructed so that it can be adapted to the transmission channel. Before or after the matched filters (MF), an adaptive equalizer can be additionally provided which compensates for the distortion of the transmission channel.
The output signal of the matched filters (MF) is fed back to the automatic gain control AGC in a feedback loop. In addition, the output signals of the two matched filters MF are supplied to a clock phase detector TPD and a carrier frequency detector TFD. The clock phase detector TPD generates from the two output signals a clock phase error detection signal TP which is supplied to a downstream digital filter B. The clock phase error detection signal TP specifies the deviation of the clock phase of the received signal from a nominal value.
The filtered clock phase error detection signal TP is supplied to the numerically controlled oscillator NCOB which generates a control signal for setting the sampling times of the resampling filters RES.
The carrier frequency detector TFD forms from the output signals of the two matched filters MF a carrier frequency error detection signal TF which is supplied to a digital filter A. The filtered carrier frequency error detection signal TF is supplied to a numerically controlled oscillator NCOA which generates a control signal for the mixing stage.
The mixing stage forms a carrier frequency loop with the resampling filters RES, the gain control AGC, the matched filters MF, the carrier frequency detector TFD, the filter A and the numerically controlled oscillator NCOA.
The resampling filters RES form a clock phase loop with the automatic gain control AGC, the two matched filters MF, the clock phase detector TPD, the filter B and the numerically controlled oscillator NCOB.
The QAM receiver of the prior art, shown in FIG. 1, is thus constructed with two stages. The carrier frequency loop effects control in a first carrier frequency capture range until the carrier frequency error detection signal TF exhibits the error value zero at a nominal carrier frequency. In the second stage, the clock phase loop effects control until the clock phase error detection signal TP also exhibits the value zero within a clock phase capture range. This is indicated to the QAM receiver by means of a carrier phase and clock phase lock detection circuit (not shown).
After the QAM receiver IC and its interconnection with the tuner have been produced, both the QAM receiver IC, the tuner and the interconnection of the QAM receiver IC produced are tested. In particular, it is tested whether the tuner T, the anti-aliasing filter AAF and the downstream analog/digital converter ADC are operating correctly. In a measuring circuit of the prior art, this is done with the aid of an external spectrum analyzer for measuring the power density of a frequency spectrum applied.
FIG. 2 shows a measuring arrangement for measuring the tuner of the prior art. A known transmit signal is fed into an input node E preceding the tuner and the signal output by the tuner is applied to the spectrum analyzer at a tapping node A. The spectrum analyzer measures the frequency response of the tuner in order to determine whether it is operating correctly.
FIG. 3 shows a further measuring arrangement of the prior art for measuring the anti-aliasing filter AAF contained in the receiver IC. The AAF filter can be integrated in the receiver IC or precede the latter. In the measuring arrangement shown in FIG. 3, the tapping point A is located within the QAM receiver IC produced so that the tapping after the anti-aliasing filter AAF can only be managed with a very large amount of effort.
FIG. 4 shows a further measuring arrangement for measuring the analog/digital converter within the QAM receiver IC. In the measuring arrangement shown in FIG. 4, both the feed point E and the tapping point A are located inside the receiver IC so that both the signal injection and the signal extraction can only be managed with a very large amount of effort.
The measuring arrangements of the prior art as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 need an external spectrum analyzer for measuring the components contained in the QAM receiver. Such a spectrum analyzer is very expensive and, moreover, not always available. The configuration of the measuring arrangements shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 is often very elaborate, particularly since the signal feed points E and the tapping points A are partly inside the QAM receiver IC. The signal injection and the signal extraction are additionally made more difficult because of the high signal frequencies.


A method of testing an integrated circuit clearance distance device (“ICCDD”) having a predetermined clearance distance in air requirement and a predetermined isolation voltage limit including calculating a value of the breakdown voltage at the predetermined clearance distance for at least one gas; and selecting a gas in which the ICCDD has a breakdown voltage that is less than the predetermined isolation voltage.

Integrated circuit isolation devices (ICID) have many applications in modern electronics, for example, battery chargers, motor controllers, voltage monitoring/metering, medical electronics such as automated external defibrillators (AEDs). A typical ICID has a first die mounted on a first die pad and a second die mounted on a second die pad. The first and second die pads are typically provided in adjacent relationship on a common leadframe. High voltage isolation structure is provided between the two dies. The two dies typically communicate electrically through at least one bond wire or other conductor, or wirelessly by optical or Radio Frequency communication. ICIDs of many different constructions and different types of voltage isolation structure are known in the art.

Testing of integrated circuits with external clearance requirements


A method, system and process to improve the formant composition in a speech synthesis system so that the formants are more intelligible. The system employs a process in the memory of a processor to change the starting and ending frequency of phonemes from the frequency of the independent phonemes. The process examines preceding and succeeding ending phoneme frequency values to detect similar phoneme frequency values. If a dissimilar value is detected, then the invention provides for exchange of the formants to render the resulting speech more intelligible.

The field of voice input/output (I/O) systems has undergone considerable change in the last decade. A recent example of this change is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,216, entitled, Text to Speech Synthesis System and Method Using Context Dependent Vowel Allophones. The patent discloses a text-to-speech conversion system which converts specified text strings into corresponding strings of consonant and vowel phonemes. A parameter generator converts the phonemes into formant parameters, and a formant synthesizer uses the formant parameters to generate a synthetic speech waveform.
A library of vowel allophones are stored, each stored vowel allophone being represented by formant parameters for four formants. The vowel allophone library includes a context index for associating each vowel allophone with one or more pairs of phonemes preceding and following the corresponding vowel phoneme in a phoneme string. When synthesizing speech, a vowel allophone generator uses the vowel allophone library to provide formant parameters representative of a specified vowel phoneme.
The vowel allophone generator coacts with the context index to select the proper vowel allophone, as determined by the phonemes preceding and following the specified vowel phoneme. As a result, the synthesized pronunciation of vowel phonemes is improved by using vowel allophone formant parameters which correspond to the context of the vowel phonemes. The formant data for large sets of vowel allophones is efficiently stored using code books of formant parameters selected using vector quantization methods. The formant parameters for each vowel allophone are specified, in part, by indices pointing to formant parameters in the code books.
Another recent example of an advance in this technology is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,702, entitled, Formant Pattern Matching Vocoder. The patent discloses a vocoder for matching an input speech signal with a reference speech signal on the basis of mutual angular data developed through spherical coordinate conversion of a plurality of formant frequencies obtained from the input and reference speech signals.
Yet another example of an advance in speech synthesis is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,223, entitled, Low Data Rate Speech Encoding Employing Syllable Pitch Patterns. The patent discloses a speech encoding technique useful in low data rate speech. Spoken input is analyzed to determine its basic phonological linguistic units and syllables. The pitch track for each syllable is compared with each of a predetermined set of pitch patterns. A pitch pattern forming the best match to the actual pitch track is selected for each syllable. Phonological linguistic unit indicia and pitch pattern indicia are transmitted to a speech synthesis apparatus. This synthesis apparatus matches the pitch pattern indicia to syllable groupings of the phonological linguistic unit indicia. During speech synthesis, sounds are produced corresponding to the phonological linguistic unit indicia with their primary pitch controlled by the pitch pattern indicia of the corresponding syllable. This technique achieves a measure of approximation to the primary pitch of the original spoken input at a low data rate. In the preferred embodiment, each pitch pattern includes an initial pitch slope, which may be zero indicating no change in pitch, a final pitch slope and a turning point between these two slopes.
Still another example of an advance in speech synthesis is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,817, entitled, Device for Generating The Audio Information of a Set of Characters. The patent discloses a device for generating the audio information of a set of characters in which some characters are intoned or pronounced with a different voice character. The device includes means for making a distinction between a capital letter and a small letter presented. For a capital letter character, a speech pattern is formed in which the pitch or the voice character is modified, while maintaining their identity, with respect to a speech pattern for a small letter of the same character. The device also includes means for determining the position of a letter, preferably the last letter, of a word composed of characters presented and for forming a speech pattern for the relevant letter in which the pitch or the voice character is modified while the identity is maintained.
A final example of a recent advance in speech synthesis is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,359, entitled, Speech Synthesis System by Rule Using Phonemes as Synthesis Units. The patent discloses a speech synthesizer that synthesizes speech by actuating a voice source and a filter which processes output of the voice source according to speech parameters in each successive short interval of time according to feature vectors which include formant frequencies, formant bandwidth, speech rate and so on. Each feature vector, or speech parameter is defined by two target points (r/sub 1/, r/sub 2/), and a value at each target point together with a connection curve between target points. A speech rate is defined by a speech rate curve which defines elongation or shortening of the speech rate, by start point (d/sub 1/) of elongation (or shortening), end point (d/sub 2/), and elongation ratio between d/sub 1/and d/sub 2/. The ratios between the relative time of each speech parameter and absolute time are preliminarily calculated according to the speech rate table in each predetermined short interval.
None of the aforementioned patents or any prior art applicant is aware of employs a model in which format analysis and modification are applied to speech synthesis to improve the quality and perception of speech.

System and method for speech synthesis employing improved formant composition

International Business Machines Corporation


A system for physical-virtual environment fusion includes a sensor with a computing system and a memory in communication with the computing system, the memory storing a plurality of endpoints. The computing system is configured to select a semantic identity of an object from among a group of objects indicated by a user pointer indicator by determining, based on inputs from the sensor, the approximate orientation of the user pointer indicator towards a first endpoint from among the plurality of endpoints, the first endpoint having the group of objects located within the first endpoint. It further renders, on a display surface, the group of objects, receives from the user an indication regarding the semantic identity of the object and presents, on the display surface, an indication of the selection of the object from among the group of objects based on the further indications from the user.

There are many cases in which physical devices are used in a variety of settings involving groups of people and/or objects, such as in the formation of posts and lines to demark crowd control areas or permitted pathways for movement. These provide regions which may be fluid, and tend to require manpower to continually reconfigure them. The posts themselves provide opportunities for gathering/inferring/presenting/rendering/conveying information which may be optical, visual, or otherwise. Robotic devices of this sort may serve a variety of purposes in both gathering/inferring/presenting/rendering/conveying information and demarking areas.

System for physical-virtual environment fusion


A Digital Design Method which may be automated is for obtaining timing closure in the design of large, complex, high-performance digital integrated circuits. The methodincludes the use of a tuner on random logic macros that adjusts transistor sizes in a continuous domain. To accommodate this tuning, logic gates are mapped to parameterized cells for the tuning and then back to fixed gates after the tuning. Tuning is constrained in such a way as to minimize “binning errors” when the design is mapped back to fixed cells. Further, the critical sections of the circuit are marked in order to make the optimization more effective and to fit within the problem-size constraints of the tuner. A specially formulated objective function is employed during the tuning to promote faster global timing convergence, despite possibly incorrect initial timing budgets. The specially formulated objective function targets all paths that are failing timing, with appropriate weighting, rather than just targeting the most critical path. Finally, the addition of multiple threshold voltage gates allows for increased performance while limiting leakage power.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods for tuning the digital design and design automation of high-performance digital integrated circuits. The invention particularly is directed to the problem of developing an integrated circuit design optimization methodology which exploits circuit tuning of individual macros. The tuning of individual macros is conducted by optimizing transistor sizes over a defined continuous design space. To further optimize for performance, circuits with low or high threshold voltage transistors are selectively substituted for regular threshold ones.
2. Description of Background
Typically the datapath and array design sections of a high-speed microprocessor design are logically well-defined. In addition, these circuit sections are typically custom-designed circuits which are electrically and physically designed much earlier in the design cycle to assure high clocking performance. The remaining sections of the design, the control logic sections, are often changed late in the microprocessor design cycle to reach required logical function but other objectives such as timing closure put an additional constraint on the system, making automated optimal design closure techniques extremely valuable. Automated techniques deliver several advantages such as improved circuit performance, higher quality and correctness, and enhanced time-to-market.
The control logic is contained in physical entities called random logic macros or RLMs, where the term random does not imply true randomness, but instead a lack of regular structure as is found in datapath and array circuitry. Due to the unstructured nature of the logic, synthesis and place/route tools are employed to read in a logical description and transform it into primitive logical gates. Hereafter the term gate is understood to include a collection of transistors which is to be treated as a single logical circuit element. These gates are adjusted in drive strength to achieve timing objectives and placed legally while a wiring tool routes the connections between these gates to complete the physical design.
Prior-art methods of circuit tuning towards timing closure are illustrated in FIG. 1 (flow 100) in the case of a "flat" design methodology and FIG. 2 (flow 200) in the case of a "hierarchical" design methodology. For the majority of semiconductor designs, FIG. 1 is typically employed where designs are analyzed and optimized in a flat representation. The flow starts with a logic design specification (labeled "Customer Logic Drop" in box 110) whereby a logic synthesis tool (box 120) synthesizes the input logic description into proper logical gates and structures to assure logical correctness. Logic restructuring of the gates (box 130) maps the logical gates into technology-approved gates required for manufacturing. An initial timing analysis of the design is typically applied whereby the gates are put through a process of powering up and down (box 140), depending on current drive needed to move towards cycle-time goals. This process continues with the physical design (box 150) which entails the physical placement of the gates and global routing of the design which is needed to provide a rough understanding of the real wiring of the design. The global routing provides parasitic extraction details which, along with the placed design, is provided as input to static timing analysis (box 160) to predict the performance of the current design. Many iterations of this process (box 160 to box 120) are attempted with different adjustments of the entire process to achieve timing closure. If cycle time or the physical constraints are not met via this process, the design may take on new engineering logic changes (box 170), and if so the design is started once again through the synthesis, placement, timing process as described (boxes 120–160). If no logic changes are required, the gates of the design are connected via routing, the electrical parasitics of the routing are extracted, and the design proceeds through a final static timing (box 180). Other checks are applied at this time but typically the design must be adjusted logically to achieve cycle time goals and the design is presented back to the synthesis, placement and timing process of boxes 120–160. Upon final acceptance of the design, it is sent to manufacturing (box 190).
The other prior-art methodology to achieve timing closure is illustrated in FIG. 2 (flow 200) and is usually implemented for more complex and dense semiconductor designs such as a microprocessor. This hierarchical methodology presents many benefits in the spirit of "divide and conquer." It permits a parallel approach to tackling the complexity of the design by enabling the design team to work on macro partitions of the overall design. Each macro partition has a space budget and a timing budget associated with it. Once the macro partition has been designed, its actual timing is represented as a timing abstract, which is a simplified representation of its salient overall timing characteristics. This method improves design turnaround time and time-to-market. It also permits an analysis of the performance of the chip at any stage of the design, substituting full timing abstract models for portions of the chips that have been designed for the estimated or budgeted timing models created during high-level design planning for the portions that haven't yet been designed.
The boxes on the left of FIG. 2 (boxes 205 to 230) pertain to a custom design flow. Custom design is typically applied to arithmetic or dataflow circuits, or other circuits requiring careful hand-design. The boxes on the right of FIG. 2 (boxes 235–265) pertain to a design flow for automatically synthesized and placed random logic macros. The boxes in the middle (boxes 270 to 290) pertain to the steps in the methodology that bring together the custom and random logic macros for global integration and timing of the chip. Thus flow 200 of FIG. 2 embodies two levels of timing closure: one at the individual macro level, and another at the global chip level. The following four paragraphs explain the three main sections of this prior-art hierarchical design methodology.
Functions like adders and arrays are typically implemented as custom macros. It is widely known that efficient implementations of such macros cannot be totally developed by automatic computer-aided design (CAD) software and that in-depth engineering is required in many steps to assure performance. Therefore a custom macro's logic architecture (box 205) is described but the architecture is restructured logically and modified by hand for optimal timing performance (box 210). A rough physical placement is constructed of the major building blocks (box 215) to estimate overall size and to minimize parasitic element constraints within the design. The schematic is developed with these constraints and static or dynamic timing analysis is performed (box 220) by employing a static timing analysis tool or circuit simulator, respectively. The macro design is physically engineered, parasitics are extracted and the design is timed again (box 225). As necessary, the processes of boxes 210 to 255 are iterated to improve the timing characteristics of the macro.
For the purposes of hierarchical analysis, a timing macro model, called a timing abstract (box 275), is produced. A timing abstract is a simplified model that represents the timing behavior of the entire macro. The timing abstract typically contains the timing behavior of timing arcs to and from macro boundary pins to latch points within the macro design. These timing abstracts are incorporated at the global level to enable the chip-level timing analysis (box 270) for the entire chip design. Timing assertions (box 230) or constraints are fed back and applied on the macro pins from the global timing analysis. These timing assertions when placed on the custom macro during timing analysis could result in the need for additional logic restructuring for timing optimization and the process is started again (box 225 back to box 210). To help speed this process it is extremely effective to produce the timing abstracts in the beginning of the design from the schematic timing analysis (dotted arrow from box 220 to box 275).
In parallel to the custom flow, the Random Logic Macro (RLM) flow starts with an initial logic specification (labeled "RLM Logic Drop" in box 235). This part of the flow is very similar to FIG. 1 (flow 100). The logic is synthesized (box 240), logic is restructured for technology adaptation (box 245), gates are powered up or down for required drive strengths (box 250), and the resulting netlist is physically designed (box 255) for minimal wire length on critical paths. Once completed, parasitic extraction and timing analysis is executed (box 260) on the design. Constraints are typically adjusted throughout this process and the loop is iterated many times (box 260 back to box 240) to produce optimal performance. As with custom designs, timing abstracts (box 275) for the RLMs are produced for global timing analysis. Timing assertions (box 265) are fed back to the RLM design loop as additional constraints on the design.
The third main component of flow 200 comprises of the boxes in the middle of FIG. 2 in which the various custom and RLM macros are integrated to obtain a final chip design. Global timing results (box 270) and new logic changes (box 280) would require either custom or RLM macros or both to be redesigned depending on the change required. Evaluation of a final timing run, physical design requirements and other checks (box 285) might also require a loop through either the custom or RLM flows. Until all checks and analysis are satisfied, the chip cannot be released for manufacturing (box 290).
The two described prior-art methodology flows have various strengths and weaknesses, which are discussed below. Analyzing a flat design as in FIG. 1 (flow 100), enables a small design team to close in on the cycle time quickly with the help of a fully automated chip development system. Typically the optimal cycle time for a given technology is not achieved due to the imperfections within this system including approximations made along the way and short cuts taken throughout the process to achieve a quick turnaround from the design system. Inaccuracies include, for example, the use of approximate timing models rather than transistor-level simulation. Short cuts include sub-optimal and heuristic optimization methods, a relatively small library to keep synthesis turn around time to a minimum and relatively simplistic modeling and optimization techniques. These limitations or imperfections force the system in FIG. 1 (flow 100) to iterate many times before a successful conclusion on the achievable performance. Detailed "cross-section analysis" of the worst case paths of the design is typically not conducted in such a flow.
A flat design flow as in FIG. 1 (flow 100) implies very large optimization problems with very large design spaces. Various commercial and in-house CAD (computer-aided design) tools have been developed to solve the optimization problems in this flow. Due to the large number of optimization variables and the discrete nature of these variables, heuristic methods have been favored in these optimization tools. The use of heuristic methods leads to a number of difficulties including problems in achieving performance, a large number of design iterations, incomplete exploitation of the technology, all of which lead to long design times and sub-optimal designs.
As digital designs become more complex and dense as in leading-edge microprocessors and SoCs (systems on a chip), FIG. 1 (flow 100) is insufficient to obtain timing closure and system objectives, hence a hierarchical methodology like that of FIG. 2 (flow 200) is applied. While FIG. 2 (flow 200) controls the design complexity with the use of macro partitions, timing closure must now be accounted for at two levels of the design, both locally within the macro and globally. Referring back to FIG. 2 (flow 200), the difficulty with this flow is the management of the timing budgets between macros and global connections. The process requires careful management of these budgets through the use of the wiring and buffering solutions of the global nets and careful logic implementation of the macro paths connecting between these global paths. Cycle time closure on the critical paths could require logic re-design to reduce overall delays of these timing paths. This redesign could effect connections at the global level and new solutions of wiring and buffering must be implemented. Therefore logic and circuit solutions at both the global and macro levels must be analyzed and developed to achieve optimum cycle time performance. Another potential problem is that typically only the top most critical path or paths are searched, broken down and analyzed for the required solution, but as soon as that is done, other sub-critical paths which were not exposed before may now be limiting. The procedure is therefore time-consuming and not guaranteed to produce a design that meets the required system-level performance.
Thus, the hierarchical design flow of FIG. 2 (flow 200) suffers from two main problems. The first is the difficulty of iteratively adjusting the budgets of the individual macros so as to meet global timing requirements, while giving individual macros reachable targets. The second is that focusing on just a few critical paths is not sufficient to meet overall timing and leads to a great deal of re-design.
As described in the previous two paragraphs, both flows limit the progression of the design due to the nature of the heuristic iterations that each flow applies and therefore retards the achievable circuit performance which can be obtained by the flows. This slow convergence rate towards cycle time objectives limits the flexibility of the design team to introduce functional and timing changes throughout the design process, and in particular during the crucial period late in the design cycle. In all cases, only a small sub-set of critical paths is exposed towards an optimal solution.
Modern technologies allow multiple threshold voltage transistors, whereby transistors with different threshold voltages can be integrated on the same chip. Low threshold voltage (Low Vt) transistors offer faster performance, but at the cost of increased leakage power. High threshold voltage (High Vt) transistors offer significant reduction in leakage power, but at the cost of lower performance. It is therefore beneficial to sparingly use Low Vt devices on the critical paths to achieve higher performance, but limit the usage of such devices to limit leakage power. It is also beneficial to use High Vt devices on the non-critical paths to reduce leakage power, but not to the extent that the non-critical paths slow down and turn into critical paths.
Physical synthesis CAD tools employ heuristic methods to introduce multiple threshold devices with the dual objectives of achieving higher performance and limiting leakage power. The prior-art heuristic methods limit the ability to optimally adjust the performance and leakage of the circuits.
The prior art therefore suffers from several problems and weaknesses as summarized below:    a) Prior art design flows generally require excessive iteration.    b) Prior art design flows focus on optimizing only the single or a very small subset of the most critical paths, which in turn leads to long design times and slow convergence towards cycle time objectives.    c) In prior art hierarchical flows, the interaction between imperfect budgeting across the hierarchy at the global level and imperfect optimization at the macro level can lead to poor circuit performance and excessive redesign effort.    d) Prior art flows do not include continuous optimization techniques during RLM design, despite the ability of such techniques to obtain optimal solutions. Further, prior-art flows do not include specialized techniques to deal with the relatively low capacity and high run times of such continuous optimization methods.

Method for tuning a digital design for synthesized random logic circuit macros in a continuous design space with optional insertion of multiple threshold voltage devices

International Business Machines Corporation


A switched Ethernet controller (SEC) device and associated method that provides processor based intervention in the packet routing decision process is provided. The method of routing a multicast packet between a source port on a source device and a plurality of destination ports on a plurality of destination devices, utilizes a processor. The method includes the steps of the source device receiving the multicast packet via the source port, the source device sending the multicast packet to the processor, the processor examining the multicast packet, the processor determining the plurality of destination devices and corresponding the plurality of destination ports based on the results obtained during the step of examining, the processor transferring the multicast packet to the plurality of destination devices, and the plurality of destination devices sending the multicast packet to the plurality of destination ports.

Traditional Ethernet switching hub equipment operates by examining Ethernet header information to perform local switching functions. If it is determined that a frame is destined for a local port, the hub transfers the frame between the inbound port and the outbound port. Typically this transfer occurs between multiple switching Ethernet controller devices in hardware using a direct memory access transfer scheme, common in many computer designs. The disadvantage of using direct memory transfer to transfer Ethernet frames is that it precludes the provision of any upper OSI level processing such as Level 3 processing or routing. The OSI stack defines seven levels or layers that operate independently of one another. Each level or layer has a distinct task or function to perform. In the OSI model Level 1 is defined as the physical layer, Level 2 as the link layer, and Level 3 as the network level. Traditional Ethernet switching is performed at the Level 2 layer. However, in many situations it is desirable to be able to perform some Level 3 processing also (i.e. by a processing device other than the switching Ethernet controller device), using suitable hardware or software techniques. Using direct memory transfer techniques to transfer the frame from one port to another makes this impossible.

Switching ethernet controller providing packet routing


An illuminator assembly is provided for ophthalmic refractors which is formed as a singular light guide formed in unitary fashion of a transparent polymeric material. The light guide includes a light input portion located adjacent an incandescent light source mounted within the refractor housing. The light guide has transparent output portions which extend uniformly and continuously about the axis scale and further extend to the cylinder power window and the spherical power window. Through the use of a potentiometer/voltage regulator based circuit, the practitioner may alter the intensity of the light propagated to these readout functions by maneuvering a knob mounted upon the battery housing. To improve the characteristics of the illumination, the transparent outputs of the light guide are formed as Fresnel lenses.

Correction of human vision is centered, in general, upon clinical refraction, an approach based upon optics, physiology, and the psychology of perception. Generally, any refractive analysis of the human eye has some basis in optics. For example, the treatment of defective vision will consider the position of focus of the eye which may be displaced from the emmetropic retina under conditions of either myopia or hyperopia. In addition, the eye may be astigmatic, exhibiting different focal aspects for each primary meridian which, in turn, may be oriented anywhere within a 180.degree. aspect. Thus, the optometric clinician often is called upon to approach the optical aspect of diagnosis by evaluating the dioptric aspects of focal deficiency as they may be related to meridial power variances. The correction of occular astigmatism is carried out by collapsing the interval of Sturm with cylinder lenses. See the following publication in this regard: "Visual Optics and Refraction--A Clinical Approach" by D. D. Michaels, 2d Ed., C. V. Mosby Co., St. Louis, Mo. 1980.
Commonly, an ophthalmic instrument referred to as a refractor is employed for efficiently carrying out optical analysis. Refractors typically are fashioned comprising right and left batteries, each having an eye position for the patient before which any of a broad variety of disk-mounted testing lenses may be positioned. These lenses may be spherical, exhibiting a broad range of powers, or cylindrical, again exhibiting power variations but with respect to alignment along + and - axes.
Where an evaluation of the astigmatic eye is at hand, a broad variety of analytic approaches have been developed. Linksz has described a method for determining meridial orientation, i.e. by checking cylinder for axis and amount by rotating a correcting cylinder before the eye. See the following publications in this regard: Linksz, "A Determination of Axis and Amount of Astigmatic Error by Rotation of Trial Cylinder", Archives of Ophthalmology, October 1942. The rotating cylinder approach to this form of analysis was further developed into a test known as the "Jackson Cross Cylinder Test" which has been implemented broadly in ophthalmic refractors. The test is performed in both a cylinder axis and cylinder power mode. Under the test procedure, the patient is seated in a darkened examination room before the refractor and is asked to observe an illuminated distant target. The correcting cylinder axis before an appropriate eye then is manipulated by manually turning an axis control knob which is operated in conjunction with two complementary large surrounding protractor scales. Such manipulation adjusts the position of the axis of the pertinent test cylinder, its orientation is read at the scale in degrees ranging from 0.degree. to 180.degree.. Typically, the gradiations of the scales are arranged in steps of 5.degree..
Upon the axis control knob being adjusted to a first approximation, a cross-cylinder, provided as a lens consisting of equal power + and - cylinders with their axes 90.degree. apart, is positioned at the eye station. This test lens is mounted in its loupe for rotation about a "flip" axis midway between the + and - axes. When the lens is flipped, the + and - axes change places. For this axis mode testing, the cross cylinder also is positioned with respect to a first approximation such that its axis is oriented 45.degree. with respect to the correcting cylinder axis. Such aligning procedure is carried out somewhat semi-automatically. Generally, the refractor will carry the cross cylinder lens within a turret which is manually rotated to position the lens before the eye station or tube.
As the test continues, the cross cylinder lens is "flipped" from its first position to the alternate transverse position and the patient is asked which position is better. Depending upon the response and assuming testing is carried out with minus cylinder lenses, the correcting cylinder axis knob is manipulated to rotate the correcting cylinder toward the position at which vision is improved. These steps are repeated until a final end point is reached such that when the cross cylinder lens is flipped from one position to the other, the patient's vision is equally blurred. The practitioner then records the reading of the axis control knob by observing a painted line indicia thereon as it is positioned adjacent to a line of the earlier-described scale. Generally, the practitioner interpolates the axial orientation in degrees within 5.degree. steps of the scale. During the procedure of gradual refinement of axis positions, the practitioner is repeatedly called upon to reference the axis scale under less than desirable ambient lighting conditions. Generally, only when the testing is completed can the light level be raised. At times, penlights have been put to use to read scales, usually only at test completion.
following the axis mode check, the cross-cylinder lens is rotated by the operator 45.degree. to another mechanical detent control position for carrying out a cylinder power mode check. As the patient monoccularly fixates upon the illuminated target, the cross cylinder lens is flipped between alternate positions and the patient is asked, as before, at which position vision is better or worse. If vision is less blurred, correcting minus cylinder power is increased. If vision is better, the correcting cylinder power is reduced. Finally, an end point is obtained wherein correcting cylinder power is correct and the vision of the patient equally is impaired when the cross cylinder lens is flipped between its alternate positions. Readings throughout the procedure again are carried out by the practitioner under less than desirable lighting conditions.
In general, as the practitioner carries out hours of analysis with the refractor, fatigue factors and the like will set in which may lead to human error in the reading of scale based data. This, in turn, will result in lengthier tests. The provision of illuminated readouts for refraction has been suggested, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,822 where digital readouts are provided to the practitioner through the utilization of multi-component light emitting diodes. Other attempts at improving readout have been through the uses of small pieces of plastic associated with small lightbulbs. However, the form of illumination provided by such devices has been of minimum value. In this regard, it is important, for example, that the entire axis scale be readable and that the amount of illumination supplied be as minimal as possible while remaining effective to achieve accurate recordation. Finally, it is desirable that all critical dials and readout windows be provided with efficient illumination without resort to a multitude of lighting devices and the like otherwise complicating the refractor structure.

Illumination apparatus for ophthalmic refractors


Methods and systems for flexibly loading an application, e.g., a software application, and associated data from an application provider (101) onto a tamper resistant module (TRM) (103) having an I/O buffer (115) and a memory (119). A method embodiment of the invention comprises determining (501) the size of the TRM's I/O buffer (115), segmenting (503) the application to be loaded and its associated data into a plurality of segments, with each segment adapted to be stored in the I/O buffer (115) and the size of each segment being a function of the determined size of the I/O buffer (115), separately transmitting (505) each segment to the tamper resistant module (103), and storing (603) each separately transmitted segment in a selected one of one or more available spaces of the TRM's memory (119), said spaces selected depending upon the size of each segment and upon which of said available spaces has the smallest available area in the TRM's memory (119) in which the segment can be stored.

The invention relates to a computer system in which a population of computers has access to multiple applications. The computers may be personal computers (PC's) or, for example, integrated circuit cards ("IC cards"), also known as "smart cards". The applications may be programs available from a variety of sources, including computer tape or disc, and, in particular, remote computers with which a serial link, typically by telephone, is established.
In the PC environment, it is customary to distribute applications on floppy discs or CD ROMS and to retain them on a local hard disc for operation. In many ways, this is inconvenient, demanding high capacity local storage media and presenting difficulties with updates. In the field of smart cards, the problem of local application storage is much more acute, because storage capacity in the integrated circuit is relatively very limited. A solution in both cases is to make available applications held remotely and download them via a remote link. Internet and intranet systems are ideal vehicles for this, and it is possible to run PC's from Internet application modules (or "applets" as they are called) for immediate running and then to discard them. The applets require no local long-term storage capacity. An example of such a system is JAVA.
Several difficulties are associated with downloaded applications. One is hardware compatibility. Different computers have different microprocessors and different operating systems. It has been customary to re-write applications to cater for different computers, but this is cost-effective only for large, widely used, and static applications. It is not practicable for applets. A second problem is control of the applets. Without control, it would be possible for applets to make direct hardware calls to take control of local storage or communication devices. This could be mischievous at best and severely damaging or criminal at worst.
JAVA meets these two difficulties by ensuring that the applets are written in a common high-level interpreted language and that a local interpreter processes the applet instructions. Thus, all applets are written in the same language, and the interpreter constitutes both a hardware and a control buffer. Similarly, and for the same reasons, proposals have been made for on-board interpreters in smart cards to run downloaded high-level language applications.
IC cards are becoming increasingly used for many different purposes in the world today. An IC card typically is the size of a conventional credit card which contains a computer chip including a microprocessor, read-only-memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only-memory (EEPROM), an Input/Output (I/O) mechanism, and other circuitry to support the microprocessor in its operations. An IC card may contain a single application or may contain multiple independent applications in its memory. MULTOS™ is a multiple application operating system which runs on IC cards, among other platforms, and allows multiple applications to be executed on the card itself. This allows a card user to run many programs stored in the card (for example, credit/debit, electronic money/purse, and/or loyalty applications), irrespective of the type of terminal (i.e., ATM, telephone, and/or POS) in which the card is inserted for use.
A conventional single application IC card, such as a telephone card or an electronic cash card, is loaded with a single application at its personalization stage when it is manufactured and before it is given to a card user. That application, however, cannot be modified or changed after the card is issued, even if the modification is desired by the card user or card issuer. Moreover, if a card user wanted a variety of application functions to be performed by IC cards issued to him or her, such as both an electronic purse and a credit/debit function, the card user would be required to carry multiple physical cards on his or her person, which would be quite cumbersome and inconvenient. If an application developer or card user desired two different applications to interact or exchange data with each other, such as a purse application interacting with a frequent flyer loyalty application, the card user would be forced to swap multiple cards in and out of the card-receiving terminal, making the transaction difficult, lengthy, and inconvenient.
Therefore, it is beneficial to store multiple applications on the same IC card. For example, a card user may have both a purse application and a credit/debit application on the same card, so that the user could select which type of payment (by electronic cash or credit card) to use to make a purchase. Multiple applications could be provided to an IC card if sufficient memory exists and an operating system capable of supporting multiple applications is present on the card. Although multiple applications could be preselected and placed in the memory of the card during its production stage, it would also be beneficial to have the ability to load and delete applications for the card post-production as needed.
The increased flexibility and power of storing multiple applications on a single card create new challenges to be overcome concerning the application loading process, in which information (including application code and associated data) is exchanged between the application provider and the individual card. The IC card only has a finite amount of memory on the card for storing applications. Applications and their associated data can vary drastically in size, depending upon the application. When multiple applications are stored on a card, and a series of application additions and deletions have occurred, memory fragmentation becomes an issue, where memory which is free cannot be used because of size limitations.
Additionally, an IC card has limited space in its input buffer, which can be separate or combined with an output buffer, i.e., an Input/Output (I/O) buffer. It may not be possible to fit the entire application and its associated data into an I/O buffer of an IC card at one time. In order to achieve the flexibility of selectively loading and deleting applications on an IC card, the problems of limited I/O buffer space and fragmentation must be addressed.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a system and method that allows for flexible loading of an application and its associated data onto an IC card by segmenting the application and associated data into selected segments in order to limit the size of the data packets being transmitted at one time, and to reduce fragmentation in the memory of the IC card.
According to the invention, a computer system comprises a population of computers; tamper-resistant modules each associated respectively with one of said computers; a plurality of computer applications; provider means for holding the computer applications; and means for coupling the provider means to the computers for downloading the computer applications to the computers.
The computers may be PC's, in which case the tamper-resistant modules may be smart cards read by readers attached to the computers or, for example, dongles, PC cards, or PCMCIA cards connected to the computers.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the computers are embodied in integrated circuits which are themselves the tamper-resistant modules. Typically, the integrated circuits are mounted in smart cards.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Flexibly loading a tamper resistant module