A system and method for tool exchange during surgery for cooperatively controlled robots comprises a tool holder for receiving a surgical tool adapted to be held by a robot and a surgeon, a tool holding element for constraining downward motion of the tool while allowing low force removal of the surgical tool from the holder, a first sensor for detecting if the surgical tool is docked within the tool holder, and a selector for automatically selecting different movements or actions of the tool holder to be performed based upon information detected by the first sensor. The system and method of the present invention provides an advantage to an often slow moving cooperative robot, by increasing the speed by which the tool holder may move in the direction away from the patient.

In the "hands-on" cooperative robot control paradigm, both the operator and the robot hold the tool while the forces exerted by the operator on the tool are sensed with a force/torque sensor and the robot moves to minimize these forces, effectively rendering the operator's desired motion. For surgical applications, quick tool changes are desirable and often required for timing and safety reasons. Specifically, unintended patient movement requires an immediate compensatory repositioning of the instrument to avoid tissue injury.
A quick tool exchange mechanism is desirable for a surgical system based on cooperatively controlled robot where frequent insertion and removal of surgical instruments is required, e.g., Vitreoretinal surgery. For safety reasons, this tool interface should also provide a very quick and robust instrument removal from the surgical site that is not dependent on a functioning robot. While engaged, this mechanism should not impede the function of the robot or the ability of the surgeon to perform desired tasks.
One approach to this problem is to use a simple d-tenting mechanism in which a small spring-loaded ball or pin in the tool holder engages a socket or groove on the tool shaft to hold the tool in place unless a sufficiently large force is exerted to disengage the tool. Another approach is to use a magnet. One challenge with these approaches is holding the tool firmly enough to permit the operator to guide the tool without unintended break-away while also ensuring that the required release force is not so large that the tool cannot be removed very quickly and safely if the need arises. This challenge is especially crucial in applications such as retinal microsurgery, where the forces are extremely delicate and the need for very quick, non-disruptive tool withdrawal is great.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system and method for assisting with tool exchange during surgery.

Tool exchange interface and control algorithm for cooperative surgical robots


A shunt type voltage regulator circuit (300) can include a load supply circuit (306) and feedback circuit (308-0) that provide impedance modulated according to a first feedback circuit (308), thus limiting power consumption at higher power supply ranges. In addition, a faster regulation response can be provided by a current conveyor circuit (312′) that can force the voltage at a regulated load node (304) to match that at a replication node (316).

Voltage regulator circuits can serve numerous purposes in integrated circuit devices. One particular application can be to regulate an internal power supply voltage for certain sections of an integrated circuit device. Even more particularly, voltage regulators can supply a power supply voltage to memory cell arrays within memory devices, such as content addressable memories (CAMs), static random access memories (SRAMs) and dynamic RAMs (DRAMs), as but a few of the many possible applications.
Among the various types of voltage regulators are "shunt" type regulators. A typical shunt regulator provides a shunting current path from a load (i.e., the regulated node). When a voltage to the load exceeds a predetermined amount, the shunt path can be enabled, and typically, a large amount of current is diverted (shunted) from the load to prevent an overvoltage condition at the load.
One conventional shunt regulator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,917 B1 issued to Gregory J. Smith on Jul. 1, 2003 (Smith). Smith teaches an arrangement in which a shunting device can be enabled in response to either of two feedback loops. The feedback loops both include fixed resistors that provide a voltage divider that provides an input voltage to an amplifier. When a voltage divider potential exceeds a given reference voltage, the amplifier enables the shunt device, which shunts current to ground until the feedback loop(s) indicates a regulator input or output has returned to a desired level.
While arrangements like that of Smith can provide appropriate current shunting for certain applications, such arrangements can be less suitable for other applications. In particular, in some applications it may be desirable to limit power consumption and/or current draw as much as possible. In approaches like Smith, there can be considerable power consumption at the high limit of an external power supply range, as each time the power supply voltage exceeds the regulation limit, by even a relatively small amount, the amplifier can drive the shunting device (e.g., transistor) into saturation, and large amounts of current can be shunted to ground. In addition, such periodic current draws can tax power supply current sourcing capabilities, which may already be strained in high current applications, such as CAM devices, as but one example.
In addition, approaches like that of Smith may provide insufficient response at higher frequencies (greater than 1 MHz). If a load capacitance is relatively low with respect to peak load current demands, a regulated node potential may jump well beyond a desired limit before current shunting brings the potential back to the desired level.
A voltage regulator utilizing a current conveyor is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/965,445, filed on Oct. 14, 2004, and corresponding International Application PCT/US2004/043756, filed on Dec. 22, 2004, entitled REPLICA BIASED VOLTAGE REGULATOR by the present inventor Iulian Gradinariu.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to arrive at a shunt-type voltage regulator that does not suffer from the above drawbacks of conventional approaches. More particularly, it would be desirable to provide a shunt-type voltage regulator that can provide a regulated voltage at higher supply ranges without consuming relatively large amounts of current. Further, it would be desirable for such a voltage regulator to provide a better high frequency response than conventional arrangements like those described above.


Mammalian Interleukin-7 proteins (IL-7s)g DNAs and expression vectors encoding mammalian IL-7s, end processes for producing mammalian IL-7s as products of cell culture, including recombinant systems, are disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to the fields of immunology and molecular biology, and particularly to a polypeptide growth factor which regulates the proliferation and differentiation of lymphocyte and other hematopoietic progenitors.
B and T lymphocytes are the primary effector cells of the immune responses. Both cell classes are considered to derive ultimately from hematopoietic stem cells in the mammalian bone marrow, via progenitor or precursor cells representing distinguishable stages in the differentiation of each class.
B lymphocytes, or B cells, are the precursors of circulating antibody-secreting plasma cells. Mature B cells, which are characterized by expression of surface-bound immunoglobulin capable of binding specific antigens, derive from hematopoietic stem cells via an intermediary cell class known as pre-B cells. Mature T cells develop principally in the thymus, presumably from an as-yet-unidentified precursor cell which migrates from the bone marrow to the thymus at an early stage of T lymphocyte development.
While considerable progress has been made in identifying soluble hormone-like factors which regulate differentiation of other cells of hematopoietic origin, for example, granulocytes and macrophages, very little is known about regulatory factors involved in B and T cell lymphogenesis. The pluripotent lymphoid stem cell has not been identified, nor have all of the factors or conditions required for commitment and expansion of the B and T cell lineages been defined. The later stages of B and T cell growth and differentiation, following the appearance of surface immunoglobulin and the emergence of the B cell from the bone marrow, or the T cell from the thymus, have been the most well studied. This work has revealed a number of factors which are active on mature peripheral B and T cells, including IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, interferon gamma, BSF-2, neuroleukin, and transforming growth factor beta.
Fragmentary evidence has been made available concerning the B cells considered to be the immediate precursors of mature functional peripheral B cells. These pre-B cells have been defined as cells containing cytoplasmic .mu. chain but no cytoplasmic light chain and no surface immunoglobulin.
Paige, Nature 302:711 (1983) and Paige et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 14:979 (1984) described techniques for culturing B cell progenitors derived from 14-day murine fetal liver cells. These pre-B cells were observed to differentiate to antibody secreting B cells in vitro when cultures were supported by a layer of fetal liver cells, bone marrow adherent cells, or conditioned media containing colony stimulating factors.
Giri et al., J. Immunol. 132:223 (1984) cultured a murine bone marrow-derived pre-B cell line, 70Z/3, in the presence of partially purified IL-1 preparations derived from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced P388D1 cell supernatants. Following contact with the IL-1 preparation, the pre-B cells were observed to express surface immoglobulin. Jyonouchi et al., J. Immunol. 135:1891 (1985) reported that a humoral factor or factors from the serum of NZB mice could enhance the maturation of B lineage precursor cells. Landreth et al., J. Immunol. 134:2305 (1985) demonstrated that a factor (or factors) present in the urine of a cyclic neutropenic patient stimulated generation of pre-B cells in human and mouse bone marrow cultures.
However, these results have been difficult to interpret due to the non-homogeneous nature of the cell populations involved. The pleiotropic effects of known lymphokines, as well as their potent intrinsic biological activities, complicate analysis of assays involving the response of heterogeneous cell cultures to conditioned cell culture media derived from serum-containing cell cultures.
One major impediment to the study of lymphocyte development has been the difficulty associated with obtaining enriched populations of viable lymphoid precursors. The long term bone marrow culture system developed by Whitlock and Witte, J. Immunol. Meth. 67:353 (1984) has provided a source of pre-B cells for study. In a Whitlock-Witte culture, an adherent support layer comprising stromal-derived fibroblasts, macrophages, and endothelial cells is employed as a feeder layer to support the growth of an upper phase of nonadherent pre-B and earlier lymphoid precursors.
Whitlock et al., Cell 48:1009 (1987), and Hunt et al., Cell 48:997 (1987) reported cloning of cell lines derived from murine bone marrow stroma which were capable of supporting growth of pre-B cells and other precursors of mature B cells in Whitlock-Witte cultures. Supernatants of one such cell line, designated ALC, were tested for activity in IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, and IL-4 assays. The absence of activity in these assays suggested that these factors were not the source of the proliferation-inducing activity found in ALC supernatants. Both Whitlock et al. and Hunt et al. considered the pre-B cell inducing activity which they observed to be attributable to a novel factor present in the stromal cell supernatants.
In developing the present invention, a variant of the Whitlock-Witte culture system was employed as a source of immature B cells, which were the basis for a rapid quantitative assay for detecting growth factors capable of stimulating proliferation of pre-B cells. A putative factor observed in murine stromal cell cultures was tentatively designated "Lymphopoietin-1" ("LP-1"), and subsequently designated "lnterleukin-7" ("IL-7"). To clone a murine IL-7 cDNA, which was used to secure the human cDNA, a new cloning technique was employed. To obtain a cell line which expressed a soluble murine IL-7 in detectable quantities, a novel cell line was established by transformation of stromal cells derived from a Whitlock-Witte culture. This cell line, which secretes a pre-B cell growth activity in serum-free media, provided specific IL-7 messenger RNA for expression cloning, and protein for purification and sequencing. Isolation of a murine cDNA clone enabled identification by cross-hybridization of human genomic and cDNA clones encoding human IL-7.
Preliminary experiments involving administration of purified recombinant IL-7 to mice have indicated that in addition to stimulating the development and proliferation of the hematopoietic precursors of T and B cells, IL-7 is also capable of inducing the proliferation of megakaryocyte and granulocyte/macrophage precursors in bone marrow. In view of potential immunological therapeutic uses in stimulating proliferation of precursors of T cells and antibody-secreting B cells, as cell as other hematopoietic cell types, there is considerable interest in developing technology for producing biologically active IL-7 molecules. Use of recombinant expression systems can provide sufficient quantities of pure protein to permit detailed study of the biological activity of such molecules and to supply anticipated clinical demands for therapeutic IL-7 compositions.

Use of interleukin-7 to stimulate proliferation of hematopoietic cell precursors


A copy protection system for protecting content wherein a ticket and a watermark are created, utilizing a first time reference (TD) and a one-way function, to indicate the copy protection status of the content. A source device produces the ticket and watermark using a first time reference and a hashing function. The source device provides a data stream containing the content, the ticket, the watermark, and the first time reference (TD) to the receiver device. The receiver device determines if the first time reference (TD) is contained within a time window determined by a second time reference. When, the first time reference (TD) is contained within the time window, the receiver compares the ticket to the watermark using the first time reference (TD) and the one-way function, and based on the comparison, produces a signal indicating the copy protection status of the content.

This invention generally relates to a system for protecting content. Specifically, the present invention pertains to utilizing a ticket, a watermark, and a time reference to indicate the copy protection status of content.
The ability to transmit digital information securely is increasingly important. Owners of content want to be able to provide the content to authorize users without having the content utilized by unauthorized users. However, one problem with digital content is that an exact copy can be made without any degradation in the quality of the copy. Therefore, the copying of digital content is very attractive to pirating operations or attackers.
There are several different levels of attackers. Each type of attacker has a different level of sophistication, motivation, and means (software and hardware) needed to defeat a copy protection method. There are four typical types of attackers, a casual attacker, a hacker, a small-scale pirate, and a commercial pirate.
A casual attacker is an ordinary consumer that is motivated to copy content for later use (time shifting) or for distribution to friends and relatives. The level sophistication of a casual attacker is low. The casual attacker will typically only use consumer equipment in an unmodified form. A more aggressive casual attack may be mounted if a relatively inexpensive modification to consumer equipment is available. This may take the form of a hardware device such as the equipment used to defeat the Macrovision system. Typically, a casual attacker will not open a product to access the internal connections.
A hacker is usually motivated to copy protected content just to see if it can be done. The content may then be distributed widely in avoidance or in spite of copy protection laws. An attacker of this type is often highly skilled and may go to great lengths to acquire content. The financial resources of such an attacker are limited but the time resources can be high. Once the content is acquired, the content may be distributed to friends and relatives. In addition, the Internet may also provide an anonymous method for distributing the illegally copied content.
Both small-scale and commercial pirates are interested in defeating copy-protected content in order to produce and sell illegal copies of the content. By avoiding payments to the rightful owner of the copy-protected content, the pirates may reap large profits. Typically, the pirate may take advantage of the difference in release windows in order access high value content and distribute it.
For instance, in the movie industry, release windows are utilized to maximize profit from content. The essence of these release windows is to first release the content to a premium service such as a pay-per-view service or a video on demand service. Thereafter, the content may be released on a lower price service such as a home-box-office service. At this time, the content may also be available to a consumer through a purchased storage medium such as a Digital Video Disc (DVD).
Pirates however, frustrate the use of these release windows by pirating the content that is available through the premium service and then releasing pirated versions of the content to the public. This may cause substantial financial losses to the rightful owners of the content. Accordingly, a successful copy protection scheme should at least frustrate a pirates attempt for a sufficient period of time till the legitimate owner of the content may reap their rightful profits.
As a class, pirates are assumed to have information not readily available to the consumer including a direct knowledge and understanding of the circuitry within a product. Additionally, the pirate is willing to open the cover of the device to gain access to internal connections. These connections can be easily accessible or may take some amount of specialized tooling to locate or tap. A pirate may have the ability to reverse engineer a product sufficiently to determine the location of clear digital signals. A pirate may also have detailed information about internal circuitry of consumer electronics devices that would allow for the tapping of clear digital signals before or after compression. The pirate typically has the understanding needed to use expensive custom hardware that is designed to break cryptographic keys. Finally, the pirate is assumed to have knowledge of the algorithms and protocols used within the copy protection system and some ability to attempt to defeat them. The systems used to defeat copy protection may include a PC, a group of PCs, or custom-built equipment assembled for the sole purpose of defeating copy protection.
Beyond some level of attacker, the expense of defeating the attacker exceeds a reasonable limit whereby the device must be priced beyond what consumer is willing to pay. Thus, a copy protection solution must be cost effective but secure against a large number of attackers.
A cost-effective method of copy protection is discussed in detail by Jean-Paul Linnartz et al., in Philips Electronics Response to Call for Proposals Issued by the Data Hiding Subgroup Copy Protection Technical Working Group, July 1997 (xe2x80x9cLinnartzxe2x80x9d), which is incorporated herein by reference. Within a digital transmission, such as an MPEG transport stream, additional data may be embedded within the transport stream to set the copy protection status of content contained within the digital transmission. For instance, the desired copy protection status may be xe2x80x9ccopy-oncexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cno-more-copyxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ccopy-neverxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9ccopy-freelyxe2x80x9d. Content that has a status of copy-once may be played and copied. During copying, the copy-once content is altered such that the content is in the no-more-copy state. Copy-never content is content that may only be played and may not be copied. Copy-freely content may be played and copied without restriction.
The additional data may take the form of a digital watermark. The watermark may be embedded directly into the content so that removal of the watermark will degrade the quality of the content. The watermark may be utilized as part of the copy protection scheme. As an example, the copy-freely state may be designated by the lack of a watermark within the content.
In operation, a transmission, such as a digital transmission, is sent from a source device and received by a receiving device. A source device is a device that is writing content onto a data bus, initiating a broadcast transmission, initiating a terrestrial transmission, etc. A sink device is a device that reads content from the data bus, etc.
FIG. 1 shows a typical system for the transmission of content. In FIG. 1, the source device is a broadcast initiator 101 that utilizes a transmitting antenna 102 to transmit content. The sink device is a broadcast receiver, such as a set-top-box (STB) 104 that utilizes a receiving antenna 103 for receiving the transmitted content. The STB 104 is shown connected to a display device 105, a player 106, and a player/recorder 107, through a bus 108. The term bus is utilized herein to refer to any system for connecting one device to another device. The bus may be a hard wired system such as a coaxial wire, an IEEE 1553 bus, etc., or the bus may be a wireless system such as an infra-red or broadcast system. Several of the devices shown in FIG. 1 may at one time act as a source device and at another time act as a sink device. The STB 104 may be a sink for the broadcast transmission and be a source for a transmission on the bus 108. The player/recorder 107 may be a source/sink of a transmission to/from, respectively, the bus 108.
In the copy protection scheme discussed by Linnartz, a watermark (W) is embedded within transmitted content. A ticket is transmitted along with the transmitted content. The embedded watermark and the ticket together are utilized to determine the copy protection status of the transmitted content. The watermark may be embedded into the content by at least two known methods. One method embeds the watermark (W) in the MPEG coding of the content. Another method embeds the watermark (W) in the pixel data of the content. The ticket (T) is cryptographically related to the watermark (W).
Performing one or more one-way functions on the ticket (T) derives the watermark (W). By use of the term one-way function, what is meant is that it is computationally unfeasible to compute the inverse of the function. An example of a publicly known cryptographic one-way function is a hashing function, such as secure hash algorithm one (SHAxe2x88x921) or RACE Integrity Primitives Evaluation Message Digest (RIPEMD). Computing an inverse means finding which particular x0 leads to a given y0 with y0=F(x0). The term unfeasible is intended to mean that the best method will take too long to be useful for a pirate. For instance, the time that is required for a pirate to compute the inverse of a hashing function is too long for the pirate to frustrate the intended release window for protected content. The most efficient method known to find such an x0 may be to exhaustively search all possible bit combinations of x0 and to compute and verify F(x0) for each attempt. In other cases, there may be a more efficient method than an exhaustive search to compute an inverse of a one-way function, yet these methods are still too time consuming to be feasible for the pirate.
The bit content of the ticket (T) is generated from a seed (U). The content owner provides the seed (U). From the seed (U) a physical mark (P) is created. The physical mark (P) may be embedded on a storage medium such as a Read-Only Memory (ROM) disk. Performing one or more one-way functions on the physical mark (P) produces the ticket (T). The number of functions performed on the physical mark (P) to create the ticket (T) depends on the copy protection intended for the content.
In accordance with the system, the ticket (T) changes state during every passage of a playback device (e.g., a source device) and a recording device (e.g., a. sink device). As discussed above, the state modifications are cryptographically irreversible and reduce the remaining copy and play rights of the content that are granted by the ticket (T). In this way, the ticket (T) indicates the number of sequential playback and recordings that may still be performed and acts as a cryptographic counter that can be decremented but not incremented.
It should be noted that the copy protection scheme only protects content on compliant systems. A compliant system is any system that obeys the copy protection rules described above and hereinafter. A non-compliant system may be able to play and copy material irrespective of the copy protection rules. However, a compliant system should refuse to play copies of content illegally made on a non-compliant system.
In accordance with the copy protection scheme, a physical mark (P) (e.g., data) is stored on a storage medium and is not accessible by other user equipment. The physical mark (P) data is generated at the time of manufacturing of the storage medium as described above and is attached to the storage medium in a way in which it is difficult to remove the physical mark (P) data without destroying the storage medium. The application of a one-way cryptographic function, such as a hashing function, to the physical mark (P) data four times results in a watermark.
A watermark by itself may indicate whether or not content stored on the storage medium is copy-once or copy-never. For instance, the absence of a watermark may indicate that the content may be copied freely. The presence of the watermark without a ticket on a storage medium may indicate copy-never content.
When the content is transmitted over a bus or other transmission medium, the physical mark (P) data is hashed twice to generate a ticket. When a compliant player receives the content, the ticket is hashed twice and matched to the watermark. In the case where the twice hashed ticket and the watermark match, the content is played. In this way, a party may not substitute a false ticket along with the content to frustrate the copy protection scheme. In the case were there is a ticket but no watermark in the content, a compliant system will refuse to play the content.
When a compliant recorder reads the content, the watermark is checked to see if the material is copy-freely, copy-once, or copy-never. When there is no watermark, the content is copy-freely and may be copied freely as discussed above. When the content contains a watermark but no ticket, the content is copy-never and a compliant recorder will refuse to copy the content however, a compliant player will play the content. When the content is copy-once, the content contains both a watermark and a ticket, the ticket is hashed twice and compared to the watermark. In the case where the watermark matches the twice hashed ticket, the content may be recorded along with a once-hashed ticket and the watermark, thereby creating copy-no-more content (e.g., content with a once-hashed ticket and a watermark).
It should be noted that in a broadcast system, such as a pay-per-view system, a copy-never state may be indicated by the presence of a once-hashed ticket and a watermark. Both copy-no-more stored content and copy-never broadcast content are treated by a compliant system similarly. The content containing the once-hashed ticket may be played but may not be recorded in a compliant system. In the event that a party tries to record the content with the once-hashed ticket, a compliant recorder will first twice-hash the once-hashed ticket and compare the result (e.g., a thrice-hashed ticket) with the watermark. Since the thrice-hashed ticket will not match the watermark, the compliant recorder will refuse to record the content.
A compliant player that receives the once-hashed ticket will hash the once-hashed ticket and compare the result (e.g., a twice-hashed ticket) to the watermark. Since the twice-hashed ticket matches the watermark, the compliant player will play the content.
However, a problem exists wherein a non-compliant recorder receives content containing a twice-hashed ticket and a watermark. In the event that a non-compliant recorder does not alter the ticket upon receipt or recording, the non-compliant recorder may make multiple copies of the ticket and the watermark which will play on a compliant player and which may be recorded on a compliant recorder. The same problem can exist where a non-compliant recorder receives content containing a thrice-hashed ticket and a watermark indicating copy-no-more content. In this case, the non-compliant recorder may make multiple copies of the thrice-hashed ticket and the watermark that will play on the compliant player.
In a case wherein the player receives the content directly from a read only medium, such as a Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM), a physical mark can be embedded in the physical medium of the CD-ROM that is produced by an authorized manufacturer. The player may then check the physical mark to ensure that the content is being received from an authorized medium. In this way, if a pirate makes an unauthorized copy, the physical mark will not be present on the. unauthorized copy and a compliant player will refuse to play the content. However, in the case of broadcast data for instance, wherein a player does not read content directly from the read-only medium, this method of copy protection is unavailable.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of transmitting copy protected copy-never content that will prevent a pirate from making copies that will play on a compliant player.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a copy protection system for protecting content wherein a ticket and a watermark are utilized to indicate the copy protection status of the content. In accordance with the present invention, the ticket and watermark are created utilizing a first time reference (TD) and a one-way function. The system utilizes a source device to produce the ticket and watermark. The watermark is then embedded into the content in such a way that the watermark can not be removed from the content without largely degrading the content. The ticket is then transmitted, along with the first time reference (TD), the embedded watermark, and the content, to a receiver device. Prior to playing, recording, etc, the receiver device verifies the ticket and watermark utilizing the first time reference, and thereby, determines the copy protection status of the content.
During authorized creation of a medium such as a CD_ROM containing content, a physical mark is placed on the CD-ROM that is not accessible by typical user equipment. The data for the physical mark may be calculated by processing (e.g., performing a hashing function) seed data. Seed data is determined utilizing randomly occurring phenomena such as natural physical phenomena (e.g., the number of gamma ray emissions from the sun in a determined period of time). The methods for determining suitable seed data are known by a person of ordinary skill in the art. The seed data is selected such that there is a negligibly small chance that a party would guess the seed data.
At the source device (e.g., a broadcasting device), in a preferred embodiment, a one-way function, such as a hashing function, is performed on the physical mark data to produce a ticket (T). The ticket (T) is combined with the first time reference (TD), utilizing for instance a concatenation function, to produce a result (T.TD). A hashing function is performed on the result (T.TD) to produce a ticket (Txe2x80x2). The ticket (Txe2x80x2) is combined with the first time reference to produce a result (Txe2x80x2.TD). The hashing function is performed on the result (Txe2x80x2.TD) to produce a ticket (Txe2x80x3). The ticket (Txe2x80x3) is combined with the first time reference (TD) to produce a result (Txe2x80x3.TD). The hashing function is performed on the result (Txe2x80x3.TD) to produce a ticket (Txe2x80x2xe2x80x3). The ticket (Txe2x80x3xe2x80x2) is combined with the first time reference (TD) to produce a result (Txe2x80x2xe2x80x3.TD). The hashing function is performed on the result (Txe2x80x2xe2x80x3.TD) to produce the watermark.
The ticket (Txe2x80x3) may be utilized to indicate that the content may be copied once (e.g., a copy protection status of copy-once). The ticket (Txe2x80x2xe2x80x3) may be utilized to indicate that the content may never be copied (e.g., a copy protection status of copy-never). The source device transmits to the receiver device a data stream containing the content with the watermark embedded therein, the first time reference (TD), and the ticket (Txe2x80x3), for instance if the copy protection status of the content is copy-once. Alternate tickets, such as the tickets discussed above, may be transmitted in the data stream to indicate an alternate copy protection status for the content.
It should be noted that although in the above-described embodiment, the time reference (TD) is concatenated with every hash, it would be sufficient in some circumstances that the time reference (TD) is only utilized in a single operation for deriving the ticket.
The receiver device receives the data stream, and if the first time reference (TD) is contained within a time window determined by a second time reference, the receiver device compares the ticket (Txe2x80x3) to the watermark using the first time reference (TD) and the hashing function. Specifically, at the receiver device, the ticket (Txe2x80x3) is combined with the first time reference, and the hashing function is performed on the result (Txe2x80x3.TD) to produce the ticket (Txe2x80x2xe2x80x3). The ticket (Txe2x80x2xe2x80x3) is combined with the first time reference, and the hashing function is performed on the result (Txe2x80x2xe2x80x3.TD) to produce a result (Txe2x80x3xe2x80x3) that should equal the watermark (W). In a case when the result (Txe2x80x3xe2x80x3) equals the watermark (W), the receiver device makes the content available for copying and/or playing. However, if the receiver device receives the data stream and the first time reference (TD) is not contained within the time window determined by the second time reference, then the receiver device will not make the content available for copying or playing. In addition, even when the first time reference (TD) is contained within the time window determined by the second time reference, if the result (Txe2x80x3xe2x80x3) is not equal to the watermark (W), then the receiver device will not make the content available for copying or playing.

Method and apparatus for use of a time-dependent watermark for the purpose of copy protection


A packaged integrated circuit and method for producing thereof, including an integrated circuit substrate lying in a substrate plane and having electrical circuitry formed thereon, a package enclosing the integrated circuit substrate and defining first and second planar surfaces generally parallel to the substrate plane and a plurality of electrical contacts, each connected to the electrical circuitry at the substrate plane, at least some of the plurality of electrical contacts extending onto the first planar surface and at least some of the plurality of electrical contacts extending onto the second planar surface.

Various types of packaged integrated circuits are known in the prior art. The following patents and published patent applications of the present inventor and the references cited therein are believed to represent the state of the art:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,551,629; 4,764,846; 4,794,092; 4,862,249; 4,984,358; 5,104,820; 5,126,286; 5,266,833; 5,546,654; 5,567,657; 5,612,570; 5,657,206; 5,661,087; 5,675,180; 5,703,400; 5,837,566; 5,849,623; 5,857,858; 5,859,475; 5,869,353; 5,888,884; 5,891,761; 5,900,674; 5,938,45; 5,985,695; 6,002,163; 6,046,410; 6,080,596; 6,092,280; 6,098,278; 6,124,637; 6,134,118.EP 490739 A1; JP 63-166710WO 85/02283; WO 89/04113; WO 95/19645
The disclosures in the following publications:
"Three Dimensional Hybrid Wafer Scale Integration Using the GE High Density Interconnect Technology" by R. J. Wojnarowski, R. A. Filliion, B. Gorowitz and R. Sala of General Electric Company, Corporate Research & Development, P.O. Box 8, Schenectady, N.Y. 12301, USA, International Conference on Wafer Scale Integration, 1993.
"M-DENSUS", Dense-Pac Microsystems, Inc., Semiconductor International, December 1997, p. 50;
"Introduction to Cubic Memory, Inc." Cubic Memory Incorporated, 27 Janis Way, Scotts Valley, Calif. 95066, USA;
"A Highly Integrated Memory Subsystem for the Smaller Wireless Devices" Intel(r) Stacked-CSP, Intel Corporation, January 2000;
"Product Construction Analysis (Stack CSP)", Sung-Fei Wang, ASE, R & D Group, Taiwan, 1999;
"Four Semiconductor Manufacturers Agree to Unified Specifications for Stacked Chip Scale Packages", Mitsubishi Semiconductors, Mitsubishi Electronics America, Inc., 1050 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086, USA;
"Assembly & Packaging, John Baliga, Technology News, Semiconductor International, December 1999;
"<6 mils Wafer Thickness Solution (DBG Technology)", Sung-Fei Wang, ASE, R & D Group, Taiwan, 1999;
"Memory Modules Increase Density", DensePac Micro Systems, Garden Grove, Calif., USA, Electronics Packaging and Production, p. 24, Nov. 1994;
"First Three-Chip Staked CSP Developed", Semiconductor International, January 2000, p. 22;
"High-Density Packaging: The Next Interconnect Challenge", Semiconductor International, February 2000, pp. 91–100;
"3-D IC Packaging", Semiconductor International, p. 20, May 1998;
"High Density Pixel Detector Module Using Flip Chip and Thin Film Technology" J. Wolf, P. Gerlach, E. Beyne, M. Topper, L. Dietrich, K. H. Becks, N. Wermes, O. Ehrmann and H. Reichl, International System Packaging Symposium, January 1999, San Diego;
"Copper Wafer Bonding", A. Fan, A. Rahman and R. Rief, Electrochemical and Solid State Letters, 2(10), pp. 534–536, 1999;
"Front-End 3-D Packaging", J. Baliga, Semiconductor International, December 1999, p 52, are also believed to represent the state of the art.

Packaged integrated circuits and methods of producing thereof


A plant for transferring a gas in the gaseous or liquified state into a liquid. The plant includes a pressurized-gas circuit (2) having a device (21, 22) for injecting gas in the gaseous or liquid state into a liquid, a chamber (13) for mixing the gas with the liquid, the chamber located downstream of the gas injection device and having an outlet connected to the overhead of a buffer tank (14) in order to introduce, into the latter, liquid, in the form of droplets or streams, with which the gas is mixed, and a mechanism (15) for withdrawing the liquid/gas mixture from the tank. The plant may be used for the carbonation of consumable liquids.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plant for transferring a gas into a liquid, especially for transferring, into such a liquid, carbon dioxide (for carbonation), oxygen (for oxygenation), ozone (for ozonation) or nitrogen, for example for the purpose of displacing a gas already dissolved in the liquid. The term xe2x80x9cgasxe2x80x9d is understood to mean a fluid which is in the gaseous state under normal temperature and pressure conditions but which, under the operating conditions, may either be in the gaseous state or in the liquid state when it is introduced into the liquid proper.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a mass of liquid, which initially contains no gas or contains little gas and the free surface of which is in contact with a volume of gas, receives a transfer of a portion of the gas into the liquid and the combination tends towards a liquid-gas distribution in stable equilibrium. It may be demonstrated that the mass M of gas that can be transferred into a certain volume of liquid is proportional to the difference D between the saturation concentration and the actual concentration, to the area A of the liquid-gas interface, to the time t and to a surface transfer coefficient f. It will be noted that the difference D varies over time, becoming zero.
If, for the purpose of reducing the duration of the transfer operation, it is desired to increase the area of the interface A between the liquid and the gas, all other things remaining equal, this results in relatively large transfer plants.
The object of the invention is to remedy this drawback and, for this purpose, relates to a plant for transferring a gas in the gaseous state or in the liquid state into a liquid, characterized in that it comprises a liquid circuit in at least part of which the liquid flows under pressure, a gas circuit in at least part of which the gas under pressure flows and which includes, at the outlet, a device for injecting gas in the gaseous state or in the liquid state under pressure and emerging in that part of the liquid circuit in which the liquid flows under pressure, the liquid circuit including a chamber for mixing the gas with the liquid, the said chamber being located downstream of the gas injection device and having an outlet connected to the overhead of a buffer tank located downstream of the mixing chamber, in order to introduce into the buffer tank, in the form of liquid droplets or streams, liquid with which gas is mixed, and means for withdrawing, from the buffer tank, liquid with which gas is mixed.
By virtue of these characteristics, the plant is very efficient and allows rapid transfer without occupying a large space; in addition, it allows the amount of gas dissolved in the liquid to be very accurately adjusted.
The plant may furthermore have one or more of the following characteristics:
it includes means for adjusting the pressure of the overhead of the buffer tank;
it includes means for adjusting the pressure of the overhead of the buffer tank according to the temperature of the liquid;
the adjustment means comprise means for measuring the said pressure and for comparing it with a set pressure, means for discharging gas from the buffer tank if the measured pressure is above the set pressure and means for admitting gas into the buffer tank if the measured pressure is below the set pressure;
the said admission of gas is done into the overhead of the buffer tank;
the gas is carbon dioxide, for example carbon dioxide filtered and sterilized for food applications;
the gas is nitrogen, oxygen or ozone;
the liquid is an aqueous liquid;
the gas is introduced into the liquid circuit in the gaseous state and the injection device comprises an injection apparatus slaved to the transfer pump so that the gas flow is interrupted if the pump stops, this apparatus feeding an outlet injector which emerges in the liquid circuit;
the gas is introduced into the liquid circuit while itself being in the liquid state, and the injection device comprises an expansion and control valve feeding an outlet injector which emerges in the liquid circuit;
the mixing chamber is a device consisting of a succession of tubes forming a coil, such as a tube reactor;
the mixing chamber is an in-line static mixer;
the means for adjusting the pressure in the overhead of the tank have a set pressure which varies according to the temperature of the liquid;
the means for adjusting the pressure in the overhead of the tank comprise an expansion valve, the inlet of which is connected to the gas circuit and the outlet of which is connected to the overhead of the tank.

Plant for transferring a gas into a liquid

L""Air Liquide Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l""Etude et l""Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


An infant's bottle is provided with a valved cap adapted for quick and easy movement between open and closed positions. The valved cap includes a base member mounted by a threaded neck ring or the like over the mouth of a beverage container such as a baby bottle. The neck ring also retains a slide-fit valve sleeve on the base member for reciprocal motion between open and closed positions to respectively permit and prevent beverage flow from the bottle. A drinking mouthpiece such as a conventional nipple for infants or a ported spout for toddlers is mounted on the valve sleeve.

This invention relates generally to improvements in beverage containers such as baby bottles and drinking cups of a type used for feeding liquids to infants and toddlers. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved beverage container having a valved cap adapted for quick and easy movement between open and closed positions. The valved cap is adapted for use interchangeably with drinking mouthpieces suited for use by children of different ages.
A wide variety of baby bottles and beverage containers such as drinking cups and the like have been developed for use by infants and toddlers. For example, an infant's bottle traditionally comprises a bottle base having an open mouth covered by a resilient ported nipple. By contrast, drinking cups for toddlers typically include a beverage base or cup having a cap which incorporates a ported spout.
Beverage spilling has constituted a persistent problem encountered with drinking bottles and cups used by infants and small children. Such beverage containers are often transported in a filled or partially filled condition for convenient availability and beverage consumption by an infant or toddler. However, beverage leaking often occurs through the nipple or spout of the container, resulting in frequent contact of the beverage with articles such as clothing, furniture and upholstery, carpets and floors, etc. A significant need has existed for a simple and effective structure for positively closing the beverage container against undesired leakage, while permitting beverage consumption by a child in a normal manner.
In addition, as a child transitions from the infant to toddler stage, traditional baby bottles equipped with a ported resilient nipple are normally replaced by a cup or glass adapted for the child's advancing manipulative skills. In this regard, it has been common practice for parents to purchase replacement beverage cups for use by toddlers, with prior-acquired baby bottles falling into disuse. Prior beverage containers for infants and toddlers have not been designed for convenient interchangeable use by infants and toddlers, without requiring purchase of a new beverage container.
The present invention overcomes these problems and disadvantages encountered in the prior art by providing a beverage container for use by infants and toddlers, wherein the beverage container is equipped with a valved cap adapted for quick and easy movement between open and closed positions, and further wherein the valved cap is adapted for use with interchangeable drinking mouthpieces such as a nipple for an infant and/or a ported spout for a toddler.

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A cable quick release connector utilizing pincers attached to the cable end and a shroud that holds the pincers closed around a chain link or loop. The shroud may be slipped out of engagement with the pincers to permit them to open and release the load attached to the chain link or loop.

This invention relates to connectors for attaching cables and other objects to a load to be lifted, pulled or otherwise subjected to force by means of the connector.
The desire has existed since prehistoric times to move objects heavier and more unwieldy than an individual can lift and carry. Efforts to answer this need also predate recorded history and were integral to the development of the earliest basic machines and tools, including levers, wheels, skids, rollers and utilization of animal power. While ancient humankind managed the movement of extraordinarily heavy objects, as demonstrated by the existence, for instance, of the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge, dramatic advances in this technology awaited development of combustion-based power sources, including steam and other external combustion engines and internal combustion engines. Later still, electrical motors came to the assistance of those interested in moving heavy objects.
A need persists, however, for a light weight, easily transported winch usable in locations remote from conventional power sources and vehicles, to move relatively heavy loads over relatively substantial distances, preferably with a single operator. Such a need exists, for instance, to retrieve large game from remote areas, in connection with rescue work, and in utilities installation and building construction. Numerous efforts have been undertaken to meet this need. For instance, one prior device, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,340, marries a chain saw engine to a winch mechanism. However, these efforts have not resulted in a device that is easily transported, accommodates substantial cable length, is safely operable by a single individual and exhibits other desirable features of the present invention. A winch meeting this need is disclosed in my patent application for a "Portable Winch" described above. Safe operation of such a device, particularly including single-handed operation, makes very desirable a quick release mechanism that enables an operator quickly and easily to disconnect the load from the winch cable. Such an attachment and release mechanism is needed in a substantial variety of other applications where one object, whether a chain, cable, rope, truck bumper or something else, needs to be attached to but quickly releasable from another object.
Prior devices used for releasably coupling cables, chains and other devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 227,793 to Kingston, U.S. Pat. No. 1,262,974 to Pearen, U.S. Pat. No. 1,299,821 to Carpmill and Hancock, U.S. Pat. No. 1,386,561 to Foster, U.S. Pat. No. 1,684,322 to Itjen, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,382 to Vaage. U.S. Pat. No. 124,071 to Lipsey also discloses a clothes pin having pincer-like arms that may be closed around a clothes line by sliding a thimble over the arms. Among these, U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,382 to Vaage for a "Rapid Release Hook" is specifically intended for applications similar to those of the present invention. The Vaage device is, however a more complex one in which opposed bail members are forced apart by a spring when a sleeve is retracted, and it lacks other features and advantages of the present invention.


A sample presentation device, with a surface-bound complex including at least one molecule which chemically modifies a biomolecule, is prepared and exposed to a biomolecule. The molecular weights of the chemically modified biomolecule is then determined by mass spectrometry.

The present invention relates generally to derivatized mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatuses, and more specifically, to mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatuses derivatized with complexes including at least one molecule which modifies a biomolecule.
Conventionally, mass spectrometry is a technique used to characterize analytes by determining their molecular weight. Ordinarily, mass spectrometry involves the steps of: coating a sample presentation apparatus with an analyte, introducing the sample presentation apparatus into the mass spectrometer, volatilizing and ionizing the analyte, accelerating the ionized analyte toward a detector by exposing the ions to an electric and/or a magnetic field, and analyzing the data to determine the mass to charge ratio of specific analyte ions.
If an analyte remains intact throughout this process, data will be obtained which corresponds to a molecular weight for the entire intact analyte ion. Typically however, it is beneficial to additionally obtain data corresponding to the molecular weight of various fragments of the analyte. It is also beneficial to obtain data which only corresponds to the pure analyte, even when impurities are present. Therefore, it is advantageous to be able to modify analytes by purifying and/or cleaving them, prior to determining their molecular weight.
In conventional mass spectrometry, the analyte is either modified before it is coated on the sample presentation apparatus, or during the volatilization and ionization steps, which occur inside the mass spectrometer. It is known that biomolecules (e.g. polypeptides, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), or carbohydrates) can be selectively digested at specific locations by exposing them to immobilized complexes. However, it is disadvantageous to modify an analyte before it is coated on the sample presentation apparatus, as this extra step slows the overall process, involves loss of the analyte, and can possibly introduce contaminants. Moreover, if the fragments are generated in solution in a reaction between the analyte and a reagent, the kinetics of the reaction may be rather slow, thus adding further delay. It is also disadvantageous to generate fragments during the volatilization and ionization steps as such methods typically provide little control over the analyte cleavage site and may lead to excessive degradation of the analyte.
It is further known to use the Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (xe2x80x9cMALDIxe2x80x9d) technique to volatilize and ionize biomolecules in a mass spectrometer. This technique involves surrounding a biomolecule in a special matrix material. A LASER beam, tuned to a frequency where the matrix absorbs, is targeted on the matrix material. The LASER transfers sufficient energy to volatilize a small portion of the matrix material. A small number of analyte molecules are thus carried along with the matrix material into the vapor phase in the mass spectrometer.
Prior to the development of MALDI, analysis of biomolecules by mass spectrometry was quite difficult, if not impossible, since no techniques were available which were gentle enough to volatilize intact biomolecules without any degradation or fragmentation. While the MALDI technique provides an advantageous technique for volatilizing biomolecules, this technique does not provide for generation of analyte fragments or purification of an analyte prior to introducing the analyte onto a sample presentation apparatus. In particular, the need for extra fragmentation or purification steps slow the overall process, wastes valuable analyte, and can introduce contaminants.
It is known from PCT Publication No. 94/28418 to use a sample presentation apparatus for laser desorption and ionization mass spectrometry, wherein the sample presentation apparatus is derivatized with surface associated molecules for promoting desorption and ionization of biomolecules. In such surface-bound biomolecule methods, the surface associated molecules bind biomolecules, and later promote desorption of the biomolecules when they are exposed to LASER radiation. Biomolecule fragments are generated by exposing the surface-bound biomolecules to reagents in solution, and later washing away the reagent. This procedure is problematic because it can introduce contaminants, which reduces the quality of the collected data. Specifically, if any reagent is left on the surface after the washing procedure, it will be the first material to be volatilized by the LASER beam, and may very well swamp the signals from the material of interest, thereby adversely affecting the data.
Moreover, such a process is difficult because it relies on new and unproven systems for volatilizing biomolecules. In contrast, MALDI matrix systems are well studied, and known to effectively and gently volatilize biomolecules. MALDI matrices cannot be used with the surface-associated molecule method because the matrix covers the surface-bound biomolecules, and thus would completely prevent the acquisition of useful data.
Furthermore, it is also disadvantageous to directly bind biomolecules to a sample presentation surface, because this would eliminate the possibility of transferring a modified biomolecule to a second region on the presentation surface or a second presentation surface, where it could be exposed to other modifying reagents. Therefore, any chemical reactions according to the surface-bound analyte method, must be performed sequentially, rather than in parallel. In such sequential methods, the bound analyte must be reacted with one reagent, introduced into the mass spectrometer, removed, and then subsequently reacted with a second reagent. Each of these steps is disadvantageous as it presents an opportunity for contaminating the sample and introduces further delay.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatus which provides a rapid, efficient method for analyzing biomolecules using proven, advantageous MALDI matrices.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a sample presentation apparatus, mass spectrometry method, and mass spectrometer that overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved sample presentation apparatus including a complex capable of modifying biomolecules wherein it is unnecessary to separate any reagent from the modified biomolecule to prevent contaminating data obtained from the modified biomolecule.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved derivatized mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatus which minimizes sample loss, and thus works effectively with extremely small amounts of biomolecules.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatus which presents a complex capable of chemically modifying a biomolecule in a high effective concentration, and thus increases the rate of biomolecule modification reactions.
Another object of the invention is to provide a mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatus which digests and/or purifies biomolecules.
A further object of the invention is to provide a derivatized mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatus which can utilize existing optimized MALDI matrix systems.
Another object of the invention is to provide a mass spectrometry method wherein biomolecules are reacted with one reagent, and then a portion of the reacted biomolecules are reacted with a different reagent.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method for making a mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatus which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of analyzing a biomolecule, wherein the biomolecule is exposed to the derivatized surface of the sample presentation apparatus and then incubated in a moist atmosphere. Subsequently, a MALDI matrix material is added, and finally the sample presentation apparatus is introduced into the mass spectrometer.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of analyzing a polypeptide, wherein the molecular weight data is used to determine a limited amino acid sequence of the peptide. The limited amino acid sequence obtained by this method can then be used to generate corresponding nucleic acid sequences. These nucleic acid sequences can then be used to search a computer database containing known nucleic acid sequences. A match may identify a known nucleic acid sequence which codes for the polypeptide.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved mass spectrometer which incorporates an improved mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatus.
These and other objects of the present invention are obtained by providing a mass spectrometry sample presentation apparatus comprising a mass spectrometry sample presentation surface, wherein a complex is bound to the surface which includes at least one molecule which chemically modifies a biomolecule.
A method of making a sample presentation apparatus is further provided wherein a complex, which includes at least one molecule which chemically modifies a biomolecule, is bound to the sample presentation apparatus surface.
The objects of the present invention are further accomplished through a method of analyzing a biomolecule comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a mass spectrometry sample presentation surface;
(b) binding at least one complex to the surface wherein the complex includes at least one molecule which chemically modifies a biomolecule;
(c) contacting the biomolecule with the surface, thereby chemically modifying the biomolecule; and
(d) determining the molecular weight of the chemically modified biomolecule in a mass spectrometer.
The objects of the present invention are further obtained by a mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer has a sample presentation surface with a surface-bound complex including at least one molecule which chemically modifies a biomolecule. The mass spectrometer also has a vacuum interlocking device for introducing the surface into the machine, an apparatus for volatilizing and ionizing the chemically modified biomolecule, an electric field generator and a detector and electronics for determining the molecular weight to charge ratio of the modified biomolecule ions.
The sample presentation apparatus, method of making a sample presentation apparatus, method of analyzing biomolecules and mass spectrometer of the present invention provide mass spectrometry information for biomolecules which is both easier to obtain and of higher quality, than was previously possible.

Sample presentation apparatus for mass spectrometry


A woven hook-and-loop fastener product includes a base fabric and at least one edge extending in the warp direction that serves as a load-dissipating structure. The edge is a resilient tube structure or a fabric woven to be thicker than the base fabric.

This invention relates to woven touch fastener products for hook-and-loop fastening. These products provide arrays of small hook and loop elements that releasably engage to form closures.
Hook and loop fasteners are often used on straps and webbing engaged with sensitive objects. For example, the fasteners are used on garments, shoes, luggage, back packs and other items that are in contact with or bear upon the flesh of a user to transmit significant loads.


A memory storage device housing including a memory storage mounting kit with a memory storage device cooler. The housing also has a memory storage device bay. The mounting kit includes a pair of rails, a frame which interconnects the rails and a fan mounted on the frame. The rails mount a memory storage device such as a hard disk drive within the bay. The fan attaches to the frame and draws air through the bay to cool the memory storage device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to memory storage device mounting kits. More particularly, the present invention relates to hard drive mounting kits having a cooling device.
2. Previous Art
The demand for memory storage capacity continues to increase. Higher capacity, and more numerous memory storage devices are being employed to meet this demand.
Although some users rely on the higher capacity memory storage devices to meet the user's memory storage needs, other users rely upon memory storage systems having multiple memory storage devices.
A typical memory storage system will include a housing with multiple memory storage device bays. Memory Storage devices mount in the bays. Common memory storage devices include hard disk drives, optical drives, magnetic tape drives and floppy drives.
Desk top computers, computer networks and disk arrays (e.g. PAID systems) generally rely upon any of various types of memory storage systems. High end memory storage systems may contain towers enclosing hundreds of memory storage devices.
Heat within a memory storage housing may be problematic. Adding more memory storage devices which to a housing can increase housing temperature. Heat can reduce the life of electronic components, cause failure and reduce the reliability of a system. Since memory storage systems may loose valuable data during failure, the probability of failure is sought to be minimized.
Several known ways to cool electronic components have been developed. A typical mini-tower computer housing 20 is shown in FIG. 1 having a power supply with an internal fan 22. The fan 22 pumps hot air from the housing and away from the power supply. Cool air is drawn through vents in the housing to replace the hot air pumped by the fan. This cools the power supply and the housing. Cooling the housing increase the useful life of the enclosed electronic components, particularly the power supply.
The system shown in FIG. 1 also has a fan 24 mounted on the central processor. Since the central processor may generate as much heat as a small light bulb, fanning the processor reduces the temperature of the processor. Reducing the temperature of the processor improves the reliability and useful life of the processor and associated components. Heat dissipated from the processor, however, may remain in housing.
The computer housing 20 also includes a fan 26 mounted on a card. The card inserts into a device slot on the mother board. The fan circulates, air within the housing to reduce the temperature of the hottest components. The card mounted fan, however, may not necessarily cause cool air to enter or cause heated air to exit the housing. In time, the housing interior may heat to an undesirable temperature.
Employing multiple disk drives in close proximity especially when the disk drives mount closely i.e. within 2 cm of each other. Excessive heat may reduce the life expectancy and reliability of the hard disk drives. What is desired is a way to cool memory storage devices. What is also desired is a way to cool a memory storage device housing to increase the reliability and useful life of the electronic components contained therein.

Memory storage device housing and cooling device


A method, apparatus and computer program product for providing instant messaging functionality within an Email session is presented. An intended Email recipient is notified that an Email message is currently being written to them. The intended Email recipient is invited to view the Email message. The intended Email recipient is permitted to interact with the originator of the Email by way of an instant messaging session.

Electronic mail (Email) has become ubiquitous. Email is used to transmit messages over communications networks. The messages can be notes entered from a keyboard or electronic files stored on a disk. Most Email systems have gateways to other computer systems, enabling users to send Email virtually anywhere in the world. Email has proven to be a fast, flexible, and reliable means of communication. Once a message is composed, the message is sent to the recipient by specifying the recipient's address. Sent messages are stored in electronic mailboxes until the recipient fetches them. To see if a user has any Email, the user checks their electronic mailbox, although many systems alert a user when an Email is received. After reading an Email, the user can store the Email message in a text file, forward the Email message to other users, or delete the message. Most online services and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer e-mail, and most also support gateways so that Email can be exchanged with users of other systems. Email has proven to be a particularly effective way to communicate with a group because messages can be broadcast to everyone in a group at once.
Instant Messaging (IM), is a type of communications service that enables a user to create a kind of private chat room with another individual in order to communicate in real time over the Internet, analogous to a telephone conversation but using text-based, not voice-based, communication. Typically, the IM system alerts the user whenever somebody on the user's private list is online. The user can then initiate a chat session with that particular individual.
IM requires the use of a client program that hooks up an instant messaging service and differs from e-mail in that conversations are then able to happen in real-time. Most IM services offer a presence information feature, indicating whether people on one's list of contacts are currently online and are available to chat. Most instant messaging applications also include the ability to set a status message, roughly analogous to the message on a telephone answering machine.
Instant messaging typically boosts communication and allows easy collaboration. In contrast to e-mails or phone, the parties know whether the peer is available. Most IM systems allow the user to set an online status or away message so peers get notified whenever the user is available, busy, or away from the computer. People are not forced to reply immediately to incoming messages. This way, communication via IM can be less intrusive than communication via phone, which is partly a reason why IM is becoming more and more important in corporate environments. Instant messages typically get logged in a local message history, facilitating quick, safe, and persistent exchange of information such as URLs or document snippets, which can be unwieldy when done using inappropriate media such as a phone.

Method of providing instant messaging functionality within an email session


The invention relates to a Mach-Zehnder modulator comprising a first optical waveguide forming a first modulator arm and a second optical waveguide forming a second modulator arm of the Mach-Zehnder modulator, an electrode arrangement comprising a plurality of first waveguide electrodes for applying a voltage across the first optical waveguide and a plurality of second waveguide electrodes for applying a voltage across the second optical waveguide, at least one electrically conductive connecting element generating a short-circuit between at least one of the first waveguide electrodes and at least one of the second waveguide electrodes. The electrode arrangement is a travelling wave electrode arrangement further comprising a first and a second electrical line extending at least partially parallel to the first and second optical waveguide. The first and the second waveguide electrodes are connected to the first and second electrical lines via connecting structures.

The invention relates to electro-optic modulators.
It is known in the art to employ Mach-Zehnder interferometers as electro-optic modulators in optical high-speed transmission systems, wherein, for example, coplanar travelling wave electrodes (TWE) are used to induce a phase shift in the interferometer arms. These TWEs comprise a first and a second coplanar microwave line connected to a plurality of periodically arranged and capacitively coupled electrodes on top of the waveguides. Examples of such TWE-Mach-Zehnder modulators are described in the publication "High-Speed III-V Semiconductor Intensity Modulators", Robert G. Walker, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics Vol. 27, No. 3, March 1991. However, the electro-optic bandwidth of such TWE-Mach-Zehnder modulators is limited, for example, because of a mismatch between the electrical and the optical velocity, electrical losses in the device and impedance mismatching. Reducing the length of the electrodes may increase the bandwidth, wherein, however, a higher modulation voltage would then be required.
Another design concept of a Mach-Zehnder modulator is described in the publication "10 Gb/s-80-km operation of full C-band InP MZ modulator with linear-accelerator-type tiny in-line centipede electrode structure directly driven by logic IC of 90-nm CMOS process", T. Kato et al., Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition, 2011, p. 1, disclosing a Mach-Zehnder modulator comprising a plurality of separated waveguide electrodes arranged on the optical waveguides of the modulator, wherein multiple drivers are used to individually drive the waveguide electrodes (distributed driver or segmented electrode design).

FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FÖRDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V.


A data transmission system and method includes providing a current to a first conductor by a current source to transmit a first binary digit while isolating a second conductor from the current source. In response to a command to transmit a second binary digit, amount of current provided by the current source to the first conductor is decreased from a maximum value to zero while simultaneously increasing the amount of current provided to the second conductor from zero to a maximum value. The increase and the decrease in the amount of current are done the same rate. A first and a second signal corresponding to the current provided to the first and the second conductors each have a transition edge with a leading section, a midsection and trailing section such that an average slope of the midsection is greater than average slope of the leading section and the average slope of the trailing section.

In electronics, "differential communication channel" refers to transmission of data by means of two signals, which have opposite polarity, that are sent simultaneously on two separate conductors, or by means of one signal, at a time, in the same polarity, where the sign of the resulting difference between the signals existing on the two conductors is interpreted as digital value "1" or "0". Data that is sent via a differential communication channel is generally referred to as "differential digital data", and communication of differential digital data is generally referred to as "differential communication". In electronics, the term "crosstalk" refers to any phenomenon by which a signal transmitted on one circuit, channel, or wire, of a transmission system creates an undesired signal in another circuit, channel, or wire, due to undesired capacitive, inductive, or conductive coupling between them. The undesired signal is called "noise", "interference", or "disturbance." In general, the closer the circuits, channels, or wires, the more they are prone to picking up crosstalk interference.
Common Mode Interference ("CMI"), which is a type of crosstalk interference, results from similar currents flowing in the same direction in nearby wires. This kind of electric interference is hard to isolate and to mitigate by using off-the-shelf communication interfaces. In addition, efforts traditionally have been made to cope with the implications of CMI interference in the receiver rather than coping with the CMI interference in the transmitting device. CMI is referred to in certification tests known in the art as Electromagnetic Interference ("EMI") Tests. Differential Mode Interference ("DMI"), which is another type of crosstalk interference, results from incoherent electromagnetic field currents flowing in opposite directions in nearby conductive wires. This kind of electric interference can be mitigated by using twisted pair methodology. Common mode radiation and differential mode radiation are described in more detail in, for example, "High-Speed Digital System Design, A Handbook of Interconnect Theory and Design Practices" (chapter 10.2, "Physical Mechanisms of Radiation"), by STEPHEN H. HALL et al. Professional computer network cabling must pass TIA/EIA (Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronic Industries Association) standards tests, generally TIA/EIA-568-B standard, to show that the tested computer network cabling is compliant with the corresponding communication standards, protocols, etc., for which it is intended.
The Universal Bus ("USB") standard is widely used in computer peripherals, for example, for exchanging digital data. In general, high speed USB communication involves exchanging high speed (480 Mbits/Sec.) differential digital data via two electrical conductors. CMI and DMI are known to be an important cause of problems in differential communication such as USB communication, as they result in significant distortion in communicated signals.
FIG. 1 (prior art) schematically illustrates a typical differential communication link between one device, referred to as host device 20, and another device, referred to as device 22. The differential communication link is "" in the sense that digital data is communicated through it one binary digit at a time. Practically, host device 20 can both transmit and receive data to/from device 22. However, for the sake of simplicity, device 22 is shown having only a transmitter interface, and host device 20 is shown having only a receiver interface. Host device 20 may be, for example, a USB device that uses data sent to it from device 22, or a USB hub that functionally connects device 22 to other devices or routers, whether they have USB capability or not.
The differential communication link linking between host device 20 and device 22 includes a first conductor ("D+", shown at 24) and a second conductor ("D−", shown at 26), via which conductors the electric current I of current source 32 flows (but, ideally, not in both conductors simultaneously) to host device 20. A stream of binary digits "1" and "0", which constitute digital data that is conveyed from device 22 to host device 20 via conductors 24 and 26, is generated by causing the current I to flow alternately through the D+ conductor 24 and the D− conductor 26. Specifically, one of the conductors 24, 26 is assigned for transmission of binary value "1" and the other of the conductors 24, 26 is assigned for transmission of binary value "0." Selecting a specific conductor for a specific binary digit depends on the communication protocol or standard used. Transmission of binary value "1" is executed by directing the electric current I to the conductor selected for binary values "1", and transmission of binary value "0" is executed by directing the electric current I to the conductor selected for binary values "0". Whenever the binary digit that is to be transmitted changes (i.e., from "1" to "0", or from "0" to "1"), the electric current I is diverted from one conductor to the other by using switching system 102. Thus, during data communication, binary digits are transmitted via the differential communication interface one digit at a time, such that "0s" are always transmitted using one of the conductors (e.g., conductor 24) and "0s" are always transmitted using the other conductor (e.g., conductor 26).
Switching system 102 includes controllable switches 34 and 40, and logic inverter 39. Controllable switches 34 and 40 are driven by control signals 36 and 38 that are issued by a controller (not shown in FIG. 1). Control signals 36 and 38 switch controllable switches 34 and 40, respectively, between an "open" state and a "closed" state so as to redirect, or divert, the electric current I from one conductor (e.g., from conductor 24) to another (i.e., conductor 26). Redirecting the electric current I is performed by simultaneously closing one of the switches 34 and 40 and opening the other switch. Switch 34 is switched between the closed and open states by using control signal 36, and switch 40 is switched between the closed and open states by using control signal 38, which is the logical inverse of control signal 36. Logical inversion of control signal 36 is performed by an inverter 39, which is a "break-before-make" switching device.
A logic state "1" (also known as USB logical state "K") is generated (i.e., a binary digit "1" is transmitted from device 22 to host device 20) by simultaneously closing switch 34 (a 'first' switch) and opening switch 40 (a 'second' switch) to enable the current I to flow through switch 34, to thereby generate, on the D+termination resistors 30 and 42, a voltage that is sensed and interpreted by host device 20 as a logical state equivalently known as "D+", "K", or "1". Likewise, a logic state "0" (also known as USB logical state "J") is generated by simultaneously opening switch 34 and closing switch 40 to enable the current I to flow through switch 40, to thereby generate on the D− termination resistors 28 and 44 a voltage that is sensed and interpreted by host 20 as a logical state equivalently known as "D−", "J", or "0".
An ideal switching element would generate an ideal square-like wave, which would require changing the signal from the high to the low state instantaneously and without distortions. However, practically, this is impossible to achieve because an instantaneous change would require an infinite frequency bandwidth. Regarding FIG. 1, switching between switches 34 and 40 would ideally result in the current I flowing either through switch 34, in which case I1=I and I2=0, or through switch 40, in which case I1=0 and I2=I. However, practical switches, such as switches 34 and 40, which typically are Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) switches, introduce a finite transition switching time (in the range of tenths to hundreds of picoseconds (psec)) in each switching cycle. During the switching transition time both switches are in a mid-position state, meaning that each of switches 34 and 40 is neither fully closed nor fully open. This results in a portion of the current I flowing through switch 34, meaning that 0<I1<I, and another portion of the current I flowing through switch 40, meaning that 0<I2<I, where, according to Kirchhoff's Current Law (also known as "Kirchhoff's first law"), I1+I2=I at any given time. Within each transition time each of the signals C1(t) and C2(t), which respectively result from, or correspond to, the current I1 and I2, has a transition edge (not shown in FIG. 1) that has a finite slew rate. In electronics, "slew rate" represents rate of change of a signal in volts per second. Limitations in slew rate capability usually give rise to nonlinear effects in electronic amplifiers.
Choosing a slew rate is a matter of tradeoff between CMI and DMI. That is, using a fast (high) slew rate (i.e., using short transition time) results in low CMI interference, which is desirable. However, using a slew rate which is too fast results in high harmonics, which is a major cause for DMI interference. In terms of reducing DMI interference, it is, therefore, desired to use slow slew rates (that is, to use long transition times), and in terms of reducing CMI interference it is, therefore, desired to use fast slew rates (that is, to use short transition times). However, in order not to exceed allowed levels of CM and DMI interferences, communication standards limit the minimum and maximum temporal width (duration) of the transition time, which is the time period during which currents, which flow through switching elements such as switches 34 and 40, change from their minimal value to their maximal value. For example, in USB communications the maximum time period during which a current, which flows through a switching element increases from 20% to 80% (or decreases from 80% to 20%) of its maximum magnitude should not exceed approximately 500 picoseconds. Nevertheless, using even the fastest slew rate (i.e., shortest transition time) allowed by the relevant communication standards still results in some of the current I flowing both in conductor 24 and conductor 26 in the same direction, which, as explained above, is a major cause for CMI interference.
FIG. 2 shows three timing diagrams, generally shown at 201, 202, and 203, that are associated with switching system 102 of FIG. 1. Timing diagram 201 corresponds to the signal C1(t), which results from, or corresponds to, the current I1 flowing through conductor 24 (a first conductor of the involved differential communication link) and resistor R3 whenever switch 34 transitions from the open state to the closed state and controllable switch 40 transitions from the closed state to the open state. Likewise, timing diagram 202 corresponds to the signal C2(t), which results from, or corresponds to, the current I2 flowing through conductor 26 (a second conductor of the differential communication link) and resistor R4 whenever switch 40 transitions from the open state to the closed state and switch 34 transitions from the closed state to the open state.
It is noted that each of signals C1(t) and C2(t) of FIGS. 1 and 2 may be a current signal (i.e., the current signal flowing in/through the respective conductors 24 and 26), or a voltage signal that results from, correspond to, or associated with, the current signal flowing through the respective resistors 42 and 44. The waveforms of signals C1(t) and C2(t) therefore have the same, or substantially the same, shape, including the transition edges, regardless of whether C1(t) and C2(t) are current signals or voltage signals. In addition, signals C1(t) and C2(t) are shown in FIG. 2, and also in the other relevant drawings, normalized. This clarification (i.e., C(i) being current signal or voltage signal, and C(i) being normalized) is applicable to C(1) and C(2) throughout the description. In addition, the terms "C(1)" and "first signal" are interchangeable used herein, as are the terms "C(2) and "second signal".
F(t), shown at 203, was calculated using signals C1(t) and C2(t) in the way described below. "F(t)" represents, or is indicative of, a common mode noise signal. During periods 212, switch 34 is fully closed and switch 40 is fully open, whereas during period 213 switch 34 is fully open and switch 40 is fully closed. However, as stated above, during transition times, such as during exemplary transition times 220, 221, and 222, switches 34 and 40 are in a mid-position state. Namely, during period 220, switch 34 is not yet fully open and switch 40 is not yet fully closed; during period 221, switch 34 is not yet fully closed and switch 40 is not yet fully open; and during period 222, switch 34 is not yet fully open and switch 40 is not yet fully closed.
Switches such as switches 34 and 40 of FIG. 1 are typically implemented by a MOSFET transistor. The mid-position state of an analog MOSFET switch is determined by its current-voltage (V/I) relationship. Thus, due to the current-voltage (V/I) relationship in MOSFET transistors, which is expressed in equation (1), the transition portions, or transition edges, of C1(t) and C2(t), respectively shown in 201 and 202 in FIG. 2, resemble an exponential curve. The current-voltage relationship in a MOSFET transistor is described, for example, in "CMOS, Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation" (by R. Jacob Baker, 2nd edition, p. 142).
                                                                        I                D                            =                                                μ                  n                                                                  C                  ox                                                                  W                  L                                                                  (                                                                                (                                                                              V                            GS                                                    -                                                      V                            th                                                                          )                                                                                V                        DS                                                              -                                                                  V                        DS                        2                                            2                                                        )                                                                                =                              β                                                                                x                  [                                                                                (                                                                              V                            GS                                                    -                                                      V                            th                                                                          )                                                                                V                        DS                                                              -                                                                  V                        DS                        2                                            2                                                        ]                                                                                =                                                -                                      aV                    DS                    2                                                  +                                  bV                  DS                                                                                (        1        )
In equation (1), 'ID' is the current passing from the drain ("D") of the MOSFET transistor to its source ("S"), 'μn' is the charge-carrier mobility, 'Cox' is the transistor's gate oxide capacitance per unit area, 'W' is the transistor's gate width, 'L' is the transistor's gate length, 'VGS' is the voltage between the transistor's gate ("G") and source, 'Vth' is the transistor's threshold voltage, and 'VDS' is the voltage between the transistor's drain and source.
The instant inventor has found that the exponential-like behavior of analog MOSFET switches during transition times is a major cause of CMI interferences. The inventor has also found that the effect of this behavior on the CMI can be quantified by equation (2),F(t)=ABS{ABS[C1(t)−C2(t)]−[C1(t)+C2(t)]}  (2)where F(t) is a value calculated at time t, where 't' is a point in time occurring within the transition time period(s) (220, 221 and 222), that is, during the mid-position state of the involved switches, and C1(t) and C2(t) are the signals passing through conductors 24 and 26, respectively, of FIG. 1. Outside the transition times C1(t) and C2(t) resume their normalized values of 1.0 or 0.0 and F(t) becomes 0.0.
By way of demonstration, three values of F(t), shown in 203, will now be calculated, at times t1, t2, and t3. At time t1 C1(t1)=1.0 and C2(t1)=0.0. Therefore, F(t)=ABS{ABS[1.0−0.0]−[1.0+0.0]}=0.0, shown at 231. At time t2, C1(C2)0.5 and C2(t2)=0.5. Therefore, F(t)=ABS{ABS[0.5−0.5]−[0.5+0.5]}1=0.0, shown at 232. At time t3, C1(t3)−1.0 and C2(t3)=0.0. Therefore, F(t)=ABS{ABS[0.0−1.0]−[0.0+1.0]}=0.0, shown at 233. As shown in FIG. 2, F(t) increases from 0.0 to 1.0 between t1 and t2, and decreases from 1.0 to 0.0 between t2 and t3.
Because F(t) reflects the transition characteristics of the switches, the extent to which the switches' transition times affect the CMI interference can be estimated by calculating the area under the curve of (i.e., the "energy" of) F(t) by integrating F(t) over one transition time (i.e., assuming that all, or most of the transition times are identical). In general, the greater the "energy" of F(t), the larger the detrimental effect of the switches' transitions is on the CMI interference, for which reason F(t) is also referred to herein as "common mode noise indicator" (CMNI).

Method and system for reducing common mode noise interference in a differential communication channel