A method for forming a solder bump on an integrated circuit die utilizes a terminal (12) formed of an electrically conductive, solder-wettable composite material composed of copper particles and a polymeric binder. The terminal comprises a bond pad (24) overlying a passivation layer (20) on the die and a runner section (26) connecting the bond pad to a metal contact (16). The terminal is applied to the die, for example, as an ink by screen printing, after which a body of solder alloy is reflowed in contact with the bond pad to form the bump. A preferred material for the terminal is composed of silver-plated copper particles and a resol type phenolic binder.

This invention relates to forming a solder bump on an integrated circuit die. More particularly, this invention relates to such method that includes reflowing the solder alloy onto a terminal formed of an electrically conductive, solder-wettable composite material composed of copper particles and a polymeric binder.
In the manufacture of a microelectronic device, it is known to mount an integrated circuit die to a printed circuit board or the like by a plurality of solder bump interconnections that not only physically attach the die, but also electrically connect a circuit on the die to a circuit on the board for conducting electrical signals to and from the die for processing. For this purpose, a metal pad is formed on the die. A body of solder alloy, such as a preformed microball, is placed onto the pad, heated and cooled to reflow the solder to form a bump that is attached to the die. The area about the pad is covered by a material that is not wet by the solder to prevent the solder from spreading across the surface. The die is then assembled with the board such that the bump rests upon a terminal on the board, whereafter the assembly is heated to reflow the solder, thereby bonding the bump to the board to complete the interconnection.
The design of an integrated circuit die is relatively costly and includes the expense of designing and fabricate numerous masks to arrange and build up the many electrical features. In the past, terminals have been placed adjacent to the perimeter to facilitate wire bonding. Frequently, it is desired to utilize a conventional die, which features perimeter terminals for wire bonding, in a package that includes solder bump interconnections. However, the crowding of the terminals about the perimeter restricts the size of each bump, thereby making it more difficult to handle and accurately position the solder on the terminals and interfering with the formation of discrete bumps. Thus, it is desired to redistribute the terminal pads across the die surface to permit larger bumps to be employed. Common processes for applying and patterning additional metallic layers significantly contribute to the cost of the die. Accordingly, it is desired to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive method for redistributing terminal pads on an integrated circuit die to facilitate solder bump interconnections, while avoiding the expense of redesigning the die.

Solder bumping of integrated circuit die


A ultrasonic transceiver includes a case for housing a ultrasonic sensor having a transducer provided therein, and a resilient member to be interposed between the case and an ultrasonic sensor. The surface of the case opposing the side surface of the ultrasonic sensor is tapered with respect to the surface of the ultrasonic sensor without involvement of the resilient member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. More particularly, the present invention relates to, for example, an ultrasonic transceiver and a vehicle-surroundings obstruction sensor which are to be used in an obstruction detection system mounted in a vehicle bumper for sensing obstructions located around the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ultrasonic transceiver sensors for sensing obstructions located around a vehicle have hitherto been known. More specifically, ultrasonic transceiver sensors are mounted in a bumper of a vehicle, and ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the rear portion or corners of the vehicle. Ultrasonic waves reflected from obstructions are received by the transceiver sensors, thereby detecting the obstructions. Within each ultrasonic sensor, an ultrasonic vibrator is built into a case, and a disc-shaped oscillation plane is also provided. By application of a voltage to the ultrasonic sensor, the ultrasonic vibrator undergoes oscillation by means of the piezoelectric effect, thus transmitting an ultrasonic signal. Upon receipt of the ultrasonic signal reflected from the obstruction, a piezoelectric element provided in the ultrasonic sensor produces a voltage by means of the reverse voltage effect.
Further, there have commonly been employed ultrasonic sensors provided in the front section of the vehicle for detecting obstructions located around the front section of a vehicle.
FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of a related-art ultrasonic transceiver sensor 80 when viewed from the side. FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the same when viewed from the top. A known ultrasonic transceiver sensor has a piezoelectric transducer element provided therein. Further, the ultrasonic transceiver sensor comprises an ultrasonic sensor 81 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves; a control board 82 for controlling the ultrasonic sensor 81; external input/output wiring 83 for connecting the control board 82 to an external ECU for vehicle use; and a case 84 for housing therein the ultrasonic sensor 81 and other elements. Particularly, the case 84 is provided with an opening section 85. The opening section 85 is formed so as to assume an oval-horn-shaped cross section for improving the directivity of ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor.
A rubber holder 86 is provided a round the ultrasonic sensor 81 such that the ultrasonic sensor 81 is secured and can undergo oscillation. A received-wave amplifier AMP 87 is mounted on the control board 82 for amplifying the signal received by the ultrasonic sensor 81.
Other related-art technologies are as follows: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 182571/1983 describes an obstruction sensor comprising an ultrasonic transmitter and an ultrasonic receiver that are provided separately and whose respective characteristics are changed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 148975/1985 describes an ultrasonic sensor, in which an electronic component and elastic filler are provided in the base section of a horn. Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 12686/1987 describes a vehicle rear monitor using a rear bumper as an ultrasonic block wall. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 284896/1997 describes an ultrasonic transceiver, in which the shape and thickness of a case for housing a piezoelectric transducer are controlled so as to provide directivity. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 332817/1998 describes an ultrasonic sensor for preventing erroneous assembly, by means of rendering the longitudinal geometry of a housing of an ultrasonic vibrator different from that of the housing.
In a related-art ultrasonic transceiver, when a horn is formed into such a geometry as to provide directivity, ultrasonic wave are attenuated by the horn. Alternatively, the overall length of the ultrasonic transceiver becomes longer, and the horn section becomes prone to clogging with dirty snow.
Even when an attempt is made to control the geometry of a housing of a vibrator of the ultrasonic sensor so as to provide directivity, sufficient directivity is not achieved, the geometry of the housing or the geometry of a horn becomes complicated, or processes for forming the housing or the horn become complicated.
The present invention has been conceived to solve the aforementioned problems and provides an ultrasonic transceiver providing directivity by means of a simple construction.
The present invention is aimed at providing a sensor for detecting obstructions located around a vehicle, wherein the sensor has a detection area suitable for detecting obstructions located behind the vehicle.
The present invention provides a ultrasonic transceiver comprising:
a ultrasonic sensor provided with a transducer;
a case for housing the ultrasonic sensor therein; and
a resilient member to be interposed between the case and an ultrasonic sensor, wherein the surface of the case opposing a side surface of the ultrasonic sensor is tapered with respect to a surface of the ultrasonic sensor without involvement of the resilient member.
The present invention also provides a ultrasonic transceiver comprising:
a ultrasonic sensor provided with a transducer;
a case for housing the ultrasonic sensor therein;
a resilient member to be interposed between the case and an ultrasonic sensor; and
a tapered section which is formed in the case and opposes the side surface of the ultrasonic sensor exposed from the resilient member, wherein ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor are reflected from the tapered section and transmitted in substantially a forward direction of the ultrasonic sensor.
The present invention provides a vehicle-surroundings obstruction sensor comprising:
an ultrasonic transceiver including a case for housing a ultrasonic sensor having a transducer provided therein, a resilient member to be interposed between the case and an ultrasonic sensor, and a tapered section which is formed in the case and opposes the side surface of the ultrasonic sensor exposed from the resilient member; and
a determination section for determining whether or not obstructions are present, by means of a signal output from the ultrasonic transceiver; wherein
ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor are reflected from the tapered section and transmitted to the surroundings of the vehicle, so that the determination section detects obstructions located in the surroundings of the vehicle.
Preferably, an end section of the tapered section is flush with or higher than an end section of the side surface of the ultrasonic sensor.

Ultrasonic transceiver and vehicle""s surrounding obstruction sensor


A discharge lamp lighting circuit 1 has a DC power supply circuit 3 for outputting a DC voltage, a DC-AC conversion circuit 4 for converting the output voltage of the DC power supply circuit into an AC voltage and then supplying the AC voltage to a discharge lamp 6, and a current detection circuit 8 for detecting an electric current flowing into the discharge lamp. Just after the discharge lamp 6 is lighted, the output frequency of the DC-AC conversion circuit 4 is temporarily changed for defining the lighting frequency of the discharge lamp as a low frequency, to perform DC lighting over a predetermined time. A control circuit 7 determines the duration of the DC lighting by the time it takes for the product of the time and the value of current flowing into the discharge lamp 6 to equal a predetermined value.

This invention relates to guaranteeing stable lighting of a discharge lamp and preventing degradation and short life of the discharge lamp in a discharge lamp lighting circuit adapted to perform DC lighting over a predetermined time. The lamp lighting circuit temporarily defines the lighting frequency of the discharge lamp as low frequency just after the discharge lamp is lighted.
The configuration of a lighting circuit of a discharge lamp, such as a metal halide lamp, including a DC power supply circuit, a DC-AC conversion circuit, and a starter circuit is known. For example, in the configuration wherein a DC-DC converter is used as a DC power supply circuit, and a full-bridge type circuit comprising two pairs of semiconductor switch elements for performing switching control, and a driver circuit thereof are used for a DC-AC conversion circuit, the positive-polarity (or negative-polarity) voltage output by the DC-DC converter is converted into rectangular-wave voltage in the full-bridge type circuit, then this voltage is supplied to a discharge lamp.
In order to light a discharge lamp more reliably at the starting time of the discharge lamp, preferably a period of temporarily supplying low-frequency voltage (so-called DC lighting period) is provided and alternating voltage of a stipulated frequency is supplied after the discharge lamp is lighted, rather than abruptly supplying voltage of a stipulated frequency just after the discharge lamp is lighted. To do this, a predetermined time is set as the duration of the period by a timer circuit or the like.
However, the state at the lighting time of the discharge lamp varies from starting the discharge lamp in a cold state to starting the discharge lamp in a warm state, and if the duration of the DC lighting period is defined evenly, variations in the start properties of discharge lamps occur or an excessive thermal stress is placed on the electrode of a discharge lamp; this is a problem.
It would therefore be desirable to guarantee stable lighting of a discharge lamp and prevent degradation and short life of the discharge lamp in a discharge lamp lighting circuit.
Provided is a discharge lamp lighting circuit comprising a DC power supply circuit for outputting a DC voltage, a DC-AC conversion circuit for converting the output voltage of the DC power supply circuit into an AC voltage and then supplying the AC voltage to a discharge lamp, and a current detection circuit for detecting an electric current flowing into the discharge lamp. Just after the discharge lamp is lighted, the output frequency of the DC-AC conversion circuit is temporarily changed for defining the lighting frequency of the discharge lamp as a low frequency, thereby performing DC lighting over a predetermined time. The duration of the DC lighting is determined by the time it takes for the product of the time and the value of current flowing into the discharge lamp to equal a predetermined value.
Therefore, according to the invention, the duration of the DC lighting is determined by the time it takes for the product of the time and the value of current flowing into the discharge lamp to equal the predetermined value. For example, when the current value of the discharge lamp is large, then the duration of the DC lighting is shortened; when the current value is small, then the duration is prolonged, so that the stability of lighting can be guaranteed in response to the state of the discharge lamp. Such operation prevents degradation and short life of the discharge lamp.


A plurality of local networks each have one or more terminal sets and a message re-director. The message re-directors are adapted to communicate with each other across another network through edge devices. The message re-directors are also adapted to convert multicast messages received locally from the terminal sets into unicast messages for transmission across the other network. The unicast messages are received by the other message re-directors. Each one of the other message re-directors then multicasts information received as part of the multicast messages received to the terminal sets within its local network.

Some modern communications solutions are based on VoIP (Voice-over IP (Internet Protocol)) technology, which involves the transmission of calls over a data network based on the IP. The communication is in the form of packet data and there is no fixed connection as there would be in the case of switched networks. The communication can be text, voice, graphics or video. In order to simplify IP communication problems, standards have been developed and adopted in the industry. Examples of such standards are H.323 (Packet based communication systems) and SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). These standards are followed when designing new hardware and software. The SIP standard covers the technical requirements to set-up, modify and tear down multimedia sessions over the Internet. A multimedia communication session between two endpoints will be referred to as a call.
In distributed networks, telephone terminal sets use both unicast and multicast messages to communicate with each other. For a network containing a number of peer terminal sets each providing local call processing functionality, the peer terminal sets communicate with each other using messaging sequences. However, there are no efficient mechanisms for communication between the terminal sets. Multicast messaging provides an efficient mechanism for distributing information. However, for a system having peer terminal sets on more than one network segment a difficulty arises in multicast messaging between the peer terminal sets. This is particularly problematic when two peer terminal sets are on different networks that are protected by firewalls. In such a case, the two terminal sets may have the same private IP address and there is no simple mechanism for communicating with each other. Furthermore, communication between the two peer terminal sets might require that messages be routed through a router; however, many routers do not support multicast messaging. Some systems have been developed to provide a mechanism for tunneling multicast messages between routers; however, such systems are very expensive and are not well suited for distributed networks.

Multicast and unicast message re-direction system, method, message re-director, and network device


An improved blower motor speed control resistor array in which the resistor elements are defined by multiple optimally sized patches of resistive ink deposited onto opposite sides of a thin flat ceramic substrate. The array comprises three resistive patches connected in series via fusing elements to provide three reduced blower motor speeds MH, M and L. The thin ceramic substrate is flat on both of its faces, and each face comprises a terminal region for attachment of the resistive patches to the terminal elements, and a resistor region for deposition of the three resistive patches. The resistive patch of lowest resistivity (the MH resistor) is deposited on the entire resistor region of a first side of the substrate. The resistor patches of intermediate and highest resistivity (the M and L resistors, respectively) share the resistor region of the other side of the substrate in relation proportion to their respective resistivities.

In automotive blower motor installations, several discrete blower speeds are customarily achieved through the use of various resistor elements connected in series with the blower motor via a multi-position speed control switch. In such installations, the resistor elements may be formed in an array on a support structure disposed in the inlet or discharge air path of the blower to dissipate heat generated by the passage of motor current through the resistor elements. The resistor elements may be discrete (wire-wound, for example) or printed in an array on a substrate in the manner of a printed circuit board. In the U.S. Patent to Yamamoto et al. 5,000,662, for example, the resistors are defined by a serpentine pattern of resistive material deposited on a porcelain enameled metallic substrate.
A fundamental engineering trade-off occurs in the design of a resistor array due to conflicting cost, heat transfer and packaging considerations. For packaging considerations, the resistor array should be as small as possible. This also tends to minimize noise and airflow restriction in the air duct. For heat transfer considerations, the array should be designed to maximize heat rejection. In addition to materials selection, this consideration impacts the package size and shape since heat rejection increases with increasing surface area. Of course, cost considerations tend to dictate against the use of exotic materials and complex manufacturing processes.
The current design philosophy in blower motor resistor arrays is to incorporate a metallic element into the array in order to provide adequate heat rejection while keeping the size of the array reasonably small. In Yamamoto et al., for example, porcelain enamel coating is deposited over a metal substrate. In other designs, a metallic fin is attached to the array. These designs may satisfy heat transfer and packaging considerations, but adversely impact cost considerations.

Ceramic substrate blower motor resistor array


A display device of electronic equipment comprises a display portion attached to a movable unit having a light incident surface through which light enters and a tip end surface for emitting light which enters through the light incident surface. Light emitting elements (and a prism) are mounted on a body unit for emitting light toward the rear end surface of the display portion in a state where the movable unit is mounted on the body unit. The tip end surface of the display portion is exposed on the surface of the movable unit, whereby the tip end surface is lighted when the emitting elements or the prism emits light toward the rear end surface of the display portion, thereby displaying a state of the electronic equipment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment displaying a state thereof with a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been, for example, a bankbook/slip printer as one type of electronic equipment. The bankbook/slip printer is installed in a financial institution, particularly in a banking institution, and it comprises a body unit including a printing portion for printing information on a bankbook or a slip and a movable unit having an inserting passage for leading the bankbook or slip into the printing portion. The movable unit is attached to the body unit by a hinge, etc. so as to be turned with respect to the body unit, and includes a display device for displaying a state of the electronic equipment such as "power is ON or OFF" or "alarm (trouble)". For example, if a jam of the bankbook is indicated on the display device, an operator turns the movable unit to permit it to be in an open state so as to remove the jammed bankbook.
The display device comprises a display indicator provided on the front surface of the movable unit, light emitting elements provided inside the movable unit at positions confronting the display indicator, and an interchange board on which the light emitting elements are mounted. The display indicator is permitted to be in a lighting state while light emitted by the light emitting elements passes through the display indicator so as to display a state of the bankbook/slip printer. Signal lines are connected between the body unit and the interchange board so as to transmit signals for emitting light outputted from the body unit to the light emitting elements.
In the conventional bankbook/slip printer, the signal lines connected to the interchange board are apt to be clamped between the body unit, and the movable unit when the movable unit which is in an open state with respect to the body unit, is turned so as to be returned to an original state (closed state). Therefore the signal lines are fixed to the movable unit so as to be broken or disconnected by being clamped. However, as the signal lines are fixed to the movable unit, there occurs a problem in that the same portion of the signal lines is always twisted (deformed) so that the signal lines are gradually damaged at the deformed portion, leading to breakage (breakage due to fatigue), i.e. there occurs a problem of breakage of the signal lines. Since the light emitting signals are not transmitted to the interchange board when the signal lines are broken, there occurs another problem in that the display indicator is not in a lighting state, although the power is turned on, while the display indicator is not in a lighting state even if the bankbook/slip printer has trouble.
A plurality of the signal lines are provided if the bankbook/slip printer has a plurality of display devices, and in that case the signal lines are separated from one another. When the display device is assembled, the signal lines are bundled at a binding portion thereof and then the signal lines are fixed to the movable unit to prevent them from being separated from one another. Therefore, these operations cause a low efficiency of the assembly of the display device.


A video stream from a webcam or video telephone is received. The video stream can be analyzed in real-time as it is being received or can be recorded and stored for later analysis. Information within the video streams can be extracted and processed by a facial and video content recognition engine and the information derived therefrom can be stored as metadata. The metadata can be used for enriching the call content recorded by a recorder. The information derived from the video streams can be used to solve business and legal issues.

A call center is a centralized office that receives and transmits a large number of requests by telephone. A call center may provide product support or information requested by consumers. Outgoing calls may be made for telemarketing and debt collection. A call center is often operated by call center agents having work stations that include a computer for each agent and a telephone set/headset (telset) connected to a telecommunications switch. The call center may be independently operated or may be networked with additional centers. It may be linked to a corporate computer network that includes numerous computers and local area networks (LANs). Voice and data pathways into the center are frequently linked through technologies called computer telephony integration (CTI).
Most major businesses use call centers to interact with their customers. Examples include utility companies and mail order catalog firms. Customer support for computer hardware and software businesses are also frequently operated via call centers. All types of businesses sometimes service internal functions such as help desks and sales support through call centers.
The calls received or intercepted by a call center may be recorded. Covert monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party is sometimes called telephone tapping or wiretapping. Legalized wiretapping by police or other recognized governmental authorities is called lawful interception. Using the existing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Wireless, and Cable Systems, lawful interception is generally performed by accessing the digital switches supporting the target's calls. A good lawful interception system provides transparent (undetected) interception of specified traffic only.
Call data (known as Intercept Related Information or IRI in Europe and Call Data or CD in the US) includes information about the targeted communications, including destination of a voice call (e.g., called party's telephone number), source of a call (caller's telephone number), time of the call, duration, etc. Call content refers to the stream of data carrying the call. A lawful interception management function covers interception session set-up and tear down, scheduling, target identification, and so on. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has its own call data, including data derived from Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) messages that are used to set up and tear down a VoIP call. Passive wiretapping observes call data flow and gathers information. Active wiretapping attempts to alter the data or the flow of data.
Call recording software or call logging software allows a party to record a telephone conversation, whether PSTN or VoIP, to a digital file format. Reasons for recording call traffic include: reducing company vulnerability to lawsuits by maintaining recorded evidence, complying with laws, increasing security, training employees, providing performance reviews, verifying data, sharing data, improving customer satisfaction and so on.
A facial recognition system is a computer application for programmatically identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame from a video source. In some systems, selected facial features from the image are compared to a database of cataloged facial features. Some facial recognition algorithms identify faces by extracting landmarks, or features, from an image of the subject's face. For example, an algorithm may analyze the relative position, size, and/or shape of the eyes, nose, cheekbones, and jaw. These features are then used to search for other images with matching features. Other algorithms normalize a gallery of face images and then compress the face data, only saving the data in the image that is useful for face detection. A probe image is then compared with the face data. Popular recognition algorithms include eigenface, fisherface, the Hidden Markov model, and the neuronal motivated dynamic link matching algorithm.
Three-dimensional facial recognition uses three dimensional sensors to capture information about the shape of a face and is then used to identify distinctive features on the surface of a face, such as the contour of the eye sockets, nose, and chin. Three-dimensional facial recognition is not affected by changes in lighting like other techniques may be. It can also identify a face from a range of viewing angles, including a profile view. Another technique uses the visual details of the skin, as captured in standard digital or scanned images. This technique, called skin texture analysis, turns the unique lines, patterns, and spots apparent in a person's skin into a mathematical space.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for enhancing recorded or intercepted calls using information from a facial recognition engine


In a method and apparatus for contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography of the right coronary artery of a patient, a bolus of MR contrast agent is selected to have a size that will cause the bolus, after injection into the patient, to wash out of right coronary chambers of the heart while still enhancing MR signals from the right coronary artery. The bolus of MR contrast agent is injected into the patient, and MR signals are generated in, and MR signals are obtained from, the patient in a time window after the bolus has washed out of the right coronary chambers and still enhances MR signals in the right coronary artery. An MR image of the right coronary artery is generated using only the MR signals obtained in the time window.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging, and in particular to a method and apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging of the coronary arteries.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A study by Kim et al. entitled "Coronary Magnetic Resonance Angiography for the Detection of Coronary Stenoses," New England Journal of Medicine (2001), Vol. 345, No. 26, pages 1863-1869 showed that coronary artery magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) may be a viable diagnostic alternative to selective x-ray catheter-based angiography. The detection of coronary artery stenoses using MRA may be improved by viewing the entire artery as a whole, so as to prevent a torturous segment of the artery from mimicking a stenosis, and thus causing a misdiagnosis, as reported in "Whole-Heart Steady-State Free Precession Coronary Artery Magnetic Resonance Angiography," Weber et al., Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Vol. 50 (2003), pages 1223-1228.
Coronary artery datasets often are evaluated either in cine mode or are reformatted using various image processing tools designed to remove the signal produced by adjacent tissue. Example of such techniques are described in "'Soap-Bubble' Visualization and Quantitative Analysis of 3D Coronary Magnetic Resonance Angiograms," Etienne et al., Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Vol. 48, No. 4 (2002), pages 658-666 and "Coronary Artery Imaging Using Contrast-Enhanced 3D Segmented EPI," Deshpande et al., Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Vol. 13, No. 5 (2001), pages 676-681. Because of the strong signal produced by nearby cardiac chambers and the tortuous path of coronary arteries, such procedures can be time consuming, and there efficacy often is heavily dependent on user training. This is true even for contrast-enhanced 3D coronary MRA, when adjacent tissue often is dramatically suppressed by magnetization preparation, as described in "Coronary Arteries: Magnetization-Prepared Contrast-Enhanced Three-Dimensional Volume-Targeted Breath-Hold MR Angiography," Li et al., Radiology, Vol. 1019, No. 1 (2001), pages 270-277

Time resolved contrast-enhanced MR projection imaging of the coronary arteries with intravenous contrast injection


A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that in an embodiment select a simulator input fragment, characterize an I/O model using a set of simulator input fragments, create a set of behavioral models based on the characterization and compare the set of behavioral models to the I/O model. In an embodiment, the set of behavioral models is compared to the I/O model by creating simulator input decks that include net topology for the I/O model and the set of behavioral models, simulating the decks, and comparing the output from the simulating.

The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely sophisticated devices, and computer systems may be found in many different settings. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware (such as semiconductors, integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, programmable gate arrays, and circuit boards) and software, also known as computer programs.
The typical design methodology for integrated circuit designs—such as very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)—is conventionally divided into the following three stages: first a design capture step is performed using, for example, a high level language synthesis package. Next, design verification is made on the resulting design. This includes simulations, timing analysis, and automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) tools. Finally, there is layout and eventual tape out of the device. The device is then tested, and the process may need to be reiterated one or more times until the desired design criteria are satisfied.
Currently, electronic design automation (EDA) tools are used to define and verify prototype systems. Conventional EDA tools provide computer-aided facilities for electronic engineers to define prototype designs, typically by generating either netlist files, which specify components and their interconnections, or hardware description files, which specify prototype system functionality according to a hardware description language (HDL).
Initially, the desired functionality for a circuit is analyzed by one or more designers. They define the logical components of the circuit and their interactions by specifying the logic design using design capture tools.
Two common methods for specifying the design are schematic capture and hardware description languages. Both of these methods allow a circuit designer to specify the circuit at the register transfer level. The schematic capture method provides a user interface, which allows a logic circuit to be drawn in graphical form on a computer display. Using this method, the circuit is defined as small building blocks, which can be used to develop higher level designs with increasing degrees of abstraction.
Encoding the design in a hardware description language (HDL) is the other major design entry technique used to specify modern integrated circuits. Hardware description languages are specially developed to aid a designer in describing a circuit. The HDL program specifying the design may be compiled into the same data format produced by schematic capture. This capability provides the designer great flexibility in methods used for specifying a logic design.
Next, it is necessary to verify that the logic definition is correct and that the circuit implements the function expected by the designers. Typically, this involves timing analysis and simulation tools. The data representation in the logic design database may be reformatted as needed prior to use by the timing analysis and simulation tools. The design undergoes design verification analysis in order to detect flaws in the design. The design is also analyzed by simulating the device resulting from the design to assess the functionality of the design. If errors are found or the resulting functionality is unacceptable, the designer modifies the design as needed. These design iterations help to ensure that the design satisfies its requirements.
Other verification methods include generating software models of the logic circuit design and testing the software model of the design with designer-specified test cases. Because it is not possible to check every possible condition that may be generated in the actual logic design, faulty logic may remain because it would not have been exercised by any of the test cases. Errors in the logic design may remain undetected until the release of a product on the marketplace, where it may cause costly redesigns.
Formal verification is another way to check logic design prior to the fabrication of a device. Formal verification is a technique wherein a logic circuit is modeled as a state transition system, and specifications are provided for components in the system. One way in which specifications may be made is through the use of logic formulas. Each of the components in the logic design is specified, and all possible behaviors of the design may be exercised by a tool which confirms that these specifications are met.
Once a netlist has been generated from the logic design, there are a number of commercially available silicon compilers, also called place and route tools, which are used to convert the netlist into a semiconductor circuit layout. The semiconductor circuit layout specifies the physical implementation of the circuit in silicon or other semiconductor materials.
As can be seen from the description above, the design verification step can be quite complicated and resource intensive. This complicated nature of design verification is exacerbated when a computer system contains hundreds of I/O (Input/Output) models that need to be characterized for simulation.
What is needed is a better way to handle the many I/O models that must be characterized for simulation.

International Business Machines Corporation


A brake mechanism fixed to a member allowing limited reciprocal motion and providing a restorative force to the movable member in one direction of movement thereof. A brake mechanism includes a rotor fixed to and wheel about an axle axis has a caliper assembly spanning the rotor with inboard and outboard friction members supported on either side of the rotor for selectively engaging the rotor and braking the wheel. A piston is fixed to the caliper of the inboard friction member for moving the inboard friction member toward the rotor and including a piston seal which, upon removal of fluidic pressure from the cylinder, resiliently urges the inboard friction member away from the rotor. A bracket is fixed to the vehicle supports the caliper on a pair of generally cylindrical guide pins fixed to one of the anchor bracket and caliper assembly and is movable within a pair of generally cylindrical guide pin bores of the anchor bracket and caliper assembly. A pair of central cylindrical shells and an end engaging a pin shoulder to provide the restorative force and a radially outer portion of reduced rigidity such as a plurality of fins frictionally engaging the aperture.

The problem of maintaining a proper running clearance between braking members is an old one. For many years, drum style brake shoes were manually advanced to compensate for wear of the shoe friction surface, for example, by turning a star wheel adjustment nut. This periodic maintenance routine was frequently initiated upon the vehicle driver detecting excess brake pedal travel. Later, automatic adjusters for resetting the rest or released shoe location were developed, some requiring the vehicle to be braked while moving in reverse to reposition the shoes. With the advent of disc brakes, some systems have employed a radially deformable metal tube with a shoulder which provides a rest or retracted position for the brake pads. Excess pad travel induces radial deformation of the tube axially repositioning the shoulder along the tube and establishing a new pad retracted location. Other systems have relied on the natural resilience of piston seals to retract the brake pads and provide running clearance between the brake rotor and brake pads. In the case of floating caliper style disc bakes, the piston seal resilience adequately retracts the inboard brake pad away from the rotor after a braking event, but repositioning of the outboard pad has been somewhat unreliable. Recent attempts to achieve more uniform clearance for both inboard and outboard pads have concentrated on the interplay between the caliper guide pins and the member in which they slide.
For example, one embodiment in U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,416 employs a plurality of elastic annular rings recessed either in the guide pin surface or the sidewall of the hole in which the guide pin reciprocates. The annular rings engage the other member and deform without slipping during braking. Excess brake pad travel induces slippage between the members after the deformation resulting in repositioning the pin within its hole. In another embodiment, a series of axially spaced apart radially extending springs are located along the pin surface or hole sidewall and the other member has a single similar radially extending spring. During normal braking, the single spring transition between a specific pair of the other member springs, but excess pad travel causes the single spring to slip past one of the two adjacent springs and thereafter to transition between a new specific pair. Variations on these techniques are employed in other embodiments.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,983 reiterates stating a common problem in the art of brakes is that stationary brake pads often drag on a movable friction element after the braking pressure has been released. This causes excessive wear on the pads and reduces the overall performance of the vehicle. In the art of automotive and truck disc brakes, this problem is presented when the brake pad that is carried by a movable, or floating, caliper drags on the rotor after braking pressure is released. This occurs mostly because the frictional forces between the elements carrying the caliper, such as the friction between the slide pins and the walls of the bore in which they ride, prevent return of the caliper to a rest position providing a gap between the pad and the rotor after release of braking pressure. This patent suggests a mechanism for providing a clearance between a brake pad and a rotor in a sliding-pin, floating-caliper disc brake which includes a bushing that receives a sliding pin and a resilient element between the end of the pin and the end of the bushing. The bushing is a cylindrical shell with smooth inner and outer diameters for receiving the pin and engaging a bore respectively and has a reduced diameter hole in an otherwise closed end through which a reduced diameter free end portion of the pin passes. A retainer engages the free end and holds a wave washer captive between the bushing end and the free pin end. The pin reciprocates in the bushing during operation of the brakes, and the bushing moves along the bore as the brake pads wear. A large number of parts coupled with complex assembly are just one problem with this solution, thus after over one-half century, these problems remain partially unsolved and continue to plague the industry.
It is desirable to maintain proper running clearance for both inboard and outboard brake pads in a very simplistic and economical manner.


Systems and techniques are provided for electronic payment network security. Payment data including an origin and a destination for a payment in an electronic payment network may be received. A route of the payment in the electronic payment network may be estimated based on the origin and the destination. The estimated route of the payment in the electronic payment network may be input to a neural network. Fraud probabilities may be determined using the neural network. A fraud probability may include a value indicating a probability of fraud in the payment in the electronic payment network.

An electronic payment network may allow users to send and receive payments. The electronic payment network may include a number of systems which may be connected to form the electronic payment network. This may result in the electronic payment network being decentralized. A user may gain access to the electronic payment network through these systems. A payment made using the electronic payment network may be susceptible to fraud committed by the users involved in the payment, the payor and payee, or by any of the systems involved in the payment. Due to the decentralized nature of the electronic payment network, it may be difficult both to detect fraud in a payment and to make the identities of users or systems responsible for fraud available to other users and systems in the electronic payment network.


A computer-implemented method includes: receiving, by a computing device, sensor data relating to the attributes of garment worn by a user; determining, by the computing device, the attributes of the garment based on receiving the sensor data; determining, by the computing device, the user's shopping interest based on determining the attributes of the garment; generating, by the computing device, a targeted advertisement based on the user's shopping interest; and outputting, by the computing device, the targeted advertisement for display at a merchant facility.

The present invention generally relates to providing targeted ads to users, and more particularly, to determining user shopping interests in real-time using sensor and image data, and providing real-time targeted ads based on the determined user shopping interests.
Retailers are limited to advertising based on studies, focus groups, sales analysis, and other factors. These approaches are latent, after-the-fact, and removed from actual immediate consumer tendencies and experiences. Retailers miss an opportunity to correlate, link to, and predict from real-time customer preferences and attributes. For example, retailers in a mall setting often stage items and post advertising in storefronts based on considerations such as targeted consumer demographics, time of the year, and current fashion trends. However, when a potential customer walks past the storefront, the retailer's static presentation is not tailored to the potential customer and may not engage the attention of the potential customer. That is, the retailer's storefront presentation does not adapt based on the interests of nearby customers. Ultimately, retailers and consumers are not linked closely and not in an adaptive and customizable relationship. This represents a significant lost opportunity for both parties. As a result of static storefront presentations, opportunities are missed for enticing and encouraging potential customers to enter a retailer, thereby leading to missed opportunities for sales, improved customer/retailer relationships, brand improvement, etc.

Determining a user's shopping interests based on sensor data identifying attributes of the user's garment

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A server receives a graphics data request from a client system through a network. The request includes client description data describing capabilities of the client system. The server accesses the requested graphics data from an augmented scene graph. The server determines which one or more operations from a set of operations are to be performed on the graphics data based on the client description data. The set of operations includes:                (a) compiling the graphics data; and        (b) removing nodes from the compiled graphics data that are not visible to a user to obtain view-limited compiled graphics data.        (c) culling the view-limited compiled graphics data with a view frustum to obtain state-sorted graphics data and        (d) rendering the state-sorted graphics data to obtain images.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the field computer graphics, and more particularly, to a system and method for communicating graphic data through a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer networks permit the distribution of computational labor across a number of computers. One computer (a server) may be configured to provide computational services to other computers (clients). In particular, a server may be specially configured to store and maintain graphics data such as scene graphs for clients. A client may send requests for graphics data to the server. The server may receive the requests and send back the requested graphics data through the network. Since the graphics data (e.g., a portion of a scene graph) may be voluminous and complex, the client may need to be well endowed with resources such as a powerful host processor, a powerful graphics accelerator and high network access bandwidth in order to render and display the graphics data with a latency that is acceptable to the user. Unfortunately, many computer system are not so well endowed. There exists a need for a system and methodology of serving graphics data (especially scene graph data) to clients with a wide variety of processing and rendering capabilities.

Software system for efficient data transport across a distributed system for interactive viewing

Abstract: The server performs the one or more operations on the graphics data to obtain resultant graphics data, and, transmits the resultant graphics data to the client system.


The object of the present invention is to shorten time from when a predetermined condition is satisfied till when recharging is completed. A mobile terminal directly requests an electronic money server to perform recharging. In response to this, the electronic money server secures funds and then generates a command group for recharging. Then, the electronic money server sends, to the mobile terminal, a storage instruction by which the mobile terminal is made to store the generated command group in an IC chip. The mobile terminal then does not immediately execute the command group but temporality stores the command group into a general-purpose IC chip. In this way, a stage of preparation for recharging is completed. Then, under a certain condition (for example, by user's operation, on the side of the general-purpose IC chip, the stored command group is executed. In this way, recharging is performed, and the value balance is updated.

In recent years, the use of electronic money has become widespread. In electronic money, amount information called value is related to money value and fund settlement is performed by increasing or decreasing the value balance.
FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an existing electronic money system.
An electronic money card 90 is an IC card owned by the user, and the balance of value, an IC chip ID by which an IC chip is identified, an electronic money number, and so forth are recorded on a built-in IC chip. Moreover, a mobile terminal 5, such as a mobile telephone, which incorporates the IC chip is also present.
A method of holding value by an IC chip on the user's side as described above is called a stored value type.
An asynchronous payment terminal 7 is installed in a store, an automatic vending machine, and so forth, and performs payment by value by reducing the value balance stored in the IC chip by performing short-distance radio communication (near field radio communication) with the electronic money card 90 or the IC chip of the mobile terminal 5.
The asynchronous payment terminal 7 completes the payment processing locally between the asynchronous payment terminal 7 and the IC chip of the user without connecting to an electronic money server 2 and records the transaction history as log data.
Then, the asynchronous payment terminal 7 collectively sends the log data to the electronic money server 2 later at regular or irregular intervals.
The reason why the asynchronous payment terminal 7 is called "asynchronous" is that the asynchronous payment terminal 7 completes the payment processing locally without being synchronous with the electronic money server 2.
In such a stored value-type electronic money system, since the value balance is stored in the IC chip in advance and the value balance is reduced at the time of payment, if there is not enough value, it is impossible to perform payment. This makes it necessary for processing called recharging that increases the balance of value stored in the IC chip. This recharging is generally performed in exchange for money in a store and the exchange value of value is guaranteed.
In Patent Document 1, a technique of directly recharging an IC chip on the mobile terminal's side without the exchange of money by making access to an electronic money server from a mobile terminal is disclosed.
With reference to FIG. 16, this processing procedure will be described.
First, a mobile telephone is put into Internet connection mode, and access is made to a service site of an electronic money server (step 405). In response to this, the electronic money server sends, to the mobile telephone, screen data for displaying a main menu screen (step 450).
The mobile telephone receives this data and displays the main menu screen on a display. Here, it is assumed that mobile recharging is selected, and the mobile telephone sends, to the electronic money server, information indicating that mobile recharging has been selected (step 410). In response to this, the electronic money server sends, to the mobile telephone, screen data for displaying a password entry screen (step 455). The mobile telephone receives this screen data and displays the password entry screen on the display. The user enters a password on this screen and sends the password to the electronic money server (step 415). After authenticating this password, the electronic money server sends, to the mobile telephone, screen data for displaying an amount entry screen (step 460).
The mobile telephone receives this screen data and displays the amount entry screen on the display. The user enters a recharging amount on this screen and sends the recharging amount to the electronic money server (step 420). The electronic money server requests, from an authentication organization server, permission for issuing value to this user (step 465), and the authentication organization server sends the examination result to the electronic money server (step 490).
If permission is not issued (step 470; N), the electronic money server sends, to the mobile telephone, a message saying that permission is not issued (step 473) and goes back to step 450. On the other hand, if permission is issued (step 470; Y), the electronic money server performs communication with the mobile telephone and performs value write processing (step 475, step 425). In the mobile telephone, when writing of value is finished, the user verifies it and sends, to the electronic money server, a signal that verification has been performed (step 430). In response to this, the electronic money server sends, to the mobile telephone, screen data for displaying a result display screen indicating that mobile recharging has been finished (step 480) and ends the processing.
In the mobile telephone, the mobile telephone displays the result display screen on the display by using this and ends the processing (step 435).

Mobile terminal, method for controlling mobile terminal, program product, and recording medium


The present invention relates to a passive multiple remote center compliance (MRCC) device that serves as a mechanical wrist for a robot arm. Such a multiple remote center compliance device comprises a translational structure and a gyrational structure serially interconnected between an operator member and a mounting member for enabling translational and rotational motion at, near or beyond the remote compliance center, that is, the functioning end of the operator member. The translational structure is securely connected to the mounting member (such as the end effector of a robot arm) and is provided with a translational block therein so as to furnish lateral compliance and orientational compliance. The gyrational structure is connected and operated by an operating member (such as the gripper of the robot arm) and moves relatively to the translational structure. The gyrational structure is provided with a gyrational block therein having a spherical configuration so as to furnish angular compliance and orientational compliance. In an alternative embodiment, adjustable resilient means is provided to overcome gravitation effecting the translational and the gyrational blocks, so as to proceed with insertion and mating maneuvers not advancing vertically downwards.

Due to various factors, such as the accuracy, repeatability, and resolution of a robot arm, interference and collisions usually occur between a workpiece and its designated location while using the robot arm in insertion and mating maneuvers and thus result in unexpected orientational and angular errors. Passive remote center compliance (RCC) devices are one of commonly used techniques for attending such problems and for enhancing the dexterity of the robot arm.
A remote center compliance device is a passive device for aiding insertion and mating maneuvers in robot machines, docking, and assembly equipment. An RCC device establishes motion about a remote center typically at, near or beyond the functioning end of the operator member. The RCC device usually includes two structures concatenated or serially interconnected between an operator member and a mounting member.
In one type of RCC device, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,001, an RCC device includes flexure means comprised of a number of discrete elements aligned with radii from a center which is the remote center of the device. Such an RCC device comprises flexures arranged in parallel configuration (56, 68, 60), flexures arranged in trapezoidal configuration (24, 26, 28), and segments, wherein the flexures arranged in parallel configuration (56, 58, 60) establish motion, the flexures arranged in trapezoidal configuration (24, 26, 28) establish angular motion, and the segments are connected by reduced portions (30, 32, 34, 36, 40). Therefore, the rising angle of such an RCC device is usually less than 1.5.degree.. The motion transfer is established by the net force and net torque encountered at the remote compliance center, wherein the net force enables translational compliance at the flexures arranged in parallel configuration, and the net torque enables angular compliance at the flexures arranged in trapezoidal configuration.
Other known RCC devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,469 which provides an improved RCC device with enlarged error tolerance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,975 which provides an improved, adjustable RCC device having an easily and quickly adjusted remote center of compliance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,203 which provides an RCC device with improved linearity and uniformity of its compliant response, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,757 which provides an improved RCC device utilizing partially coil-bound springs as compliant elements.
However, since the structures of these disclosed RCC devices all fail to provide rotational degree of freedom in orientation, they are merely adapted to insertion and mating maneuvers of round pegs. Furthermore, the deficiency of adjustable central axes of these RCC devices also fail to facilitate insertion and mating maneuvers not advancing vertically downwards. In other words, these RCC devices cannot effectively accomplish insertion and mating maneuvers of asymmetrical (such as square) workpieces that require precise alignment, or insertion and mating maneuvers that advance in non-vertical directions.

Passive multiple remote center compliance device


A vehicle includes a controller area network (CAN) and a plurality of a controllers in communication with each other via the CAN, wherein each controller of the plurality of controllers is configured to time-stamp messages transmitted via the CAN using a vehicle-wide synchronized clock, determine a worst-case transmission delay via the CAN based on the time-stamps for messages received from other controllers of the plurality of controllers, and based on the worse-case transmission delay, set a dynamic recovery timer for a malfunctioning controller of the plurality of controllers to recover after its malfunction, wherein the dynamic recovery timer prevents a particular controller that was malfunctioning but has since recovered from being incorrectly designated as a malfunctioning controller in need of service.

Today's vehicles typically have a large quantity of controllers and multiple controllers could run redundant or very similar software routines. Non-limiting examples of these controllers include an engine control module, a brake control module, and a steering control module. Each of these controllers are in communication with each other via a controller area network (CAN). When one of these software routines malfunctions, the malfunction can be communicated to the other controllers such that they are aware that the particular controller/software routine is malfunctioning. After a malfunction, however, there is the possibility that the controller/software routine can recover and resume normal functionality. Conventional systems use a predetermined timer for this to occur. Due to transmission delays on the CAN, however, this predetermined time may be insufficient, which could result in a controller being designated as malfunctioning and needing service even though it has in fact recovered. Accordingly, while such vehicle controller networks do work for their intended purpose, there remains a desire for improvement in the relevant art.

System and method for malfuncton operation machine stability determination


An electrical coupling system for use in a wellbore that enables insertion and removal of an electrically operated device in a wellbore includes an electrical receptacle mounted at a selected axial position along a tubing disposed in the wellbore. The receptacle includes at least one insulated electrical conductor coupled to an electrical contact inside the receptacle and extending to the well surface. An electrical coupler is disposed on an exterior of the electrically operated device. The coupler includes at least one electrical contact disposed proximate the receptacle contact when the coupler is mated to the receptacle. The coupler including at least one flow passage enabling wellbore fluid flow from below the coupler to an annular space between the electrically operated device and an interior of the tubing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of downhole electrical coupling in hydrocarbon producing wells. More specifically, the invention relates to an electrical connector mechanism that can be connected within a fluid environment, where the connector provides electrical contact for electrically operated devices such as submersible pump systems, "intelligent" completion systems, wellbore sensing systems and the like.
2. Background Art
Downhole electrical pumps used in wells to lift formation fluids to the surface are typically installed as an integrated and permanent part of the production tubing. In such systems, the wellbore tubing needs to be pulled out of the wellbore if the pump or any of its associated components needs to be repaired or maintained. FIG. 1 illustrates an industry standard method and device known in the art for a wellbore where a tubing deployed, electrically operated submersible pump system is installed therein for lifting well fluids to the surface (i.e., to the wellhead). Production of fluids to surface moves through a production tubing (2P) mounted above the outlet of the pump system. The pump system typically comprises an electrically operated centrifugal type pump (3), a pump intake (4) for entry of wellbore fluids into the pump (3), a motor protector/seal system (5) and a electric motor system (6). The pump system provided electrical power through an electrical cable (7) extended from the surface and coupled to the motor (6), wherein the electrical cable (7) is typically mounted on the exterior of the production tubing (2P) and extends to the well surface.
If the pump system shown in FIG. 1 fails or needs repair, the entire system including the production tubing (2P) needs to be retrieved to the surface. This can be difficult and expensive, as it will typically require a workover rig or similar lifting unit to retrieve the tubing (2P) from within the casing (1).
Thus, a need exists for a wellbore pump system and other electrically operated devices that can be retrieved and reinstalled without pulling the tubing and attached electrical device and which includes only minimum changes to existing electrically powered devices such as electrically powered wellbore pumps.

Downhole electrical coupler for electrically operated wellbore pumps and the like


In a data multiplexing/demultiplexing apparatus including a serial-to-parallel converter, a microprocessor and a memory, a data shift register inputs data from the memory by way of the microprocessor, a correction register stores a shift correction amount on a transmission path of the data shift register. A framing rule register stores a framing rule determined by the microprocessor, a counter, carries out a counting operation in accordance with the framing rule to an address information signal. A look-up table ROM outputs a selector selection signal in accordance with the address information signal, and a data selector distributes output data of the data shift register among a plurality of shift registers in accordance with the selector selection signal. The microprocessor analyzes data separated by the plurality of shift registers, performs a synchronism detecting operation and a protocol determining operation, and determines the framing rule.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data multiplexing and demultiplexing apparatus used in synchronous telecommunications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of synchronous telecommunications systems such as an integrated services digital network (ISDN), synchronization bits and actual data are multiplexed for transmission. With data multiplexing-demultiplexing systems such as International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Standards H. 221 and H.223, data including synchronization data, audio data, video data and other data are multiplexed at a transmitter side and transmitted by way of one or more than one digital channels. At a receiver side, the multiplexed data are received and demultiplexed (separated) from each other according to the multiplexing system used at the transmitter side before they are distributed to respective decoding units for decoding the data.
A first prior art multiplexing and demultiplexing apparatus is constructed mainly by hardware (see: JP-A-4-207728). This will be explained later in detail.
In the first prior art multiplexing and demultiplexing apparatus, however, the protocol processing units have to be hierarchically configured. As a result, the hardware inevitably will become bulky. Additionally, if a new framing pattern is assigned, an extra state transition has to be added to a state machine, so that the time for responding a new protocol has to be modified to a large extent, and a number of work steps required for this modification will be by far longer.
A second prior art data multiplexing and demultiplexing apparatus is constructed mainly by software. This will also be explained later in detail.
The second prior art multiplexing and demultiplexing apparatus, however, is accompanied by the problem of involving many instruction cycles, which requires a highly efficient processor.

Data multiplexing and demultiplexing apparatus capable of simplifying hardware without reducing flexibility


In some embodiments, an integrated circuit is provided. The integrated circuit may include an inner ring-shaped isolation structure that is disposed in a semiconductor substrate. Further, the inner-ring shaped isolation structure may demarcate a device region. An inner ring-shaped well is disposed in the semiconductor substrate and surrounds the inner ring-shaped isolation structure. A plurality of dummy gates are arranged over the inner ring-shaped well. Moreover, the plurality of dummy gates are arranged within an interlayer dielectric layer.

Integrated chips comprise millions or billions of transistor devices. Modern day integrated chips generally comprise a variety of transistors that are capable of operating a different voltages. High voltage devices are widely used in power management, regulators, battery protectors, DC motors, automotive circuits, panel display drivers, etc. On the other hand, low voltage devices are typically used for logic cores, microprocessors, and microcontrollers. Some modern integrated circuit (IC) designs integrate both high voltage and low voltage devices on a single chip. In both high voltage and low voltage technologies, functional density (e.g., the number of devices per chip area) has generally increased while feature size (e.g., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. However, the increase in functional density and decrease in feature size has caused both low voltage and high voltage devices to suffer leakage and other undesirable dimensional based effects.

Dishing prevention dummy structures for semiconductor devices

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A method and apparatus are provided for measuring intracranial pressure. The method includes the steps of measuring arterial inflow, venous outflow and cranial spinal fluid flow and calculating an intracranial volume change from the measured arterial inflow, venous outflow and cranial spinal fluid flow. The method also includes the steps of calculating a pressure gradient of spinal fluid flow from the measured cranial spinal fluid flow and calculating a pressure change per unit volume change based upon the calculated intracranial volume change and cranial pressure gradient.

Intracranial pressure (ICP) and compliance are important clinical parameters for diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Elevated intracranial pressure, if left untreated, may result in patient death or permanent damage. Techniques currently available to measure ICP are invasive and associated with risk. In addition, penetration into the CNS space to measure the ICP often alters the pressure.
In a closed system, such as the cranium, the inside pressure and volume are related. The change in pressure due to change in volume is determined by the overall mechanical elastance of the system. Studies of the relation between intracranial volume and pressure date back almost 200 years. In 1873, Alexander Monro stated that the intracranial space contains two compartments (brain matter and blood) that can change in volume. Since neither can be compressed and the cranium is rigid, he concluded that the volume of blood within the intracranial space is constant. Sixty years later, in light of the discovery of the CSF by Magendi, Burrows concluded that intracranial blood volume does change and it is accompanied by a reciprocal change in the volume of the other two compartments, brain and CSF. This is known as the Monro-Kelli doctrine. The majority of the added volume during systole is accommodated by displacement of the CSF into the spinal canal.
Ryder and others injected fluid into the CNS space to find the relation between the intracranial pressure and volume. The derived pressure-volume curve, also called the elastance curve, is well described by a monoexponential curve. The elastance (inverse of compliance) is defined as the change in pressure due to a change in volume (dP/dV). The intracranial elastance (i.e., the derivative of the pressure-volume curve) is therefore also an exponential function of the intracranial volume.
The most practical method of assessing the volume-pressure relationship is the volume pressure test. In this test, the total volume of the system is rapidly loaded by injection of a uniform amount of fluid into the lateral vertical. The pressure change resulting from the volume loading is termed volume-pressure response (VPR).
In both clinical patients and experimental animals, the relationship between VPR and ICP has been shown to be linear. This linear relation validates the monoexponential volume-pressure relation. The elastance coefficient (the coefficient defining the shape of the volume-pressure exponential curve) is determined from the slope of the VPR-ICP linear relationship. The intracranial compliance coefficient is the reciprocal of the elastance coefficient.
In clinical practice, intracranial pressure is often measured for the diagnosis and clinical management of closed-head injuries such as trauma and intracranial bleeding or of chronic disorders such as hydrocephalus, malformations involving hindbrain herniation and pseudotumor cerebri. Intracranial pressure measurement is an invasive procedure and thus it is associated with risk. Accordingly, a need exists for a means of determining ICP using a non-invasive techniques.

Method of measuring intracranial pressure


Books with internal mechanization have rotary and linear drive mechanisms which displace objects along linear, non-linear, rotary and three-dimensional paths relative to the book pages are described. Spatially arranged cut-outs in the pages which correspond to the range of motion of the displaced and translated objects allow different moving objects to be viewed at different areas of the book from page to page. Battery powered drive mechanisms with push-button operation accessible from the front of the book enables easy, selective activation of the moving objects, independent of the position of the front cover and pages relative to the back cover. Belt-driven wheels provide inherent clutching action to prevent damage to the drive mechanism. Manually operated embodiments of the various drive mechanisms which produce each of the described motions are also disclosed.

Childrens' books have been enhanced in many different ways to bring animation, dimension and action to the story told by the printed media. Some early examples are the well-known "pop-up" type books having extra layers of page material which are erected into a static structure out of the plane of opposing pages upon opening of the book, or by manipulation of movable pieces within the pages. Different materials, such as fabric, reflective foil and plastics have been attached to book pages. More recently, certain forms of non-printed media, such as sound and light generating devices, have been mounted in book bindings and on the front or back cover with prominent push-button operation for easy activation. Although these types of books succeed in providing an element or aspect to the book in addition to the printed matter, they do not provide physical motion in connection with the book pages apart from the simple moving of the pages by the reader.
There have been many different approaches to creating physical motion of parts attached to generally planar book or card pages to animate the message of printed material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,988,045 describes an advertising card with a lift tab which changes a traffic light from red to green, and simultaneously releases a cut-out figure of an automobile on a rubber band in tension, whereby the auto speeds across the frontal plane of the card on which it is mounted.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,432,318 and 2,429,335 describe simple cards or pages with sliding and pivoting members between front and back panels. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,884,724 describes a foldable greeting card with a movable panel on one of the pages of the card. And U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,895,244; 3,318,040 and 3,559,321 each disclose various cards with movable parts manually movable by an actuator tab or slide. In the inventions described by these patents, the range and type of motion of the moving parts is very limited, and entirely dependent upon manual actuation by the user.
Powered movement of objects relative to a planar surface such as a card or page has also been accomplished in several different ways. U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,106 describes an animated display which has a casing with one side covered by an illustrated front sheet. A motor inside the casing drives a disc and connecting rod to oscillate a sheet behind the front sheet. Illustrated pieces on the frontal surface of the front sheet are attached to the back sheet and thereby oscillated relative to the front sheet to simulate motion. The front sheet can be exchanged. U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,919 describes a single panel display with movable members mounted in front and attached to a motorized cam to produce swinging or rocking motion of the members across the front of the display. The display is not described or suggested for use in the bound format of a book. U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,454 describes a greeting card having a battery powered electrical circuit connected to a piezoelectric wire material which contracts with applied current to rotate a drive gear in a small gear train mounted on the card. Images applied to the gear faces are thereby rotated relative to openings in the card to provide animated motion. And U.S. Pat. No. 622,111 describes a type of covered box with which houses a spring-wound motor which drives a series of linkages supporting objects in relation to a single picture sheet. Opening the cover of the box winds up the motor which sets the linkages and objects in motion. There are no intermediate pages between the front cover and the back display to cover or expose any of the moving objects. In other words, upon opening the cover of the box, all of the moving components are immediately exposed. Also, opening of the cover sets the components into continuous motion until the motor completely winds down. The reader has no control over activation and deactivation of the moving components.
Although these inventions provide motion of objects relative to a planar surface, the manner or exposure and activation of the motion is limited, and therefore of little entertainment value, especially to young children. Also, each of these constructions is dependent upon delicate and fragile mechanisms to produce motion, making them unsuitable for prolonged use by children.

Mechanized and motorized books with internal mechanism for selectively moving objects relative to book pages


An apparatus and method for scheduling within a switch is described. A set of input signals is received from input ports. The set of input signals is associated with a set of packets at the input ports. A request for each packet from the set of packets is generated based on the set of input signals. Each request has an input-port indicator, an output-port indicator and a service-level indicator. The packets are scheduled based on the service-level indicator.

The invention relates generally to telecommunication switches. More specifically, the invention relates to priority-provisioned arbitration scheduling for a switch fabric (e.g., a switch fabric with an input-buffered switch architecture).
Known switch fabrics with crossbar architectures exist where data cells received on the multiple input ports of the switch are sent to the various output ports of the switch. Scheduling techniques ensure that the data cells received from different input ports are not sent to the same output port at the same time. These techniques determine the temporary connections between input ports and output ports, via the switch fabric, for a given time slot.
Scheduling techniques can be evaluated based on a number of performance requirements to a broad range of applications. Such performance requirements can include, for example, operating at a high speed, providing a high throughput (i.e., forwarding as many data packets as possible for each time slot), guaranteeing quality of service (QoS) for specific users, and being easily implemented in hardware. Known scheduling techniques trade one or more performance areas for other performance areas.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,858 to McKeown discloses one known scheduling technique for an input-queued switch. This known scheduling technique uses rotating priority iterative matching to schedule forwarding of data across the crossbar of the switch fabric. When the data cells are received at the input ports in a uniform manner (i.e., in a uniform traffic pattern per port), this known scheduler can produce %100 throughput of data cells across the switch fabric. When the data cells are received at the input ports, however, in a non-uniform manner, more typical of actual data traffic, the throughput from this known scheduling technique substantially decreases.
Thus, a need exists to provide a scheduling technique that can perform effectively for various traffic patterns and multiple performance requirements, such as for example, operating at a high speed, providing a high throughput, guaranteeing QoS, and being easily implemented in hardware.

Method and apparatus for priority-provisioned arbitration scheduling for a switch fabric


An apparatus and method are disclosed for environmental applications such as waste water treatment, de-inking of recycled paper, chemical/biochemical waste clean-up, and mineral beneficiation, using a multi-stage flotation column. A series of draft tubes arranged axially and separated by baffles provides individual mixing stages in the flotation column and a special gas distributor generates fine gas bubbles. The draft tubes create repetitive loop flow of the feed fluid in each flotation stage. This provides uniform distribution of the gas bubbles throughout the column and significantly enhances mixing and contacts of the gas bubbles with the impurities to be removed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to froth flotation, including a froth flotation column consisting of a plurality of stages.
2. Description of the Prior art
Froth flotation has been used for many years for beneficiating mineral materials, and more recently for waste water treatment. Generally, in a flotation process solid particles or liquid droplets such as oil are separated from pulp or an aqueous phase. The flotation process includes generating gas bubbles and dispersing them in the pulp or aqueous phase to be treated. The gas bubbles contact and capture suspended particles or droplets in the pulp or aqueous phase. Due to the buoyancy of the gas bubbles, the gas bubbles with captured particles or droplets rise into a froth layer which floats on the surface of the pulp or aqueous phase. The froth layer is removed by an overflow skimming process.
In typical operations of conventional froth flotation devices, a single unit vessel is used for aerating the pulp and for effecting separation of froth. Generally, mechanical mixing is required which is energy intensive. The overall separation efficiency of the conventional single unit flotation device is inherently limited because it is difficult to optimize the mixing and contacting between the gas bubbles and the suspended fine droplets or solid particles.
Flotation columns are more efficient and economical than the conventional mechanical flotation devices. The main advantages of the flotation column include improved overall separation efficiency, simple construction and lower operating costs; however, even flotation columns may not be sufficiently efficient for all waste separation or treatment operations. For example, conventional froth flotation apparatus, including flotation columns, are not efficient for separating very fine solid particles or treating emulsified oily waste water. Therefore, there remains a need for an effective and low cost flotation device for waste water treatment and fine mineral beneficiation. An article entitled "Flow in Froth Zone of a Flotation Column" in the Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, Volume 29, No. 2, April-June, 1990, pp. 97-103, indicated that in recent years many industries are replacing their conventional machines with flotation columns.
Column flotation apparatus is disclosed in a number of issued patents, including the following: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,592,834, 4,804,460, 4,938,865, 4,940,534, 4,966,687, 4,971,731, 5,078,921, 5,116,487, 5,122,261, 5,167,798, 4,981,582, 5,249,668 and 5,096,572.

Chemical Engineering Department, Tsinghua University


An electric cable barrier gland in which hardenable filler compound for surrounding the conductor core of a cable extending through the gland is disposed within a barrier sleeve located in a gland body with any clearance gap therebetween closed by a seal member mounted on a cylindrical sleeve portion of the barrier sleeve between opposed abutment shoulders of the barrier sleeve and gland body.

This invention concerns an electric cable barrier gland.
This invention has particular application to cable barrier glands of the type that are fitted to an electric cable to provide a barrier to prevent ingress of liquid, gas or solids into the interstices of the cable between the cable cores when the cable sheathing has been removed to enable the connection of the conductive elements of the cable cores to some electrical equipment or installation. Barrier glands of this type are commonly used in hazardous locations and must meet specific flameproof performance criteria to prevent the risk of explosion.
It is already known to provide such a cable barrier gland in which a hardenable compound is used to fill the interstices between the cable cores and this compound is confined within a liner, sleeve or pot through which the cores extend. Such barrier glands with filler compounds and sleeves or pots are known, and two particular arrangements are described in our GB Patents Nos. 2104306 and 2060281.
The manufacture of barrier glands requires accurate and close machining or production as there are prescribed limitations on any gap between unthreaded surfaces in a cable gland. Such gap is commonly referred to as the flame gap and requirements in cable glands are specified in British Standards No. 4683 and No. 5501 of 1971 (Parts 1 and 5) as well as in other Standards issued by regulatory or approval testing authorities.
In our GB Patent No. 2104306 we proposed to overcome certain problems relating to the tolerances required by using a deformable sleeve or lining into which the hardenable material is packed to provide the barrier seal around the cores. The arrangement is such that the deformable sleeve or lining is intended to expand radially on assembly and compression of the gland so that the sleeve or lining is forced into sealing engagement with the complementary unthreaded part of the gland to ensure that there is no flame path. However, in use of the compound material, this presents difficulties in the field because such compound is normally made up from two separate materials which have to be mixed together, one being a resin and the other being a catalyst hardener. The mixture is of a putty-like consistency but ambient temperature variations effect consistency and hardening or curing times, and handling of the materials may be under adverse or extraordinary field conditions.
When a deformable sleeve or lining is used in a gland and subject to filling with a compound, local deformation of the sleeve may arise presenting problems during assembly. In addition, the compound may be spread over the external face of the sleeve or lining during assembly and restrict adequate sealing engagement on completion and compression of the gland.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved electric cable barrier gland by the construction of which such difficulties can be alleviated in a simple and effective manner.