A method for changing an OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) directory information including a plurality of entries of a tree structure includes the steps of decoding a change command for changing a portion of the directory information including a non-leaf entry and at least one lower entry associated with the non-leaf entry, sequentially issuing, in response to the decoded change command, OSI directory commands for the non-leaf entry and the at least one lower entry, the issued OSI directory commands being determined based on the decoded change command, and executing the issued OSI directory commands to change the tree structure of the directory information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for modifying non-leaf entries in an OSI (Open System Interconnection) directory of a tree structure, and more particularly to a directory service system using an OSI directory in which entries can be added, modified or removed to or from a directory information tree (DIT).
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in order to make it possible to communicate with a destination terminal without knowing a physical arrangement of a network, in an OSI directory, address information and attribute information of the destination terminal are provided on the basis of a logical name thereof, to be informed to a source terminal.
A system for implementing such a directory service as mentioned above usually comprises a directory user agent (DUA), a directory service agent (DSA) and a directory information base (DIB). Entities to be managed by the OSI directory are called objects which are stored as entries in the DIB. A structure in which these entries are arranged in a tree form, based on correlation of the entries with each other, is called a directory information tree (DIT). The highest entry of this DIT is called a root which is connected with lower entries. Of these lower entries, entries which are not connected with further lower entries are called leaf entries, and entries which are not the leaf entries are called non-leaf entries.
The commands which can be used in the above system including the DUA and DSA, include LIST, READ, ADD, MODIFY RDN, and so on. These commands, however, operate only for leaf entries so that the system has a drawback that non-leaf entries cannot be modified through the commands. For example, in a case where a certain section is shifted into another section or a name of the section is changed, because of the change in organization without changing constituent elements of the section, the inherent name of the section as a non-leaf entry must be modified. In this case, the prior art, however, cannot modify the inherent name by a single operation or command.
Prior art related to the OSI directory is described in "OSI--The Directory (ISO9594)" proposed as a Draft International Standard (DIS), and a conventional technique related to a system based on this DIS is disclosed in "Implementation of DIRECTORY (DSA)", JOHOSHORI GAKKAI 38-th 5H-1/2/3. However, this technique is mainly related to the directory (DSA).
Prior art for improving operationality for a directory user is disclosed in, for example, "Proposal of Function for Supporting Directory User", JOHOSHORI GAKKAI 35-th 5U-1. This prior art, however, relates to a search for directories and does not take into consideration improvement of service for users such as addition, modification, etc., of entries for a DIT.

Method for changing non-leaf entry in tree structure of OSI directory information by sequentially issuing OSI directory commands for the non-leaf entry and lower entries associated therewith in response to decoded change command


A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system includes a radio frequency (RF) coil which receives timing information about a pulse sequence and stores the timing information in a memory of the RF coil. Then, when an RF excitation signal is transmitted, the RF coil performs decoupling. When a magnetic resonance (MR) echo signal is generated, the RF coil receives the MR echo signal and transmits the MR echo signal to a central controlling apparatus through a wireless channel. When a transmission error arises, the RF coil retransmits corresponding data in an idle time when the RF excitation signal is not transmitted or the MR echo signal is not generated. Thus, the RF coil is prevented from being damaged by the RF excitation signal and prevents the quality of an MR image from deteriorating compared to a synchronization-type communication method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling a radio frequency (RF) coil receiving a magnetic resonance (MR) echo signal in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system and an apparatus for performing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system is an apparatus for obtaining a tomogram of a subject by indicating an intensity of a radio frequency (RF) signal having a predetermined frequency, which is generated from a magnetic field having a predetermined intensity, by using contrast.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general MRI system in the prior art.
A patient is examined in a cylindrical gantry inside a shield room with shielding to prevent entry of any external RF signal from interfering with the RF signals used in the MRI procedure. A static magnetic field is formed in the gantry by a main magnet. A gradient coil 102 transmits a magnetic field gradient pulse to form a magnetic gradient field. An RF transmitter 101 applies an RF excitation signal having a predetermined frequency to the patient in order to obtain a tomogram of a predetermined portion of the patient. A magnetic resonance (MR) echo signal, generated due to magnetic resonance from the predetermined portion of the patient, is received by an RF coil 103 and is transmitted to a central controlling apparatus 100 in an operating room that is separated from the shield room. Signal processing is performed on the MR echo signal to obtain an MR image. An order of pulses (such as RF excitation signals or the magnetic gradient field), analyzed for obtaining the MR image, is referred to as a pulse sequence. The central controlling apparatus 100 controls the pulse sequence.
In general, the RF coil 103 uses a highly sensitive coil and a high-magnification amplifier in order to receive the MR echo signal having a very low intensity. Since the intensity of the RF excitation signal is several tens of thousands times higher than that of the MR echo signal, if the RF excitation signal is received by the RF coil 103, the RF coil 103 may be damaged. Thus, the following method has been used in the prior art such that, when the RF excitation signal is transmitted, the RF coil 103 does not receive the RF excitation signal by decoupling the RF coil 103 and the RF excitation signal. In addition, when the RF excitation signal is completely transmitted, the RF coil 103 receives the MR echo signal at a correct time. If an error arises in terms of a point of time when the MR echo signal is received, an artifact may appear in the MR image, so controlling the RF coil 103 at a correct time is a very important factor for determining the quality of the MR image.
Recently, research has been conducted into wireless communication between the gantry of the shield room and the central controlling apparatus 100 of the operating room. In the above-described method, analog-digital conversion of the MR echo signal is performed in the shield room, thereby minimizing noise due to an analog cable. That is, the central controlling apparatus 100 wirelessly controls decoupling of the RF coil 103 and receipt of the MR echo signal. Amplification of the MR echo signal received by the RF coil 103 and demodulation to a base band, as well as conversion to a digital signal, are performed inside the shield room. In addition, a digital signal is transmitted to the central controlling apparatus 100 and a signal processing apparatus through a wireless channel.
However, according to such a conventional wireless communication method in the prior art, when the RF coil 103 is not controlled at a correct time, the quality of an MR image may deteriorate. Since a delay due to demodulation and analog-digital conversion for wireless communication, and a delay occurring in a wireless channel are not constant, it is impossible to accurately control the RF coil 103 in real time. For example, since a general IEEE 802.11 based wireless local area network (LAN) assigns a time slot to a plurality of stations by using a time division method, it is difficult for an MRI system to ensure a quality of service (QoS) required to obtain an image having good quality. Thus, it is difficult to control the RF coil 103 in the prior art at a correct time.
In addition, a conventional wireless communication method in the prior art is a synchronization-type method in which decoupling of the RF coil 103 and receipt of the MR echo signal are controlled by the central controlling apparatus 100. In such a synchronization-type wireless MRI system, since the RF coil 103 is controlled in real time, even if an error in terms of data transmission arises during a wireless communication process, it is difficult to correct the error or to retransmit data due to a time delay that is likely to occur. As a result, the RF coil 103 may be damaged or the quality of an MR image may deteriorate.

Method of controlling an MRI system and an apparatus therefor


Each of electronic control units is configured to control electronic components in a vehicle, and is provided with a plurality of first terminals classified into a plurality of groups each of which is associated with electronic components in one of sections in the vehicle. A board has a first face on which the electronic control units are mounted. First connectors are provided on a second face of the board. Each of the first connectors has second terminals each of which is electrically connected to one of the first terminals in one of the groups in each of the electronic control units, and is configured to be connected to a wire harness extended to one of the sections in the vehicle.

The present invention relates to an apparatus equipped with a plurality of electronic control units (ECUs) for controlling electronic equipments in a vehicle.
A vehicle is provided with an electronic control unit (ECU) for air conditioning which serves to control the air conditioning in a vehicle compartment, an ECU for an ABS (anti-locking braking system) which serves to prevent a wheel from slipping, an ECU for an air bag which serves to expand the air bag in a collision, an ECU for injecting a fuel which serves to control the amount of jet of a fuel or other various ECUs, for example. Conventionally, these ECUs are provided in spaces in the vicinity of electronic equipment to be controlled, for example, an instrument panel, an engine room or a vehicle compartment.
A plurality of ECUs are disposed in separate spaces in a vehicle, and are respectively connected to an electronic equipment or a sensor to be controlled through a wire harness. For this reason, the number of the wire harnesses to be installed in the vehicle is increased.
Furthermore, each of the ECUs is attached to a vehicle body through a bracket. Consequently, the number of the brackets to be provided in the vehicle is also increased. For this reason, there is a problem in that a weight is increased by the bracket and a burden to a work for attaching the wire harness or the bracket is increased. In view of the above, it is proposed that a plurality of ECUs are mounted on one mother board (cf., Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 6-97683A and 2003-304083A).
In the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-97683A, only one connector is provided for a plurality of ECUs mounted on one board. Therefore, the wire harness connected to the board has to be branched to be electrically connected to every position (destination) in a vehicle (for example, an instrument panel, an engine room, and a vehicle compartment). For this reason, there is a problem in that the wire harness becomes complicated.
In the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-304083A, a connector is provided for each of ECUs mounted on a board. For this reason, the connector is to be connected corresponding to the number of the ECUs mounted on the board. Consequently, the burden to the work for attaching the wire harness to the board is increased. Moreover, it is necessary to cause the wire harness to branch to be electrically connected to every position (destination) in a vehicle. Consequently, there is also a problem in that the wire harness becomes complicated.

Apparatus equipped with electronic control units


An apparatus for Internet browsing and other Internet-interactive activities, comprises: a camera focusing on a printed hypertext document for generating video signals representing an image of the printed hypertext document in electronic form: A processor linked to the camera processes images of the printed hypertext document captured by the camera and a finger or other pointing implement within the camera field of view pointing to a region of the printed hypertext document and determines from the image the identity of a linked web page or a linked multi-media, i.e. audio and/or video sequence, data file referred to on that hypertext document in the region pointed to, and then fetches from the Internet or a local cache of web pages data comprising the linked web page or linked multimedia data file referenced in the printed hypertext document. A receiver receives and displays or plays the fetched data.

Browsing the web is a frustrating experience for many PC/computer users, and is off-putting to those who are unfamiliar with the desktop computing paradigm. Control actions performed with a mouse, keyboard and the conventional Graphical User Interface require considerable manual dexterity, typing skills and a complex cognitive user model. Furthermore, detailed reading and browsing is difficult and tiring on a general purpose computer screen.
One approach to this problem is to design specialised web tablets, PDAs or e-books whose screens are optimised for the presentation and manipulation of both textual and hypertextual material. However, these devices are expensive and still have ease of use problems associated with the performance of control actions and text input on what is essentially an unfamiliar medium. Another approach is to use voice interaction, such as that which might be supported over a telephone link to an Internet browser. This might be effective for certain types of specific information queries, but is unsuitable for less goal-directed browsing of information.
It is a general objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to facilitate activities such as Internet browsing and which mitigates or addresses some or all of the above-noted problems of the prior art.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor storage device includes providing an opening portion in a plurality of positions in an insulating film formed on a silicon substrate, and thereafter forming an amorphous silicon film on the insulating film, in which the opening portions are formed, and in the opening portions. Then, trenches are formed to divide the amorphous silicon film, in the vicinity of a midpoint between adjacent opening portions, into a portion on one opening portion side and a portion on the other opening portion side. Next, the amorphous silicon film, in which the trenches are formed, is annealed and subjected to solid-phase crystallization to form a single crystal with the opening portions used as seeds, and thereby a silicon single-crystal layer is formed. Then, a memory cell array is formed on the silicon single-crystal layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor storage device in which memory cells are formed on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In structures of memory cell portions of conventional nonvolatile semiconductor storage devices, making finer memory cells has limitations for the following reason. Specifically, when the channel length of memory cells is set to 50 nm or less, the on/off ratio of the channel current decreases due to the short channel effect. Decrease in the on/off ratio of the channel current causes transistors of memory cells to malfunction.
Therefore, recently, methods of forming memory cells on an SOI crystal have been proposed (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Pub. No. 5-335234, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Pub. No. 6-333822, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Pub. No. 9-36024). However, it is difficult to form a silicon layer having a large area and good crystal properties on an insulating film, and there is the problem that variations occur between cells. In particular, in devices on an SOI structure using solid-phase crystallization, a mismatch surface having an uncertain position is generated on an embedded insulating film. Therefore, there is the problem that cell transistors are formed on the mismatch surface, and operation thereof become unstable.
When a single-crystal layer is formed on an SOI region by solid-phase crystallization, monocrystallization is performed from opening portions (seed regions) provided in an embedded insulating film toward the SOI region. The growth surface of solid-phase crystallization in this case varies from position to position as the distance from the seed region becomes longer. Therefore, the position of the crystal grain boundary (crystal mismatch surface) determined by the solid-phase crystallization distance from adjacent opening portions differs according to the position.
As a result, for example, the crystal mismatch surface may be formed in just the intermediate position of the seed regions, or may be formed in a position shifted from the intermediate position of the seed regions. Since a plurality of seed portions, that is, opening portions of the insulating film, are provided in the silicon substrate, occurrence of the crystal mismatch surface is inevitable.
Since the crystal properties deteriorate in crystal mismatch surfaces, it is not preferable to provide LSI circuits directly on crystal mismatch surfaces, in terms of reliability of the thermal oxide film of LSI circuits and control of pn junction by a dopant diffusion layer. Therefore, it is necessary to design LSI circuits to avoid a portion of the crystal mismatch surface. The defective region caused by a crystal mismatch surface is not always positioned in the midpoint between opening portions of the SOI region, but may be shifted from the midpoint by about below 1 μm, due to variations of the solid-phase crystallization speed. Supposing that the length of SOI on which solid-phase crystallization can be performed is about 3 μm from opening portions, intervals between opening portions have to be set to about 5 μm. To make room for a defective region, which may occupy 1 μm, around the center of the area of 5 μm without providing any circuit further reduces the occupying proportion of circuits, and increases the chip manufacturing cost.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor storage device


A variety of signal extraction algorithms are employed to construct indicators or synthetic data proxy variables or factors from one or multiple data sources with specialized data handling options to resolve problems associated with economic and financial data: revisions, missing observations, publication lags, spontaneous arrival. A forecast evaluation module aids in the selection of the signal extraction procedure that has produced the most accurate factor.

Traditional economic and financial analysis relies upon data that are subject to reporting lags, revisions and different arrival times. In the case of economic statistics, such as, for example, rates of inflation or unemployment, market participants must wait until the data are collected, analyzed, and reported by an official governmental or other statistical agency in order to know and use this data. Even once disseminated, such data is often published with substantial delays and in a staggered fashion. Similarly, in the case of company financial data, market participants must wait until the given company reports its quarterly or yearly earnings. Market participants often rely on surveys and opinion polls to gauge expectations of future economic and financial conditions. However, these surveys and opinion polls are also subject to substantial reporting lags and staggered arrivals, and any individual survey or opinion poll may contain biases.
Economic and financial data in particular have certain characteristics which make it problematic to use some well-known statistical methods that can easily be applied in other disciplines. There are three main problems unique to economic and financial data. They are: 1) the revision problem; 2) publication lag problem; and 3) the spontaneous arrival problem. In particular, when working with large heterogeneous collections of time series data, traditional signal extraction methods such as Principal Components Analysis can induce a look-ahead bias if not modified to accommodate the idiosyncratic nature of economic and financial data. In addition, traditional PCA is performed on a standard correlation or covariance matrix, which by definition, must be square. If the data are incomplete or unbalance, the matrix operations may fail.
One key rule in economic analysis is to never throw away any information. It is crucial to keep the Information Set in tact when designing predictive models. However, this becomes problematic when dealing with historical time series data because data such as official government releases of economic statistics are revised, and as such there can be multiple vintages for the same observation period. In addition, the staggered arrival times of data cause a "jagged edge" in the dataset and pose practical difficulties when performing matrix operations. The most common solution is to trim the jagged edge, i.e., to discard the most recent data, but this is a violation of the key rule regarding the Information Set.
One solution is to create a modified hybrid signal extraction algorithm to accommodate the imperfections and idiosyncrasies that plague economic and financial data. Modern computing methods allow for rapid processing of large and imperfect datasets such that revisions, publication lags, missing data points, and spontaneous arrivals of data can be handled with relative ease.

Methods and systems to extract signals from large and imperfect datasets


In an information recording/reproducing apparatus, a light beam emitted from a semiconductor laser is guided to a beam splitter. The light beam passing through an incident surface of the splitter is splitted into first and second light beam by a beam splitting layer. The first beam passing through the splitting layer is emerged from a first emerging surface and guided to an optical disk. The first light beam after being reflected from the optical disk is returned to the first emerging surface and passes through the first emerging surface. The returned first light beam passed through a second emerging surface and defected by a detector so that a retrieving signal is generated from a detector. The second light beam reflected from the beam splitting layer is directed to a concave mirror of the splitter and is converged on a mirror detector through a third emerging surface so that a mirror signal for controlling the semiconductor laser is detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical information recording/reproducing apparatus for optically recording information on an optical disk or optical memory and optically reproducing the information therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a optical information recording/reproducing apparatus, a semiconductor laser is used as a light source for generating a light beam. In the type of optical information recording/reproducing apparatus, the light beam is converged onto an optical disk or an optical memory by an objective lens. The light beam reflected from or optical disk is returned to the semiconductor laser through the objective lens. If the light beam returns to the semiconductor laser, the optical intensity of the light beam emitted from the semiconductor laser may be adversely affected, with the result that information cannot be reliably recorded or reproduced from the optical disk. In particular, in an opto magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus wherein information is recorded on a magneto-optical recording medium (e.g., a magneto-optical disk), a change which the light beam may have in a plane of polarization is detected, so that the light beam is not completely prevented from returning to the semiconductor layer. More specifically, when the magneto-optical recording/reproducing apparatus is in the recording mode, a recording light beam is irradiated onto the recording surface or layer of the optical disk. With the direction of magnetization of the recording layer being changed by the recording light beam, information is recorded on the disk. When the magneto-optical recording/reproducing apparatus is in the reproduction mode, the direction of polarization of the light beam reflected by the recording layer is changed in accordance with the direction of magnetization of the recording surface, so as to reproduce the information from the disk. That is, the plane of polarization of the light beam reflected by the recording layer is modulated in accordance with the information. In the detection optical system of the magnet-optical recording/reproducing apparatus, therefore, a change which the recording surface has in the direction of polarization is detected. In the magnet-optica recording/reproducing apparatus, an optical element, such as a beam splitter, is arranged between the semiconductor laser and the optical disk, so as to separate the light beam returning from the magneto-optical disk from the light beam directed toward the magneto-optical disk. However, since the optical element cannot completely separate the two light beams, part of the light beam directed to the magneto-optical disk undesirably returns to the semiconductor laser. In order to reliably operate the semiconductor laser, the conventional optical recording/reproducing apparatus separates part of the light beam emitted from the semiconductor laser to the optical disk from the remaining parts and causes the separated part of the light beam to be detected by a photodetector. In accordance with a detection signal from the photodetector, the driving current to be supplied to the semiconductor laser is controlled in such an magnet-optical manner as to stabilize the optical intensity of the light beam emitted from the semiconductor laser. Examples of such a light beam-detection optical system are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In the detection optical system shown in FIG. 1, a beam splitter 18 separates part of the light beam emitted from a semiconductor laser 1 from the remaining parts, and the separated part of the laser beam is detected by a photodetector 8 without being processed. Such a detection system is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 63-13143. In the detection system shown in FIG. 2, a beam splitter 18 separates part of the light beam emitted from a semiconductor laser 1 from the remaining parts, and the separated part of the laser beam is detected by a photodetector 8 after being condensed by a convergent lens 19.
Problems mentioned below are pointed out with respect to the conventional detection systems mentioned above. With respect to the system which does not incorporate a convergent lens, it is difficult to provide the light-receiving surface with an appropriate area. If this area is too large, a large amount of detection beam will be received by the light-receiving surface, but the junction capacitance of the photodetector will be large. If the area is too small, a sufficient amount of detection beam will not be received by the light-receiving surface. In either case, the controllable range of the driving current to be supplied to the semiconductor laser cannot be widened, so that the optical intensity of the light beam emitted from the semiconductor laser cannot be stabilized reliably. With respect to the system which incorporates a convergent lens, the light-receiving efficiency of the photodetector may be improved, but the size of the optical system is undesirably increased in accordance with the focal length of the convergent lens.
As mentioned above, the conventional optical information recording/reproducing apparatus has problems in that the light-receiving surface of the photodetector, which receives a monitor light beam, must have a large area to improve a light receiving efficiency. If the light-receiving surface of the photodetector have an magnet-optical large area, the control band width of the system is narrowed. In the case where the conventional optical information recording/reproducing apparatus incorporates a convergent lens so as to improve the light-receiving efficiency of the photodetector, the size of the optical system is increased in accordance with the focal length of the convergent lens.

Apparatus for optically recording and reproducing information from an optical recording medium


A current clamp has a pair of jaws that are placed around an electrical conductor to measure a parameter (a measurable quantity or distinguishing or notable characteristic) corresponding to the electrical conductor.

The present invention relates to a current clamp. More specifically, the present invention relates to detecting closure of jaws on a current clamp.
A current clamp (also known as a current probe or amp clamp) is an electrical device that has a pair of jaws, which, when closed, form a closed curve (such as a circle or oval). When the jaws are closed around an electrical conductor, properties of the electric current flowing in the conductor can be measured, without requiring physical contact with the conductor or disconnection of the conductor for insertion through the probe. Current clamps can be used to read the magnitude of an alternating current. Also, in conjunction with more advanced instrumentation, the phase and wave form of the current can be detected as well.
One type of current clamp comprises a split ring of ferrite or soft iron. The split ring is split into two halves, each of which have a wire coil wound therearound. The wire coil forms one winding of a current transformer. When the current clamp is placed around a conductor, the conductor forms the other winding.
Another type of current clamp is referred to as an iron vane clamp. In this type of current clamp, the magnetic flux in the core directly affects a moving iron vane that allows both A/C and D/C current to be measured. It also gives a true RMS value for non-sinusoidal A/C wave forms.
Yet another type of clamp, with a meter, is referred to as a Hall Effect meter. This type of meter is more sensitive and is able to measure both D/C and A/C current. Normally, a current clamp only works when it is placed around one conductor of a circuit under test. The reason is that if it is placed around both conductors, the magnetic fields cancel.
When the current clamp is integrally combined with an electrical meter, the device is known as a clamp meter (and is also sometimes referred to as a clamp-on ammeter or tong tester). Clamp meters can also be used to measure electrical power and energy. The clamp is used to measure the current and other circuitry measures the voltage. The true power is the product of the instantaneous voltage and current integrated over a cycle.
The accuracy of each of these devices can be affected if the jaws do not fully close around the conductor. When this occurs, the magnetic loop is not continuous, and the meter reading associated with the current clamp is erroneous (and usually too low).

Current clamp with jaw closure detection


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a tilt angle deciding method and a system wherein tilt angles to diminish the deterioration rate of the entire system can be obtained in the radio communication system. The method comprises the steps of setting initial values of tilt angles; calculating the deterioration rate at the initial values of tilt angles; selecting an antenna for reducing a tilt angle; reducing the tilt angle of the selected antenna; calculating a deterioration rate at the time when the tilt angle is reduced; determining the continuity of repeating the processes, after repeating the series of processes for reducing these tilt angles, and increasing tilt angles repeatedly in the similar way. In addition, the method comprises the steps of outputting tilt angles for diminishing a small deterioration rate, and determining whether the processes of repeating the whole steps finish. With the above-specified processes, it becomes possible to obtain tilt angles for diminishing the deterioration rate of the entire system in comparison with that obtained at initial values of tilt angles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio communication system including a plurality of base stations and particularly to a method for deciding tilt angles used in deciding a tilt angle of an antenna located in each base station to reduce a deterioration rate of the entire radio communication system, and to an apparatus for deciding the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Concerning a radio communication system including a plurality of base stations that provide radio communication lines to fixed users and mobile users distributed over a plurality of areas, when constructing such radio communication system or locating an additional radio station in an existing radio communication system, a tilt angle of an antenna having directivity in a vertical plane and located in each base station is decided so that the radio communication system can provide high-quality radio communication lines.
Tilt angles are not decided for all antennas arranged in respective base stations but only for antennas which are considered to be effective for the radio communication system to provide higher-quality radio communication lines if tilt angles thereof are changed from predetermined initial angles. Such antennas are selected and tilt angles of the selected antennas are decided by a person in charge in the following procedures.
First of all, a propagation loss from each antenna to a predetermined point is obtained by a propagation simulator based on information on the location, altitude, building, geography, etc. of the base station. Thereafter, reception power when a signal transmitted from each antenna is received at the predetermined point is calculated based on transmission power from the antenna, orientation of the antenna, a beam pattern of the antenna in horizontal and vertical planes, and the propagation loss obtained earlier. In addition, reception quality represented by S/N (signal-to-noise) ratio or SIR (signal power to interference ratio) is calculated.
Here, the point in which a predetermined value of reception power or reception quality is not satisfied is defined as a "deterioration point."
From the results of the above calculations, a deterioration rate of coverage of each antenna is calculated. Coverage of each antenna is defined as an area where reception power of a signal from each antenna is larger than reception power of a signal from any other antenna and, at the-same time, is a predetermined value or larger. An area to be covered by the radio communication system is divided and allocated to respective radio stations which constitute the radio communication system. Each of the allocated areas serves as the coverage, and the coverage of the whole system is equal to the sum of the coverage of the respective antennas. A deterioration rate is defined as a ratio of the deterioration points within specified coverage.
With the definitions stated above, a deterioration rate of each antenna and a deterioration rate of the entire system are obtained. A display device provided in the propagation simulator displays coverage of each antenna so that deterioration points in the coverage can be recognized. A person in charge of deciding tilt angles of antennas selects antennas whose tilt angles are to be changed based on the displayed content and designates the tilt angles.
FIG. 5 is a view showing adjusting operations for tilt angles of antennas. The tilt angles of antennas 1 and 2, each having a beam pattern, are adjusted to improve deterioration rates (deterioration rates of coverage of respective antennas) X % and Y %, which represent communication qualities within the coverage of the antennas, as well as a deterioration rate of the entire system Z %.
By changing a large tilt angle of an antenna to a smaller angle, in other words, by changing a situation where transmission power is concentrated to an inner side (more front side) than original coverage of the antenna to a situation where transmission power is distributed within the original coverage of the antenna, reception power within the coverage of the antenna tend to increase.
On the contrary, by changing a small tilt angle of an antenna to a larger one, in other words, by changing a situation where sufficient transmission power is distributed within original coverage of the antenna to a situation where transmission power is concentrated to an inner side (more front side) than the original coverage of the antenna, reception power within the coverage of the antenna tends to decrease. As a result, the deterioration rate of the antenna tends to increase. However, in coverage with a sufficiently small deterioration rate, an increase in deterioration rate due to an increase in tilt angle is often very small. In such a case, power which interferes with the coverage of neighboring antennas is reduced, and therefore, in many cases, the deterioration rates of coverage of the neighboring antennas are reduced.
Tilt angles have been decided by a person in charge based on the above described general trends to reduce deterioration rates.
With regard to adjustment of a tilt angle of an antenna, Patent Document 1 (Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei02-135884) disclosed a calculator which, while searching a target by using an antenna of radar, calculates a tilt angle using a search distance and an installation height of the antenna, and a comparison controller which compares an output from the calculator to a tilt angle signal outputted from the antenna to control the tilt angle.
Patent Document 2 (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-095040) disclosed that, when designing and adjusting or operating a radio network, operation parameters are decided by using an optimization process so that design and adjustment of a radio network can be done more easily. This Document suggests orientation of an antenna as one of the operation parameters.
Patent Document 3 (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei11-166964) has disclosed a method used when correcting an angle of an antenna with a step tracking system in order to conduct satellite tracking. In this method, an angle of an antenna is corrected by a large step size in the initial correction stage, and the step size is thereafter gradually reduced so that the antenna is oriented in an optimal direction.
Of these techniques stated above, the one described in Patent Document 1 relates to a radar, and there is no description about tilt angle control for antennas with consideration of a deterioration rate of the entire radio communication system having a plurality of antennas.
As for the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is stated that operation parameters including orientation of an antenna are decided by using an optimization process when designing, adjusting and operating a radio network. However, a specific method described therein was only the use of a network optimization process and therefore the content of the method is not clear.
The technique disclosed in Patent Document 3 is for correction of an angle of an antenna with step track system for conducting satellite tracking. Similarly to Patent Document 1, there is no description of tilt angle control for an antenna with consideration of a deterioration rate of the entire radio communication system.
Patent Document 1: Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei02-135884
Patent Document 2: Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-095040
Patent Document 3: Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication NO. Heisei 11-166964
As described earlier, a person in charge selects antennas for changing tilt angels in a radio communication system and decides the tilt angles thereof with consideration of a propagation environment. However, the results vary depending on experience of the person in charge, and a deterioration rate of the entire system therefore becomes inconsistent. Accordingly, a stable quality cannot be maintained. Moreover, selecting antennas from many of them and deciding their angles have been time-consuming operations.
Furthermore, when deciding a tilt angle, a tilt angle of the same antenna is sometimes changed more than once and propagation simulation is carried out each time the tilt angle is changed. At this time, if an angle is changed largely, the angle may exceed an optimal value and be far from it, whereas a small degree of angle change requires a number of angle changes. Therefore, it is important to set a degree for an angle change carried out in adjusting an angle.
It has been very difficult to obtain tilt angles which enable sufficiently small deterioration rate of the entire system within a limited period of time particularly in a large radio communication system where an enormous number of antennas are located.
Moreover, where an antenna with a certain tilt angle interferes with a neighboring area, affecting optimal tilt angles of other antennas, in other words, in the case of a radio communication system where antennas are affecting each other (for example, CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)), optimization of tilt angles has been even more difficult. Since antennas affect each other, if one of the antennas is adjusted, the adjustment result affects other antenna, requiring further adjustment of the affected antenna. Further, adjustment of an antenna does not always affect the neighboring area only, making the optimization even more difficult. Therefore, it has been very difficult to obtain tilt angles which enable a sufficiently small deterioration rate of the entire system.

Method for deciding tilt angle of antenna in radio communication system and apparatus for deciding the same


Embodiments for a memory efficient perfect hashing for large records. A container ID set is divided into multiple fixed range sizes. These ranges are then mapped into perfect hash buckets until each bucket is filled to uniformly distribute the container IDs across different perfect hash buckets so that the number of CIDs in every perfect hash bucket is the same or nearly the same. Individual perfect hash functions are created for each perfect hash bucket. With container IDs as keys, the process maps n keys to n positions to reduce any extra memory overhead. The perfect hash function is implemented using a compress, hash, displace (CHD) algorithm using two levels of hash functions. The level 1 hash functions divides the keys into multiple internal buckets with a defined average number of keys per bucket. The CHD algorithm iteratively tries different level 2 hash variables to achieve collision-free mapping.

In data storage systems, a dictionary is a general-purpose data structure for storing a group of objects. A dictionary has a set of keys, each of which is associated with a single associated value. When presented with a key, the dictionary will return the associated value. A dictionary is thus a key-value store and is typically implemented as a hash table, so it is also often called a hash or a map (or a hashmap). The keys in a dictionary must be unique and are usually simple data types integers or strings), while the values can be of any type.
Many applications in large-scale deduplication backup systems, such as the EMC Data Domain File System, need a dictionary data structure based out of container identifier (ID) or container/region IDs or the SHA1 (secure hash algorithm 1) fingerprint that is capable of storing billions of entries. The main requirement of the data structure is the ability to store large-sized values with very minimal memory overhead and still be able to do lookups in a fast and consistent time.
Traditional dictionary implementations, such as hash tables, require the keys themselves to be stored along with the values. Using hash-tables for all the container IDs (e.g., 8-bytes) or fingerprints (e.g., 24-bytes) in a Data Domain system is generally not feasible since the overhead in storing the keys is very high.
What is needed, therefore, is a dictionary data-structure with minimal memory overhead, such as by using perfect hash functions in place of hash-tables to significantly reduce the memory overhead.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions. EMC, Data Domain, Data Domain Restorer, and Data Domain Boost are trademarks of DellEMC Corporation.

Memory efficient perfect hashing for large records


A legged mobile robot itself is responsive to the result of error detection during robot operations to perform error avoiding processing autonomously. In detecting an error, requested commands are all blocked by the internal processing within the robot so that an input to an actuating system does not affect the robot. The type of the error that has occurred is also notified to the actuating system so that feedback to an inputting system 32 may be applied in a manner specific to the error type. When the error is eliminated, that effect is notified to the actuating system to enable re-initiation of the usual command input from the remote operating system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a motion controlling apparatus and a motion controlling method for a legged mobile robot having at least a plural number of mobile legs. This invention especially relates to a motion controlling apparatus and a motion controlling method for a legged mobile robot which may be presupposed to be used in a large variety of different environments.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a motion controlling apparatus and a motion controlling method in which the robot motion on the occasion of occurrence of a reflection type error is guaranteed. More specifically, the invention relates to a motion controlling apparatus and a motion controlling method in which the processing for avoiding the occurrence of the reflective error may be carried out autonomously.
This application claims the priority of the Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-298355 filed on Oct. 11, 2002, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
2. Description of Related Art
A mechanical apparatus for performing motions simulating the motions of the human being, with the use of electrical or magnetic operations, is termed a "robot". The etymology of the term robot is said to be "ROBOTA" (slave machine) of the Slavic language. In Japan, the robots started to be used towards the end of the 1960s. Most of these robots used were industrial robots, such as manipulators or transporting robots, aimed to automate or perform unmanned tasks in plant operations.
In recent years, researches and developments in legged mobile robots, simulating the bodily mechanism and motions of an animal which is erected and walks on two feet, such as human beings or monkeys, are progressing, such that there are good prospects for practical utilization of these robot types. The motion system by legs, erected and walking on two legs, is unstable as compared to the crawler type system or the system walking on four or six legs, and hence is difficult to control as to posture or walking. However, the motion system by legs, erected and walking on two legs, is favorable in such respects that it is able to cope with a work route presenting an irregular walking surface, such as non-leveled terrain or obstacles or a non-continuous walking surface, such as staircase or ladder, thereby achieving more flexible motion operations.
In the meantime, the legged mobile robot, regenerating the mechanism of the living body or motions of the human beings, is termed a "humanoid" or a "humanoid robot". The humanoid robot is able to support the human life, that is to support human activities, in various aspects of our everyday life, such as in our living environments.
The major portions of the work space or the living space of the human beings are tailored to the bodily mechanism and the behavior patterns of the human beings, which are erect and walk on two feet, and there are many obstacles to motions of the state-of-the-art mechanical system, having wheeled or the like driving device as motion means. Thus, in order for the mechanical system, that is, the robot, to take the place of the human beings in a large variety of tasks or operations and to adapt itself to the living environment of the human beings, it is desirable that the possible range of motion of the robot is substantially the same as that of the human beings. This accounts for the great general expectation towards practical utilization of legged mobile robots.
The legged mobile robot of a large height is presupposed to be used on terrains of a variety of different conditions, including both level and non-level terrains, such that many use environments of the robot may depart from normal use conditions that may be managed by the control system of the robot body. Thus, the possibility of occurrence of an unforeseen reflection type error is higher with the legged mobile robot than in other mechanical devices. It is therefore desirable for the robot to perform the processing for avoiding a variety of errors autonomously.

Motion controlling apparatus and method and remote controlling apparatus and method for legged mobile robot


A process for manufacturing an optical system includes forming a first hydrophobic surface at a semiconductor substrate, providing a first drop of transparent material having a first shape on the first hydrophobic surface, and allowing the first drop to harden to form a first optical element having the first shape. The optical system may be a particle detector, and the process may optionally further include forming a light source at the semiconductor substrate configured to generate a light beam that passes through the first optical element and a cavity to a photodetector.

Particle detectors are known, for example, for detecting particles having a diameter smaller than a preset value. For instance, apparatus are available for measuring particles or particulates PM. Such microscopic particles, which are present in the atmosphere and formed, for example, by dust, smoke, microdrops of aerosol, etc., may present a danger for health and form an environmental risk that affects climate change.
For detecting particles, some apparatus cause an air sample to pass through a channel with a light beam, for example generated by a laser, which, by striking the particles contained in the air, cause scattering thereof. A detector arranged along the path of the scattered light, on the basis of the detected signal, measures the diameter of the particles and counts the number thereof.
For instance, the apparatus "Portable Laser Aerosol Spectrometer and Dust Monitor", Model No. 1.108/1.109, manufactured by Grimm Aerosol Technik GmbH & Co., KG is a portable apparatus including a mirror that concentrates the light in the detector (see also http://www.wmo-gaw-wcc-aerosol-physics.org/files/OPC-Grimm-model-1.108-and-1.109.pdf).
The above system, which detects the particles in their spontaneous concentration, may, however, be improved as regards to the measurement times, which are rather long. Furthermore, the system is hardly applicable with decreasing concentrations to be detected, requires high laser power, and is cumbersome and costly due to the discrete structure.
Another commercial apparatus "DustMonit", manufactured by Contec Engineering Srl, includes a controlled constant-capacity pump that draws in the air through a radial-symmetry probe and conveys it into a chamber, where the transported particles are individually hit by a laser beam. The energy reflected by each particle, proportional to its size, is detected via a photodiode and counted (see also http://www.conteng.it/Bollettini/DustMonit_En.pdf).
The above detector has the disadvantage of detecting the particles one by one, and thus has long measuring times. Furthermore, it introduces an error when particles are aligned along the line joining the detector and the source.
It is thus desirable to have an improved detector that increases the detection efficiency, has high sensitivity as well as short measuring times, small dimensions, and low costs.

Integrated detection device, in particular detector particles such as particulates or alpha particles


An overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device and overcurrent protection circuit employing the same are provided. Overcurrent (e.g., surge current) flows into the overcurrent protection circuit due to electrical shorting between external cables and power lines in communication networks. The thick-film resistor suppresses sparks due to such overcurrent, which would otherwise negatively affect peripheral parts or components disposed around the overcurrent protection circuit. This function is achieved by providing a thick-film resistor having an elongated meander or spiral shape, and also having a width-reduced section at one location of the thick-film resistor. Any sparks will predictably occur at this width-reduced section. A casing or other spark-dampening mechanism can be disposed selectively around the width-reduced section of the thick-film resistor.

This application corresponds to Japanese Patent Application Nos. 8-330826 and 9-275813, filed on Dec. 11, 1996 and Oct. 8, 1997, respectively, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to overcurrent protection architecture and, more particularly, to thick-film resistor devices in communication networks and overcurrent protection circuitry employing the same. The invention also relates to overcurrent protection thick-film resistor devices and overcurrent protection circuitry employing the same, which devices are installed at interface sections between external cables of remote stations for implementing communication equipment and interstation communication equipment for use in protecting the station communication equipment against excess or overcurrent occurring due to application of surge voltages resulting from electrical storms (e.g., lightning) and/or accidental electrical contacts formed between external cables and power lines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 5 shows one typical configuration of a prior known overcurrent protection circuit. In FIG. 5, the overcurrent protection circuit 10 is provided between two external cables 17, 18 and associated equipment to be protected (referred to as "to-be-protected" communication equipment) 19. The overcurrent protection circuit 10 comprises overcurrent protection thick-film resistor devices 11, 14, positive characteristic thermistors 12, 15 and variable resistors or "varistors" 13, 16. The overcurrent protection thick-film resistor devices 11, 14 and positive thermistors 12, 15 are respectively connected in series between external cables 17, 18 and the to-be-protected equipment 19. Interconnection nodes between the positive thermistors 12, 15 and the to-be-protected equipment 19 are coupled to ground via varistors 13, 16 respectively.
The configuration of a prior art overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device 11 is shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device 11 includes an insulating or dielectric substrate 1 having a surface on which a thick-film resistor 2 is formed having a meander shape. An input terminal 3 and output terminal 4 are provided at ends of the thick-film resistor 2. Note here that since the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device 14 has the same configuration as the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device 11, an explanation thereof will be omitted herein.
The operation of the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device 10 will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. In the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device 10 of FIG. 5, upon application of a surge voltage (in which the potential is approximately 1 kV and the duration of the surge is less than or equal to about 1 ms) from the communication cables 17, 18 due to lightning or the like, resultant current can flow through the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor devices 11, 14 and positive thermistors 12, 15 and then to ground through varistors 13, 16, thereby ensuring that any surge voltage is not applied to the to-be-protected equipment 19. Since the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor devices 11, 14 are formed having an elongated meander-like shape, any disconnection or open-circuiting due to sparks will no longer take place. More specifically, by using an elongated meander-like resistor, a voltage applied to each unit length of the elongated resistor can be reduced. For instance, the voltage can be about 1/5 of a voltage applied to each unit length of a conventional square resistor. For this reason, as the length of the meander-like resistor is increased, the resistor provides better characteristics toward surge.
On the other hand, when the external cables 17, 18 are bought into contact (short) with an associated power line (e.g., an AC 600 V line or the like), excessive or overcurrent can be supplied from external cables 17, 18 to overcurrent protection circuit 10. In response to such overcurrent, the positive thermistors 12, 15 of overcurrent protection circuit 10 generate heat, increasing their electrical resistance, which thereby interrupts or cuts off the flow of such overcurrent. However, it may require some time before the positive thermistors 12, 15 reach their high resistance state caused by the generation of heat. This time lag may result in a risk that the overcurrent can flow into the to-be-protected equipment during such period. To mitigate this problem, the prior art circuit 10 is configured such that sparks occur at several portions of the meander-like thick-film resistor 2 in overcurrent protection thick-film resistor devices 11, 14, leading to a disconnection or open-circuit, thus eliminating application of overcurrent to the to-be-protected equipment.
However, in the above-described prior art, the exact location at which the sparks occur upon application of overcurrent to the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device can not be predicted. Spark discharge or arc due to sparking of the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device creates a high risk of negatively affecting associated parts or components disposed near or around the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device. For example, these sparks can lead to electrical shorting, lead disconnection or the like in such associated parts or components. To prevent these problems, it is necessary that a constant distance be maintained between the site of the spark and such other components. Alternatively, certain techniques can be employed for forcing the interruption of spark discharge. Unfortunately, even in such cases, since the exact spark locations can not be specified or predetermined in advance, it is required that the other components be separated by a prescribed distance from the entire structure of the overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device. Alternatively, it is required that a casing or the like be provided as a coating means for completely coating or "wrapping" the meander-like resistor (e.g., the coating entirely envelopes the thick-film resistor device). However, this coating increases the size of the thick-film resistor device component, which reduces the spatial efficiency of the device. This coating may also increase the cost of this device.

Overcurrent protection thick-film resistor device and overcurrent protection circuit using the same


Disclosed is a sliding member including an overlay layer made of a Bi based alloy comprising Cu as an essential element and at least one element selected from the group of Sn and In, wherein the Bi based alloy comprises 0.1 to 10 mass % of Cu and 0.5 to 10 mass % in total of the at least one element selected from the group of Sn and In.

The present invention relates to a sliding member comprising an overlay layer made of a Bi based alloy.
A plain bearing, in which a bearing alloy layer made of a Cu alloy or an Al alloy is lined on a steel backing layer, has been often used in internal combustion engines of automobiles or the like. In order to improve conformability of such a bearing with a mating shaft, an overlay layer is formed on the surface of the bearing alloy layer with or without an intermediate layer.
Conventionally, the overlay layer has been made of a soft Pb alloy, occasionally a Sn alloy. The intermediate layer has been often made of a Ni alloy, a Ag alloy and so on.
However, it is undesirable to use Pb if possible, because it is a pollutant to the environment. In order to solve the Pb problem, various researches have been conducted, wherein one example has been proposed to use Bi as an alternative to Pb. However, Bi is hard and inferior in conformability. In order to solve this problem, there has been proposed one idea to make the overlay layer with a Bi alloy which contains one or more additive elements selected from the group of Sn, In and Ag (see, for example, JP-A-11-50296).


A vehicle seat apparatus includes a pair of vehicle-width spaced lower arms attached to a seat cushion, each of the lower arms having a rear portion; a connecting member fixed to the rear portion of each of the lower arms; a pair of vehicle-width spaced upper arms attached to a seat back, each of the upper arms being pivoted by a rotational shaft to the rear portion of the corresponding lower arm to rotate relative thereto; a reclining apparatus provided at one of the connecting member and serving for restricting and allowing the upper arms to rotate; and a load receiving portion provided at one of the lower arms for receiving a downward load, when the downward load is transmitted from the connecting member to the rear portion of one of the lower arms, by being brought into engagement with at least one of the upper arm, the reclining apparatus, and the connecting member.

Generally, a conventional vehicle seat apparatus includes a lower rail and an upper rail. The lower arm is for fixing on a floor of a vehicle and is attached to a seat cushion for supporting the same. The upper arm, which supports a seat back, is pivoted by a hinge pin to a rear portion of the lower arm to rotate about the pin. A reclining apparatus is provided between the lower arm and the upper arm for restricting and allowing the upper arm to rotate.
While a passenger sits on the above-described vehicle seat apparatus, if the vehicle is impacted from the rear by another vehicle or object (hereinafter, this is referred to as a rear-end collision), the resulting rear-end collision impact load is transmitted to the seat back to receive. The impact load on the seat back is in the direction of an arrow F1, thereby causing the lower arm generate a bending moment in the direction of an arrow F2 in FIG. 1.
In order to absorb impact energy from the rear-end collision, for example, JP-2003-335162-A illustrates a vehicle seat in which a rear portion of a lower arm positioned beneath a reclining apparatus is provided with a frangible portion which is in the form of a folded offset configuration for being subject to deform upon receipt of force. The frangible portion when being deformed provides an advantage to absorb an amount of energy when the vehicle is rear-ended. However, the deformation of the frangible portion may cause the seat back to rotate or tilt excessively.
In order to avoid the excessive tilt of the seat back upon rear-end collision, one proposal is to make the lower arm more rigid for preventing an easy deformation thereof upon receipt of rear-end collision impact transmitted to the lower arm via the reclining apparatus. For enhancing the rigidity or strength of the lower arm, say, the lower arm has to be of higher section modules by reducing, bead-forming, or flange-forming, resulting in that the lower arm becomes too complex in shape to form, which leads to increase the production cost.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a vehicle seat apparatus in which the load exerted by the force applied at the rear-end collision is shared by the entire frame of the seat apparatus to prevent the excessive load from being exerted on the lower arm.


A four-wheel-drive-vehicle driving force distribution apparatus has an auxiliary transmission mechanism for switching motive power transmitted to an input shaft at least between two levels, a high speed and a low speed, and transmitting the motive power to a main output shaft; a friction clutch for selectively transmitting the motive power of the main output shaft to an auxiliary output shaft; a ball cam mechanism for changing the pressing force of the friction clutch in a non-step manner; and a shift mechanism for shifting the auxiliary transmission mechanism. A clutch control mechanism is provided between a drive member fixed to an output shaft of a motor and a pinion gear and changes the clutch pressing force caused by the ball cam mechanism corresponding to clockwise rotation of the drive member performed by a motor starting from a control starting point. A shift control mechanism is provided between the drive member and a shifting cylindrical cam and alternately repeating switching between a H position and a L position of the auxiliary transmission mechanism in every counterclockwise reciprocating rotation of the drive member performed by the motor starting from the control starting point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a four-wheel-drive-vehicle driving force distribution apparatus for switching an auxiliary transmission mechanism and changing the pressing force of a friction clutch, which transmits motive power to front wheels, in a non-step manner and, particularly, relates to a four-wheel-drive-vehicle driving force distribution apparatus for switching the auxiliary transmission mechanism and changing the pressing force of the friction clutch by one motor.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Conventionally, in a driving force distribution apparatus for a four-wheel-drive vehicle having an auxiliary transmission mechanism and a friction clutch which controls torque distribution to front wheels in a non-step manner, switching of the auxiliary transmission mechanism and pressing force control of the friction clutch has been performed by one motor (actuator).
For example, in the drive force distribution apparatus of Japanese Kohyo Patent Publication No. 2004-514587 for a four-wheel-drive vehicle, a mechanism which switches output directions of a motor by an electromagnetic clutch when switching of an auxiliary transmission mechanism is to be performed or when control of a friction clutch is to be performed is provided so as to perform the switching and control by one motor. In the driving force distribution apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,109 for a four-wheel-drive vehicle, a shift fork for switching an auxiliary transmission mechanism and a pinion gear for driving a ball cam are fixedly disposed coaxially on a drive shaft which is driven by a motor, and pressing force of a friction clutch is controlled by drive of the ball cam in the rotation area in which a shift groove of the cylindrical cam is not displaced by rotation. Furthermore, in the driving force distribution apparatus of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2004-249974 for a four-wheel-drive vehicle, a shift fork for switching auxiliary transmission mechanism and a pinion gear for driving a ball cam are fixedly disposed coaxially on a drive shaft, which is driven by a motor, so that the shift fork and the pinion gear are driven with a certain angle of looseness by cam followers provided on the motor drive shaft. However, such conventional driving force distribution apparatuses for four-wheel-drive vehicles have the following problems. The driving force distribution apparatus of Japanese Kohyo Patent Publication No. 2004-514587 for a four-wheel-drive vehicle has a problem that the cost thereof is high since the electromagnetic clutch is needed, although the apparatus can be made with one motor. The driving force distribution apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,109 for a four-wheel-drive vehicle can perform switching of the auxiliary transmission mechanism and control of the friction clutch by one motor without using an electromagnetic clutch. Generally, in switching of the auxiliary transmission mechanism, the situation that the meshing phases of clutch gears are misaligned and the shift fork cannot be moved to a predetermined position may occur. However, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,109, since the shift fork is directly driven by the cylindrical cam provided on the drive shaft, there is a crucial problem that shifting cannot be performed when the clutch gear meshing phases of the auxiliary transmission mechanism are misaligned. Moreover, since the cylindrical cam for shifting and the pinion gear for driving the friction clutch are integrally rotated, the gear for driving the friction clutch is rotated even during a shifting period. Therefore, there is a problem that the size of the drive gear for the ball cam mechanism and cost are increased. The drive force distribution apparatus of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) 2004-249974 for a four-wheel-drive vehicle has a crucial problem that shifting cannot be performed when the clutch gear meshing phases of the auxiliary transmission mechanism are misaligned since the shift fork is directly driven by the cam followers which are provided on the drive shaft. Regarding shift control and friction clutch control, when the drive angle that is used for obtaining the same control force is increased, the drive torque of the motor can be reduced. However, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) 2004-249974, the structure thereof utilizes cam surfaces provided on shift fork end faces. Therefore, the torque of the motor has to be increased since there is a restriction that the rotation angle of the drive shaft cannot be increased more than 360 degrees, and there is a problem that the size of the motor is increased which leads to increased cost. Furthermore, as a problem common to U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,109 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) 2004-249974, as shown in FIG. 1, in order to perform pressing force control of the friction clutch with respect to both a H position and a L position of the shift of the auxiliary transmission mechanism, a drive gear of the ball cam mechanism for changing the pressing force of the friction clutch has to be driven in both directions, forward rotation and reverse rotation.
FIG. 2A shows a drive gear 202 of a ball cam mechanism 200 which changes clutch pressing force merely by rotation toward the H-position side of an auxiliary transmission mechanism. On the other hand, FIG. 2B shows a drive gear 204 of a ball cam mechanism 200 which changes clutch pressing force for both the H position and the L position, wherein there is a problem that the size of the gear part and the weight thereof is increased, and cost is also increased. In addition, there is also a problem that the gear part cannot be accommodated in a case.

Four-wheel-drive-vehicle driving force distribution apparatus


A truss system for roofing a building; a truss of said truss system including at least one truss segment; each said truss segment comprising a first elongate element and a second elongate element; said first and second elongate elements interconnected at intervals by a series of fish-plate assemblies; said fish-plate assemblies arranged in sliding engagement with respective extruded fish-plate channels of said first and second elongate elements.

The covering of outdoor and indoor areas, as well as building facades, with light transmitting materials is well known, and polymer, typically polycarbonate sheeting or panels for this purpose, are in common use. A range of materials and configurations of supporting members are used to span the area or facade required to be covered. Conventional systems rely on framing, typically, in the case of roof structures, comprising sloping rafters with regular arrays of transverse purlins, the latter providing both stabilising elements and support for the polymer sheeting.
To span relatively large areas, such as sporting venues for example, requires large and heavy structural timber or steel trusses, adding considerably to the cost of the roof structure.
The use of timber or steel trusses with the added array of purlins is often undesirable from an aesthetic point of view, and in some environments, such as indoor swimming pools for example, these structural elements can be subject to corrosion and deterioration.
It is an object of the present invention to address or at least ameliorate some of the above disadvantages.
Notes
The term "comprising" (and grammatical variations thereof) is used in this specification in the inclusive sense of "having" or "including", and not in the exclusive sense of "consisting only of".
The above discussion of the prior art in the Background of the invention, is not an admission that any information discussed therein is citable prior art or part of the common general knowledge of persons skilled in the art in any country.
The term "fish plate" as used in this specification indicates a plate for interconnecting two structural elements, either through interlocking elements or by means of fasteners.


There is provided a surface treatment method for an electronic part, which uses a metal not containing lead and tin and having excellent solder wettability, is economical and has high reliability. In the surface treatment method for the electronic part in which a soldered part is subjected to a surface treatment of structure of three layers of nickel, palladium and gold, the palladium layer and the gold layer are formed by an electrolytic plating treatment, a thickness of the palladium layer is in a range of 0.007 to 0.1 μm, a thickness of the gold layer is in a range of 0.003 to 0.02 μm, and a relation of the thickness of the gold layer<the thickness of the palladium layer is established.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface treatment method for an electronic part to be soldered, such as a connection terminal or a metal chassis and a surface treatment method of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the control of lead for environmental protection, a lead-free product is desired, and also in the soldering work of a connection terminal indispensable for an electronic part, a demand for lead-free work is raised.
Conventionally, a connection terminal to be soldered, such as a connector or a lead frame, or a metal chassis (shell) for housing the connection terminal and the like is often subjected to, as a lead-free treatment, a surface treatment using tin with excellent solder wettability. In the case where tin is used, there has been a problem that although the solder wettability is excellent, tin whiskers are apt to be produced, and an electrical short-circuit state is apt to occur.
As an example of this kind of surface treatment method for an electronic part, for example, patent document 1 discloses that in a surface treatment method applied to a soldered area of a wiring layer of a wiring board and using a metal not containing tin, plating using an electroless method is performed on the wiring layer by means of three layers of a nickel layer with an average particle size of 20 nm or more and of 0.5 μm to 5 μm thickness, a palladium or palladium alloy layer of 0.005 μm to 2 μm thickness, and a gold layer of 0.05 μm to 0.8 μm thickness.
[Patent document 1] JP-A-2002-111188 (pages 3 to 5, FIG. 2)
However, as an electronic part to be soldered, such as a connection terminal or a metal chassis, there is desired one which is lead-free, has no whisker, has excellent solder wettability, has excellent corrosion resistance, uses a small amount of gold, and has excellent plating productivity.
In the treatment method of patent document 1, the amount of usage of gold is large, the plating productivity is not excellent, and there is a tendency that cost becomes high. Besides, since the amount of usage of gold is large, there has also been a problem that at the time of soldering of a recent fine pitch product, the concentration of gold in the solder becomes high, and solder strength is lowered.

Electronic part and surface treatment method of the same


An image capturing apparatus determines the target position of a shake correction lens in accordance with a shake signal corresponding to an acting shake, and performs feedback control to converge the position of the shake correction lens to the target position. A division unit divides the shake signal into low- and high-frequency components. A first low-pass filter integrates the high-frequency component, and a second low-pass filter integrates the low-frequency component. A synthesis unit synthesizes output signals from the first and second low-pass filters, and outputs the synthetic signal as the target position. When the apparatus is being panned or tilted, the cutoff frequency of the second low-pass filter is set to be a value larger than that of a cutoff frequency when the apparatus is neither being panned nor tilted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image captured by an image capturing apparatus such as a digital camera, an object image sometimes blurs when, for example, the hand of a user holding the camera body swings at the time of image capturing to cause a so-called camera shake. Most digital cameras have a function of correcting a blur of an object image that appears on an image capturing screen owing to vibrations acting on the camera body.
Conventionally, optical image blur correction processing and electronic image blur correction processing have been known as image blur correction processing. In optical image blur correction processing, a vibration of the camera body is detected by an angular velocity sensor or the like, and an anti-vibration lens in an imaging optical system is moved to change the optical axis direction of the imaging optical system. Accordingly, an image formed on the light receiving surface of an image sensor is moved to correct the image blur. In electronic image blur correction processing, image processing is performed on a captured image to pseudo-correct an image blur.
A shake signal output from the angular velocity sensor contains, for example, a signal arising from a camera operation intended by the user, such as a panning operation, in addition to a signal arising from a vibration to be corrected, such as a camera shake. If the anti-vibration lens is simply driven based on a shake signal, image blur correction is performed even on a large shake such as a pan or tilt. However, it is not preferable to perform image blur correction processing upon the panning or tilting operation. This is because the anti-vibration lens may exceed a drivable range, or an image swing (swing-back) occurs after panning or tilting, and the camera operation or video becomes unnatural.
To solve this, there is known swing-back correction in which, when it is determined that a shake signal output from the angular velocity sensor arises from the panning or tilting operation, image blur correction is stopped, and the anti-vibration lens is returned to the center (reference position having a displacement amount of 0) of the movable range and is stopped.
At the end of the panning or tilting operation, a shake signal does not become strictly 0, but gradually comes close to 0 owing to, for example, a residual signal from a high-pass filter (HPF) or integrator in a detection signal processing system upon an abrupt change of the angular velocity of the camera. When image blur correction is restarted, the anti-vibration lens greatly moves in accordance with the shake signal, causing a swing-back of an image.
As a technique for preventing the swing-back, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-113264 has disclosed image blur correction in which the cutoff frequency of an angular velocity signal processing system filter is changed stepwise at the end of the panning operation. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-118073 has disclosed a method of performing velocity control corresponding to the angular velocity for driving of an anti-vibration lens without using an HPF or LPF (integrator) having an ultralow cutoff frequency in an angular velocity signal processing system filter, which serves as the cause of a swing-back. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-004370 has disclosed a technique of correcting a shake by a shake correction lens based on a shake signal detected by an angular velocity sensor, and correcting a shake by electronic vibration isolation based on an image blur signal of a low-frequency component. Even if a large shake is generated by the panning or tilting operation or the like, the driving range of the anti-vibration lens can be satisfactorily ensured.
In the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-113264, vibration isolation immediately after the panning or tilting operation becomes weak.
In the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-118073, the anti-vibration lens is centered by position control at all times other than exposure, and the anti-vibration performance is weakened with respect to the low-frequency component of a shake signal corresponding to a swing of the body or the like. When the offset of the angular velocity sensor or the temperature fluctuation is large, the anti-vibration lens quickly moves away from the center because there is no HPF. Thus, an expensive sensor such as a quartz gyroscope almost free from an offset or temperature fluctuation becomes necessary.
In the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-004370, the shake correction performance drops with respect to a low frequency at the time of exposure in which electronic vibration isolation cannot be performed.

Image capturing apparatus and control method thereof


A system and method are provided for autonomic system management in a computing system containing system resources including network resources and multiple resource demands, or processes. The computing system may be a stream-processing system or other real-time computer management system, such as workload management, or a virtualization engine. The system and method enables achieving a better level of performance than would occur in the computing system using only existing mechanism. It permits, with very low computational overhead, achieving or driving the system closer to a user-defined system performance objective. To do so, a system performance equation is defined to determine a level of performance of the system as a function of the allocation of two or more system resources among a plurality of system resource demands or processes. From this system performance equation, a plurality of resource-specific change equations is derived. Each resource-specific change equation is capable of calculating changes in the level of performance of the system attributable to changes in the allocation of one of the system resources. The resource-specific change equation yielding the greatest change in the level of system performance at a given allocation of all of the system resources and the system resource associated with the identified resource-specific change equation are identified. The allocation of the identified associated system resource to at least one system resource demand to provide the largest increase in the level of performance of the system, and allocations for all system resources are adjusted in accordance with the modified allocation of the identified associated system resource.

In distributed computer or information technology (IT) systems, the distribution of network and process resources, for example the location of resources, storage replication, load balancing and functionality, is transparent to users of these systems. Creation of this transparency is provided by the utilization of system resources in conjunction with network resources, e.g. bandwidth. These resources need to be effectively managed to provide the level of service that users of the system require. Effective management of these resources includes the allocation of sufficient amounts of resources to handle service demand patterns that are typically "bursty" and unpredictable. Conversely, these resources should not be over-provisioned so as to increase utilization and consequently cost efficiency of the IT system.
Resource management in large-scale, distributed IT systems faces a number of challenges. Current service models, for example grid and utility computing, increase the complexity of resource management by creating highly "bursty" and unpredictable resource demand patterns. In fact, these demand patterns are very difficult to anticipate or to characterize in advance. A critical component of the successful operation of these service models, however, is the ability to meet service level agreements (SLA's) for application performance. Therefore, resource management approaches were developed in an attempt to meet SLA's in an unpredictable resource demand environment. Conventional resource management approaches allocate system resources according to the statistical expectations of application resource demands, producing a theoretical bound on the probability of an SLA breach. By contrast, a dynamic resource manager monitors the performance of the IT system and the utilization of system resources, adjusting the allocation of resources when system operation is deemed to be off-target, or not meeting the prescribed SLA's.
In general, a resource manager acts upon the available controls that are used to apply scheduling methods to regulate and order the use of resources by the various applications. For example, a process scheduling function is used to proportion the processing resource, i.e. the central processing unit (CPU), among the various processes being executed by that processing resource. The resource manager proposes changes to this proportioning upon a determination that certain performance objectives are not being fulfilled.
Dynamic resource managers control various types of system resources, for example processing resources, e.g. CPU cycles or processing power, main memory, disk space and network resources, e.g. communication bandwidth and network buffers. Conventional approaches managed processing resources and networking resources independently, generally ignoring the complex dependency between availability and utilization of each one of these types of resources. In fact, prevailing approaches to performance-based resource management in distributed IT systems control processing resources and assume that network capacity is over-provisioned. This assumption only holds true in systems where the deployed applications are very computation intensive and have limited communication requirements. In those types of systems, network capacity could be ignored since it would never represent a potential resource bottleneck. As such, network resources and protocols are largely independent of the resource managers used in on-demand, distributed computing systems.
However, as distributed IT systems expand in size and geographic scale, make increased use of public and wide area networks and cope with unpredictable demands created by new application models such as grid computing, utility computing and multimedia stream processing, network resource management has become an important part of system management. Computing systems in use today combine public and wide-area networks with on-demand allocation of resources, e.g. multimedia streams. This combination results in the transfer of large amounts of data over substantial distances, and the communication or network resources used to transfer these data are not over-provisioned but result in a bottleneck. Therefore, network resources contribute a degree of unpredictability to the effective management of network resources, and the management of this unpredictability has become critical to overall system management.
Workload managers working in conjunction with load balances need to provide a level of control of system and resources that is fine enough to ensure the SLA guarantees, even in the presence of randomness, bursty usage patterns and public network limitations. Various algorithms have been proposed to address the desired level of control over system and network resources. One method uses sophisticated optimization techniques to quickly achieve the necessary bandwidth operating level that allows a system to reach a target processing level. The method relies on very low-overhead computations and at the same time provides a highly stable and robust approach to reaching the desired operating level. These methods, however, fail to treat multiple resources simultaneously and to take into account complex dependencies among the resources.
Therefore, systems and methods are needed that control network resource allocation to achieve application performance objectives and to achieve the desired use of the computer resources. These systems and methods would explicitly take into account the complex dependency between availability and utilization of each one of the types of resources in the system, both processing resources and network resources.

Multiple resource control-advisor for management of distributed or web-based systems

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention is directed to compounds, compositions and methods of treating pain, and derivatives that have potent analgetic activity. The compounds have the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is selected from H, lower alkyl, C.sub.3 -C.sub.9 cycloalkyl, acyl, and C.sub.3 -C.sub.9 cycloalkylalkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, hydroxyalkyl, or C.sub.3 -C.sub.8 cycloalkenyl or C.sub.3 -C.sub.8 cycloalkynyl; and wherein R is selected from cycloalkyl, aryl, heteroaryls (selected from the group consisting of pyridyl, thienyl, furanyl, imidazolyl, pyrazinyl, and pyrimidyl) or phenoxy and wherein said R groups can be substituted with hydroxyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 lower alkyl, C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkenyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 lower alkoxyl, halo, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl, amino, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylamino and C.sub.2 -C.sub.10 dialkylamino, and sulfonamido or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

The control of pain is at present primarily through the use of opioid-like analgetics, such as morphine, fentanyl, pentazocine, etc., or through non-steroidal antiinflammatories. There are limitations to the usefulness of such agents, and other classes of analgetics for the control and amelioration of pain are needed. A trace alkaloid epibatidine from skins of a neotropical frog is two-hundred fold more potent than morphine administered subcutaneously to mice in a standard analgetic test. In addition the analgesia elicited by epibatidine is not antagonized by the opioid antagonist naloxone, indicating that the analgesia is not due to actions of epibatidine at opioid receptors. In support of this conclusion is the very low affinity of epibatidine for dihydromorphine binding sites in rodent brain membranes. Epibatidine at higher doses causes a marked Straub-tail response, as does morphine, an effect linked to activation of dopamine pathways in the spinal cord. However, the Straub-tail response to epibatidine, unlike the Straub tail response to morphine, is not blocked by the opioid-antagonist naloxone.

Epibatidine and derivatives, compositions and methods of treating pain

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services


A system for referencing a range of cells in a spreadsheet formula by using label references. The label references are used to identify labels within the spreadsheet which, in turn, refer to a range of cells. First, a formula is parsed in order to identify any label references within the formula. Second, the cells of the spreadsheet are searched in order to generate a list of labels within the spreadsheet that match the label references identified in the formula. Third, each of the labels are examined and a preferred label set is selected. The preferred label set represents the actual labels that were intended by the formula references. Finally, the range of cells referenced by the preferred label set is determined. Thus, a user is able to reference a cell within a spreadsheet table by entering column and row labels that intersect at that cell.

Spreadsheet programs are a useful tool in performing computational tasks such as keeping household budgets, work schedules, tracking bank accounts, maintaining inventories, etc. As the use of personal computers within the home increases, the use of spreadsheets to assist in household tasks also increases. The versatility of spreadsheet applications and the ease with which they are adapted to various tasks has resulted in their widespread use. With advances in the speed and capabilities of personal computers, enhanced features have been developed for spreadsheet programs.
In a typical spreadsheet program, cells are arranged in a grid of rows and columns. The cells in a spreadsheet may contain data items, labels, and formulas. In general, data items are entered into the cells, and formulas are used to manipulate or evaluate the data items. In order for a formula to reference a cell within the spreadsheet, the coordinates of the grid are used to identify a specific cell (i.e., Column C, Row 4 or C4). For complex tasks, the formulas within a spreadsheet may become complex and, in some instances, unreadable. Therefore, it is desirable to improve the readability of formulas within a spreadsheet.
One method for improving the readability of spreadsheet formulas is to use defined names or labels to reference cells. This method requires a spreadsheet user to enter certain commands to define a name or label and to associate that name or label with a particular cell or group of cells. Thus, a label such as January.sub.-- Sales could be defined to refer to a cell containing the number of sales that occurred in the month of January. A problem with this prior method is that the procedures required for defining and maintaining the label names can be complicated. Because the typical spreadsheet user may not be trained in software programming or in operating a computer, features such as those described for this method are often under utilized. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method to improve the readability of spreadsheet formulas in a manner that is easy to learn and exploit.

Method and apparatus for using label references in spreadsheet formulas


A web-based method for identifying items to replace insured items includes receiving item specification information from at least one of a user, a manufacturer, a distributor, a system administrator, and an authorizing agent, and utilizing a server to compare the received specification information with pre-stored information. The method also includes selecting at least one item which matches the received specification information and downloading information to the user related to the item.

This invention relates generally to computer network-based systems and more particularly to a network-based method and system for selecting items to replace insured items.
Items of value are typically insured with insurance companies to offset the cost of replacing the item if an event occurs such that the item needs replacing. For example, jewelry is often insured to enable an owner to offset the cost of replacing the jewelry in the event the jewelry is lost, damaged, or stolen. Typically, after such an event occurs, the owner contacts the insurance company and files a claim to have the jewelry replaced. To file the claim, the owner typically files proof of ownership of the jewelry, often using a receipt that shows a purchase date and an amount of purchase of the jewelry, or showing a specific insurance policy on an item accompanied by an appraisal.
The claim is evaluated by a claims adjuster to determine a value of the originally-insured jewelry in comparison to the value of the insured property and either the owner, the insurance company, or both attempt to find a suitable replacement. The claims adjuster also compares the proposed suitable replacement costs and repair costs, if applicable, to the value of the insured item. Often the process may be cumbersome or time-consuming, and may require many interactions between the insurance company and the owner. Eventually either the owner is issued a check to purchase the replacement item, or the insurance company issues a check directly to a merchant offering the replacement item for sale.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for selecting items to replace insured items