A dynamic progress marker icon is disclosed that dynamically changes to mark the progress of a task. In this manner, the user is kept informed of the status of a task being performed without resorting to language sensitive messages such as "Now processing object number 12 of 100" . The icon does not require a graphics display to be used and therefore can be used on both graphics and non-graphics displays. The icon of the prepared embodiment has five rows consisting of four percent (%) symbols surrounded by a border. At the beginning of a task, a task monitor quantifies the task into substantially equivalent task work units. All twenty "%" symbols are present and displayed to the user. When the task monitor determines that one task work unit has completed, one "%" symbol is replaced in the icon by a replacement character, such as a blank or null character. The replacement of one "%" symbol each time a task work unit completes continues until all of the "%" symbols are replaced, indicating 100% completion of the task. The order in which symbols inside the icon are replaced is determined by a pattern array and can be modified if desired. The symbols used inside the icon and for the border are selected to be available in virtually all languages, and can also be modified to meet the needs of a particular user.

Computers have dutifully performed billions of tasks commanded of them from computer users worldwide. Many of these tasks were quite simple for the computer to perform, and were completed with results displayed to the user almost instantaneously. However, some tasks requested by users of computers are much more complex, and require a considerable amount of processing power and time to complete.
Some of these complex tasks can take several seconds, minutes, or even several hours or days to complete. Even though a computer may be working frantically under the covers to satisfy a complex task requested by a user, the user quite often is given no indication as to what progress, if any, is being made in completing the task. Often after a large amount of time has elapsed, a user will erroneously conclude that the computer has encountered an error and has "hanged" or "gone casters up", and needs to be restarted. This scenario is frustrating to a computer user, who feels uninformed as to the progress of his requested task. More importantly, valuable computer resources are wasted if a computer is erroneously restarted in the middle of a complex task just because of poor or non-existent progress feedback to the user.
Attempts to address this problem have so far been quite primitive. Some programs display only a number, such as 100 or 10, and count down to zero as a task is being processed. Other programs display a message, such as "Working on your request" over and over again, alternately displaying the message highlighted and non-highlighted. Neither of these techniques truly inform the user as to the progress of a task--they merely give the user something that changes on the screen to look at. Although these techniques may help in discouraging a user from restarting a system for awhile, the feedback provided does not give a user a warm feeling that progress is really being made on his task.
A better attempt at solving this problem is to repeatedly display a truly useful message to the user, such as "Now processing object number 12 out of 100", or "This task will complete in 5.05 minutes". Unfortunately, these messages need to be translated into several different languages when the computer is sold around the world, and this requirement can be quite burdensome and yield unpredictable results. In addition, these messages can be quite wasteful of space, and some languages require more space than other languages to communicate the same meaning.

International Business Machines Corporation


Wireless electronic devices may include wireless communications circuitry such as a transceiver, antenna, and other wireless circuitry. The transceiver may be coupled to the antenna through a bidirectional switch connector. The switch connector may mate with a corresponding radio-frequency test probe that is connected to radio-frequency test equipment. When the test probe is mated with the switch connector, the transceiver may be decoupled from the antenna. During transceiver testing, radio-frequency test signals may be conveyed between the test unit and the transceiver using the test probe. During antenna testing, radio-frequency test signals may be conveyed between the test unit and the antenna using the test probe. Transceiver testing and antenna testing may, if desired, be conducted in parallel using the test probe.

This relates to testing and, more particularly, to testing of electronic devices.
Electronic devices such as computers, cellular telephones, music players, and other electronic equipment are often provided with wireless communications circuitry. In a typical configuration, the wireless communications circuitry includes a radio-frequency transceiver that is coupled to an antenna through a radio-frequency switch connector.
A conventional radio-frequency switch connector contains a movable terminal and a fixed terminal. The movable terminal is electrically connected to the radio-frequency transceiver, whereas the fixed terminal is electrically connected to the antenna. During normal device operation, the switch connector serves to electrically connect the transceiver to the antenna so that radio-frequency signals can be conveyed between the transceiver and the antenna.
During production testing, the switch connector may be mated with a corresponding coaxial test probe having a measurement pin. When the coaxial test probe is in the mated state, the measurement pin of the coaxial test probe makes contact with and displaces the movable terminal so that the movable terminal is disconnected from the fixed terminal. Decoupling the antenna from the transceiver using this approach allows for radio-frequency testing on the transceiver but not the antenna.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved device structures and test equipment that allow radio-frequency testing on the transceiver and the antenna.


In a virtual private network, a plurality of concentrators form an interface to provide client/remote site access to a private network over a public network. The plurality of concentrators are grouped into a virtual cluster. Each concentrator in the virtual cluster has an IP address and the virtual cluster has a virtual IP address. In operation, one of the plurality of concentrators assumes the virtual IP address and acts as the master device in the cluster. When a client attempts a connection to the private network, the client addresses an initial request to the virtual IP address. The master device responds to the client request by transmitting to the client the IP address of a concentrator in the cluster selected to handle the connection.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a type of private network constructed by using public network infrastructure to connect divergent nodes. An example of a VPN uses virtual connections or tunnels routed through the Internet between a company's private central network and a remote site or to a remote employee on the road or working from home.
In a VPN, one or more concentrators provide remote clients with a plurality of points of access to the central server. A concentrator is a type of multiplexor that combines multiple channels onto a single transmission medium in such a way that all the individual channels can be simultaneously active. In the VPN, the concentrators are at the threshold of the central site receiving requests for connections from, typically, many VPN clients. Each concentrator has a unique IP address by which VPN clients address the concentrator within the VPN. Typically, a VPN client has the IP address of only one concentrator. This means that each client accesses the central site through the one concentrator that particular client "knows."
VPNs are constructed to operate over a public network typically through the use of a combination of data encapsulation, data encryption and user authentication. A variety of mechanisms are used to provide network security for access and data integrity in a VPN. VPNs may use either symmetric-key encryption or asymmetric (i.e. public) key encryption. A protocol commonly used in VPNs is IPsec. IPsec, which stands for Internet Protocol Security, is a set of protocols developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force to implement VPNs. IPsec supports the secure exchange of data packets at the Internet Protocol (IP) network layer. IPsec supports two encryption modes: transport, and tunnel. Transport mode encrypts only the data portion, that is, the payload, of each packet, but leaves the header untouched. Tunnel mode is more secure as it encrypts both the header and the payload. In tunneling, the packet to be sent to the central network is encapsulated within another packet and is then sent over the VPN connection to the central site. On the receiving side, an IPsec-compliant device decrypts each packet. In IPsec, the sending and receiving devices share a public key. IPsec uses a protocol called Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol/Oakley (ISAKMP/Oakley), which allows the receiver to obtain a public key and authenticate the sender using digital certificates.

Method and apparatus for load balancing in a virtual private network


A Proof of View verification system is disclosed. The Proof of View verification system has a Proof of View verification module, comprising computer-executable code stored in non-volatile memory, and a processor. The Proof of View verification module and the processor are configured to receive a request for a content view to view a piece of content, record a content view data in a database chunk, hash the database chunk into a hashed database chunk, append the hashed database chunk to a block on a blockchain of the Proof of View verification system, and compare the content view data with the block on the blockchain. The blockchain is publicly available.

Currently, views on large platforms are suspect and often faked. Views are predominantly utilized to value and measure traffic on content provider sites, and subsequently their sponsor and ad revenues are derived from the number of views. If the views are faked, altered, or manipulated, the economics for content providers is skewed. In particular, the Google and Facebook models are dependent on view count and content providers are entirely compensated on number of views even though a large part of the views counted may have not existed.
Currently there is no effective technique for transparently verifying views. Integrity and transparency of views determines the value of a content provider's channel. Without a system for verifying the integrity of views, advertisers and content providers have the difficult task of determining the actual value of a channel.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method for determining the integrity of a content provider channel value and therefore the integrity of the Content Market Exchange. The exemplary disclosed system and method of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the shortcomings set forth above and/or other deficiencies in existing technology.

System and method for proof of view via blockchain


There is disclosed a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit for use in an improved deflection correction circuit for a larger and flat display device. The PLL circuit has a phase comparator circuit, a filter, and a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) connected in series in this order. The output signal from the VCO is fed back to the phase comparator circuit. The PLL circuit further includes a period-detecting circuit for detecting the period of an externally applied signal and a frequency divider circuit. This frequency divider circuit divides the frequency of the output signal from the VCO according to the period detected by the period-detecting circuit and feeds the resulting signal back to the VCO.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device for displaying images and, more particularly, to a deflection correction circuit used in a display device and to a phase-locked loop circuit used in the deflection correction circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, display devices interfaced with computers in use have tended to have wide viewing screens with flat faces. In addition, it is a recent trend that display devices require many kinds of and delicate corrections on the viewing screen. However, the prior art deflection correction circuit is unable to satisfy these requirements because complex processing is necessary for such delicate corrections.
The prior art deflection correction circuit is described by referring to FIG. 1. In the prior art deflection correction circuit indicated by numeral 600, an analog calculator circuit 601 generates a distortion-correcting signal 106 for correcting a distortion of an image on the viewing screen. Practically, addition and multiplication are performed by the use of electrical currents in the analog calculator circuit 601 to generate the distortion-correcting signal. With this structure, the deflection correction circuit 600 cannot process complex waveforms, such as square waves and biquadratic waves in spite of the fact that complex processing is required for the delicate correction on a wide screen. Furthermore, the results of processing are easily affected from external factors and so it is difficult to accurately correct the distortion on the viewing screen.
In view of the prior art deflection correction circuit constructed as described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a deflection correction circuit which is capable of processing complex waveforms, such as square waves and biquadratic waves, without being affected from external factors.
To achieve this object, the present invention provides the following phase-locked loop circuit, deflection correction circuit, and display device.
The present invention provides a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit having a phase comparator circuit, a filter, and a voltage-controlled oscillator that are connected in series in this order. The output from the voltage-controlled oscillator is fed back to the phase comparator circuit. This PLL circuit is characterized in that it is equipped with a period-detecting circuit and a frequency divider circuit. The period-detecting circuit detects the period of an externally applied signal. The frequency divider circuit divides down the frequency of the output from the voltage-controlled oscillator according to the period detected by the frequency detection circuit and feeds a signal of the resulting frequency back to the voltage-controlled oscillator.
The present invention also provides a deflection correction circuit equipped with a phase-locked loop circuit for feeding the output from a voltage-controlled oscillator back to a phase comparator circuit, the deflection correction circuit acting to produce a distortion-correcting signal for correcting distortions on the viewing screen of a display device and a horizontal drive signal for controlling scan across the viewing screen in response to an externally applied horizontal synchronizing signal. The deflection correction circuit is characterized in that it comprises a period-detecting circuit for detecting the period of the horizontal synchronizing signal, a frequency divider circuit for dividing down the frequency of the output from the voltage-controlled oscillator according to the period detected by the period-detecting circuit, and a digital signal processor for producing a distortion-correcting signal according to the output from the voltage-controlled oscillator.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a deflection correction circuit equipped with a phase-locked loop circuit for feeding the output from a voltage-controlled oscillator back to a phase comparator circuit, the deflection correction circuit acting to produce a distortion-correcting signal for correcting distortions on the viewing screen of a display device and a horizontal drive signal for controlling scan across the viewing screen in response to an externally applied horizontal synchronizing signal. This deflection correction circuit is characterized in that it comprises a period-detecting circuit for detecting the period of the horizontal synchronizing signal, a transient response circuit for dividing the period detected by the period-detecting circuit into subperiods each having a predetermined time and producing such subperiods at regular intervals of time, a frequency divider circuit for dividing down the frequency of the output from the voltage-controlled oscillator according to the subperiods delivered from the transient response circuit, and a digital signal processor for producing a distortion-correcting signal according to the output from the voltage-controlled oscillator.
In addition, the present invention provides a deflection correction circuit equipped with a phase-locked loop circuit for feeding the output from a voltage-controlled oscillator back to a phase comparator circuit, the deflection correction circuit acting to produce a distortion-correcting signal for correcting distortions on the viewing screen of a display device and a horizontal drive signal for controlling scan across the viewing screen in response to an externally applied horizontal synchronizing signal. This deflection correction circuit is characterized in that it comprises a period-detecting circuit for detecting the period of the horizontal synchronizing signal, a digital signal processor for producing distortion-correcting signal according to the output from the voltage-controlled oscillator, dividing the period detected by the period-detecting circuit into subperiods each having a predetermined time and producing the subperiods at regular intervals of time, and a frequency divider circuit for dividing down the frequency of the output from the voltage-controlled oscillator according to the subperiods delivered from the digital signal processor.
Preferably, these deflection correction circuits are further equipped with a phase control circuit for producing a horizontal drive signal according to the output from the voltage-controlled oscillator and the output from the frequency divider circuit.
Further, the invention provides a display device equipped with any one of the deflection correction circuits described above.
Other objects and features of the invention will appear in the course of the description thereof, which follows.

Deflection correction circuit for narrowing a pull-in range of a VCO to reduce frequency variations in a horizontal synchronizing signal


The invention relates to methods and apparatus for controlling traffic congestion of communication traffic in a communication network. The network includes a first node which is operable to receive communication traffic in the form of data from one of more sending nodes and to pass that data to one or more receiving nodes. The method includes monitoring the possible output data rate of the first node and detecting if the possible output data rate becomes smaller than a maximum data rate value and responsive to that monitoring step performing congestion control whereby the data throughput of a flow of data through the first node is decreased.

A communication system may provide the user, or more precisely, user equipment or terminal, with connection-oriented communication services and/or connectionless communication services. An example of the first type is a circuit switched connection where a circuit is set-up with call set-up and admission control. An example of a connectionless communication service is a so called packet switched service which is typically used in communications based on the Internet Protocol (IP). Both of the circuit switched and the packet switched services can be used for communicating packet data. Packet data services can be defined in general as services that are capable of transporting data units (data packets or similar data entities of fixed or variable length) between two signalling points, such as between two terminals or other nodes of the communication system.
A network that is capable of transporting data units or data entities between two or more nodes is referred to in the following as a data network. The data network may be a communication network based on use of a fixed line or wireless communication media. The wireless connection may be used only for a part of the connection between the two nodes. A TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) based data network is mentioned herein as an example of a packet switched data network. An ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) based communication network is an example of a circuit switched data network to which embodiments of the invention could also be applied. Examples of communication networks that are capable of providing wireless services, such as IP (Internet Protocol) or ATM/AAL2 (Asynchronous Transfer Mode/ATM Adaptation Layer type 2) based packet data transmissions, include, without limiting to these, the GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) based GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) network, EDGE (enhanced data rate for GSM evolution) Mobile Data Network and third generation telecommunication systems such as the CDMA (code division multiple access) or TDMA (time division multiple access) based 3rd generation telecommunication systems that are sometimes referred to as Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), and IMT 2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication System 2000). All of the above systems can transfer data to and from mobile stations or similar user equipment providing the user thereof with a wireless interface for the data transmission.
Communication traffic can become congested at network nodes if the data is received at a node at a rate greater than the maximum data throughput rate of that node. Typically, congestion occurs at a node when the node has a lower data throughput rate than the node which precedes it in the same direction of flow. Similarly, congestion occurs when a node receives data from a plurality of data sources and the sum of the input data rates exceeds the data throughput rate of the node.
Traffic congestion control is thus an important consideration in communications networks. One method of network management which may be suitable for use in future networks is so called policy-enabled networking. An example of the policy-enabled networking is Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning using the so called 'DiffServ' architecture. 'DiffServ' refers to the IP Differentiated Service architecture, where QoS provisioning is obtained by marking data units. Different marked packets will receive a different priority in queuing and/or scheduling of nodes (so-called Per-hop-behaviour).
Network nodes can comprise buffers for storing received data before it is distributed further in the direction of data flow. Packet loss occurs for example whenever the buffers are over filled. One proposed buffer management technique is referred to as the "Drop Tail" technique according to which packets arriving at a full buffer are dropped. A number of variations of the "Drop Tail" technique have also been proposed. An example of such a variation is the "Drop front" technique in which packets are dropped at the start of the buffer when they arrive at a full buffer. An example of another approach is the "Random Early Drop" (RED) technique in which all arriving packets are dropped with a fixed probability if the queue length of the buffer exceeds a predetermined threshold. A problem with proposed congestion control techniques is that packet losses are generally incurred before the congestion is brought under control.
For example, communication networks employing transfer control protocol (TCP) manage traffic congestion by allocating congestion windows of various sizes to senders. These congestion windows are used to limit the transmission rate by varying their size. When a connection is established, the congestion window allocation policy permits the user to increase transmission rate rapidly by doubling the congestion window size (and thus also transmission rate) every round trip period. Transfer control protocol resources monitor the congestion window size having regard to a threshold window size. When the congestion window size reaches this threshold, the window size is increased at a much slower rate, for example by one window segment every round trip period. A problem with such congestion control schemes is that transmission rate is decreased only after packet losses are detected. The lost packets are in general replaced by re-transmission, causing delays and using network resources for data which has already been transmitted.
FIG. 1 shows a known network node 20. The node 20 comprises buffer circuitry 22 and an associated controller 24. For the sake of clarity, FIG. 1 shows packet transfer in a downlink direction only. However, a skilled person will appreciate that buffers can also provide for packet transfer in an uplink direction. It will also be evident that packets may be received from and/or distributed to respective pluralities of nodes on either side of the node 20 shown in FIG. 1. Each received packet 26 is stored within the buffer 22 of the node 20 until it can be output. In general, temporary storage gives the control circuitry time to access routing information within or appended to the packet and/or to ensure the next network node can receive the packet. Packets may be sorted and or multiplexed by the control circuitry 24. Packets 28 output from the node 20 are sent in a downlink direction towards the next node or user equipment.
If the throughput rate of the node 20 is high relative to the rate of receipt of packets then the packets spend only a short time in the buffer 22. However, when the aggregate transmission rate of the incoming packets 26 exceeds the throughput capacity of the node 20 queues build up in the buffer and the packets are delayed in the buffer 22. If the rate of packet receipt continues to exceed the rate of packet throughput the buffer may overflow. Random early detection (RED) can detect traffic congestion in buffers early and convey congestion notification to senders so that they can reduce transmission rate. To this end the random early detection technique monitors an exponentially weighted moving average of buffer queue length. When the average queue length exceeds a minimum queue length threshold EDLmin, but remains below a maximum queue length threshold EDLmax, packets are randomly dropped (or marked with an explicit congestion notifier). On recognition that packets have been dropped (or on receipt of such a notifier) the sender can reduce transmission rate with a view to relieving congestion in the buffer. When the average queue length exceeds the maximum queue length threshold EDLmax all packets are dropped (or marked).
Although random early detection represents one way of relieving traffic congestion in buffers it is not an ideal solution. For example, when random early detection is used in conjunction with a packet drop strategy it suffers significant packet losses. When used in conjunction with congestion notifiers, random early detection can cause the sender to reduce transmission rates to such an extent that network resources are under used. Further, random early detection does not differentiate between different flows or different classes of flows nor take any account of the number of connections. These factors can all effect the rate of change of queue lengths and thus queue lengths managed using the RED technique are prone to oscillate in length.
In random early detection techniques the threshold buffer occupancy levels at which packet discarding begins are fixed and may only be varied by reconfiguring the system. That is, these threshold levels do not take into account network conditions.
Moreover, proposed congestion management techniques tend to drop packets randomly, without taking into account the importance of the information contained therein.
In a wireless network, congestion is a normal problem, as these networks connect a slow radio link to a high speed backbone. The radio link is slow as the capacity is limited and fluctuating, i.e. a decrease in radio link quality triggers an increased number of retransmission (for Non-real time) and/or a higher protection (ie more redundant bits over the radio) of the data sent. On the contrary, connection to external data network such as the internet can be done at very high speed. Therefore, in a wireless network, the congestion naturally occurs in the network element where the high speed backbone meets the slow radio link. Particular examples of these NE are the 2G SGSN which is flow controlled from BSC, but has no mean to flow control GGSN, and the RNC which receives data from 3G SGSN through the Iu interface, but cannot flow control this one.
Another interesting aspect of the wireless system is the possibility to negotiate QoS across the system, in particular a maximum throughput for one mobile flow (PDP context in GPRS/UMTS term) is negotiated and is enforced (using policing and shaping) for downlink packets at the gateway node (GGSN). In the case of a radio network controller, the maximum throughput of non real-time traffic on a link to a mobile will be negotiated so as to be as close as possible to the maximum capability of the mobile station. However as network loading increases, and/or quality of service decreases, the rate of throughput of the radio network controller becomes lower for this mobile, but still the GGSN forward all downlink packets (up to a maximum throughput much higher than the possible throughput on the loaded radio) as it does not receive any indication of the radio condition. A consequence is that the radio network controller can become flooded with packets, some of which are lost within it. Thus network resources are wasted and the network node, in this example the radio network controller can become unstable.


A process for producing lithium manganate as a cathode active material for lithium secondary batteries comprising firing raw materials at a rate of temperature rise and/or temperature drop of 150.degree. C./min or more.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing a cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery. More particularly, it relates to a process for preparing a cathode active material for providing lithium secondary batteries with improved performance in a markedly shortened time.
With the recent rapid development of portable and wireless electronic equipment such as personal computers and telephones, the demand for secondary batteries as a driving power source has been increasing. In particular lithium secondary batteries are expected for their smallest size and high energy density. Cathode active materials for lithium secondary batteries meeting the demand include lithium cobaltate (LiCoO.sub.2), lithium nickelate (LiNiO.sub.2), and lithium manganate (LiMn.sub.2 O.sub.4). Having an electrode potential of 4 V or higher with respect to lithium, these lithium complex oxides provide lithium secondary batteries having a high energy density.
Compared with LiNiO.sub.2 and LiCoO.sub.2 having a theoretical capacity of about 280 mAh/g, LiMn.sub.2 O.sub.4 has a theoretical capacity as low as 135 mAh/g but is deemed suited for use in electric vehicles because of an abundant and inexpensive supply of manganese oxide as a raw material and freedom from such thermal instability in charging as observed with LiNiO.sub.2.
Thackeray et al. teach a process for synthesizing LiMn.sub.2 O.sub.4 which comprises mixing Mn.sub.2 O.sub.3 and Li.sub.2 CO.sub.3 at a molar ratio of 2:1 and firing the mixture at 650.degree. C. for 12 hours and then at 850.degree. C. for 24 hours (see Mat. Res. Bull., Vol. 18, pp. 461-472 (1983)). Tarascon et al. propose mixing Li.sub.2 CO.sub.3 and MnO.sub.2 and firing the mixture at 600 to 1100.degree. C. for 48 hours (see J. Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 138, No. 10, pp. 2859-2864 (1991)). These conventional processes are disadvantageous in that the firing time is long, thereby increasing the cost for industrial mass production.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 129229/97 discloses a process for preparing lithium cobaltate, etc. useful as a cathode active material of lithium secondary batteries, in which the rate of temperature drop in the firing step is set at 300.degree. C. min or higher. However, the disclosed technique does not apply to the production of lithium manganate because the reaction mechanism for lithium cobaltate formation and that for lithium manganate differ. More specifically, with respect to raw materials, for example, the publication mentions that materials having a low melting or decomposition point are suitable and, in fact, Ni(OH).sub.2 and LiOH are used in all the working Examples. However, LiOH is unsuitable as a raw material for LiMn.sub.2 O.sub.4, and Li.sub.2 CO.sub.3 that is suitable as a raw material for LiMn.sub.2 O.sub.4 has a decomposition point of 720.degree. C. or lower, which is considerably higher than those of Ni(OH).sub.2 (about 300.degree. C.) or LiOH (420.degree. C.). Further, Ni or Co oxide is an unsuitable material for generation of LiNiO.sub.2 -based compounds, while MnO.sub.2 is suited as a raw material of LiMn.sub.2 O.sub.4.

Process for preparing cathode active material for lithium secondary battery


To provide a plate laminate type heat exchanger that is capable to be temporarily fixed easily and surely before brazing assembly and can be fabricated with good accuracy. In a plate laminate type heat exchanger using a cladding material cladded with a brazing material, in each of laminated plates, a round hole penetrating in a laminate direction is formed; a thin and long fixing pin is inserted into the round hole so as to communicate each of plates; the fixing pin is fixed to the round hole by expansion of the outer diameter only at one end part in the longitudinal direction of the fixing pin; and each of plates is temporarily fixed integrally.

The present invention relates to a plate laminate type heat exchanger applicable to a cooler and the like for cooling electronic devices such as an inverter.
Heretofore, as a plate laminate type heat exchanger applicable to a cooler for electronic devices such as an inverter and the like, there are known a cup plate type structure in which laminated inner plates are encompassed using a top plate or bottom plate in a cup shape, a complete laminate type structure in which plates having a circulation path therein are laminated and the top and bottom thereof are sealed with flat board-like plates, and the like.
With respect to these plate laminate type heat exchangers, generally the whole of a heat exchanger is integrally brazed and manufactured, but, in brazing, mutual plates such as inner plates needs to be laminated and temporarily fixed in a positioned state. As methods of temporary fixing, a method of welding an outer peripheral part of a laminated body, and a method by using a designated fixing jig are known. Of these, a method of welding an outer peripheral part causes such problems that the manufacturing process becomes considerably complex and welding marks remain also in a finished product.
On the other hand, as a general method that uses a designated fixing jig, there is a method in which a through hole for temporary fixing, in addition to a circulation hole for a fluid, is provided for each plate to be laminated, each plate is aligned into a lamination state prior to brazing, and, after that, a pin for fixing or the like is inserted into the through hole to perform temporary fixing. However, one obtained by simply inserting a pin for fixing or the like into the through hole in this way is in a so-called "loosely fitted state" and, therefore, displacement is generated frequently between each plate in a brazing process caused by vibration, external input power or the like, and there is an issue of securing structural accuracy in a plate laminate type heat exchanger after brazing. Furthermore, after the brazing, a process of removing the pin for fixing or the like becomes necessary.
As a method for solving the above-described problems, there is proposed a restraining system in which a plate and a pin for fixing are mutually fitted, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1. In Patent Document 1, it is a system in which a through hole for temporary fixing, in addition to a circulation hole for a fluid, is provided for each plate to be laminated, and a pipe having a function of a fixing pin is intruded into the through hole to thereby fit and restrain the whole, or a grooved spring pin having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the through hole is inserted and the pin is subjected to diameter contraction to be fitted to thereby temporarily fix each of plates. Such restraining system can avoid displacement in brazing, which is a problem when temporary fixing is performed in the above-described "loosely fitted" state, and makes a removal process of a pin for fixing after brazing unnecessary.


Method for quantitatively assessing connectivity for well pairs at varying frequencies. A time series of measurements (12) is chosen for each of the two wells such that the particular measurements will be sensitive to subsurface connectivity if it exists (11). The two time series may then be pre-processed by resampling to time intervals commensurate with response time between the two wells (13), detrending the measurements (14), and detecting and eliminating spiking noises (15). Then the time series are transformed to the frequency domain where coherence and phase between the two series are compared for varying frequencies (16). This comparison is used to make a determination of connectivity.

This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with embodiments of the disclosed techniques. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the disclosed techniques. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
Downhole instrumentation in oil and gas wells continues to evolve, with more diverse measurement capabilities being installed in an ever-increasing number of fields. Permanent downhole monitoring (PDM) gauges, measuring pressure and temperature, provide nearly instantaneous signals from the subsurface reservoir. The oil and gas industry have started to collect immense quantities of downhole information, used primarily for reservoir surveillance. This same information provides valuable information about the internal "connectivity" of the reservoir, that is, the ease with which fluids communicate through complex compartments and pathways to reach the borehole. However, interpreting the connectivity signal and separating it from white noise, man-made artifacts, and equipment issues remains challenging. In addition, simple qualitative, often visual, comparisons between producing wells and injector-producer pairs are inadequate to properly characterize the intricate, multi-tiered connectivity inherent to both sandstone and carbonate reservoirs.
The simplest method, and what is commonly done, to determine inter-well connectivity from permanent downhole pressure data is to plot or visually overlay the pressures from different wells versus time and look for dependent pressure behavior. For example, if one well is shut-in, yet the buildup pressures in this well are declining while another well is on production, it may be inferred the wells are in hydraulic communication and thus connected. If the visual technique does not work, the next option is to build a reservoir model and history match individual well bottom hole pressures. The objective is to see if connectivity between wells has to be present for a valid history match, and to estimate the degree of connectivity.
While simple in theory, the visual comparison technique is often difficult to apply in practice because the bottom hole pressures may be affected by many other transient factors such as rate changes and communication from more than one well. Visual inspection may not be able to isolate the subtle or independent impact of another well's production or injection on the permanent downhole pressure record. The history matching technique is time consuming and non-unique.
There is a need for a fast and reliable technique to determine inter-well connectivity from permanent bottom hole pressure data. Wells with permanent down hole gauges are now common (Chorneyko, 2006). The volume of data (up to 1 pressure reading per second being recorded) and the amount of time required for processing (filter, de-noise, and compress) and analysis are factors that limit use of the data. Early and accurate diagnoses of reservoir connectivity will improve the quality and predictability of full-field simulations. The present inventive method fulfills this need and deals with the complicating factors at work.


A method for repairing cracks in a metal part comprising the steps of providing a metal part having a crack, cleaning the crack to remove an oxide layer, depositing a repair alloy via at least one of cathodic arc deposition and low pressure plasma spraying to cover the crack, and heating the part at a temperature and pressure sufficient to close the crack.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for repairing cracks in metal parts using cathodic arc coating and Hot Isostatic Pressing processes.
(2) Description of the Related Art
It is common for gas turbine engine components to develop, over the course of their operation, cracks that originate on the surface of the component and extend into the component or vice versa. Such cracks primarily arise over time from the extreme temperatures and pressures experienced by the turbine engine components. Of particular concern are cracks which form in turbine components comprised of superalloy materials such as nickel-based superalloys. Such materials tend to produce equiaxed, directionally solidified, and single crystal alloy structures.
Unfortunately, presently utilized methods for repairing such cracks suffer from significant drawbacks. Examples of such presently employed methods include Activated Diffusion Healing (ADH) or Turbofix™ diffusion brazing, welding, and the use of High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) spray materials. ADH/Turbofix diffusion brazing typically employs a mixture of braze and base alloy to seal the crack. Properties of the braze and base alloy typically exhibit less than 50% of the strength of the base material on equiaxed alloys. When applied to directionally solidified and single grain alloys, the braze and base alloy repair material exhibits strength properties which are significantly lower than 50% of base material. Attempts to weld base material into cracks suffer from different drawbacks. Specifically, it is difficult to apply through a process of welding a material onto a superalloy component without inducing further cracking, typically due to the localized heat input from the welding operation. In addition, in instances where the weld is successful, the properties exhibited by directionally solidified and single crystal alloys exhibit significantly lower strength than the original part. Lastly, the application of HVOF spray materials similarly suffers drawbacks. Specifically, because the process seals the cracks in an air atmosphere, the ability to seal and bond the crack is inhibited as a result of the presence of oxidation. Moreover, HVOF processes induce oxidation in both the material being applied, and the part to which the material is being applied. The internal oxidation of the part and the oxygen content of the applied alloy lessens the resulting strength of the repair.
What is therefore needed is a method for repairing cracks in metallic parts, particularly gas turbine engine components, which can seal and repair the crack with an alloy resulting in a repair exhibiting material properties which approach that of the base material from which the part is constructed, and which is usable on an equiaxed, directionally solidified and single crystal alloys.

Turbine component crack repair using cathodic arc and/or low pressure plasma spraying and HIP


Apparatus far equilibrating differences between flow rates into and out of closed pipeline systems, which apparatus includes a tank having a supply line and a discharge unit, with a displaceable plate; the supply being fed to the tank through the displaceable plate, the discharge from the tank being through an outlet at the bottom of the tank and the plate moving upwards or downwards to automatically change the volume of the tank in accordance with differences between the supply rate and the discharge rate.

Within major production facilities, highly viscous fluids, such as for example polymer melts, polymer solutions or food preparations, are generally transported in closed pipeline systems. With the delivery pressures usually occurring, these fluids are to be regarded as incompressible. At the same time, the pipeline systems are themselves constructed with a constant volume, to be able to withstand the delivery pressure and to allow exact control of the volume flow delivered.
Therefore, the throughput of the highly viscous fluid only changes along a closed pipeline system when additional materials are fed into the pipeline system or material is discharged from the pipeline system.
The former can be achieved by units which build up pressure, such as for example extruders or pumps, the latter by valves, drain cocks or processing tools, such as for example nozzles or injection molds. The type of units and valves used and how they are interconnected to form process engineering installations is very varied.
Therefore, such an installation is described below by taking the example of processing hot-melt adhesives.
At the beginning of the process, the adhesive composition to be processed is produced from raw materials and intermediate products in accordance with its formulation. Used for example for this are mixing tanks with special mixing units or kneading machines, compounding extruders and numerous further types of machine. If a ready-made adhesive composition is used, it must be melted in a conserving and uniform manner. This takes place for example in so-called tank melting devices, in drum melting installations, in roller melting devices or in melt extruders. From these devices, the finished hot-melt adhesive is fed into a pipeline or a pressure-resistant hoseline by a pump or under the unit's own pressure. Permanently installed in this pipeline are usually a number of shut-off valves, measuring points for pressure and temperature, melt filters and much more besides. If changing hot-melt adhesives or very large amounts are being processed, for the adhesive compositions there are often a number of production lines, which are connected to one another by means of corresponding pipe switches and shut-off valves.
The melt passes through this pipeline system directly into one or more application systems. Part of these application systems is in most cases a dedicated pressure-building element, such as for example a gear pump, a piston metering device or a conveying screw. In some cases, these pressure-building elements are dependent on a constant minimal admission pressure for them to be operational. This is often the case for example with gear pumps. Systems for applying the molten adhesive composition to a carrier material may be, for example, continuously operating nozzles, for instance for full-area coating or for strip coating, for bead application or for vortex spraying. Equally, intermittent application methods are used, in which the adhesive stream is interrupted in predetermined cycles or if need be manually, such as for example in the fully automatic gluing of cardboard packs or in manual application by means of an adhesive gun. Only in very rare cases can it be assumed that the production and processing of the hot-melt adhesives takes place with exactly the same throughputs. Even in these ideal cases, it must be taken into account that even small differences in throughput or pulsations cause considerable pressure fluctuations in the completely filled pipeline systems if elements with inflexible delivery, such as for example melt pumps or extruders, are used as the delivery means.
Fluctuating admission pressures, however, considerably impair for example the constancy of the application of the composition in the case of full-area nozzle coating. Therefore, sophisticated control loops are required to protect the installation and to ensure a high product quality and a stable process.
Much more frequently, discontinuous production of hot-melt adhesives is combined with continuous processing. Encountered more rarely are combinations of continuous production and discontinuous processing. In both cases, an equalization of the different throughputs must be provided by the machinery or equipment used.
Furthermore, when the production and processing of hot-melt adhesives are combined, short-term failure of one of the parts of the installation also leads to the immediate failure of the other, still operational part of the installation, due to the completely filled pipeline system, since either the adhesive composition cannot be accepted or no adhesive composition is available.
In all the cases outlined here, the situation can be remedied by the use of units which are not inflexible in their delivery, or by correspondingly designed equalizing volumes. Such equalizing volumes may be buffer tanks or pulsation dampers.
The use of units which are not inflexible in their delivery, such as for example pneumatic piston pumps or gear pumps with low volumetric efficiencies, leads during operation to throughput-dependent mechanical and thermal loads on the hot-melt adhesives to be delivered. Furthermore, piston pumps have a highly pulsating delivery characteristic, which makes them unsuitable for continuous application methods. The use of conventional buffer tanks is restricted to fluids of comparatively low viscosity, since otherwise complete emptying under the effect of gravity is not ensured. Even sophisticated agitating elements or wall strippers cannot ensure in the case of tacky and viscous substances that residual material can be removed during emptying. Moreover, in continuous operation, back-mixing with the material already present in the buffer tank always occurs, which has the consequence that residence times vary widely and consequently thermally sensitive hot-melt adhesives are exposed to uncontrolled aging processes.
One particular special design of the buffer tank in connection with a gear pump is that of the gear-in-die (GID) principle. A slot die is in this case preceded by a gear pump which is constructed in the full coating width and draws the fluid to be coated from a similarly wide storage tank. The latter is of a rectangular construction, only partially filled and, if appropriate, subjected to compressed air. This gives rise to considerable disadvantages, in that, when highly viscous fluids are used, the fluid exchange in continuous operation and the emptying of residual material is possible only very incompletely on account of adhesion to the walls. At the same time, thermal-oxidative aging or even decomposition of sensitive fluids can easily occur over the surface of the fluid exposed to the air.
Pulsation dampers are customary instruments for equalizing pressure fluctuations in pipeline systems. However, in the case of incompressible fluids only very small equalizing volumes are required for this purpose, so that the available devices are not suitable for the equalization of relatively great differences in volume. They also have the disadvantage in principle that the material last received is the last discharged again, which can also have the consequence here of long residence times, and consequently unfavorable aging behaviour of heat-sensitive hot-melt adhesives.
The same disadvantage is encountered in the case of so-called buffer presses. Here, a movable, cylindrical tank is hydraulically pressed against a fixed plate which is fitted exactly into the cylinder and in which the inflow and outflow openings are located. Here, too, the fluid enters and leaves on the same side of the tank. As a result of the cylindrical construction, with a small length/diameter ratio and with an axially arranged inflow and outflows this type of apparatus has wide ranges with only very inadequate fluid exchange, which lead to the partial averaging of thermally sensitive or perishable fluids. With the same volume flows in the outflow and inflow, finally no exchange at all of the tank contents takes place. The mobility of the entire tank also makes sophisticated statics of the apparatus absolutely essential, in particular if the high discharge pressures of up to 30 bar are taken into account. Since a hydraulic transmission of the slender hydraulic cylinders to the large tank cross section is involved here in principle, such high pipeline pressures can only be achieved in the outflow with enormous hydraulic installations.
There are pressure accumulators for the equilibration of a fluid stream which are capable in continuous operation of equalizing both pressure and throughput fluctuations in a closed pipeline system and at the same time building up constant high processing pressures. The operating mode of the storage tank is based on the idea that the tank provides a certain volume of product and a certain free volume. This is available for the case in which the fluid-delivering or fluid-receiving side of the process fails.
The discharge of the fluid from the storage tank with a delivery element is assisted and kept constant by pressure build-up, for example by means of a pneumatically driven movable ram. A pressure peak caused by the fluid-delivering side of the process, caused by the volume deviating from the setpoint volume flow, is counterbalanced by the ram plate which is connected to the pneumatics releasing the difference in volume as tank volume. The admission pressure of the delivery element connected directly to the storage tank changes only to a negligible extent as a result, depending on the inertia of the system. The inertia of the system is dependent for example on the frictional moment of the ram seals and the volume of the pneumatic rams. Here it is advisable to use pneumatic rams which are of as large a volume as possible or equipped with a pressure-relief valve. This prevents compression of the gas in the pneumatic rams from taking place. The compression would cause a reaction on the ram plate which brings about an increase or decrease in the pressure in the storage tank and consequently in the admission pressure of the delivery element.
The ram is sealed with respect to the storage tank by suitable seals against escape of the fluid via the ram plate. These apparatuses, mostly derived from drum melting technology, exist in various configurations, which essentially differ by the arrangement of the points for feeding in and discharging the product.
It is known for the fluid to be fed in and discharged in the bottom region. The problems which occur in the case of this solution are analogous to those of the buffer press.
The object of the invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the technologies derived from the prior art for the equilibration of a temperature-sensitive highly viscous fluid stream by an apparatus which is capable in continuous operation of equalizing pressure and throughput fluctuations in a closed pipeline system, of ensuring a narrow range of controllable residence times, of storing large amounts of fluid and of building up constant high processing pressures.
Furthermore, the system is intended to have the following further properties:                It is to be largely free of any dead space, to avoid the aging of, in particular, temperature-sensitive fluids.        It is to be of a simple structural design for cleaning purposes and show a cost saving and also a high level of reliability to increase the overall efficiency of the installation.
Application of the method is not restricted to highly viscous temperature-sensitive fluids, that is to say its use for fluids of low viscosity is not ruled out but equally possible.
This object is achieved by an apparatus such as that presented in the main claim. The subclaims describe advantageous developments of the subject-matter of the invention and also methods for the conserving intermediate storage of, in particular, temperature-sensitive highly viscous fluids in closed pipeline systems.

Transport of highly viscous fluids in closed pipeline systems


A system and method for interconnecting LED modules that receive electrical energy from a direct current electrical energy power supply includes a first type of mating connector to provide an input of direct current electrical energy to a printed circuit board contained within an interconnectable LED module and a second type of mating connector to provide an output of direct current electrical energy to and interconnecting with another interconnectable LED module. The second type of mating connector attaches to the first type of mating connector in the next LED module in a string of interconnectable LED modules.

In recent years the improvements in the output of light emitting diodes (LEDs) have resulted in LEDs taking the place of incandescent, fluorescent and halogen lighting sources. For lighting applications, particularly illuminated signage, printed circuit board mounted LEDs are enclosed with an LED module. Such LED modules are connected one to another in long strings. These strings of LED modules are then mounted within a sign. It is the job of the sign maker to select the number of LED modules needed, then assemble and mount the strings of LED modules within the signs. This creation of LED strings by the sign maker for a particular application is a labor intensive process as the wires between the LED modules must be first cut, then stripped of their insulation to expose bare wire. The bare wires between adjacent LED modules are then twisted together. Once twisted together, the connection is typically secured with a wire nut applied over and covering the connection made by twisting the bare wires together. If the maker or one tasked with repairing a string of LED modules is required to perform the assembly or repair of a string of LED modules while standing on a ladder or positioned far off the ground, this assembly or repair of a string of LED modules can be hazardous. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system which eliminates the need to cut wires, strip insulation to expose bare wires, twist bare wires together and secure the connection of twisted bare wires together with a wire nut.

Interconnectable LED module for use in a direct current circuit


A method for detecting the level of a liquid in a container. The method includes applying a predetermined voltage to a level measuring electrode, disposed within the container, for a predetermined first period of time; then, discontinuing the application of the voltage and waiting a predetermined second period of time; and then measuring an electrode voltage at the level measuring electrode.

Liquid level detection devices are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,164 discloses a device for detecting the level of a liquid in a container. This particular device comprises two electrodes that are arranged in the container and an electronic circuit that is connected to the electrodes. In order to prevent the measuring voltages from electrolyzing the liquid, an a.c. voltage is only generated between the electrodes during brief measuring phases in order to measure the electric resistance between the electrodes.

Methods and apparatuses for detecting the level of a liquid in a container


A voice reproducing apparatus for personal use is provided with a card serving as a memory-unit accommodating member incorporating therein a memory unit which stores voice as compressed codes; a player body for converting the codes to a voice signal and incorporating therein an interface, a decoding unit, and a circuit portion; and an earphone. The earphone is connected to said card, some of a plurality of contacts of a terminal portion provided in said card are formed as contacts of a terminal portion for an earphone, some of a plurality of contacts of a terminal portion provided in said interface of said player body are formed as contacts of an output terminal portion, and said terminal portion for an earphone is connectable to said output terminal portion when said card is loaded in said player body.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a voice reproducing apparatus for personal use.
2. Description of the Related Art:
As an apparatus of this type, an apparatus is known which has a form as shown in FIG. 4 and in which a memory card 57 for storing voice as compressed codes is loaded in a player body 51, and voice is heard by an earphone or a headphone 58. This apparatus has a configuration as disclosed in, for example, 1996 National Convention Record, The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (page 199) (published by The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers).
In this known apparatus, as shown in FIG. 5 among the accompanying drawings, the player body 51 incorporates therein an interface 52, a decoding unit 53, a circuit portion 54, a battery 55, and a connector 56. The interface 52 is adapted to receive codes from the memory card 57 when the memory card 57 is loaded in the player body 51. The codes are expanded by the decoding unit 53 and are translated into a digital signal. The circuit portion 54 has a D/A conversion unit, an amplifier, a switch, and the like, receives the supply of electric power from the battery 55, converts the digital signal to an analog signal by the D/A conversion unit, amplifies the same by the amplifier, and effects a changeover of operation of the player body by the switch. The voice signal amplified by the amplifier is heard by a user as voice by means of the earphone or the headphone connected to the connector 56.
Such an apparatus can be made compact and lightweight, and is convenient.
In recent years, tests based on voice, such as hearing tests, have been widely conducted in university entrance examinations and the like, in which case voice is outputted from a speaker, and examinees are expected to comprehend what they hear. However, the hearing of voice is liable to be affected by the dimensions of an examination room, the deterioration of sound quality due to reverberation from interior walls, and the external noise, so that it cannot be said that this is a fair method for the examinees. In addition, since a speaker is used, only one type of examination can be conducted in one examination room. When examinations of different types are to be conducted simultaneously, examination rooms and inspectors are required by that number, so that a number of problems are involved.
In this respect, the apparatus in which the aforementioned memory card, in which the contents of examinations which vary on each occasion are stored, is loaded in the player body, and the contents are heard by the earphone is not only unlikely to be affected by the external noise, but is not affected by the dimensions of the examination room, and is desirable in the light of fairness as well, and examinations of different types can be conducted in the same examination room.
However, the aforementioned player body incorporates a connector for connection of the earphone, and it is yet difficult to say that the apparatus has been made sufficiently compact, and the cost has not been lowered by that margin. Further, in the storage of the apparatus, the connection cable of the earphone is likely to become entangled and is therefore difficult to handle.
In entrance examinations or the like, a large number of examinees take examinations at one time. Since the player body is expensive as compared with the memory card and the earphone, the player body is reused after replacing the power supply (battery) and performing inspection. However, it is quite a troublesome operation to inspect the apparatuses in a number corresponding to the number of examinees at one time. Moreover, the examinations are generally conducted only once a year, and the apparatuses must be stored in the normal state in the meantime.

Voice reproducing apparatus for personal use


A method, system and apparatus for notifying the Network Standard Time Information are provided by the present invention. The present invention is used to notify the Network Standard Time Information to a User Equipment (UE) in the Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) mechanism, thus ensuring that the local time of the UE is consistent with the Network Standard Time Information of the network side, and enabling the UE to achieve the MBMS at a prescribed time. The said method comprises the following steps: the network side adds the Network Standard Time Information into the MBMS point-to-multipoint Control CHannel (MCCH) message; the network side notifies the Network Standard Time Information to the UE by transmitting the said MCCH message to the UE.

In a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, downlink communication services may be divided into two categories, i.e., a unicast service and a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), where the former refers to a point-to-point service of transmitting data from a data source to a User Equipment (UE) and the latter refers to a point-to-multipoint service of transmitting data from a data source to a plurality of user equipment.
In a radio access network, multicast and broadcast of both an all-text message at a low rate and a multimedia service at a high rate may be implemented in an MBMS by using a common transport channel and a common radio bearer.
However, an existing MBMS broadcast in a mobile cellular network has no possibility of notifying system time to a UE. An MBMS control channel generally is an MBMS multipoint Control CHannel (MCCH), and an MCCH message includes the following information:
1. MBMS access information;
2. MBMS common point-to-multipoint (p-t-m) radio bearer information;
3. MBMS current cell point-to-multipoint (p-t-m) radio bearer information;
4. MBMS general information;
5. MBMS modified services information;
6. MBMS neighboring cell point-to-multipoint (p-t-m) radio bearer information; and
7. MBMS unmodified services information.
Particularly, the MBMS access information is responsible for passing a parameter of an MBMS counting process, and since no counting process is configured in an operation of an MBMS Single Frequency Network (MBSFN), a UE may not fetch this parameter; the MBMS common point-to-multipoint (p-t-m) radio bearer information is responsible for configuration of the respective Radio Bearers (RBs); the MBMS current cell point-to-multipoint (p-t-m) radio bearer information is responsible for configuration of an RB of a current cell; the MBMS general information is responsible for configuration information of an MBMS Indicator CHannel (MICH) and information of some counters; the MBMS modified services information is responsible for passing information on a modified service; the MBMS neighboring cell point-to-multipoint (p-t-m) radio bearer information is responsible for passing information on an RB of a neighboring cell; and the MBMS unmodified services information is responsible for passing information on an unmodified service.
At present, a UE acquires an MBMS service in the following procedure: when a separate Secondary Common Control Physical CHannel (SCCPCH) carries merely an MBMS service, the UE fetches a System Information Block (SIB) 5 first and retrieves MBMS configuration information from the Secondary Common Control Physical CHannel (SCCPCH) system information of the MBMS, and after knowing configuration information of an MCCH of the MBMS, the UE can locate the MCCH among corresponding physical and transport channels and fetch MBMS modified services information and MBMS unmodified services information and also MBMS general information to retrieve configuration information of an MICH and possibly some information on a preferred frequency, a timer (T318), a counter and a cell group identity and also optional configuration information of an MBMS point-to-multipoint Scheduling CHannel (MSCH). If there is the MBMS service to be received by the UE, then the UE receives the corresponding MBMS service directly. If there is no MBMS service to be received by the UE, then the UE listens to the MICH.
As can be apparent, the UE fetches the SIB5first, then finds the MCCH from the SIB5 and the configuration information of the MICH from the MBMS general information in the MCCH and next listens to the MICH to determine the arrival time of the MBMS service to be received by the UE.
The UE receives the MCCH information starting from the next modification cycle notified in notification information upon determining the arrival of the MBMS service to be received by the UE. The UE knows from the MCCH whether the specific service arrives and a specific location of the arriving service and configures a corresponding bearer to receive the MBMS service starting from the next modification cycle.
However in view of the unidirectional downlink of an MBMS broadcast network, the UE cannot request a network server for system time information. No system time information of the network side is carried on the MCCH, and the time of the UE (including the time of respective applications in the UE) has to depend only upon its own setting and the UE cannot revise the local time to the time of the network side, so that the time of the UE may be inconsistent with that of the network side and consequently the UE cannot receive the MBMS service normally.
For example, a data unit (slice) of a TV program is validated at (valid from) 19:00 and invalidated at (valid to) 19:30, and a user equipment accesses a channel under the control of parameters including a start time, an end time, etc., of a distribution window of the data unit (slice) in a schedule and presents contents of a service under the control of parameters including a start time, an end time, etc., of a presentation window, but this mechanism is effected on the precondition that the time of the user equipment can be kept consistent with the system time of the network side; otherwise, the service would not be offered as expected. For example, the data unit (slice) of the program is validated at (valid from) 19:00 and invalidated at (valid to) 19:30, but there is a one-hour difference between the time locally set at the user equipment and the system time of the network side, so that the slice of the program is validated and invalidated at some unexpected time.
In view of the foregoing, the system time of the network side can not be notified to the UE in the MBMS mechanism in the prior art, thus making it impossible to ensure normal reception of an MBMS service at the UE.

Method, system and apparatus for notifying network standard time information

China Academy of Telecommunications Technology


A multichannel, multipoint distribution services (MMDS) dipole antenna for receiving multiple channels in the S-band frequency range of 2000 and 3000 MHz is formed from a printed circuit board which is directly connected to a coaxial cable. On the printed circuit board are etched two stacked dipoles. Each of the dipoles has a first one-half element etched on the first side of the printed circuit board and the second one-half element etched on the second side of the printed circuit board. The first and second dipoles are oriented to be in phase with each other and are separated from each other at a wavelength spacing between 0.25 lambda and 0.40 lambda. The antenna of the present invention further uses a phase combining circuit and an impedance matching circuit etched on the printed circuit board for combining in phase the polarized signals, for canceling the non-polarized signals at 0.degree. and 180.degree., from the two stacked dipoles and for matching the impedance from the two dipoles to the impedance of the coaxial cable.

1. Related Application
This is related to a patent entitled "Low Wind Load Parabolic Antenna", Ser. No. 07/732,651 filed Jul. 19, 1991, filed concurrently with this application.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of microstrip antennas and feeds and, in particular, to a stacked dual dipole feed for a multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS) parabolic antenna.
3. Statement of the Problem
Significant goals of the MMDS industry are to provide rooftop antennas having (1) the lowest possible manufacturing costs with consistently uniform performance, (2) high gain, (3) high directivity, and (4) high levels of rejection for cross-polarized signals. An example of a prior MMDS antenna is the Conifer Model PT-1000 which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,143, commonly owned by the assignee of the present invention.
A need exists for an MMDS antenna having a sharper more directive feed and antenna patterns for improved rejection of unwanted signals. A need further exists for obtaining higher gain from a given size main reflector and having an improved voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) over the full bandwidth. A need further exists to improve the balance to unbalance transition from the feed to coaxial cable connection.
Finally, a need exists to use fewer parts to assemble the feed so as to reduce labor costs. Present manufacturing processes rely on human skill in the assembly of the feed components. Hence, human error enters the assembly process and quality control must be used to ferret out and minimize such human error. This adds to the cost of the feed. Such human assembled feeds are also inconsistent in performance.
4. Solution to the Problem
The stacked dual dipole feed of the present invention is of one piece construction and does not utilize any external components. This eliminates the human error factors found in prior art feeds and provides a manufactured feed of consistent performance. The dual dipole feed of the present invention utilizes a pair of stacked dipoles etched onto a printed circuit board which directly couples with a coaxial cable. The stacked dipole design exhibits a narrowed lobe which provides greater directivity and, therefore, greater gain. In addition, the stacked dipole antenna minimizes cross polarization with minimal operating side lobes. Finally, the present invention integrates a phasing power combiner and a matching network to an unbalanced coaxial cable. A sub-reflector is also used to enhance the performance of the stacked dual dipole feed.


An electrical coaxial connector comprising a body made of insulator to be put on a circuit board, a signal-joining contacting conductor held by the body, and a grounding contacting conductor formed into a cylindrical shape and held also by the body for surrounding the signal-joining contacting conductor on the circuit board, wherein the grounding contacting conductor has an arm portion extending toward the circuit board from one of ring-shaped ends of the grounding contacting conductor, which is more distant from the circuit board than the other, a grounding terminal portion is formed at an end of the arm portion to be soldered to a ground-potential terminal provided on the circuit board, and each of the grounding contacting conductor and the arm portion is resilient.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electrical coaxial connector, and more particularly to an improvement in an electrical coaxial connector to be mounted on a circuit board for transmitting signals from the circuit board to the outside thereof under a condition of electro-magnetic shield.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A high-frequency signal flowing through conductors arranged on a circuit board is mostly dealt with as a signal which requires being put in a condition of electro-magnetic shield so as to be inactive to leak out from the conductors or to prevent noises from mixing thereinto from the outside. For transmitting the high-frequency signal on the circuit board to the outside thereof, for example, to another circuit board, under the condition of electro-magnetic shield, an electrical coaxial connector to be mounted on a circuit board is used.
Such an electrical coaxial connector comprises usually a signal-joining contacting conductor provided for transferring a signal and a grounding contacting conductor provided for surrounding the signal-joining contacting conductor to be supplied with a ground potential so as to put the signal supplied to the signal-joining contacting conductor in a condition of electro-magnetic shield. When the electrical coaxial connector is mounted on a circuit board to be used, the electrical coaxial connector is coupled with another electrical coaxial connector which is, for example, mounted on another circuit board, so that the signal-joining contacting conductor comes into contact with another signal-joining contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector and the grounding contacting conductor comes into contact with another grounding contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector. With the electrical coaxial connectors coupled with each other in such a manner, the signal supplied to one of the signal-joining contacting conductors is transferred to the other of the signal-joining contacting conductors under the condition of electro-magnetic shield brought about by the grounding contacting conductors. Thereby, the signal is transmitted between the circuit boards, on each of which the electrical coaxial connector is mounted, under the condition of electro-magnetic shield.
When the electrical coaxial connector as mentioned above is mounted on the circuit board, the signal-joining contacting conductor is connected to a signal terminal provided on the circuit board and the ground-connecting contacting conductor is connected to a ground-potential terminal provided on the circuit board. It is usual that a grounding terminal portion of the grounding contacting conductor is soldered to the ground-potential terminal provided on the circuit board so that the grounding contacting conductor is connected to the ground-potential terminal and a soldered condition of the grounding terminal portion of the grounding contacting conductor with the ground-potential terminal provided on the circuit board is required to be properly maintained for a relatively long period of time.
There has been proposed to provide an improved electrical coaxial connector in which a grounding contacting conductor has a distinctive grounding terminal portion which is provided to be soldered to a ground-potential terminal provided on a circuit board and so contrived in its shape that a soldered condition of the grounding terminal portion of the grounding contacting conductor with the ground-potential terminal provided on the circuit board is improved, as disclosed in, for example, the Japanese patent application published before examination under publication number 2004-63372.
The previously proposed electrical coaxial connector disclosed in the publication mentioned above comprises, for example, a signal-joining contacting conductor (contact) formed with a U-shaped conductive strip, a body made of insulator such as plastics or the like and provided to be put on a circuit board for holding the signal-joining contacting conductor at its central portion, and a grounding contacting conductor (shell) formed into a cylindrical shape for surrounding each of the body and the signal-joining contacting conductor held by the body to contain the same therein. When the body made of insulator is put on the circuit board, a contacting projection (signal terminal) provided on the signal-joining contacting conductor comes into contact with a signal terminal (pad) provided on the circuit board, so that the signal-joining contacting conductor formed into a U-shape is connected to the signal terminal provided on the circuit board. A plurality of grounding terminal portions (second ground-potential terminal) each formed into a plate shape are provided on a ring-shaped end of the grounding contacting conductor for coming into contact with ground-potential terminals (ground-potential pads) provided on the circuit board and soldered respectively to the ground-potential terminals provided on the circuit board, so that the grounding contacting conductor is connected to the ground-potential terminals on the circuit board.
Under such a situation, each of the grounding terminal portions provided on the ring-shaped end of the grounding contacting conductor is shaped to have chamfered edges or round-cornered so as to prevent the grounding terminal portions from being removed from the ground-potential terminals provided on the circuit board or to prevent the ground-potential terminals provided on the circuit board from being separated from the circuit board and thereby it is intended that the ground-potential is stabilized and each of the ground-potential terminals provided on the circuit board is strengthened in resistivity against separation from the circuit board.
In the above-mentioned previously proposed electrical coaxial connector in which the grounding terminal portions each formed into the plate shape and provided on the ring-shaped end of the grounding contacting conductor formed into the cylindrical shape are soldered respectively to the ground-potential terminals on the circuit board and thereby the grounding contacting conductor is connected to the ground-potential terminals on the circuit board, a soldered portion on the circuit board, at which the grounding terminal portion provided on the ring-shaped end of the grounding contacting conductor is soldered to the ground-potential terminals provided on the circuit board, receives undesirable stress exerted thereto so as to be feared to bring about troubles when the previously proposed electrical coaxial connector is coupled with another electrical coaxial connector with the signal-joining contacting conductor thereof coming into contact with another signal-joining contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector and the grounding contacting conductor thereof coming into contact with another grounding contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector.
That is, in the previously proposed electrical coaxial connector put in a condition wherein the signal-joining contacting conductor comes into contact with the other signal-joining contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector and the grounding contacting conductor comes into contact with the other grounding contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector, the grounding contacting conductor is resiliently transformed by engagement with the other grounding contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector and operative to exert resilient force arising from its transformation to the other grounding contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector and to lock the same when the grounding contacting conductor comes into contact with and then is in contact with the other grounding contacting conductor provided in the other electrical coaxial connector. Thereby, the stress arising from the transformation of the grounding contacting conductor is inflicted upon the soldered portion on the circuit board at which the grounding terminal portion provided on the ring-shaped end of the grounding contacting conductor is soldered to the ground-potential terminal provided on the circuit board.
As a result, with repetitions of the condition wherein the soldered portion on the circuit board at which the grounding terminal portion provided on the ring-shaped end of the grounding contacting conductor is soldered to the ground-potential terminals provided on the circuit board receives the undesirable stress exerted thereto, it is feared that cracks in solder, remove of the grounding terminal portion of the grounding contacting conductor form the ground-potential terminal on the circuit board, separation of the ground-potential terminal from the circuit board and so on are brought about on the soldered portion on the circuit board and thereby the soldered condition of the grounding terminal portion provided on the ring-shaped end of the grounding contacting conductor with the ground-potential terminal provided on the circuit board can not be properly maintained.


Free state determination at a high precision is made by using a simpler mechanism. A vehicle position detection device is configured to: store conditional probability information which associates each of values to be taken in vehicle information on a state of an own vehicle, a matching conditional probability that the value occurs in a matching state, and a free conditional probability that the value occurs in a free state; use the conditional probability information to acquire the matching conditional probability and the free conditional probability corresponding to the acquired value of the vehicle information; calculate a probability index in the matching state and a probability index in the free state based on the conditional probabilities; and determine which state is to be selected based on the probability index in the matching state and the probability index in the free state.

Map matching processing of acquiring an own vehicle position (for example, referred to as "map matching position") on a road link in map data is carried out in a navigation device used for a mobile body such as a vehicle.
For example, an own vehicle position (for example, referred to as "estimated position") and an own vehicle direction, which are calculated based on data output from a vehicle speed sensor and a gyro sensor, and map data are used in the map matching processing. Then, for example, a link having a position error between the estimated position and a candidate position on the link, and a direction error between the own vehicle direction and a link direction respectively satisfying predetermined conditions is selected as a map matching subject. Moreover, a likelihood (also referred to as "evaluation value", "confidence", or the like) is acquired by means of a predetermined likelihood function for each link subject to the map matching, or for a candidate position on each link, and a map matching position is acquired on a link high in the likelihood. For example, such a description that a likelihood of an own vehicle position on a road link is calculated based on an own vehicle position and an error covariance exists in Patent Literature 1.
Moreover, when a graphic (for example, referred to as "car mark") representing a current position is displayed in the navigation device, a determination (hereinafter also referred to as "free state determination") of whether the graphic is displayed at a position acquired by the map matching or a position acquired without the map matching is made. It should be noted that the display state with the map matching is referred to as "matching state", and the display state without the map matching is referred to as "free state".
A condition determination by using respective parameters of the own vehicle such as the position error, the direction error, and a GPS reception state, and thresholds for the respective parameters is made in the free state determination.

Vehicle position detection device and program


An apparatus for electric power conversion in an electric rolling stock, comprising an inverter which receives a DC power fed from a DC power source at DC terminals, converts the received DC power into an AC power, and supplies the AC power to an AC motor, a first capacitor which is connected to the DC terminals of the inverter by low inductance connection and reduces a surge voltage generated in the inverter, and a second capacitor which is connected to the DC terminals of the inverter through a fuse, wherein a total sum of capacities of the first and the second capacitors is equal to or larger than a system demand capacitance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for electric power conversion in electric rolling stock, wherein the apparatus comprises an inverter and drives an electric motor of electric rolling stock according to an alternating-current power output from the inverter.
2. Description of the Related Art
The apparatus for electric power conversion in electric rolling stock, wherein the apparatus comprises an inverter and drives an alternating-current electric motor (AC motor) according to an alternating-current power output from the inverter. For example, when the electric power is supplied through the an alternating-current catenary (AC catenary), the apparatus for electric power conversion in electric rolling stock inputs a single-phase alternating current through the AC catenary and converts it to direct-current power (DC power). At this time, the apparatus for electric power conversion in electric rolling stock requires a large-capacitance filter capacitor to reduce a direct-current voltage ripple (DC voltage ripple). On the other hand, when the electric power is supplied through a direct-current catenary (DC catenary), the apparatus for electric power conversion in electric rolling stock requires large-capacitance filter capacitors in order to reduce a high frequency component of catenary current. With regard to the both types of filter capacitors, the required capacitance depends on the output of an applied device. Especially, the apparatus for electric power conversion in a high-power electric rolling stock such as a locomotive has filter capacitors with especially large capacitance.
On the other hand, the apparatus for electric power conversion in electric rolling stock is required to reduce surge voltage of a switching element (semiconductor element), which constitutes an electric power conversion section, at interrupting. There are two methods for reducing the surge voltage.
One method is a method in which a snubber circuit is provided in the electric power conversion section. A smaller apparatus for electric power conversion in electric rolling stock has been required in order to be installed in electric rolling stock. Thereby, the apparatus for electric power conversion in electric rolling stock preferably has a configuration without a snubber circuit in order to decrease the number of components by making the circuit of the electric power conversion section simple, and to minimize extra power consumption for better efficiency.
Thus, the second method is proposed in which a filter capacitor is connected to the electric power conversion section. The filter capacitor connected between DC terminals forms a loop circuit with a switching element included in the electric power conversion section. In this method, it is desired to connect the filter capacitor by "low inductance connection" in which the loop circuit has as low an inductance as possible. In order to realize the low inductance connection, an element which has a large inductance, such as a fuse, cannot be connected to the loop circuit.
There has been disclosed an apparatus for electric power conversion (refer to, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-96832) provided with an electric power conversion section in which a large-capacitance filter capacitor and the electric power conversion section are connected by the low inductance connection, and a snubber circuit is not provided.
However, a measure regarding damages of the apparatus for electric power conversion has not been disclosed in the above document, wherein the damages are caused by a direct-current short-circuit current generated when breakdown of a switching element in the electric power conversion section is caused.
For example, when a short-circuit is made in a switching element within the electric power conversion section by a fault, charges in the filter capacitors discharge at a fault location. At this time, degree of breakdown in the switching element becomes large, depending on electrical discharge energy. Accordingly, there is a possibility that not only a portion of the switching element is subjected to damages caused by the above fault, but also an outside housing in the electric power conversion section bursts, and peripheral devices are subjected to damages.
There has been a method by which a fuse is provided between the filter capacitor and the switching element in order to reduce flow of electrical discharge energy into the fault location. Thereby, the fuse melts while discharging to reduce flow of the electrical discharge energy into the fault location. However, the filter capacitor and the switching element cannot be connected by the low inductance connection in this method.
Accordingly, these filter capacitors preferably has as low an capacitance as possible from the viewpoint of reducing damages in the event of a fault. However, considering an original function of decreasing the DC voltage ripple, these filter capacitors are required to have a capacitance equal to or larger than a predetermined value according to applied devices and the like.

Apparatus for power conversion in electric rolling stock


The present invention relates to a device and a method associated with the device. With respect to the device, it is a work holding and clamping device, which increases the usable span to almost twice its stored length. This device has an inner and outer assembly. The inner and outer assemblies are nested or telescopic. Each assembly is made of a square or rectangular tube that has a jaw affixed to one end. The inner assembly contains a locking mechanism to allow for length adjustment. When arranged so that the jaws are on the same side of the respective assemblies, the clamp is capable of a span that is almost equal to the length of the inner assembly. When arranged so that the jaws are on opposite sides of the respective assemblies, the clamp is capable of a span that is almost equal to the sum of the length of the inner assembly and outer assembly.

Currently there are a number of clamping or work holding devices that can be adjusted for use on a variety of work piece sizes. A common shortcoming across the existing clamping designs is that their maximum usable length is less than the overall length of the device. In addition, most bar style clamps are limited to a single clamping configuration having directly opposing jaws. In summary, they simply lack the utility to meet the needs of the industry and thereby requiring craftsmen to obtain multiple clamps of assorted sizes and arrangements to carry out a wide variety of tasks. This can result in a requirement for excessive storage space, using clamping devices much longer than required for smaller work pieces leading to tipping or loss of maneuverability around the work piece, and excessive capital costs.

Clamp with nested reversible interlocking assemblies


A reclining rocking chair has two seat bars, a backrest bar, two armrests, a footrest bar, an adjustment device and two rocker assemblies. The seat bars, backrest bar, armrests and footrest bar connect pivotally to each other. The adjustment device is mounted on one side of the chair and connects to the corresponding seat bar, armrest and footrest bar and has a clamp, an arm post and an adjustment bolt. The clamp is mounted on the armrest. The arm post connects pivotally to the armrest and the footrest bar and is mounted slidably through the clamp. The adjustment bolt is mounted movably through the clamp and selectively presses against the arm post to allow the chair to rock and recline safely.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rocking chair, and more particularly to a reclining rocking chair that has a seat, a backrest and a footrest, wherein the backrest and the footrest may be adjusted and held securely and safely.
2. Description of Related Art
Rocking chairs are generally used at home to allow a person to rock back and forth while they take a rest. Conventional rocking chairs can rock but cannot recline.
Another rocking chair has been developed which can recline. The reclining rocking chair comprises a frame, two rockers and two resilient discs. The frame has two seat bars, each comprising a front and a rear and two U-shaped bars connecting pivotally to both ends of the seat bars to form a seat, a backrest bar, a footrest and four pivot points. The person may change angles between the backrest, footrest and the seat. The rockers are mounted on the frame to provide the rocking motion. The resilient discs are mounted respectively on two pivot points to provide friction between the seat bars and the footrest and backrest bar so that the frame does not pivot inadvertently. However, the friction by the resilient discs is limited so the frame cannot support a heavy person without collapsing. Therefore, the reclining rocking chair is not safe.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a reclining rocking chair to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.