A method of controlling a multi-phase electrical machine by means of a power converter, wherein the method includes: a) controlling the electrical machine by utilizing vector space decomposition, VSD, wherein the controlling involves releasing control of the current of a harmonic while maintaining control of the current of the fundamental, b) measuring phase currents of the electrical machine while the control of the current of the harmonic is released, c) transforming the current measurements using VSD to obtain a current signature of the harmonic, and d) determining whether a fault is present in the electrical machine or the power converter based on a comparison of the current signature with a reference current signature of the harmonic.

One of the most widely used methods for detecting fault conditions in electrical machines is performing a Fourier transform on the sensed current signal over at least a portion of the period of the time to provide the current signal spectra. The peaks in the current signal spectrum are located and their values are compared with those during healthy operation. A method of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,703A.
The online use of the Fourier transform requires a lot of arithmetic operations. This becomes even more complicated because the period of the analyzed signal is unknown. Thus, the application of windowed Fourier transform is needed.
The publication "Fault Diagnosis of Sensors for T-type Three-Level Inverter-fed Dual Three-Phase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Drives", X. Wang et al, Power Electronics and Drives, AOP, 2018, relies on a different approach for fault detection. In particular, this publication relies on Vector Space Decomposition (VSD) for fault detection. A drawback with the disclosed method is that it requires that a very significant fault, e.g. a fault in the current sensor, has to occur in order to be able to detect it.

Method of controlling a multi-phase electrical machine


A circuit card of an industrial controller may be removed or inserted under power without loss of memory or disturbance to the power supplies of other modules through the use of a power failure signal derived from shortened pins on the connector between the card and the industrial controller. The power failure signal activates a timer delaying connection of the board components to power until the physical connection between the card and the industrial controller has stabilized. At this time current drain is ramped up by a controlling series FET. Upon removal of the card, the power failure signal causes outputs of an on-board microprocessor to be pulled to particular states necessary to prevent disturbance of a battery backed-up RAM and to eliminate current flow through protection diodes on other memory type devices attached to the microprocessor.

Industrial controllers are special purpose computers used for controlling industrial processes or manufacturing equipment.
Under the direction of a stored program, the industrial controller examines a series of inputs reflecting the status of a controlled process or controlled equipment and changes outputs affecting control of the process or equipment. The inputs and outputs are mostly binary, that is "ON" or "OFF"; however, analog inputs and outputs taking on a continuous range of values and multi-bit digital values, are also used.
Industrial controllers are frequently assembled from individual functional modules that fit within a rack to be joined together by means of a common backplane. A circuit card within the functional module has conducting fingers to engage a multi-line connector attached to the backplane and the backplane supplies power to the functional modules and a number of parallel conductors for data communication between the functional modules.
By dividing the operation of the industrial controller among the functional modules, the industrial controller may be flexibly configured to meet a given controlled task. For example the processing unit of the industrial processor may be one circuit card and separate from the input and output circuits for receiving data from and transmitting data to the industrial process. If additional I/O lines are needed, additional I/O cards may be inserted within the rack.
The modularity of the industrial controller also improves its serviceability. A failure in a given component may be isolated by "swapping" circuit cards in and out of the rack to see if the problem is remedied. In most cases only a single card will have faulted and that card alone may be replaced, reducing the cost of the repair.
Ideally, the removal and replacement of the circuit cards of the industrial controller could be done while the industrial controller is operating under power. The capability for removal and insertion under power (RIUP) decreases the time necessary to isolate a given fault, and in some cases permits some portions of the industrial process to continue to operate while a repair is being undertaken.
Permitting the removal or insertion of circuit cards while the industrial controller is under power is not a simple matter. First, the circuit cards normally contain an electronic processor and an associated, volatile electronic memory. Removal of the power to such a memory erases its contents, rendering the board inoperable until the memory is reprogrammed, making board swapping impractical. One method of solving this problem is to provide an on-board backup battery for the memory.
One problem with this approach of using a backup battery is that in order to conserve battery power the remainder of the devices on the board, including those connected to the memory, are allowed to lose power. The outputs of these connected devices may move to undefined logic levels as power drops. An undefined logic level is a voltage that is not high enough to be reliably interpreted as a logical true nor low enough to be reliably interpreted as a logical zero. These undefined logic levels can cause an unintended writing to the electronic memory of spurious data or can cause the electronic memory to enter a state of extremely high current drain from the backup battery. This high drain current can lower the battery voltage to the point where the electronic memory loses its stored information.
One method of avoiding this problem is to install a set of electronic switches between the volatile electronic memory and the devices providing outputs to that memory (typically the electronic processor) to completely disconnect the processor from the memory when a power loss is detected.
Nevertheless, while this method prevents high current drain or unintentional writing to the electronic memory during power failure, the electronic switches introduce a transmission delay in signals passing through the switches (a gate delay) slowing the speed of reading or writing the memory and thus slowing the operation of the functional module.
Providing additional battery backup to the processor, besides unduly increasing the battery drain, can provide problems with the input protection circuitry of other devices connected to the electronic processor, particularly with processor output signals that are de-asserted at a logical high level. Referring to FIG. 11, other devices such as EPROM or PROM, connected to the electronic memory but not provided with battery backup, have diodes 124 and 125 connected between their inputs 120 and ground and V.sub.cc. These diodes are oriented to safely conduct out-of-range voltages away from the input by conducting voltages higher than V.sub.cc to V.sub.cc and lower than ground to ground. As V.sub.cc drops however, a current may flow from the de-asserted lines of the processor providing the input 120 (supported by the battery backup voltage) through the diodes 124 to the falling V.sub.cc. Thus, if the voltage on input 120 exceeds V.sub.cc, current will flow through protection diodes 124.
A second obstacle to the removal and insertion of circuit cards while the industrial controller is under power is electrical arcing that may damage the connector attaching the circuit card to the backplane. Normally the circuit card will have a number of filter capacitors which present a very low impedance to the power supply in the backplane when the circuit card is first installed. The resulting high inrush of current may etch or pit the electrical connector joining the circuit card to the backplane reducing its reliability.
Finally, this large inrush of current may produce a momentary decrease in the regulated power supply feeding another circuit card thus adversely affecting the operation of the other card. One method of eliminating the latter problem of high momentary loading of the backplane power supply is shown in FIG. 10. Here the connector 100 joining the circuit card 103 to the backplane 20 employs long connector pins 104 and short connector pins 106 on one-half of the connector 100 which connect with equal height sockets 108 on the other half of the connector 100. The long connector pins 104 provide electrical connection to corresponding sockets 108 before the short connector pins 106 provide such connection as the circuit card 103 is inserted into the backplane 20.
During an insertion of the circuit card 103, the long pins 104 first connect the circuit card 103 to a precharging power supply 102 that is isolated from a main operating supply 105 used by the circuit card 103 during normal operation. The precharging power supply 102 charges the filter capacitances associated with the card 103. Moments later, the short pins 106 connect with the main operating supply 105 after the filter capacitance 114 has been fully charged. Thus, there is no disturbance to the main power supply 105.
When another circuit card is inserted, the precharging supply 102 may experience a downward voltage spike caused by the low impedance of the charging capacitance 114. This drop in voltage is isolated from the other circuit cards firmly connected to the main power supply 105 by diodes 116 which prevent current flow from the main power supply 105 to the precharging power supply 102. The precharging power supply 102 operates at a higher voltage to compensate for the voltage drop across diodes 116.
Nevertheless, this precharging technique also has drawbacks. First, the long pins 104 still experience large charging currents which may cause pitting to those pins. Second, if the circuit card 103 is inserted too quickly, the long pins 104 will not be connected for sufficient time to fully charge the capacitance 114. Third, if the circuit card 103 is inserted too slowly or not fully seated, the circuit card 103 may begin operating on the precharging power supply instead of the main power supply 105 and thus be susceptible to disturbances in that supply caused by the insertion of other cards. The precharging power supply 102 is supplied by relatively small traces to allow more backplane copper for the main power supply 105 and hence experiences greater voltage drops with changes in current demanded. Fourth, the precharging technique requires redundant backplane traces, connector pins and power supplies.

Industrial controller permitting removal and insertion of circuit cards while under power


An extended host controller test mode support is provided. In the example of USB host controllers, an enhanced host controller is provided to control the high-speed traffic. Further at least one companion host controller controls the full-speed and/or low-speed traffic. The enhanced host controller comprises a test circuit for controlling a USB transceiver macrocell to perform full-speed and/or low-speed test functions. The test functions may include a test-J function, a test-K function, a single-ended-zero test function, and the sending of test patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to host controllers such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) host controllers and related methods, and in particular to test circuits and methods in such host controllers.
2. Description of the Related Art
USB was originally developed in 1995 to define an external expansion bus which facilitates the connection of additional peripherals to a computer system. The USB technique is implemented by PC (Personal Computer) host controller hardware and software and by peripheral friendly master-slave protocols and achieves robust connections and cable assemblies. USB systems are extendable through multi-port hubs.
In USB systems, the role of the system software is to provide a uniformed view of the input/output architecture for all applications software by hiding hardware implementation details. In particular, it manages the dynamic attach and detach of peripherals and communicates with the peripheral to discover its identity. During run time, the host initiates transactions to specific peripherals, and each peripheral accepts its transactions and response accordingly.
Hubs are incorporated to the system to provide additional connectivity for USB peripherals, and to provide managed power to attached devices. The peripherals are slaves that must react to request transactions sent from the host. Such request transactions include requests for detailed information about the device and its configuration.
While these functions and protocols were already implemented in the USB 1.1 specification, this technique was still improved in order to provide a higher performance interface. FIG. 1 illustrates an example USB 2.0 system that comprises a host controller 100, a number of USB devices 115, 120, 125, 130, and two hubs 105, 110. In the system of FIG. 1, the hubs 105, 110 are introduced for increasing connectivity, but in other USB 2.0 systems, the USB devices can be connected directly to the host controller 100.
As mentioned above, USB 2.0 provides a higher performance interface, and the speed improvement may be up to a factor of 40. Moreover, as apparent from FIG. 1, USB 2.0 is backwards compatible with USB 1.1 because it allows for connecting USB 1.1 devices 120, 125, 130 to be driven by the same host controller 100. There may even be used USB 1.1 hubs 110.
As can be seen from FIG. 1, a USB 1.1 device 120 can be connected directly to a USB 2.0 hub 105. Moreover, it can also be connected directly to the host controller 100. This is made possible by the capability of USB 2.0 host controllers and hubs to negotiate higher as well as lower transmission speeds on a device-by-device basis.
Turning now to FIG. 2, the system software and hardware of a USB 2.0 system is illustrated. The system components can be organized hierachially by defining several layers as shown in the figure.
In the upper most layer, the client driver software 200 executes on the host PC and corresponds to a particular USB device 230. The client software is typically part of the operating system or provided with the device.
The USB driver 205 is a system software bus driver that abstracts the details of the particular host controller driver 210, 220 for a particular operating system. The host controller drivers 210, 220 provide a software layer between a specific hardware 215, 225, 230 and the USB driver 205 for providing a driver-hardware interface.
While the layers discussed so far are software implemented, the upper most hardware component layer includes the host controllers 215, 225. These controllers are connected to the USB device 230 that performs the end user function. Of course, for one given USB device, the device is connected to either one of the host controllers 215, 225 only.
As apparent from the figure, there is one host controller 225 which is an enhanced host controller (EHC) for the high speed USB 2.0 functionality. This host controller operates in compliance with the EHCI (Enhanced Host Controller Interface) specification for USB 2.0. On the software side, host controller 225 has a specific host controller driver (EHCD) 220 associated.
Further, there are host controllers 215 for full and low speed operations. The UHCI (Universal Host Controller Interface) or OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) are the two industry standards applied in the universal or open host controllers (UHC/OHC) 215 for providing USB 1.1 host controller interfaces. The host controllers 215 have assigned universal/open host controller drivers (UHCD/OHCD) 210 in the lowest software level.
Thus, the USB 2.0 compliant host controller system comprises driver software and host controller hardware which must be compliant to the EHCI specification. While this specification defines the register-level interface and associated memory-resident data structures, it does not define nor describe the hardware architecture required to build a compliant host controller.
Referring now to FIG. 3, the hardware components of a common motherboard layout are depicted. The basic elements found on a motherboard may include the CPU (Central Processing Unit) 300, a northbridge 305, a southbridge 310, and system memory 315. The northbridge 305 usually is a single chip in a core-logic chipset that connects the processor 300 to the system memory 315 and the AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port) and PCI (Peripheral Component Interface) buses. The PCI bus is commonly used in personal computers for providing a data path between the processor and peripheral devices like video cards, sound cards, network interface cards and modems. The AGP bus is a high-speed graphic expansion bus that directly connects the display adapter and system memory 315. AGP operates independently of the PCI bus. It is to be noted that other motherboard layouts exist that have no northbridge in it, or that have a northbridge without AGP or PCI options.
The southbridge 310 is usually the chip in a system core-logic chipset that controls the IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) or EIDE (Enhanced IDE) bus, the USB bus, that provides plug-and-play support, controls a PCI-ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) bridge, manages the keyboard/mouse controller, provides power management features, and controls other peripherals.
USB host controllers and other host controllers in southbridges or I/O hubs are hardware components that are extremely complex in structure. Thus, there may occur faults in the operation of such host controllers, and it is usually difficult to resolve whether such faults are caused by hardware components or by the software driver or any other hardware or software components.
For this reason, host controllers, hubs, and other functions usually have some testing mechanisms that may allow for performing static or dynamic electrical tests. Such mechanisms are however difficult to implement and the tests hard to accomplish. For instance, USB 1.1 compliant controllers need a special software setup to stimulate a physical device in a way that it can be electrically characterized. With USB 2.0 compliant host controllers, several test modes are supported to facilitate compliance testing. However, these test modes solely relate to the USB 2.0 high-speed data traffic.
It has therefore been found to be disadvantageous in the prior art systems, in particular in USB systems, that many different test mechanisms need to be provided in many cases, and each of the diagnostic functions has to comply with its own implementation rules. Specifically in USB 2.0 enhanced host controllers, testing of full and low speed data transfers is still subject to the restrictions and disadvantages of USB 1.1 compliant techniques.

Extended host controller test mode support for use with full-speed USB devices


An ionically conductive ceramic element includes a central unit (703). The central unit (703) is composed of a plurality of integrated manifold and tube modules (IMAT) (22) joined end to end along a central axis (A). Each IMAT module (22) has a tube support portion (804) and a plurality of tubes (802) extending from the first surface (803). The tubes (802) each have a closed end (805) and an open end. The second surface (807) is at least partially open to the atmosphere. The open ends of the tubes (802) are open to the atmosphere through the second surface (807). An interior space (830) is formed in the interior of the IMAT (22) for collecting a desired product gas. A collection tube (710) is operable joined with a first end (714) of the central unit (703) for transporting the desired product gas collected in the interior space (730) of the connected IMAT modules (22).

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of devices for separating oxygen from a more complex gas containing oxygen to deliver separated oxygen for use. More particularly, the invention relates to solid state electrochemical devices for separating oxygen from a more complex gas.
2. Background Art
It is well known, and has been demonstrated, that oxygen can be removed from more complex gasses, such as air, by an electrochemical process of ionizing the oxygen molecules, transporting the oxygen ions through a solid electrolyte and reforming the oxygen molecules on an opposite electrolyte surface. An electrical potential is applied to a suitable catalyzing electrode coating applied to the surface of the electrolyte which is porous to oxygen molecules and which acts to disassociate oxygen molecules into oxygen ions at its interface with the electrolyte. The oxygen ions are transported through the electrolyte to the opposite surface, which is also coated with a catalyzing electrode and electrically charged with the opposite electrical potential that removes the excess electrons from the oxygen ions, and oxygen molecules are reformed. However, current oxygen generating systems are generally unable to deliver high-pressure oxygen above 1800 psi. Thus, a need exists in the art for a system and a method which provides a high-pressure oxygen. Another need exists in the art for an oxygen generating system which can use contaminated air which is contaminated, for example, with biological agents or other toxic substances.
Integrated Manifold and Tube (IMAT) module designs are known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos 5,871,624; 5,985,113; 6,352,624; 6,685,235; and 6,783,646 owned by the assignee teach such known IMAT designs in an oxygen generating system. However, such prior IMAT designs and mounting methods required a spherical joint between one IMAT unit and a metal tube extending out of the oven. Or other designs used for all the ovens built before the present invention required a spherical joint and outlet or delivery tube to get the oxygen out of each IMAT. Such joints are all highly susceptible to leakage, and are very expensive.
While the above cited references introduce and disclose a number of noteworthy advances and technological improvements within the art, none completely fulfills the specific objectives achieved by this invention.

Electrochemical oxygen generator module assembly


A compensating device (200) maintains specifiable target positions of a load (206) handled using a cable hoist (202) and attached to a cable (216) of the cable hoist. The respective specifiable target position of the load may change unintentionally to an actual position deviating from the target position. The compensating device has a sensor device (240, 242) for detecting the respective actual position of the load (206). A rotational drive (226, 228, 230) specifies a cable length of the cable hoist (202). A controller (244) changes the cable length after the respective actual position has been detected until the load (206) re-assumes its target position. The respective drive (226, 228,230) can be controlled at least partly by a hydraulic motor (226, 228, 230) with opposite rotational directions. The motor is connected to an actuating device (246) having at least two separate pressure chambers (250, 252) with pressure levels that differ during operation, thereby forming a drive section (248) for the respective hydraulic motor (226, 228, 230), and which can be actuated by the controller (244).

A prior art solution to this end is depicted in part schematically in FIG. 1. The compensating devices are preferably used in instances where the lifting or lowering of a load attached to a load cable is required, using a common cable hoist. The load or material transport is naturally subject to interference factors such as increased wind loads, increased wave action or other interference factors like uneven floors or similar factor that can occur during operation of a cable hoist. The cable hoist may be a stationary installation, for example as part of a dockyard crane system, or is often moved in conjunction with a moveable machine or part of a cargo ship.
To transport the load, the respective cable hoist is provided with a cable winch of the commonly used kind, which cable winch is provided with a reversible electric or hydraulic motor that serves as rotating drive for winding and unwinding of the cable. If the described usual load lifting operation with its specifiable target positions of the load is now superimposed by the interference factors described earlier, for example, because a cargo ship fitted with a cable hoist is subjected to a more or less strong wave action, the load attached to the cable hoist through the cable would, without the known compensating device, follow the wave action in real time by assuming actual positions that deviate from the target positions, and may be damaged for example when lowered onto solid ground, such as a wharfage or the sea bed. Thus, the free lowering path of the load attached to the cable becomes shorter or longer, the effective length of which is defined by the free length of cable unwound from the cable drum as soon as the cargo ship follows the respective wave action with the cable hoist.
To solve this problem, the known solution, as shown schematically in FIG. 1, provides that the respective actual position of the load on the cable is acquired at least indirectly by a sensor device called in the industry "Motion Reference Unit" (MRU). After comparison of the actual position with the specified target position by a computer or control device, the effective cable length is shortened or extended, as required, by the compensating device. Part of the compensating device is an actuator, usually in form of a hydraulic cylinder with a piston rod, the free end of which is fitted with a rotatable guide pulley over which the cable coming from the cable winch extends. Through retracting or extending the piston rod, the effective cable length can be extended or shortened respectively so that a compensation of the described interference factors is possible in this manner.
The shortening or extension of the effective cable length depends exclusively on the travel distance when extending or retracting the piston rod unit so that for large deviations of the actual position from the target position a relatively long duty stroke of the power cylinder is required. To achieve this compensation, large hydraulic power cylinders including hydraulic pumps are therefore often used in practical applications, which require a correspondingly large installation space in the vicinity of the actual cable hoist. Due to the large amounts of hydraulic fluid required for the operation of the power cylinder by the hydraulic pump, which has to be circulated in the corresponding hydraulic circuit, the overall efficiency of the compensating device has to be rated as relatively low. Moreover, the cable is subjected to increased friction wear at least in the section in which the guide pulley of the power cylinder moves for the compensating process and the cable is redirected. Since a lot of time is required for each compensating retraction and extension move of the power cylinder, controlled by its hydraulic system, and since large quantities of fluid have to be moved, the known solution is not suitable to implement immediate compensation processes on the effective cable length. This lack of suitability impairs the operational and functional safety as well as the positioning accuracy. Due to its dimensions and weight, as well as its functionality, the known compensating device is basically only suitable for use on large equipment. Already existing plant or machine parts cannot be retrofitted with the known compensating device at a reasonable effort.

Compensating device for maintaining specifiable target positions of a hoisted load


Described herein are high-power pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) applicator apparatuses. These apparatuses are configured to drive multiple applicators to concurrently deliver high-power PEMF signals to tissue. The apparatuses may be further configured to wirelessly communicate with local computing device and a remote server for patient monitoring, prescription and/or device servicing.

Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) have been described for treating therapeutically resistant problems of both the musculoskeletal system as well as soft tissues. PEMF typically includes the use of low-energy, time-varying magnetic fields. For example, PEMF therapy has been used to treat non-union bone fractures and delayed union bone fractures. PEMF therapy has also been used for treatment of corresponding types of body soft tissue injuries including chronic refractory tendinitis, decubitus ulcers and ligament, tendon injuries, osteoporosis, and Charcot foot. During PEMF therapy, an electromagnetic transducer coil is generally placed in the vicinity of the injury (sometimes referred to as the "target area") such that pulsing the transducer coil will produce an applied or driving field that penetrates to the underlying tissue.
Treatment devices emitting magnetic and/or electromagnetic energy offer significant advantages over other types of electrical stimulators because magnetic and electromagnetic energy can be applied externally through clothing and wound dressings, thereby rendering such treatments completely non-invasive. Moreover, published reports of double blind placebo-controlled clinical trials utilizing a RF transmission device (Diapulse) suggest that this ancillary treatment device significantly reduces wound healing time for chronic pressure ulcers as well as for surgical wounds. Studies using Dermagen, a magnetic device manufactured in Europe which produces a low frequency magnetic field, have demonstrated significant augmentation of healing of venous stasis ulcers. Additionally, it has been shown that 50% fewer patients treated with electromagnetic energy develop reoccurring pressure ulcers, compared to control patients, suggesting that electromagnetic energy treatments impart some resistance to the reoccurrence of chronic wounds, such as pressure ulcers. Electromagnetic energy may also be useful as a preventative strategy. Analysis of the effects of electromagnetic energy on the treatment of pressure ulcers show that this treatment, by reducing healing time by an average of 50%, results in significant reductions in the costs associated with wound management.
Traditional PEMF devices are typically stand-alone units that have limited, if any, communications ability. Described herein are PEMF systems with wireless communications capabilities that allow the PEMF systems to wirelessly communicate with an external computing device, such as a smartphone.

High-power pulsed electromagnetic field applicator systems


In a method of providing software for use by a control unit of a vehicle, before its use by the control unit, the software is signed according to a public-key method against a falsification, using the secret or private key of a software signature site. The signed software is checked for integrity by using the public key complementary to the secret key of the software signature site.

This application claims the priority of German patent document 101 40 721.1, filed 27 Aug. 2001, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention is directed to a method of providing software for use by a control unit of a vehicle, such as a motor vehicle or motorcycle.
Control units for motor vehicles normally have a sequence control which is controlled by software. After the manufacture of the control unit by the company producing the vehicle or by a supplier, the software is stored in the control unit, and is maintained there after the unit is mounted. As a result, the software can be exchanged or altered only in a damaging manner.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve the software/hardware combination, particularly of a motor vehicle or of a passenger car.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by signing software provided for use by a control unit of a vehicle (particularly of a motor vehicle or motorcycle). A public-key method is used to protect against falsification by using the secret or private key of a software signature site. In particular, the public-key method uses a special pair of keys, specifically a secret private key and a public key complementary to the latter.
As an alternative or in addition, in another embodiment of the invention, a software signature certificate is generated using the public key of the software signature site and the secret key of a control entity (a so-called trust center) within the framework of a public-key method.
As a further alternative or addition, a control entity certificate or trust center certificate may be generated by using the secret key of the control entity.
According to another embodiment of the invention clearing code data may be signed by using the secret key of a clearing code site within the framework of a public-key method.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a clearing code site signature certificate may be generated by using the secret code of the control entity—the trust center—within the framework of a public-key method. In addition, the trust center certificate may be stored in the control unit in a manner protecting it against a falsification and/or an exchange, as in a protected memory, a memory area, or the like. The clearing code site signature certificate, the software signature certificate, the clearing code data and their signature as well as the software and its signature may be stored in the control unit.
As an alternative or in addition, it is provided in another embodiment of the invention that the software signature certificate has one or more validity restrictions, such as, in particular, a restriction to one or more control unit types.
Similarly, the clearing code site signature certificate may also have one or more validity restrictions, such as, in particular, a restriction to a certain control unit which is specified, for example, by means of a number, identification, or the like, invariably stored in this control unit, or the vehicle identification number.
As an alternative or in addition, it is provided in another embodiment of the invention that the software signature certificate is checked for integrity within the framework of a public-key method, while using the public key of the trust center.
The signed software may be checked for integrity within the framework of a public-key method, by using the public key of the software signature site contained in the software signature certificate. Correspondingly, the clearing code site signature certificate may be checked for integrity within the framework of a public-key method using the public key of the trust center.
The signed clearing code data may be checked for integrity within the framework of a public-key method using the public key of the clearing code site contained in the clearing code site signature certificate.
As a further alternative or in addition, the control unit may be equipped with a sequence controlled microprocessor which carries out one of the above-described methods using the public-key method.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method for providing software to be used by a control unit of a vehicle

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A node state storage unit stores therein information about a free state of each of the computation nodes. A search data storage unit has a data structure in which a state where the X-axis is crossed is developed into a virtual X-axis provided on the right end of the X-axis. By referring to the node state storage unit, a searching unit searches for the number of successive free nodes in the increasing directions of the X-axis including the virtual X-axis and the Y-axis, while using the computation node at each of the X-Y coordinate positions as a starting point, and writes a search result into the search data storage unit.

Conventionally, a parallel computer system is known in which computation nodes being in an adjacent relationship are connected together within a space of arbitrary dimensionality, by using a two-dimensional mesh connection, a three-dimensional cube connection, a torus connection, or the like, and in which communication between computation nodes that are not in an adjacent relationship is relayed by another computation node positioned on the path therebetween, where the torus connection is a mode of connection in which a plurality of computation nodes are connected together in a toric form.
In such a parallel computer system, when a job (hereinafter, "the first job") is allocated to computation nodes that are not in successively-arranged positions, the communication between the computation nodes to which the first job is allocated may be relayed by another computation node to which another job (hereinafter, "the second job") is allocated. In that situation, the communication between the computation nodes to which the first job is allocated may disturb the computation node to which the second job is allocated. Further, when an abnormality has occurred in any of the computation nodes executing the first job, the second job may be interrupted.
Thus, when allocating a new job, the parallel computer system searches, one by one in every region, for regions having successive free nodes to which no job is allocated and further selects an optimal region for executing the job from among the regions found in the search. After that, the parallel computer system allocates the new job to the selected region.
However, when allocating and freeing (when the execution of a job is finished) processes are repeatedly performed in units of rectangles or rectangular parallelepipeds containing successive computation nodes, more and more fragments occur over the course of time, and it becomes difficult to allocate large jobs (jobs that require a large number of computation nodes). FIG. 23A is a drawing of a situation where many fragments have occurred in a parallel computer system in which computation nodes are arranged two-dimensionally. In the example in FIG. 23A, because the positional arrangement of the four three-node jobs is not satisfactory, there are many fragments, and the largest free space, which is the largest rectangular space containing successive free computation nodes, has eight nodes.
To minimize occurrence of those situations, the parallel computer system can be configured to select computation nodes in such a manner that a large free space remains while smaller jobs (jobs that require a small number of computation nodes) are gathered to one or more sides. FIG. 23B is a drawing of a situation where computation nodes are selected in such a manner that a large free space remains while the smaller jobs are gathered to the side. In FIG. 23B, because the four three-node jobs are gathered to the side, the largest free space has eighteen nodes. Thus, the largest free space is larger than in the example illustrated in FIG. 23A where many fragments have occurred.
A two-dimensional torus connection is a mode of connection in which computation nodes positioned on two ends in the X direction and the Y direction in a two-dimensional mesh connection are connected to each other, the two-dimensional mesh connection being included in a two-dimensional torus connection. A three-dimensional torus connection is a mode of connection in which computation nodes positioned on two ends in the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction in a three-dimensional mesh connection are connected to each other, the three-dimensional mesh connection being included in a three-dimensional torus connection. In other words, a torus connection is a mode of connection in which elements are connected in a toric form via a connection end in a direction of a predetermined axis. Thus, considering that the connection is in such a mode where the two ends in a mesh connection included in a torus connection are connected to each other, the parallel computer system conducts a search by crossing the connection end represented by the two ends connected to each other in the mesh connection included in the torus connection. In the above description, an X direction refers to the direction of the X-axis, while a Y direction refers to the direction of the Y-axis, and a Z direction refers to the direction of the Z-axis. FIG. 23C is a drawing of an example of a largest free space positioned across the X-axis in a two-dimensional torus connection. In this example, as a result of searching for successive free computation nodes by crossing the X-axis, the largest free space has fifteen nodes.
In a parallel computer system in which connections are made with a two-dimensional torus connection network, to perform a process of searching for successive free computation nodes, search data having a data structure such as that illustrated in FIG. 24A is used. FIG. 24A is a drawing of search data about the number of successive free computation nodes toward the maximum X-Y coordinates for the computation node at each set of X-Y coordinates, in an example of a parallel computation system of which the X size is 4, whereas the Y size is 3, where the phrase "the X size is 4" means that four computation nodes are arranged in the X direction, whereas the phrase "the Y size is 3" means that that three computation nodes are arranged in the Y direction.
The data for each of the X-Y coordinate positions includes search data about a successive X size obtained by incrementing the successive Y size by 1 at a time from the pair of coordinates toward the Y=2 coordinates. In other words, the data for each of the X-Y coordinate positions includes search data T[a][b].yx[c]=f(d,e) expressing a successive X size "d" and the number of successive free nodes "f" obtained while the successive Y size "e" is fixed, where "a" denotes the X-coordinate of the computation node, "b" denotes the Y-coordinate of the computation node, and c is an array subscript having a value from 0 to 2. The successive Y size is the size of successive free computation nodes in the Y direction, whereas the successive X size is the size of successive free computation nodes in the X direction. Further, all the values except for "f" and "d" are each a fixed value and are configured in initial setting. The values of "f" and "d" are each set to "0" in the initial setting. In FIG. 24A, the values of "f" and "d" found in the search are indicated in bold text.
For example, the data for the origin T[0][0] includes search data about the successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size=1, 2, or 3 is satisfied. The data for T[3][2], which is the maximum X-Y coordinates, includes search data about the successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size=1 is satisfied. FIG. 24A illustrates search data corresponding to the situation where all the computation nodes are in a free state. Further, the areas indicated with hatching in FIG. 24A represent pieces of invalid data. For example, if Y=1, the successive Y size "e" is either 1 or 2 and cannot be 3. Thus, the array subscript is either 1 or 2. If Y=2, because the successive Y size "e" can only be 1, the array subscript is only 1.
FIG. 24B is a drawing of a result obtained by sorting the search data illustrated in FIG. 24A according to the numbers of successive free computation nodes. It is possible to leave a large free space, i.e., a rectangle containing successive free computation nodes, by selecting the smallest rectangle containing successive free computation nodes that satisfies a shape and the number of computation nodes required by a user's job, from the sorted result illustrated in FIG. 24B.
It should be noted, however, that the data structure of the search data illustrated in FIG. 24A does not include any search data with X-axis crossing and Y-axis crossing. To process the X-axis crossing, because the computation node positioned on the right end is continuous with the computation node positioned on the left end, it is necessary to conduct a search by turning around from the right end to the left end, starting with each of the virtual origins, as illustrated in FIG. 25A. Similarly, to process the Y-axis crossing, because the computation node positioned on the upper end is continuous with the computation node positioned on the lower end, it is necessary to conduct a search by turning around from the upper end to the lower end, starting with each of the virtual origins, as illustrated in FIG. 25B.
FIG. 26 is a flowchart of a flow in a rectangle searching process for two-dimensional successive free computation nodes. As illustrated in FIG. 26, a searching unit configured to search for a rectangle in a parallel computer system initializes a variable Y to 0, the variable Y indicating the coordinate position of the computation node in the Y direction (step S201). After that, the searching unit judges whether Y is smaller than Ymax, which denotes the number of computation nodes arranged in the Y direction (step S202). If Y is not smaller than Ymax, because it means that the search has been conducted with respect to the Y direction while all the computation nodes are used as the search target, the process is ended.
On the contrary, if Y is smaller than Ymax, the searching unit initializes a variable X to 0, the variable X indicating the coordinate position of the computation node in the X direction (step S203). After that, the searching unit judges whether X is smaller than Xmax, which denotes the number of computation nodes arranged in the X direction (step S204). If X is smaller than Xmax, the searching unit performs a Y-fixed searching process (X,Y) with respect to the computation node at the coordinates (X,Y), to search for successive free computation nodes in the X direction while the successive Y size is fixed (step S205). After that, the searching unit increments X by 1 (step S206), and the process returns to step S204, so that the searching unit conducts a search by using the next computation node in the X direction as a starting point. On the contrary, if X is not smaller than Xmax, because it means that the search has been conducted with respect to the X direction while all the computation nodes are used as the search target, the searching unit increments Y by 1 (step S207), and the process returns to step S202.
FIG. 27 is a flowchart of a flow in the Y-fixed searching process (X,Y). As illustrated in FIG. 27, the searching unit initializes "XSize" to Xmax-X, "XSize" indicating the search size in the X direction. Further, the searching unit initializes an iteration variable "i" in the X direction to X, initializes an iteration variable "c" in the Y direction to Y, initializes the successive X size "d" to 0, and initializes the successive Y size "e" to 1 (step S211).
After that, the searching unit judges whether c is smaller than Ymax (step S212). If c is not smaller than Ymax, because it means that the search has been conducted with respect to all the successive Y sizes, the process is ended.
On the contrary, if c is smaller than Ymax, the searching unit judges whether i is smaller than Xmax (step S213). If i is smaller than Xmax, the searching unit judges whether i is smaller than XSize (step S214). If i is smaller than XSize, the searching unit judges whether T[i][c] indicates a free state, T[i][c] expressing whether the computation node at the coordinates (i,c) is free or not (step S215). If T[i][c] indicates a free state, the searching unit adds 1 to d and adds 1 to i (step S216). After that, the process returns to step S213, so that the searching unit checks the free state of the next computation node in the X direction.
On the contrary, if T[i][c] does not indicate a free state, if i is not smaller than XSize, or if i is not smaller than Xmax, because it means that the search for the successive X size has been finished, the searching unit calculates f by multiplying d by e. After that, the searching unit sets the values of f and d in the search data T[X][Y].yx[c], initializes XSize, i, and d to d, X, and 0, respectively, and further adds 1 to c and to e (step S217). The process then returns to step S212, and the searching unit conducts a search for the next successive Y size.
FIG. 28 is a drawing for explaining an outline of a process in a Y-fixed searching process (0,0). As illustrated in FIG. 28, to search for a successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size is 1, the searching unit initializes XSize (1), judges whether i is smaller than XSize (2), and judges whether the computation node is free or not (3). After that, the searching unit repeatedly performs judging processes (4), (6), and (8) to judge whether i is smaller than XSize and judging processes (5), (7), and (9) to judge whether the computation node is free, until either i is no longer smaller than XSize or the computation node is no longer free.
After that, to search for a successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size is 2, the searching unit initializes XSize to the successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size is 1 (10). The reason why the searching unit initializes XSize to the successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size is 1 is that there is no possibility that the successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size is 2 is larger than the successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size is 1. After that, the searching unit repeatedly performs judging processes (11), (13), (15), and (17) to judge whether i is smaller than XSize and judging processes (12), (14), (16), and (18) to judge whether the computation node is free, until either i is no longer smaller than XSize or the computation node is no longer free.
After that, to search for a successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size is 3, the searching unit initializes XSize to the successive X size corresponding to when the successive Y size is 2 (19). After that, the searching unit repeatedly performs judging processes (20), (22), (24), and (26) to judge whether i is smaller than XSize and judging processes (21), (23), (25), and (27) to judge whether the computation node is free, until either i is no longer smaller than XSize or the computation node is no longer free.
Incidentally, a conventional technique is known by which processes are automatically arranged in optimal positions in order to shorten the time period required by the execution of parallel programs, in a PC cluster system having a three-dimensional torus connection structure (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Further, another conventional technique is also known by which one-to-many or many-to-many communication is efficiently performed in a parallel computer system configured with a torus connection network (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Furthermore, yet another conventional technique is also known by which a plurality of rectangles having mutually-different shapes are efficiently arranged, while ensuring that no rules are violated, into a rectangular region serving as a positioning region (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

Parallel computer system, controlling method for parallel computer system, and storage medium storing controlling program for management apparatus


A system and method for forming a sensor device includes defining an in-plane electrode in a device layer of a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer, forming an out-of-plane electrode in a silicon cap layer located above an upper surface of the device layer, depositing a silicide-forming metal on a top surface of the silicon cap layer, and annealing the deposited silicide-forming metal to form a silicide portion in the silicon cap layer.

A capacitive MEMS pressure sensor requires two electrodes that move relative to each other under an applied pressure. This configuration is most often accomplished by having a fixed electrode (hereafter called the lower electrode) formed in a substrate while a moveable electrode (hereafter called the upper electrode) is provided in a deformable membrane which is exposed to the pressure that is to be sensed. One or more of the electrodes are typically formed by deposition of a conductive film, electrical isolation of a conductive layer, or by adding an oxide layer between two conductive materials.
FIG. 1 depicts a side cross-sectional view of a MEMS pressure sensor 10 such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/232,005 which was filed on Sep. 14, 2011, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. The pressure sensor 10 includes a pair of electrodes that are configured to move relative to one another. The pressure sensor 10 includes a handle layer 12, a buried oxide layer 14, and a device layer 16. An oxide layer 18 separates the device layer 16 from a cap layer 20. A passive layer 22 is located above the cap layer 20.
Within the device layer 16, an in-plane electrode 24 is defined by two etch portions 26 and 28. The in-plane electrode 24 is isolated from the cap layer 20 by an etched portion 30 of the oxide layer 18. The etched portions 26, 28, and 30 are etched through vent holes 32 which are closed by the cap layer 20.
An out-of plane electrode 34 is located above the in-plane electrode 24 and electrically isolated from the in-plane electrode 24 by the etched portion 30. The out-of-plane electrode 34 is isolated from the rest of the cap layer 20 by two spacers 36 and 38. The spacers 36 and 38 include a lower nitride portion 40 which extends upwardly from the etched portion 30, and an upper oxide portion 42 which extends from the nitride portion 40 to the upper surface of the cap layer 20.
Spacers 44 and 46, which are formed like the spacers 36 and 38, electrically isolate a connector 48 in the cap layer 20 from the rest of the cap layer 20. The connector 48 is in electrical communication with a connector 50 in the device layer 16. The connector 50 is in electrical communication with the in-plane electrode 24 and isolated from the remainder of the device layer 16 by isolation posts 52 and 54. The isolation posts 52 and 54 extend from the buried oxide layer 14 to the oxide layer 18. A bond pad or trace 56 is located above the passive layer 22 and in electrical communication with the connector 48.
The traces of a sensor device, such as the trace 56 of the pressure sensor 10 of FIG. 1, are often formed from a layer of metal deposited on a top surface of the sensor device. The placement of metal on the top surface of the sensor device, however, can lead to aging and drifting of the sensor properties. These property changes are generally due to the lack of mechanical stability of metallic films. Moreover, the metal layer deposited on the top surface of the sensor is typically patterned to provide the individual electrical connections to the various sensor components, thus adding an extra processing step.
What is needed is a capacitive sensor which does not use an applied metal layer to provide electrical connection to electrodes within the device. A sensor that does not use an applied metal layer which can be manufactured with known fabrication processes would be further beneficial.


A fuel composition comprising a water-in-oil phase emulsion comprises bio-diesel; water; and at least one type of polymeric surfactant.

Bio-diesel is a diesel replacement fuel that is manufactured from vegetable oils, recycled cooking greases or oils, or animal fats. Numerous studies have shown that most exhaust emissions encountered with conventional diesel fuel are reduced with bio-diesel, with the exception of nitrogen oxide emission. In fact, some of the conducted research shows an increase of nitrogen oxide emission by about 10% to 13% in bio-diesel used as compared to petrol diesel. In order to reduce the nitrogen oxide emission from the bio-diesel combustion, modification of the engine combustion chamber and post-exhaust treatment installation are applicable techniques. Alternatively, the reduction of nitrogen oxide emission can be achieved by using an improved fuel composition. The improved fuel composition may contain additives to attain the desired object.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050060928, disclosed a fuel composition comprising an emulsion of bio-diesel and alkoxylated alcohol as well as alkoxylated fatty acid with the aid of alkanolamide. In this U.S. application, the fuel composition is only constituted of low amounts of bio-diesel while other component of the fuel composition derives from the surfactant mixture.


In order to reduce large sidelobes that may result from using a base station antenna with increased electronic downtilt, base station antennas according to the present disclosure may have a plurality of modules in which the columns of radiating elements of at least one of the modules are staggered or offset with respect to each other. For example, a multi-beam cellular antenna may include an antenna array having a plurality of modules, each module comprising at least three columns of radiating elements each having first polarization radiators, wherein the columns of radiating elements of at least one of the modules are staggered with respect to each other; and an antenna feed network configured to couple at least a first input signal and a second input signal to each first polarization radiator of each of the radiating elements included in a first of the plurality of modules.

Cellular communications systems are well known in the art. In a typical cellular communications system, a geographic area is divided into a series of regions that are referred to as "cells," and each cell is served by a base station. The base station may include baseband equipment, radios and base station antennas that are configured to provide two-way radio frequency ("RF") communications with subscribers that are positioned throughout the cell. In many cases, the cell may be divided into a plurality of "sectors," and separate base station antennas provide coverage to each of the sectors. The antennas are often mounted on a tower, with the radiation beam ("antenna beam") that is generated by each antenna directed outwardly to serve a respective sector. Typically, a base station antenna includes one or more phase-controlled arrays of radiating elements, with the radiating elements arranged in one or more vertical columns when the antenna is mounted for use. Herein, "vertical" refers to a direction that is perpendicular to the horizontal plane that is defined by the horizon. Reference will also be made to the azimuth plane, which is a horizontal plane that bisects the base station antenna, and to the elevation plane, which is a plane extending along the boresight pointing direction of the antenna that is perpendicular to the azimuth plane.
A common base station configuration is the "three sector" configuration in which a cell is divided into three 120° sectors in the azimuth plane. A base station antenna is provided for each sector. In a three sector configuration, the antenna beams generated by each base station antenna typically have a Half Power Beamwidth ("HPBW") in the azimuth plane of about 65° so that each antenna beam provides good coverage throughout a 120° sector. Three such base station antennas provide full 360° coverage in the azimuth plane. Typically, each base station antenna will include one or more so-called "linear arrays" of radiating elements that includes a plurality of radiating elements that are arranged in a generally vertically-extending column. Each radiating element may have an azimuth HPBW of approximately 65° so that the antenna beam generated by the linear array will have a HPBW of about 65° in the azimuth plane. By providing a phase-controlled column of radiating elements extending along the elevation plane, the HPBW of the antenna beam in the elevation plane may be narrowed to be significantly less than 65°, with the amount of narrowing increasing with the length of the column in the vertical direction.
As the volume of cellular traffic has grown, cellular operators have added new cellular services in a variety of new frequency bands. When these new services are introduced, the existing "legacy" services typically must be maintained to support legacy mobile devices. In some cases, it may be possible to use linear arrays of so-called "wide-band" or "ultra-wide-band" radiating elements to support service in the new frequency bands. In other cases, however, it may be necessary to deploy additional linear arrays (or multi-column arrays) of radiating elements to support service in the new frequency bands. Due to local zoning ordinances and/or weight and wind loading constraints, there is often a limit as to the number of base station antennas that can be deployed at a given base station. Thus, to reduce the number of antennas, many operators deploy so-called "multiband" base station antennas that include multiple linear arrays of radiating elements that communicate in different frequency bands to support multiple different cellular services.
Additionally, or alternatively, dual-beam antennas (or multi-beam antennas) may be used to reduce the number of antennas on the tower. A key aspect of such multi-beam antennas is the use of a beamforming network (BFN). For example, the antenna 11 of FIGS. 1A and 1B employs a 2×2 BFN 10 having a 3 dB 90° hybrid coupler shown at 12 and forms both beams A and B in azimuth plane at signal ports 14. (2×2 BFN means a BFN creating 2 beams by using 2 columns). The two radiator coupling ports 16 are connected to antenna elements also referred to as radiators, and the two ports 14 are coupled to the phase shifting network, which is providing elevation beam tilt (see FIG. 1B). An antenna may be both multi-beam and multi-band; that is, an antenna may be configured with both multiple linear arrays of radiating elements that communicate in different frequency bands, with at least some of those radiating elements coupled to one or more BFN to provide directionalized beams in the azimuth plane.
However, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,831,548, which is incorporated by reference, the main drawback of the prior art antenna of FIGS. 1A and 1B is that more than 50% of the radiated power is wasted and directed outside of the desired 60° sector for a 6-sector application, and the azimuth beams are too wide (150°@−10 dB level), creating interference with other sectors. Moreover, the low gain and large backlobe (about −11 dB) are not acceptable for modern systems due to high interference generated by one antenna into other cells.


A mobile radio communication system in which each of a plurality of mobile stations and a base station randomly transmits and receives data to and from each other is disclosed. A radio random access control system in which each mobile station receives all data from the base station, executes an analysis of destination mobile stations of the received data, obtains from the analysis result the number of mobile stations currently transmitting or receiving the data to or from the base station in a radio zone, in which the own station is present, and calculates delay time after a transmission timing collision at the time of the start of transmission of the own mobile station till the next start of transmission according to the obtained number of mobile stations excluding the own station.

The present invention relates to communication random access control system at the time of collision of transmission start timings in a mobile radio system and, more particularly, a radio random access control system (method and apparatus) for suppressing non-transmission time interval as much as possible by improving the random delay in the mobile station.
In the prior art communication random access control system, upon collision of the transmission start timings of two or more mobile stations as a result of random transmission of a plurality of mobile stations to the base station, a random delay is generated in a mobile station with no transmission start timing allotted thereto, and the transmission start timings are controlled such that the transmission start timings of the mobile stations, which previously encountered the transmission start timing collision, will not collide again. However, since the random generation is generated in a simple method, unnecessarily long non-transmission or vacant time intervals are generated to deteriorate the data transmission rate in radio time interval.
FIG. 8 is a view showing the status of collision of the transmission start timings of two mobile stations in the prior art. FIG. 9 is a view showing the status of collision of the transmission start timings of three mobile stations in the prior art.
FIG. 8 illustrates operation in the prior art system in case when a collision occurs at transmission start timings of two mobile stations. In the Figure, a time axis extends from left to right. Each slot includes collision control bits (E, for instance I, N and PE=0). Mobile stations #1 and #2 receiving a signal from a base station analyze collision control bits (E) transmitted therefrom, and checks whether the base station is in an idle (I) or a busy (B) state. In the case of FIG. 8, the first slot #0 from the left end indicates that the base station is in the idle state. Thus, the mobile stations #1 and #2 start the transmission of data to the base station in the same way.
When the base station could receive mobile station data at the timing of the next slot #0, it sets a xe2x80x9creceivedxe2x80x9d (R) bit in the collision control bits. When the base station could not receive any data, it sets a xe2x80x9cnot receivedxe2x80x9d (N) bit in the collision control bits.
In the case of FIG. 8, however, the two mobile stations simultaneously transmit the at the same timing of the same frequency. Therefore, the base station can not receive the two data from the mobile stations #1 and #2 due to the radio wave interference, and consequently sets the xe2x80x9cnot receivedxe2x80x9d (N) bit in the collision control bits (E).
Receiving the xe2x80x9cnot receivedxe2x80x9d bit in the collision control bits set by the base station, the mobile stations #1 and #2 delay the operation of data transmission to the base station by generating random numbers within a maximum fixed number of 500 ms and setting delay times corresponding to the generated random numbers. (This operation is referred to as random delay operation.) In the case of FIG. 8, it is assumed that the random delay time set by the mobile station #1 is shorter and about 20 ms. Thus, checking the collision control bits in the third slot #0 from the left and finding that the base station is in the idle (I) state, the mobile station #1 starts transmission. In the subsequent fourth slot #0 from the left end, the mobile station #1 receives the signal other than xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d as bits xe2x80x9cRxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cPExe2x80x9d (set as the same data as the CRC result of the transmitted data) indicating that the transmitted data has been received in the base station side. This means that the mobile station #1 succeeded in the transmission. Since the data transmitted from the mobile station #1 has such a length that its transmission can be completed in one slot, terms xe2x80x9cFIRSTxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cLASTxe2x80x9d are used in the Figure.
It is also assumed that the random delay time set by the mobile station #2 is 55 ms. The mobile station #2 thus can receive the collision control bits in the fourth slot #2 from the left end right after this delay time. Since the base station is found to be capable of receiving the data at this time, the mobile station #2 starts the transmission. In the fifth slot #2 from the left end bits xe2x80x9cRxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cPE 0xe2x80x9d indicative of normal reception of the data transmitted from the mobile station #2 has been set. In addition, the data transmitted from the mobile station #2 covers three slots, and also it has been made clear that the mobile station #2 will continue transmission at the next slot timing. Thus, bit xe2x80x9cBxe2x80x9d indicative of the busy state has been set.
It will be seen from the operation shown in FIG. 8 that no xe2x80x9cnon-transmission intervalxe2x80x9d is generated even when the data from two mobile stations collide with each other. In FIG. 8, the xe2x80x9cnon-transmission intervalxe2x80x9d is shown to be shorter for the sake of the scale.
FIG. 9, like FIG. 8, illustrates the prior art system operation. This case, however, concerns with a collision of data transmitted from three mobile stations, and the mobile stations #1 to #3 set random delay times of about 86, about 40 and about 60 ms, respectively, by generating random numbers. Like the case of FIG. 8, no xe2x80x9cnon-transmission intervalxe2x80x9d is generated.
In view of the above background, it is an object of the present invention to provide a radio random access control method capable of improving the random delay in the mobile station to suppress the non-transmission time interval for effective utilization of the radio time interval.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a mobile radio communication system in which each of a plurality of mobile stations and a base station randomly transmits and receives data to and from each other, a radio random access control system in which each mobile station receives all data from the base station, executes an analysis of destination mobile stations of the received data, obtains from the analysis result the number of mobile stations currently transmitting or receiving the data to or from the base station in a radio zone, in which the own station is present, and calculates delay time after a transmission timing collision at the time of the start of transmission of the own mobile station till the next start of transmission according to the obtained number of mobile stations excluding the own station.
The maximum value of the calculated delay time is time obtained by multiplying the number of mobile stations with data transmitted thereto by a unit time.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a mobile radio communication system in which each of a plurality of mobile stations and a base station can randomly transmit and receive data to and from each other, a radio random access control system, wherein each mobile station comprises a transmitting/receiving antenna, a transmitting circuit for transmitting radio signals to the base station, a modulating circuit, a receiving circuit for receiving radio communication data from the base station, a demodulating circuit for converting the received data to binary data, and a controller for executing a de-scrambling analysis of the binary data thus obtained to binary data, and executing an analysis of destinations included the data transmitted from the base station, detecting the number of destination mobile stations of data received in a certain fixed time interval and calculating the delay time after a transmission timing collision at the time of the start of transmission from the own station till the next start of transmission according to the detected number of mobile stations exclusive of the own station.
The controller includes a signal decoding unit for executing a de-scrambling analysis of the obtained binary data to binary data, a destination judging unit for analyzing destinations contained in the data received from the base station, and a CPU for detecting the number of destination mobile stations contained in the data received in a predetermined time interval, estimating the number of mobile stations in communication with the base station and calculating delay time after the transmission timing collision at the time of the start of transmission till the next start of transmission according to the detected mobile station number.
The controller includes a transmission control unit for executing a check, when data to be transmitted is generated, as to whether the base station is above to receive data and causing data transmission to the base station at a prescribed timing when the base station is above to receive data, a signal coding unit for executing a scrambling process on data to be transmitted from the CPU to the base station in predetermined scrambling codes recognized on the base station side, a signal decoding unit for executing a de-scrambling process on received signal from the base station in predetermined scrambling codes and transmitting the result to the CPU and a destination judging unit, the destination judging unit for judging whether identifier data defined in the data obtained by the de-scrambling process in the signal decoding represents the own station or any other station or is a vacant signal and informing the CPU of the judgment result, and a CPU for estimating the number of mobile stations currently transmitting or receiving data to or from the base station on the basis of data from the destination judging unit and calculating the optimum random delay time from the estimated mobile station number upon collision of the transmission start timing with that of other station at the time of the start of transmission, the transmission control unit being controlled for data transmission to the base station after the lapse of the calculated random delay time.
According to other aspect of the present invention, there is provided a radio random access control system in a mobile radio communication system in which each of a plurality of mobile stations and a base station randomly transmits and receives data to and from each other, wherein the mobile station determines the number of mobile stations currently transmitting or receiving the data to or from the base station in a radio zone, in which the own station is present, on the basis of the received data from the base station and calculates delay time after a transmission timing collision at the time of the start of transmission of the own mobile station till the next start of transmission according to the obtained number of mobile stations excluding the own station.
The mobile station executes an analysis of destination mobile stations of the received data to obtain the number of mobile stations currently transmitting or receiving the data to or from the base station in a radio zone, in which the own station is present.
The maximum value of the calculated delay time is time obtained by multiplying the number of mobile stations with data transmitted thereto by a unit time.
Other objects and features will be clarified from the following description with reference to attached drawings.

Radio random access control system in mobile radio communication system


A system for transferring articles between containers to vary the mix of articles in the containers. A plurality of containers are moved to a mixing station and apparatus including a robot removes selected articles from the containers and places them into other of the containers to provide the desired mix of articles. In the arrangement disclosed, the articles are cups and the system is employed to change the color mix of the cups in the containers.

Products such as molded plastic cups are often produced in large color batches; that is, it is standard practice to produce large quantities of such product in one color at a time. After a predetermined large number of articles have been produced, another large batch thereof in different colors is manufactured. For example, a large number of red drinking cups may be produced. Next, yellow cups may be manufactured in large quantities, and then green, and so on. This approach is much more efficient when mass producing such articles than attempting to mold or otherwise manufacture them in small color batches.
While economies and efficiencies in operation are obtainable when utilizing the large color batch approach, a problem in packaging of the products in shipping cartons presents itself. It is common practice to package plastic cups and the like immediately after production, the packaging operation including loading the cups or the like into shipping cartons or containers. In other words, the cartons will be filled with articles of a single color. Hundreds, if not thousands, of containers will be so filled in each batch process. Thus, the end result of such an approach is that the manufacturer has produced large quantities of shipping containers filled with articles such as cups of a uniform color.
Often, however, the customers buying such products wish to have a variety of colors in a single carton. In order to satisfy this desire, it has been standard practice to assemble together a number of cartons, each of which contains articles of a single color differing from the color of those in the other cartons. Employees then manually remove a predetermined number of the cups in any one carton and replace them with cups from one or more other cartons so that a desired color mix is obtained. This procedure is inefficient, time consuming and expensive. Furthermore, employees soon find a repetitive task of this nature to be boring, making an inherently inefficient operation even more so. The likelihood of mistakes being made also increases over time, which means that the color mix of the cartons or containers may not be that desired.
A search of the prior art located the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,856,263, issued Aug. 15, 1989, 4,239,432, issued Dec. 16, 1980, 4,197,046, issued Apr. 8, 1980, 4,684,307, issued Aug. 4, 1987, 3,983,373, issued Sept. 28, 1976, 4,692,876, issued Sept. 8, 1987, 4,735,452, issued Apr. 5, 1988, 4,744,595, issued May 17, 1988, 4,976,584, issued Dec. 11, 1990, and 4,986,726, issued Jan. 22, 1991.
The above-identified patents disclose various article handling and/or packaging arrangements for a wide variety of products. None of the devices in this prior art, however, concern themselves with, or are appropriate for, the efficient automatic repackaging of articles in containers in order to modify the mix of articles therein so that an accumulation of articles having different predetermined characteristics is established in each container of a group thereof.

Robotic system for mixing and packing articles


To protect the paper machine fourdrinier screen, deckle blades are fabricated with a soft polymer (polytetrafluoroethylene) lower edge having little adhesive affinity for either papermaking fiber or traditional plastic bonding compounds. Necessary structural rigidity is contributed to the assembly by a mechanical cladding of suitably stiff polymer plates that are adhesively bonded to a compatible plastic mounting body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fourdrinier paper machines. More specifically, the present invention relates to assembly design and material selection for deckle structures used to confine a papermaking stock pond carried on a fourdrinier screen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fourdrinier paper machines are characterized by a closed loop web formation screen driven over an open, flat table surface. Extremely dilute, aqueous papermaking stock is jetted upon the traveling screen from a horizontally elongated nozzle; usually associated with a stock accumulation chamber called a headbox.
As the traveling screen carries the stock flow from the slice jet landing zone, aqueous vehicle, i.e., water, drains through the screen to leave the fiber constituent of the papermaking stock accumulated upon the upper screen surface as a consolidated mat.
Between the stock landing zone and that longitudinally displaced point along the screen belt traveling route whereat the mat consolidates into a paper web, the stock is supported on the screen surface as a liquid pond of diminishing depth. Without lateral containment, lateral liquid stock flow cross-directionally sweeps fiber stock towards the screen sides thereby undesirably tapering the paper web edge thickness.
To prevent such undesirable thickness tapering along the paper web edges, lateral pond confinement structures called "deckle boards" are positioned above and along the screen edges in the machine direction from the slice landing zone. Traditionally, deckle boards are similar to a pair longitudinal dams, each extending along the screen traveling direction respective to each lateral edge of the screen with the screen per se running under the deckle boards.
Elastomer skirts secured to the deckle board rigid structure drag against the underrunning screen for a partial fluid seal. To protect the screen from premature destruction, the elastomer is chosen to be significantly softer than the screen material.
A more recent innovation to the deckle structure has been to combine the deckle board with a screen edge cupping rail located outboard of the deckle board, as represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,387 to R. L. Beran et al. The curled screen edges, traveling along respective, oppositely cupped rail profiles, hydraulically confine the stock pond. The deckle boards, internally of the cupped rails, are vertically positioned above the screen as to leave a substantial hydraulic channel beneath the lower deckle board edge. Machine white water fills the flow channel between the cupping rail and the outside surface of the deckle board. The inside faces of the deckle boards delineate the outer edge limits of the stock fiber. Standing waves generated in the stock pond are permitted to pass under the deckle board into white water channel and dissipate up the edge cup profile without reflection.
Although deckle boards that are operatively combined with screen edge cupping rails do not normally contact the screen, under certain production circumstances, the lower deckle edge is sufficiently close to the screen that frequent contact is inevitable. For this reason, need remains for a soft lower edge for the deckle blade.
Parallel developments have shown that the original generation of formation table deckle waves or waves which may develop from the trailing edge of a deckle blade may be substantially reduced or eliminated by extremely thin and smooth deckle blade construction. Unfortunately, most practical engineering materials that are sufficiently strong and rigid to be usefully thin and smooth are also much harder and tougher than the formation screen material. Consequently, use of thin, smooth deckle blades to eliminate forming table deckle waves has the potential for dramatically reducing the production life of the formation screen.


The present invention provides a method for saving by-pass capacitor by using circuit board, which includes (1) providing a liquid crystal panel including two glass substrates and liquid crystal material containing liquid crystal molecules, the glass substrates forming a liquid crystal panel driving circuit, which includes a gate driver, a source driver, gate lines, and data lines; (2) providing a power supply module and a power connection circuit board including a base material on which a power route and a grounding route are provided to respectively form exposed copper zones at a location where a by-pass capacitor is desired to form so as to form an equivalent by-pass capacitor; (3) connecting the gate driver and the source driver via the power connection circuit board to the power supply module; and (4) activating the power supply module to control rotation of the liquid crystal molecules of each of the pixel units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of liquid crystal display, and in particular to a method for saving by-pass capacitor by using circuit board.
2. The Related Arts
A liquid crystal display is a displaying device, which comprise a layer of liquid crystal interposed between two opposite substrates. The displaying device effects light switching by applying electrical excitation and optical anisotropy of the liquid crystal. With the anisotropy of refractivity of liquid crystal molecule, the liquid crystal display applies electrical voltage to the liquid crystal molecule to reorienting the axis of anisotropy of refractivity to control the luminance of light transmitting through the liquid crystal molecule.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of an essential driving circuit for liquid crystal displaying. In the drawing, operation voltages of a source driver 100 and a gate driver 200 are obtained through a DC-DC conversion circuit 300. Since the source driver 100 and the gate driver 200 supply various driving voltages to various pixel units 400 in order to provide the liquid crystal molecules of these pixel units 400 with different rotation angles thereby showing different display grey levels, the voltages on the loads of the source driver 100 and the gate driver 200 are variable with the change of the images. To reduce the influence on the pixel units 400 caused by variation of voltages resulting from loading variation, by-pass capacitors are often connected in parallel to power input terminals of each source driving chip 102 and each gate driving chip 202 in order to stabilize voltage.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the operation voltage VDD (3.3V) of the source drivers is obtained from a DC-DC conversion circuit. Each of the source driving chips 102 of the source driver must be connected in parallel with at least one by-pass capacitor C. Similarly, the gate driving chip 202 of the gate driver is also connected in parallel with a plurality of by-pass capacitors C.
For a commonly adopted 1024*768 resolution of a liquid crystal panel, if each source driving chip and gate driving chip is connected in parallel with one single capacitor, then the total number of by-pass capacitors that are connected in parallel to the panel is 786,432. With the size of the liquid crystal panel getting expanded, the corresponding numbers of the source driving chips and gate driving chips used are increased, so that the necessary number of the by-pass capacitors is also increased. This results in an increase of cost and increased complication of circuit.
Further, it is known that a capacitor is made up of two electrode and a dielectric substance interposed therebetween. The dielectric substance is a dielectric medium, which when placed in an electric field between two parallel plate electrodes carrying electrical charges of equal amount but opposite signs, will get polarized so as to form polarization charges on the surfaces of the dielectric medium, causing an increase of the electrical charges bonded on the electrode plates so as to maintain the potential difference between the electrode plates substantially constant, resulting in capacitance effect.

Method for saving by-pass capacitor by using circuit board

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


A path loss determining method and apparatus are provided to satisfy a path loss measurement requirement when there are different transmit powers. The method includes: measuring receive power of a signal sent by a network device; determining transmit power of the signal based on pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information is used to indicate correspondences between a plurality of signals and transmit powers, transmit powers of some or all of the plurality of signals are different, and the signal is one of the plurality of signals; and determining a path loss based on the receive power of the signal and the transmit power of the signal.

With continuous development of communications technologies, new service types and data requirements are emerging. An existing communications system, for example, a long term evolution (LTE) system, has difficulty in providing a sufficient capacity. To deal with a large quantity of newly added data service requirements, when formulating a new communication standard, the industry expands frequency spectrums used for wireless communication. New frequency spectrums are mainly concentrated in a high frequency band. In a high-frequency communications system, a signal is transmitted through beamforming to adapt to a high frequency characteristic.
To compensate for a path loss so that an uplink signal is received by a base station, a user terminal needs to measure the path loss by using a downlink reference signal, and perform uplink power control compensation by using the path loss to obtain an uplink transmit power. Therefore, if the user terminal intends to measure a downlink path loss, the user terminal needs to learn of a transmit power of the downlink reference signal. Usually, in the LTE system, the base station notifies the user terminal of a transmit power of only one reference signal.
However, in a high-frequency communications system, transmit powers of signals may be different. If the manner in which the base station notifies the user terminal of a transmit power of only one reference signal in the LTE system is still used, it is possible that a path loss measurement requirement cannot be satisfied when there are different transmit powers.

Path loss determining method and apparatus


A battery pack includes a pouch cell having electrode tabs extending therefrom, each of the tabs defining perforations, a bus bar in contact with the tabs, and respective agglomerations of mechanically bound solid metal particles each filling one of the perforations to mechanically bind and electrically connect the tabs to the bus bar.

Lithium ion pouch cells have been utilized in a variety of industries including automotive applications. The pouch cell designs are attractive due to their reduced weight and cost as well as optimized packaging efficiency at the battery level, higher specific density, and higher voltage output per cell than many other systems. Thus, lithium ion power systems have become the primary choice for many applications. Traditional electrical interconnects of the pouch cells are formed as fastened threaded studs or ultrasonically welded tabs which may experience mechanical inconsistencies, high contact resistance, bond non-uniformities, and other issues. Additionally, either solution is problematic with regard to connecting a bus bar with tabs formed from dissimilar metals.
Alternative methods such as thermal spray deposition have been developed to provide battery interconnects. Yet, these methods such as arc spray or plasma spray subject the pouch cell to temperatures of up to 20,000° C. Additionally, bonds produced by thermal spray deposition may suffer from oxide depositions.

Electrical interconnects for battery cells


A method for facilitating read completion in a computer system supporting write posting operations. A posted memory write and its associated tag both need to be buffered, where the associated tag is designated to a master of a local bus originating the posted memory write. When a read request moving in an opposite direction of the posted memory write is detected, the read request is checked to identify which master of the local bus is addressed. A destination tag is then assigned to the read request contingent upon the currently addressed master. Further, the destination tag of the read request is compared with the associated tag of the posted memory write. If the destination tag of the read request differs from the associated tag of the posted memory write, the read request can be completed directly regardless of the outstanding posted writes.

The invention relates to computer systems, and more particularly to integrated bus bridge designs for use in high performance computer systems.
Computer architectures generally include a number of devices interconnected by one ore more buses. For example, conventional computer systems typically include a CPU coupled through bridge logic to an external memory. A main memory controller is thus incorporated within the bridge logic to generate various control signals for accessing the main memory. An interface to a high bandwidth local expansion bus, such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, may be included as a portion of the bridge logic. Examples of devices which can be coupled to the local expansion bus comprise network interface cards, audio processors, IDE controllers, and so forth.
However, conventional bridge logic provides relatively poor performance with respect to main memory accesses by other devices residing on peripheral buses, and similarly provides relatively poor performance with respect to data transfers between the CPU and peripheral buses as well as between peripheral devices interconnected by the bridge logic. In recent years, computer systems have been increasingly utilized in the processing of various real time applications, including multimedia applications such as video and audio, telephony, and speech recognition. These systems require not only that the CPU have adequate access to the main memory, but also that devices residing on various peripheral buses such as the PCI bus have fair access to the main memory. Furthermore, it is often important that transactions between processor bus and peripheral buses should be efficiently handled. The bus bridge logic for a modern computer system must accordingly include mechanisms to efficiently prioritize and arbitrate among the varying requests of devices seeking access to main memory and to other system components coupled through the bridge logic.
To support high performance, many bus bridge designs support write posting operations for write transactions originating on one or more of the interfaced buses. Specifically, many bus bridge designs allow the bus bridge to receive and "post" a write transaction originating on the processor bus or the peripheral bus. When the write data is received by the bus bridge, the transaction on the processor or peripheral bus can be completed, even though the write data has not yet actually been written into main memory or to a destination bus by the bus bridge. Once a write has been posted in the bus bridge, the bridge may complete the write to the destination at a later time in an efficient manner without stalling the initial write transaction presented on the processor or peripheral bus.
While write posting in bus bridges greatly improves performance, problems relating to memory coherency can arise. To avoid coherency problems, various ordering rules may be established. The PCI Local Bus Specification specifies the ordering requirements for bus bridges. For example, one of the ordering requirements states that posted memory writes originating on the opposite side of the bridge from a read transaction and completing on the read-destination bus before the read command completes on the read-transaction bus must complete on the read-origin bus in the same order. In other words, before the read transaction can complete on its originating bus, it must pull out of the bridge any posted writes that originated on the opposite side and were posted before the read command completes on the read-destination bus. Yet the ordering requirements are so strict that it discourages further improvement in system performance. In practice, the read completion can be expedited on condition that the read command is not destined to the same master originating the posted memory write. Only if the read destination and the originating master are the same device must the above ordering rule be enforced. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism within a bus bridge to facilitate read completion even though there are outstanding write requests.

Method for facilitating read completion in a computer system supporting write posting operations