Shoe apparatus including a midsole movable relative to a runner or a rigid plate surmounted by such midsole and a wear resistant tab on such midsole to accommodate the relative movement.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to articles of footwear in general, and in particular to articles of footwear adapted to facilitate an athletic activity involving the sliding or rolling along an edge defining a support surface such as a rail, curb or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Athletic footwear has gained immense popularity in the United States and throughout the world to be worn during exercise activities. Athletic footwear is known incorporating hard soles often used in bowling activity and to mount cleats used in baseball or softball athletic contests. Other athletes prefer shoes with cushioned soles such as in the case of tennis shoes or basketball shoes.
Other athletic or entertainment activity which has gained immense popularity in recent years is skateboarding and in-line roller skating. Highly athletic youthful participants have developed a maneuver commonly referred to as "grinding," wherein the athlete will jump into the air while riding a skateboard or wearing a pair of in-line skates and slide the undercarriage along an elongated track defined by, for instance, a hand rail, park bench back or curb edge.
Grinding shoes have been proposed which incorporate a hard plate in the arch area or other strategic location, typically on the sole of the shoe so the wearer can wear the shoe in a normal manner throughout the day and when the opportunity presents itself for a grinding activity, he or she can run toward a sliding surface formed by a rail, curb or the like, and leap upwardly mounting such sliding surface with the hard plate to slide such plate therealong. This activity has gained great popularity in the field and is currently enjoyed by many youngsters utilizing shoes marketed under the trademark SOAP.RTM. by the assignee of the present application. Such shoes incorporate grind plates of the type disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/890,595, filed Jun. 9, 1997, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/799,062, filed Feb. 10, 1997, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/022,318, filed Jul. 23, 1996, all assigned to the assignee of the present application.
The SOAP.RTM. grind plates are typically constructed with a saddle configuration to provide a downwardly open semi-cylindrical trough configured at the upper extent with a shaft line bearing surface extending from the lateral to the medial side of the shoe to be stabilized in a non-rocking fashion when centered over the rail.
The saddle shaped plate is typically turned upwardly on the medial lateral sides of the shoe to form forwardly and rearwardly extending raised retaining flanges embracing the opposite sides of the midsole.
Such shoes have gained enthusiastic acceptance in the marketplace and afford the wearer such comfort that youngsters of school age and the like prefer to wear such shoes throughout the length of the day so as to benefit from the status associated with such a footwear article and to be in the ready to execute a grinding maneuver whenever the opportunity appropriately presents itself. Experience has shown that there is a substantial flex of the shoe relative to the grind plate and consequently, relative to such retaining flanges. This then often results in the surface material of the shoe sole adjacent such flanges becoming worn through over a period of time thus resulting in a limited life span for the shoe itself. This then deprives the wearer of the opportunity to wear the shoe for the full length of the original grind plate or of benefitting from life of the shoe beyond that of the original grind plate. Consequently, a need exists for a shoe and plate apparatus which is adaptable for the ready athletic maneuvers associated with grinding activities but yet will endure the relatively active routine imposed on such shoes by active youth.
It is also an important feature of grinding shoes that the plate and shoe combination provide the athlete with the ability to closely control the maneuver undertaken. This often involves acceleration or deceleration along a rail at a controlled rate of speed. Such speed is often controlled by the relative positioning of the feet and consequently the grind plates on the rail. The ability to decelerate or decrease the rate of acceleration along the rail often becomes more important with the more extreme exercises. Thus, there also exists a need for a grinding shoe apparatus which in certain positions provides higher frictional resistance to sliding along the rail to thereby allow the athlete to assume such certain positions to enhance the braking effect tending to control the speed over such rail.


An MOS transistor comprising a substrate, a source, a drain, and a gate, wherein the gate comprises aluminum nitride. Aluminum nitride is epitaxially grown on the silicon substrate at a substrate temperature of about 600xc2x0 C. and subsequently annealed at a substrate temperature of about 950xc2x0 C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) transistors, and more particularly, to improved materials for use as gate structures of MOS transistors.
2. Description of the Related Art
MOS transistors have been a dominant technology in the silicon industry. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional MOS transistor 10 comprising a silicon substrate 12, a source 14, a drain 18, and a gate 22. The MOS transistor 10 further comprises a substrate electrode 26, a source electrode 16, a drain electrode 20, and a gate electrode 24 formed on the substrate 12, the source 14, the drain 18, and the gate 22, respectively. Electrical connection to the substrate electrode 26, the source electrode 16, the drain electrode 20, and the gate electrode 20 is via a substrate terminal B, a source terminal S, a drain terminal D, and a gate terminal G, respectively.
As is known to those skilled in the art, the silicon substrate 12 can be either p-type (as shown) or n-type, and the source 14 and drain 18 can be n+-type (as shown) or p+-type depending on the conductivity of the substrate 12. As is also known to those skilled in the art, carriers enter the MOS transistor 10 through the source terminal S, leave through the drain terminal D, and are subject to the control of the action of signals applied to the gate electrode G. The voltage applied to the gate terminal G relative to ground is VG while the voltage applied to the drain electrode D relative to ground is VD. It should be understood that many variations of the foregoing structure are well know to those skilled in the art and the foregoing structure is meant to be illustrative and not limiting.
As shown in FIG. 1, the material used for the gate 22 is silicon dioxide (SiO2). There are certain disadvantages, however, associated with using such a gate material. In particular, in response to various market demands, the level of integration of MOS transistor based integrated circuit devices continues to increase. As a result, the size of MOS transistors in those devices decreases. In addition, in order to lower the power density consumed by the devices, the gate voltage VG is lowered accordingly. This leads to a need for thinner gate structures. It is contemplated that in order to meet future performance demands, conventional MOS transistors will be required to have gate thickness that are well below the tunneling limit of SiO2. MOS transistors incorporating such thin gate structures will suffer from excess leakage, which could result in device failure.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a gate dielectric material for an MOS transistor that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the gate dielectric material particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposes of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, the invention provides an MOS transistor comprising a substrate, a source, a drain, and a gate, wherein the gate comprises aluminum nitride.
To further achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposes of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, the invention also provides a method of making an MOS transistor comprising forming a source and drain in a substrate, and forming a gate on the substrate, wherein the gate comprises aluminum nitride.
To still further achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposes of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, the invention also provides a method of forming an aluminum nitride film on a silicon substrate comprising epitaxially growing aluminum nitride on the silicon substrate at a substrate temperature of about 600xc2x0 C., and subsequently annealing the substrate and epitaxially grown aluminum nitride at a substrate temperature of about 950xc2x0 C.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

MOS transistor having aluminum nitride gate structure and method of manufacturing same


An integrated circuit for analogue electronic watch applications, comprising an oscillator circuit for generating clock signals, stepper motor driver circuit for generating motor driving signals, a plurality of trimming capacitors for fine-tuning the output frequency of the oscillator circuit and a corresponding plurality of electronic switches for selectively connecting/disconnecting said trimming capacitors to said oscillator circuit and switching circuitry for switching-in and/or -out the electronic switch, wherein said stepper motor driver circuit being connected to said oscillator circuit and comprising means for converting said clock signals into said motor driving signals, said switching circuitry comprises means to control the switching-in and/or switching-out of said electronic switches whereby oscillator frequency is fine-tuned, said plurality of electronic switches being selectively controllable and operable by switching control signals applied at said frequency trimming port.

Electronic watches typically comprise quartz oscillators for generating timing signals. Quartz electronic watches are popular because they are reasonably accurate at reasonably low costs. Among the various types of quartz electronic watches, analogue-type electronic watches comprising hour, minute and/or second arms resembling that of a traditional watch are an important variety.
Electronic watches, whether digital or analogue, are typically built around a quartz oscillator circuitry which generates a timing oscillation. This timing oscillation produces a fundamental timing frequency in the form of pulses which are also commonly referred to as "clock signals". An exemplary timing oscillation suitable for electronic watch applications is at 32.768 kHz. In case of an analogue electronic watch, the timing oscillation is converted into pulses for driving a stepper motor by a stepper motor driver circuit. The stepper motor in turn drives the time indicating arms. Typically, the motor driving pulses have a period of either 1 second or 60 seconds so that the second or the minute arm will move by 1 graduation at the intervals of a second or a minute respectively. The oscillator circuitry and the stepper motor driver circuit are usually integrated on a single integrated circuit (IC) chip for a compact, slim design and/or for costs saving.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary quartz oscillator circuit which is more commonly known as the CMOS Pierce oscillator circuit. The Pierce oscillator circuit is widely used for timing signal generation in a digital electronic timing circuit and includes quartz crystal operating in the parallel mode.
To maintain a reasonable timing accuracy for timing integrity, the oscillation frequency of an oscillator circuit should be sufficiently accurate. For example, in a digital watch, an error of 20 ppm (parts per million) will result in a timing deviation of approximately 1 minute per month. In general, the accuracy of a crystal-based oscillator circuit depends mainly on the accuracy of the crystal and the capacitive load. For example, the oscillation frequency will increase if the capacitive load is decreased. Conversely, the oscillation frequency will decrease with an increase in the capacitive load.
Quartz crystals are commercially available as discrete components with a specified typical characteristic oscillation frequency when connected with a parallel capacitive load of a predetermined specific load capacitance. For electronic watch applications, a discrete quartz crystal is typically connected to an integrated watch circuit for forming a timing oscillator.
In an exemplary equivalent circuit of a typical oscillator shown in FIG. 2, the components CO, C1, L1 and R1, are the typical characteristic inherent parameters of a quartz crystal. The ratio of CO to C1, is a parameter representative of the inter-conversion between electrical and mechanical energy stored in the crystal. The component CL is equivalent to the two on-chip load capacitance measured in series. To generate an accurate oscillator operating frequency, the crystal parameters CO, C1, L1, R1 and the load capacitance CL have to be properly matched, for example, by on-chip fine-tuning capacitors.
However, on-chip capacitors for digital watch applications usually have a manufacturing tolerance of approximately 10% to 20%. To alleviate timing inaccuracy due to such tolerance in a typical digital watch production line, quartz crystals and silicon integrated chips are usually sorted individually for optimal matching. Such a process is typically manual, slow and expensive. Furthermore, for quartz crystals and silicon chips that cannot be matched, they have to be thrown away, thereby adversely affecting the overall production yield and increasing the overall production costs. On the other hand, it is well-known that on-chip capacitors and quartz crystals are very expensive and difficult to manufacture with very high precision.
Hence, it will be desirable if integrated circuit-chips for watch applications comprising means to fine-tune the oscillation frequency of the quartz oscillator circuitry can be provided in order to enhance timing accuracy without requiring unduly complicated or expensive circuitry or designs. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that external connection pins or pads on an integrated circuit chip are a valuable resource since additional pins or pads beyond an optimum number will mean increased package and production costs. Hence, it will be desirable if multiple-step fine-tuning can be achieved with minimum number of interfacing pad/pin. This is even better if no additional external logic circuitry and pinning requirements and/or with pinning configuration is required so that the integrated circuit is compatible with conventional watch IC layout for direct replacement so that manufacturing costs can be optimised and costs for PCB or tooling re-design can also be saved.

Integrated circuit chip for analogue electronic watch applications


A System and Method for Providing an Improved Standby Mode for Infrared Data Transceivers is disclosed. Standby Mode for Infrared Data Transceivers. The device and system of the present invention includes a discovery signal receiver and power actuator module that consumes a fraction of the power of a conventional Ir transceiver system. The preferred device and system may be integral to a conventional Ir transceiver, or it may be a stand-alone system or device. Furthermore, the device and system are configured to activate full power to the Ir transceiver system upon recognition of an Ir discovery signal, and this power-up signal might also be user-initiated in some preferred embodiments. The preferred switch means for providing full power to the Ir transceiver system is in an open position while the Ir-enabled appliance is in a standby or sleep mode. The preferred device and system recognize a 9600 baud Ir discovery signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to infrared communications systems and, more specifically, to a System and Method for Providing an Improved Standby Mode for Infrared Data Transceivers.
2. Description of Related Art
As technology becomes continually more accessible to the "common man," the ability to use, store, transfer and otherwise manipulate information has become the focus of most businesses as well as for the individual consumer. Access to the information resources is commonly by some sort of network system, including World Wide Web, "Intranets", local area networks, wide area networks, as well as corporate databases.
While the conventional method for connecting to one of these information networks has been via cable and wire, as the reliance upon connectivity to information has deepened, the desire to gain such access from mobile or portable devices has strengthened. These portable devices, such as Personal Digital Assistants, hand-held computers, cellular telephones, and even digital cameras are now being connected to each other and to networks via Infrared Data Communications. In fact, it is virtually impossible to purchase a notebook computer today that does not include an Infrared Data Communications assembly resident within it.
One drawback of these portable devices or appliances is their inherent dependency upon portable power sources (i.e. batteries of some sort). As functionality is added to the device, so is demand upon the portable power source, therefore any way of reducing the demand upon the portable power source is extremely desirable. One particular system that can place a significant demand upon the portable power source is the Ir transceiver system—FIG. 1 provides pertinent details about how these systems function. FIG. 1 is an illustration of a pair of prior Ir-enabled appliances 10 and 12 in standby mode. Standby mode is that condition to which the appliance returns when the appliance is not actively engaged in Ir communications. Each appliance, comprises (in pertinent part) an Ir transceiver system 14 and 16 that is powered by power supply means 18 and 20 for powering the electronics and mechanical devices contained within the appliances 10 and 12. While the power supply means 18 and 20 may be external electrical power, the means 18 and 20 that is pertinent to this discussion is a portable battery-type power supply means because its available charge is limited. The limited life span of the battery-type power supply means 18 and 20 is the focus of the present invention.
In the prior appliances 10 and 12, the Ir transceiver systems 14 and 16 operate in a constant, full-power demand condition, as demonstrated by the IrXS (Infrared transmission system) Power State indicators 22 and 24 (these are simply representations to indicate a power load condition—they are not intended to represent actual devices). The problem with the prior appliances 10 and 12 resides with the "standby" or "sleep" mode of the If transceiver systems 14 and 16. When in standby mode, as represented by balloons 26 and 28, there are no emissions from the systems 14 and 16; the systems 14 and 16 are simply monitoring their environment for a "discovery" signal. Discovery signals are Ir signals in a particular frequency band, currently established by the IRDA (Infrared Data Association) at 9600 baud, that one appliance 10 or 12 sends to another appliance to "wake up" the other appliance in preparation for the commencement of Ir communications. As illustrated by FIG. 1, the prior appliances 10 and 12 are in full-power demand conditions 22 and 24, even though they are sleeping. Even though the transceiver systems 14 and 16 are performing no work beyond simply listening, they are imposing the same drain on the power supply means 18 and 20 that a fully active transceiver 14 and 16 would draw. As discussed earlier, any reduction in power demand will provide significant benefits to the user of these portable Ir-enabled appliances. What is needed, therefore, is a means for reducing the power drain on the power supply means 18, for example, when portable Ir-enabled appliances are in standby mode.

System and method for providing an improved standby mode for infrared data transceivers


Provided is a semiconductor device including a buffer layer that is on a substrate and includes an inclined surface; a crystalline silicon layer that is on the buffer layer; a gate electrode that is on the crystalline silicon layer while being insulated from the crystalline silicon layer; and a source electrode and a drain electrode that are each electrically connected to the crystalline silicon layer, the angle between the substrate and the inclined surface being in a range of about 17.5 degrees to less than about 70 degrees.

1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to a semiconductor device, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A display apparatus such as an organic light-emitting display apparatus and a liquid crystal display apparatus may include a thin film transistor (TFT) that may be used for a pixel switch or a driving circuit. Laser annealing using a laser beam may be performed as a part of a method of manufacturing the TFT at a low temperature processor.

Semiconductor device, manufacturing method thereof, and display apparatus


Embodiments herein describe a framework for classifying images. In some embodiments, it is determined whether an image includes synthetic image content. If it does, characteristics of the image are analyzed to determine if the image includes characteristics particular to panoramic images (e.g., possess a threshold equivalency of pixel values among the top and/or bottom boundaries of the image, or a difference between summed pixel values of the pixels comprising the right vertical boundary of the image and summed pixel values of the pixels comprising the left vertical boundary of the image being less than or equal to a threshold value). If the image includes characteristics particular to panoramic images, the image is classified as a synthetic panoramic image. If the image is determined to not include synthetic image content, a neural network is applied to the image and the image is classified as one of non-synthetic panoramic or non-synthetic non-panoramic.

Panoramic images include horizontally-elongated fields-of-view relative to standard images. Generally, images are considered to be panoramic if they have an aspect ratio of at least 2:1, that is, if they are at least twice as wide (horizontal measurement) and they are high (vertical measurement). Capturing panoramic images has become increasingly popular as off-the-shelf cameras having panoramic image capturing capabilities have become widely available. When panoramic images are stored in an image array (e.g., a digital photo album), such images often are mixed with narrow field-of-view images (i.e., images having less than a 2:1 aspect ratio). For instance, many image-capturing devices include limited image storage locations and/or formats. Thus, all images, irrespective of whether they are panoramic images or not, are organized and stored in a single image-capture location and/or format. Because managing panoramic images often necessitates additional and or different functions than managing non-panoramic images, differentiating between panoramic images and non-panoramic images can be useful for digital image asset manipulation and/or management applications such as, by way of example only, Adobe Photoshop®.
Current digital image asset manipulation and/or management applications often rely on metadata associated with acquired images to identify which images in an image array are panoramic images. However, such identification techniques often are inadequate as some image management/editing tools may discard image metadata or fail to recognize image metadata having a format that is non-standard (for instance, metadata that is manually input by a user).


A method and an apparatus for transmitting and receiving a packet in a broadcasting and communication system are provided. The method and apparatus allows a receiver to recognize data in a packet lost due to data loss occurring in a network. To this end, Forward Error Correction (FEC) control-related information is generated, a packet including the generated FEC control-related information is generated, and the packet is transmitted. The FEC control-related information includes at least one of FEC configuration-related information and FEC encoding configuration-related information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a broadcasting and communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving packets.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a result of the increase in content types and the increase in high-volume content such as High Definition (HD) content and Ultra High Definition (UHD) content, data congestion associated with network traffic is getting worse. Consequently, content sent by a sender (e.g., host A) may not be normally delivered to a receiver (e.g., host B) and some of the content may be lost in routes. Generally, data is transmitted on a packet basis. As such, data loss may occur on a packet basis. Therefore, the receiver may not receive packets due to data loss in the network. Accordingly, the receiver may not receive or find data in the lost packets, thereby causing a variety of user inconvenience such as audio degradation, video degradation, screen cracks, subtitle missing, file loss, and the like. For these reasons, there is a need for a method for recovering data loss which may occur in the network.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for performing a self diagnosis of a device without the inconvenience caused when manually selecting a self diagnosis item from a computer or a user interface.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.

Apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving packet in broadcasting and communication system


There is provided a method and an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) content manager server for IPTV service. The server comprises a Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) stack adapted to request an establishment of a first RTSP session with an IPTV media server responsive to an IPTV service request from an Internet Protocol Television Terminal (ITF). The RTSP stack stores an identifier of the first RTSP session responsive to the request for the establishment of the RTSP session. Subsequently, the RTSP stack receives an RTSP session initiation message from the ITF requesting an establishment of an RTSP session. Upon receipt of the message, the content manager server authenticates the message, determines the existence of an existing RTSP session for the ITF, and thus acts to discard the session initiation message received from the ITF and to return the identifier of the first, already established, RTSP session.

As the level of technology increases, the options for communications have become more varied. For example, in the last 30 years in the telecommunications industry, personal communications have evolved from a home having a single rotary dial telephone, to a home having multiple telephones, cable and/or fiber optic lines that accommodate both voice and data. Additionally cellular phones and Wi-Fi have added a mobile element to communications. Similarly, in the entertainment industry, 30 years ago there was only one format for television and this format was transmitted over the air and received via antennas located at homes. This has evolved into both different standards of picture quality such as, standard definition TV (SDTV), enhanced definition TV (EDTV) and high definition TV (HDTV), and more systems for delivery of these different television display formats, such as cable and satellite. Additionally, services have grown to become overlapping between these two industries. As these systems continue to evolve in both industries, the service offerings will continue to merge and new services can be expected to be available for a consumer. Also these services will be based on the technical capability to process and output more information, for example as seen in the improvements in the picture quality of programs viewed on televisions, and therefore it is expected that service delivery requirements will continue to rely on more bandwidth being available throughout the network including the "last mile" to the end user.
Another related technology that impacts both the communications and entertainment industries is the Internet. The physical structure of the Internet and associated communication streams have also evolved to handle an increased flow of data. Servers have more memory than ever before, communications links exist that have a higher bandwidth than in the past, processors are faster and more capable and protocols exist to take advantage of these elements. As consumers' usage of the Internet grows, service companies have turned to the Internet (and other Internet Protocol (IP) networks) as a mechanism for providing traditional services. These multimedia services include Internet Protocol television (IPTV, referring to systems or services that deliver television programs over a network using IP data packets), Internet radio, video on demand (VOD), Voice over IP (VoIP), and other web related services received singly or bundled together.
IPTV is thus the delivery of programming of TV video streams encoded as a series of IP packets. IPTV can deliver either live TV or stored video (Video-on-Demand). IPTV service may also be bundled with other IP services, including VoIP and high-speed Internet access. In traditional television delivery, all programming (the TV programs) is broadcast simultaneously, over the air or over cable. The available program signals flow downstream and the viewer selects which program he wants to watch by changing the channel. IPTV, by contrast, typically sends only one program at a time. Content remains on the service provider's network and only the program the customer selects is sent to the home. When a viewer changes the channel, a new media stream is transmitted from the provider's server directly to the viewer. Like cable TV, IPTV requires a Set-Top Box (STB). IPTV primarily uses multicasting (a method in which information can be sent to multiple computers/terminals when these computers/terminals join an IP multicast address to which the selected content is being sent) with Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) used for live television broadcasts control and Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) control for on-demand programs. Compatible video compression standards include H.264, Windows Media Video 9 and VC1 (Video Codec 1), DivX (a digital video codec created by DivX Networks, Inc.), and XviD (a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard), and the MPEG-2 (Moving Pictures Expert Group) and MPEG-4. Also, in IPTV, Quality of Service (QoS) of the IPTV contents is guaranteed. As such, new content should be delivered to a requesting viewer (or admitted in the transit and access networks) only if it does not affect content being currently delivered to other users through the above networks.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 (Prior Art), which shows a simplified network diagram of an exemplary IPTV system 8 for delivering IPTV channels to an end user's terminal. In FIG. 1, a TV 10 is connected to an STB 12. In certain implementation, the combination of an STB 12 functionality combined with a display 10 is referred to as an IPTV Terminal Function (ITF) 13, which is the user's terminal. The ITF 13 is in communication with an access node 14 which in turn is connected with an IP Network 16. The access node 14 may be any type of node which could be used to connect STB 12 to an IP network 16 such as for example a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM). The IP Network 16 is in communication with one or more IPTV media server(s) 18, which contain(s) the IPTV media content that an end user desires to view upon TV 10. Furthermore, an IPTV content manager 17 functions to find, on behalf of the user, the most appropriate media server 18 (among multiple media servers, not shown) from where the selected media content can be delivered. The media server 18 delivers the IPTV channels containing streaming video in the desired format, e.g., MPEG 2 or MPEG-4, to an end user, where the content is displayed upon TV 10. Media stream control is performed via RTSP sessions 21 established between the media server 18 and the IPTV content manager 17 on one side, and between the IPTV control manager 17 and the ITF 13 on the other side, while the actual media stream is delivered via the media path 23 directly from the media server 18 to the ITF 13. It will be understood that there could be more intervening nodes between the ITF 13 and the media server 18 than those shown in the simplified system of FIG. 1.
In the exemplary IPTV system 8, the content delivery network is typically distributed, i.e. there are multiple media servers 18 (only one is shown for simplicity purposes). This is desirable so that the most closely located media server 18 can be selected to serve a user that desires to access a specific content. As such, a request for watching media content is typically sent from the ITF 13 to the content manager 17, where the later takes on the responsibility of locating the appropriate media server 18 to service the user. Following that, the ITF 13 can start communicating with the content manager 17, to start the streaming of the desired media content. Hence, all RTSP control traffic coming from the ITF 13 is proxied through the content manager 17 to the selected media server 18, while the actual media content is delivered directly from the media server 18 to the ITF 13.
Reference is now made to FIG. 2 (Prior Art) that shows a typical IPTV implementation in an IMS-based (IP Multimedia Subsystem) network 200. In the IMS-based IPTV system, the architecture described previously in relation to FIG. 1 is still valid, and as such there is a need to cope with it, which poses additional challenges. Within the IMS based architecture, an IMS session (also called herein a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session) is typically used to set up a unicast session for admission control purposes between an ITF 213, the IMS core network 214, the IPTV control server, 270 and the content manager 270. For this purpose, all these nodes typically support SIP-based communications. The IMS core network 214 typically comprises multiple CSCFs (Call State Control Functions) and other nodes according to the current IMS specifications. The function of the IPTV control server 270 is to coordinate IPTV sessions that need to be established for the provision of IPTV services, perform service access, and generate charging data. The content manager 270 acts, as also briefly described hereinbefore, to control the media servers and acts as a proxy between the ITF and the media server. Finally, FIG. 2 shows an IPTV Media Server 280 (only one is shown for simplicity purposes), which functions to store media content to be streamed to ITFs. In FIG. 2, in order to provide IPTV service to the ITF 213, first, a SIP session 222 is established between the ITF 213, via the IMS core 214 and the IPTV control server 270 and up to the content manager 270. RTSP media stream control can thus be performed between the ITF 213 and the content manager 270 and further with the media server 280 that streams the desired IPTV content toward the ITF 213. Delivery of the media content of interest is performed via a media delivery path 230 established directly between the media server 280 and the ITF 213.
One of the currently proposed approaches within the course of setting up an IMS session for IPTV servicing, is for the content manager 270 to set up the RTSP control session 210, and in such a case the SIP 200 OK sent in response to the SIP INVITE message that initiated the IMS session needs to transport not only the content manager 270 address but also the identifier of the new RTSP session. This allows the content manager to maintain the correlation between the SIP session being used and the RTPS session, which is required for session management purposes and for correlating the charging information generated from the different nodes. Following that, the RTSP session established between the content manager 270 and the ITF 213, the later can start the stream control since it has the RTSP identifier. This option has the advantage that the content manager 270 can maintain an association between the existing SIP session and RTSP session, which ensures that no illegal ITFs can start up illegal RTSP sessions, since ITFs are only allowed to do media stream control (Play, Fast Forward, Stop, etc). On the other hand, this option has the disadvantage that it cannot be used with many existing RTSP stacks where the session setup is an integral part of the stack, i.e. where the ITFs cannot do stream control unless they themselves initiated the creation of the RTSP session. Hence, for many legacy RTSP stacks that are present in ITFs, this option does not work.
As such, there is a need to find another approach that can retain the advantages offered by the IMS-based IPTV architecture, while still allowing legacy RTSP stacks to be used.
Although it does not disclose the teachings of the present invention, the co-pending, co-invented and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/615,506, entitled "A Method of Correlating a Media Session to a Signalling Session" bears some relation with the field of the invention. In this patent application, there is disclosed a user terminal that uses SIP to establish an RTSP media session with a media content server. An application server, which establishes the RTSP media session, links the RTSP media session to the corresponding SIP session. Once the RTSP session is set up and linked to the SIP session, the media content server streams the media content to the user terminal. While this application relates to the field of IPTV, its teaching is limited to a SIP-RTSP sessions correlation performed at the application server level, and thus stops short of disclosing the present invention.
Accordingly, it should be readily appreciated that in order to overcome the deficiencies and shortcomings of the existing solutions, it would be advantageous to have a solution that can retain the advantages offered by the IMS-based IPTV architecture, while still allowing legacy RTSP stacks to be used. The present invention provides such a method and system.

Method and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) content manager server for IPTV servicing


Apparatus for stowing and deploying a plurality of control surfaces of a guided air vehicle comprises: a housing including: a plurality of slotted openings along an outside surface thereof; and a corresponding plurality of cavities within the housing, each cavity extending to the outside surface of the housing through the slotted opening corresponding thereto and configured to accommodate span wise stowage of a corresponding control surface of the plurality, and each cavity having a section including an angled ledge and side wall support surface to accommodate stowage of the corresponding control surface in a span wise canted position with respect to the corresponding slotted opening. A method of operating comprises the steps of: folding each control surface of the plurality edge wise through the corresponding slotted opening and into the corresponding cavity within the housing; moving each folded control surface into a stowage section of the corresponding cavity to edge wise mis-align each folded control surface from the corresponding slotted opening; moving each control surface in the corresponding cavity from the corresponding stowage section into edge wise alignment with the corresponding slotted opening; and deploying each control surface edge wise aligned with the corresponding slotted opening from the cavity through the corresponding slotted opening to a deployed position.

The present invention relates to guided air vehicles with control surfaces, in general, and more particularly, to method and apparatus for stowing and deploying the control surfaces of the guided air vehicle.
Guided air vehicles such as missiles, smart bombs, smart munitions, projectiles and bullets, for example, utilize control surfaces, such as fins, canards and wings, for example, to guide their trajectory along a desired flight path. Such air vehicles, especially those launched from manned or unmanned aircraft or ground craft, require that their control surfaces be stowed within or partially within the body of the air vehicle during storage and transportation, and also during launch in order to: (1) minimize potential damage; (2) allow the air vehicle to fit physically in the launch apparatus; and (3) minimize the effects of aerodynamic forces acting upon the control surfaces during launch. Once the air vehicle is in flight, the control surfaces may be deployed to their desired positions for guiding the vehicle. In many instances, control surface deployment is controlled by an on-board processor to allow completion of the air vehicle mission in accordance with a desired target strategy.
Many different apparatus have been developed for stowing and deploying the control surfaces of an air vehicle including: electromechanical, solenoids, pyrotechnic gas generators and retractors, and mechanical apparatus such as no-backs and inefficient transmissions, for example. Depending upon the circumstances and operating environments, some apparatus were found to be inappropriate for the given task; others were found not to work; and still others were found to be too expensive to implement. In addition, deployment apparatus using pyrotechnic devices or other similar devices have significant drawbacks of: not being indestructibly testable since they operate on a single shot basis, and of inducing significant shock to the supporting structure.
Accordingly, there is a need for method and apparatus for stowing and deploying control surfaces of a guided air vehicle that overcome the drawbacks and limitations of the conventional apparatus and are simpler and more cost effective. The present invention is intended to provide such apparatus and method that satisfy these needs.

Method and apparatus for stowing and deploying control surfaces of a guided air vehicle


The process includes hot-forming a large diameter Zircaloy ingot to a flat plate having longitudinal, transverse and depth dimensions and forming blanks in a transverse direction from the flat plate for ultimately forming the end plugs of a nuclear fuel rod. The axis of the end plugs is generally transverse to the longitudinal dimensions of the flat plate whereby centerline defects in the blank are reduced or eliminated. To the extent centerline defects occur, they lie generally transverse to the axis of the end plug whereby the defects are rendered ineffective to form leakage paths through the end plugs.

Nuclear fuel rods for nuclear reactors typically comprise a plurality of discrete nuclear fuel pellets disposed within a Zircaloy cladding tube. The pellets are stacked within the cladding tube which is then evacuated, back-filled with helium and sealed by welding Zircaloy end plugs at each of the opposite ends of the tube. Typical Zircaloy cladding tubes may have outside diameters, for example, on the order of 0.4-0.5 inches and lengths on the order of 150-160 inches. The end plugs per se, depending on whether they are upper or lower end plugs in use, may have a length of approximately 31/2 inches or smaller and a diameter substantially approximating the diameter of the fuel rod cladding.
In the manufacture of end plugs, the Zircaloy material from which the end plugs are formed initially comprises a large diameter ingot, e.g., on the order of 36 inches. By various thermal and mechanical operations, the ingot is reduced down from such large diameter to barstock size, for example, barstock approximating between about 0.25 and 0.75 inches. These thermal and mechanical operations include a substantial number of labor-intensive and costly steps such as a series of forging and reforging operations, extrusions and swaging with reheat therebetween. This reduced barstock is normally provided in random, but long, lengths, on the order of many feet. Once the barstock has been formed, machining operations are performed directly on the barstock to finally shape the end plugs. Typically, the barstock is fed through a chuck on a screw machine and machined directly to the final shape of the end plug. Alternatively, small pieces or blanks can be preformed, e.g., by a forging operation, and the final end plugs formed by a chucking machine.
Prior to forming the end plugs from the barstock material, non-destructive tests are typically performed on the barstock in order to detect and remove internal defects which are a result of and inherent to the previously described thermal and mechanical operations necessary to reduce the ingot from its large diameter to barstock size. Internal defects may also arise on occasion as a result of using contaminated materials, including recycle material. These non-destructive tests may include ultrasonic tests, metallographic tests on the barstock ends or liquid penetrant inspection on the ends of the bars. The purpose of the tests is to detect and identify defects which might provide leakage paths for gas or liquids within the fuel rod cladding once the plugs are welded to the cladding and the fuel rods are charged with helium. Tests for detecting helium leakage paths in barstock, however, have not always detected internal defects which would permit leakage through the end plugs. It is believed that leakage paths, to the extent they occur in the end plugs, are an inherent result of the current methods of reducing of the material from the large-diameter ingot to barstock and particularly the thermal and mechanical operations necessary to do so. This large reduction, including when extruding, tends to provide an axial pipe which can be elongated by swaging, i.e., when squeezing the metal down to the smaller size. Thus, axial or centerline defects occur as a result of the manufacture of the barstock and are carried over into the end plugs manufactured from that barstock. Consequently, end-to-end leakage paths occasionally exist in the final end plugs. While the number of defects is very small in comparison with the number of fuel rods manufactured, the problem addressed by the present invention is to further reduce this rather small failure rate, for example, down to a failure rate of less than one end plug per million fuel rods manufactured.
Moreover, in addition to these technical reasons for reducing the failure rate, the reducing operations typically require a large number of thermal and mechanical operations, as previously described. Those operations require substantial time and labor. Hence, the processing becomes time-consuming, expensive and incurs material loss.

Method for fabricating end plugs for nuclear fuel rods


A planar patch clamp device includes a substrate comprising a first planar surface, a second planar surface opposing the first planar surface, and an inside surface defining an aperture extending from the first planar surface to the second planar surface; and an adhesion layer conformally disposed on the substrate including on the inside surface, wherein the adhesion layer defines a shape of the aperture, and the aperture is smooth and free of sharp corners. The substrate may be composed of silicon or a silicon-inclusive compound, and the adhesion layer may be composed of a glass material having a low-temperature reflow property. The device may be annealed to reflow the adhesion layer, thereby providing the aperture with smooth surfaces.

Patch clamp techniques are utilized in electrophysiology to enable the study of single or multiple ion channels in biological cells and other tissues. In a traditional patch clamp technique, a cell is provided in a bath solution, and a glass micropipette having an inside diameter of about 1 μm is pressed against the surface of the membrane of a cell. The portion of the membrane surface of the cell covered by the micropipette is known as the "patch." A small amount of suction is applied through the micropipette to form a high-resistance seal between the cell membrane and the micropipette. The micropipette is filled with an electrolyte, a silver chloride electrode (wire) is inserted into the electrolyte and a grounded electrode may be placed in contact with the bath, thereby enabling the measurement of electrical current resulting from ion flow through the ion channel associated with the patch. The high resistance of the seal formed between the cell membrane and the micropipette functions to electrically isolate the current being measured and minimize the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement being recorded. It is typically desired that the resistance of the seal be as high as 1 GΩ or higher; such seals are termed "giga-ohm seals" or "gigaseals."
Patch clamps employing micropipettes increasingly are being replaced by planar patch clamp devices. Planar patch clamp devices are generally provided in the form of microfabricated substrates. Planar patch clamp devices include planar substrates with apertures of 1-2 μm in diameter that function as the tips of micropipettes. Suction and/or an electric field are applied so as to position a cell on the aperture, and the high-resistance seal is formed between the cell membrane and the substrate in the vicinity of the aperture. The substrate may serve as a partition between respective fluid compartments located above and below the substrate, with the aperture fluidly interconnecting the two fluid compartments. A measurement electrode may be placed in the fluid compartment in which the cell resides, and a grounded electrode may be placed in the other fluid compartment.
Planar patch clamp devices are amenable to high-throughput assaying systems and cooperation with microfluidic components. The substrates have typically been composed of quartz or glass. Some commercially available glass substrates have proprietary coatings designed to enhance the ability to form giga-ohm seals (i.e., increase the success rate in forming giga-ohm seals). Alternative substrate materials have also been proposed, such as silicon as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,387,715. This patent describes a number of planar structures for positioning cells and performing electrical and/or optical analyses related to the presence and activity of ion channels, but does not teach any particular combination of low-cost materials and configurations that would be optimal for the formation of high-quality giga-ohm seals.
High seal resistance between the living cell and the substrate of a planar patch clamp device is highly desirable for achieving high-quality recordings of ion channel activities. Therefore, there is an ongoing need for providing planar patch clamp devices capable of achieving high seal resistance at a reasonable cost. There is also a need for providing planar patch clamp devices capable of reliably forming high-quality giga-ohm seals with high success rates.

Planar patch clamp devices and methods for fabrication and use


The present invention is intended to let users easily and properly select desired imaging modes. A control section controls an image processing section to display icons indicative of imaging modes onto a monitor. When an icon is specified, the control section reads setting values corresponding to the imaging mode corresponding to the specified icon from a setting value storage section. The control section controls the image processing section to generate a reference image based on the read setting values and displays the generated reference image on the monitor. Namely, specifying an icon allows the user to look up a reference image which would have been obtained if a scene appearing on a stored image already taken were imaged in a specified imaging mode. This novel configuration allows the user to easily and properly confirm the effects of a selected imaging mode.

The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus and an image pickup method and, more particularly, to an image pickup apparatus and an image pickup method which are adapted to easily and properly select imaging modes.
For example, digital still cameras have imaging mode capabilities that automatically set imaging conditions (shutter speeds and aperture values, for example) suitable for objects of imaging (scenes and peoples, for example) and imaging environments (outdoor and indoor, for example) by selecting prepared imaging modes.
When starting an imaging operation, a user selects an icon representing an imaging mode suitable for a subject of imaging and imaging environment from among several imaging modes (night scene mode, portrait mode, and scene mode, for example) displayed on the monitor section of the digital still camera, the predetermined imaging conditions assigned to the selected imaging mode are set (refer to patent document 1 shown below, for example). Namely, by use of this capability, the user can set optimum imaging conditions only through the selection of an imaging mode without having to individually set imaging conditions suitable for object of imaging and imaging environment.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-10133
In performing an imaging operation with imaging conditions set as described above, the user must learn by heart what each icon signifies (or which icon represents which mode) and the effects of the imaging modes. If the user cannot learn these by heart, the user must reference camera's instruction manuals for example in each case. Therefore, with related-art digital still cameras, there is a problem of taking a lot of trouble in selecting suitable imaging modes.

Image pickup apparatus and image pickup method


A method of correcting a current image taken by a capturing device, the current image captured after a previous image, the method comprising the steps of: determining a noticeable pixel group, such as an edge of an object in the previous image; locating the noticeable pixel groups in the current image, by finding corresponding pixels whose values are most similar to the values of the noticeable pixels, determining the offset between the previous image and the current image, and correcting the current image using the offset. Optionally, multiple offsets are determined for multiple areas in the current image, and other areas in the image are optionally corrected according to interpolations between the determined offsets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing in general, and to a method and apparatus for stabilizing images in video in particular.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Digital cameras, especially digital video cameras, may move while capturing an image. Movement of cameras may include voluntary as well as non-voluntary movements. Non-voluntary movements may be caused by non-voluntary movements of the person holding the camera, by movement of a tripod on which the camera is mounted, or by other factors, such as wind. As a result of the movements, when the camera moves, objects in images may be distorted, dislocated or otherwise incorrectly imaged. Another result is blurred images, in which the details are hardly recognizable. Yet another result is objects in the scene appearing both in the correct location and in misplaced location determined by motion compensation, or objects appearing distorted.
Two popular types of sensors for capturing images are used in digital cameras. One is CCD sensor that enables capturing the entire image simultaneously, and the other is CMOS sensor in which the image is captured in parts. For example, the image may be captured row-wise or column-wise, wherein the rows or columns are captured sequentially. Thus, when using CMOS sensors, if the camera moves while capturing the image, objects or parts thereof may be dislocated. Consequently, one row may require more compensation than a previously captured row. In addition to movement of the camera, movement of objects during exposure of a portion of the image also requires motion compensation when using CMOS sensors.
Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, schematically illustrating three images taken by a moving camera. FIG. 1A was captured using a CCD sensor, while FIGS. 1B and 1C were captured using a CMOS sensor. All three images show a tree perpendicular to the ground. The lower portion of the images comprises two lines, one is the base line (104 in FIG. 1A) and the other is the trunk (102 in FIG. 1A). The upper portion comprises the treetop of the tree (106 in FIG. 1A). On FIG. 1A, camera movement causes movement of all parts of the tree, since the entire image is captured simultaneously. Line 104 is perpendicular to line 102, but the entire tree appears at the left side of the image.
The image in FIG. 1B was captured using CMOS sensor while the camera was moving slowly. Hence, objects are located more on the right-hand side of the image, instead of being located in the center of the image. Rows in the image are captured at different times. For example, if the scanning direction is top-to-bottom, i.e. a top row is scanned before a bottom row, and then lower parts of the image in FIG. 1B are captured after the upper parts. The slow movement causes the lower parts of the image to be slightly moved to the right hand side of the image. Further, the difference between the times each row is captured causes the lower portion of line 104 to be more shifted to the right than the upper portion of line 104. As a result, base line 112 is not perpendicular to trunk 114 in FIG. 1B.
In FIG. 1C, fast movement of the camera causes significant differences in the location of objects in the image. The motion compensation required in FIG. 1C is more significant than the compensation required in FIG. 1B, since the difference between the correct locations of objects and the captured locations is larger than the differences between FIG. 1B and FIG. 1A. For example, base line 122 in FIG. 1C is located on the extremity of the right portion, while base line 112 in FIG. 1B is located in the middle right portion. Further, treetop 126 of the tree shown in FIG. 1C is distorted relatively to treetop 116 and treetop 126 in FIGS. 1A and 1B respectively, since the fast camera movement also causes significant change in the location of the upper objects in FIG. 1C.
One solution for video stabilization is to change the location or angle of an optical element, such as a lens or the camera sensor. The element is preferably displaced in the opposite direction to the camera movement direction. This solution is hardware based and requires a two-step method: first detecting the movement in terms of speed and direction and then calibrating the optical elements accordingly. The solution is relatively inaccurate and requires expensive and sensitive hardware elements.
Another solution for image stabilization is to compare a current image with to previously captured images.
The difference between a current image moved by a predetermined offset, and a previous image is determined for multiple offsets. The offset for which the difference is minimal is the preferred offset between the images and is used for correcting the image. The offset values are stored in a correlation matrix, in which the rows represent vertical offset, the columns represent horizontal offset, and the value within each entry in the matrix is the difference. The solution enables motion compensation but requires sufficient memory for storing images in their entirety. In video cameras, as in all digital cameras, memory is an expensive resource and it is desirable to provide a solution for image stabilization that provides real time motion compensation without requiring additional memory. Further, comparing images in their entirety requires significant processing power and consumes time that may disable real time stabilization of video or image.
There is thus a need for image stabilization techniques, which can produce real time results, while imposing low memory requirements.


An equipment control unit is composed of storage means for storing a control data for controlling an equipment, control means for controlling the equipment based on the control data stored in the storage means, and communication means for communicating with a centralized control system for making the centralized control for a plurality of equipments. The control means rewrites the control data stored in the storage means with a received control data when it receives the control data from the centralized control system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an equipment control unit for use in providing centralized control for a plurality of equipment.
2. Related Background Art
There is a strong desire for a copying apparatus to have additional and higher functions, so that copying apparatus is becoming increasingly more complex in construction and function. Also, the number of copying apparatuses installed within one company is increasing. Thus, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,875, it is well known that in order to manage the use and operation, maintenance, and the appropriate and rapid repair of faults, the normal use conditions and the functional data of the copying apparatus are collected by a management department within the company or a special dealer for centralized control.
A copying apparatus has also been proposed in which by calling a specific external device with, for example, a telephone number to make the communication through a communication line, the transmission or reception of data can be made to the external device installed at the management department periodically or at any time.
However, when it was necessary to change or adjust the copying control data set onto the copying apparatus at its manufacture, a serviceman had to go to the installed site of the copying apparatus to change the setting of the copying control data, so that there was a problem that rapid measures could not be taken.
Also, when it was necessary to change the telephone number of a specific external device after the installation of the copying apparatus, the serviceman had to go to the copying apparatus to make the changed input operation, which resulted in time-consuming work.
Also, there was a problem that if the initial conditions to start the communication, for example, a partner's telephone number, a password, and an identification code (hereinafter referred to as ID) might be set unduly or improperly, the apparatus would communicate with an unauthorized or wrong destination so that the data would be wrongly transmitted or received to or from that destination.


In a seat device for a vehicle comprising a front-row seat including a driver seat and an assistant seat and a rear-row seat provided behind the front-row seat, respective front-row and rear-row seats being provided in a cabin which includes an ingress and egress opening, at a side face, the rear-row seat is configured so as to be located in a normal use position and in a stored position where a longitudinal thickness thereof is made short, and the assistant seat is configured so as to be moved rearward from a position beside the driver seat to a position which corresponds to the normal use position of the rear-row seat.

The present invention relates to a seat device for a vehicle, in which there are provided a front-row seat and a rear-row seat in a cabin which includes an ingress and egress opening at a side face.
Conventionally, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 03-235729, it is known that a middle-row seat located between a front-row seat and a rear-row seat is removed at need so as to provide a large space between the seats in a so-called one-box type of vehicle or the like, in which the rear-row (rear) seat is moved forward along a lower rail with its seat cushion being located in a sitting position, while the rear-row seat with its seat cushion being rotated upward is moved forward to form a wide load space behind the cabin.
Also, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,368, a seat slide device of an automotive vehicle is known, in which a movement range of a first-rear-row seat and a second-rear-row seat, which are supported so as to be moved in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle along a rail member, is enlarged so as to increase the seat arrangement patterns, by locating seat backs of the first-rear-row and second-rear-row seats in their upright positions for sitting, in their rearward-reclined flat positions and in their forward-folded positions, respectively.
The above-described structure, as disclosed in the former patent publication, in which the middle-row seat located between the front-row seat and the rear-row seat is removed at need, has advantage of providing the large space between the front-row seat and the rear-row seat, while it has disadvantages that the removal of the middle-row seat would require somewhat complicated operations and a particular space for storing it, and also an operation for attaching the removed middle-row seat to the vehicle body would be necessary for using it again.
Meanwhile, the above-described structure, as disclosed in the latter patent publication, in which the first-rear-row seat is moved rearward closely to the font end of the second-rear-row seat, has advantage that a relatively large and useful space can be provided between the foremost driver seat or assistant seat and the first-rear-row seat and this space can be used properly. However, since the rearward-movement range of the first-rear-row seat is so limited by the front end portion of the second-rear-row seat that the first-rear-row could not be moved rearward further sufficiently, it would be required that the seat arrangement patterns of passenger seats is increased.

Abstract: Accordingly, a space in the cabin properly can be utilized, by effectively enlarging a rearward-movement range of the front-row seat including the assistant seat with a simple structure.


A mattress insert including a substantially flat bottom surface configured to rest on a mattress and a concave portion formed in a support base opposite the flat bottom surface. The concave portion includes a recessed area between a head rest area and a leg rest area. The head rest area and leg rest area are at opposite ends of the concave portion. The head rest area and the leg rest area have a height greater than the recessed area such that the infant's head and legs are elevated. The substantially flat bottom surface of the support base extends from the head rest area to the leg rest area.

Parents of infants are normally deprived of sleep if their infant cannot sleep during the night. These parents function at less than one hundred percent due to sleep deprivation. In today's economy where both parents often work, an infant that cannot sleep at night translates to a negative effect on the productivity of two people.
Some conventional infant supports are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,176 to Houghteling; U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,770 to Nichols; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,127,120 and D333,752 to Mason; D500,622 to Owen U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,713 to Roston; U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,572 to Lee; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,981 to Lizama et al., the subject matter of each of which is incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,176 to Houghteling discloses a portable infant sleep aid that provides an inclined sleeping position to help maintain a safe sleeping position; U.S. Pat No. 5,440,770 to Nichols discloses an infant support device with a supporting surface contoured to receive an infant in an upwardly-facing inclined position; U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,120 to Mason discloses an infant support pad of constructed foam molded to a desired shape; U.S. Pat. No. D500,622 to Owen discloses a design for a support; U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,713 to Roston discloses a support apparatus for infants having support pieces for an infants head and torso; U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,572 to Lee discloses a cushion and vibration device; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,981 to Lizama et al discloses a child's flat animal shaped bed mat that includes a vibration mechanism.


The present invention is directed to a modular shutter assembly for use within various types of electrical wiring devices having differing amperage ratings. The modular shutter assembly includes a first shutter member having a first blade engagement structure. The first shutter member is configured to be disposed within an interior portion of the cover assembly and disposed between a set of receptacle openings and a set of receptacle contacts. A second shutter member includes a second blade engagement structure and is slidably disposed within the first shutter member. An interface is configured to connect a third shutter member to the modular shutter assembly and drive the third shutter into an open position only when the first shutter member and the second shutter member are simultaneously engaged by a set of plug blades.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical protection devices, and particularly to electrical protection devices with safety features.
2. Technical Background
As those of ordinary skill in the art understand, an electric circuit comprises many different electrical wiring devices disposed at various locations throughout a structure. These devices include outlet receptacles, which may be combined with other wiring devices such as switches, lighting devices and protective wiring devices. Ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), and are fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs) are examples of protective devices in electric circuits. Each of the aforementioned protective devices have interrupting contacts for breaking the connection between the line terminals and load terminals when the protective device detects a fault condition. The connection is broken to interrupt the load current and thereby remove the fault condition. Fault conditions include those that result in risk electrocution of personnel, or fire. The outlet receptacles are disposed in duplex receptacles, raceways, multiple outlet strips, power taps, extension cords, light fixtures, appliances, and the like. Duplex receptacles may be configured for installation in outlet boxes. Once installed, a faceplate may be attached to the cover of the outlet receptacle or to the junction box to complete the installation.
Most of these devices have line terminals for connection to the power line, and load terminals for connection to a load. The load terminals include receptacle contacts and feed-thru terminals. The receptacle contacts are configured to accommodate the blades of a plug connector, which are inserted to provide power to a load. Feed-thru terminals, on the other hand, are configured to accommodate wires which are connected to one or more additional receptacles, known as a downstream receptacles. The downstream receptacle may include a string of downstream receptacles that comprise a branch circuit of an electrical distribution system.
One safety issue that heretofore has not been adequately addressed relates to the insertion of foreign objects into receptacle openings. In many cases, young children and toddlers insert objects such as paper clips or screwdriver blades into the receptacle contact openings. Unfortunately, this scenario often results in an electric shock, burns, or electrocution.
In one approach that has been considered, the electrical receptacles in the wiring device are equipped with shuttered openings that prevent the insertion of foreign objects into the receptacle contact openings. One drawback to this approach relates to the ineffectiveness of related art designs. If objects are placed into both openings, the shutter will typically operate, exposing the child to a shock hazard. What is needed is a shutter mechanism that only opens when an actual plug is being inserted into the receptacle.
Another drawback to this approach relates to the complexity of related art shutters. Many shutter designs comprise multiple parts and spring elements that are not integrated into a unitary sub-assembly. The cost and time of assembling the shutter mechanism and the space taken up by their multiple parts limit the usage of these designs. Further, automated environments often generate vibrations and mechanical forces that tend to introduce failure modes. What is needed is a unitary protective shutter assembly suitable for use within automated manufacturing processes.

Protective device with tamper resistant shutters


In a communicator in a communication system, a commission information generator for generating a commission parameter to make a process on a communication between communicators performed by another computer includes a first memory for storing a secret key and an encrypter for generating N number of the commission parameters, where N is a natural number, from a first to an N-th commission parameter. The encrypter regards a j-th shared key, where j is a positive integer equal to or less than N, out of the N number of shared keys as key information, encrypts a bit sequence representation of j-th partial information, associated with the j-th shared key, out of N pieces of partial information, and thereby generates a j-th commissioned parameter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a commission information generator, a shared key calculator, a signature synthesizer, a commissioned key sharing computer and a commissioned signature generation computer, which can be applied, for example, to cases where a commissioned computer can securely process some of computations related to key exchange and authentication processes in proxy of communicators performing a communication.
2. Description of the Background Art
In order to use sensors and similar devices in social infrastructure sectors requiring high reliability and quality such as disaster prevention, traffic control, and financial applications, it is necessary to maintain the security of communications between communicators, for example, a server providing services and sensors connected thereto.
In order for a communicator such as a sensor to secure a secured end-to-end communication path with another communicator such as a service providing server, exchange of information (for authentication and exchange of keys) on an end-to-end basis is needed between the two communicators incorporated in the server and sensor.
A case in which communicators such as sensors form a power-saving multi-hop network will be discussed below. In this network, communicators such as sensors deliver data like from hand to hand. If a communicator does not participate in the data delivery, it sleeps, thus saving power consumption.
For example, where a huge number of communicators such as sensors are deployed over a broad area and a secured end-to-end communication path should be secured between each communicator and a server on the Internet, the aforementioned information exchange on the end-to-end basis raises the possibility that some problems such as congestion of power-saving multi-hop networks and increases in power consumption and processing time would take place.
A conventional solution to cope with the above-described problems is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 7,197,643 to Takase. In this method, key exchange operations are assigned to a host network to alleviate the terminal load. This is because it is difficult to introduce an end-to-end key exchange operation required for Security Architecture for Internet Protocol (IPsec) to a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) that needs small size and light weight.
In Takase, however, in order that the host network equipment acts as a proxy in execution of the key exchange operation, it is necessary that confidential information on an authentication key for the terminal device be given to the proxy equipment. Furthermore, in Takase, a shared key needs to be calculated by the proxy equipment.
For example, where proxy equipment in a network on a cloud environment is assumed or where plural proxy devices are employed, it is not very desirable to cause confidential information not associated with the proxy equipment to be treated by the proxy equipment because of the reliability of maintenance of confidential information given to the proxy equipment.

Commission information generator for making processes on communication performed by another computer


Techniques are described for generating a virtualized network function (VNF) descriptor (VNFD) indicative of resources for managing VNF components (VNFCs) across a plurality of virtualized infrastructure managers (VIMs) implemented in a virtualized computing environment configured in a user-specific configuration. A VNFD generator receives a solution description file (SDF) encoding user input pertaining to the user-specific configuration, and a VNFC descriptor encoding VNFC specific information. The SDF and VNFC descriptor are validated and translated to generate an abstracted VNFD that is independent of renderers implemented at the virtualized computing environment. The abstracted VNFD is translated to a VNFD that is specific to the renderers and VIM and VNFD-specific information at the virtualized computing environment.

Service providers can provide computing services to businesses and individuals as a remote computing service or provide "software as a service" (e.g., cloud computing). In some cases, users may deploy products and services from service providers on their own premises. When deploying and managing resources, such as virtualized resources, in a customer computing environment, various issues may arise, resulting in deployment delays which in turn can prevent the customer from providing services to their downstream users. This can lead to lost revenue and customer dissatisfaction. Production loss and inefficiencies with respect to computing resources can be exacerbated when configuration issues arise and the service provider is unable to quickly isolate and correct the cause of a misconfiguration issue.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Virtual network function descriptor generator


Circuit and method for hiding peer devices from a computer host are provided. The devices and host share a common electrical bus, e.g., a PCI bus. The method allows to generate a signal indicative of the presence of a first peer device. The method further allows to hide a second peer device from the host so that the second device is controlled by the first peer device whenever the signal indicates the presence of the first device.

The present invention generally relates to techniques for hiding peer devices in a computer bus and, more particularly, to a circuit and method for hiding peer devices in a PCI (peripheral component interconnect) bus to avoid conflicts of such devices with a host system.
It is known that requirements of high performance and reliable networks have led to advances in disk drives and in disk subsystem architectures. Disk drive storage sizes have increased, access times have decreased, and data transfer rates have increased. Processing capabilities of personal computers and workstations have also advanced. As more clients are added to a given network and the processing capability of those clients increase, there is a continuing push to further enhance the performance of disk subsystems servicing that network.
In response to the need for reliable and inexpensive disk drive subsystems, redundant array of independent disk (RAID) architectures have been developed. RAID architectures can provide error detection and duplicate storage of information on a disk drive subsystem in the event one or more disk drives in the disk drive subsystem fail. Some of the advantages provided by RAID architectures have been higher data transfer rates, increased disk capacity, higher input/output (I/O) rates, and faster data access. Depending upon which level of RAID architecture was implemented, various features, such as disk striping, mirroring, parity checking, or combinations thereof, have been used. These RAID implementations and others are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Some known RAID implementations have included in a pluggable add-in card devices such as an I/O processor loaded with suitable firmware to perform the RAID functionality, and an I/O controller coupled to a respective disk drive. In one known implementation, referred to as Zero Channel RAID (ZCR), the RAID card was simplified to include just the I/O processor and not the I/O controller. This implementation conveniently uses the I/O controller embedded on the motherboard of the host computer. Thus, this ZCR implementation reduces the cost of the RAID card since there is no need to duplicate the I/O controller circuitry provided in the motherboard of the host computer.
At least two techniques are known that have attempted to avoid conflicts that could arise when more than two control devices, such as the host system and the add-in RAID processor, try to assert control of another device, such as the embedded I/O controller. In one of such techniques, there is no attempt to hide any of the devices sharing a common bus, such as a PCI bus, from one another. Thus, whenever the host system needs to communicate with any target device, such as the embedded I/O controller, and another device, such as the add-in RAID processor, needs to communicate with that same target device, there has to be a higher level arbiter for managing communication between the RAID processor and the host system to negotiate which device is going to control the target device. The operating system supplied by the computer manufacturer somehow would have to understand how to communicate and negotiate such transaction regardless of the specific firmware and hardware of the add-in devices. It will be appreciated that this task is very complicated since such hardware and firmware may vary from vendor to vendor. Further, even if the add-in devices were supplied by a single vendor, due to the rapidly changing nature of computer technology, the hardware and firmware of such add-in devices are likely to change over time due to evolutionary changes. Thus, it is very burdensome for any supplier of operating systems, e.g., Microsoft, to support all the different mechanisms for negotiating that control.
Another technique has provided circuitry on the motherboard to intermittently hide the devices from one another. For example, when the RAID processor needs to communicate with the I/O controller, the RAID processor may send a signal to make visible or "unhide" the I/O controller. The RAID processor would run for a relatively short period of time during which communication with the I/O controller would occur. The RAID processor would then send a signal to conceal or "hide" the I/O controller. The reason for such intermittent "hiding" and "unhiding" actions is that one would want to avoid the host system to detect the presence of the I/O controller. One drawback of this technique is that prior to the time the RAID controller turns on the "unhide" signal and communicates with the I/O controller, that RAID controller has to initially request for a grant of the bus and there may be conditions where such bus grant may be denied by the host system. For example, the host system may require access to the bus at the same time. And since the host system generally has priority over control of the bus, the host may have initial access to the bus. In this scenario, once the "unhide" signal turns on, the operating system of the host would detect the presence of the I/O controller and would undesirably assume control of that controller. The fact remains that under this other technique there is a window of opportunity for conflicts between the host and the add-in RAID processor.
In view of the foregoing difficulties, it would be desirable to provide a technique that overcomes such difficulties. For example, it would be desirable that when the add-in card is plugged into an expansion slot, the I/O controller embedded in the motherboard be concealed from the operating system and such I/O controller becomes visible only to the RAID processor on the add-in card.

Circuit and method for hiding peer devices in a computer bus


Scaffoldings are usually either movable or fixed. Structures usable for both are usually too bulky and complicated, and therefore not suitable for general use. The invention provides a solution because the platforms are interchangeable on the scaffolding frames and the frame components are equipped with a grid for the connection components of the other structural components involved. The frame components are thereby, in spite of the extensive use of light structural sections, extraordinarily torsion resistant. The invention can be designed to be extensively modular.

Scaffoldings of prefabricated structural components, which are to be fastened stationarily to the building, and, if necessary, can be converted into movable scaffoldings, have been known for a long time. However, an extensive use of these scaffoldings is hindered by the platforms not being able to be connected at variable heights to the scaffolding frames, and, in particular, also not being able to be installed and removed or elevationally shifted as desired and without a large effort for the complete assembly of the scaffolding. The locks usually used for connecting the remaining structural components to the posts are quite susceptible to wear, require considerable labor for installation and removal, and are also cumbersome during transport and stacking of the frame components. The connecting of the spars and reinforcements is fixed at certain heights by the stationary scaffolding and has little flexibility in order to be able to also be successfully used on a mobile scaffolding, on which these heights must be significantly more variable. The laterally defining scaffolding frames differ in addition from the others by having rigidly fastened ladder rungs for climbing so that a second type of frame components must be provided.
The basic purpose of the invention is therefore to provide a frame component of the type discussed in detail above in such a manner that the disadvantages of the conventional scaffolding frames are eliminated, and, in particular, that the platforms can be suspended, removed and changed as desired on a completely assembled scaffolding. The connection of all structural components on the posts is possible in a simple manner with similar connecting components and at relatively narrow-joints elevationally positioned on a grid. The frame components can be equipped also with crossbars serving as ladder rungs. The frame components must be easily stackable, and must be designed such that none of the side surfaces parallel to the building, on which work is to be done, is designed with a protrusion and that each of these side surfaces can be used as a work front.


Disclosed are a pincer-type ligand having a structurally rigid acridane structure and a metal complex consisting of the pincer-type ligand and a metal bound to each other, and exhibiting high reactivity and stability during a variety of bonding activation reactions. T-shaped complexes can be prepared from acriPNP(4,5-bis(diisopropylphosphino)-2,7,9,9-tetramethyl-9H-acridin-10-ide), which is a pincer-type PNP ligand having an acridane structure, and metal complexes, which can be structurally rigid and thus exhibit excellent reactivity and stability based on minimized structural change thereof, can be prepared by introducing an acridane structure into the backbone thereof. The PNP ligand is structurally stable and has novel chemical properties, as compared to conventional similar ligands, and thus can be utilized in a wide range of catalytic reactions and material chemistry.

The catalyst market is estimated to be about 20 trillion won worldwide, from which many chemical processes are derived. Various organometallic complexes have been utilized as catalysts and in particular, coordinatively unsaturated metal complexes have received a great deal of attention due to certain electronic structure and reactivity thereof (P. G. Eller et al., Coord. Chem. Rev. 1977, 24, 1; S. Alvarez, Coord. Chem. Rev. 1999, 193, 13). For example, three-coordinate metal centers are generally designed to adopt the systems of triangular plane (D3h) coordinates in order to minimize the steric repulsion between three donors. However, the d9 system may adopt a T-shaped structure to solve the Jahn-Teller forbidden state shown in FIG. 1 (S. Alvarez, Coord. Chem. Rev. 1999, 193, 13; P. Pietrzyk et al., Chem. Eur. J. 2009, 15, 11802; N. A. Eckert et al., Inorg. Chem. 2005, 44, 7702). As a result, potentially reactive binding sites that can be sterically accessible to small molecules are created. Since unpaired electrons occupy the dx2-y2 orbital, T-shaped complexes are ideal candidates to utilize reactivity associated with metalloradicals (B. B. Wayland et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 5305; B. B. Wayland et al., Inorg. Chem. 1992, 31, 148; A. Studer, D. P. Curran, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 58). However, it is difficult to prepare a T-type morphology and previous attempts have often been made with Y-shaped structures using β-diketiminate (N. A. Eckert et al., Inorg. Chem. 2005, 44, 7702; B. Horn et al., Allg. Chem. 2011, 637, 1169; S. Pfirrmann et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 3357; Angew. Chem. 2009, 121, 3407; G. Bai et al., Organometallics 2005, 24, 5901), N-heterocyclic carbene (C. A. Laskowski et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 18272; M. J. Page et al., Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 2158; K. Zhang et al., Organometallics 2011, 30, 2546) and bulker phosphine ligands (R. Beck et al., Dalton Trans. 2013, 42, 1461; E. E. Marlier et a; Inorg. Chem. 2011, 50, 9290; V. M. Iluc et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 11890; V. V. Saraev et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 2008, 112, 12449). In addition, pincer-type ligands have been studied to accommodate T-shaped sterically protected metal centers (D. Adhikari et al., Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 10479; S. S. Rozenel et al., Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 11544; M. J. Ingleson et al., Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 407). Unfortunately, structural flexibility excluded successful separation of desired species (D. Adhikari et al., Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 10479; S. S. Rozenel et al., Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 11544).
Reactions involving two metals, apart from standard radical-type reactions, can be a potent method to improve the availability of dx2-y2-based radicals. For example, it has been previously reported that two RhII-d7 porphyrin complexes operate together to activate methane (FIG. 1(b), B. B. Wayland et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 5305; B. B. Wayland et al., Inorg. Chem. 1992, 31, 148). A similar method with T-shaped d9 species is possible and is currently under investigation. NiI is particularly interesting because it is often involved in cross-coupling reactions and small molecule activation. Thus, the key to utilize the inherent reactivity of metals is to prepare structurally rigid supporting ligands that will allow for cooperative binuclear reactions.
As described above, T-shaped metal complexes are useful due to certain electronic structure and reactivity thereof, but have a problem of difficulty associated with manufacturing. Accordingly, there is a need for structurally rigid ancillary ligands that can be utilized for binuclear reactions using inherent reactivity of metals, while solving the problem.
As a result of intensive efforts to solve the aforementioned problems, the present inventors have found that T-shaped NiI complexes having acriPNP (4,5-bis(diisopropylphosphino)-2,7,9,9-tetramethyl-9H-acridin-10-ide), which is a pincer-type PNP ligand having an acridane structure, can be prepared, and that metal complexes, which can be structurally rigid and thus exhibit excellent reactivity and stability based on minimized structural change thereof, can be prepared by introducing an acridane structure into the backbone thereof, and that the metal complexes can participate in a number of certain various bond activation reactions, thereby completing the present invention.

Pincer-type ligand having acridane structure and metal complex using the same

KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


The invention relates to a high-resistant, low-density hot laminated sheet steel comprising the following elements expressed in weight per cent: 0.04%:9 carbon≦0.5%; 0.05%≦manganese≦3%, being able to contain hardening elements: 0.01%≦niobium≦0.1 0.01%≦titanium≦0.2% 0.01≦vanadium≦0.2%, either individually or combined, and/or elements acting on the transformation temperatures, 0.0005%≦boron≦0.005%; 0.05%≦nickel≦2%; 0.05%≦chrome≦2%; 0.05%≦molybdenum≦2%, either individually or combined, the remainder being iron and elements which are inherent to production, characterized in that it comprises: 2%≦silicon≦10%; 1%≦aluminium≦10%. The invention also relates to the production thereof.

It is becoming a necessity to lighten motor vehicles because of the requirement to reduce CO2 emissions to 140 g/Km by 2008. This lightening may be achieved only by increasing the level of mechanical strength of steels in order to compensate for the reduction in sheet thickness. It is therefore necessary to increase the mechanical properties while reducing the thicknesses of the sheet with which the parts used are produced. This approach reaches its limits with the reduction in rigidity of the parts and the appearance of noise and vibrations unacceptable in the intended applications in the automobile field, where noise is a discomfort.

Very-high-strength and low-density, hot-rolled steel sheet and manufacturing process


The present disclosure provides a removable plug configured to preclude the release of gases through a thief hatch positioned on a hydrocarbon tank.

Servicing of hydrocarbon storage tanks frequently requires opening of a hatch known as the "thief hatch." Unfortunately, opening of the thief hatch will release gases from the tank to the atmosphere. Workers in the vicinity of the thief hatch will be exposed to higher concentrations of hydrocarbon gases. As a result, these workers must frequently wear respirators designed to protect them from hydrocarbon gases. The industry would benefit from an apparatus or system configured to block the release of hydrocarbon gases through the thief hatch during servicing of the thief hatch. In particular, a need exists for a device which securely fits within the thief hatch without blocking the top lip or flange of the hatch thereby permitting servicing of the top lip without exposing the worker to hydrocarbon gases.