A granular moving-bed apparatus is introduced to have an inlet louvered wall, an outlet louvered wall opposing to the inlet louvered wall, a granular path formed in between, a plurality of serial roof-shaped flow-corrective elements located along the granular path, and a predetermined type of granular materials flowing inside the granular path. The inlet louvered wall and the outlet louvered wall are particularly constructed to form serial hopper-shaped structures that define the granular path. The roof-shaped flow-corrective element is systematically displaced with respect to the hopper-shaped structure by specific criteria so that problems of corrosions, plaques and stagnant zones formed to the louvered walls of the apparatus can be avoided.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a granular moving-bed apparatus, and more particularly to a louver-type reactor which is used to remove inflow dusts, multi-contaminants such as H2S, SOx, NOx, HCl, alkali, ammonia, etc.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In the art of removing particles or multi-contaminants from a gas, a granular moving-bed filter or reactor is usually utilized to achieve so by introducing the contaminated gas to pass through a louver-type reactor which allows granular materials to flow slowly thereinside. The dust-removing mechanism of the louver-type reactor is carried out by sending the contaminated gas into the reactor through a louvered wall, then having the contaminated gas pass through a curtain formed by slow-moving granular materials inside the reactor so as to leave the particles and the multi-contaminants with the granular materials, and finally fleeing the gas with a substantial clean state through another louvered wall of the reactor. In the art, the apparatus described above is called a granular moving-bed apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic view of a conventional granular moving-bed reactor is shown. The reactor 4 includes an inlet louvered wall 41, an outlet louvered wall 42 and a granular path 43 formed in between for flowing the granular materials 2. As shown, the contaminated gas flow 3 is introduced into the reactor 4 through the inlet louvered wall 41, then contacts with the slow-moving granular materials 2 moving slowly along the path 43, and flows out of the reactor 4 from the outlet louvered wall 42 as a filtered gas flow 3′. In both the inlet and outlet louvered walls 41 and 43 as shown, it is noted that each of the side walls 41 and 43 of the reactor 4 is formed as a shutter wall so that a plurality of serial hopper-shaped structures 44 can be obtained. The hopper-shaped structure 44 is profiled by an inlet guide plate 411 of the inlet louvered wall 41 and an outlet guide plate 421 of the outlet louvered wall 42, by which the granular materials can be stacked and move slowly along the path 43 so as to generate an effective filtration curtain for the penetrating gas flow 3 and 3′.
Referring to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, computer-simulation results for downstream velocity distributions on selected surfaces of the hopper-shaped structure 44 are shown, in which the inclination θ for both the inlet and outlet guide plates 411 and 421 is 40°, the V symbols the downstream velocity, and the U symbols the lateral velocity. As shown in FIG. 2B, it is easy to see that non-uniform distribution of V exists in all selected horizontal levels a, b, c, d and e.
By realizing the results of FIG. 2B, a schematic view of the flow of the granular materials 2 as shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained. As shown, in each hopper-shaped structure 44, a flowing core zone 21, a quasi-stagnant zone 22 and a stagnant zone 23 are formed. Upon such a granular flow distribution in the hopper-shaped structure 44, it is inevitable that chemical products from reactions or dust from filtration between the granular materials and the contaminated gas flow 3 residue along the inlet and outlet guide plates 411 and 421, and by which problems of corrosion, plaques, stagnant zones and so on can be formed to the side walls 41 and 42.
It is obvious that the aforesaid problems of the reactor 4 are mainly caused by the non-uniform flow distribution in each hopper-shaped structure 44. In the art, to achieve a uniform flow distribution of the granular materials 2 along the granular path 43 of the reactor 4, some efforts have been made to build in various flow-dividing structures into each hopper-shaped structure 44.
One of aforesaid efforts is Germany patent number DE 3830618 A1 by Priefer et al., whose major technique is shown in FIG. 4. Priefer et al. disclose a granular moving-bed apparatus whose hopper structure 44 includes a roof-shaped divider 441 located symmetrically in the granular path 43 to bifurcate the granular flow. In Priefer et al., the inclinations θ of the inlet guide plate 411 and the outlet guide plate 421 and the roof inclination α of the roof-shaped divider 441 are all 45°. A basic assumption to Priefer et al. is that the flow of the granular materials in the granular path will be a perfect flow. Therefore, by arranging the tip 4411 of the roof-shaped divider 411 flush with an image line connecting the lower ends 4110 and 4210 of the inlet guide plate 411 and the outlet guide plate 421, respectively, flux on each flow section of the granular path 43 will be the same so that the uniform flow distribution of the granular materials 2 can be achieved.
Nevertheless, it is well known that the ideal situation does never exist in a real world. Even that a basic model for including in-flow dividers has been taught by Priefer et al., still, a practical and satisfied apparatus can only be achieved on a trial-and-error base. Apparently, the problem yet to be resolved in the art is how an optimal placement of the roof-shaped structure can be determined. Especially, it is obvious that different granular materials will present different properties, flowability for instance, and the filtration results as well. Therefore, unless an answer or a methodology can be provided, or the cost and labor in constructing an efficient granular moving-bed apparatus for air filtration cannot be saved.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Systems and methods to assist wireless telecom service providers to determine the optimal core network evolution plan in a network planning time period. Total cost of ownership of wireless core networks is generally modeled to include capital expenditure, customer acquisition and retention cost, network operational cost and staffing and engineering cost. The total cost of ownership model is used to determine the optimal core network evolution plan at different layers of the core networks, which are modeled as a number of abstract networks in mathematical terms. A core network evolution optimization algorithm determines the optimal number of core network configurations and when to deploy the configurations in the planning period in order to minimize the total cost of ownership. A multi-level serving area optimization algorithm determines an optimal core network configuration at a given point of time.

The wireless telecommunications industry has been experiencing a tremendous growth and an important transition period in the past few years and, as a result, is often characterized by fierce competition between wireless service providers. In an attempt to increase revenues and profits, it is generally important for the service providers to provide better services with lower costs.
A wireless telecommunication network consists of a wireless access network and a wireless core network. The wireless access network allows subscribers access to the network through its Radio Frequency (RF) equipment so that telecommunication services can be delivered to subscribers. Wireless core networks generally provide the network functionalities other than RF to subscribers, including mobility management, voice call management, packet session management, and transport for voice and data traffic.
FIG. 1 illustrates a GSM/GPRS network 100. Wireless networks of other technologies are similar to the one shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, different types of core network elements, such as BSCs 110, MSCs 112, GMSCs 114, SGSNs 116, and GGSNs 118, work together with RF equipment at Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) 120 to provide telecommunication services to subscribers. In a typical wireless network, there are a number of BTSs with RF equipment for providing wireless network access to subscribers. A BTS provides RF coverage of a certain geographic area where subscribers' Mobile Stations (MSs) are able to place and receive telephone calls and packet data (e.g., emails).
When a subscriber places or receives a voice call in the coverage area of a BTS, the wireless network establishes a wireless connection between the subscriber's MS and the BTS. If the subscriber moves around, the subscriber may leave the coverage area of the BTS, and enter the coverage area of another BTS. In this case the wireless network performs a procedure called handover, where the first BTS hands over the subscriber's voice call to the second BTS. Due to the mobility of mobile subscribers, there are a number of handovers between adjacent BTSs, especially in those heavy mobility areas.
BTSs are controlled by a type of core network equipment, named Base Station Controller (BSC). BSCs provide mobility management functionality to the network. A BSC has a parent-to-child (one-to-multiple) relationship to the BTSs that it controls. BTSs controlled by a BSC form the serving area of the BSC. BSCs are connected to a type of core network equipment, called a Mobile Switching Center (MSC). MSCs provide voice call processing and switching functionality to subscribers. An MSC has a parent-to-child (one-to-multiple) relationship to the BSCs to which it is connected. The BSCs connected to an MSC form the serving area of the MSC.
BSCs are also connected to another type of core network equipment, called a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN). SGSNs process packet data traffic, and provide mobility management and packet data services to subscribers. An SGSN has a parent-to-child (one-to-multiple) relationship to the BSCs to which it is connected. The BSCs connected to an MSC form the serving area of the SGSN.
A Home Location Register (HLR) is a database storing subscriber profiles and locations in terms of MSC serving areas. A Gateway MSC (GMSC) provides gateway functionality between wireless networks and the wired network Public Switching Telephony Network (PSTN). A Gateway GSN (GGSN) provides gateway functionality between wireless networks and fixed data networks (e.g., the Internet). Network elements in a typical wireless network as illustrated in FIG. 1 are connected through different types of transport facilities, such as T1s, T3s, OC-3, OC-12, and OC-48.
A network configuration refers to a particular parent-to-child connectivity between different types of network equipment at different levels, such as BSC-to-BTS relationships, MSC-to-BSC relationships, SGSN-to-BSC relationships, and so forth. When those relationships are changed, it is considered that the network is evolved to a new network configuration.
As the number of subscribers grows, more network equipment needs to be deployed for accommodating the forecasted network traffic. In a GSM/GPRS network, for example, additional BTSs may be planned to be introduced, and the traffic on the existing BTSs may also grow. As a consequence, additional core network equipment, such as BSCs, MSCs, and SGSNs, needs to be deployed. The BTS-to-BSC, BSC-to-MSC, and BSC-to-SGSN parenting relationships need to be adjusted so that the capacity of the core network equipment is utilized to its maximum level and the network is maintained at a high performance level. Maximum network capacity with additional equipment is achieved by balancing the equipment load across the network through serving area adjustments. The serving areas of the BSCs, MSCs and SGSNs in the network are adjusted through network element re-homes, which are the re-assigning of those network nodes to different parenting equipment.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for minimizing the total cost of ownership for wireless core networks while maintaining high network performance. In other words, preferred embodiments of the invention minimize the total cost of deploying, operating and maintaining a wireless core network. These methods and systems generally model wireless core networks, analyze the total cost of maintaining the networks, and provide an optimal network configuration with lowest total cost of ownership while guaranteeing high network performance.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a mathematical model for calculating the total cost of ownership of a wireless core network for a given time period. The model reflects the different types of cost for owning a wireless core network, including network equipment cost, customer acquisition and retention cost, facility leasing cost, and network engineering cost. The model also characterizes the total cost of ownership as the core network evolves over time to cope with subscriber growth and mobility pattern changes.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for minimizing the total cost of ownership for wireless core networks. A multi-level server area optimization algorithm is applied to different types of wireless core networks, such as GSM, GPRS, CDMA and UMTS, for determining optimal equipment serving areas which result in the lowest total cost of owning a core network at any given time. A recursive algorithm is defined to optimize sequencing of the network configuration that minimizes total cost over time across the network planning horizon.
It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other system or methods for carrying out the same purposes of preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent systems and methods do not depart from the spirit and scope of preferred embodiments of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

System and method for reduction of cost of ownership for wireless communication networks


Techniques are disclosed for reclaiming resources within a distributed computing system. A reclamation application searches the distributed computing architecture for unused resources, classifies the unused resources, and determines an expiration period based on the classification. The reclamation application determines a candidate owner of the resource based on one or more characteristics of the resource. The reclamation application then notifies the candidate owner that the resource is to be reclaimed unless claimed by the candidate owner within the expiration period. If the candidate owner claims the resource within the expiration period, then the reclamation application terminates the reclamation of the resource. If the candidate owner does not claim the resource within the expiration period, then the reclamation application reclaims the resource after the duration of the expiration period. Advantageously, reclaiming resources results in more efficient utilization of resources, lower operation and maintenance costs, and improved system security.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to distributed computing systems and methods, and more specifically to reclaiming unused resources in a networked application environment.
Description of Related Art
A broad variety of computing applications have been made available to users over computer networks. Frequently, a networked application may be provided using multiple interacting computing nodes within a distributed computing architecture. For example, a web site may be provided using a web server (running on one node within the distributed computing system) configured to receive requests from users for web pages. The requests can be passed to an application server (running on another node within the distributed computing system), which in turn processes the requests and generate responses passed back to the web server, and ultimately to the users.
Another example of a networked application includes a content distribution system used to provide access to media titles over a network. Typically, a content distribution system may include various servers such as access servers and content servers. Clients may connect to the servers using a content player, such as a gaming console, computing system, computing tablet, mobile telephone, or network-aware DVD player. The content server stores files (or "streams") available for download from the content server to the content player. Each stream may provide a digital version of various forms of video or other content, such as a movie, a television program, a sporting event, user generated content, or a staged or live event captured by recorded video. Users access the service by connecting to a web server, where a list of content is available. Once a request for a particular title is received, the title may be streamed to the client system over a connection to an available content server.
One problem with distributed computing systems is that networked applications running on systems such as these often accumulate multiple resources, such as storage volumes and licenses for software applications, some of which may have fallen into disuse. Unused resources could be redeployed to other networked applications where the resources would be utilized more efficiently. In addition, users may pay for reserving or maintaining resources within the distributed computing architecture. Where resources have fallen into disuse, users may be paying for resources that are underutilized. Further, security vulnerabilities may arise when resources fall into disuse. Unused resources may not receive software updates, including updates to resolve security problems, and thus present a security risk to the distributed computing system. While unused resources may be reclaimed manually, some unused resources may be inadvertently missed due to human error, while other unused resources may be difficult to discover using manual processes.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed is a more automated way to discover and reclaim resources that have fallen into disuse.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for reclaiming unused resources in a networked application environment


A suspension arm whose required strength is relatively small and which improves efficiency of space utilization. The arm body of the lower arm of a front suspension has a C-shaped cross section which is open toward the bottom. The top face of the arm body is positioned under a load acting plane. The shear center of cross section of the arm body can be positioned substantially in the vicinity of the load acting plane. A torsion caused by an input load is reduced, so that the arm body has an excellent torsional rigidity. Since the load acting plane is located outside the arm body, a space provided outside the arm body can be increased accordingly. Further, since a required strength of the lower arm can be made smaller, the cross sectional area of the lower arm can be decreased. This decreases the distance between the closed end and the open end of the arm body, thereby providing a sufficiently large space outside the arm body with a resultant improved efficiency of space utilization. This increase in space is advantageous to the positional relationship between the lower arm and a steering gear.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension arm having an arm body of an open cross sectional configuration which is open in one direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 14, in an L- or A-shaped suspension arm 100 which forms part of a suspension, the outer end thereof is supported to a wheel carrier side via a ball joint 102, and the corner and inner end thereof are supported to a vehicle body side via bushings 104 and 106, respectively, at the forward position and the backward position of the vehicle. An input load applied through the center (point D) of the ball joint 102 is borne at the center (point A) of the bushing 104 at the forward position of the vehicle as well as at the center (point B) of the bushing 106 at the backward position of the vehicle. Accordingly, the load acting plane P, in which an input load applied to the arm 100 acts, is defined by a plane including points D, A, and B.
The arm 100 is formed by welding together two press-worked plates as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 or by pressing one plate such that it has an open cross sectional configuration which is open toward the bottom. The arm 100 is formed such that the load acting plane P is interposed between the upper and lower faces of the arm 100.
As shown in FIG. 11, in a front suspension, a steering gear 118 is disposed above and in the vicinity of the arm 100 serving as a lower arm of the front suspension. In order to obtain a sufficiently large engine room space and to make the front suspension compact, it is preferable that the steering gear 118 be disposed as close as possible to the arm 100 (that dimension L between the bottom face of the arm 100 and the steering gear 118 of FIG. 12 be reduced), thereby lowering the position of the steering gear 118. However, as shown in FIG. 8, it is necessary to maintain a predetermined clearance between a tie rod 120 and the arm 100, thereby limiting the closeness between the arm 100 and the steering gear 118. As mentioned above, the load acting plane P is interposed between the top and bottom faces of the arm 100. Therefore, the height of the arm 100 is relatively large, thus restricting the low-level disposition of the steering gear 118. This restricts the desired increase in engine room space and the desired attainment of a compact suspension.
The required clearance between the arm 100 and the steering gear 118 restricts the level of the top face of the arm 100. Also, since a required clearance must be maintained between the steering gear 118 and parts disposed within the engine room, the degree of freedom for the disposition of the top face of the arm 100 is relatively small.
Further, since the arm 100 must be located a predetermined height above the road surface, the position of the bottom face thereof is also restricted. Accordingly, the degree of freedom for the disposition of the bottom face of the arm 100 is also small.
In order to dispose the steering gear 118 as close as possible to the arm 100, the cross section of the arm 100 may be made flat, as shown in FIG. 9. However, so long as the top face of the arm 100 is located above the load acting plane P, the steering gear 118 cannot be disposed at a sufficiently low level.
In order to dispose the steering gear 118 at a sufficiently low level, the top face of the arm 100 may be brought under the load acting plane P. However, in this case, as shown in FIG. 13, the centroid G of cross section of the arm 100 and the shear center S of the arm 100 are located under the load acting plane P. This causes an increase in the offset OS from the load acting plane P of the centroid G and the shear center S as compared with the case where the load acting plane P is interposed between the top and bottom faces of the arm 100, resulting in an increased bending moment caused by an input load applied to the arm 100. As a result, the arm 100 tends to be easily twisted. This causes a strength disadvantage in the arm 100 and reduces the torsional rigidity of the arm 100, which is required for stable travel of a vehicle. To cope with this problem, the cross sectional area of the arm 100 must be increased through, for example, increasing the thickness of the arm 100.
A suspension arm having an open cross section as shown in FIG. 10 is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. 1-93108. The suspension arm of FIG. 10 has a simple and lightweight structure, but is still poor in efficiency of space utilization, because the load acting plane P is interposed between the upper face and lower end thereof.
In the arm 100 having an open cross sectional configuration, the shear center S can be positioned closer to the closed end thereof (the upper face thereof) as compared with an arm 100 having a closed cross sectional configuration.


The disclosure is directed to methods and apparatuses for seamless and efficient wireless handoffs of an access terminal between access points in a communication network. The access points include memory configured to buffer packets received from a network for the access terminal, a processor configured to queue one of the packets for over the air transmission to the access terminal and fragment the data in the queued packet into multiple frames, and a transmitter configured to transmit the framed data over the air to the access terminal. The processor is further configured to maintain an indicator relating to the portion of the data in the queued packet that remains to be transmitted.

1 Field
The present disclosure relates generally to telecommunications, and more particularly, to methods and apparatuses for seamless and efficient wireless handoffs.
2 Background
In conventional wireless communications, an access network is generally employed to connect any number of wireless communications devices or access terminals to wide area networks, such as the Internet or a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The access network is typically implemented with multiple fixed-site Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) dispersed throughout a geographic region. The geographic region is generally subdivided into smaller regions known as cells. Each BTS may be configured to provide a point of access to various wide area networks for all terminals in its respective cell. As such, the BTS is often referred to as an "access point". A Base Station Controller (BSC) within the access network is often used to interface each access point to the various gateways to the wide area networks. By way of example, the BSC may provide access to the Internet, or other packet-based networks, through a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN). The BSC may also provide access to a PSTN, or other circuit-switched networks, through a Mobile Switching Center (MSC). Because the BSC is conceptually positioned at the edge of the access network, it is often referred to as an "edge function".
Each access point includes a physical layer to support an air interface with the access terminals in its cellular region. A Radio Link Protocol (RLP) above the physical layer in the access point may be used to provide for greater reliability for data transmission. In particular, the RLP interface between the access point and an access terminal provides for the retransmission of data to achieve a lower higher layer packet error rate than the physical layer could achieve alone. In the access point, the RLP may also fragment higher layer packets from the edge function into physical layer frames for over the air transmission on the forward link. The "forward link" refers to transmissions from the access point to the access terminal, and the "reverse link" refers to transmissions from the access terminal to the access point. In the reverse direction, the RLP reassembles physical layer frames it receives from the access terminal into higher level packets for transmission to the edge function.
As the access terminal roams through the access network, it may need to be handed off from a serving access point to a target access point. During handoff, the access terminal terminates the RLP interface with the serving access point and establishes a new RLP interface with the target access point. The process of tearing down and reestablishing a RLP interface may reduce efficiency and causes undesirable latencies during handoff.

Method and apparatus for seamless and efficient wireless handoffs


The invention provides, in one embodiment, a sling assembly including two separate slings or sling sections connected via a removable or biodegradable connection mechanism such that the tension in the sling assembly can be readily adjusted after the sling assembly is surgically implanted.

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) affects primarily women and is generally caused by two conditions, intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD) and hypermobility. These conditions may occur independently or in combination. In ISD, the urinary sphincter valve, located within the urethra, fails to close properly (coapt), causing urine to leak out of the urethra during stressful activity. Hypermobility is a condition in which the pelvic floor is distended, weakened, or damaged, causing the bladder neck and proximal urethra to rotate and descend in response to increases in intra-abdominal pressure (e.g., due to sneezing, coughing, straining, etc.). The result is that there is an insufficient response time to promote urethral closure and, consequently, urine leakage and/or flow results.
A popular treatment of SUI involves implanting a supportive sling under a patient's bladder neck or mid-urethra to provide a urethral platform. Placement of the surgical sling limits the endopelvic fascia drop while providing compression to the urethral sphincter to improve coaptation. Typically, a protective sleeve encloses the sling during the placement procedure. Once the surgical sling assembly, which includes the sling and the sleeve, is correctly positioned in the patient's periurethral tissues, the sleeve is physically removed from about or slid off the sling and withdrawn from the patient's body, leaving behind only the sling in the patient's tissues.
Proper tension of a sling is critical for the sling to achieve its intended functions. If the sling is too loosely associated with its intended physiological environment, it may be ineffective in supporting the urethra and treating incontinence. If the sling is too tightly placed, several complications can arise, including urine retention, erosion and/or severing of the urethra or other damage to surrounding tissue. Additionally, even when a sling is placed with the appropriate amount of the tension, a patient's body may undergo changes, such as weight gain, that may cause over-tensioning. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to modify the sling tension subsequent to the sling placement.
Accordingly, improved surgical slings for which tension can be readily adjusted subsequent to implantation are needed for better treatment of SUI.

Tension-adjustable surgical sling assembly


An integrated contact is disposed on the end of a conical coil form. Fine magnet wire is soldered to the integrated contact and wound around the coil form to fabricate a high-frequency inductor for use in high-frequency chokes and other high-frequency devices. In one embodiment, the integrated contact is plated on the tip of a polyiron coil form and less than one turn of wire is wrapped around the plated portion of the polyiron coil form. The integrated contact has reduced contact area, reducing capacitive coupling and improving high-frequency electrical performance.

Active high-frequency devices, such as transistors and biased diodes, require a connection to a power supply to operate. The power supply is typically a direct-current ("DC") power supply, and the bias path from the power supply to the active high-frequency device should provide low impedance at DC, but very high impedance at the frequency of interest. The component used to establish the bias path from the power supply to the active high-frequency device is commonly called a high-frequency "choke."
An ideal high-frequency choke would consist of a single inductor that provided high impedance over all frequencies of interest. However, the equivalent circuit of a single inductor at high frequencies is a complex LRC circuit due to capacitances between individual turns of the coil and the presence of a surrounding enclosure, which are typically referred to as parasitic capacitances, and series resistance of the wire. This equivalent LRC circuit can have several resonant frequencies within the intended frequency range of use. At certain resonant frequencies, the inductor will appear as a low-impedance path loading the transmission line, resulting in large reflections and transmission loss.
Since simple inductors are not ideal high-frequency chokes, and may have relatively low self-resonate frequencies, they are often limited to narrow-band applications. Consequently, typical chokes may employ several series inductors along with resistors and capacitors to minimize the effect of the aforementioned parasitic capacitances.
Wide-band inductors for use in high-frequency chokes have been developed. One example uses fine, insulated wire wrapped in a conical fashion and the interior is filled with a ferromagnetic material, such as polyiron. In one instance, wire is wrapped around a tapered polyiron core. In another instance, a conical coil is wound around a mandrel, removed from the mandrel, and filled with polyiron-loaded epoxy, which hardens into a solid core. Polyiron is generally iron oxide powder mixed with various polymers to form a non-conductive solid material that is magnetically lossy at high frequencies. Polyiron is used to absorb electromagnetic waves in the frequency range of about 0.5 GHz to 120 GHz.
FIG. 1A shows a side view of a prior art conical inductor coil 10. A lead 12 extends from a narrow end 14 of the conical inductor coil 10 for connection to a microwave circuit (see FIG. 1C, ref. num. 24), and another lead 16 extends from a wide end 18 of the conical inductor coil 10 for connection to bias circuitry (not shown). Insulated magnet wire is typically used to wind the coil, and the ends of the leads 12, 16 are stripped of insulation and soldered to their respective circuits. It is desirable to keep the lead 12 as short as possible. If the lead 12 is too long, the high impedance of the inductor will be transformed (i.e. rotated) to a low-impedance contact at the soldering point and cause large reflections at certain frequencies; however, the lead 12 must be sufficiently long to allow soldering to the microwave circuit.
FIG. 1B shows an end view of the conical inductor coil 10 of FIG. 1A filled with polyiron 20. The polyiron 20 is a tapered core that the conical inductor coil 10 is wrapped around. Alternatively, the conical inductor coil is filled with a liquid resin-polyiron composition that cures to a solid polyiron core inside the conical inductor coil.
FIG. 1C shows a plan view of the conical inductor coil 10 of FIG. 1A electrically soldered to a microwave circuit 24, such as a microstrip circuit. Insulation has been removed from an end 12′ of the lead 12, and the end 12′ is electrically soldered to a center conductor 22 of the microstrip circuit 24 with solder 26.
In order to avoid the problems associated with the length of the lead 12 degrading electrical performance, conical inductor coils have been soldered in a through-hole of an air coaxial transmission line. The stripped end of wire from the narrow end of the conical inductor coil is inserted in the through-hole, and is soldered to the center conductor. Soldering the lead in the through-hole allows the length of the lead to be quite short compared to the end 12′ of the lead 12 shown in FIG. 1C; however, air coaxial transmission lines are difficult to connect to many types of microwave devices, such as thin-film circuits and microwave integrated circuits, that are often included in hybrid microcircuits.
FIG. 2A shows an isometric side view of another prior art inductor coil assembly 30 with a metal end contact 32. A conical coil 34 of magnet wire is wound around a polyiron core 36. The metal end contact 32 is machined from brass or other metal and is pressed directly against the microwave circuit (not shown) with a spring (not shown), thus avoiding the problems arising from soldering the lead to the microwave circuit (see FIG. 1A–1C, ref. num. 12). Bias circuits with such inductor coil assemblies 30 are used in microwave chokes operating up to 50 GHz, and have been shipped in MODEL 8510 network analyzers, available from AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. of Palo Alto, Calif.
FIG. 2B shows an exploded view of portions of the inductor coil assembly 30 of FIG. 2A. The polyiron core 36 includes a tapered section 38 that the wire of the conical coil is wrapped around. The metal end contact 32 is joined to the polyiron core 36 with an insulator 40 of polyamide. A contact post 42 of the metal end contact 32 fits inside the insulator 40. An end of the wire (not shown) is soldered to the metal end contact 32 and wound around the polyiron core 36, including the portion of the contact post 42 that extends into the polyiron core 36.
Unfortunately, a few turns (typically 3–4) of the wire are wound around the contact post 42, which reduces the inductance of the coil and increases the capacitance of the inductor coil assembly 30 near its tip. Similarly, the metal end contact 32 is relatively large, allowing it to act as a microwave stub at a relatively low frequency, and the large contact area forms a capacitor between the metal end contact 32 and the ground plane of a microstrip circuit. This reduction of inductance and increase in capacitance reduces the self-resonant frequency and operating range of the inductor coil assembly 30.

High-frequency inductor with integrated contact


A transfer apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of transferring an image satisfactorily using developing agent are disclosed. A transfer system includes photosensitive drums corresponding to the respective colors arranged along the outer peripheral surface of a transfer belt and intermediate transfer rollers arranged offset downstream side from the respective photosensitive drums for applying a transfer field to the respective photosensitive drums. The transfer belt is configured of a material such as polyimide or polycarbonate in which a surge current of not less than a specified value flows immediately after application of a transfer voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus and an image forming apparatus which form images by an electrophotographic method using developing agent transferred onto a transfer material (for example, a paper) with a transfer belt.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, demand has increased to form a full-color image as well as a monochromatic image by an image forming apparatus of electrophotographic type, and such an electrophotographic full-color image forming apparatus is under development. Normally, the full-color image forming apparatus forms images using color toner (developing agent) corresponding to each image data of a plurality of colors decomposed from a color image. For example, the same color image is read through each of the filters of each color (red, green, blue) of the three primary colors for additive color mixture, and an image data of each color (cyan, magenta, yellow) of at least the three primary colors for subtractive color mixture is created from the read data. Based on the image data of each color, a visible image is generated using toner of the corresponding color, and these visible images of the respective colors are superposed one on another thereby to form a full-color image.
In this full-color image forming apparatus, the exposure process, the development process and the transfer process are required for each color, while at the same time occurring the problem of aligning the visible images of the respective colors in position. In view of this situation, the rate at which the full-color image is formed is apparently considered lower than the rate at which the monochromatic image is formed. To overcome this problem, a full-color image forming apparatus of tandem type has conventionally been proposed in which a plurality of image forming units for forming visible images of different colors are arranged in line on the outer peripheral surface of a rotatable semiconductive endless belt along the direction of movement thereof, so that a full color image may be formed before the endless belt makes at least one rotation.
To increase the speed of forming a full-color image, the full-color image forming apparatus of tandem type employs an intermediate transfer method in which the visible images of the respective colors formed in the image forming units are superposed one on another on the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt and then transferred onto the paper, or a transfer conveyance method in which the visible images of the respective colors formed by the image forming units are transferred sequentially onto the surface of a transfer material (for example, a paper) conveyed by adsorption on the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-039651 (1998) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-293437 (1998) and Japanese Patent No. 2574804).
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of the essential portion of the conventional full-color image forming apparatus employing the intermediate transfer method. The full-color image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 comprises an image forming unit 200 of electrophotographic type, in which a full-color image is formed on the paper through a primary transfer process for transferring the toner images of the respective colors in superposed relation with each other on a transfer belt 201 and a secondary transfer process for transferring onto the paper the multi-color toner image formed on the transfer belt 201 in the primary transfer process. The transfer belt 201 is configured to move along the direction of the white arrow by a transfer belt driving roller 202 and a transfer belt driven roller 203. Photosensitive drums 204a through 204d corresponding to the respective colors (for example, yellow, magenta, cyan and black) and intermediate transfer rollers 205a through 205d in opposed relation to the photosensitive drums 204a through 204d, respectively, are arranged along the path of the transfer belt 201.
In such conventional full-color image forming apparatus, consider a case in which an image is printed based on the image data inputted from the external. First, the electrically charged toner images of the respective colors are formed on the surface of the respective photosensitive drums 204a through 204d. Then, high-voltage transfer bias is applied to the intermediate transfer rollers 205a through 205d, so that the toner images on the photosensitive drums 204a through 204d are sequentially transferred onto the transfer belt 201. In the process, the transfer timing of the respective toner images is controlled, so that the toner images of the respective colors are superposed one on another and a single multi-color toner image is formed on the transfer belt 201. Then, a high voltage of opposite polarity to the charge polarity of the toner is applied to the transfer roller 206 arranged in the subsequent stage of the primary transfer process, with the result that a multi-color toner image is transferred on the paper supplied from a paper feeding unit 210. The paper onto which the multi-color toner image has been transferred is conveyed to a fixing unit not shown, where the multi-color toner image is fixed on the paper. Thus, a printed matter formed with a full-color image is completed.
In the image forming apparatus described above, the transfer belt 201 carrying the toner image in the primary transfer process is held by the respective photosensitive drums 204a through 204d and the intermediate transfer rollers 205a through 205d, and the toner image on the photosensitive drums 204a through 204d is transferred onto the transfer belt 201 under a comparatively high pressure. As a result, with the progress of the transfer process for the respective colors, the adhesion between the toner and the transfer belt 201 is increased to such an extent that the cohesion between the toners is promoted. Thus, the resolution is reduced, and the transfer failure is liable to occur at the time of electrostatic transfer in the secondary transfer process.
In view of this, the present inventors earlier proposed an image forming apparatus (Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-43342) in which the intermediate transfer rollers 205a through 205d are arranged in spaced relation downstream side of the transfer process from the positions opposed to the photosensitive drums 204a through 204d in such a manner as to reduce the contact pressure between the transfer belt 201 and the photosensitive drums 204a through 204d. In such image forming apparatus, the increase in adhesion between the toner and the transfer belt 201 can be reduced while at the same time preventing the cohesion between the toners. Thus, the toner image can be satisfactorily transferred and a satisfactory image quality obtained in the secondary transfer process.
In the transfer system of the above mentioned image forming apparatus newly proposed by the present inventors, however, the intermediate transfer rollers and the photosensitive drums are arranged in spaced relation with each other, and a current or a voltage is applied through the transfer belt interposed between them. The toner transfer, therefore, is affected by the action corresponding to the current change characteristic or the voltage change characteristic of the transfer belt. Therefore, unlike in the prior art, the transfer performance of the primary transfer process cannot be determined simply by the guideline of the resistance value of the transfer belt, and it has become apparent that a stable toner transfer may not be conducted even with the transfer belt having the same resistance value. In order to improve the image quality, therefore, a guideline is required to select a transfer belt material applicable to the transfer system newly proposed by the present inventors, and the transfer system is required to be configured using the transfer belt formed in accordance with the guideline.

Transfer apparatus and image forming apparatus


A method, apparatus, and system are provided for monitoring locks using monitor-memory wait. According to one embodiment, a node associated with a contended lock is monitored; and a processor seeking the contended lock is put to sleep until a monitor event occurs.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to processors and more particularly to, using monitor-memory wait for monitoring a lock for one or more processors waiting for the lock until the lock become available.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, a hyperthreaded or multi-threaded processor is capable of processing multiple instruction sequences concurrently. A primary motivating factor driving execution of multiple instruction streams within a single processor is the resulting improvement in processor utilization. Hyperthreaded processors allow multiple instruction streams to execute concurrently in different execution resources in an attempt to better utilize those resources. Furthermore, hyperthreaded processors can be used for programs that encounter high latency delays or which often wait for events to occur.
Typically, hyperthreaded processors have a single resource setup that is to be shared by all threads or logical processors (processors). Not having adequate resources may result in significant contention between processors, particularly when one or more processors wait for a lock to become available. Several techniques have been proposed to improve program operation inefficiency and other resource-consuming delays dealing with lock contention between multiple processors. For example, in a conventional spin-wait locks system, a waiting queue is used to put the processor waiting for the lock on the waiting list to wait until the lock becomes available. However, during such waiting, the processor continuously accesses the memory location of the lock, causing the memory contention on that memory location, bottlenecking of resources, waste of memory bandwidth, compute bandwidth, microarchitectural resources, and power. Such "busy waiting" processors can have adverse effect on the performance of other processors in the pact.


An elevator includes an elevator car guided to move up and down relative to a supporting member, a screw shaft having an upper end attached to the supporting member, a driving nut rotatably supported in a coupling device and threaded with the screw shaft, one driving device coupled to rotate the screw shaft and to move the driving nut up and down along the screw shaft, and a coupling device rotatably attached onto the driving nut and coupled to the elevator car. Another spare driving device may further be coupled to drive the screw shaft for moving the elevator car to a lower level or a safe location when the driving device either fails or is damaged.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a screw shaft for such as an elevator, and more particularly to a screw type elevator having a second or auxiliary driving device for moving a screw shaft and/or a carriage and for allowing the carriage to be moved to a safe location when the main or primary driving device or power has become failure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical elevator systems comprise a carriage for moving a payload such as personnel or cargo traversely along a vertically elongated structural environment, and a finite length framework along which the vertically movable carriage through a guidable yoke slidably traverses, and one or more upright rails for guiding the carriage to move up and down relative to the elongated structural environment.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,541 to Thireau et. al. discloses one of the typical elevator systems or transmission devices comprising a carriage guided to move up and down along one or more upright rails, and a flexible band employed with the use of friction arising out of the contact of the band and a supporting or backing support.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,710 to Shrum discloses another typical elevator system comprising a sensing circuitry to protect an elevator car from striking a dislodged counterweight or other structure, and the elevator car is to be moved relative to a structure having a number of floors or landings and for being guided to move up and down in a vertical path with wire ropes.
In both the typical elevator systems, only one motor driving means or device is provided and coupled to the carriage or the elevator car via the wire ropes for pulling and moving the carriage or the elevator car up and down relative to the elongated structural environment.
However, when the electric power supply is cut off, particularly when earthquakes are occurred, or when the single motor driving means or device is damaged or become failure, the carriage or the elevator car may no longer be moved up and down relative to the elongated structural environment, and may only be energized or moved again when the electric power supply is recovered.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional driving mechanisms for elevator systems.


A new bound on communications capacity, a modulation QLM to derive this bound, and QLM to support communications with performance close to this bound. The QLM modulation and demodulation algorithms offer a method for communications links to support a substantially higher data rate than allowed by the Shannon bound for wired, wireless, optical, and the plurality of communications links. The invention compares QLM modulation performance with phase-shift-keying PSK and quadrature amplitude modulation QAM, describes how it can be used with PSK and QAM, and with gaussian minimum shift keying GMSK, orthogonal frequency division multiple access OFDMA, code division multiple access CDMA, and compares QLM modulation performance with the Shannon bound and the new bound derived in this invention. Additional applications for QLM signal processing and bound include the plurality of information theorectic applications with examples being radar, imaging, and processing.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the Shannon bound on communications capacity and also relates to symbol modulation for high-data-rate wired, wireless, and optical communications and includes the symbol modulations phase-shift-keying PSK, quadrature amplitude modulation QAM, bandwidth efficient modulation BEM, gaussian minimum shift keying GMSK, pulse position modulation PPM, and the plurality of current and future modulations for single links and multiple access links which include time division multiple access TDMA, orthogonal frequency division multiple access 0FDMA, code division multiple access CDMA, spatial division multiple access SDMA, frequency hopping FH, optical wavelength division multiple access WDMA, orthogonal Wavelet division multiple access OWDMA, pulse position modulation PPM, combinations thereof, and the plurality of radar, optical, laser, spatial, temporal, sound, imaging, and media applications. Communication application examples include electrical and optical wired, mobile, point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, multipoint-to-multipoint, cellular, and satellite communication networks.
II. Description of the Related Art
The Shannon bound is the Shannon capacity theorem for the maximum data rate C and equivalently can be restated as a bound on the corresponding number of modulation bits per symbol as well as a bound on the communications efficiency and is complemented by the Shannon coding theorem. From Shannon's paper "A Mathematical Theory of Communications" Bell System Technical Journal, 27:379-423, 623-656, October 1948 and B. Vucetic and J. Yuan's book "Turbo Codes", Kluwer Academic Publishers 2000, the Shannon capacity theorem, the corresponding Shannon bound on the information bits per symbol b=bits/symbol=bits/(Ts interval), the Shannon bound on the communications efficiency η, and the Shannon coding theorem can be written as equations (2).Shannon bounds and coding theorem1. Shannon capacity theoremC=B log2(1+S/N), bits/second=Channel capacity in bits/second for an additive white Gaussian noise AWGN channel with bandwidth B=Maximum rate at which information can be reliabily transmitted over a noisy channel where S/N is the signal-to-noise ratio in B2. Shannon bound on b and ηUsing equations (1) and the assumption that the symbol rate (1/Ts) is maximized when equal to the bandwidth B which is equivalent to the equation TsB=1, enables the equation for C to be rewritten to calculate max{b} as a function of S/N, and to calculate Eb/No as a function of the max{b} which reads the maximum value of the number of information bits per symbol b. Since the communications efficiency η=b/(TsB) in bits/sec/Hz it follows that maximum values of b and η are equal.max{b}=log2(1+S/N)=max(η)Eb/No=[2^max{b}−1]/max{b}3. Shannon coding theorem for the information bit rate Rb For Rb<C there exists codes which support reliable communicationsFor Rb>C there are no codes which support reliable communications  (2)wherein Eb is the energy per bit b, No is the noise power density. and S/N=bEb/No. Reliable communications in the statement of the Shannon coding theorem 3 means an arbitrarily low bit error rate BER.
Current communications performance is represented by the Shannon bound, QAM, and PSK performance for b vs. Eb/No and for b vs. S/N in FIGS. 1,2 respectively. FIG. 1 plots the number of information bits per symbol b versus measured Eb/No for 4-PSK, 8-PSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 4096-QAM for both uncoded and Turbo coding. The 4-PSK, 8-PSK are 4-phase, 8-phase phase shift keying modulations which respectively encode 2,3 bits per symbol and 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 1024-QAM are 16, 64, 256, 4096 state QAM modulations which respectively encode 4, 6, 8, 12 bits. For no coding the information bits per symbol b is equal to the modulation bits per symbol bs so that b=bs=2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 bits per symbol respectively for 4-PSK, 8-PSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 4096-QAM. FIG. 2 plots b versus the measured S/N for these modulations for both uncoded and Turbo coding. Shannon bound performance is calculated using equations (2). Turbo coding performance assumes a modest 4 state recursive systematic convolutional code RSC, 1024 bit interleaver, and 4 Turbo decoding iterations. The assumed coding rates R=¾, ⅔, ¾, ⅔, ¾, ⅔ reduce the information bits per symbol to the respective values b=bs=1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 bits. Performance data is from C. Heegard and S. B. Wicker's book "Turbo Coding", Kluwer Academic Publishers 1999, B. Vucetic and J. Yuan's book "Turbo Codes", Kluwer Academic Publishers 2000, J. G. Proakis's book "Digital Communications", McGraw Hill, Inc. 1995, L. Hanzo, C. H. Wong, M. S. Lee's book "Adaptive Wireless Transceivers", John Wiley & Sons 2002, and the other listed references.
FIGS. 1 and 2 only consider the 4-PSK and 8-PSK modulations for PSK since 2-PSK is somewhat less efficient than 4-PSK, and 16-PSK is somewhat less efficient than 16-QAM. For bs=4 bits/symbol=bits/(Ts interval) and higher, only QAM is considered since it is well known to be the more efficient modulation in the sense of requiring the lowest Eb/No and S/N for given b, bs and is well known to be the only modulation capable of supporting to bs=12 bits/symbol=bits/(Ts interval) and higher.
Gaussian minimum shift keying GMSK modulation and waveform is used for the wireless cellular phone standard GSM and for space and military applications which use GSMK because it is a constant amplitude signal bandwidth efficient modulation BEM and waveform with a relatively high communications efficiency η. A constant amplitude modulation and waveform allows the power amplifier in the transmitter to operate at the saturation level with no backoff required, which is the most efficient operational mode of a power amplifier. With non-constant modulation as well as non-constant signals the input signal to the power amplifier must be backed off 2-to-10 dB in order to maintain linearity of the signal transmitted by the power amplifier. A backoff of 2-to-10 dB means the output signal is 2-to-10 dB lower than the maximum output level of the power amplifier, and this means a loss of 2-to-10 dB in the communications link compared to the transmitted signal level when the output amplifier is operating at the saturation level. This constant signal amplitude advantage of GMSK is only realized for single channel links such as the return link from the user to the hub or access point for cellular networks, and for some space and military applications. For the forward links of cellular networks which simultaneously transmit multiple channels of GMSK the composite transmitted waveform is non-constant and inherently Gaussian in character with no significant envelope advantage over other multiple channel waveforms with respect to the required power amplifier backoff.
FIGS. 3,4 are representative modulator and demodulator architectures for GMSK. In FIG. 3 the digital parameters 1 identify the bit lengths of the phase quantization, number of digital samples per pulse, and the digital-to-analog conversion DAC. Signal processing 2 parameters are the digital word size, bit duration Tb, Gaussian impulse function which is the FM frequency pulse for each symbol, and the integrated value of the impulse function which is the phase. Inputs to the GMSK FM modulator are the stream of digital words 3. Each digital word modulates a Gaussian pulse and the FM modulator integrates this train of overlapping Gaussian frequency pulses to generate the information bearing phase history. The stream of phase angle samples {ejφk(n)} 4 from the GMSK FM modulator are handed over to the inphase and quadrature digital-to-analog converters DACs and low pass filtered LPF 5, outputs are single sideband upconverted to an intermediate frequency 6 and then handed over to the IF-RF front end for transmission.
In FIG. 4 the signal processing 7 parameters for the demodulator identify the received down-converted intermediate frequency IF signal, band-pass filter BPF, inphase and quadrature detector I/Q, analog-to-digital converter ADC, the complex sample rate, complex baseband sample, receive Rx signal amplitude, and the baseband pulse amplitude modulation PAM filters which recover shifted versions of the transmitted integrated Gaussian frequency pulses. The GMSK demodulator 8 receives the IF signal from the RF-IF front end, performs bandpass filtering, recovers the inphase and quadrature baseband I/Q components which are digitized by the ADC. Digitized signals are synchronized, filtered by a bank of pulse amplitude modulation PAM filters to recover GMSK modulation responses which are weighted by the possible trellis states of the maximum likelihood path through the trellis, and the estimated transmitted digital words are then recovered by a maximum likelihood detector or by a Viterbi or maximum a-posteriori MAP type algorithm.
FIG. 5 is a representative modulation transmitter block diagram for implementation. Signal processing starts with the stream of user input data words (dk} 13 with k indexed over the words. Frame processor 14 accepts these data words and performs the error detection cyclic redundant coding CRC and Turbo error correction encoding and frame formatting, and passes the outputs to the modulator 15 which encodes the frame data words into modulated symbols that are waveform encoded by convolving with the waveform impulse response in, combination with the multiple-access channelization. Output encoded complex baseband signal {z(ti)} at the digital sample times {ti} are digital-to-analog DAC converted 16 and single sideband SSB upconverted to the real signal v(t) 17 at an intermediate frequency IF. For multiple beam antennas 18 the beam coefficients for each beam element for each complex digital sample are processed and the individual digital streams are handed off to the corresponding antenna elements where they are SSB upconverted to an IF and processed by the analog front end 19 at each element and the array of elements form the beams and within each beam the transmitted signal is similar to the real radio transmission frequency RF signal v(t) 20 at the RF carrier frequency f0 with an amplitude that is the real part of z(t) with the phase angle φ.
FIG. 6 is a representative demodulation receiver block diagram. Wavefronts 21 incident at the receiver antenna for the nu users u=1, . . . , nu≦Nc are combined by addition in the antenna to form the receive Rx signal {circumflex over (v)}(t) at the antenna output 22 where {circumflex over (v)}(t) is an estimate of the transmitted signal v(t) 20 in FIG. 6, that is received with errors in time Δt, frequency Δf, phase Δθ, and with an estimate {circumflex over (z)}(t) of the transmitted complex baseband signal z(t) 20 in FIG. 6. This received signal {circumflex over (v)}(t) is amplified and downconverted by the analog front end 23 and then synchronized (synch.) and analog-to-digital ADC converted 24. In 25 the waveform is removed to detect the data symbols in combination with the recovery of the symbol inputs to the multiple access channels. In 26 the recovered data symbols are CRC detected. Turbo decoded, and the frame removed by the frame processor 26 to recover estimates {{circumflex over (d)}k} 28 of the transmitted user data words.

Capacity bound and modulation for communications


Provided is an apparatus, medium, and method controlling a flying height of a magnetic head of a disk drive so that a clearance between a disk and the magnetic head in a data write mode can be similar, e.g., substantially the same, as that of the magnetic head in a data read mode. The apparatus may includes a disk storing information, a magnetic head including a magnetic read element detecting a magnetic field on the disk, a magnetic write element magnetizing a portion of the disk, a structure generating an air bearing between a surface of the disk and the magnetic read element and magnetic write element, and a heater heating the structure that generates the air bearing, and a current supply circuit supplying current to the heater so that a clearance between the disk and the magnetic head in a write mode can be similar, e.g., substantially the same, as that of the magnetic head in a read mode.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus, medium, and method controlling a disk drive, and more particularly, to an apparatus, medium, and method for controlling a flying height of a magnetic head of a disk drive so that a clearance between a disk and the magnetic head in a data write mode is similar, e.g., substantially the same, as that of the magnetic head in a data read mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002-122268, a shape memory alloy has been used to prevent a head and a disk from contacting each other due to a thermal pole tip protrusion during a temperature rise. Similarly, Korean Patent Publication No. 2004-52031 discusses the controlling of a write current by measuring the thermal pole tip protrusion of a magnetic head.
Here, in general, disk drives, such as hard disk drives (HDDs), which can be data storage devices for computer systems, typically reproduce and/or write data on a disk using a magnetic head. Due to the recent trend of high capacity, high density, and compact HDDs, there has been a corresponding increase in bit density in a tangential direction measured in bits-per-inch (BPI) and track density in a radial direction measured in tracks-per-inch (TPI), thereby requiring more delicate operations relative to the control of the HDDs.
A magnetic write head of an HDD may be made of a metal material, and a slider supporting the magnetic head may be made of a non-metal material. When a write current flows through a coil, during a data write operation, heat is generated according to Joule's law. At this time, a pole area expands due to a thermal expansion coefficient difference between the metal material and the non-metal material, which has been referred to as thermal pole tip protrusion (TPTP). Due to the TPTP, there is a reduction in the flying height of the head, that is, a clearance between the head and a disk.
Accordingly, the flying height of the magnetic head in a write mode is different from a flying height of the magnetic head in a read mode. Consequently, servo pattern signals reproduced in the write mode and the read mode have different magnitudes, thereby affecting the servo control performance of the HDD. Also, since the thermal pole tip protrusion does not occur perfectly during a starting point of the write operation, write errors may occur, and more frequently at low temperatures.

Apparatus, medium, and method controlling flying height of a magnetic head of a disk drive


A method for compressing and decompressing video data consisting of an array of individual image points (pixels). Each pixel has a pixel value that changes with time and that describes the colour or luminosity information of the pixel. A priority is allocated to each pixel and the pixels are then stored in a priority array according to this priority allocation. The array contains at each moment in time the pixel values that have been classified according to the priority allocation. The pixels and the pixel values that have been used to calculate the priority allocation are transmitted or saved according to the priority allocation. A pixel receives a high priority if the differences in relation to its neighbouring pixel are great. For the reconstruction process, the current pixel values in each case are reproduced on the display. The pixels that have not yet been transmitted are calculated from the pixels that have already been transmitted

The invention relates to a method for compressing and decompressing video data.
Videos generate large datasets. To effectively transfer and store these datasets, it is practical to compress them.
According to today's state of the art, video signals are recorded and reproduced in a rapid sequence of individual images. In television (PAL standard) there are 25 images per second, or 50 half-images. With digital recordings there are approximately 30 images per second. Each image is broken down into lines, and transferred first sequentially.
Previous compression methods are based essentially on the reduction of the resolution, of the color depth and the lowering of the number of images per second. With digital compression, e.g. the MPEG method, instead of complete images essentially the differential images, i.e. the differences of the individual image points (pixels) compared to the previous image, are transferred in place of the complete images. The latest standard for video coding is MPEG-4. MPEG is the abbreviation for "Motion Pictures Expert Group". File formats from this group and methods for space-saving compression and storage of video or multimedia data (video, image and sound data) are defined in high quality. The MPEG standard meanwhile is subdivided into MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-3 and MPEG-4, whereby the MPEG-3 standard has been integrated into MPEG-2.
To be able to process and transport the huge amounts of data from films with "normal" computers, only the changes from the previous image are stored. The MPEG format stores so-called intra-frames at regular intervals of typically twelve images. Intra-frames are JPEG-compressed single images. The images between these I-frames are, if possible, not completely stored. Instead, MPEG stores images in a manner in which one can regain them by shifting parts from preceding or succeeding images. For this purpose "predicted frames" and b-frames (bi-directional frames) are used. However, since this never works perfectly, the remaining deviation per image is additionally stored JPEG-coded. With this method it is possible to reduce the data expenditure for a video film by about 99%. The potential compression goes all the way to 200:1.
MPEG-1 was designed for fluid video playbacks. The MPEG-1 compression or decompression was originally a hardware-dependent method. However, in the meantime, thanks to speedy processors, software decompression is also possible.
The essential difference between MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 consists in the fact that MPEG-2 can work better with interlaced scanning, the method used with television. The secret of MPEG-2 lies in the compression to the highest level of quality, so that film material can be processed and edited almost 1 to 1 in studio quality. Consequently, MPEG-2 established itself as a standard. With a pure 1 frame coding MPEG-2 can even be used in splicing. The part of the MPEG-3 standard that was provided for high definition TV quality (HDTV) had meanwhile been implemented in the MPEG-2 standard.
MPEG-4 is a further development of the MPEG-2 format and has been in development since 1996. Although MPEG-4 was originally intended as a coding standard for audiovisual data with very low bit rates, the development served far more purposes than merely streaming of linear media data with Internet and wireless applications. MPEG-4 for example provides efficient mechanisms for compression and distribution of interactive media contents. Moreover, MPEG-4 has 3-D potentials in order to visualize artificial intelligence or present avatars, e.g. in the course of video conferences. The compression rate with MPEG-4 is higher than with MPEG-2, whereby "sprites" can be compressed better, because the coding mechanism has more time at its disposal for this purpose. In the process it is even possible to switch to wavelets. The scripting language makes it possible in a few bytes to perform operations such as "translation" significantly faster than the digitized compressed form of the same operation would make possible. With the help of these "sprites" it is possible to move any number of contoured still images over moving pictures.
The object of the invention lies in the creation of a method for compressing video data which allows a simple and flexible adaptation to different transfer rates or transmission bandwidth, image resolutions and display sizes.
Advantageous designs and enhancements of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

Method for compressing and decompressing video data in accordance with a priority array


An apparatus, method, and a non-transitory programmed medium provide a structure to move a heavy bag to simulate sparring along with a method and programmed media to provide selective training experiences. Drive motors in a Cartesian gantry provide multi-axis lateral motion in a horizontal plane. The heavy bag is instrumented to generate information indicative of performance of the user. Also, the heavy bag receives information to prompt a user with indicators such as LEDs. A moving target simulates a boxing match. A user responds to motions of a heavy bag in an X-Y plane whether toward or away from the user. It may be used as a sparring partner. Electronic controls provide a pre-selected pattern of movement. Training programs include sequences designed by professional boxers and trainers. Controls may be adaptive to vary responses of the apparatus in response to user performance.

Heavy bag training is used for physical training in a wide variety of contexts. Heavy bag training is an essential activity for boxers and mixed martial arts fighters. The heavy bag is a widely used piece of equipment by people of all ages. Heavy bags are used in training gyms and fitness centers as well. The heavy bag is used by nonfighters for physical conditioning and development in their workout regime. Heavy bag training is used for developing power, strength, and stamina. Heavy bag workouts are a significant part of a fighter's training.
"Heavy bag" is a term of art in the field of athletic equipment. A nominal heavy bag is a cylindrical stuffed bag made of leather or vinyl usually weighing between 40 pounds and 100 pounds. The heavy bag is usually suspended by chains or ropes when supported from the top. In another form the heavy bag rests on a floor support and in some forms pivoting about a point on the floor support. The prior art designs have supported heavy bags essentially to a single point in an X-Y plane. Current state of the art machines include an apparatus having a boom arm supporting a heavy bag and rotating around a vertical axis. Previous heavy bags are essentially stationary as they cannot respond to a user's punches, kicks, or the like and they cannot move around to allow for simulating contact with an opponent.
One exemplary bag is the Everlast Leather Heavy Bag SKU 247001. One model weighs 100 lbs., has a diameter of 14.5″, and is 52″ in height. Another heavy bag is Ringside Boxing Large Leather Heavy Bag SKU LLHB 130 S. This heavy bag weighs 130 lbs., has a diameter of 16″, and is 48″ in height.
The conventional heavy bag training apparatus comprises a stationary support from which a heavy bag hangs. The support provides for a stationary target. Since the hanging bag is stationary a user does not get to practice attacking a moving target while training to build up power. Increasing skill in attacking a moving target would be a significant additional benefit. Prior art heavy bag training apparatus has a very limited capability of simulating engagement by a fighter with an opponent.
BotBoxer, produced by SkyTechSport, Inc. of Los Angeles, Calif., is promoted as, "The Only Robot for Martial Arts.". A heavy bag is supported to a vertical support. A lower end of the vertical support pivots on a base. The base is supported in a fixed position to a floor. There is no movement of the base in an X-Y plane. Though called a "robot" it does not provide a user with the experience of an opponent moving back and forth or laterally.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,213,672 discloses a heavy bag having a display at the surface and a microprocessor in the interior of the heavy bag. The microprocessor provides information to the display indicative of impact of blows delivered by a user. The support for the heavy bag does not move. The position of an element supporting the bag cannot move.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0378281 discloses an apparatus which is called a robotic sparring partner. The apparatus comprises a torso operatively engaged with arms, legs, and a head. The torso is supported on a stationary stand. The human user wears a plurality of tags, such as RFID tags or reflective strips. Offensive and counter movements provided by the torso have only limited utility because the torso must stay in one place.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,065,098 discloses a training appliance which includes a punching bag having an envelope comprising a preferably cylindrical vertical wall and a bottom wall which may comprise a hemisphere. The bottom wall is received in a substantially spherical bowl in a base. The base allows pivoting movement of the bag around a point of contact in the base. Some pivoting motion is allowed. However, a base of the bag remains in position on a stationary mount. This does not allow for moving the position of a vertically suspended heavy bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,821,208 discloses a multi-headed, multi-abdomen, multi-armed apparatus. The multi-headed, multi-abdomen, multi-armed apparatus provides various angles adapted for a user to punch, knee, and/or do a flying knee. However, lateral motion in an X-Y plane is not provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,488,276 discloses a workout machine wherein a boxing training device comprises a generally cylindrical device having a pair of padded arms each having a boxing glove at its end. The arms rotate in response to an user's blows. One form of motion is provided. The bag is suspended from a fixed position in a horizontal plane. The apparatus rotates, but it does not move laterally and does not provide the ability for the device to advance on the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,782,652 provides instrumentation in a heavy bag to monitor limited aspects of a user's workout. A plurality of transducers respond to intensity of a blow to the heavy bag. Relative intensity of impact at different sensors is used to estimate location of the blow. The system provides a limited amount of information and does not provide information directly to the user. A moving target is not provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,056,235 discloses a gantry assembly supporting a plurality of heavy bags suspended side by side. A user may strike at bags in different positions, but the individual bags do not change position.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,586,120 discloses an automated heavy punching bag that has robotic arms which can rotate to parry punches. However, the heavy punching bag support does not provide for lateral motion.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0036087 discloses an electronic punching bag with a microprocessor. A display screen is disposed around a large portion of the bag. The display screen displays visual signals in response to punches thrown by a user. The bag is not a moving target.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0059102 discloses a heavy bag workout monitor system comprising impact detection sensors and a workout processor for transmitting workout information during a timed period. The system provides measurements of performance of a user, but does not include a laterally moveable heavy bag.

Interactive heavy bag training apparatus with dynamic positioning and adaptive control


An ironing board assembly is arranged for mounting on a door. The assembly has a frame with a transverse member and an upright member attached centrally to the transverse member. An upper gripper is attached atop the frame and is sized to hang from the top of the door. The assembly has an ironing board hingedly attached to the transverse member. Also, included is a stabilizing device mounted on the frame below the upper gripper for laterally stabilizing the ironing board assembly.

The present invention relates to ironing board assemblies, and in particular, to assemblies designed for stable mounting on a door.
Using collapsible ironing boards can be inconvenient because they must be retrieved from storage before unfolding. When the ironing board must be used repeatedly, the transporting and unfolding can be tedious. A more convenient folding ironing board is hingedly attached in a recess in a wall or in a cabinet built upon a wall. Such an ironing board can be lifted into the recess or cabinet and quickly stored. The stored board can be concealed by a door. While this known assembly is convenient to use, it is expensive to install and requires skilled carpentry.
An important consideration when designing a folding ironing board assembly, is stabilizing it from shifting during use. Another important consideration is the ease of installation, but a simple and easily installed board assembly may not be able to avoid lateral shifting. Thus, if an ironing board assembly is attached to a wall or a door, the board must either be rigidly attached or attached in such a way that the likelihood of lateral slippage is minimized. A disadvantage with known ironing board assemblies is the difficulty in enhancing both the ease of installation and the lateral stability.
A known ironing board assembly has an inverted U-shaped frame with upper hooks that hold the frame to the top edge of a door. The ironing board can be hingedly mounted on the lower prongs of the inverted U-shaped frame. (For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,205). Such an assembly unfortunately has a relatively heavy frame that can be dislodged when the door supporting the frame is swung. Furthermore, these known ironing board assemblies employ suction cups that have proved unreliable for holding the assembly in a laterally stable position.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved ironing board assembly that is relatively compact, is easily installed and has good lateral stability.


A personal audio device, such as a headphone, includes an adaptive noise canceling (ANC) circuit that adaptively generates an anti-noise signal from a reference microphone signal that measures the ambient audio, and the anti-noise signal is combined with source audio to provide an output for a speaker. The anti-noise signal causes cancellation of ambient audio sounds that appear at the reference microphone. A processing circuit uses the reference microphone to generate the anti-noise signal, which can be generated by an adaptive filter. The processing circuit also models an acoustic leakage path from the transducer to the reference microphone and removes elements of the source audio appearing at the reference microphone signal due to the acoustic output of the speaker. Another adaptive filter can be used to model the acoustic leakage path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to personal audio devices such as headphones that include adaptive noise cancellation (ANC), and, more specifically, to architectural features of an ANC system in which leakage from an earspeaker to the reference microphone is modeled.
2. Background of the Invention
Wireless telephones, such as mobile/cellular telephones, cordless telephones, and other consumer audio devices, such as MP3 players, are in widespread use. Performance of such devices with respect to intelligibility can be improved by providing noise canceling using a reference microphone to measure ambient acoustic events and then using signal processing to insert an anti-noise signal into the output of the device to cancel the ambient acoustic events.
When the acoustic path from the transducer to the reference microphone is not highly attenuative, for example when the transducer and reference microphone are included on an earspeaker, or when a telephone-mounted output transducer is not pressed to the user's ear, the ANC system will try to cancel the portion of the playback signal that arrives at the reference microphone.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a personal audio device, including a wireless telephone that provides noise cancellation that is effective and/or does not generate undesirable responses when leakage is present from the output transducer to the reference microphone.

Leakage-modeling adaptive noise canceling for earspeakers


An apparatus comprising a first processing circuit and a second processing circuit. The first processing circuit may be configured to generate (i) one or more prediction samples and (ii) a plurality of macroblocks, in response to each frame of an input video signal. The second processing circuit may be configured to (i) select one or more reference indices for each of the macroblocks from one or more sets of reference indices and (ii) generate said one or more prediction samples in response to said selected reference indices. Each of the selected reference indices is generally determined based upon minimum and maximum values for each of the one or more sets of reference indices.

Conventional methods for generating reference indices in the derivation process for temporal direct luma reference index prediction mode need at least three steps (clocks) when both inputs are negative. Processing logic needs to handle the multiple parameters when the parameters do not arrive at the same time. Common processing instructions would be available that are not reused to generate the reference indices given the calculation can be changed.
Existing approaches for determining a minimum positive reference index use the function:MinPositive (a,b)={a; if ((b<0)||((a>=0&&(a<=b)){b; if ((a<0)&&(b>=0))||((a>=0)&&(b>=0)&&(a>b))With such an approach, the output is dependent on the order of the inputs. In particular, the output is asymmetric with respect to the inputs. The result is that on a sequential machine that uses one clock to execute each instruction (e.g., many CPUs), such an approach uses six instructions and therefore 6 cycles to execute:b<0, compare||, logical ora>=0, compare
It would be desirable to implement a processing method and/or apparatus that would reuse process steps to simplify processing.

Method and/or apparatus for determining minimum positive reference indices for a direct prediction mode


A mask and method of systematically laying out the mask for test patterns in the frame cell region of an attenuating phase shifting mask are described. An array of sub-resolution contact holes are used in the border regions of the mask to prevent over exposure of photoresist in the regions between the device regions on a wafer due to side lobe effect. The mask and method provide for a buffer distance surrounding the features of the test patterns. The buffer distance is free of sub-resolution contact holes. When the buffer distance is correctly chosen problems due to side lobe effect at the frame cell portion of the mask are prevented.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to attenuating phase shifting masks and more particularly to the location and formation of sub-resolution contact holes around test patterns formed in the frame cell region of the mask border.
(2) Description of the Related Art
TSMC-96-293, Ser. No. 08/857,166 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,439, Filed May 15, 1997, entitled "A NEW METHOD OF BLIND BORDER PATTERN LAYOUT FOR ATTENUATED PHASE SHIFTING MASKS", and assigned to the same assignee describes a method of locating sub-resolution contact holes in the border region of attenuating phase shifting masks.
"ULSI Technology", by C. M. Chang and S. M. Sze, McGraw-Hill Companies, 1996, pages 284-289 describes a method of forming an attenuating phase shifting mask.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,521 to Hainsey et al. describes an attenuating phase shifting mask using a sub-resolution pattern of lines and spaces in the scribeline part of the mask pattern.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,286 to Lin describes a structure and fabrication method for a phase shifting mask using an attenuating phase shifting mask structure combined with an alternating element phase shifting structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,816 to Dao describes method of mask layout wherein device features are placed on lines and/or columns. The lines and/or columns are extracted from a database.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,381 to Miyazaki et al. describes a method of exposing a wafer using an attenuating phase shifting mask. An optimum focal position is determined so that a resist film having a step on its surface can be exposed with high precision.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,648 to Liebmann et al. describes a method for automatically generating phase shifted mask designs implemented in a CAD program.
This invention describes a mask and method of mask layout for automatically forming a test pattern in a frame cell region of an attenuating phase shifting mask. The mask incorporates a buffer distance between the test pattern features and sub-resolution contact holes used to prevent side lobe effects in the regions between device regions of the mask. By using the proper buffer distance problems due to side lobe effect at the frame cell region of the mask, where the test pattern is located, are prevented.

Method of blind border pattern layout for attenuated phase shifting masks

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.


An apparatus for measuring strain in a polished rod of a beam pump unit includes a body having an upper wide section, a lower wide section, and a narrow section having a reduced width in comparison to each of the upper and lower wide sections. A bore is formed in the narrow section. The apparatus also includes at least two connectors configured to connect the body to the rod. The bore is positioned between the two connectors in a direction that is parallel to an axis of the rod. The apparatus further includes a strain gauge positioned in the bore, so as to measure strain in the rod between the two points of connection.

Beam pumping is the most widely used type of artificial lift method for oil and gas wells. A beam pump unit typically includes three segments: a surface unit, a rod string, and a subsurface pump.
Dynamometer surveys are performed to provide insight about volumetric efficiency, mechanical integrity, and operating efficiency of the beam pump unit. Dynamometer surveys are typically performed using either a transducer placed on the rod string, or a horseshoe load cell placed between the carrier bar and the polished rod clamp. However, installation of such transducers may be expensive and a labor-intensive process, and may involve shutting down the beam pump unit for hours or days. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have an improved system and method for capturing relative load measurements on a beam pump unit.