An improved voice recognition system in which a Voice Keyword Table is generated and downloaded from a set-up device to a voice recognition device. The VKT includes visual form data, spoken form data, phonetic format data, and an entry corresponding to a keyword, and TTS-generated voice prompts and voice models corresponding to the phonetic format data. A voice recognition system on the voice recognition device is updated by the set-up device. Furthermore, voice models in the voice recognition device are modified by the set-up device.

The present invention relates to voice recognition, and more specifically to improving the performance of a voice recognition apparatus.
A Voice Keypad (VKP) is a device with the ability to recognize keywords uttered by a user and generate corresponding outputs, for example, commands or text-strings, for use by an application device.
One implementation of a VKP is a Bluetooth speakerphone for use with a mobile telephone provided with Bluetooth functionality. In such a device, the VKP speakerphone and mobile telephone are paired. A voice recognition engine on the VKP is implemented to recognize a name uttered by a user with reference to a user-defined name list and output a corresponding telephone number. A dialing function on the mobile telephone then dials the number, and the user is able carry on a conversation through the mobile telephone via the speakerphone.
There are three general classes of voice recognition, namely speaker independent (SI), speaker dependent (SD) and speaker adapted (SA). In the SI system, a voice recognition engine identifies utterances according to universal voice models generated from samples obtained from a large training population. As no individual training by the user is required, such systems are convenient. However, these systems generally have low recognition performance, especially when used by speakers with heavy accents or whose speech patterns otherwise diverge from the training population. On the other hand, SD systems require users to provide samples for every keyword, which can become burdensome and memory intensive for large lists of keywords.
Conventional SA systems achieve limited improvement of recognition performance by adapting voice models according to speech input by an individual speaker. However, it is desirable to achieve a still higher recognition rate for keywords on a VKP. Furthermore, the VKP itself may lack the appropriate resources to achieve improved voice recognition.

Method, system and apparatus for improved voice recognition


Fiber ring lasers that combine a fiber Fabry-Perot resonator and a fiber grating coupler to produce a single-mode laser output.

This application relates to optical fiber devices and lasers, and in particular, to single-mode fiber ring lasers.
A fiber ring laser may be constructed by using a closed fiber loop to form a ring optical resonator. The fiber ring includes at least a portion of a doped fiber as the laser gain medium which can produce an optical gain within a spectral range in response to an optical pump beam at a selected pump wavelength or within a specified pump spectral range. The fiber ring provides an optical feedback to circulate the photons at one or more wavelengths within the gain spectral range.
A laser oscillation in the fiber ring occurs at a laser wavelength within the gain spectral range when two operating conditions are met. First, the total optical gain at that laser wavelength exceeds the total optical loss in the fiber ring, and secondly, the optical phase delay associated with a round trip within the fiber ring is 360 degrees or a multiple of 360 degrees. The gain spectral range of the doped fiber, such as erbium (Er)-doped fibers, usually have a large bandwidth and hence allows multiple modes at different frequencies to oscillate at the same time. A single-mode oscillation can be achieved by selecting one particular mode to oscillate while suppressing other modes.
Various applications require single model laser oscillations. For example, wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) has been used to expand the capacity of a fiber communication link by simultaneously transmitting different optical waves at different WDM wavelengths. One commonly-used WDM wavelength standard is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard, where the WDM wavelengths of different optical waves are required to match ITU grid frequencies. Hence, each laser transmitter needs to operate in a single mode at a designated WDM wavelength. Other applications for single-mode laser oscillations include precision spectroscopic measurements and nonlinear optical processes, among others.
Fiber ring lasers are emerging as a new generation of compact, inexpensive and robust laser sources to produce single-mode oscillations for WDM systems and other applications where a single-mode laser oscillation is desirable.
This application includes techniques and devices that use optical fibers and fiber grating devices to construct single-mode fiber ring lasers.


Die stacks and methods of making die stacks with very thin dies are disclosed. The die surfaces remain flat within a 5 micron tolerance despite the thinness of the die and the process steps of making the die stack. A residual flux height is kept below 50% of the spacing distance between adjacent surfaces or structures, e.g. in the inter-die spacing.

The present invention relates to semiconductor die stack structures (die stacks) and methods of making semiconductor die stack structures with very thin dies (or semiconductor chips.) More specifically, the invention relates to die stacks made of thin dies and closely spaced die stacks in one or more arrays of die assemblies and/or die stacks.
Die stacks are made with two or more layers of semiconductor dies or chips that are stacked one above the other, electrically interconnected, and held together to make a single, unified semiconductor structure. Die stacks are sometimes encased in a single package. They are used as a single component in semiconductor circuitry.
"Thin" dies used in die stacks die structures can be on the order of 50 um to 200 um thick. In this thickness range, the dies can more easily be "picked and placed" to create stand-alone die structures often using thermal compression bonding or in some cases, traditional flip chip reflow assembly processes (especially when using larger X-Y interconnection pitch such as 150 um pitch to 300 um pitch interconnections).
However, as semiconductor circuits get smaller, the thickness of the dies becomes smaller and the pitch, or spacing, between the die stacks also becomes smaller (below 50 microns.) In addition, the opposing connections to which the dies and/or die stacks connect become smaller and more tightly spaced, requiring fine interconnects with a fine pitch (which if not processed properly can lead to defects such as interconnect shorts or opens and thus lower assembly yields).
The adhesives that are typically used to enhance die to die or die to package reliability and held thicker dies together in die stacks with larger sizes and spacing can cause problems as the dimensions of the dies and die stack become smaller. This can be due to cleaning prior to underfill adhesive application as well as underfill adhesive fillers such as SiO2 or other fillers and viscosity of the underfill adhesive and ability to flow between interconnections. For example, flux used to remove surface oxides from solder balls and pillars as well as aide holding dies in place during reflow joining can leave behind residues that are detrimental to electrical conductivity between interconnections and thus have negative impact toward reliable product. Further, the flux residue may also degrade adhesion of underfill adhesives causing higher distance to neutral point interconnections to be at risk of failure between dies and between the package connections to the dies and/or die stack. Traditional water or solvent spray-cleaning techniques that remove adhesive residue are less effective, or not effective at all, at much smaller interconnection pitch dimensions, for shorter height interconnections, and for larger die size using area array interconnections. Chemical composition (e.g., ionic components) of these residues can cause stray electrical connection and corrosion problems that lead to reduced yields, poor performance, and early failure.
In addition, as dies become thinner, the dies become more difficult to handle during the die stack assembly. Thinner dies bend during the assembly process and can crack or break. The die bending can cause alignment problems in the die stack assembly and may cause some interconnections to short and others to not contact leaving opens between die or between die and a package. These problems also can lead to reduced yields, difficulties assembling the dies into larger modules, and premature operation or subsequent reliability failures.
There are alternate methods of applying a flux to aide in high interconnection assembly yield, e.g. gases, that don't leave residue or almost no residue but rather leave clean surfaces for bonding solder to circuit pads (pads), solder to solder (e.g. C4 connections), and/or copper to copper connections and support reliability enhancing use of adhesives without traditional water or chemical cleaning. Unfortunately, while use of gaseous flux materials reduces the residual flux problem in small die stacks, they introduce other problems. Since gaseous flux does not have strong adhesive properties, it cannot hold the dies together well while they are being assembled into a stack. Therefore, use of gaseous flux materials alone may not be adequate for traditional solder reflow or even thermal compression bonding and may not achieve good assembly yield due to difficulties in die stack assembly including bending and breaking of dies, misalignment, shorts and opens. These problems would reduce yields and cause future operation problems.

Method of forming thin die stack assemblies

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus for installing electrical cable in an indoor location. The apparatus includes a first device for pulling and pushing a string and a second device for guiding the string in the area of a wall opening. The two devices are connected to each other through a flexible tube. A radio transmitting apparatus is used so that the first device for pulling and pushing the string can be controlled at a wall opening where the electrical cable is attached to the string. The apparatus requires a single service person, making installation easy.

Such an installation is known from FR-A-2,537,795, but it has the drawback that its construction and its mounting is complicated, and the pulling element is not guided. Moreover, the installation must be mounted on the floor and on the ceiling, which is a drawback in the case of freshly painted rooms.

Installation for putting in electrical cable for indoor installations


This invention provides a fine particle composite comprising fine particles of a sulfide or sulfide complex comprising at least one element selected from the group consisting of molybdenum (Mo), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), and rhenium (Re) and conductive fine particles via a step of preparing a solvent mixture from a compound containing conductive carbon powder, at least one compound containing an element selected from among molybdenum (Mo), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (R), and rhenium (Re), and sulfur (S) and a step of conducting a hydrothermal or solvothermal reaction at a pressure and temperature that convert the solvent mixture into a supercritical or subcritical water or solvent.

Hydrothermal and solvothermal reactions have drawn attention as means for synthesizing compounds. For example, JP Patent Publication (kokai) No. H11-288732 A (1999) discloses a method for preparing zinc sulfide particles having multiply twinned structures and an average particle diameter of 5 nm to 20 μm via a hydrothermal reaction of a sulfur ion and a zinc ion using water as a reaction solvent at 150° C. to 370° C. during the process of particle growth.
Various chalcogenide compounds have drawn attention as alternatives to existing expensive platinum catalysts. Catalysts used for polymer electrolyte fuel cells are mainly platinum and platinum-alloy-based catalysts. Specifically, catalysts in which a platinum-containing noble metal is supported by carbon black have been used. In terms of practical applications of polymer electrolyte fuel cells, one problem relates to the cost of materials. A means to solve such problem involves the reduction of platinum content.
Recently, low-cost fuel cell catalysts have been developed via a reaction that produces water as a result of four-electron reduction of oxygen, which results in elimination of the need for expensive platinum catalysts. Electrochimica Acta, vol. 39, No. 11/12, pp. 1647-1653, 1994 discloses that a catalyst comprising a chalcogen element is excellent in terms of four-electron reduction performance and suggests that such catalyst be applied to fuel cells. Specifically, Electrochimica Acta, vol. 39, No. 11/12, pp. 1647-1653, 1994 discloses a Mo—Ru—Se ternary electrode catalyst and a method for synthesizing the same.
Also, JP Patent Publication (kohyo) No. 2001-502467 A discloses, as a platinum (Pt) catalyst substitute, an electrode catalyst comprising at least one transition metal and a chalcogen. An example of a transition metal is Ru and an example of a chalcogen is S or Se. It is also disclosed that, in such case, the Ru:Se molar ratio is from 0.5:1 to 2:1 and the stoichiometric number "n" of (Ru)nSe is 1.5 to 2.
Further, JP Patent Publication (kohyo) No. 2004-532734 A discloses, as a Pt catalyst substitute, a fuel cell catalyst material comprising a transition metal that is either Fe or Ru, an organic transition metal complex containing nitrogen, and a chalcogen component such as S.
Further, J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans., 1996, 92 (21), 4311-4319 discloses Ru—S, Mo—S, and Mo—Ru—S binary and ternary electrode catalysts and methods for synthesizing the same.
Further, Electrochimica Acta, vol. 45, pp. 4237-4250, 2000 discloses Ru—Mo—S and Ru—Mo—Se ternary chalcogenide electrode catalysts.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fine particle composite, method for producing the same, catalyst used for solid polymer fuel cell, and solid polymer fuel cell

National University Corporation Kochi University


An electronic circuit includes a transimpedance amplifier, a bypass circuit that allows a part of an input signal to be applied to the transimpedance amplifier to flow through the bypass circuit so as to bypass the transimpedance amplifier on the basis of a control signal, and a control signal circuit that includes a hold circuit having a time constant that is variable on the basis of a time constant control signal and generates the control signal.

(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to electronic circuits, and more particularly, to an electronic circuit that causes an input signal applied via an input terminal to bypass an amplifier on the basis of the output thereof.
(ii) Related Art
There is known an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit that controls the gain of an amplifier on the basis of the output thereof. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 3-97304 discloses an AGC circuit that causes an input current applied to a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) to bypass the TIA on the basis of the output of the TIA. The TIA converts the output current of a light-receiving element such as a photodiode into a voltage, and amplifies the voltage.

Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, Inc.


An example of a solution provided here comprises: receiving a message from a sender; providing the message to a recipient; and in response to a request from the sender, automatically transmitting multiple-party receipt notifications to a number of persons. Thus a number of persons may be notified that the recipient has been provided with the content of the message. In some cases, such a solution may comprise providing limits for the multiple-party receipt notifications.

In many situations, persons besides the original sender of an e-mail message would like to know whether a certain recipient has read the message. This is true of persons in a collaborative environment, for example, who need to share information regarding a project. This is true of persons in a group, working together to perform services for a client, when a group member sends a message to the client concerning scheduling, for example. Later communications with the client will be more productive, if the group members know whether the client has read the scheduling message. However, conventional e-mail implementations, using conventional receipt notifications, merely inform the original sender that a recipient has read the message. Thus there is a need for systems and methods that address this gap in conventional approaches to e-mail.

Method and system for multiple-party, electronic mail receipts


A disc drive system includes a hydrodynamic bearing. The disc drive system includes a disc drive chassis, a storage disc, and a read/write transducer adjacent to the disc for reading and writing information on the disc. The hydrodynamic bearing assembly rotatably couples the storage disc to the disc drive chassis. The hydrodynamic bearing assembly includes a fluid path therethrough for circulating a fluid. A permanent magnet is placed in the fluid path and used for attracting magnetic particles carried in the fluid.

The present invention relates to disc drive systems for storing information. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hydrodynamic bearing assembly which provides support and rotation for a high speed spindle element.
The predominant trend in the disc drive storage industry for the past several years has been to increase track density in order to achieve increased data storage capacity. One of the difficulties which must be overcome in achieving this goal is the ability to maintain tracking position accuracy as the track density increases.
A major source of tracking position inaccuracy in a computer disc drive system is spindle bearing motion which is commonly referred to as "runout". Conventional spindle bearings include ball bearing assemblies which are prone to numerous mechanical problems, such as large runout, substantial wear, capacious manufacturing requirements, and the like.
A hydrodynamic bearing is an alternative to conventional ball bearing spindle systems. In a hydrodynamic bearing assembly, a lubricating fluid functions as the actual bearing surface between a stationary base and the rotating spindle or hub/sleeve. The lubricating fluid typically includes either air or liquid. The rotating hub/sleeve causes the fluid to circulate through the hydrodynamic bearing. When the hub/sleeve is stationary, the fluid is at rest.
Hydrodynamic bearing assemblies suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the parts within a hydrodynamic bearing contact each other generally along a line, whereas the parts within a ball bearing assembly contact each other along a point. During use, the stationary parts may contact the rotating hub/sleeve causing wear. The wear causes undesirable metal particles to be broken away from the bearing assembly. The inner chamber carrying the fluid is sealed to prevent leakage, however, and the particles are carried in the fluid which contaminates the bearing assembly.
The particles carried in the fluid contact the bearing assembly and create additional wear and particles. Furthermore, the particles carried in the fluid can cause inefficient fluid flow. Inefficient fluid flow creates an inefficient bearing which has a shorter life. An inefficient bearing is also prone to runout which degrades motor performance.

Magnetic particle trap for hydrodynamic bearing


A deodorisation plant for treatment of fatty oils comprises a vessel (1) connected to a vacuum source. In the vessel there is a distillation column filled with structured packing material through which column the oil which shall be deodorised is brought to flow under influence of gravity and to meet a deodorisation gas in counter-current. In the vessel there is also a number of trays for collection of oil provided with drainage outlets in their lower part. The oil is treated with deodorisation gas in a batchwise way in these trays. The vessel is provided with an inlet (7) for oil and a connection (2) to a vacuum source in its upper part. In its lower part there is an outlet (9) for oil.

When producing consumer products from different vegetable or animal oils deodorisation is a part in the refining process. During the deodorisation the oil is heated to a high temperature 180-275.degree. C. in order to drive off volatile impurities and undesired substances from the oil. These substances have a lower boiling point than the different triglycerides which constitute the fatty oil. The deodorisation is carried through under vacuum conditions, 1-20 mbar absolute pressure, and the removal is facilitated by addition of deodorisation gas to the oil. The gas facilitates the removal of undesired substances.
On the market there are today a large number of different deodorisation plants, both for continuous flow through the plant and with a batchwise treatment of the oil. During continuous deodorisation the oil usually flows over a number of trays or containers which are stacked vertically in a circular shell manner. In the bottom of the trays or containers there are means for addition of gas. Alternatively the gas may be added by using a means with siphon effect. Oil and gas are forced upwards in an ejector tube towards a deflection plate and is finely divided against the same. The oil is added to the vessel in the upper part of the plant and flows from an upper container to the next container. In order to control the flow through the containers these are provided with screening plates, such that the oil flows from an inlet at a certain place in the container to an outlet in another place. The holding time in the vessel is set to a certain value depending on the geometry of the flow channels. The switch-over time between different products is long.
When the deodorisation is carried through in batches all operations (distillation and heat holding for bleaching) usually take place in the same vessel. This method of working makes rapid changes between different oil products possible, but the holding time is long since it depends both on distillation and heat transfer effect.


A method and apparatus satisfying growing demands for improving the intensity of implanting ions that impact a semiconductor wafer as it passes under an ion beam. The method and apparatus are directed to the design and combination together of novel magnetic ion-optical transport elements for implantation purposes for combating the disruptive effects of ion-beam induced space-charge forces. The design of the novel optical elements makes possible: (1) Focusing of a ribbon ion beam as the beam passes through uniform or non-uniform magnetic fields; (2) Reduction of the losses of ions comprising a d.c. ribbon beam to the magnetic poles when a ribbon beam is deflected by a magnetic field.

The process of ion implantation is a critical manufacturing element used by the semiconductor industry. Implantation makes possible precise modification of the electrical properties of well-defined regions of a semiconducting work-piece by introducing selected impurity atoms, one by one, with a velocity such that they penetrate the surface layers and come to rest at a specified depth below the surface. The characteristics that make implantation such a useful processing procedure are threefold: First, the concentration of the introduced charged dopant atoms can be accurately measured by straight-forward integration of the incoming electrical charge delivered to the work-piece; secondly, the patterning of dopant atoms can be precisely defined using photo-resist masks; finally, the fabrication of layered structures becomes possible by varying the ion energy.
The ion species used for silicon implantation include arsenic, phosphorus, germanium, boron and hydrogen. The required implant energies range from below 1 keV (kilo-electron volts) to several hundred keV. Ion currents used range from microamperes to multi-milliamperes. Projecting to the future, demands are for greater productivity (elevated ion intensities); implantation at energies well below 1 keV; improved precision of uniformity and ion-incidence angle-control at the wafer.
During the last decade there has been an industry shift towards the use of D.C. ribbon-beams. This technology arranges that dopant ions arrive at a semiconducting wafer as part of a uniform-intensity beam that is organized into a long, small-height stripe that simultaneously implants uniformly the whole width of a semiconductor wafer. This geometry makes possible uniform implantation of a wafer during a single pass under the ribbon beam. The advantages of ribbon beam technology are substantial: (1) Batch implantation of multiple wafers and the use of large spinning discs is no longer necessary as the energy density at the wafer is low. (2) Wafers move slowly along a single linear path, avoiding issues of damage to delicate circuit components related to collision of heavy particles that arrive at the wafer surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,926 entitled "High current ribbon beam ion implanter" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,786, entitled "Compact high current broad beam ion implanter", both issued to N. White et al., present aspects of ribbon beam technology. Implanters, generally designed according to these principles, are manufactured by Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates of Gloucester, Mass.
Referring to FIG. 2 it can be seen that in a typical ribbon beam tool a first magnetic deflector directs wanted-mass ions through a mass-resolving aperture where unwanted species from the ion source are rejected. Downstream of this aperture the emitted fan-shaped beam, now comprising only wanted ions, is parallelized by a second magnet and transformed to the ribbon length needed for implanting a specific wafer diameter. A deceleration system beyond the mass rejection aperture is included to reduce the energy of ions arriving at the wafer; the purpose being to allow the use of ion source extraction energies that are best suited for efficient source extraction and high transmission efficiency through the mass-resolving aperture.
In a ribbon beam implanter the control of space charge is a central issue. These effects are manifest mainly downstream of the deceleration region and are particularly troubling in the region of the second magnetic deflector where the presence of a magnetic field makes it difficult for the beam potential to trap the necessary neutralizing electrons: Captured electrons have difficulty moving across the magnetic field lines but can easily escape to the poles unless some form of electron trapping is present. Also, there is evidence that electron temperatures grow within magnetic fields further increasing electron losses. Thus, as a consequence of inadequate neutralization, the boundaries of the beam tend to expand allowing ions to be intercepted at the magnet poles or at the walls of the vacuum chamber.
Space charge problems have been recognized since the days of the Manhatten Project's development of the Uranium Bomb. An historical review, including the impact of space charge on that project, has been written by William E. Parkins and published on page 45 of the March 2005 edition of the magazine Physics Today. Further background for these processes can be found in a book entitled 'Large Ion Beams' written by A. T. Forrester and published by John Wiley and Sons in 1988. The above referenced book presents data and calculations on pages 139 to 153 concerning the manner in which ions 'peel away' from the outside of a drifting low-energy ion beam. In addition, data is included concerning the difficulties of achieving space charge neutralization within magnetic fields and the manner in which the ion-beam potential is raised as it passes through a magnetic field. Other authors who discuss space charge effects include V. Dudnikov in U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,650 and F. Sinclair, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,819.
The solution which provides at least partial neutralization of the effects of space-charge expansion depends upon the fact that the same electric field distribution that causes the boundaries of a positive ion beam to expand because of space-charge effects is also an electric field distribution that attracts negative ions or electrons towards the center of an ion beam. However, even when created within the beam potential itself, these electrons tend to concentrate near the center of the positive ion beam leaving peripheral regions somewhat short of electrons, causing a tendency for ions to 'peel-away' from the outer edges of a ribbon beam. This peeling effect will be accentuated by the fields generated between image charges at the surface of a narrow vacuum envelope and non-neutralized positive ions within the beam itself.
In the energy range above ˜15 keV interactions between fast beam ions and residual gas molecules usually provides sufficient secondary electrons that the space-charge density of the ion beam is largely neutralized. However, magnets whose focusing properties are satisfactory for deflecting ion beams having energy above ˜15 keV may not provide acceptable transmission in the energy region below 5 keV, due to the above space charge effects. Additional magnetic field components may be needed for compensating residual space charge effects and for improving beam transmission through magnetic fields, the central theme of the present patent disclosure.

Broad energy-range ribbon ion beam collimation using a variable-gradient dipole


To evaluate a communications network, a plurality of network evaluation signals, or probative test packets, are selectively sent and received through the network. Responsive to these evaluation signals, network evaluation parameters are determined and stored. Queuing theory analysis, responsive to these parameters, determines the response time and throughput characteristics, including discrete capacity, utilization and performance, of the network. Calculation of the value of the network's discrete utilization involves the measurement of the network's average delay waiting for service, measurement of the network's standard deviation of delay waiting for service, calculation of discrete utilization from the ratio of these observed values, and then refinement of that calculation by proportionate factoring in instances of dropped samples as cases of one hundred percent utilization to arrive at a final figure for percent of network discrete utilization.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to testing and analyzing a communications network. More particularly, the invention relates determining network discrete utilization.
2. Background Art
Users and managers of communications networks are interested in the capacity, performance, reliability, availability, topology, service level attainment, and modeling of their networks. Currently, many separate, incompatible, complicated, and often unsatisfactory tools are required to perform the tasks required by network managers.
One prior art technique provides for communication system analysis in which sequences of pings of different sizes are sent, transmitted in isolation from each other, in order to determine characteristics of the network beyond availability of resources and "usual" response time. In accordance with this technique, the best and mean times for the sequences of pings of different lengths are measured, and then the following are geometrically derived via use of the test ping packet sizes and the reciprocal of the bandwidth slope:                the network path's bandwidth,        the network path's propagation delay, and        the network path's queuing time.Further network testing involves sending bursts of pings to determine the loss rate of packets, from which the "internal packet size of the network" can then be determined. By this it is meant that the minimum device buffer size in the transmission path of the network can be discovered. The sending of bursts of pings of decreasing size is also described, the intent of which is to determine if smaller packets are prioritized over larger packets. In this way, the following is determined:        the network path's minimum buffer size (also referred to as "internal packet size"); and        the network's short frame prioritization capability.
It is recognized in the art that there will generally be a plurality of network hops between the test station and the remote station, each with its own bandwidth. In these circumstances, taking the reciprocal of the slope of the line representing bandwidth is equivalent to saying that:(1/Bandwidth)=(1/b1+1/b2+ . . . 1/bn)where b1, b2, . . . . bn are the bandwidths of all the hops in the path. This will produce a bandwidth close to accurate only if there is one hop in the path that is significantly slower than all the others. Where this is not the case, the estimate may be inaccurate because no account is taken of the fact that for a multi-hop path, the intermediate nodes will delay onward transmission of a packet until the whole packet has been received.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/267,843 filed 12 Aug. 1999 by F. K. P. Klassen and R. M. Silverman for System and Method for Analyzing and Tuning a Communications Network (Klassen and Silverman), and Ser. No. 09/452,403 filed 1 Dec. 1999 by K. Chan, F. K. P. Klassen, and R. M. Silverman for System and Method for Monitoring Performance, Analyzing Capacity and Utilization, and Planning Capacity for Networks and Intelligent, Network Connected Processes (Chan, Klassen and Silverman) improved upon the then existing art by:                distinguishing between and calculating the values for the streaming and discrete speeds of the network; and        calculating the utilization of that connection.The distinction between the discrete and streaming speeds of a network allows for two accurate measures of network speed across multiple hops, as opposed to the previously known one, potentially inaccurate measure.
The discrete speed reflects the network's maximum bandwidth for handling "conversational" type transaction traffic, such as query-response. The streaming speed reflects the network's maximum speed for "batch" type traffic, such as file transfers and print. The network's streaming speed can also be referred to as "network throughput bandwidth."
Thus, probative test packets are transmitted, received and time stamped, and then mathematically analyzed. The result is a system and method in which full network capacity analysis can be performed across networks of any size, including the Internet, and to do so with no need for network documentation or knowledge of network topology or knowledge of capacity of network components.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for determining end to end network discrete utilization, as distinguished from network streaming utilization.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for tuning the network.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for estimating the network's current performance and its future performance under changed conditions ("what-if" scenarios).

System and method for determining network discrete utilization


A projection display device includes a plurality of display elements, such as transmissive-type or reflective-type liquid crystal light valves. Each display element includes an effective pixel region and an image display region that is smaller than and within the effective pixel region. Different light beams are modulated by the display elements and the light beams are combined by an optical block combiner to form a projected image. The central position of the image display region of at least one of the display elements is offset from the central position of the effective pixel region so that the distance between central positions of the image display regions of at least two of the display elements, including at least one display element with an offset image display region, is less than a standard distance associated with prior art arrangements of projection display devices. This enables making the optical block combiner smaller.

In recent years, the projector market has been growing rapidly, along with the use of personal computers. Liquid crystal display elements of the transmission-type and the reflection-type and DMD display elements that include micro mirrors in an orderly array are known display elements that modulate light in order to produce image light signals. Projection display devices using such display elements include front projection devices that project personal computer images and rear projection devices that project television images.
In such projection display devices, the projected images may have various common aspect ratios. For example, aspect ratios of 4:3 or 16:9 are popular for television images, and accordingly, display elements are generally manufactured with effective pixel regions having one of these two aspect ratios.
When an aspect ratio is required that is different from the two common ones described above, it is known to change the aspect ratio of the light beam modulated by the display element by, for example, using an anamorphic lens in the projection optical system as described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications H07-333497 and 2002-258154. However, the use of an anamorphic lens tends to enlarge the optical system. Moreover, the use of such a lens also tends to increase the production costs and to decrease the optical performance when projecting an image.
When a projected image having an aspect ratio other than the two common ones described above is required, it is not practical in terms of manufacturing costs to manufacture display elements with appropriate aspect ratios that meet the demands of individual requests relating to the size and the number of pixels. Therefore, a low-cost, compact projection display device that allows for the use of generally available display elements, as described above, with their usual aspect ratios is demanded.


A drilling and cementing process wherein a drilling fluid containing a metal compound which is a proton acceptor component is utilized, thereby laying down a filter cake. Thereafter, the drilling fluid can be combined with a phosphorus acid to give a cementitious slurry which is thereafter used in a cementing operation. Alternatively, a phosphorus acid such as polyphosphoric acid is circulated into contact with said filter cake.

This invention relates to well drilling and cementing operations.
The general procedure of drilling an oil or gas well includes drilling a borehole using a drilling fluid. Subsequent to drilling the borehole, casing is run into the well preparatory to placing a cement in the annulus between the outside of the casing and the borehole wall. In order to obtain a good cementing job it is necessary to displace substantially all of the drilling fluid or mud in the annulus with cement.
This necessity arises from the fact that undisplaced mud and filter cake become a source of unsuccessful cement jobs since drilling fluids and cements are usually incompatible. Undisplaced drilling fluid is not a reliable sealant to isolate zones in the annulus and is not a good structural support for the casing. Thus, most water-based muds will adversely change the setting time and compressive strength of the cement. Also, most cements will flocculate and thicken most water-based muds. As the cement is pumped out of the bottom of the casing and up the annulus, it may form flow channels through blocking sections of flocculated drilling mud. In addition, undisplaced filter cake can prevent cement from bonding to the formation and becomes a source of the flow channels.
The drilling industry has sought to overcome these problems by using a variety of techniques to displace the drilling fluid with cement, e.g., utilization of turbulent flow regimes, casing movement (reciprocal/rotation), casing equipment (centralizers, flow diverters, and mud scratchers), spacers and special wash fluids while cementing, but these have had limited success.
Even wash fluids are incapable of removing all of the filter cake since it is at least partially adhered rather tightly to the wall of the wellbore. In addition, wellbores are frequently irregularly shaped with large sections which become filled with drilling fluid. Fluid occupying such irregularly shaped or enlarged sections is often out of the main fluid flow stream in the borehole and is therefore difficult to remove.
Even greater cementing difficulties are encountered with extended reach boreholes and slim hole wells with major problems arising in connection with running casings, displacement of mud and centralization of the casing due to the restricted annulus. When a poor cementing job results due to these problems it may be necessary to perforate the casing and squeeze cement under high pressure through the perforations into the annulus and try to fill the zones that were not properly cemented initially. Even this may not be successful and can result in eventual abandonment of the hole. For one thing, the drilling mud and filter cake resulting therefrom, and conventional cements are simply not compatible.
In addition, many formations have high calcium ion content which creates problems with drilling fluids.
Finally, disposal of what drilling fluid can be successfully removed from a borehole presents its own problems.
Hence, incompatibility of drilling and cementing fluids remains a problem. Even if, through extraordinary efforts, the compatibility problems are mitigated, a Portland cement composition is rigid and not tolerant of flexing. Also, while generally viewed as a strong, hard substance, in fact Portland cement has limited tensile strength.


A bolt for a firearm is described that can be used to chamber, extract, and/or eject different cartridges that have different outside rim diameters. In one embodiment, the bolt includes a bolt head that is configured to engage the rearward end of a plurality of different cartridges. The bolt may include an extractor that is configured to engage the rims of the plurality of cartridges and/or an ejector that is configured to bias the cartridge case out of an ejection port of the firearm.

Conventional firearms are configured to chamber and fire a specific cartridge. If the user wishes to fire a different cartridge, the user must obtain a different firearm that is chambered to handle the cartridge. Unfortunately, it is rarely practical to obtain large numbers of firearms of varying calibers. Instead, most people carefully evaluate what the firearm will be used for and select the cartridge that best meets the majority of the user's needs. For example, someone who uses the firearm primarily for African game is likely to choose a magnum caliber, while someone who uses the firearm primarily for varmint hunting is more likely to choose a lighter, faster, standard caliber.
It should be noted that the term "caliber" can have a variety of different meanings. For example, the caliber may refer to: (1) the approximate size of the bullets fired through a firearm (e.g., .17 caliber bullets; the actual diameter of .17 caliber bullets is 0.177 inches), (2) the approximate size of the inside diameter of the barrel of the firearm (e.g., a .30 caliber rifle; the actual inside diameter of the barrel of a .30 caliber rifle is 0.308 inches), or (3) the specific cartridge that the firearm is configured to chamber (e.g., .300 Winchester Magnum). For example, a rifle that is configured to fire 30-06 cartridges may be appropriately referred to as simply a .30 caliber rifle because that is the approximate size in inches of the bullets (the actual size of the bullets is 0.308 inches) and the inside diameter of the barrel. However the same rifle may also be appropriately referred to as being a 30-06 caliber rifle since that is the specific cartridge that the rifle is chambered for.
Some conventional firearms are capable of firing more than one caliber of cartridges. For example, most .357 magnums are also capable of firing .38 special cartridges. The primary difference between the two cartridges is that the .38 special is significantly shorter. Otherwise, the diameter of the bullets and the outside diameter of the rims of the two cartridges are the same. Most firearms that can fire multiple cartridges involve situations such as this where the cartridges are very similar or identical in size, particularly the outside diameter of the bullet and the rim of the cartridge case (e.g., a .22 long rifle caliber firearm can usually fire .22 shorts and .22 longs).
It would be desirable to provide a firearm that is capable of firing a much wider variety of cartridges. Such a firearm may eliminate or reduce the perceived need to buy multiple firearms depending on how the firearm is intended to be used.


A semiconductor device for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection including a source, a gate, a drain having a drain diffusion, and a diffusion region extending from, or located under, the drain diffusion. The source, the gate, the drain and the diffusion region are located in or on a substrate. The diffusion region is laterally spaced from at least one of the gate or the outer edge of the drain diffusion.

Electrostatic discharge into a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) can cause failure of the components unless they are properly ESD protected. This is normally achieved by making special components and circuits which reside in the input/output (TO) regions of the circuit. This invention describes MOSFETs which are suitable for use within input or output protection circuits. At least some embodiments of such MOSFETs can be manufactured using mainstream CMOS processing techniques so that they can exist alongside many other useful components on/in a single integrated circuit.
ESD pulses tend to have a very short duration and can be discharged into an IC through its electrical terminals. Hence these input/output (TO) terminals should be tolerant to withstand very fast transient, high voltage spikes. This is normally accomplished using protection circuits composed of diodes, resistors and MOSFETs. For example, and without limitation, NMOS and PMOS devices may be used.
One IO protection scheme, see FIG. 1, comprises the addition of diodes 106, 108 connected to the power rails 102, 104. In FIG. 1, a bond pad 110 is shown. This is connected to other circuits 112 via line 111. The bond pad 110 allows external connections to be made to circuits 112 (the structure of circuits 112 is normally too small for external connections to be made directly to circuits 112), via terminals on the bond pad. Accordingly, the terminals of the bond pad 110 provide the IO functionality of the chip 100. Whilst only one line 111 is shown in FIG. 1, a separate line is provided for each terminal of the bond pad 110, and a set of diodes such as diodes 106, 108 is normally provided for each line. The terminals of the bond pad 110 are normally exposed. This is why they constitute an ESD risk (the bond pad 110 is effectively a gateway for ESD to reach other circuits 112 on the chip). The description will proceed as if there was only one line and one terminal on the bond pad 110, but it will be understood that normally there are several.
The diodes 106, 108 are reverse biased when the chip 100 is powered and conduct minimal current in this operational mode. If the voltage on the IO exceeds (due to ESD) the power supply voltage Vdd, the upper diode 108 will forward bias to the Vdd rail 104. Conversely, a negative voltage to the IO will forward bias the lower diode 106 to the Gnd rail 102. Hence the voltage level at the pad terminal (i.e. at node 114) is "clamped" within a voltage range which can be tolerated by the rest of the circuit, i.e. between 0V and Vdd.
If the Vdd 104 is unconnected, an ESD pulse can reverse bias the lower IO diode 106 connected to the ground rail, until it conducts due to reverse bias breakdown. A similar situation can occur for reverse polarity ESD pulses applied to the upper Vdd connected diode 108 if the ground 102 is disconnected. When designing ESD protection schemes one should therefore give consideration to the reverse bias breakdown properties of these IO connected diodes.
Input protection diodes may be made e.g. using MOSFETs, for example large MOSFETs, where the gate, source and body are connected together for the power rail (Vdd or ground) connected side of the diode, and the drain node forms the side which is connected to the pad, at node 114.
In a typical configuration a NMOS transistor would be used where lower diode 106 is shown in FIG. 1, and a PMOS transistor would be used where upper diode 108 is shown. The drains of both transistors would be connected to node 114 (pad). The gate, source and body of the NMOS transistor 106 would be connected together to ground 102, and the gate, source and body of the PMOS transistor 108 would be connected together to Vdd 104.
For NMOS devices this is commonly known as ggNMOS connection configuration (grounded gate NMOS) because of the connection of the gate of the NMOS to the ground rail. As described above, the wiring for the PMOS device is equivalent (but opposite) for the power supply connection, Vdd rail 104.
For outputs a similar arrangement can be used. In that case the IO buffer transistors are usually large NMOS and PMOS devices which have intrinsic reverse biased diodes on the drain nodes relative to the source, body and power rails. The gate connections of the output drivers are connected to the internal output signal wiring of the IC.
Furthermore, additional protection diodes can be added between the Vdd and ground rail in order to protect the IC from ESD surges between the power connections. Alternatively a power supply clamp circuit 116 may be employed to limit the voltage surge between power rails in the event of an ESD surge between Vdd and ground. Diodes and clamps can also be used in more complicated ways when multiple power supplies are used on the IC. High voltage ICs are also made where the circuit controls the switching of high voltages which are not available as power supply connections to the component. These operation requirements further complicate the design of suitable ESD protection schemes compared to the simple example of FIG. 1. Nevertheless, FIG. 1 illustrates the basic idea of how an ESD protection circuit can be made on an IC.
For simplicity this description will focus next on the NMOS component, which is representative of MOSFET behavior in general when it is used within ESD protection circuits.
ESD pulses can be discharged into an NMOS protection device by a combination of reverse bias breakdown of the drain to body diode and also by breakdown of the parasitic bipolar NPN junctions between source, body and drain. The challenge of ESD protection is to ensure that the breakdown current flowing into the MOSFET is, as much as possible, uniformly spread over the whole device—or at least more uniformly spread than it would be without the ESD protection. Localised current flows can lead to self heating damage of the component in "hot spots". Also, the resistance of the device once it conducts should be low so that resistive self heating is minimized, or at least reduced. Also, the current from the ESD pulse can be discharged with minimal voltage rise within the IC. High voltages can also be damaging to the IC, e.g. causing destructive breakdown of thin insulating layers, e.g. the gate dielectric. ESD protection devices tend to have a large physical area compared to many other components. They are large to spread out the energy of the ESD discharge and also to minimise their series resistance, which is inversely proportional to their size. A typical configuration for a protection device is an NMOS made from a number of long parallel gate fingers with alternate connections to the drain, source and body regions. Small distances between drain and source and drain and body are therefore maintained.
However, in order to promote a more uniform current flow in an ESD protection structure, small resistive regions can be formed which are associated with the drain side of the MOSFET. These are often termed "ballast resistors" and may be constructed in a number of ways. Referring to FIG. 2, one common technique is to make the MOSFET with a slightly longer region of drain diffusion resistance 20 between the drain side of the channel and the drain ohmic metal connection. However, a problem arises in this technique: The process of forming the device uses silicide (e.g. the silicide 15 of the body contact). There is therefore the risk that—without additional precautions—silicide could also form in other areas, for example on drain diffusion resistance 20, which would then be shorted, given that an overlying metallic silicide would have a low series resistance. Accordingly, a thin stripe of silicide blocking material 7 is used. This may be an insulating dielectric layer. By overlapping the gate 9 on the drain side with silicide blocking material 7 and extending this towards the drain connection the risk of silicidation of the diffusion region 20 adjacent to the MOSFET channel is avoided. The diffusion region 20 (or drain diffusion) then acts as the ballast resistor.
On the source side the diffusion 14 can be fully silicided. The gate 9, where it is only partially overlapped by silicide blocking material 7, can also become partly silicided to keep its resistance low. Alternatively the gate 9 could be overlapped completely by the silicide block 7, if it would otherwise become too narrow to form silicide upon it in a self-aligned silicide (salicide) process. Other process variants include separately silicided gates or using metallic gates where the presence of a silicide block layer on the gate is less problematic.
A cross-section of a typical, conventional ESD protection NMOS structure as described above can be seen in FIG. 2.
Several additional techniques have been used to improve modern ESD MOSFETs. One method commonly used is to modify the drain junction diffusion so that it is deeper and the doping profile is a more graded diffusion region (not an abrupt doping transition), such as diffused region 19—see FIG. 3. The junction depth is indicated by "xj" in FIG. 3. This tends to modify the behavior of the junction breakdown and forces ESD current flow deeper into the semiconductor, where it causes less damage to the MOSFET. Also, the rounding and more diffused grading of the junction edge lowers the electric field within the transistor, which is beneficial to mitigate any ESD surge damage.

Electrostatic discharge protection devices


A system for controlling acoustics and emissivity in an arena having a ceiling includes a pair of rollers mounted adjacent the ceiling and spaced apart over at least a portion thereof. A plurality of acoustics and emissivity controlling panels connected together to form a continuous sheet are mounted between the rollers for movement across the ceiling when the rollers are rotated. The panels include one having a high emissivity surface of at least 90%, one having a low emissivity surface of 7% or less and one having an acoustical surface with sound absorbing characteristics.

In the area of a sports arena which is a closed building of large size for sports events such as hockey, curling, basketball and indoor soccer, there is a great need for acoustic management in that noise reverberation comes from the walls and ceiling of the building, sometimes with 1-10 second delays.
At the same time, for musical performance and political or religious inspirational talks, there is a similar need for acoustical management so that echoes 1-10 or more seconds later will not mar the performance or dampen the charisma of the speaker. They are dampened to 0.5 to 2.0 seconds.
While there is need for acoustical treatment, the roar of the crowd and its reverberation is an exciting feature of a sporting event. Therefore, there are times when long reverberation is acceptable and other times when it is desirable to dampen it. Sometimes there is a thermal problem for an arena, as in a hockey game or basketball, particularly when the arena is in an air conditioning mode. The arena may have on the ground floor a temperature of 60+ degrees F and a ceiling temperature of 100 degrees F at 150 feet in the air. Ceiling temperatures generally range from 95.degree. F. to 115.degree. F. because heat rises. From the ceiling, the reradiation of emissivity, as distinct from convection heat transfer, will heat the floor to undesirable levels. Thus, the emissivity from a black ceiling would be 98%, and from a white ceiling would be 90%. From a silver or aluminum ceiling, the emissivity Ec will be only 3%. With hockey, the ice would be 25.degree. F. to 30.degree. F. and refrigeration load is then very high if the emissivity is not controlled.

Controlling acoustics and emissivity in sports arenas and concert halls


A method of dynamically formulating value options that maximize customer satisfaction and company profitability includes identifying a set of demand segments for a company, each demand segment having a satisfaction value. The method further includes identifying a set of demand options falling under each of the demand segments for each product offered by the company, each demand option having a preference value. Whenever a customer demands a product, the method further includes interacting with the customer in a structured manner to determine advanced and ongoing preferences of the customer for the product. The method further includes setting the preference value of each demand option based on the advanced and ongoing preferences of the customer for the product demanded by the customer. The method further includes formulating a set of value options that satisfy the customer demand. Each value option has a set of demand options and a customer satisfaction value based on an aggregate of individual satisfaction values for the demand segments and the company profitability in satisfying the demand options in the value option. The satisfaction value of each demand segment is based on the preference values of the demand options satisfied within the demand segment.

Historically, "companies" (a term defined below) and their customers often have done business across a gap, so to speak. Product or service offerings by a company the customers' desired product or service do not fully match. In part, this gap is a manifestation of the facts that (1) companies have an incomplete grasp of customer needs, their relative preferences and the pricing utilities customers attach to those preferences (which utilities, equating to the customer's willingness to pay, are dynamic) and (2) a company's costs, profits and inventory (which may control what it can offer on a timely basis) are also dynamic. However, it is also in major part a manifestation of the lack of information technology tools which can close the gap. To collect dynamic customer and company data and then employ those dynamic datum to close the gap is a complex technical problem.
Companies have developed many approaches to increase their internal efficiencies and productivities in order to maximize their gains and profits. With the advent of the computer, companies have, for example, embraced tools to optimize supply chain resources. They have, for example, focused on internal operations and the use of automated processes to integrate the discrete steps from the supplier to the finished goods inventory floor (or service delivery), improving efficiency. Yet still the end customer typically has been treated as an indistinct, static and detached entity—a statistical profile, in the aggregate—sitting behind a wall and creating demand for the rest of the supply chain. Manufacturers (whether of goods or services) have tried to influence the customer demand via indirect means of advertising and promotions. Beyond the influence that these indirect means can have on a customer's purchasing decision, the manufacturer and retailers have for the most part (at least in mass market situations) considered customer demand fluctuations as a given parameter that can't be altered or managed directly. Moreover, in industries where a company typically has an extremely large customer base (e.g., the airline industry, as discussed below), there has been no mechanism which a company could used to tailor its offerings to individual customers, except by providing multiple selections that are fairly static.
Generally, the customer is treated as an individual and sales terms are customized only when the cost of negotiation is justified—for very large transactions. Indeed, the basis for mass marketing a product or service arguably is the "cookie cutter" approach of "one size fits all" transactions. As is said of the genius of Henry Ford in marketing the Model T automobile: the customer could have any color . . . so long as it was black.
With the advent of the global Internet, some providers of goods and services have sought ways to improve their sales and profitability by, for example, directing incentives and rewards to loyal customers enrolled in affinity marketing plans. They have surveyed the customers in efforts to improve product offerings, and they have accordingly modified their offerings. But still, with a take it or leave it approach. "Here are my sale terms and product offerings; buy or don't buy, the choice is yours." Automation has permitted much better targeting of customer groups, but the group still has to be large. For example, a higher end automobile dealer might use a mail campaign tailored to a specific Zip Code instead of a print ad in a regional or national media.
Many products and services, though, represent complex, multi-faceted offerings and customers weigh their preferences for product features differently at different times. A customer might care more about cost one day and more about availability or delivery time or warranty if queried a few days or weeks later, to use some basic trade-offs as examples. Generally, a company's product consists of many value elements, (explained later) all of which are bundled together to be sold as a single product. But, not every customer values all the aspects of a product equally or needs all. Every customer places a different value (which may be a function of time and situation) on each aspect of a product. With features bundled together in a product, companies end up either incurring costs to sell something to a customer that he does want or lose a customer because the extra undesired value elements forced the product price too high for the customer.
The underlying problem is one of a customer whose demands can change quickly and a company whose productive capacity or service does not have the same dynamic time frame and is supported by a relatively fixed (in the short term) capacity and supply chain. Envision an oil tanker trying to keep up with a small power boat through a series of quick turns. It just can't be done. The company's capability is measured through a long cycle that in most cases starts off with a long range plan for space and equipment and a shorter term plan for securing material and hiring production staff. Production plans once set are fixed, and the result is happiness if demand exactly equals supply, excess inventory if too low and unhappy customer if demand is too high or the mix is wrong. Add in other factors such as warehousing, distribution and transportation and the opportunity for failure to meet customer demand is high.
Yet there is no systematic method or system available that allows mass-market sales to be customized around such preferences, let alone while concurrently maximizing the benefit to the company. Envision a situation where the company has a peek at the customers intentions. This knowledge allows the company to be more exacting in its ordering, staffing and delivery. Inefficiencies are reduced, revenue and profitability are increased and the company is then able to reduce cost to the customer while simultaneously improving profits.
A technology platform (i.e., system) and methodology thus are needed for customizing, in an optimal way, match between the availability and pricing of components or qualities of various aspects of a businesses' offerings of its products or services with the individual customer's changeable demand profile. If such a match could be made, both business and customer would benefit. The customer would be more satisfied and the business (long term or short term) will be more profitable. A win-win scenario is created rather than a zero sum game.

System for concurrent optimization of business economics and customer value satisfaction


There is provided a printing apparatus including: a storage section configured to store printing data; an accepting section configured to accept an issuance instruction to issue a password corresponding to the printing data; a password generating section configured to generate a password; an obtaining section configured to obtain a destination corresponding to the printing data; a transmission section configured to transmit the generated password to the destination, on condition that the accepting section accepts the issuance instruction; an input section configured to accept an input of a password by a user; a judgment section configured to judge as to whether or not a password accepted by the input section is coincident with the transmitted password; and a printing section configured to start printing in a case that the judgment section judges that the accepted password is coincident with the transmitted password.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing system and in particular, to a printing apparatus and a printing system which stores printing data in the printing apparatus and performs printing of the printing data when an input by a user is accepted.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been conventionally known a remote printing technique as follows. That is, printing data is transmitted to a printing apparatus from a terminal device such as a PC, a mobile phone, etc., and the printing apparatus stores the printing data to come into a standby state. Then, printing is started when a user carries out a printing instruction of the printing data to the printing apparatus. In the recent years, the remote printing technique as described above is widely used with the popularization of public wireless LAN service. For example, the printing data is transmitted, in advance, to the printing apparatus of a public facility such as a railroad station, an airport, etc., and thereby making it possible for the user to obtain a printed matter of the printing job there.
In the remote printing technique as described above, there is fear that the printing apparatus is operated by a third party. Thus, a problem arises such that confidentiality is lowered. In view of this, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-196481 discloses that the printing apparatus which receives the printing data generates a password, that the password is notified to a source device or an originating device of the printing data, and that the printing of the printing data which corresponds to the password is started when the password inputted by the user is verified or authenticated.


A method for gas turbine start-up can include placing a static starter in a torque control mode, sending a torque reference to the static starter to establish a startup torque for the gas turbine, setting current set points for the static starter and modulating a current output to achieve the startup torque.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbines, and more particularly to a torque control system and method for gas turbine start-up.
During a gas turbine startup, there are typically two sources of torque to accelerate the gas turbine to full speed with no load. One source is from the gas turbine itself after it is fired and the other source is from a starter, external to the gas turbine, typically a static starter. Conventionally, an average time taken by the gas turbine to reach full speed with no load can be reduced by changing the initial firing of the gas turbine. However, by changing the firing of the gas turbine, operating temperatures of the gas turbine can be increased, which can damage various hot gas path components. As such, it is typically desirable to increase starting torque of the gas turbine by the external static starter, which can be an electric motor or power converter, for example. However, many static starters have set operational points corresponding to set RPM settings, which do not take into account changing operational parameters of the gas turbine, which can increase the amount of time for the gas turbine to start up.


The invention provides a program selection method and apparatus using a cordless telephone set by which a desired program can be selected from among a large number of programs in a direct rapid and accurate manner. A TEL key changes over a mode of a cordless telephone set between a first mode in which the cordless telephone set is used as a telephone set and a second mode in which the cordless telephone set is used as a remote commander for remotely controlling an electronic apparatus. A monitor apparatus displays a first display corresponding to a function allocated to any of the keys of the cordless telephone set in the first mode and a second display different from the first display and corresponding to another function allocated to any of the keys in the second mode for remotely controlling the electronic apparatus. A transmission circuit generates a signal corresponding to the manually operated key in response to a manual operation of any of the keys.

This invention relates to a program selection method and apparatus using a cordless telephone set, and more particularly to a program selection method and apparatus wherein a remote commander and a cordless telephone set are formed as a unitary member so as to allow selection of a program.
In recent years, electronic apparatus such as a television receiver, a video cassette recorder (VCR), a video disk player and a compact disk player have propagated, and those electronic apparatus are constructed so that they can be remotely controlled by respective remote commanders for exclusive use. As a result, the number of kinds of remote commanders has so increased that, in order to control each electronic apparatus, it is necessary to search a corresponding remote commander first and then search and manually operate a button corresponding to a predetermined function of the remote commander, -and thus there is a problem to be solved in that the operability is low.
Thus, a related art apparatus wherein a function of a remote commander is added to a cordless telephone set is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No Hei 2-31545. According to the related art apparatus, since an electronic apparatus can be controlled using a cordless telephone set, the number of remote commanders in a home can be reduced.
How ever, in the related art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 2-31545 mentioned above, in order to select a predetermined program broadcast, for example, by television broadcasting, numeric keys provided on a cordless telephone set are manually operated to merely input a channel number, and there is a problem to be solved in that it is difficult to select a desired program from among a large number of programs rapidly and with certainty.
For example, in the United States of America, the number of broadcasting channels has increased in a cable television (CATV) system or a digital direct satellite broadcasting system (DSS: Digital Satellite System, a trademark of Hughes Communications) applying a high efficiency coding technique such as the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group). As a result of an increase in number of channels, the number of broadcasting channels have increased to 150 to 200.
Also in Japan, a digital television broadcast is being planned. If a digital television broadcast becomes available, then a very large number of television programs can be broadcast.
Where a program is selected from among such a large number of programs by inputting a numeral representing a broadcasting channel of the program, it is difficult to select a desired program rapidly with certainty, intuitively and directly.

Program selection method and apparatus using cordless telephone set


A compression ignition engine is fueled from common rail fuel injectors that predominately inject natural gas fuel that is compression ignited with a small pilot injection of liquid diesel fuel. Before and after a rapid fueling increase transient, the liquid and gaseous rail pressures are controlled toward respective pressures based upon engine speed and load. During the transient, the liquid rail pressure is controlled toward an elevated liquid pressure in order to cause a surge in the supply of gaseous fuel to the gaseous fuel common rail to proactively satisfy the increased gaseous fuel injection rate while obviating a substantial pressure deficit in the gaseous fuel common rail.

Natural gas is increasingly becoming an attractive alternative for fueling internal combustion engines. In one specific example, a compression ignition engine is fueled predominately with natural gas originating from a gaseous fuel common rail, and liquid diesel fuel from a liquid fuel common rail that are directly injected into each engine cylinder. Both fuels are injected from the same fuel injector, and the relatively large charge of gaseous fuel is ignited by compression igniting a small pilot injection quantity of liquid diesel fuel. Co-owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0285417 shows an example of such a dual fuel system. During typical operation, the liquid fuel pressure is maintained greater than the gaseous fuel pressure to inhibit migration of gaseous fuel into the liquid fuel side of the fuel system. Pressure in the liquid fuel common rail can be changed quickly due to the relative incompressibility of the liquid fuel. However, changing, and sometimes sustaining, pressure in the gaseous fuel common rail is far different, and often more problematic, due to the highly compressible nature of the gaseous fuel.
The present disclosure is directed toward one or more of the problems set forth above.

Dual fuel common rail transient pressure control and engine using same


A clamping device for injection molding machine is proposed. The clamping device has a movable mold holder, a guiding unit, a screw rod unit, a transmission unit, a first clamping unit, and a second clamping unit. Power from the driving source is transmitted via the transmission unit to the screw rod unit, so as to drive the movable mold holder to move in reciprocating motion. When the mold is actuated to close, the first clamping unit engages to a gear wheel member of the screw rod unit. The gear wheel member and the first clamping unit are driven by the second clamping unit to move for generating a rotational torque, and to drive the screw rod unit for generating a clamping thrust.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a clamping device, and more particularly, to a clamping device applicable to an injection-molding machine and is combined with different driving sources to improve its torque and to drive a screw rod for generating a high clamping force.
2. Description of the Related Art
The clamping device is one of many critical parts in an injection-molding machine to ensure reliable closing of a mold. Since molten material is supplied into a mold cavity under an extreme high pressure, it is necessary to apply a sufficient clamping force to tightly close the mold to avoid flashing, molded product with flashes, or other conditions that would adversely affect the quality of the molded products.
Typically, a hydraulic injection-molding machine has two types of clamping devices, a toggle type and a direct pressure type. A fully electronic injection-molding machine is one product that has recently been actively researched and developed by injection mold manufacturers all over the world. For the fully electronic injection-molding machine, the pressure cylinder of the toggle type clamping device is substituted with a motor unit to achieve the same opening/closing of the mold as the hydraulic injection molding machine, and to acquire a higher clamping force more easily than the direct pressure type clamping device.
A screw rod in the clamping device serves to covert a rotational movement into a linear movement and vice versa. Based on the mechanical equation, it is understood that a greater input torque for the rotational movement causes a greater linear thrust to be generated by the screw rod. For the direct pressure type clamping device equipped with a motor unit and the screw rod, the power output from the motor device is smaller than the pressure cylinder. So, it is necessary to increase torsion and decrease the lead of the screw rod in order to achieve the same clamping force. Similar implementing methods have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,874 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,371 as well as in WO02/11969.
However, a typical injection-molding machine requires a high-speed actuation during clamping, while the product injection requires a high pressure clamping force. So, to achieve the objective of high speed and high pressure using a single driving source would mean use of a large and inappropriate driving source, thereby causing energy wastage. Meanwhile, an increased torsion and a decreased lead of the screw rod results in a lower speed in terms of opening/closing of the mold, leading to an increase in molding cycle time. As a result, the power of the motor unit would have to be maximized when the clamping device of the conventional injection-molding machine is applied to achieve opening/closing the mold at a high speed with a high clamping force, further wasting cost and energy.
To improve the drawbacks associated with the clamping device of the injection-molding machine as described above, relative resolutions were proposed from an issued Taiwan Patent with a Patent No. TW00537171. The patent discloses generating power using a single low power driving source. By changing the lead of the clamping device, a large lead screw rod ensures opening/closing the mold at a high speed, and a small lead screw rod generates a high pressure clamping thrust. Since the clamping force is inversely proportional to the lead size, a larger clamping force output requires a smaller lead for the screw rod.
However, there are certain limitations in terms of processing the lead of the screw rod. Even though a high pressure clamping is achieved through the patent disclosed as above, there are still limitations posed by the lead of the screw rod when a single driving source is adopted. As a result, the clamping force can only be obtained under certain criteria. So, there are still areas that require further improvements in the prior art.
Therefore, the above-mentioned problems associated with the prior arts are resolved by providing a clamping device that progresses quickly to close the mold, and provides a sufficient clamping force for clamping the mold substantially when the contact is made to the mold, so as to improve the clamping force for the injection molding machine while saving on fabrication costs and energy.

Clamping device for injection-molding machine

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A system and method for maintaining consistency in a system where multiple copies of an object may exist is provided for maintaining consistent copies. Consistency is maintained using a plurality of consistency policies in which at least one consistency policy results in different performance than a second consistency policy. A consistency policy is selected from the plurality consistency policies for each object to improve system performance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data storage and more particularly to systems and methods for achieving data consistency among multiple copies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many computer applications create multiple copies of the same data. Maintaining consistency of these multiple copies is critically important. How the updating of the different copies is coordinated leads to different levels of consistency among the copies, in return for different costs to perform that coordination. Typically, a stronger consistency, with closer coordination between peer cache updates, results in a larger consumption of resources and larger worst-case completion time.
A problem of keeping multiple caches consistent with each other is evident in processor caches for multiprocessors and file caches for distributed file systems. For processor caches, response times must be extremely fast (orders of magnitude faster than those for Web caches). To achieve these high speeds, the caches have extremely short and fast links of guaranteed reliability to a memory controller that permits them to be informed simultaneously of updates. Techniques that work well given those facilities are simply not practical for distributed applications such as Web caches.
The Andrew File System (AFS) uses a weak consistency method, where the server informs clients of updates. This weak consistency scheme, with the clients checking with the server (see e.g., J. Howard, M. Kazar, S. Menees, D. Nichols, M. Satyanarayanan, R. Sidebotham, and M. West in "Scale and performance in a distributed file system", ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, 6(1):51-81, February 1988), can have significant overhead.
One problem with implementing applications in prior art consistency schemes emerges from the fact that these schemes are not sensitive to the variations in the consistency needs of an object during its lifetime. These schemes "force" the object to maintain a consistency policy throughout its lifetime. The consistency mechanisms are not flexible enough to adapt to the consistency requirements of the object based on its state.
The effect of this shortcoming is that each object is implemented always with the strongest consistency it would ever require at any point in its lifetime. Maintaining objects at strong consistency levels is costly in terms of the load on both the consistency coordinator and the caches. This heavy load results in the end user experiencing high latencies.
Further, if the load of the consistency management is bursty (as it often is), it will suddenly increase the load on the system. This would not only increase the average latency to unacceptably high values, but might also result in problems such as buffer overflows causing requests to be rejected by the system. Therefore this approach of maintaining strong consistency for all objects does not scale well with the increasing number of objects.
Therefore, a need exists for a scalable and adjustable system and method for providing different levels of consistency throughout a distributed system and for particular objects over their lifetime.

System and method for achieving different levels of data consistency


A method and apparatus are provided for identification/authentication of file transfers, that limits the attackers window of opportunity and that aims at incurring a minimum of overhead on the information processing between a client (CL) and a server (SV). According to a preferred embodiment of the invention hash functions (H1-H4) are involved at the server side and the client side. The client and server share a common secret value (S).

A known General Packet Radio System (GPRS) mobile communication system comprises so-called GSN (GPRS Support Node) nodes which route packet information between the Internet and radio base stations. The WPP(Wireless Packet Platform)-based GSN nodes contain different kinds of processing boards, with or without off-line storage capacity. In case the board has no off-line storage capacity (e.g. hard disc), the board must somehow be booted remotely from another board via the node internal TCP/IP network. The boards/processors responsible for booting other boards are named NCB's, which is an acronym for Node Control Boards, as they also fill this function. The boot process involves the transfer of files between the NCB and the boards to be booted. The boards are connected via a TCP/IP network running over an Ethernet.
The above networks have the intrinsic property that they allow third parties to listen to all traffic that passes over the network. Hence, somebody may eavesdrop on the conversation between two parties A and B that communicate over the network. This problem is off course known from many other communication systems and situations.
An attacker that has gained access to the internal network can thus listen to traffic that passes between two boards, thus breaking confidentiality of the data. The attacker can initiate traffic to a board, posing as someone else, in effect lying about his credentials, thus breaking the authentication property between parties. The attacker can also inject traffic in communication that is ongoing, in effect altering the traffic, thus breaking integrity of the data.
Cryptographic methods are typically employed to solve the above kind of problems. However, they come at a cost in processing power and processing time, for example for encrypting/decrypting a file or calculating elaborate checksums. Moreover, they typically result in many extra messages/roundtrips over the network. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) messages over IPsec (IP security protocol)/IKE (Internet Key Exchange) is one example of relatively complex security routines.


An electronic apparatus includes a chassis, a lower cover member constituting the bottom surface of the chassis, and a foot member provided projecting from the surface of the lower cover member. The foot member includes a metal core member having a bar shape and extending along one edge of the lower cover member, and a rubber or resin skin member provided on the surface of the core member.

For example, Japanese Patent No. 6212522 discloses an electronic apparatus, such as a laptop PC, or the like, of which a chassis typically includes an upper cover member constituting an upper surface where a keyboard device is provided and a lower cover member constituting a bottom surface, the upper cover member being stacked on, and connected to, the lower cover member such that the chassis has a low-profile box shape.


An inflatable air cushion has at least two sets of tension members therein. Each set of tension members includes multiple and parallel tension members. The tensile directions generated by the two sets of tension members are perpendicular. One of the tension members can be a strap member, and the other tension member can be a sheet member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inflatable air device, such as an inflatable mattress, inflatable sofa, inflatable bridge or an inflatable boat.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an inflatable mattress, cushion or other device is inflated, the surfaces on the device are usually arc-shaped; so, in order to provide a flat surface, many sheet members are typically mounted on the inflatable air cushion, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,754,925, No. 6,618,884 and No. 5,598,593. Taking a rectangular air cushion as an example, for all six faces the prior art technologies only provide two "approximately flat" surfaces (the surfaces which a user can lie on), but no such "approximately flat" surfaces are provided for the other four surfaces. However, some applications for three-dimensional contours require a hexahedron with four or six approximately-flat surfaces, such as inflatable sofas.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an inflatable air cushion with more than two flat surfaces to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.


The present invention provides a process for preparing thiazole derivatives of formula (XI), that activate the delta subtype of the human Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor (hPPARδ), and also provides processes for compounds of formula (VI), (VII), (VIII) and (IX), intermediate compounds for preparation of the above compounds of formula (XI).

Especially, 2-{2-methyl-4-[({4-metyl-2-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-1,3-thiazole-5-yl}methyl)sulfonyl]phenoxy}acetic acid (hereinafter, called to "GW501516") among thiazole derivatives of formula (XI) showed an excellent effect to treatment of obesity in animal models (Cell 2003, 113, 159), and proved effectiveness in cardiovascular disease by increasing high density lipoprotein (HDL) and decreasing low density lipoprotein (LDL) effectively in the animal experiment (Proc. Natl. Acad. USA 2001, 98, 5306) and in clinical trial. And the process for preparation of the said substance has been disclosed in PCT publication WO 01/00603A1 and Bioorg. Med Chem. Lett. 2003, 13, 1517, in which GW501516 (13) was prepared, as shown in the following scheme(1). Methyl (4-mercapto-3-methylphenoxy)acetate (7), synthesized from the starting material, 4′-hydroxy-3′-methylacetophenone (1), via 6 steps, was coupled to 5-chloromethyl-4-methyl-2-(4-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)thiazole (11), which was prepared from 4-(trifluoromethyl)thiobenzamide (8) via 3 steps, in the presence of excessive cesium carbonate to obtain the methyl ester (12) of GW501516, and then treating the ester with 1 N lithium hydroxide to give GW501516.

As an alternative synthesis method of GW501516, it is disclosed as illustrated in the following scheme (2), that the compound (13) of GW501516 can be prepared by introducing ethyl acetate group to o-cresol (14), reacting the resulted coruppund (15) with sulfonyl chloride, reducing the resulted compound (16) with tin (Sn) under acidic condition to form ethyl (4-mercapto-2-methyl phenoxy)acetate (17), reacting it with 5-chloromethyl-4-methyl-2-(4-trifluoromethyl phenyl)thiazole (11) together with an excessive cesium carbonate to obtain the ethyl ester intermediate (18) of GW501516, and deprotecting the ester group of the intermediate compound with 1 N lithium hydroxide.

Although the above compound (13) has known to be an excellent efficacy in the treatment of obesity in animal models and in the treatment of disease states associated with cholesterol metabolism in clinical trials, the manufacturing method thereof was not satisfactory, thereby being not cost-effective. That is to say,                1) The manufacturing method of reaction scheme (1) consists of 12 steps, and the total yield thereof is as low as 2%. So, it is not proper to be applied to the industry, due to its extreme low production yield.        2) The manufacturing process according to the reaction scheme (1) includes three refluxing steps at elevated temperature for 16 hours, which takes long time to obtain the final product.        3) Tin (Sn) powder used in reaction scheme (2) is very unstable to the moisture, and moreover, it is a combustible metal, thereby being very dangerous to adopt it in industrial scale.        4) An excessive tin (Sn) powder used in the reaction scheme (2) may lead to pollution of the environment.        5) A separated another step for reacting compound (11) with compound (7) or compound (17) in the reaction scheme (1) or (2) is required, and also an excess amount of cesium carbonate, which is not common inorganic base, is used, and also the reaction time is comparatively long.        6) The hydrolysis steps of methyl or ethyl ester using 1 N lithium hydroxide in reaction scheme (1) or (2) requires a long reaction time, about 16 hours, of which yield is as low as 60%.        7) Methyl or ethyl (4-mercapto-2-methylphenoxy)acetate (7) or (17) obtained as an intermediate compound in the reaction scheme (1) or (2) is unstable, so the respective compound can be easily changed to disulfides, which results in lowering the total reaction yield.
Under the circumstance, the novel process for preparing the above compound with easiness and low cost has been demanded in the art.

Process for preparing thiazole derivative and the intermediate compounds for preparing the same


Techniques are described for automatically detecting and accommodating state changes in a computer-generated forecast. In one or more embodiments, a representation of a time-series signal is generated within volatile and/or non-volatile storage of a computing device. The representation may be generated in such a way as to approximate the behavior of the time-series signal across one or more seasonal periods. Once generated, a set of one or more state changes within the representation of the time-series signal is identified. Based at least in part on at least one state change in the set of one or more state changes, a subset of values from the sequence of values is selected to train a model. An analytical output is then generated, within volatile and/or non-volatile storage of the computing device, using the trained model.

Organizations, data analysts, and other entities are often interested in forecasting future values for a time-series signal. In the context of capacity planning, for example, a forecast may be used to determine how many hardware and/or software resources to deploy to keep up with demand. An inaccurate forecast may result in poor capacity planning decisions, leading to an inefficient allocation of resources. For instance, a forecast that underestimates future demand may lead to insufficient hardware and/or software resources being deployed to handle incoming requests. As a result, the deployed resources may be over-utilized, increasing the time spent on processing each request and causing performance degradation. On the other hand, a forecast that overestimates future demand may result in too many resources being deployed. In this case, the deployed resources may be underutilized, which increases costs and inefficiencies associated with maintaining a datacenter environment.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Systems and methods for detecting and accommodating state changes in modelling


A correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit included in an image sensor includes a sampling unit and a timing controlled band-limitation (TCBL) unit. The sampling unit is configured to generate an output signal by performing a CDS operation with respect to a reset component of an input signal and an image component of the input signal based on a ramp signal, the input signal being provided from a pixel array included in the image sensor. The TCBL unit is connected to the sampling unit, and is configured to remove noise from the output signal based on a timing control signal. The timing control signal is activated during a first comparison duration, in which a first comparison operation is performed with respect to the ramp signal and the reset component of the input signal, and during a second comparison duration, in which a second comparison operation is performed with respect to the ramp signal and the image component of the input signal.

Exemplary embodiments generally relate to correlated double sampling technologies, and more particularly to correlated double sampling circuits and image sensors including correlated double sampling circuits.
Charge coupled device (CCD) image sensors and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors have been used as devices for capturing images. In general, analog pixel signals output from pixel arrays of the CMOS image sensors may have variations due to differences between intrinsic characteristics of pixels, such as fixed pattern noise (FPN). To reduce the FPN, a correlated double sampling (CDS) technology may be used to operate the CMOS image sensors. Recently, various schemes have been proposed to reduce random noise, as well as the FPN.

Correlated double sampling circuit and image sensor including the same