It is possible to prevent processing gases from being mixed when alternately supplying the processing gases while alternately switching the processing gases and to suppressed a transient phenomenon more efficiently as compared to conventional cases. When supplying at least two kinds of processing gases (e.g., a C4F6 gas and a C4F8 gas) into a processing chamber while alternately switching the at least two kinds of processing gases during a plasma process on a wafer, the supply of each processing gas can be alternately turned on and off by alternately setting an instruction flow rate of a mass flow controller to be a predetermined flow rate and a zero flow rate while a downstream opening/closing valve provided at a downstream side of the mass flow controller is open.

In a semiconductor manufacturing process, there is used a plasma processing apparatus configured to supply a gas into a processing chamber and perform a certain process such as a film forming process or an etching process on a processing target substrate (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "substrate") such as a semiconductor wafer, a liquid crystal substrate, or a substrate for a solar cell.
In a gas supply system of such a plasma processing apparatus, when supplying a mixture of multiple kinds of gases, multiple gas supply paths for supplying the multiple kinds of gases respectively are provided. Further, the multiple gas supply paths are joined to a single common gas supply path through which the processing gases are introduced into the processing chamber of the plasma processing apparatus.
A flow rate controller such as a mass flow controller (MFC) is provided on each of the gas supply paths, and opening/closing valves are provided at an upstream side and a downstream side of the flow rate controller, respectively. Further, the opening/closing valve may be provided only at the downstream side of the flow rate controller.
Conventionally, the supply of each processing gas is turned on and off by opening and closing each of the opening/closing valves, and a flow rate of the processing gas flowing in each of the gas supply paths is controlled by setting a certain flow rate of the flow rate controller (see, for example, Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-85962    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H11-195641    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-306887
Recently, as processes are diversified and there is an increasing demand for the miniaturization of semiconductor devices, various processes may be consecutively performed in a single apparatus while switching different kinds of processing gases. In such a case, if the supply of each processing gas is turned on and off by opening and closing the opening/closing valve of the mass flow controller, a flow rate control by the mass flow controller is started after a residual gas in the mass flow controller is once introduced into the processing chamber.
Accordingly, when switching the processing gases, a transient phenomenon may occur, causing a problem that a flow rate of the gas supplied into the processing chamber is not stabilized. The transient phenomenon of the gas flow rate tends to occur more readily as a time interval for switching the gases is shorter.
To solve the problem, by performing a process for stabilizing the gas flow rate each time the gases are switched, the transient phenomenon of the gas flow rate may be suppressed. However, in such a case, a throughput may be deteriorated.
Further, it is disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3 that a transition process is provided when switching an etching gas and a deposition gas alternatively. In this transition process, before stopping the supply of one gas, the supply of the other gas is started, and a flow rate of the one gas is gradually decreased while a flow rate of the other gas is gradually increased. According to the flow rate control of Patent Documents 2 and 3, however, the alternately supplied gases are mixed when the gases are switched. In such a case, depending on the kind of the switched gases, an adverse effect on the substrate process may not be negligible.

Plasma processing apparatus and gas supply method therefor


A three-dimensional image is displayed on a display in a central projection method based upon a viewpoint which is placed at the inside of an object and a line of sight. In this case, a plurality of tomographic images interposed between the viewpoint and a projection plane are sequentially arranged and displayed on a display screen. Polygon visual field frames are formed at points of intersection of projection lines forming a polygon pyramid and each tomographic image, and the visual field frames are displayed on the display screen. Thereby, the position of the viewpoint and the line of sight with respect to the currently-displayed three-dimensional image showing the inside of the object can be easily detected, and the part of the object which is being displayed can be easily recognized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for displaying a three-dimensional image, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for displaying a three-dimensional image as if the inside of an object was observed under an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a variety of medical images such as an X-ray Computerized Tomography (CT) image, a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) image, and an ultrasonic tomographic image. In order to obtain a three-dimensional image, the X-ray CT images are stacked slice by slice. Because the MRI image can be measured three-dimensionally, the three-dimensional original image can be obtained by arranging the MRI images.
In a central projection method, a three-dimensional original image interposed between a viewpoint and a projection plane is projected onto the projection plane as if the inside of an object was observed from the viewpoint. In the central projection method, the viewpoint is neither a plane nor a line but a point. The three-dimensional original image interposed between the viewpoint and the projection plane is projected onto the projection plane, with the viewpoint being the center. For example, in order to obtain the three-dimensional original image showing the inside of an intestine, a viewpoint is placed at the inside of the intestine. Then the line of sight is turned from the viewpoint toward the inside of the intestine, so that the inside of the intestine can be observed. In this case, the image is displayed as if the inside of the intestines was observed under an endoscope. The applicant of the present application has already disclosed the central projection method in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 7-210704, 7-296184, and 8-16813.
In the central projection method according to the above-mentioned publications, when the viewpoint is placed in an organ, the image shows only one part of the organ. Thus, this central projection method has such a disadvantage that which part of the organ is displayed cannot be easily recognized.

Method and apparatus for displaying three-dimensional image


A method of decoding a repeat message made up of repeat message fragments at a selective call receiver (122) using a synchronous wireless protocol having time diversity includes the step of decoding (212) a repeat address N times corresponding to the repeat message. Each of the repeats of the address points to a separate repeat of an encoded vector N times wherein each of the repeats of the encoded vector explicitly points to the beginning of a first of the repeated message fragments. The method further includes the step of decoding (212) the repeated message fragments M times which was received on preassigned time slots.

In Japan, most paging systems transmit pages more than once to improve paging performance. In general, the multiple transmissions of a message are spaced apart in time. Since a pager on a repeat system is given multiple opportunities to receive the same message in potentially different RF environments (due to the variance of field strength over time and the time difference of transmissions), the pager will gain paging sensitivity. This concept is generally known as time-diversity.
Depending on a selective call receiver's (or pager's) knowledge of the timing of a message's repeats, the pager can "build" a message. Messages can be "built" at various levels within a messaging protocol structure or scheme, including at the page level, at the codeword level, or at the bit level. If a pager knows the timing (128 frames per cycle in Motorola's FLEX.TM. high speed paging protocol) in which it expects the repeats of a page, it can "build" the message at the page level by selecting the best message of all the repeats it receives. Sequential lockout is used to eliminate multiple alerts for the same message when a preceding message in a time diversity system is received error free. For instance, a pager in a POCSAG system where the message is repeated three times would ignore the second and third repeats if the message was decoded error free on the first repeat or ignore just the third repeat if the message was decoded on the second repeat.
If a pager knows the time frame in which it expects the repeats of a page and can be guaranteed that pages received during that time frame are repeats, it can "build" the message at the codeword level by combining the best message codewords of all the repeats it receives. This type of "building" is referred to as message codeword combining (MCWC) and is currently used in the NTT 1200 signaling scheme in Japan. Finally, if a pager knows the exact time it expects the repeat of a page, it can "build" the page at the codeword level by combining the best of all codewords of all the repeats . Alternatively, the pager could "build" the page at the bit level by combining the best bits of all the codewords (including address and/or vectors) of all the repeats. These two types of "building" are currently supported by FLEX.TM.-TD, the version of FLEX.TM. used in Japan. They are referred to as codeword combining (CWC) and bit combining (BC).
The disadvantage of such a system is that all messages in a frame are repeated the same number of times, whether they need to be or not. Further, addresses, vectors, and message fragments are all repeated the same number of times, even if they have different length or importance. Hence, what is needed is a different manner of incorporating repeated messages that is preferably backwards compatible with Motorola's Flex.TM. protocol that can avoid introducing new flags or vectors in existing protocols and allows mixing with non-repeat pagers. Further, the new protocol should allow for different number of repeats for different messages and preferably allows different repeat factors for addresses and data for the same message fragment.

Time diversity radio system using transparent address vector and message repeats


A frequency allocation technique for a wireless system which employs remote subscriber Field Access Units (FAUs) that use omni-directional antennas in an inner region of a cell, and directional antennas in an outer region of the cell. Different frequency subsets are used for the inner and outer cell regions and FAUs located in the inner regions of homologous cells maintain separation from one another by limiting their operating power to a level needed to complete the radio link from the base station. A receiver portion of the base station has the capability to determine received signal power for each channel within the bandwidth being served. This provides the basic input for a channel selection algorithm which determines the quietest channel from among those channels not in use. A further constraint on the frequency allocation process is that a minimum number of channels always remain unused. That is, for example, among the available channels in each cell, only a subset of the channels are actually ever allowed to become active.

The increasing demand for wireless communication services such as provided by cellular and Wireless Local Loop (WLL) systems requires the operators of such systems to attempt to make a maximum effective use of the available radio frequencies. Consider, for example that a WLL system operator is typically allocated a geographic territory and a certain amount of radio bandwidth that affords the ability to transmit and receive on only a particular number of radio channels. In an effort to make the best use of the allocated frequency space the geographic territory is divided into a number of sub-areas called cells. A number of base stations are deployed throughout the assigned territory, with there typically being one base station in each cell. Transmission power levels are kept low enough so that the subscriber units, called Fixed Access Units (FAUs), in adjacent cells do not interfere with each other.
The system operator can then determine how to split up the allocated radio frequencies among the cells so that FAUs using the same frequencies do not interfere with one another. This process is intended to maximize channel availability in the service area, that is, to maximize the number of channels which may be used in a particular area at any one time. The object of this frequency planning process is to reuse each frequency as often as possible. Cells which reuse the same frequency set in this manner are referred to as homologous cells. In general, reusing a frequency in every Nth cell thus means that 1/N of all frequencies are available in any given cell. It is therefore usually desirable to select the reuse factor, N, to be as small as possible in order to increase the capacity for handling remote units in each cell.
However, conflicting with this requirement is a real world consideration that as the reuse factor N is decreased, the interference between channels in homologous cells increases. In other words, there is a design dilemma in that as N decreases, so does the distance between homologous cells, and thus the amount of interference between FAUs located in different cells but operating on the same frequency increases. The ratio between the RF power of a desired carrier signal, C, and the interference, I, created by FAUs operating in homologous cells is referred to as the carrier-to-interference ratio, C/I. Thus, as the reuse factor N decreases, it is generally understood that the C/I ratio is normally expected to increase.
What is needed is a way to decrease the channel reuse factor by partitioning the use of frequencies among cells without also necessarily imposing an increase in the carrier to interference ratio.

Method using different frequencies and antenna types for remotes located in an inner or outer region of a cell


A coring device includes a semi-cylindrical channel with an angled forward end having a cutting edge thereon, with a second semi-cylindrical channel hinged to the cutting channel to pivot between a closed position forming a tube, and an open position permitting the introduction of a driveline between the channels. The second channel is shorter than the first channel, so that the cutting edge of the first channel projects forwardly beyond the second channel.

A pneumatic driveline is installed through the body wall of a patient at the time of implant of either a total mechanical artificial heart or a ventricular assist device. Obviously, this driveline provides the power for operating the particular device implanted in the patient.
At the time of explant of the device, the driveline can be very difficult to remove, since tissue of the body wall will grow around and on to the driveline. Currently, there is no simple and efficient method or apparatus for removing the driveline, and conventionally involves manually cutting around the tubular driveline with a scalpel.


Systems and methods of determining a similarity between data units in a nonvolatile memory are disclosed. One method includes obtaining first and second data units and dividing the first and second data units into a first plurality of non-overlapping chunks of data and a second plurality of non-overlapping chunks of data. The method further includes determining a first plurality of values and a second plurality of values associated with the chunks, and determining a similarity between the first second data units based on the first plurality values and of the second plurality of values. In one example embodiment, a similarity between an incoming data unit and another data unit is determined based on the number of buckets storing an incoming index value and another index value associated with the another data unit. A plurality of buckets in a table is determined based on a selected plurality of hash values.

A volatile memory device loses stored data when the supply of power is interrupted. Examples of a volatile memory device include a static random access memory (static RAM or SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), etc. A nonvolatile memory device retains stored data even when the supply of power is interrupted. Examples of a nonvolatile memory device include a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory device, a phase-change RAM (PRAM), a magnetic RAM (MRAM), a resistive RAM (RRAM or ReRAM), a ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), etc.

Nonvolatile memory systems configured to use deduplication and methods of controlling the same


An ultrasonic diagnostic device is characterized by being provided with a cooling mechanism for cooling an ultrasonic vibrator by circulating a refrigerant in a cable of an ultrasonic probe in which the ultrasonic vibrator is provided, a cooling abnormality detecting means for detecting the abnormal state of the cooling mechanism, and an operating means for, when the abnormal state of the cooling mechanism is detected by the cooling abnormality detecting means, performing a degraded operation in which the transmission/reception condition of the ultrasonic vibrator is changed according to the detected abnormal state.

In the ultrasonic diagnostic device and the like capable of scanning a three-dimensional image, a device capable of driving ultrasonic transducers in a two-dimensional array by arranging an electronic circuit in an ultrasonic probe unit and performing beamforming to a portion, which is wanted to be observed, is turned into actual use. Heat radiation of such ultrasonic probe unit with high function, high output and high density mounting is an important technical problem. Since sufficient cooling cannot be performed by spontaneous cooling from a surface of a casing of the ultrasonic probe unit, a situation in which an output of an ultrasonic wave is forcedly limited occurs.
Forced cooling to allow a refrigerant to circulate through a probe cable is studied for resolving the problem in cooling. However, in the cable using a soft and flexible tube and the like, leakage of the refrigerant and failure of a pump for circulation often occur, and in such a case, cooling performance is deteriorated and there is a possibility that a surface temperature of the ultrasonic probe unit cannot be maintained within a safe range. In accordance with the regulations that the surface temperature of the ultrasonic probe unit applied to a patient cannot be higher than a certain temperature in order to prevent low temperature burn, temperature management of the ultrasonic probe unit should be certainly executed in order to prevent medical accident.
Therefore, there is the device in which a temperature sensor is embedded in the ultrasonic probe unit for detecting the temperature by the temperature sensor, thereby adjusting driving power of the ultrasonic transducer such that the temperature of the ultrasonic transducer does not become a reference temperature or higher.


Insects, and particularly the larvae of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, are controlled by application of 4,6-diamino-1,2-dihydro-dihydro-1,3,5-trazine derivatives, and agriculturally acceptable salts thereof, having the following structure; ##STR1## when they are admixed with a compatible agricultural vehicle; additionally, certain related novel heterocyclyl, phenyl, and naphthyl triazines and their substituted counterparts are also taught.

This invention relates to certain chemical compounds and compositions containing the same which are useful for controlling insects in agricultural crops. More particularly, this invention relates to certain 1,3,5-triazine compounds and compositions, and their use as insecticides against a variety of insects, especially those of the order Lepidoptera and Coleoptera.


A method for producing a sulfide solid-state battery in which, an anode mixture (a) is layered over a surface of an anode current collector, to form an anode mixture layer A1, the anode mixture (a) containing a polyamic acid, and silicon-based active material but not containing a sulfide solid electrolyte; the anode mixture layer A1 is heated to imidize the polyamic acid, to make an anode mixture layer A2; a sulfide solid electrolyte is layered over a surface of the anode mixture layer A2; to be pressed to insert the sulfide solid electrolyte into a void in the anode mixture layer A2, to make an anode mixture layer A3; and thereafter an anode mixture (b) is layered over a surface of the anode mixture layer A3, to form an anode mixture layer B, the anode mixture (b) containing carbonaceous active material and binder.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a sulfide solid-state battery including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a solid electrolyte layer provided between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. In Patent Literature 1, the negative electrode is made by using a silicon-based active material as a negative active material, and a polyimide as a binder, and such a specific method for producing a negative electrode like this is disclosed that after a mixture layer containing a silicon-based active material and a polyamic acid is provided over a surface of a negative electrode current collector, imidizing the polyamic acid by heat treatment, to make a polyimide.

Method for producing sulfide solid-state battery, and sulfide solid-state battery


A belt molding includes an elongated molding body mounted along a clearance portion between a frame member and a panel member of a vehicle, a first acting portion provided at the molding body and configured to push the frame member, and a second acting portion provided at the molding body and configured to engage with the panel member. The second acting portion is elastically formed in order to establish an engaged state where the second acting portion is engaged with the panel member and a disengaged state where the second acting portion is disengaged from the panel member. The second acting portion includes a pressing portion which is configured to be pushed towards the frame member along the panel member by an external device inserted between the panel member and the molding body to change the engaged state to the disengaged state.

Molding members such as a belt molding, a window molding, and a side protection molding, or the like, are provided at a vehicle along a clearance such as a long groove. For example, a long groove, which opens for a window configured to go up and down at a door, is provided with a resin made belt molding which is elongated and shaped approximately in C form in cross section. The following arts disclose how to mount the belt molding onto the vehicle.
For example, a belt molding described in JP2001-97137A is mounted onto a frame body using a screw which is inserted from a side of a frame member.
A belt molding described in JPH09-328017A is mounted onto a frame body by engaging a protruding portion provided at a cap, which is fitted to an end portion of the belt molding, with a hole formed on a frame member so that the protruding portion serves as an attaching means.
According to the construction described in JP2001-97137A, in which the belt molding is mounted onto the frame member by means of a screw, complex assembling process is required using tools.
According to the construction described in JPH09-328017A, the belt molding can be readily assembled to the vehicle because the belt molding can be assembled only by engaging the protruding portion with the hole formed on the frame member after inserting the belt molding into the clearance from a top of the clearance. The protruding portion engaging with the hole of the frame member serves as a stopper of the belt molding so that the belt molding does not readily detach after assembling. On the other hand, when removing the belt molding, because it is difficult to operate an engaged portion of the protruding portion and the hole from outside, the protruding portion may break by forcibly disengaging the protruding portion from the hole. When the protruding portion breaks, the belt molding cannot be reused.
A need thus exists for a belt molding which can be readily attached to and detached from a clearance portion.


Methods and apparatus for determining an assistance data transmission time to account for cell timing acquisition are disclosed. In an example method, a network node determines whether a target wireless communication node (110) will need to obtain timing information for at least one cell to be included in the assistance data. The network node then estimates an acquisition time ΔT for the wireless communication node (110) to obtain timing information for at least a first cell. The network node then transmits the positioning assistance data to the wireless communication node (110) at least ΔT before an expected time for the wireless communication node (110) to begin performing positioning measurements. In some embodiments, the network node is configured to wait for a time period at least equal to an expected reporting delay that accounts for the acquisition time ΔT, before deciding that the positioning has failed.

The availability of several techniques and devices for identifying the geographical location of mobile device users has enabled a large variety of commercial and non-commercial services, such as navigation assistance, enhanced social networking, location-aware advertising, and location-aware emergency calls. However, different services may have different positioning accuracy requirements imposed by the application. In addition, some regulatory requirements on the positioning accuracy for basic emergency services exist in some countries, such as the FCC's E-911-related requirements in the United States.
In many environments, the position of a mobile device user can be accurately estimated by using positioning methods based on GPS (Global Positioning System) or other satellite-based system. Nowadays, wireless networks are often able to provide positioning-related assistance to mobile terminals (often referred to as user equipment, or UEs, or wireless terminals, mobile stations, or simply "mobiles") to improve the terminal's receiver sensitivity and GPS start-up performance. Several of these techniques are known as Assisted-GPS positioning, or A-GPS.
GPS or A-GPS receivers may not be available in all wireless terminals, however. Furthermore, GPS is known to fail in certain indoor environments and in urban "canyons" in the radio shadows caused by tall buildings. Complementary terrestrial positioning methods, such as one approach called Observed Time-Difference-of-Arrival (OTDOA), have therefore been standardized by the 3rd-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and are deployed in various wireless networks. In addition to OTDOA, the 3GPP standards for the so-called Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless system also specify methods, procedures and signalling support for techniques called Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) and Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS). Later, a network-based technique called Uplink Time-Difference-of-Arrival (UTDOA) may also be standardized for LTE.
Three key network elements for providing location services (LCS) in an LTE positioning architecture include the LCS Client, the LCS target and the LCS Server. The LCS Server is a physical or logical entity managing positioning for a LCS target device by collecting measurements and other location information, assisting the terminal in measurements when necessary, and estimating the LCS target location. A LCS Client is a software and/or hardware entity that interacts with a LCS Server for the purpose of obtaining location information for one or more LCS targets, i.e., the entities being positioned. LCS Clients may reside in the LCS targets themselves. An LCS Client sends a request to LCS Server to obtain location information, and LCS Server processes and serves the received requests and sends the positioning result and optionally a velocity estimate to the LCS Client. A positioning request can be originated from the terminal or the network.
The actual position calculation can be conducted by a positioning server (e.g., E-SMLC or SLP in LTE), for example, or by a UE. The former approach is known as the UE-assisted positioning mode, whilst the latter is referred to as the UE-based positioning mode.
Two positioning protocols operating via the radio network are used in LTE: the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) and the LTE Positioning Protocol Annex (LPPa). The LPP is a point-to-point protocol between a LCS Server and a LCS target device, used in order to position the target device. LPP can be used both in the user and control plane. Furthermore, multiple LPP procedures are allowed in series and/or in parallel, thereby reducing latency. LPPa is a protocol used between an LTE base station (known as an eNodeB, or eNB, in 3GPP terminology) and an LCS Server, and is specified only for control-plane positioning procedures, although it still can assist user-plane positioning by querying eNodeB's for information and eNodeB measurements.
A third protocol, known as the Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) protocol, is used to transport LPP in the user plane. LPP also provides for the conveyance of LPP extension messages inside LPP messages. For instance, Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) LPP extensions are currently being specified (LPPe) to allow, for example, the transport of operator- or manufacturer-specific assistance data or assistance data that cannot be provided with LPP, or to support other position reporting formats or new positioning methods. LPPe may also be embedded into messages for positioning protocols other than LPP.
A high-level architecture, as currently standardized in LTE, is illustrated in FIG. 1, where the LCS target is a mobile terminal 110, and the LCS Server is an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) 150 or a SUPL Location Platform (SLP) 160. In the figure, three control plane positioning protocols with E-SMLC 160 as the terminating point are shown, and the user plane positioning protocol is shown extending across the bottom of the figure.
An SLP may comprise two components, a SUPL Positioning Centre (SPC) and a SUPL Location Centre (SLC), which may reside in different nodes, in some cases. In an example implementation, SPC has a proprietary interface with E-SMLC, and Llp interface with SLC, and the SLC part of SLP communicates with the P-GW (PDN-Gateway) and an External LCS Client.
Additional positioning architecture elements may also be deployed to further enhance performance of specific positioning methods. For instance, deploying radio beacons is a cost-efficient solution which may significantly improve positioning performance indoors and also outdoors by allowing more accurate positioning.
To meet varying demands for different Location-Based Services (LBS), an LTE network will employ a range of complementary positioning methods characterized by different performance in different environments. Depending on where the measurements are conducted and where the final position is calculated, these methods can be UE-based, UE-assisted or network-based, each with own advantages. The following methods are specified in the LTE standard for both the control plane and the user plane:                Cell ID (CID);        UE-assisted and network-based enhanced CID (E-CID), including network-based angle of arrival (AoA);        UE-based and UE-assisted Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), including A-GPS; and        UE-assisted Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA).
Several other techniques such as hybrid positioning, fingerprinting positioning and adaptive E-CID (AECID) do not require additional standardization and are therefore also possible with LTE. Furthermore, there may also be UE-based versions of the methods above, e.g., UE-based GNSS (e.g., GPS) or UE-based OTDOA, etc. There may also be some alternative positioning methods such as proximity based location. UTDOA may also be standardized in a later LTE release, since it is currently under discussion in 3GPP. More methods, LTE and non-LTE, are supported with LPPe. Similar methods, which may have different names, also exist for radio-access technologies (RATs) other than LTE, such as CDMA, WCDMA or GSM.
The OTDOA positioning method makes use of the measured timing of downlink signals received from multiple base stations (evolved NodeBs, or eNodeBs, in LTE) at the UE. The UE measures the timing of the received signals using assistance data received from the LCS server, and the resulting measurements are used to locate the UE in relation to the neighboring eNodeBs.
With OTDOA, a terminal measures the timing differences for downlink reference signals received from multiple distinct locations. For each measured neighbor cell, the UE measures a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) which is the relative timing difference between a neighbor cell and the reference cell. The UE position estimate is then found as the intersection of hyperbolas corresponding to the measured RSTDs. At least three measurements from geographically dispersed base stations with a good geometry are needed to solve for three unknowns: two geographic coordinates for the terminal and the receiver clock bias. In addition, in order to solve for the mobile's position, precise knowledge of the transmitter locations and transmit timing offset is needed.
To enable positioning in LTE and to facilitate positioning measurements of a proper quality and for a sufficient number of distinct locations, new physical signals dedicated for positioning (positioning reference signals, or PRS) have been introduced and low-interference positioning sub-frames have been specified in 3GPP. Details are specified in 3GPP TS 36.211; as of February 2011, version 10.0.0 of this specification is available from http://www.3gpp.org.
PRS are transmitted from one antenna port of a base station according to a pre-defined pattern. A frequency shift that is a function of the Physical Cell Identity (PCI) can be applied to the specified PRS patterns to generate orthogonal patterns. The mapping of frequency shifts to PCI models an effective frequency reuse of six, which makes it possible to significantly reduce neighbor cell interference on the measured PRS and thus improve positioning measurements. Even though PRS have been specifically designed for positioning measurements and in general are characterized by better signal quality than other reference signals, the standard does not mandate using PRS. Other reference signals, e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS) also could be used for positioning measurements, in principle.
PRS are transmitted in pre-defined positioning sub-frames grouped by several consecutive sub-frames (NPRS), i.e., one positioning occasion. Positioning occasions occur periodically with a certain periodicity of N sub-frames, i.e., the time interval between two positioning occasions. The standardized periods N are 160, 320, 640, and 1280 ms, and the number of consecutive sub-frames may be 1, 2, 4, or 6.
Assistance data transmitted by the network to a mobile terminal is intended to assist the wireless device in its positioning measurements. Different sets of assistance data are typically used for different methods. The positioning assistance data is typically sent by the positioning server, although it may be sent via other nodes. For example, assistance data may be sent via LPP to an eNodeB for transmission to the UE. In this case, the transmission of assistance data may be transparent to the eNodeB and the Mobility Management Entity (MME). The assistance data may also be sent by the eNodeB via LPPa to a positioning server for further transfer to the UE. In some cases, the assistance data may be sent on request from a wireless device that needs to perform measurements. In other cases, the assistance data is sent in an unsolicited way.
In LTE, the assistance data may be requested and provided over LPP protocol by including requestAssistanceData and provideAssistanceData elements in the LPP message, respectively. The current LTE standard specifies the following structure for provideAssistanceData, which is illustrated in FIG. 2, where the commonIEsProvideAssistanceData information element (IE) is provided for future extensibility only and is not used so far. The LTE assistance data may thus be provided for A-GNSS and OTDOA. The EPDU-Sequence contains IEs that are defined externally to LPP by other organizations, which currently may only be used for OMA LPP extensions (LPPe). A similar structure exists for requestAssistanceData, as shown in FIG. 3, where the commonIEsRequestAssistanceData may optionally carry the serving cell ID (ECGI).
Since for OTDOA positioning PRS signals from multiple distinct locations need to be measured, the UE receiver may have to deal with PRS that are much weaker than those received from the serving cell. Furthermore, without an approximate knowledge of when the measured signals are expected to arrive in time and what is the exact PRS pattern, the UE must perform signal search within a large window. This can impact the time and accuracy of the measurements as well as the UE complexity. To facilitate UE measurements, the network transmits assistance data to the UE, which includes, among the others, reference cell information, neighbor cell list containing physical cell identifiers (PCIs) of neighbor cells, the number of consecutive downlink sub-frames, PRS transmission bandwidth, frequency, etc.
In OTDOA assistance data, some parameters, such as timing of positioning occasions in a neighbor cell, are specified relative to a reference cell. Furthermore, to identify the timing of the reference cell positioning occasion, the absolute timing of the reference cell has to be known. When the absolute timing of the reference cell is not known but is available for some other cell in the assistance data, the timing of the reference cell can be derived and then used for other cells for which only the relative timing is known.
Accordingly, the absolute timing of at least one cell included in the assistance data needs to be known. More specifically according to 3GPP TS 36.355, v10.0.0, Section 220.127.116.11 it is required that the location server should include at least one cell for which the System Frame Number (SFN) can be obtained by the UE.
One solution is to always include the serving cell in the assistance data, since the UE typically knows the absolute timing for the serving cell.
The UE synchronizes to a cell by performing correlation of the synchronization sequences. After performing cell synchronization, the UE typically acquires the System Frame Number (SFN) of the serving cell by reading the system information sent in the cell. The SFN is transmitted in the master information block (MIB), which in turn is sent over the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH). The PBCH is transmitted with a periodicity of 40 milliseconds with a repetition in sub-frame #0 of every frame within 40 milliseconds. In RRC idle mode, before camping on a cell, the UE reads its broadcast channel, which contains the system information. Any change in the system information is indicated to the UE by sending a page. In response the UE again reads the system information. In RRC connected mode, the UE acquires the system information via a UE-specific dedicated channel. Hence, typically, and by default, the UE does not read the system information of the cell. However it is possible for the network to request the UE to acquire and report the system information of the neighbor cell.
The UE generally does not read the system information of neighbor cells, as this increases UE power consumption and requires more complex implementation. The neighbor cell system information is only acquired by the UE upon receiving special request from the serving cell.
An example situation when the serving cell is not in the assistance data is one of the several possible scenarios for which inter-frequency RSTD requirements are specified. (The term "inter-frequency" as used herein refers to measurements performed by the UE either only on frequencies other than the serving cell frequency or on both non-serving frequencies and the serving cell frequency.) In the latter case, the reference cell may be on the serving cell frequency and the neighbor cells may be on the non-serving frequencies. In this scenario, all cells in the OTDOA assistance data, including the reference cell, operate on frequencies that differ from the serving-cell frequency (see, e.g., 3GPP TS 36.133, Section 126.96.36.199.1, Table 184.108.40.206.1-1, Note 1), which means that none of the cells is the serving cell.
According to the solution described earlier, the UE acquires the SFN of the reference cell received in the assistance data if the SFN of the reference cell is not yet known to the UE, such as when the reference cell is not the serving cell. Acquiring the SFN of a cell may be done, for example, by reading the broadcast channel of that cell. Acquiring the SFN of the reference cell may be triggered by receiving the assistance data, given that the SFN of the reference cell is not known to the UE, or the serving cell is not in the assistance data, or there is no other cell in the assistance data for which the SFN is known to the UE.
For E-CID, there are intra-frequency UE Rx-Tx (receive-transmit) accuracy and reporting delay requirements. ("Intra-frequency" measurements are taken on the serving cell frequency.) No inter-frequency requirements are currently defined for UE or eNodeB Rx-Tx measurements.
OTDOA uses RSTD measurements performed by the UE. For UE-assisted OTDOA, i.e., when the UE reports the measurements to the positioning node (e.g., E-SMLC), the following requirements have been defined in 3GPP TS 36.133:                Intra-frequency RSTD accuracy requirements,        Inter-frequency RSTD accuracy requirements,        Intra-frequency RSTD reporting delay requirements for FDD,        Intra-frequency RSTD reporting delay requirements for TDD,        Inter-frequency RSTD reporting delay requirements for FDD-FDD,        Inter-frequency RSTD reporting delay requirements for TDD-FDD,        Inter-frequency RSTD reporting delay requirements for TDD-TDD,        Inter-frequency RSTD reporting delay requirements for FDD-TDD.For each of the inter-frequency requirements, two scenarios are considered:        Scenario1: inter-frequency RSTD measurements are performed over the reference cell and neighbor cells, which belong to the inter-frequency carrier frequency f2;        Scenario 2: inter-frequency RSTD measurements are performed over the reference cell and the neighbor cells, which belong to the serving carrier frequency f1 and the inter-frequency carrier frequency f2, respectively.
The 3GPP requirements discussed above are generic with respect to the frequency channels and frequency bands. In other words, the requirements are the same for any two different frequencies, independently of their absolute and relative location in the spectrum. This generic approach with regard to the frequency channels and bands has also been used for the specification of other measurement requirements, such as the mobility measurement requirements RSRP and RSRQ in LTE. It should be noted also that the requirements are currently common for inter-frequency. Furthermore, there may also be inter-RAT measurements, e.g., a UE connected to a CDMA may be performing LTE RSTD measurements.
To ensure that the positioning requirements are met, test cases are specified by the standard, against which the UEs are tested. Currently specified positioning test cases assume that the timing information for at least one cell (serving cell) in the assistance data is known to the UE. This means that the UEs in the tests are not required to acquire the timing information of any of the cells. In these tests, the UE is required to report the positioning measurements (i.e., RSTD) within limits, including time limits, specified by the test requirements. Failure to do so shall lead to the failure of the test. Hence, if prior to the start of the actual test the UE under test does not have the timing information of any of the cells to be measured for positioning, then it is quite likely that the UE will fail the tests.
It is mandatory for all UEs to support all intra-RAT measurements (i.e., inter-frequency and intra-band measurements) and meet the associated requirements. However the inter-band and inter-RAT measurements are UE capabilities, which are reported to the network during the call setup. The UE supporting certain inter-RAT measurements should meet the corresponding requirements. For example a UE supporting LTE and WCDMA should support intra-LTE measurements, intra-WCDMA measurements and inter-RAT measurements (i.e., measuring WCDMA when serving cell is LTE and measuring LTE when serving cell is WCDMA). Hence, a network can use any of these capabilities, according to its strategy. These capabilities are highly driven by factors such as market demand, cost, typical network deployment scenarios, frequency allocation, etc.
Inter-frequency measurements may in principle be considered for any positioning method, even though currently not all measurements are specified by the standard as intra- and inter-frequency measurements. The examples of inter-frequency measurements currently specified by the standard are Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) used for OTDOA, and RSRP and RSRQ, which may be used, for example, for fingerprinting or E-CID.
The UE performs inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements in measurement gaps. The measurements may be done for various purposes: mobility, positioning, self organizing network (SON), minimization of drive tests etc. Furthermore, the same gap pattern is used for all types of inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements. Therefore the radio access network (for LTE, referred to as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network, or E-UTRAN) must provide a single measurement gap pattern with constant gap duration for concurrent monitoring (i.e., cell detection and measurements) of all frequency layers and RATs.
In LTE, measurement gaps are configured by the network to enable measurements on the other LTE frequencies and/or other RATs (e.g., UTRA, GSM, CDMA2000, etc). The gap configuration is signaled to the UE over the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, as part of the measurement configuration. A UE that requires measurement gaps for positioning measurements, such as for OTDOA measurements, may send an indication to the network, upon which the network may configure the measurement gaps. Furthermore, the measurement gaps may need to be configured according to a certain rule. For instance, inter-frequency RSTD measurements for OTDOA require that the measurement gaps are configured according to the inter-frequency requirements in 3GPP TS 36.133, Section 184.108.40.206, e.g., not overlapping with PRS occasions of the serving cell and using gap pattern #0.
In general, in LTE inter-RAT measurements are defined similarly to inter-frequency measurements. For example, they may also require configuring measurement gaps like for inter-frequency measurements, but with more measurement restriction. The requirements for inter-RAT measurements may also be relaxed. As a special example, there may be multiple networks using overlapping sets of RATs. The examples of inter-RAT measurements specified currently for LTE are UTRA FDD CPICH RSCP, UTRA FDD carrier RSSI, UTRA FDD CPICH Ec/No, GSM carrier RSSI, and CDMA2000 1×RTT Pilot Strength.
For positioning, assuming that LTE FDD and LTE TDD are treated as different RATs, current standards define inter-RAT requirements only for FDD-TDD and TDD-FDD measurements, and the requirements are different in the two cases. There are no other inter-RAT measurements specified within any separate RAT for the purpose of positioning and which are possible to report to the positioning node (e.g., E-SMLC in LTE).
Inter-band measurement refers to the measurement done by the UE on a target cell on the carrier frequency belonging to the frequency band which is different than that of the serving cell. Both inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements can be intra-band or inter-band.
The motivation for using inter-band measurements is that most of the UEs today support multiple bands even for the same technology. This is driven by the interest from service providers; a single service provider may own carriers in different bands and would like to make efficient use of carriers by performing load balancing on different carriers. A well known example is that of multi-band GSM terminal with 800/900/1800/1900 bands.
Furthermore a UE may also support multiple technologies, e.g., GSM, UTRA FDD and E-UTRAN FDD. Since all UTRA and E-UTRA bands are common, therefore the multi-RAT UE may support same bands for all the supported RATs.
A multi-carrier system (or interchangeably called a carrier-aggregation system) allows the UE to simultaneously receive and/or transmit data over more than one carrier frequency to enhanced data rate. Each carrier frequency is often referred to as a component carrier or simply a serving cell in the serving sector, more specifically a primary serving cell or secondary serving cell. The multi-carrier concept is used in both HSPA and LTE.
In an intra-RAT multi-carrier system, all component carriers belong to the same RAT. Examples are an LTE FDD multi-carrier system, an LTE TDD multi-carrier system, a UTRAN FDD multi-carrier system, a UTRAN TDD multi-carrier system, and so on.
In an LTE multi-carrier system it is possible to aggregate a different number of component carriers of different bandwidths in the uplink and the downlink. One of the component carriers is called the anchor carrier and the remaining ones are called supplementary carriers. Other terms used in literature for the anchor and supplementary carriers are primary and secondary carriers, respectively. Yet other commonly known terms for the anchor and supplementary carriers are the primary serving cell and secondary serving cell respectively. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, e.g., those that are UE-specific may be not present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. For example, in a multi-carrier system comprising of two downlink (F1_DL, F2_DL) and two uplink carriers (F1_UL, F2_UL), some of the UEs may have F1_DL as the primary carrier and remaining ones may have F2_DL as their primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of the UE at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers.
The component carriers may be contiguous or non-contiguous, as shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore, in the case of non-contiguous carriers, they may belong to the same frequency band or to different frequency bands. A hybrid carrier aggregation scheme comprising of contiguous and non-contiguous component carriers are also envisaged in LTE.
In inter-RAT multi-carrier system, component carriers may belong to different RATs. For example, in such systems one component carrier may belong to LTE FDD and another one to LTE TDD. In another example, component carriers belong to UTRAN FDD and E-UTRAN FDD. In such systems, one of the RATs may be considered as the main or primary RAT while the remaining ones as the auxiliary RATs.
Multi-band carrier aggregation allows a UE to simultaneously receive and transmit data over carriers belonging to different bands, e.g., bands 900 MHz and 1800 MHz.
Regardless of the number of aggregated bands, there is one primary or so-called anchor carrier in both HSPA and LTE-Advanced. Hence, the UE is required to perform the neighbor cell measurements, e.g., path loss, received signal strength, received signal quality etc., at least over the anchor carrier (or anchor band). Secondly, the carrier may be semi-dynamically changed. Thirdly, for the sake of coverage and load balancing, different UEs are typically assigned anchor carrier belonging to different bands. This means that a UE would typically be performing measurements over different bands, which could also lead to substantial difference in the reported values due to difference in the propagation condition. Despite this difference the measurements should be usable by the network for determining the UE position from the reference radio fingerprints.

Obtaining reference time for positioning when cells are unknown


A modular containment wall for a sports area. The containment wall is an assembly of panels, each panel having a first edge, an opposing second edge, and interlocking members configured and arranged for (i) interlocking the first edge to a first adjacent panel and (ii) interlocking the second edge to a second adjacent panel. Support legs are rotatably disposed on a back wall of the panels. Each support leg is removably attachable to at least three different attachment sites at the back wall of a panel. The interlocking, modular design of the containment wall enables quick and easy assembly and reassembly, as well as modification to form door ways, sitting areas and similar component structures. In one embodiment, the rear side of the panel includes a recess formed therein. During periods of nonuse, the support leg can be rotated into the recess in a storage position, permitting easy stacking and storage of the panels with the support legs neatly disposed in the rear recesses.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to modular barrier systems. More particularly, it concerns a modular containment wall enclosure for athletic and other recreational activities.
2. The Background Art
Modular containment walls are known in the recreation industry. Athletic and other recreational activities are enhanced by assembling a modular barrier to serve as a boundary marker, as well as a containment structure in some applications.
Athletic activities, such as indoor soccer, ice hockey, and roller hockey, often take place on multi-purpose fields and surfaces, and it is therefore not feasible to have a containment wall serve as a permanent installation. Instead, the containment wall must often be capable of assembly and disassembly quickly and easily. It is also desirable that interference and modification of the existing landscape be minimized. A further criterion is that the containment wall be sufficiently stable to withstand the impact of pucks, balls, and even players who may be thrust against the wall as part of the activity. The containment wall may also be needed as a crowd control device, and must be sturdy enough in such applications to withstand the press of the crowd.


A management system of one embodiment of the invention has a management computer and a managed computer which is managed by the management computer. The management computer comprises a communication device configured to receive operating data of a monitoring object inside a managed computer and information relating to an event. A processor is configured to identify from the operating data received by the communication device a portion of the operating data which relates to the event, based on the operating data and the information relating to the event indicating trouble occurrence or performance decrement of the monitoring object.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a technology for obtaining operating data in a management system and carrying out a trouble analysis. In particular, it relates to a technology for identifying operating data (e.g., metric or performance data) necessary for the trouble analysis, in response to an event which has occurred.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, data which is treated by an operation management tool includes operating data and event data.
The operating data refers to data which is obtained from a monitoring object (object to be monitored), by determining a monitoring point for obtaining data, time for monitoring and so on. The event means, when there occurs a phenomenon such as trouble occurrence and performance decrement or degradation in the monitoring object, data which is used for informing a management device of occurrence of the phenomenon.
Among conventional approaches, there is a technology for putting together and storing operating information in chronological order by saving operating data obtained in a permanent secondary memory device in the form of a text and data base (e.g., JP-A-5-134902). Also, there is a technology for automatically carrying out processing which was registered in advance, based upon occurrence of an event, by mailing a fact or notice that an event occurred to a mail address which was registered in advance (e.g., JP-A-11-45195).
Among conventional approaches, there are ones in which the operating data and the events are saved separately. Therefore, in order to know the time when a trouble occurred, it was necessary to take a look at a log of events individually. Also, it was difficult to take a mapping of how the event appeared in the operating data. Further, in case of carrying out the trouble analysis, the main part of the operating data is data at the time of steady state, and therefore, it was necessary to wade through a large amount of operating data in order to extract a small quantity of data at the time of trouble. Moreover, since the operating data had to be obtained regularly, required was a file device of large capacity for storing it.

Management system, management computer, managed computer, management method and program


This invention relates to a pivotable protective pick-up truck tailgate liner assembly which when opened forms a tailgate seat-back rest. When closed it serves as a protective tailgate liner. Means are provided to utilize the tailgate in the horizontal position as a seat, and the tailgate liner invention as the seat back rest. Additionally, means are provided to utilize the existing vehicle body side tailgate latch brackets to lock said liner assembly into a seat back position. This invention is comprised of a rigid plastic base panel and a larger liner panel which are pivotably attached to each other. The base panel is securely attached to the tailgate surface, while snap fit connectors selectively attach and detach said larger liner panel to the tailgate. A sliding striker mechanism provides a means to fix said larger liner panel into the existing vehicle body side tailgate latch brackets to form a tailgate seat back-rest. To use the device as a seat back-rest, one simply opens the tailgate to its horizontal position, releases the liner snap fit attachments, extends the strikers, rotates the larger liner panel open, and inserts said strikers into the existing vehicle tailgate latch brackets.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to seating devices and in particular to pick-up truck liners and seating attachments.
2. Description of Related Art
It is seen that many pick-up truck owners purchase some type of protective liner to guard the cargo box and tailgate finish from heavy payload such as wood, cinder blocks, or similar material which will tend to scratch its surface. After loading and unloading such cargo it is seen, on many occasions, that people search for a comfortable and convenient place to sit while resting. Often a pick-up truck tailgate in the horizontal position is used as a makeshift seat. This is also noted at other outdoor events such as watching soccer at the local park, while fishing along a riverbank, or at the construction site during break. Without a backrest, however, this type of seat is uncomfortable and creates back strain. Such a backrest should not, however, interfere with the capacity or usefulness of the pick-up box or the exterior appearance of the vehicle. It is evident that there is a need for a simple, compact, convenient, and inexpensive liner which will provide a back-rest support for a pick-up truck tailgate. It must still protect the finish, be convenient to use, inexpensive to manufacture, and durable enough to withstand field use. This invention provides the means to fulfill these needs.
Reference is made to a number of prior art designs that have been developed to provide various means for an exterior vehicle seat and backrest. However, no prior art is known to exist which, in a practical manner, does not destroy the main utility of the pick-up truck vehicle. That is, to maintain full pick-up box cargo volume and to not impede cargo loading and unloading convenience. Previous liner and seating structures heretofore designed are complex, require attaching and detaching devices, storage, are expensive to manufacture, bulky, and greatly reduce pick-up box cargo volume and or impede cargo loading and unloading.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,774 to James C. Cananaugh discloses a "Vehicle Exterior Body Panel Seat".
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,462,334, 5,215,346, 5,000,504, and 4,911,493, each provide some form of exterior vehicle seat and back-rest support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,852 to Paul G. Filer discloses a "Bleacher Back-Rest". This portable design primarily consists of two main moldable plastic panels which fold open, interlock, and clamp to a bleacher to form a comfortable seat.
Whatever merits of the above cited designs, none of them fulfill the main objects of the present invention. Previous designs all sacrifice the main utility of the pick-up vehicle. Payload volume is greatly reduced as well as easy access for loading and unloading of the cargo box. The aforementioned designs also require storage when not in use. It is therefore shown that there is a need for a convenient, integral liner and seat back-rest design that utilizes the existing tailgate and latching brackets, does not reduce payload volume, does not impede cargo loading or unloading convenience, and also protects the tailgate finish. In these respects it is seen that this invention substantially departs from prior art designs, and in doing so fulfills the aforementioned needs.

Pick-up truck tailgate liner and seat back


A fuel injection apparatus comprising a fuel injection arrangement for delivering a fuel injection pulse sequence to a combustion chamber during a combustion cycle, the fuel injection pulse sequence comprising a plurality of discrete fuel injection pulses, each discrete fuel injection pulse having a fuel injection pulse type (for example: disabled, common rail pressure, pump pressure etc); a calculation module for monitoring a plurality of vehicle operating parameters, calculating a fuel injection mode in response thereto, and determining a fuel injection mode identifier; a controller arranged to receive the fuel injection mode identifier from the calculation module and operate the fuel injection arrangement in response thereto; wherein the fuel injection mode identifier (for example, a hexadecimal representation in the form of a data string) comprises a plurality of markers, each of the plurality of markers having an ordinal number and a value, wherein the ordinal number of each marker is indicative of the sequential position of an associated one of the plurality of the discrete fuel injection pulses within the fuel injection pulse sequence, and the value of each marker is indicative of the fuel injection type of said associated one of the plurality of discrete fuel injection pulses.

Environmental legislation demands constant improvements in the cleanliness of engine exhaust emissions. This has encouraged technological development in many aspects of engine design. One way in which exhaust emissions are improved is to increase combustion efficiency by providing a fuel injector that is able to inject an injection pulse sequence comprising a pattern of discrete injection pulses during each combustion cycle. For example, a fuel injector may be required to deliver a relatively small volume of fuel in one or more so-called 'pilot' injections, followed by a larger delivery of fuel in a main injection event, followed by a relatively small delivery of fuel in one or more so-called 'post' injections.
A particularly advantageous system having the above functionality is a so-called 'hybrid' fuel injection system that combines known common rail technology and known "unit-injector technology".
Referring to FIG. 1, a hybrid fuel injection apparatus 2 includes a pumping arrangement 4 that is arranged to receive fuel from a fuel supply means via a pump supply passage 8 and to supply pressurised fuel to a fuel injector arrangement 10 via an injector supply passage 12.
The pumping arrangement 4 includes a reciprocable pumping plunger 14, an end of which is slidably received within a pumping chamber 16. The pumping plunger 14 is driven by a cam drive arrangement (not shown on FIG. 1) to perform an outward stroke during which fuel enters the pumping chamber 16 from the pump supply passage 8 and an inward stroke during which the pumping plunger 14 moves inwardly to reduce the volume of the pumping chamber 16 thus increasing the pressure of the fuel trapped within it.
The pumping chamber 16 receives fuel via the pump supply passage 8 from one of two sources: i) a high pressure accumulator volume 20, or 'common rail', and ii) a low pressure transfer pump 22. Communication between the low pressure transfer pump 22 and the pump supply passage 8 is controlled via a pressure operable non-return valve 24 and communication between the common rail 20 and the pump supply passage 8 is controlled via an electrically operable two-way valve 26, hereafter 'rail control valve'. The position of the rail control valve 26 determines whether the pumping chamber is supplied with fuel from the common rail 20 or the low pressure transfer pump 22.
The fuel injector arrangement comprises an injector nozzle body 30 defining a bore 32 within which a valve needle 34 is slidable. The nozzle body bore 30 is shaped to define an annular delivery chamber 36 surrounding approximately the mid point of the valve needle 34 and which communicates with the injector supply passage 12.
The valve needle 34 is shaped so as to define a relatively wide upper region 34a that tapers sharply approximately mid-way along the length of the valve needle 34 into a relatively narrow lower region 34b that terminates in a valve tip 34c. The valve needle tip 34c is enagageable with a valve seat 38 so as to open or close a nozzle outlet 40 and thus control the delivery of fuel from the injector arrangement 10. It should be mentioned at this point that although FIG. 1 shows a single nozzle outlet 40, this is for simplicity only and, in practice, such an injection nozzle is likely to include a plurality of nozzle outlets radially disposed about the tip of the nozzle.
The tapered region between the upper region 34a and the lower region 34b defines a thrust surface against which pressurised fuel acts to impart an opening force to the valve needle 34.
The lower region 34b of the valve needle 34 defines a clearance with the bore 32 such that pressurised fuel can flow from the delivery chamber 36, to the nozzle outlet 40 past the valve needle 34. The upper region 34a of the valve needle 34 defines a close sliding fit with the bore 32 so as to provide guidance to the valve needle 34.
The end of the valve needle 34 distal from the valve needle tip 34c includes a surface that is exposed to pressure within a control chamber 42. The pressure of fuel within the control chamber 42 is determined by the state of a three-way, two-position valve 50, hereafter the 'nozzle control valve'. When the nozzle control valve 50 is in a first (closed) position, the control chamber 42 communicates with high pressure fuel within the injector supply passage 12. The high pressure within the control chamber 42 exerts a closing force on the valve needle 34 such that it remains engaged with the valve seat 38, thus preventing fuel delivery through the nozzle outlet 40. The control chamber 42 houses a biasing spring 43 that provides an additional closing force on the valve needle 34.
When the nozzle control valve 50 is in a second (open) position, the control chamber 42 communicates with a low pressure drain passage 52. In this position, the closing force on the valve needle 34 is reduced such that the force due to the fuel pressure within the delivery chamber 36 acting on the valve needle thrust surface is greater than the closing force. As a result, the valve needle 34 is urged away from the valve seat 38 so that fuel delivery is initiated.
One particularly beneficial aspect of the hybrid fuel injection system exemplified in FIG. 1 is that the injection arrangement 10 may be supplied with pressurised fuel for injection from either the pumping arrangement 4, at a relatively high pressure level, or from the common rail 20 at an intermediate pressure level, thus providing the flexibility to vary the pressure of fuel delivered to the combustion chamber.
In order to inject fuel at common rail pressure, the rail control valve 26 is set to its open position. Fuel at common rail pressure therefore flows from the common rail 20, though the pump supply passage 8, the pumping chamber 16 and the injector supply passage 12, to the injector arrangement 10. Opening the nozzle control valve 50 relieves pressure within the control chamber 42 such that the valve needle 34 is urged to lift from the valve seat 38 and so fuel injection is initiated. Closing the nozzle control valve 50 causes pressure to be re-established in the control chamber 42, thus urging the valve needle 34 to re-engage the valve seat 38.
In order to inject fuel at maximum pumping pressure, the rail control valve 26 is set to the closed position. As the pumping plunger 14 performs an outward stroke, pressure in the pumping chamber 16 reduces to a point at which the non-return valve 24 opens due to the pressure difference across it such that fuel at transfer pressure will flow from the transfer pump 22 to the pumping chamber 16. As the pumping plunger 14 begins its inward (pumping) stroke, the pressure of fuel rises so as to close the non-return valve 24 thus preventing pressurised fuel from flowing back to low pressure. High pressure fuel is therefore transmitted to the injector arrangement 10.
A high pumping pressure injection is initiated by opening the nozzle control valve 50 as the pumping plunger 14 approaches its innermost position (i.e. during a pumping stroke). Opening the nozzle control valve 50 relieves the pressure of fuel within the control chamber 42 which permits the valve needle 34 to lift from the valve seat 38, thus initiating an injection event.
As will be appreciated from the above description, the hybrid fuel injection system 2 provides considerable flexibility of injection timing and injection pressure. The availability of a substantially constant pressure fuel source from the common rail 20 permits injection events to be performed at any point in a combustion cycle. Moreover, the pumping arrangement 4 permits one or more high pressure injections of fuel driven from the pumping plunger 14 for a limited duration of the combustion cycle.
The fuel injection system in FIG. 1 is able to inject a sequence of several fuel injection pulses within a combustion cycle. FIG. 2 shows one such sequence comprising six fuel injection pulses: first and second pilot pulses 60, 62, first and second main injection pulses 64, 66, which are shown merged in FIG. 2, and first and second post injection pulses 68, 69.
Each fuel injection pulse in the sequence in FIG. 2 may take one of the following injection pulse types:    i) the fuel injection pulse is disabled,    ii) the fuel injection pulse is at common rail pressure,    iii) the fuel injection pulse is at pump pressure,    iv) the fuel injection pulse is at pump pressure and terminated by pressure spill,    v) the fuel injection pulse is at common rail pressure in HCCI mode (homogeneous charge compression ignition). In common rail HCCI mode, the fuel injection pulse is spilt into several small injections so as to achieve a greater degree of homogeneity of the fuel/air charge within the combustion chamber.
The number and type of fuel injection pulses making up a specific fuel injection pulse sequence are defined by the term 'fuel injection mode', the precise configuration of which is determined as contributing to efficient combustion conditions at a given engine operating region. For example, pilot fuel injection pulses are often utilised to reduce noise/vibrations at engine idle as they help to ensure a homogenous fuel/air mixture injection thus promoting an evenly distributed flame front around the combustion chamber. Furthermore, permitting two instances of main injection pulses is usually used at low speed when pump pressure cannot be maintained during a long main injection pulse. Therefore, by splitting the main injection and allowing pressure to build up in between for a short time, it is possible to have a longer injection at an higher average pressure. Post injection pulses typically are used for regenerating particulate filters installed within the exhaust system.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the fuel injection apparatus 2 is controlled by an engine control unit (ECU) 70 which has overall responsibility for the correct operation of all aspects of the engine and, in particular, is operable to control the injection arrangement 10 to operate in one of a plurality of fuel injection modes, depending on the prevailing operating condition of the engine.
The engine control unit 70 includes a fuel injection mode module 72, hereafter 'FIM module', which monitors a variety of engine parameters 74 (for example, engine speed, engine load, outside air temperature, accelerator pedal position) and calculates the appropriate fuel injection mode that suits the prevailing operating conditions of the engine.
In the known fuel injection apparatus 2 of FIG. 1, all possible fuel injection modes that are suitable for use with the fuel injection apparatus 2 are predefined during manufacture and a unique identifier in the form of a real number is allocated, in sequence, to each fuel injection mode. The FIM module 72 calculates the appropriate fuel injection mode in response to the prevailing operating condition of the engine and outputs the appropriate fuel injection mode identifier to a fuel injection equipment control module 76, hereafter 'FIE control module', which is responsible for controlling the nozzle control valve 50 and rail control valve 26.
The FIE control module 76 receives the fuel injection mode identifier as an input and configures injection characteristics for the injection pulse sequence, such as the volume of fuel to deliver during each discrete injection pulse within the pulse sequence, the timing of the injection pulse sequence within the combustion cycle and the temporal separation between the discrete injection pulses within the pulse sequence. The FIE control module 76 outputs first and second electrical control signals 80, 82 to the nozzle control valve 50 and the rail control valve 26, respectively, in order to control their operation and, thus, control the fuel injection apparatus 2.
In order to configure the appropriate settings for the injection pulse sequence, the FIE control module 76 uses the fuel injection mode identifier to reference a look up table 78 that is stored as a globally accessible data structure within the FIE control module 76.
The FIE control module 76 communicates with the look up table 78 by way of a data link 84, retrieves the injector pulse sequence that corresponds to the identifier that the FIE control module 76 received from the FIM module 72 and uses the injection pulse sequence data during subsequent calculations of the injection characteristics.
This above process repeats at a frequency of approximately 50 to 100 Hz whilst the engine is in operation in order to readily adapt to the changing operating condition of the engine.
The above described apparatus is disadvantageous in certain respects. Firstly, the operation of the FIE control module 76 as described above imposes a burden on the processing capacity of the engine control unit 70. Secondly, a significant memory resource of the ECU 70 is given over to the storage of the injection pulse sequences. Thirdly, it is problematic for engineers to perform system testing due to necessity to refer to look up tables in order to configure the fuel injection modes in test routines.
The inventors have devised a fuel injection apparatus that modifies the way in which the fuel injection mode is defined which reduces the processing requirement of the engine control unit since it can be manipulated more readily by software functions therein, and which may be interpreted by engineers intuitively without the need to reference data tables during system configuration and calibration.


A delay line (DL) circuit used to generate test pattern waveforms has a pulse generating circuit that is used during calibration to generate a pulse signal upon receiving a signal edge. A delay line of the DL circuit receives the pulse signal and delays the pulse signal by a selected time delay. A feedback loop of the DL circuit feeds the delayed pulse signal output from the delay line back to the input of the pulse generating circuit. Receipt of an edge of the fed back pulse signal at the input of the pulse generating circuit causes the pulse generating circuit to generate another pulse signal. The delayed pulse signal output from the delay line can be input to a counter that generates a counter value that is based on the period of oscillation of the delayed pulse signal.

One type of tester for testing integrated circuits (ICs) is an automated test pattern generator (ATPG). A typical ATPG tester generates digital waveform test patterns that are output from input/output (I/O) pins of the tester and input to I/O pins of the IC being tested. A typical ATPG has several application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), each of which contains several delay line (DL) circuits that are used to generate the digital waveforms used to test ICs. Each DL circuit includes a number of delay elements, any subset of which can be switched on to provide a given delay.
A digital waveform is typically created by logically combining the outputs of multiple DL circuits in a formatter (e.g., an Exclusive-OR (XOR) gate) to generate various types of waveforms having various duty cycles. The waveform can be altered by varying the delay settings of one or more of the DL circuits. The output of the formatter is connected to an I/O pin of the ASIC. The signal received at the I/O pin of the ASIC can be steered to an I/O pin of the tester in order to output a test signal from the tester that can be used to test logic inside of an IC.
The signal received at the I/O pin of the ASIC can also be steered to an I/O pin of the tester that is used to calibrate DL circuits contained in the ASIC. Before the ASICs that contain the DL circuits are incorporated into a tester, each DL circuit in each ASIC is calibrated at different delay settings to ensure that the DL circuit is operating properly. The I/O pin of the tester that receives the signal from the ASIC to be calibrated is typically connected to the input of an integrator circuit, which integrates the signal over many duty cycles to produce a high-precision voltage signal that is proportional to the duty cycle of the signal output from the formatter. The high-precision voltage signal is measured by a high-precision voltmeter. The duty cycle is then determined based on the value of the voltage signal.
To calibrate a DL circuit, the output of one DL circuit and the output of another DL circuit are combined by a formatter, and the output of the formatter is steered to one of the aforementioned calibration I/O pins of the tester. The output of one of the DL circuits provides the falling edge of the signal output from the formatter, and the output of the other DL circuit provides the rising edge of the signal output from the formatter. The DL circuit that is not being calibrated has its delay set to a constant delay while the DL circuit that is being calibrated will have its delay setting varied to produce signals having various duty cycles. Thus, the duty cycle of the waveform output from the formatter will vary as the delay setting of the DL circuit being calibrated is varied.
One of the problems associated with the current calibration technique and system is that calibration takes a relatively long time to be performed. A tester may have, for example, 1,000 I/O pins, each of which has an ASIC associated with it. Each ASIC may have, for example, 16 DL circuits. Therefore, a total of 1,000×16=16,000 DL circuits will need to be calibrated. In addition, for each DL circuit, typically many different delay settings will need to be calibrated. With the current calibration technique and system, typically only one of the aforementioned high-precision voltmeters is allocated to each board of the tester. Each board may have, for example, 16 ASICs and one high-precision voltmeter mounted on it. At any given time, the high-precision voltmeter can only measure the voltage signal associated with one of the ASICs on the board. Therefore, multiple DL circuits on the same board cannot be calibrated simultaneously, i.e., in parallel. Consequently, the calibration process is typically very time consuming and may take hours to perform.
Another known system for calibrating a DL circuit involves connecting the delay elements of the DL circuit to form a ring oscillator. The ring oscillator is formed by feeding the output of the last delay element in the delay line back to the input of the first delay element in the delay line. The oscillations in the waveform output from the DL circuit are counted for a fixed period of time. When the delay setting is varied, the number of oscillations that occur during the fixed period of time will vary accordingly. Thus, the change in the amount of delay produced by the DL circuit can be ascertained by counting the difference in the number of oscillations that occur during the fixed period of time when changing from one delay setting to another.
Although the ring oscillator approach enables DL calibration to be performed relatively quickly, the calibration may not be accurate due to the fact that the period of oscillation depends on the average of the rising-edge delay and the falling-edge delay. Because of device mismatching, processing condition variations and other factors, for a given setting, a DL circuit may produce one delay for rising edges and a different delay for falling edges. This creates inaccuracy in the calibration process, which makes it generally unsuitable for its intended purpose.
A need exists for a way to calibrate DL circuits that enables calibration to be performed quickly and with great precision.

Method and apparatus for calibrating delay lines

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


Cyclic N-halamine biocidal monomers and polymers and methods of using the same as biocides, wherein the functional group, halogenated oxazolidinones, may be homo- and copolymerized, are provided. The copolymerizations are effected with inexpensive monomers such as acrylonitrile, styrene, vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, and the like. Grafting reactions were also accomplished with the N-halamine monomers and commercial polymers such as poly-acrylonitrile, poly-styrene, poly-vinyl acetate, poly-vinyl alcohol, poly-vinyl chloride, and cellulose. These N-halamine compounds are stable biocides which release small amounts of free halogen and other impurities. They will be useful as disinfectants for swimming pools, oil and water based paints, preservatives, medical and dental coatings, industrial and commercial coatings, fabrics, sterile bandages, liners of containers, and the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The following invention relates to disinfectant compounds that act as biocides to an array of microorganisms. The biocides are comprised of cyclic N-halamines that are biocidal when they come in contact with halogen-sensitive organisms for a specific contact time. This is achieved by coating the N-halamine on a substrate; such as, but not limited to: glass, metal, wood, plastic, concrete, and fabric.
2. Background Art
Current surface contact biocides for the use of producing a sterile environment such as for medical tables, surgical equipment, fabric materials, gloves, catheter tubing, piping, industrial and commercial surfaces, swimming pools, floors, can and bottle liners, food production equipment and liners, and various medical and dental applications do not exist or are severely limited in their biocidal abilities. Most commonly used water-soluble disinfectants which contain free halogen have severely limited lifetimes, produce adverse reactions to their environment, and produce toxic by-products. Disinfectants which do not contain free halogen, such as quaternary ammonium and phenolic compounds, are only effective towards specific organisms, are water soluble, and can cause skin and eye irritation. Commercially employed hydantoins, cyanurates, oxazolidinones (Kaminski et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,000,293 and 3,931,213), imidazolidinones (Worley et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,681,948; 4,767,542; 5,057,612; 5,126,057), and polymeric N-halamines (Worley et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,490,983 and 5,670,646) are much more stable than free halogen, ozone, and chlorine dioxide, and are more versatile than phenolic and quaternary ammonium compounds.
Currently only a few disinfectant surfaces have been prepared, most of which focus on quaternary ammonium compounds (quats) anchored on polymer backbones (Hazziza-Laskar et al., J Appl. Polym. Sci., 50:651 (1993); Nurdin et al., J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 50:663 (1993); Nurdin et al., J Appl. Polym. Sci., 50:671 (1993); Hazziza-Laskar et al., J Appl. Polym. Sci., 58:77 (1995)) which are then cast as films. Although these films are biocidal, their limitations are that they need long contact times to kill the organisms, the surface cannot be reactivated once the biocidal activity is lost, the films are relatively expensive to make, and the films are partially water soluble. Other types of surface active disinfectants are polymeric phosphonium materials (Kanazawa et al., J Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem., 31:1467 (1993); J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 52:641 (1994)), modified polyesters, polyethers and benzimidiazoles (Oh et al., J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 52:583 (1994); J Appl. Polym. Sci., 54:859 (1994); Cho et al., J Macromol Sci., Pure Appl. Chem., A32:479 (1995)) which are resistant to several types of microorganisms, but the biocidal moiety cannot be regenerated once exhausted, the films are costly to make, and they can be water soluble.
Therefore, there is a need for a surface active biocide that is inexpensive to manufacture, can regenerate its biocidal activity, is water insoluble when necessary, can kill a broad spectrum of microorganisms, does not affect its environment unfavorably, and requires relatively short contact times to inactivate microorganisms when necessary. There is also a need for the contact biocide to be applied to numerous substrates such as glass, wood, metal, fibrous materials, and concrete to maximize the applications for its use.


A seal segment includes a C sectioned seal member. An energizing spring is positioned within the seal member. An orientation block is secured at an end of the seal member.

The invention relates to metallic seals. More particularly, the invention relates to the sealing of split cases of steam turbines and industrial gas turbines.
Stationary turbine installations include steam turbines and industrial gas turbines. A principal use is for power generation. Common configurations for such turbines include horizontally-split cases with upper and lower case sections joined along a pair of diametrically opposed mating flanges. The flanges may be sealed such as with a gasket material.


The invention relates to a PSMA-targeting conjugate comprising (a) an amatoxin; (b) a small molecule PSMA-targeting moiety; and (c) optionally a linker linking said amatoxin and said small molecule PSMA-targeting moiety. The invention furthermore relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising such conjugate.

Amatoxins are cyclic peptides composed of 8 amino acids that are found in Amanita phalloides mushrooms (see FIG. 1). Amatoxins specifically inhibit the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II of mammalian cells, and thereby also the transcription and protein biosynthesis of the affected cells. Inhibition of transcription in a cell causes stop of growth and proliferation. Though not covalently bound, the complex between amanitin and RNA-polymerase II is very tight (KD=3 nM). Dissociation of amanitin from the enzyme is a very slow process, thus making recovery of an affected cell unlikely. When the inhibition of transcription lasts too long, the cell will undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis).
The use of amatoxins as cytotoxic moieties for tumour therapy had already been explored in 1981 by coupling an anti-Thy 1.2 antibody to α-amanitin using a linker attached to the indole ring of Trp (amino acid 4; see FIG. 1) via diazotation (Davis & Preston, Science 213 (1981) 1385-1388). Davis & Preston identified the site of attachment as position 7′. Morris & Venton demonstrated as well that substitution at position 7′ results in a derivative, which maintains cytotoxic activity (Morris & Venton, Int. J. Peptide Protein Res. 21 (1983) 419-430).
Patent application EP 1 859 811 A1 (published Nov. 28, 2007) described conjugates, in which the γ C-atom of amatoxin amino acid 1 of β-amanitin was directly coupled, i.e. without a linker structure, to albumin or to monoclonal antibody HEA125, OKT3, or PA-1. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of these conjugates on the proliferation of breast cancer cells (MCF-7), Burkitt's lymphoma cells (Raji) and T-lymphoma cells (Jurkat) was shown. The use of linkers was suggested, including linkers comprising elements such as amide, ester, ether, thioether, disulfide, urea, thiourea, hydrocarbon moieties and the like, but no such constructs were actually shown, and no more details, such as attachment sites on the amatoxins, were provided.
Patent applications WO 2010/115629 and WO 2010/115630 (both published Oct. 14, 2010) describe conjugates, where antibodies, such as anti-EpCAM antibodies such as humanized antibody huHEA125, are coupled to amatoxins via (i) the γ C-atom of amatoxin amino acid 1, (ii) the 6′ C-atom of amatoxin amino acid 4, or (iii) via the δ C-atom of amatoxin amino acid 3, in each case either directly or via a linker between the antibody and the amatoxins. The suggested linkers comprise elements such as amide, ester, ether, thioether, disulfide, urea, thiourea, hydrocarbon moieties and the like. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects of these conjugates on the proliferation of breast cancer cells (cell line MCF-7), pancreatic carcinoma (cell line Capan-1), colon cancer (cell line Colo205), and cholangiocarcinoma (cell line OZ) were shown.
Patent application WO 2012/119787 describes that target-binding moieties can be attached to amatoxins via linkers at additional attachment sites on tryptophan amino acid 4, namely positions 1′-N, without interference with the interaction of such amatoxins with their target, the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II of mammalian cells.
So far, amatoxins have been conjugated to large biomolecules, such as antibody molecules, as targeting moieties. Such large biomolecules, however, pose huge challenges in terms of the production processes and cost of goods. Thus, it would be highly desirable to use small molecule-based targeting moieties instead. However, there are certain serious safety concerns.
First, while it is known that amatoxins are relatively non-toxic when coupled to such large biomolecules, and that they exert their cytotoxic activity only after the biomolecule carrier is cleaved off after internalization in the target cells, it is not known so far, whether amatoxin conjugates carrying small molecule-based targeting domains would be able to maintain such toxicity profile. In light of the toxicity of amatoxins, particularly for liver cells, it is of outmost importance that amatoxin conjugates for targeted tumour therapy remain specific for their target cells. In this context, minor variations of the conjugate structure may have drastic consequences for the therapeutic window and the safety of the amatoxin conjugates for therapeutic approaches.
Second, a substantial number of Small Molecule Drug Conjugates (SMDCs) have been developed and tested so far. While many of them showed a good selectivity (selectivity (S)═IC50 on receptor negative cells/IC50 on receptor positive cells), the targeting index was rather poor (targeting index (TI)═IC50 of free toxin/IC50 of conjugate, both on receptor positive cell line). Details on known SMDCs are shown in Example A and Tables 1 to 5 below.
Thus, significant progress has already been made in the development of antibody-based amatoxin conjugates for therapeutic uses. However, there are certain problems associated with such conjugates that could not be solved satisfactorily so far.


A subsea well intervention method implemented on a well (200) from a floating vessel (100), said floating vessel not comprising a derrick, the method comprising a step of connecting a power line (207) directly between a remotely operated vehicle (206) and the blowout preventer module (202) for powering the blowout preventer module, the remotely operated vehicle (206) being connected to a control unit (107) located on the floating vessel via a remotely operated vehicle umbilical (106).

During production phase, subsea wells require maintenance and/or remediation to improve flow or production of hydrocarbon fluid. The intervention process often needs to lower at least one specialized tool inside the well by means of a wire line or cable.
The tool is lowered into the well through a lubricator module, a blowout preventer module, and the subsea tree.
The subsea tree is a system located on the top of the well at the sea floor, i.e. at the wellhead, such system comprising a plurality of valves for controlling the well flow during production phase.
The blowout preventer module, commonly named as a BOP, is a security system comprising valves that are able to seal the well in case of emergency and to avoid leak of hydrocarbon fluid in the environment.
Such blowout preventer module can be installed above the subsea tree via a running adapter module that is designed to adapt the blowout preventer module mechanical interface to the subsea tree mechanical interface. Thanks to this running adapter module a blowout preventer module from a first supplier can be connected to a subsea tree from a second supplier. Additionally, such running adapter module helps the automatic secured connection of said blowout preventer module on top of subsea tree in vertical direction at the deep-sea floor via a remotely operated vehicle.
The lubricator module is a system located on the top of the blowout preventer module that provides sealing of the wire line and that keeps the fluids pressure inside the well during the use and displacement of the tool inside the well.
Usually, such tool intervention uses a workover string connected above the blowout preventer module to run down the blowout preventer module inside sea water down to the subsea tree. However, such system and method require a large floating vessel having a derrick and a storing of a lot of riser for assembling and deploying the workover string inside sea.
Another method is to use a subsea lubricator to eliminate the use of a workover riser. The blowout preventer module and the lubricator module are run down to the subsea tree by a cable line that is deployed via a crane and a winch, located on the floating vessel. A remotely operated vehicle helps the guiding and the secured connection of this subsystem above the subsea tree. A control umbilical is also installed between the floating vessel and the subsystem of the blowout preventer module and the lubricator module for providing power fluids to the blowout preventer module and to the lubricator module. For example, it provides the fluids that circulates in the lubricator module, and the power to actuate various valves inside this subsystem.
The patent document U.S. Pat. No. 7,487,836 B2 shows such riserless modular subsea well intervention, method and apparatus using a subsea lubricator assembly and a blowout preventer module. Such system is operated via a control umbilical running in parallel to the wire line up to the floating vessel, and connected to a fail safe disconnect assembly near the blowout preventer module for rapidly and securely disconnect said control umbilical in case of emergency caused by drive-off condition that force the floating vessel to move away from the position over the well without recovering various equipments attached to the subsea tree.
However, such system and method are still complex, and this needs a lot of time to be deployed and to be used.