A silicon nitride film and a silicon oxide film are deposited on a transparent substrate 1 to cover a first light transmitting region and to expose a second light transmitting region. A light blocking film is formed in a light blocking region sandwiched between the first and the second light transmitting regions Ta and Tn to cover the transparent substrate 1. A phase shift mask, a blank for a phase shift mask, and a method of manufacturing a phase shift mask are accordingly obtained in which the phase difference of the light transmitted through the light transmitting regions adjacent to each other with the light blocking film interposed is substantially 180.degree. and the intensity of each transmitting light is identical.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a phase shift mask, a blank for a phase shift mask, and a method of manufacturing a phase shift mask.
2. Description of the Background Art
As the higher integration and miniaturization have been achieved in a semiconductor integrated circuit, miniaturization of the circuit pattern formed on a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a wafer) has also been promoted.
As a basic technique for the pattern generation, photolithography is widely known among others. Although various development and improvement have been proceeded in the field, the dimension of the pattern has been still smaller, and the requirement for the resolution of the pattern has also been stronger.
According to the photolithography technique, a mask (original) pattern is transferred to a photoresist coating a wafer, and an underlying film to be etched is patterned using the transferred photoresist. At the time of transfer, the photoresist is developed. Through the development process, the photoresist of the type in which a portion exposed to light is removed is called appositive type photoresist, while the type in which a portion not exposed to light is removed is called a negative type.
Resolution limit R (nm) in the photolithography employing the demagnification exposure method is represented as EQU R=k.sub.1 .multidot..lambda./(NA)
where .lambda. is wavelength (nm) of the light used, NA is numerical aperture of a lens, and k.sub.1 is a constant dependent on the resist process.
As can be understood from above equation, in order to improve the resolution limit R to obtain a fine pattern, the values k.sub.1 and .lambda. should be smaller, and the value NA should be larger. In other words, what is to be done is to reduce the constant dependent on the resist process and to shorten the wavelength and to increase NA.
However, improvement of light source or the lens is technically difficult, and depth of focus .delta. of the lens (.delta.=k.sub.2 .multidot..lambda./(NA).sup.2) might become shallower by shortening the wavelength and increasing NA, thus causing the deterioration of the resolution.
In view of this, studies of miniaturization of the pattern by improving not the light source or the lens but the photomask are proceeded. Lately, a phase shift mask has been attracting much attention as a photomask allowing improvement of the resolution of the pattern. The structure and principle of such a phase shift mask will be hereinafter described in comparison with an ordinary photomask. The description below will be directed to a phase shift mask of the Levenson system.
FIGS. 27A, 27B, and 27C respectively show a cross section of a mask, electric field on the mask, and light intensity on the wafer when an ordinary photomask is used. With reference to FIG. 27A, the ordinary photomask is structured to have a metal mask pattern 403 formed on a glass substrate 401. In the electric field on such an ordinary photomask, the pulse is modulated spatially by metal mask pattern 403 as shown in FIG. 27B.
Referring to FIG. 27C, if the pattern has smaller dimension, the exposure light transmitted through the photomask extends into a non-exposed region (a region where the transmission of the exposure light is blocked by metal mask pattern 403) on the wafer due to the diffraction effect of the light. The light is thus directed to the region not to be exposed on the wafer, resulting in deterioration of the contrast of the light (difference of the light intensity between an exposed region and a non-exposed region on a wafer). The resolution is degraded and transfer of a fine pattern becomes difficult.
FIGS. 28A, 28B and 28C respectively show a cross section of a mask, electric field on the mask, and light intensity on a wafer when a phase shift mask of the Levenson system is used. With reference to FIG. 28A, an optical member called a phase shifter 405 is provided on an ordinary photomask.
More specifically, chromium mask pattern 403 is formed on glass substrate 401 to provide an exposure region and a light blocking region, and phase shifter 405 is formed at every other exposure region. Phase shifter 405 has a function of shifting the phase of the transmitted light by 180.degree..
Referring to FIG. 28B, in the electric field on the mask generated by the light transmitted through the phase shift mask, the phases are alternately inverted by 180.degree. since phase shifters 405 are provided at every other exposure region. As described above, adjacent exposed regions have opposite phases of light, so that beams of light are cancelled with each other due to the interference of light in the portions where reverse-phased beams of light are overlapped.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 28C, the intensity of the light becomes weak in the boundary portion between the exposed regions, then sufficient difference of light intensity between the exposed region and the non-exposed region on the wafer can be ensured. The improvement of the resolution is thus possible to allow the transfer of a fine pattern.
The phase shift mask of the Levenson system explained above has a superior resolution in view of this principle, and such system is considered as the most favorable system from the standpoint of resolving power among other various kinds of phase shift masks.
FIG. 29 schematically illustrates the cross section of the structure of the conventional phase shift mask of the Levenson system. With reference to FIG. 29, the conventional phase shift mask is provided with a transparent substrate 501 formed of quartz, an etching stopper layer 503 formed of SnO film, a phase shifter 505 formed of SiO.sub.2 film, and a light blocking film 507 formed of Cr film.
Etching stopper film 503 is formed on transparent substrate 501. Phase shifter film 505 is formed to cover a first light transmitting region Ta and a light blocking region S and to expose a second light transmitting region Tn on etching stopper film 503. Light blocking film 507 is formed to cover transparent substrate 501 in light blocking region S located between adjacent first and second light transmitting regions Ta and Tn.
Generally, upon the exposure in the transfer process, the exposure light of uniform intensity is directed to the phase shift mask from the side of transparent substrate 501. The respective phases of the exposure light transmitted through the first light transmitting region Ta and the second light transmitting region Tn are inverted by 180.degree.. The transmitted light with its phases inverted from each other is directed to the photoresist, and the pattern having a shape corresponding to light transmitting regions Ta and Tn is provided on the photoresist through the development.
If the first and the second light transmitting regions Ta and Tn have the same opening dimension, the same amount of light should be transmitted through each of light transmitting regions Ta and Tn in order to form a pattern of a photoresist of uniform dimension. However, in the conventional phase shift mask, the films are not appropriately structured in the first and the second light transmitting regions Ta and Tn, and the amount of light transmitted through the first and the second light transmitting regions Ta and Tn is not necessarily uniform.
Further, SnO used for etching stopper film 503 has a large refractive index. Therefore, the amount of light transmitted through the first and the second light transmitting regions Ta and Tn will be different even if the opening dimension of the first and the second transmitting regions Ta and Tn is large enough to cancel the effect of the shape generated by the processing. The pattern formed on the photoresist accordingly has different dimension as described above.
An invention aiming at overcoming this problem is shown in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-159971.
FIG. 30 schematically shows a cross section of the structure of the phase shift mask shown in the laid-open application. With reference to FIG. 30, a phase shifter film 205 is formed on a transparent substrate 201 with an etching stopper film 203 formed of alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) interposed, and a light blocking film 207 is provided thereon to cover light blocking region S.
This approach aims at providing the same amount of light transmitted though the first and the second light transmitting regions Ta and Tn by adjusting the film thickness and the refractive index of phase shifter film 205.
In this structure, double layers of etching stopper layer 203 and phase shifter film 205 are provided on transparent substrate 201 in the first light transmitting region Ta. The amount of light transmitted through the first light transmitting region Ta is determined depending on the interaction between etching stopper layer 203 and phase shifter film 205. Therefore, the film thickness and the like are required to be adjusted for both of etching stopper layer 203 and phase shifter film 205 in order that the same amount of light is transmitted through the first and the second transmitting regions Ta and Tn.
As only phase shifter film 205 is considered in the technique shown in the patent, the amount of the light transmitted through the first and the second light transmitting regions Ta and Tn cannot be adjusted to be uniform.
A structure is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-72612 in which etching stopper layer 203 of the structure shown in FIG. 30 is removed in the second light transmitting region Tn as shown in FIG. 31.
In the structures shown in FIGS. 30 and 31, a problem arises because of alumina used for etching stopper layer as described below.
Sputtering method is generally employed when a film is formed of alumina. In this case, metal is used as a target, and the sputtering ambient includes O.sub.2 (Oxygen). A part of the target becomes insulated due to the ambient, and the discharge during the sputtering becomes unstable. Local arcing current is accordingly generated to cause melting and scattering of a portion of the target.
In the ordinary sputtering, atoms or molecules are deposited on a transparent substrate. In this case, a relatively large melted material drops on the transparent substrate. When such large melt drops on the transparent substrate, the large melt may repel a photoresist deposited thereon. When an aluminum film is etched, the large melt of alumina is difficult to be etched and removed completely. Further, the large melt of alumina makes it impossible to obtain a phase shift mask of higher resolution since the phase in the region containing the large melt of alumina is different from that in the other region.
Although a film can be formed of alumina by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method, temperature of 1000.degree. C. or more is required. At such a high temperature, quartz as a material of transparent substrate 501 could distort, then a phase shift mask of higher resolution cannot be obtained when alumina is deposited by CVD method.

Phase shift mask, blank for phase shift mask, and method of manufacturing phase shift mask


The present invention relates to arrays of consumer products, retail displays of arrays of consumer products and methods for displaying an array of consumer products.

Consumers have learned to trust certain products from certain sources for specific use. They have also learned to associate or identify certain events, features and/or elements with not only the product but also its properties or features, i.e. the aroma or scent of PINESOL brand hard surface cleaner is associated with sanitary cleaning, a television commercial portraying a woman soaking her hands in dish detergent recalls an association that COLGATE PALMOLIVE brand dish detergent is soft on your hands while you "do the dishes," consumers associate the CLOROX brand logo with bleach and whiter than white clothing.
While such associations may help to build powerful brand identity, such associations may have some commercial disadvantages for the owners of the goods. One such disadvantage is seen when the owner of the goods wants to extend the commercial line up of available products having such a powerful consumer association. While the consumers have the positive association for the existing product they may have no such positive associations with the new product, or line extension, especially when it provides a different consumer benefit. An example of this would be COLGATE PALMOLIVE brand dish detergent. As noted previously consumers already have formed a perception about not only the quality of the COLGATE PALMOLIVE product itself but also what properties it is most readily associated with, such as mildness on hands while washing. However, no such positive perception or consumer association with desirable attributes or properties would necessarily be present if the owners of the COLGATE PALMOLIVE brand dish detergent were to release a line of kitchen implements, such as sponges under the COLGATE PALMOLIVE brand. It would take time and money to produce in consumers a positive perception or consumer association with desirable attributes or properties. Contrast this with SCOTCH-BRITE brand sponges, a brand of sponges that already has positive perception or consumer association with desirable attributes or properties. However, if the makers of SCOTCH-BRITE brand sponges were to release a line extension of dish detergent, then they could face the same problem that the makers of COLGATE PALMOLIVE brand dish detergent would have in releasing a line extension of line of kitchen implements. Other similar adjacencies and/or related products that are highly desirable could be for example, the makers of FORMULA 409 brand hard surface cleaner releasing a line of paper towels, the makers of SPARKLE brand paper towels releasing a line of hard surface cleaners, the makers of SURF brand laundry detergent releasing a line of fabric treatment products, such as fabric softener, dryer sheets, pretreated, dye magnets, etc.
The problem is that while each of these different products has positive perception or consumer association with desirable attributes or properties in a category it is at present more difficult to use these in another adjacent category.

Consumer product array, retail displays and methods of doing the same


Compositions and methods for producing the activating moiety of a site-directed catalytic antibody are provided. The activating moiety serves to enhance the rate of chemical reactions involving the conversion of the prodrug to one or more active substrates or drugs. The activating moiety typically comprises a catalytic antibody. Compositions and methods for producing the catalytic antibodies, as well as the haptens which are used to generate the catalytic antibodies, are provided. Compositions and methods for producing the prodrugs are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods for the site-directed activation of prodrugs. More particularly, the invention relates to the administration of a prodrug in conjunction with a site-directed catalytic antibody which converts the prodrug to an active drug.
2. Description of the Background Art
Many efforts have been made to increase the selectivity of drugs by creating prodrug versions whereby the activity of the drug is attenuated by some pendent group. For a review of these efforts, see Bundgaard, H., ed., (1985) Design of Prodrugs, Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam. The prodrug is envisioned to undergo either spontaneous degradation or, preferably, enzymatic conversion to the active form. Theoretically, selectivity can be increased by relying on an enzyme that is over-produced by, or is only present at, the target cells. However, despite the appeal of this approach, this strategy has not proven widely successful, primarily due to the difficulty of identifying enzymes specific to the target cells.
Attempts have also been directed to site specific drug delivery utilizing monoclonal antibodies. These drug delivery systems employ a cytotoxic agent which has been conjugated directly to an antibody recognizing the desired antigen. Utilizing this method, radioisotopes, drugs, and biotoxins have been conjugated to monoclonal antibodies, and selective cytotoxicity has been observed. This method is described generally by Borrebaeck et al. (Eds.) (1990) Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies, Stockton Press: New York.
The use of antibody-targeted site specific drug delivery suffers from many drawbacks. The most obvious PG,3 shortcoming results from the heterogeneity in distribution of the antigen amongst targeted cells. Not all target cells may produce the antigen, thus, allowing some target cells to escape. Moreover, cells in poorly vascularized sites, such as in a tumor mass, are virtually inaccessible to the antibody. Thus, these cells will also escape treatment. Further, the slow clearance of antibodies from the body, with half-lives typically on the order of a few days, contributes to cytotoxic effects in normal cells.
In addition, the use of antibody-targeted drugs relies on endocytosis of the conjugate, followed by degradation in the lysosomes to release the drug inside the targeted cells. The rates of internalization of the conjugates by various cancer cells have been studied (Killion, et al. (1989) Seminars in Oncology, 16:106-115) and shown to be highly variable, with some cells exhibiting minimal uptake of the conjugates. Finally, the acidic pH of the lysosomes limits this technique to acid stable drugs.
A further approach to site specific drug delivery utilizes antibody directed enzymes. Antibodies which are capable of recognizing the target cells are coupled to enzymes which are capable of unmasking a prodrug. After localization of the enzyme/antibody conjugate at the target cells, the prodrug is administered and rendered cytotoxic at the target site. This approach has been described by Bagshawe et al. (1988) Br. J. Cancer, 58:100; and Bagshawe (1987) Br. J. Cancer, 56:531.
The antibody directed enzyme approach has been expanded upon by Haber et al. European Patent Pub. No. 0,187,658. Haber describes the site-specific activation of an inactive toxic agent by an antibody bound to an activator. The activator activates the inactive toxic agent by reacting chemically, allosterically or enzymatically with the inactive substance.
Powell et al. PCT patent publication No. WO89/10754 has suggested that catalytic antibodies may be "site specific" in that they are deliberately designed only to catalyze cleavage of bonds having certain structural conformations at specific sites in a biomolecule. Powell does not describe a protocol for targeted drug release at specific target sites
The preparation of catalytic antibodies against haptens that are transition state analogs is described in the following references: Pollack et al. (1986) Science, 234:1570-1573; Pollack and Schultz (1987) Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol., 52:97-104; Pollack and Schultz (1989) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 111:1929-1931; Jacobs et al. (1987) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 109:2174-2176; Tramontano et al. (1986) Science, 234:1566-1570; Tramontano et al. (1988) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110:2282-2286; Janda et al. (1988) Science, 241:1188-1191; Schochetman et al. (1989) U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,281; Benkovic et al. (1990) U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,674; Napper et al. (1987) Science 237:1041-43; European Patent Pub. No. 0,251,093; and Paul et al. PCT patent publication No. 91/14769.
The use of catalytic antibodies to overcome entropic barriers involved in orienting reaction partners is described in the following references: Jackson et al. (1988) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110:4841-4842; Janda et al. (1988) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110:4835-4837; Hilvert et al. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 85:4953-4955; and Benkovic et al. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 85:5355-5358.
The disclosures of the above cited references and other references referred to throughout this application are incorporated herein by reference.

5-fluorouridine nucleoside phosphate compounds


A process for electronically producing high quality color brochures and other color documents containing color images and related text material using a personal computer for contacting through telephone lines a print center which has digital optical images stored in both low and high resolution form on optical storage media. Communication with a telecommunication processor of the print center over the telephone lines results in initial optical transmission from the print center to the customer of a low resolution compressed image with printing occuring sequentially at the print center of a high resolution uncompressed image and associated text material.

This invention relates to electronic editing and more particularly to editing of integrated color images and related text material of a document over telephone or cellular phone lines connecting a customer with one or more copy centers.
Production of high quality color brochures and other color documents containing text material requires the ability to edit the text material and then integrate it with color images followed by printing of the integrated document without loss of color resolution. Printers capable of producing high quality color printed images at low per copy costs are expensive and are usually not affordable by individuals and small businesses who typically rely on printers at a copy center for their printing needs.
By sharing an expensive, high quality color laser copier among many personal computer users, the cost to produce high quality color printouts can be lowered to levels affordable by most individuals and small businesses.
Remote access to the color laser copier or printer can be accomplished by telephone but this can result in substantial transmission costs since transmitting uncompressed color images over telephone lines usually requires sending millions of bytes of image data over lines having limited transmission capacity. Typically, a color image can require several million bytes of pixel information to accurately represent the image. Commercial phone lines can transmit information at data rates up to a few thousand bytes per second by means of conventional MODEM (modulator demodulator) technology. Hence, a color image containing ten million bytes of pixel information will require ten thousand seconds if a 9600 band MODEM is utilized. This results in almost three hours of transmission time per image. This invention provides the means of producing full color documents at high resolution without having to transmit high resolution color images by telephone.
Within the context of color electronic publishing, the source of color images for integration with text is normally a color scanner, however, any electronic image source can be used. For example, VHS recorders and other video signal sources can be used to provide color images for integration with text material. Video images can be edited, cropped and integrated with text using a color electronic publishing software program, such as recently introduced color versions of PageMaker and Ventura Publisher. Medical, real estate, architect and other professionals can record color images on a video recorder and then when played back, freeze specific images or frames on their PC for later integration within a color document. Uses of color documents produced in this way can range from medical diagnostic reports to real estate sales literature.
One of the newest technologies for creating high resolution color images for incorporation within documents is Kodak's Photo CD technology. Any 35 mm camera can generate very high resolution color images stored on low cost optical media using Kodak's Photo CD technology.
While electronic publishers are now integrating color images with text by means of color scanners and electronic image capture devices, images stored on optical media will soon become a major source of very high quality color images. Kodak's introduction of film to compact disc processing technology permits commercial photographers, personal computer users and virtually anyone with a 35 mm camera to store images on optical media. The market trend in electronic publishing is toward digital image data bases stored on optical media.
Electronic publishers using a personal computer can now access high quality digital images stored on optical media, position the image within their document and have a very high quality copy (or copies) produced on the print center's color laser copier. These images may be user supplied or be selected from stock images already stored on an automated optical disc storage system such as Kodak's Model 560. These optical disc-based image libraries can be accessed by MODEM permitting electronic publishers to search for images for incorporation within their documents. Image searches at low DPI (dots per inch), is a major feature of this invention. The combination of user-accessable image data bases, coupled with high quality, affordable document production will transform print centers into publishing centers which can offer users unique capabilities beyond the scope and affordability of individually owned equipment.
In the present invention, the text of a document may be edited and arranged on a computer video display terminal, combined with a graphic or color image imported at low resolution by telephone transmission from a remote print center having an image database, and the complete document can be printed at high resolution by a color laser copier or printer at the same remote print center.
The means for reducing printing and transmission costs by telephone transmission and subsequent printing of the document at the local print center comprise:
1. Compressing a low resolution version of a color image stored at the print center on one or more optical discs in both high and low resolutions prior to telephone transmissions to the user; PA1 2. The user can then decompress the low resolution image, review that image, and then place the low resolution image within a portion of the document, termed an image frame; and PA1 3. The user then transmits the edited text and image frame to the print center where a high resolution version of the same image is then retrieved from the optical disc storage unit and placed within the image frame.
The advantage of this solution is that the integration of text material and color image can be done completely at the user's location without requiring the additional step of physically transferring a high resolution color image via MODEM. Also, this technique avoids the disadvantage of distortions caused by data compression at levels sufficient to significantly reduce transmission time thereby maintaining high quality resolution in the printed output.

Modem accessable image database system for on-demand printing


This invention provides a system and method to search for and securely download Digital MultiMedia Evidence (DME) data from a central DME repository to portable USB, smart phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or other data storage devices, with a clear chain of custody and access control audit trail reporting, so the DME can be used to prepare for and conduct legal proceedings.

The present invention is in the technical field of distribution of legal evidence. More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of the cybersecurity triad of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability for securely distributing legal evidence to various authorized parties within the legal system. Legal evidence can include text, graphics, images, word processing, spreadsheet, .pdf and other computer data files, telemetry data, audio recording files, video files, audio and video metadata, biometrics data, such as fingerprints, voiceprints, Iris scans, and facial point scans, and other types of analog and digital information captured about a legal incident and the parties involved in a legal incident. Confidentiality requires limiting access to legal evidence data to only authorized legal system participants, and tracking and reporting date, time, MAC address, and other metadata for each access to legal evidence data. Integrity requires validating the chain of custody to ensure that legal evidence has not been edited or altered in any way from the time it was captured until it is used. Availability requires making legal evidence data available as needed to defendants, victims, defense attorneys, prosecutors, police, judges, court employees, and other legal system participants to support and participate in the legal process.
A wide variety of audio, video, image, and other electronic evidence is being captured by law enforcement agencies and other sources. Typically the evidence is recorded by audio and video camera recorder systems installed in police cars and other first responder vehicles, from body-worn microphones and video cameras worn by police officers, from fixed location audio microphones, from video cameras attached to buildings, street light poles, traffic light poles, and wires, and from other locations and sources. New devices such as Google Glass can provide video and audio streams from a wearer point of view similar to other body worn cameras. Sometimes combinations of several audio sources are recorded by different microphones at different locations, and then triangulation calculation algorithms identify the geographic coordinates of the source of a sound—such as where a weapon was fired. The audio, video, and images are used as evidence for DUI stops, traffic stops, shootings, robberies, assaults, traffic accidents, speeding, and other events and situations where audio, video, image, and metadata evidence is captured. In some cases data is still captured on analog microphones and video cameras and then converted to a digital format to be marked and stored. Increasingly, however, source data is captured using digital microphones and digital cameras, so no need exists to convert analog signals to digital format. Regardless of how captured, audio, video, and images are recorded on various storage media such as VHS tapes, CD-ROM disks, DVD disks, spinning hard drives, solid state hard drives, and solid state data storage chipsets, such as Compact Flash (CF) and Micro Secure Digital (MicroSD) non-volatile memory cards.
Typically audio, video, and image evidence data is enhanced with metadata (metadata=data about data) and combined all together into an integrated data stream of digital multimedia evidence (DME). Metadata often includes electronic tags of start and stop points of interest such as where and when the vehicle siren or lightbar was turned on or off; tags of latitude, longitude, date and time of when an officer pressed a record button or where an officer witnessed evidence being tossed out of a vehicle being pursued; and other location and time-based metadata, that enhances the searchability, reliability, and legal evidence value of the video, audio, and images collected. Most systems have a pre-record ability to always retain a looping amount of DME before an event occurs—i.e. retain the prior 30 or 60 seconds of video and audio recorded before an officer noticed an event and flipped on the siren or light bar, which automatically started a DME record process. In some cases audio and/or video data is processed by computer algorithms, which algorithms generate additional metadata such as gunshot location latitude, longitude, date and time, perform automated license plate number recognition, and capture other types of metadata. Police officers often have the ability to add notes to integrated video and audio streams tagged at specific dates and times when an event happened. This additional metadata can include descriptions of events, including information about vehicle drivers, passengers, and bystanders, such as name, address, phone number, age, height, weight, driver's license number, sobriety test results, injuries, and statements. Similarly, metadata about vehicles could include VIN number, license plate number and expiration date, make, model, color, year, observed damage, speed, heading, location and descriptions of possible evidence observed in and around the vehicle, open containers, contraband in and around a vehicle, insurance carrier and vehicle registration details, and other vehicle data. Incident metadata can include pictures, video, audio recordings, and descriptions of weather, nearby construction, obstructions and road hazards, tire skid patterns and lengths, witness comments, and other metadata. Audio and video camera recording systems use various methods and data formats to capture metadata and embed it into an integrated data stream along with audio and video analog and digital data in various standard and/or proprietary video, audio, and metadata formats. This integrated data stream of DME is often key to criminal and civil legal proceedings.
The audio, video, pictures, and metadata is transferred from a DME recording system in a police car or other first responder vehicle to a central storage system, so it can be securely stored, backed up, viewed, distributed, and retained for future legal proceedings. This DME transfer can be performed real-time through some kind of wireless streaming, or on a batch wireless offload basis when a vehicle comes in range of a wireless data transfer location such as a police station parking lot, fueling station, sally port at a jail, a fire station, or other authorized offload location during the course of a shift. An end-of-shift batch data transfer can also be performed using a wired network interface physical connection from the vehicle DME data recorder, a wireless network interface such as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, or by physically carrying removable storage media from the vehicle DME recorder to a fixed location media reader device. In all cases the integrated DME data stream is transferred to one or more central DME repositories and/or servers. In a similar manner, audio, video, and metadata from fixed location audio microphones, still cameras, remotely controlled Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras, and video cameras are transferred in some wired or wireless manner to a central DME storage system. In all cases the video, audio, image, and metadata is securely and reliably transferred from a DME recorder located in the vehicle to another location. The integrity of the transferred file(s) is validated before the DME is deleted from the source vehicle DME recorder to make room for new DME.
Originally VHS tapes were removed from a VHS tape recorder located in the trunk of the police car, hand-carried to an evidence storage room at the police station, and manually logged into an evidence storage room by an evidence records clerk. Some vehicle DME systems "burn" the audio and video onto a CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disk using an integrated CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray burner built inside the vehicle DME recorder system. The Watchguard DV-1 is an example of such an in-vehicle CD burner system. Newer DME recorder systems store the audio, video, and metadata on a fixed or removable spinning hard drive, fixed or removable solid-state hard drive, compact flash (CF) card, MicroSD card, or other solid-state storage media. The DME removable drive can be hand carried to an offload connection or reader. The vehicle DME recorder can also use a wired network connection to transfer evidence data to a central DME storage area network system. A vehicle DME recorder system can also wirelessly connect to a wireless access point at various times to perform a batch upload transfer of all audio, video, and metadata to a central DME storage area network. Wireless microphones and video cameras worn by first responders can wirelessly cache and stream audio, video, and metadata to a nearby vehicle DME recorder or directly to a central DME storage area network, or can capture data on removable data storage media that is batch uploaded to a central DME storage area network. A DME recorder system can often stream audio, video, images, and metadata on a real-time basis over wireless networks back to a central dispatch display console, or to other vehicle computers so that real time video and audio is available for viewing by other police officers and supervisors in the field, by dispatchers in central dispatch, and by other authorized viewers in most any location with network access. Fixed location microphones, video cameras, and still cameras installed on buildings, poles, and traffic lights can also stream live audio, video, and still images to a central DME storage and management system. In all cases, audio, video, image, and/or metadata DME files are captured out in the field from vehicle based DME recorder systems from a variety of sources and are transferred to a central DME storage system.
Once the audio, video, images, and metadata has been captured from the field and logged into a central DME storage system, it will then need to be made available to various entities that are authorized to have access to the DME. These authorized entities can include defendants, victims, defense attorneys, prosecutors, police officers and supervisors, judges, and court employees. In some cases the DME files are made available to the news media and other external parties. DME needs to be made available consistent with the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability legal evidence and business rules established by the legal jurisdiction where the evidence was captured. Metadata is very useful for searching to go directly to the evidence in question, and to do searches across DME from multiple events and domains. For example, a prosecutor may want to know if a vehicle or driver has been involved in any other event or incident in the past 6 or 12 months or elsewhere in the county, city, or state where the incident in question occurred.
The typical method currently used to distribute evidence to various authorized entities is to "burn" audio and video data files to a CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disks. In the past audio and video was copied to VHS videotape cartridges for distribution, but this method is now rarely used. It is important to note that "burning" audio and video files to a CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disk is a slow, time consuming process. An hour of video is often 1 GB of data or more. The elapsed time required to create a data disk depends upon the data transfer rate of the CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray burner hardware installed in a desktop or laptop computer, or a CD-ROM/DVD/Blu-Ray robot machine designed for high volume production of CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-Ray disks. Many CD-ROM recorder drives can only transfer ("burn") data at the rate of 2× to 4×—300K to 600K per second. For a CD-ROM disk, the total "burn" time for a full disk can be 10 to 20 or more minutes. The DVD "burn" time for a 1 GB video file can be in the range of 7 to 10 minutes. CD-ROM, DVD, and Blu-Ray disks are subject to scratching and other physical damage that can make the disk unreadable. The magnetic or laser substrate on the disks can also deteriorate over time, making the disks unreadable after a number of years.
Police officers and clerks often spend significant time after the end of a shift and at other times manually "burning" a CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disk of evidence to provide to Supervisors, Prosecutors, Defense Attorneys, Courts, and other authorized entities. Many First Responder organizations devote significant clerical effort or even have dedicated staff that do nothing but "burn" CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray evidence disks as their primary job function. First Responders often have dedicated personal computer workstation hardware devoted solely to being available as CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray "burners" for Police Officers, other First Responders, and clerical staff. Alternatively the First Responder organization has to purchase and support an automated CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray burner robot that can automatically feed blank CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disks into a "burner" slot, and "burn" the legal evidence data onto the disk from a queue of burn requests sent by various users. Someone still has to load blank CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disks into the robot. In some cases the personal computer can not be used for any other purpose while the disk is being "burned". If the burner robot does not automatically burn labels on the disk, someone manually has to label the disk. Someone also has to manually distribute the physical CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disks to the person(s) who requested a copy of the evidence data via interoffice mail, US Mail, Courier, FedEx, UPS, or hand delivery. So the process of "burning" and labeling DME on CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disks to distribute the legal evidence to authorized parties is an expensive, tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone process subject to long delays between request and receipt of DME. The process relies upon fallible human beings to manually distribute legal evidence media, with significant risk that legal evidence will be misplaced, lost, or will come into the possession of an unauthorized user(s), with error-prone or no audit trails of who actually received and had access to the legal DME.
Furthermore, in many cases some or all of the metadata captured along with the audio and video is not "burned" onto the CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disk. Therefore this additional time, date, location and other metadata about the evidence is not available to the recipient of the legal evidence. The recipient only gets the raw audio and video tracks, so some of the evidence collected at an incident scene is not available to the ultimate user—prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, and court system. The user loses the ability to quickly search for relevant DME based upon metadata tags, and loses notes and other descriptive metadata around the audio and video.
Control over access to the evidence data is lost if the disk is misplaced or stolen. Many of the audio and video file storage formats are common standards, without any security or encryption. Furthermore, most personal computers and laptops have CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray drives, have audio and video viewing software that support many of the standard audio and video data storage formats, and can be operated without being connected to any network. Anyone coming into possession of a DME disk could easily use or purchase a computer for a few hundred dollars that would allow them to listen to, view, copy, and further distribute the DME, with no reporting or audit trail of who has viewed or copied the DME contained on the disk. Once a CD-ROM, DVD, or Blu-Ray disk has been "burned", the evidence is generally available to anyone who has physical possession of the disk.
A more secure and reliable way to distribute legal evidence data is needed.

System and method for securely distributing legal evidence


A lifting unit, comprising a frame for supporting a motorized winch, at least one first tackle and one second tackle, the first tackle being interposed between the second tackle and the winch, each tackle being provided with two blocks, a fixed one and a movable one, and each comprising at least one pulley, and a flexible element, with a first end connected to the winch and wound around the pulleys, to form at least one initial loop around the first tackle, an outgoing portion from the first tackle to the second tackle, at least one intermediate loop around the second tackle, a return portion from the second tackle to the first tackle, and at least one end loop around the first tackle, the second end of the flexible element being connected to the frame, and a temporarily locking element for locking sliding of the flexible element.

It is known that devices such as cranes or the like are currently used to lift, move and deposit heavy loads within a specific work area.
These devices are provided with lifting units, which use flexible elements such as cables or chains.
In the nautical field, for example, watercraft are moved in shipyards and at port shores usually by using cranes substantially constituted by a wheeled frame which has a C-shaped plan and by a plurality of motorized lifting units, which are arranged so as to face each other in pairs along the lateral wings of the frame and support the opposite ends of a sling for supporting the watercraft to be moved.
Each lifting unit comprises two tackles arranged in series, each constituted by two blocks, a fixed one and a movable one, with one or more pulleys, around which a flexible element winds, which has a first end that is fixed to a motorized winch and a second end, arranged opposite the first end, which is rigidly coupled to one of the blocks of the tackle that is arranged furthest from the winch.
A load grip element, such as a hook, a sling or others, depending on the type of application for which the lifting unit is intended, is fixed to each movable block.
The elevation of the two movable blocks is independent, so as to allow the lifting unit to adapt to the contour of the load to be moved and balance the load on the various grip elements.
These known lifting units are not free from drawbacks, which are observed in particular in the movement of the movable blocks when empty.
In this step, in order to lift the movable block of the tackle that lies furthest from the winch, which due to friction always moves after the tackle that lies closest to said winch, it is necessary to move the movable block of said tackle to the end of its stroke, with an obvious waste of time on the part of the assigned operators.
Moreover, if the movable blocks of the two tackles are stopped at different levels, due to an uneven distribution of the weight of the flexible elements on said blocks, the lowest block may fall until the other one reaches the end of its stroke, with the risk of injuring operators and/or damaging the objects that are in the work area.
A first known solution for obviating these drawbacks is to provide two winches, on each of which a respective end of the flexible element is wound.
In the portion of the flexible element that connects the two tackles there is a device for temporarily locking the sliding motion, which is activated in order to allow the unladen movements of the two movable blocks to be independent, each movement being actuated by a respective winch.
Even this solution is not free from drawbacks, including the fact that it increases considerably the cost and complexity of the lifting unit and penalizes its operating flexibility and efficiency, in view of the high energy overall energy absorption.
As an alternative, it is known to provide lifting units with mechanical devices that are suitable to temporarily rigidly couple the pulleys of the fixed block of the tackle that lies closest to the winch, simulating the presence of a single loop of flexible element around said first tackle, so as to increase the useful driving torque on the winch and allow the movement of the movable block of the second tackle without having to first move the block of the first tackle to the end of its stroke.
In this case also, there is a device for temporarily locking the temporary sliding of the flexible element arranged along the portion that connects the two tackles, so as to isolate them from each other.
However, this solution requires frequent maintenance and does not ensure optimum and constant performance over time, also in terms of workplace safety.


In the field of industrial automation, a method and device are for determining a data reading period for determining a data reading period of data in an industrial control system, and are capable of automatically configuring the data reading period to obtain a better configuration result. In embodiments of the present invention, an industrial control system in different states is simulated by using simulation software to obtain a simulation model and simulation data. Data features of the industrial control system in different states that is simulated can be extracted respectively, and a data reading period is determined according to the extracted data features. Automatic configuring of a data reading period is implemented.

An industrial control system typically comprises many industrial devices, such as a field device located at an industrial site, and the field device may include: a programmable logic controller (PLC), a data logger, etc. An industrial device may be composed of one or more components. For example, a friction roller may comprise various components such as a rotor, a stator, and a fan. In order to ensure the normal operation of an industrial control system, it is usually necessary to read data from some components in the system, the read data may be a state variable of the component, etc. As an example, it is possible to read a rotational speed of a rotor of a friction roller. As another example, it is also possible to read the temperature of the rotor.
In an industrial control system, the reading and uploading of data from/to an industrial device is usually completed by one or more data gateways (also referred to as assets). The data gateway uploads the read data to a data platform such as an industrial cloud platform, on which various industrial applications can run, and these industrial applications can implement some functions, such as preventive maintenance and device health monitoring, based on the data uploaded to the industrial cloud platform.
FIG. 1 shows an example of an industrial control system 100 reading data from an industrial device 10. As shown in FIG. 1, a data gateway 20 in the industrial control system 100 reads data 30 from each data point 50 of each industrial device 10 and uploads the read data 30 to a Mindsphere platform 40 for use by an industrial application 60.

Method and apparatus for determining data reading cycle


A high power solid state load comprises at least two arrays of solid state switching devices. The switching devices can comprise PIN diodes formed on a semi-conductor wafer. The arrays are connected to two ports of a combiner network and each of the switching devices in the arrays is driven either fully on or fully off in order to provide a load having high power handling capabilities and a large number of discrete impedance states.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electronic solid state programmable load and more particularly to a combining network for multiple PIN diode arrays having high power handling capabilities.
2. Background Description
It is desirable in the construction of microwave load dependent devices and circuits to provide a terminating load comprising a tuner, attenuator or phase shifter. Such loads allow measurements to be performed on the circuit. In this manner, noise-figure and gain circle data can be determined. The measurement of noise parameters utilizing an active load pull approach is discussed generally in Froelich, Automated Tuning for Noise Parameter Measurements Using a Microwave Probe, Microwave Journal, March, 1989, pp 83-96.
One form of tuner for providing a load to a circuit according to an active load pull approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,708, the teachings of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein. By providing an array of PIN diodes or similar solid state switching devices, a variable load can be constructed for use with a microwave load dependent device or circuit.
An array of PIN diodes can be adjusted to provide a desired load or impedance by providing a variable bias to predetermined of the diodes in the array so that the impedance of the predetermined diodes can be varied allowing the generation of a great number of desired impedance states for the overall array.
This type of diode array has disadvantages when used with high power circuits. "High power" in this instance means greater than 7 Watts. Traditionally, variable loads for such high power applications have been provided by means of a mechanical tuner that allows impedance to be varied by hand. Such mechanical tuners are, however, relatively slow and large. Mechanical tuners also tend to drift so that repeatability of measurements is difficult. For these reasons, mechanical tuners are not desirable for performing measurements of circuits formed on semi-conductor or similar wafers in which small size and high accuracy is necessary.
In view of the disadvantages of the prior art, this invention has as one object providing a high power solid state load for active load pull applications.
It is another object of this invention to provide a high power solid state load with variable impedance characteristics over a wide range of settings.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a solid state load that is relatively small and capable of accurate repeatability of impedance measurement.

High power solid state programmable load


To provide a muffler for a compact combustion engine, which is simple in structure and effective to sufficiently reduce the temperature of exhaust gases while avoiding contact with an external air, an exhaust guide passage 7 for communicating the exhaust gases (G) to a discharge port (63) is provided within an interior hollow of a muffler housing 6 defining an exhaust chamber (61) therein, and a side wall of this exhaust guide passage (7) is constituted by a portion (6W) of the muffler housing (6) and a duct wall (71) jointed to the muffler housing (6).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a muffler for a compact combustion engine used as a drive source in a portable work machine such as, for example, a brush cutting machine or a cleaning blower.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In this type of engine, it is generally desired to allow the combustion engine to discharge exhaust gases from an exhaust outlet to the outside after the temperature of the exhaust gases has been reduced.
On the other hand, in recent years even the compact combustion engines have come to use an oxidization catalyst for substantially purifying the exhaust gases, specifically reducing respective concentrations of HC and CO contained in the exhaust gases. The oxidization catalyst referred to above is incorporated in a muffler to allow unburned components of the exhaust gases to be reburned in contact with the catalyst. As is well known, reburning of the exhaust gases in contact with the catalyst results in increase of the temperature of the exhaust gas discharged from a discharge port. Accordingly, attempts have hitherto been made to use an auxiliary casing, formed separate from the muffler, on an exhaust side of the muffler so that the exhaust gases when flowing through the auxiliary casing can be cooled and then discharged to the outside. See, for example, the Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-242666, published Aug. 28, 2002.
It has, however, been found that the mere use of the auxiliary casing in association with the muffler incorporating a catalytic converter therein, such as disclosed in the above mentioned patent publication is incapable of providing a sufficient cooling effect since the temperature of the exhaust gases is extremely high. Also, while the wavelength of the pulsating motion of the exhaust gases tends to increase with decrease of the number of revolutions of the combustion engine and the velocity of flow of the exhaust gases is hence lowered, the distance from an outlet of the catalytic converter to the discharge port is short in the above mentioned patent publication, and as consequence, air tends to be sucked from the discharge port by the action of the pulsating motion of the exhaust gases to flow, in reverse to the outgoing exhaust gases, into a high temperature chamber after having passed through the catalytic converter, resulting in contact with high temperature unburned components of the exhaust gases that are left without being reburned in contact with the catalyst.
Where the separate auxiliary casing is fluidly connected with the exhaust side of the muffler by the use of connecting elements, such as disclosed in the above mentioned patent publication, the number of component parts used and the number of fitting steps tend to increase, resulting in increase of the cost.


A pump assembly, comprising a pump with a chamber having a vacuum region therein, a priming fluid reservoir, a suction line for fluid communication between the vacuum region and a fluid source, and a priming suction line for fluid communication between the vacuum region and the priming fluid reservoir, in order to deliver priming fluids to the vacuum region so as to establish a primed condition in the pump; a suction flow control in the suction line and a priming flow control in the priming suction line; the flow controls being operable to restrict flow through the suction line and the priming suction line, in order to establish a vacuum in the vacuum region to substantially fill the suction line with fluid from the source while maintaining the primed condition, wherein the vacuum is variable up to a maximum suction capacity of the pump.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pumps and more particularly to the priming of residential and industrial pumps.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the rituals of cottage life in North America is priming the water pump in the spring. This usually involves lugging many pails full of water up to the cottage from the lake or the well. The water is then poured down the priming hole of the pump, usually spilling everywhere, in an attempt to fill the suction line and pump with water to remove the air from the system, and thereby to prime the pump. The process can be very difficult, particularly with long suction lines running over irregular ground that are prone to trapping air in high spots in the line and this often results in many hours of priming time.
There are several known methods to prime cottage pumps such as using hand or electric pumps to fill the suction line with water at the foot valve, and hand pumps attached to the pump to pull water up the suction line by creating a vacuum in the pump. With any of these systems, however, air can still remain trapped in the high spots in the line and there is no way to tell if priming is complete and the process may still need to be repeated several times.
The priming of industrial pumps is often accomplished by using powered vacuum pumps to suck water up the line, using ejector pumps installed downstream of the pump that are driven by compressed air or another source of water to create a vacuum sucking water up through the pump, and using auxiliary submersible priming pumps to fill the lines and prime the pump.
There are several so-called `self-priming` water pumps currently available for cottages and farms. However, it is still necessary for the operator, in some cases, to fill the suction line with water and it is often necessary to add more water to the pump during the priming cycle. Moreover, these so-called `self-priming` pumps are not intended to improve the priming operation of the many thousands of conventional pumps already in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,274 entitled SUPPLYING SELF SUCTION UNIT describes a self priming pump system. In this arrangement, storage tanks are required on the suction and discharge sides of the pump. These tanks are required to retain priming fluid at all times to prime the system but the size of the tanks required to hold sufficient priming fluid to prime the system in the event of a loss of prime and withstand the operating pressures of the systems would make them an expensive solution for cottage or farm installations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,050 entitled SELF PRIMING PUMP SYSTEM describes a system to self-prime pumps and in particular, aircraft fuel pumps. The system has a priming reservoir above the pump with a bypass line from the reservoir tank to the pump to wet the impeller so that the pump can operate at all times and retain its prime using fluid from the reservoir. While this system will generate a partial vacuum to prime the fuel pump effectively, no provision is made to accommodate high lifts typical on cottage water systems or many industrial applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,914 entitled PORTABLE MOTOR PUMP describes a pump to drain residual water from a ground-level source, such as a puddle on a street, and to accommodate air accompanying the residual water. The pump has a self priming feature by way of a pump which is located within an outer casing full of water to maintain a flooded condition at the impeller, similar to a conventional submersible pump. As in the case of the fluid pump mentioned above, no provision is made to remove air and, at the same time, to generate sufficiently high vacuums capable of very high lifts, such as for example over 20 feet.
These aforementioned pump arrangements and other residential pump systems have difficult, expensive, or inadequate priming methods for very high lifts. They often require the suction line to be initially filled with water, are physically demanding, or are cumbersome in the set up to prime the pump. Some pump arrangements may also require external sources of power such as compressed air or water flow to prime the system.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate these difficulties.


A method, system and computer program product includes detecting a volume level for audio input of a first user in a multi-user conference call, and automatically adjusting a volume level for a second user receiving audio output of the first user based on at least one of preferences of the second user, historic data between the first and the second user, and geographic characteristics of the audio input of the first user.

Conferencing system attendees typically call into a conference from various devices and use different microphones for receiving sound. Further, speaking attendees often speak with different vocal volumes. Because of the differences between voices, microphones, and distances from the microphone of speakers, attendees are typically delivered varying decibels of sound when attending a conference having multiple speakers. Attendees must either accept the volume differences between speakers or adjust the volume each time a new speaker begins to speak. Sometimes, accepting the volume difference is not possible, as speaking volume may be too low to hear or understand.

International Business Machines Corporation


In a database, a frequently retrieved column is encrypted using a common key, and other columns are encrypted using a specific row key. Thus, a retrieving process can be performed at a high speed, and the security can be improved. Then, the row and column of the database are encrypted by assuming the plaintext to be encrypted as a bit string, and performing a binary operation with a random bit string. A random bit string is obtained by sequentially generating multidimensional vectors using a nonlinear function by defining a predetermined bit length as 1 word and a plurality of words as components of the multidimensional vector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an encryption/decryption system used in a system for performing encrypted data communications, and to a database management apparatus for encrypting and managing a database.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an information system such as a computer and a network used by a large number of general users, there is a serious problem that some malicious users illegally access and amend information. Therefore, the encryption technology has been widely adopted as an effective countermeasure. A well-known encryption technology is disclosed in detail by the following document.
'Communications of the ACM Vol. 21, No.2 (1978) P120. A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public Key Crypto systems: R. L. Rivest, A. Shamir, and L. Adleman, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science and Department of Mathematics'
The encrypting method published in this document is generally accepted as a considerably reliable method, and is referred to as an RSA (Rivest-Sharmir-Adleman) method. A system derived from this RSA method has been developed as an authentication system for a signature used in an electronic trading system, and has been put to practical use.
The RSA method is a public key (asymmetric) encryption system based on the difficulty in factorization in prime numbers, and obtains as ciphertext a remainder obtained by dividing a result of raised data by a large integer. The feature of the RSA method is that it is difficult to find two original primes (p and q) from the product of the two original primes. Even if the product of the two primes can be detected, it is very difficult to detect the p and the q, or estimate the decoding operation. The above mentioned RSA method is practical in a sense, and highly reliable when the bit length of data as an encryption key is long enough. To guarantee the reliability, it is normal to use encryption key data of 256 bits in length. However, it is not long enough in some cases, and the necessity of an encryption key of 512 or 1024 bits in data length is actually discussed. However, since the data length is practically limited by the operation precision and operation speed of a computer, it is not efficient to have a long bit.
That is, there has been the problem with the RSA method and the encrypting method derived from the RSA method that the reliability of these methods is limited by the performance of a computer. There also is the problem that the methods require a considerable change in the reliability test, etc. of the authentication system based on the change in bit length of an encryption key.
In addition, since the database management apparatus has to encrypt and store the database which is managed therein to guarantee the security of the database.
To improve the security, a more complicated encrypting process can be performed, but it also requires a long time to perform operations.
A database contains a large volume of data. In a data retrieving process, data relating to a specific item and matching given conditions is selected from the large volume of data, and a record (row data) containing an item data matching the condition is output. Therefore, in a data retrieval system for processing a large volume of data, a prolonged operation time lowers the performance of the system.
As described above, a database containing a confidential data is required to guarantee security, and an encrypting process to improve the security has the problem that the process can lower the availability of the database.
Conventionally, when a database is encrypted, it is normal that the entire target file is encrypted using a fixed encryption key generated by, for example, a password, etc.
However, as described above, since an encrypting process has been performed using a fixed encryption key according to the conventional system, the security level of each data item is averaged. In addition, when there are a plurality of items containing the same data, the same encryption results are output, thereby causing the possibility that the encryption key can be decrypted.

Database management apparatus and encrypting/decrypting system


A thermal management loop system may include an accumulator, an evaporator in fluid receiving communication with the accumulator, a condenser in fluid receiving communication with the evaporator, and a rotary separator in fluid receiving communication with the condenser. Gas exiting the rotary separator may recirculate back to the condenser and liquid exiting the rotary separator may flow to the accumulator. The thermal management loop system may be a dual-mode system and thus may be operable in a powered-pump mode or a passive-capillary mode.

Heat exchangers are used in a variety of thermal management systems. Single phase liquid heat exchangers, for example, are often used to cool and/or heat components of a system. In such heat exchangers, a liquid is pumped across a component and sensible heat is transferred between the liquid and the component and thus the liquid changes temperature. These heat exchangers rely on the sensible heat capacity of the liquid to transfer heat. However, these single phase heat exchangers often utilize large volumes of liquid, which can increase the overall operating costs of a thermal management system.

Two-phase thermal loop with rotary separation


A tendon repair implant delivery system and methods incorporating a guide member having a temporary fixation member on or adjacent to the distal end. The point of fixation defines a target site for placement of the tendon repair implant which is subsequently affixed to the tendon.

The shoulder joint is found where the head of the humerus mates with a shallow depression in the scapula. The movement of the humerus relative to the scapula is controlled by a number of muscles including: the deltoid, the supraspinatus, the infraspinatus, the subscapularis, and the teres minor. Various patterns of activating these muscles create various rotational moments because the shoulder joint has no fixed axis. The tendons linking the supraspinatus, the infraspinatus, the subscapularis, and the teres minor to the humerus are typically referred to as the rotator cuff tendons. Some studies suggest that 85% of people over the age of 65 have some degree of rotator cuff damage. This damage may include thinning, fraying, and/or tearing of the rotator cuff tendons. Various factors may contribute to this rotator cuff damage. These factors include aging, overuse of the shoulder, and wearing of the tendons. Wearing of the tendons can occur, for example, when the rotator cuff tendons rub against a bone (e.g., the acromium of the scapula).

Medical device delivery system and method


The present invention allocates a buffer within a buffer pool to each connection to an application or to each application. By managing the user of the buffers in this manner, the present invention avoids the conventional problems of the possibility of a dominant application monopolizing virtually all of the available buffer space and forcing the other applications to wait for space to become available. Additionally, because each application has its own buffer space allocated to it, it minimizes the risk of the problems of one application contaminating other applications. A method according to the present invention for buffer management for transferring data in a processing system comprises the steps of opening a virtual circuit, allocating a buffer for the virtual circuit, utilizing the buffer, and returning control of the buffer to an owner after utilization of the buffer.

The ability to connect a community of data processors and users together over a high speed connection medium has many advantages. They can communicate quickly and share data that is commonly owned and updated by the user group. Additionally, they can share resources such as large arrays of hard disk storage, printers, modems, and fax machines. A typical network environment consists of a central processing unit coupled with a network interface card which in turn is coupled with the network. The network is also coupled with at least one other network interface card which is coupled with another central processing unit.
In a network environment, a conventional system for buffer management is typically configured such that multiple applications share a single buffer pool. The buffer pool is accessed when data is received from the network as well as when data is sent out to the network. More detailed background information regarding buffer management in a network environment may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,013, issued Jul. 25, 1995 to Rubin et al.
Multi-media applications typically have special requirements which the network environment needs to accommodate. For instance, multi-media applications typically have a large volume of data due to audio and graphic data in addition to text. It also requires the data to be transferred or rendered in real time, in addition to requiring a consistent delay time to avoid what is referred to as "jitter".
One of the problems associated with the conventional system for buffer management is that if one application requires large amounts of buffer space within the buffer pool, the other applications cannot gain access to the buffer pool, thereby forcing the remaining applications to wait until space becomes available. This problem is especially common in multi-media applications where large amounts of buffer space is typically required.
Another problem associated with the conventional system of buffer management is that to avoid contaminating the other applications sharing the buffer pool, multiple copy operations of the data packet are typically required. The multiple copy operations can cause inconsistent delays in data communication.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved system and method for buffer management which avoids the stated problems of the conventional systems.

Buffer management mechanism for distributed multimedia applications


Embodiments of a strap assembly for a bag and methods to manufacture such a bag are generally described herein. The strap assembly for the bag generally includes a strap defining a first end and a second end, both ends flexibly coupled to the bag, at least the first end including a reinforcement element. A support member is coupled to the reinforcement element. The support member is configured to raise the strap at an angle relative to the bag, and the angle is adjustable.

Most golf bags may be in the form of a tubular fabric or leather container having a generally cylindrical configuration with a closed bottom end and an open top end through which golf clubs are inserted into and removed from the golf bag. Although golf bags are manufactured in a variety of sizes and materials so as to better suit various intended uses, golf bags are conventionally grouped into two basic classes. The first class of golf bags are generally larger and heavier golf bags designed to be carried by a pull cart or transported by a golf cart, while the second class of golf club bags are generally smaller and lighter golf bags designed to be carried by the individual during play. In particular, the second class of golf bags are usually referred to as "carry bags" which are carried by the individual using a carrying strap arrangement that may be used to lift and carry the golf bag. Many carrying bags have a carrying strap arrangement consisting of either one or two carrying straps for lifting and carrying the golf bag on the individual's shoulders.
During early morning rounds or on rainy days when the grass is wet, the shoulder strap may become wet by contacting the wet grass on the ground. In addition, the strap or the bag may become sandy as it is placed near a sand bunker where sand is prevalent in the grass. Thus, there has a developed a need for a strap assembly that extends away from the golf bag in a standing position when the golf bag is placed on the ground. A standing strap assembly may also allow an individual to more easily grasp the shoulder strap and pick up the golf bag, because the shoulder strap conveniently extends in the ready-to-lift position.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding elements among the various views of the drawings. The headings used in the figures should not be interpreted to limit the scope of the claims.

Strap assembly for bags and methods to manufacture bags having a strap assembly


A digital cinema camera includes a plurality of imagers and a plurality of shutters mounted radially on a frame. A beam splitter disposed at a center of the frame rotates to provide an input optical beam sequentially to the plurality of imagers. When the input optical beam is aligned with a particular one of the imagers, a corresponding one of the shutters is triggered to apply the optical beam on the particular one of the imagers. The electrical signals generated by the imagers are first stored in RAM, and then transferred to a hard disk drive disposed in a removable magazine. This way, the magazine can be replaced with a new magazine, and the latent image data can be downloaded out of the removed magazine for post-processing while new image data is being stored in the new magazine.

There has been a lot of interest in using digital cameras for cinematography. One problem with the digital cameras is that there is a minimum readout time associated with an imager (e.g., CCD). Hence, there is a limit to how fast a digital camera can record a sequence of images at higher resolutions and/or color depths. Therefore, there is a need for a digital cinema camera that can be used for making movies at a higher resolution and/or color depths than current hardware can support. By way of example, for slow motion video, from 48 frames per second (fps) to about 500 fps can be filmed easily using conventional film emulsion. Current technology imagers generally cannot support such high speed "filming" at the desired resolution. Further, an advanced digital cinema camera should also support recording images at variable speed and/or resolution.
Another factor that should be considered when using digital cameras for movie making is the amount of memory required to store image data, and the time it takes to read the image data from the memory for storage or for downsizing them to view as a lower resolution image. If the amount of data storage is limited to the memory available on the digital camera, the duration of high speed recording of images would be very short.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a digital cinema camera system that can support recording images at variable speed, high resolution and high color depth, while simultaneously downsizing and storing the image stream for viewing at a lower resolution.

Variable speed, variable resolution digital cinema camera system


A method for programming a multi-level nitride storage memory cell capable of storing different programming states corresponding to multiple different threshold voltage levels includes providing a variable resistance capable of providing a plurality of different resistance values; connecting a drain side of the nitride storage memory cell to a selected one of the plurality of resistance values that corresponds to one of the multiple threshold voltage levels; and programming the nitride storage memory cell to store one of the program states corresponding to the one of the threshold voltage levels by applying a programming voltage to the drain side through the selected resistance.

A flash memory device is a non-volatile semiconductor memory device, which retains its memory contents even if it is powered off. It offers fast read access time and better shock resistance compared to hard disks. As a result, flash memory devices are popular for applications such as storage on battery-powered devices. Today, flash memory devices are extensively used in consumer electronic products.
A flash memory device stores information in memory cells, each of which traditionally stores one bit of information. More recently, flash memory devices have been developed to store more than 1 bit per cell and are sometimes referred to as multi-level cell devices. This ability to store multiple bits per cell reduces cost and allows the production of higher density flash memory.
In general, there are two ways to gain higher density for flash memory cells. One way is to achieve multi-level operation and control mainly by circuit design consideration such as in stacked gate flash memory. Another way is to enable storage of multiple states in a cell by using nitride storage material, resulting in devices such as Nitride Read Only Memory (NROM), Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon (SONOS), and Twin Metal Oxide Nitride Oxide Semiconductor (TwinMONOS).
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a conventional nitride read only memory (NROM) cell. The NROM cell includes a p-type substrate 150 having formed therein an n+-type source region 160 and an n+-type drain region 170, and a control gate 180. A silicon nitride layer 182 is sandwiched between two oxide layers 184 and 186. A channel 188 is formed under the oxide layer 184 and between the source region 160 and the drain region 170. The NROM cell can be programmed to store two physically separated bits 192 and 194.
Programming of the NROM can be performed by Channel Hot Electron (CHE) injection, which generates hot electrons in the channel 188. Some of these hot electrons gain enough energy to travel through the oxide layer 184 and become trapped in the silicon nitride layer 182. By interchanging the role of the source and drain terminals, the trapped charge will move to the region in the silicon nitride layer 182 near the source region 160 or near the drain region 170. The localized trapped charge near the source region 160 represents bit 192, while the localized trapped charge near the drain region 170 represents bit 194. Therefore, a nitride storage memory cell such as a NROM cell can have a density of 2 bits/cell.
Further, more recently, there have been developed structures and techniques for multi-level storage at each storage location in the nitride layer of storage devices containing an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) structure, such as any of the above listed NROM, SONOS and TwinMONOS devices. As a result, for example, each bit 192 or 194 of the NROM shown in FIG. 1 could be programmed to represent one of multiple program states.
In order to read data stored in the conventional 1 bit/cell flash memory device, the presence or absence of current is sensed and translated into 1's and 0's, representing the stored data. In order to read data stored in a multi-level cell device, an amount of current flow or a distinct threshold voltage range may be sensed, rather than simply detecting the presence or absence of current. Each distinct threshold voltage range represents a distinct program state. For example, in a 2 bits/cell memory cell, a first threshold voltage range covering voltages less than 3.0 V may represent a program state 00 (or program level 0), a second threshold voltage range covering voltages from 3.25 V to 3.75 V may represent a program state 01 (or program level 1), a third threshold voltage range covering voltages from 4.25 V to 4.75 V may represent a program state 10 (or program level 2), and a fourth threshold voltage range covering voltages greater than 5.0 V may represent a program state 11 (or program level 3).

Multi-level operation in nitride storage memory cell


With a liquid discharge device, a maximum of N liquid droplets are discharged so as to land within each pixel region for forming a pixel corresponding to the pixel region, a target landing position is selected at random for each liquid droplet, from M liquid landing position candidates, forming an array in the direction of an array of nozzles, determined such that at least a part of the landing liquid droplet region corresponding to each landing position candidate is included within the pixel region, and the discharge direction of the liquid droplet is controlled such that the liquid droplet lands at the determined target landing position. The liquid discharge device having such a configuration has the advantage of preventing occurrence of streaks between dot columns in a printed image due to irregularities in an array of discharge portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge device and liquid discharge method for discharging liquid droplets, and more particularly to a liquid discharge device and liquid discharge method for providing improved image quality.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, conventional ink jet printers, which are a kind of liquid discharge device, include a head wherein ink discharge portions, each having a nozzle, are linearly disposed. With such ink jet printers, minute liquid droplets (ink droplets) are discharged onto a recording medium such as a printing paper sheet or the like, disposed so as to face the nozzle face, from each ink discharge portion of the head, so as to form generally-round-shaped dots on the recording medium, such that image pixels are formed of single or multiple dots. Furthermore, the image pixels are two-dimensionally arrayed, thereby forming images or characters.
On the other hand, with the ink jet printers, liquid droplets are discharged with some irregularity due to the configuration thereof. With regard to the dot array on the recording medium, formed of ink droplets discharged thereon, random irregularities are less conspicuous due to the irregularities being evened out. However, directional irregularities due to positioning of the liquid discharge portions (head) are markedly conspicuous, even in the event the amount of the irregularities is minute.
FIG. 21, consisting of FIGS. 21A, 21B, and 21C, is a diagram for describing irregularities in a dot array. In FIG. 21, the portions denoted by the arrows indicate the printing results in cases of directional irregularities occurring in the right direction in the drawing, by 1/36, 1/12, and ¼, of the dot pitch (the distance between the center positions of adjacent dots), with three dot sizes of "small", "medium", and "large", respectively.
As can be understood from FIG. 21, in the event that a dot array is printed with directional irregularities of around 10%, the irregularities can be visibly observed. In the event that a dot array is printed with the directional irregularities of around 20% or more, the irregularities are markedly conspicuous, and in general, such irregularities are recognized as being defective. Note that whether or not the irregularities in dot pitch are conspicuous depends upon the color of the ink, as well. For example, the irregularities in dot pitch in yellow are relatively more permissible than with other colors (i.e., the irregularities in yellow are conspicuous less than with other colors).
Conventionally, two methods, which will be described below, are known for solving the above-described problem of irregularities in dot pitch for a liquid discharge device employing a serial method wherein the head is linearly and reciprocally moved in the horizontal direction as to the recording medium, as well as the recording medium being transported in the direction generally vertical to the aforementioned reciprocal movement. Note that, with the serial method, the direction of the reciprocal movement of the head will be referred to as "main scanning direction", and the direction generally vertical to the main direction (i.e., the direction for transporting a recording medium) will be referred to as "sub-scanning direction" hereafter, in the present specification.
A first method is to overlap the adjacent dots such that undesirable unprinted portions do not occur, even in the event that printing is performed with some irregularities in dot pitch. That is to say, the size of each dot (the diameter of the each dot) is increased corresponding to the dot pitch. With an arrangement using this method wherein the dot diameter is determined to be equal to or greater than √{square root over (2)} times the dot pitch (i.e., equal to or greater than the distance between the center positions of the diagonally-adjacent dots) under an assumption that dots are formed in a round shape, the gap between the adjacent dots does not occur as long as normal printing is performed, and furthermore, even in the event that printing is performed with some irregularities in dot pitch, the irregularities are less conspicuous, thereby preventing undesirable white streaks on an image.
FIG. 22 is a diagram which shows an example of the printing results in a case of the same positional irregularities in a dot column as in FIG. 21, with an overall dot size a little greater than √{square root over (2)} times as great as the dot pitch.
On the other hand, a second method is known as "double printing method". With the double printing method, large-sized dots used in the first method are not employed, but printing is performed twice. Specific description will be made below. Let us say that printing is performed with some irregularities in a dot array. In this case, following the first printing, undesirable unprinted gaps occur. With the second method, the second printing is performed so as to fill the unprinted gaps. FIG. 23 is a diagram which shows printing results obtained with the double printing method which is referred to here as the second method. In FIG. 23, different hatching patterns denote dots formed at different times of main scanning, or formed with different heads. The double printing method is applied not only to printing in the main scanning direction, but also may be applied to printing in the sub-scanning direction as well, thereby forming an image with small-sized dots.
On the other hand, a line method is known as another printing method other than the aforementioned serial method, wherein a liquid discharging apparatus includes a head with a length over the entire length of a recording medium (the entire range of a recording medium in the main scanning direction of the serial method). In general, the liquid discharging apparatus includes a stationary head, and only the recording medium is transported.
Note that with the line method, the transporting direction for the recording medium will be referred to as the "main scanning direction" in the present specification.
With the line method, it can be easily understood that the head with a length over the entire length of the recording medium, integrally formed on a silicon or glass substrate, exhibits improved properties such as improved precision of array of the liquid discharging portions, and the like. However, in actual practice, it is almost impossible to manufacture a head having such a configuration due to various kinds of problems, such as manufacturing method, a small yielding percentage, overheating, costs, and the like.
Accordingly, a line head for mounting an ink jet printer is known, wherein multiple small-sized head chips are arrayed with the adjacent ends being into contact with each other, and each head chip is driven according to predetermined signals so as to print on a recording medium, thereby performing printing over the entire length of the recording medium in the step of printing on the recording medium (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-36522, for example). Note that manufacturing of the aforementioned head chip also has various kinds of limitations, and the length thereof in the direction of the liquid discharge portion array is limited to 1 inch or shorter at the most, which is a practical limit.
However, the above-described conventional methods have problems as follows.
First, the first method for the serial method (the technique wherein the dot size is increased) has an advantage with regard to irregularities in dot positions, but leads to a problem of conspicuous dot roughness due to an increase of the dot size. Accordingly, with printing images requiring intermediate tones, such as photographs, a problem occurs in that the sensation of image roughness increases.
On the other hand, with the second method for the serial method (double printing), there is no need to employ large-sized dots, unlike the aforementioned first method, and accordingly, the sensation of image roughness is reduced over the entire image, thereby improving printing image quality, and the like. However, there is the need to form a great number of dots in both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, leading to a problem of low recording speed. In order to solve this problem, a great number of the liquid discharge portions must be moved at a speed as high as possible, often leading to a problem of reduction of reliability and a problem of high costs.
On the other hand, while an arrangement employing the line method may employ the above-described first method wherein large-sized dots are employed so as to reduce the influence of irregularities in discharge from the liquid discharge portions, the same problem occurs as with the aforementioned serial method arrangement employing the first method.
Furthermore, with the line method arrangement, multiple head chips are connected one to another, often leading to a problem of a margin of error in the array intervals. Furthermore, there is a problem in that the thickness and the like of these multiple head chips is not always uniform. The influence of such margins of error often reaches a level several times as great as the influence of irregularities in the discharge angle of liquid droplets occurring in a single head chip.
Note that the line method arrangement includes a stationary head, and accordingly, double printing, wherein a second print is made over the region where a first print has been made, cannot be performed. That is to say, the line method arrangement cannot employ the second method, unlike the aforementioned serial method arrangement employing the second method.
However, with a special modification of the parallel method arrangement, wherein a single recording medium is fed in and out several times while moving the position of the head a little, double printing can be performed under the condition that a stiff recording medium is used, and the object of printing is a photograph (as with a sublimation printer or the like). However, it is difficult to move the head only in the horizontal direction (the direction of the width of the recording medium, i.e., the direction vertical to the main scanning direction of the line method arrangement). Furthermore, unlike the sublimation printer, the ink jet printer requires some period of time for drying the dots arrayed on the recording medium (ink dots which have landed on the recording medium), and accordingly, the operation wherein the single recording medium is fed in and out is repeated several times without any protection prior to the ink dots becoming sufficiently dry, leads to a risk of smearing.
Furthermore, in this case, the available recording medium is restricted to a special one, i.e., a general recording medium such as a normal paper sheet, or the like, cannot be used. Furthermore, a general line-method arrangement has the advantage of high-speed recording. However, in the event that the line-method arrangement employs the aforementioned second method, the recording speed is reduced, leading to reduction of the advantage of the line-method arrangement. Accordingly, in the event that the line-method arrangement is to employ the double printing without such restrictions while maintaining the advantage of high-speed recording, the double printing can be performed only in the transporting direction for the recording medium, i.e., the main scanning direction.
In this case, while the line-method arrangement has the advantage of an improved image tone due to double printing, the double printing only in the main scanning direction has only the advantage of the improved image tone, but has no advantage of leveling of the influence due to irregularities in discharge.
As described above, the ink dots in a single line in the main scanning direction are formed by discharging from a single liquid discharge portion, and accordingly, the distance between the center positions of the adjacent ink dots in the main scanning direction exhibits high precision. On the other hand, each of the ink dots in the sub-scanning direction are formed by discharging from different liquid discharge portions, leading to great irregularities in the distance between the center positions of the adjacent ink dots in the sub-scanning direction.
From the reasons described above, the line-method arrangement without sub-scanning often has a problem that conspicuous streaks occur in an image in the sub-scanning direction due to irregularities in the array of the liquid discharge portions.
Furthermore, the serial-method arrangement employing the second method (double printing) has the advantage that in the event that malfunctioning occurs in a part of liquid discharge portions of the head, such as malfunctioning wherein ink cannot be discharged, or the like, the second method (double printing) is performed, whereby defects on the recording medium due to malfunctioning of discharge or the like becomes less conspicuous.
On the other hand, the line-method arrangement cannot employ the aforementioned second method as described above. Accordingly, even in the event that malfunctioning, such as non-discharge or the like, occurs in a small number of liquid discharge portions, correction cannot be performed for the defects occurring due to the malfunctioning, directly leading to deterioration in image quality due to malfunctioning of the head.

Liquid discharge device and liquid discharge method