A transmission side of a communication apparatus of the present invention makes use of a clock signal synchronized with a network to transmit an arrival interval of a PCR packet in which a PCR value is included and a synchronization residual. A reception side of the communication apparatus of the present invention calculates delay fluctuations caused by the network from the arrival interval and the synchronization residual included in the received PCR packet and modifies the PCR value based on the delay fluctuations.

This invention relates to a communication apparatus suitable for use in a system which digitizes audio data and/or video data using an ATM communication technology or the like, encodes the digitized data in accordance with, for example, the MPEG system, converts the encoded data into packets of a transport stream of the MPEG system and transmits the packets through a predetermined network, requiring clock synchronization with the transmission side upon decoding in reception of the data packets.
In an application which uses digital sound and/or an image, a decoder must perform decoding in synchronism with an information generation source such as, for example, output data of an encoder or stored or recorded data in encoded form. If the decoder can control the information generation source, then it is possible to adjust the rate of data to be transmitted. In this instance, the decoder should rely only upon the timing of received data to decode the data and perform display of an image or reproduction of sound.
However, where the decoder does not have a controlling function for the information generation source, for example, when data are transmitted to the decoder through a network, since the information generation source and the decoder operate with system clock signals independent of each other, coding/transmission and reception/decoding/display and so forth are performed with the system clock signals of the information generation source and the decoder, respectively. If the system clock signals do not have a common clock signal to which they can refer to each other, then the system clock signals of the information generation source and the decoder exhibit a displacement in frequency. If the two clock signals are not in synchronism with each other, the information rates of data transmitted from the information generation source and data decoded by the decoder become different from each other, and as a result, a reception buffer of the decoder overflows or underflows. Consequently, data are lost, and therefore, for example, in regard to an image, it becomes necessary to re-display a frame.
One of methods for synchronizing the system clock signal of an information generation source and the system clock signal of a decoder with each other employs information representative of a time, that is, a time stamp.
In an MPEG transport stream, a PCR (Program Clock Reference) is used as a time stamp to establish synchronism. A concept of synchronization is illustrated in FIG. 1.
A source clock of the information generation source has a counter which has a certain cycle, and a system clock signal operates the counter. The value of the counter is latched after each certain interval of time, although such interval need not be a fixed interval, and the latched value is transmitted to the decoder. This value is so-called time stamp, and the decoder uses this value to synchronize the system clock signal of its own with the system clock signal of the information generation source. Particularly, the count value held by the decoder and the received time stamp are compared with each other, and then the reception side system clock signal is controlled to increase or decrease in rate to synchronize the decoder with the information generation source based on a result of the comparison.
A construction of a phase comparison circuit provided for such synchronization on the reception side is shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2, the phase comparison circuit is generally denoted at 20, and a time stamp received is inputted to the phase comparison circuit 20, in which it is subtracted from a value of a counter 21 by a subtractor 22 in order to compare it with the value of the counter 21. A difference obtained by the subtraction is inputted to a low-pass filter (LPF) 23, and an output of the low-pass filter 23 is converted from a digital signal into an analog signal by a digital-to-analog converter not shown and used to control a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 24.
An output of the VCO 24 is used as a system clock signal of the decoder, and the counter 21 is operated with the system clock signal, thereby forming a feedback loop.
Such a synchronization method as described above is employed by the MPEG-2 system layer (ISO/IEC 13818-1) and the ITU-T recommendations. In the MPEG-2, a system clock of 27 MHz is used for an encoder and a decoder. A system construction of a network which transmits data formed in accordance with the MPEG-2 is shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 3, the information generation source is a coding apparatus such as an encoder 31. However, the information generation source may alternatively be a storage apparatus which has stored encoded data in advance and can output the stored data.
Information generated by the encoder 31 is inputted to a system encoder 32. The system encoder 32 performs addition of a time stamp to the information generated by the encoder 31, conversion of the resulting information into packets and multiplexing of them to generate transport stream packets.
An MPEG-to-ATM conversion section 33 converts the transport stream into ATM cells and transmits the ATM cells to the reception side through a network 34. Upon the transmission to the reception side, the ATM cells are influenced by various delay fluctuations in the network. Production of such delay fluctuations is hereinafter described in connection with ATM cells.
A time stamp which contains such delay fluctuations is first converted into a system packet by an ATM-to-MPEG conversion section 35 and then processed by a system decoder 36 so that a system clock signal of the decoder is reproduced from the time stamp. In the case of the MPEG, a system clock signal of 27 MHz is reproduced and inputted to the decoder. The data processed by the system decoder 36 are decoded by a decoder 37.
The MPEG-2 system layer involves two streams, called as program stream and transport stream. The program stream is expected to be used in a system which is free from an error, such as a storage medium while the transport stream is expected to be used with a system which involves some error such as communication. In the program stream, a time stamp is called as an SCR (system clock reference) and is transmitted after an interval of at least 0.7 seconds or less. The SCR time stamp is included in a header of a program stream packet and is present only in packets which are used to transmit the SCR.
In a transport stream packet, a time stamp is called as a PCR (program clock reference) and is transmitted after an interval of at least 0.1 second or less. The PCR time stamp is included in a header of a transport stream packet and is present only in packets which are used to transmit the PCR.
Particularly, the PCR comprises 42 bits in total and includes two parts, of a program clock reference extension and of a program clock reference base. The former has 9 bits while the latter has 33 bits. The former counts from 0 to 299, and the latter is incremented by one with a carrier from the former. Where the system clock signal of 27 MHz in the MPEG-2 is used, a time for 24 hours can be counted in units of a 27 MHz clock by using the 42-bit counter. In other words, the PCR is considered to be a value (PCR value) of a PCR counter which is counted with a system clock signal.
As reference documents relating to the present invention, the following three documents are listed:
[1] M. Perkins and P. Skelly, xe2x80x9cA Hardware MPEG Clock Recovery Experiment in the Presence of ATM Jitterxe2x80x9d, ATM Forum contribution to the SAA sub-working group, 94-0434, May 1994;
[2] G. Franceschini, xe2x80x9cExtension of the Adaptive Clock Method to Variable Bit Rate Streamsxe2x80x9d, ATM Forum contribution to the SAA sub-working group, 94-0321, May 1994; and
[3] ISO/IEC13818-1 (MPEG-2 Systems), xe2x80x9cGENERIC CODING OF MOVING PICTURES AND ASSOCIATED AUDIOxe2x80x9d, Recommendation H.222.0, ISO/IEC JTC/SC29/WG11 NO721rev, June, 1994.
The document [1] discloses trial production of hardware for synchronization with a system clock signal of an information generation source based on data obtained by simulation of jitters generated on an ATM. The document is good to be referred to learn how synchronism is established.
The document [2] describes how to establish synchronism regarding a variable bit rate, but does not mention a delay fluctuation reduction circuit of the present invention.
The document [3] is a draft complying to international standards regarding the MPEG-2 system.
By the way, if time stamps added and transmitted by an information generation source such as an encoder side arrive at the decoder side with accurately equal intervals, then it is easy for the decoder side to establish synchronism with the system clock signal of the encoder by using the synchronization method described above. However, this method assumes at all that the delay of the transmission line is fixed. Actually, the document [3] describes that a transmission line has a fixed delay. Accordingly, if a random delay, that is, delay fluctuations, are added to a time stamp by the network and so forth, but the value of the time stamp is not changed to a suitable value taking such delay fluctuations into consideration, this gives rise to the following problems.
In particular, the value of a time stamp inputted to a PLL of the decoder side becomes a sum of a difference in clock frequency between the information generation source and the decoder and delay fluctuations. It is difficult to construct a low-pass filter of the PLL, so that it may flatten delay fluctuations because the delay fluctuations are very great. In order to reduce delay fluctuations, a considerably long time is required for the PLL to establish synchronism or the circuit is complicated in construction.
Accordingly, a countermeasure which does not employ a PLL on the decoder side to absorb delay fluctuations is required. An example of this problem is provided by a case wherein a transport stream of the MPEG-2 is used on an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network. Due to delay fluctuations which are caused when statistical multiplexing which is a characteristic of the ATM is performed, or when a cell queues up in a buffer when transmission in a same direction from a plurality of nodes occurs on an ATM switch, an ATM cell suffers from random delay fluctuations. The ATM network performs switching based only on a header ignoring contents of a payload, so it does not rewrite a time stamp either. Accordingly, there is a problem that, even if an ATM cell is composed into an MPEG-2 system layer packet, delay fluctuations are still transmitted. In order to solve this problem, the VOD standards 1.1 of the ATM Forum recommend a method wherein a buffer is provided on the reception side so that a clock is reproduced by a PLL of a decoder while jitters are absorbed to some degree by the buffer. This method is called adaptive clock method. In a system of this type shown in FIG. 4, some amount of data is stored into a FIFO 42 on the reception side, and the output data rate from the FIFO 42 is controlled so that the data occupancy in the FIFO 42 may be fixed. The output data rate is controlled by feeding back the data occupancy in the FIFO 42 to a variation of the data occupancy through a low-pass filter 43. Jitters (hereinafter referred to as PCR jitters) generated on a PCR by the network 41 can be absorbed to some degree by the low-pass filter 43. However, although this system is simple without involving control of synchronous data and so forth, it cannot remove jitters of the network completely. If it is intended to decode an MPEG stream including PCR jitters, the response of the PLL should be retarded. However, this merely shapes jitter components in an analog fashion, and jitter components still remain as they are over a long period of time. Actually, jitters of 1 ms to 2 ms can be reduced only to approximately 3 xcexcs. Accordingly, when an MPEG stream including PCR jitters is decoded and recorded in a VTR, or an image is observed on a monitor, the system does not make a significant problem since the response of the PLL is retarded. However, if it is intended to re-distribute, in regional distribution or the like, a stream transmitted by an ATM network as it is as MPEG, then the PCR jitter value cannot satisfy the MPEG standards, and jitters on the network make a significant trouble.
In other words, the system described above cannot satisfy the quality of the studio standard level, that is, xc2x1500 ns which is a jitter value permitted to the PCR value.
Further, a related art system presumes transmission of one program. In particular, since data to be transmitted are data encoded on the same time base, only one clock is required to establish synchronism. However, for a stream of multi-programs in which data encoded with different time bases are multiplexed, a number of PLLs and clocks for synchronization equal to the number of programs are required. Thus, the related art system has a problem that the structure of the circuit is complicated.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a communication apparatus which allows synchronization of multimedia information in such an environment that a network generates delay fluctuations.
In order to attain the object described above, according to the present invention, on the transmission side, when an MPEG transport stream including a PCR is inputted, a difference between a count value of a network clock signal indicating a time from a preceding PCR and a PCR value in the stream counted with the network clock signal is calculated, and the count value and the resulting difference are transmitted as a PCR arrival time interval and a synchronization residual time stamp (hereinafter referred to as synchronization data), respectively. On the other hand, on the reception side, after a difference from the network clock signal is referred to based on the PCR arrival time interval and the synchronization data, calculation is performed to correct the PCR value to remove PCR jitters therefrom.
More particularly, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication apparatus, comprising a detection for detecting a packet which includes a time stamp, a counting means for producing a clock signal synchronized with a clock signal common with that of the reception side and counting the number of clocks of the clock signal, an extraction means for extracting the count value of the counting means when a packet in which a time stamp is included arrives, a calculation means for determining an arrival interval between packets in which a time stamp is included and a synchronization residual making use of the count value extracted by the extraction means and the time stamp, and a transmission means for transmitting the packet arrival interval and the synchronization residual.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication apparatus, comprising a reception means for receiving a packet, a time stamp means for detecting a packet which detects, from among packets received by the reception means, those packets which include a time stamp in which information regarding a packet arrival interval and a synchronization residual is included, a detection means for detecting the packet arrival interval and the synchronization residual from the time stamp, a modification value calculation means for calculating a modification value for the time stamp from the packet arrival interval and synchronization residual and a count value obtained by counting clocks of a clock signal synchronized with a clock signal common to that of the transmission side, and a modification means for modifying the time stamp included in the received packets based on the modification value.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts or elements denoted by like reference symbols.

Communication apparatus which handles a time stamp


An apparatus for automatically controlling the water level of a pool includes a first tank having a first water level, the first tank including a first float valve connected to a high pressure water source. A second tank has a second water level that is below the first water level, thereby defining a pressure head between the two tanks. The second tank includes a second float valve that is supplied by the pressure head between the two tanks, so that the second float valve receives low pressure water and is adapted to open and close within a range that spans a fraction of an inch. The second tank also includes an adjustable drain opening. The second tank water level varies between an upper limit set by the drain opening and a lower limit set by the opened position of the second float valve. The second tank is connected directly to the pool in open flow communication, so that the water level set in the second tank in turn sets the water level of the pool.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic fill water level control device and an overfill drain device for use with a swimming pool to obtain a desired pool water level. More specifically, the invention relates to a dual tank arrangement that is in communication with a pool and contains an adjustable automatic fill device and an overfill drain device in a fixed relationship to each other, so that setting the level of one of the devices automatically sets the level of the other device.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional pools contain overfill drains constructed as follows. A drain pipe is placed in the pool wall at the height of the desired water level, which may be coincident with a scupper extending within the pool wall below the upper extent thereof. The drain pipe terminates either on the land surrounding the pool or into a nearby drain. Leaves and other debris floating on the pool water surface can plug the outlet hole in the pool wall, compromising the efficiency of the overfill drain and causing overflow conditions. A recent innovation in pool design is the vanishing edge pool, in which the water level is intended to coincide with the upper extent of the pool wall, and a drain channel is provided outside the pool wall and below the upper extent thereof. The pool water appears to be uncontained and thus creates an arresting visual presence. However, water level control is critical to achieving this effect without squandering a large volume of water flowing over the pool edge. The simple drain pipe of prior art pools cannot be used in a vanishing edge pool, due to the fact that there is no pool wall extending above the water level in which to mount the drain opening.
Thus, for a vanishing edge pool it is essential to maintain tight control on the water level of the pool; i.e., with ⅛ inch tolerance. In particular, the water fill level and the water drain level must be spaced vertically to a very close dimension to avoid unnecessary waste of water while keeping the water level coincident with the upper edge of the pool wall. One prior art apparatus, described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,817, provides an automatic fill device for a pool, and an overfill drain device, both supported on a common structure that is adjustable vertically. This arrangement enables adjustment of both the fill level and drain level in one operation, and prevents misalignment of those two levels that can cause overfill conditions or insufficient water levels.
The incoming water to the automatic fill device is typically provided at high pressure, either from city water mains or from a pump (well pump, pool pump, etc.). A float valve senses water level and opens and closes a high pressure valve to add water to the tank when the level falls. Generally, the float must move a few inches to actuate the valve and open it fully. As a result the water level set by the float valve varies in accordance with the float position, and accordingly fluctuates up and down by a factor of a few inches. This fluctuation may be acceptable in a standard pool, but in a vanishing edge pool this sort of ebb and flow repeatedly exposes the top edge of the pool wall and spoils the stunning visual effect of the vanishing edge pool.

Water level control for vanishing edge pool


The present invention relates to single walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), functionalized CNTs and carbon nanotube composites with controlled properties, to a method for aerosol synthesis of single walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, functionalized CNTs and carbon nanotube composites with controlled properties from pre-made catalyst particles and a carbon source in the presence of reagents and additives, to functional, matrix and composite materials composed thereof and structures and devices fabricated from the same in continuous or batch CNT reactors. The present invention allows all or part of the processes of synthesis of CNTs, their purification, doping, functionalization, coating, mixing and deposition to be combined in one continuous procedure and in which the catalyst synthesis, the CNT synthesis, and their functionalization, doping, coating, mixing and deposition can be separately controlled.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to single walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), functionalized carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotube composites with controlled properties, to a method for aerosol synthesis of single walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, functionalized carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotube composites with controlled properties from pre-made catalyst particles and a carbon source in the presence of reagents and additives, to functional, matrix and composite materials composed thereof and structures and devices fabricated from the same in continuous or batch CNT reactors.
Description of Related Art
Carbon nanotubes are of great interest since they exhibit unique and useful chemical and physical properties related to, for instance, their morphology, toughness, electrical and thermal conductivity and magnetic properties. Since their discovery, CNTs have been the subject of intensive research and numerous patents, scientific articles and books have been devoted to their synthesis, properties and applications. Nanotubes were first observed during a direct-current arc discharge between graphite electrodes in an argon environment by Iijima (Nature 1991, 354, 56). The typical temperatures for carbon nanotube production by that method are about 2000-3000° C. Since then, various authors described alternative means of carbon nanotubes production, which allowed increased production rate and significantly decreased temperatures, e.g., [Jiao and Seraphin, J. Phys. & Chem. Solids 2000, 61, 1055; Hafner et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 1998, 296, 195]. For instance, it has been shown that the presence of transition metals decreases the typical temperature required for tube production (e.g., Jung et al., Diamond and Related Materials 2001, 10, 1235; Govindaraj et al., Materials Research Bulletin 1998, 33, 663; Shyu and Hong, Diamond and Related Materials 2001, 10, 1241). Since their discovery, several different production methods have been introduced to synthesize CNTs. These methods can be broadly divided into chemical and physical according to the method applied in releasing carbon atoms from carbon-containing precursor molecules. In the physical methods, e.g. arc-discharge (Iijima, Nature 1991, 354, 56) and laser ablation (Guo et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 1995, 243 49), high-energy input is used to release the carbon atoms needed for tube synthesis. The chemical methods rely on carbon atomization via catalytic decomposition of carbon precursors on the surface of transition metal particles. According to the place where the growth of CNTs occur, chemical methods for their production can be divided into surface supported, so called CVD (chemical vapor deposition) [e.g. Dai et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 1996, 260, 471] and aerosol [e.g. Bladh, Falk, and Rohmund, Appl. Phys. A, 2000, 70 317; Nasibulin et al., Carbon, 2003, 41, 2711] syntheses. In CVD methods, the carbon precursor decomposition and CNT formation take place on the surface of catalyst particles that are supported on a substrate. In aerosol synthesis, the catalyst particles are in the gas-phase. The terms "gas-phase synthesis" and "floating catalyst method" have been also applied in the literature for this process. We use the term "aerosol synthesis" to specify processes taking place completely in the gas-phase.
The method described in this patent is a new approach to the production of single walled and multi-walled CNTs, functionalized CNTs and CNT composite materials and matrices thereof. This new method requires pre-made catalyst particles or a procedure to produce pre-made catalyst particles with a narrow distribution of properties, a carbon source, a reagent, when needed, an energy source, when needed and a flow control system. A principle advantage of the new method over existing methods is that it allows the separate control of the introduction of catalyst particles and the CNT synthesis. In other methods, catalyst particles are formed by gaseous chemical reactions leading to the formation of supersaturated vapor of the catalyst material (e.g. WO 00/26138) or physical nucleation directly from supersaturated gas (e.g. WO 03/056078) simultaneously with the CNT synthesis and thus cannot be separately controlled. This leads to the formation of CNTs with potentially large variation in important properties such as length, diameter and chirality. The diameter and chirality of the CNTs produced via catalysts are largely determined by the properties of the catalyst particles, in particular the catalyst size. Though patent US 2002/102193 A describes a means of separately producing catalyst particles and CNTs, it does not specify a means of controlling the high non-uniformity of catalyst particles produced by the chemical nucleation method proposed and thus will tend to produce non-uniform CNTs. Our invention, on the other hand, provides a means of separately introducing catalyst particles with well controlled properties, either directly though a process which inherently produces catalysts with narrow particle size distributions (e.g. the physical vapor nucleation processes described in this method), or by providing specific means of narrowing the size distribution from processes (such as the chemical nucleation method referred to in US 2002/102193 A) which inherently produce wide catalyst particle size distributions and thus non-uniform CNTs. As the industrial and scientific utility of produced CNTs is a function of their individual and collective properties, there exists an urgent need for CNTs and a method for production of CNTs and CNT composite formulations with more uniform and controlled properties.
In our method we utilize pre-made particles for production of CNTs and CNT composite formulations. Those pre-made particles can be prepared by conventional methods such as chemical vapor decomposition of catalyst precursor [e.g. Nasibulin et al., J. Phys. Chem. B, 2001, 105, 11067.], by the physical vapor nucleation method, which implies an evaporation and subsequent vapor nucleation followed by growth of particles due to vapor condensation and cluster coagulation (for instance, a resistively heated hot wire generator, an adiabatic expansion in a nozzle or an arc discharge method), by thermal decomposition of precursor solution droplets (e.g. by electrospray thermal decomposition) or by any available method which either inherently produces particles with a narrow distribution of properties or can be pre-classified prior to CNT synthesis to narrow the distribution. The pre-made particles are then introduced into a CNT reactor where CNT synthesis takes place. Thus, the current invention separates the catalyst production from the CNT synthesis and allows the control of each step in the production process. In order to produce CNTs with further controlled properties, the pre-made particles, either produced as part of the process or introduced from existing sources, can be classified according to size, mobility, morphology or other properties before being introduced into one or more CNT reactors. Furthermore, the current invention allows the continuous or batch production of composite CNT either coated or mixed with additive materials. Additionally, the current invention provides a means of producing pure, functionalized or composite CNT gas, liquid or solid dispersions, solid structures, powders, pastes, colloidal suspensions and surface depositions and can be integrated directly into a means of fabricating structures from such materials. Additionally, when used in conjunction with the physical nucleation method, the current invention provides the additional advantage of allowing better control over conditions in the CNT reactor conditions since physical nucleation introduces no additional chemical compounds into the environment which can interfere with CNT formation, growth, purification and/or functionalization.

Single, multi-walled, functionalized and doped carbon nanotubes and composites thereof


A camshaft adjuster for an internal combustion engine with a locking element is provided. For adjusting the camshaft adjuster (1) in the direction of a locking position, for example, when the internal combustion engine is switched off or when the hydraulic pressure drops, a mechanical spring element (23) is located between the rotor (5) and stator (3). The mechanical spring element (23) is arranged in a pressure chamber (12; 13). In this way, the installation space already existing for the pressure chambers (12; 13) can have a multifunctional use.

The invention relates to a hydraulic camshaft adjuster for an internal combustion engine with a mechanical spring element, and in particular to a camshaft adjuster having a stator and a rotor, with two pressure chambers formed between the stator and the rotor which are separated by a vane of the rotor.
Hydraulic camshaft adjusters, especially in a rotary vane or vane-cell construction, typically have a stator and a rotor mounted with a degree of rotational freedom relative to the stator. Between the stator and the rotor there are at least two pressure chambers, which act in opposite directions and which are separated from each other by a radially oriented vane of the rotor.
It has been shown that the operation of a hydraulic camshaft adjuster is not problematic especially when the internal combustion engine provides sufficient hydraulic pressure, so that the pressure chambers are filled sufficiently with the hydraulic medium. However, it has also been shown that when the internal combustion engine starts up, under some circumstances sufficient pressure of the hydraulic medium cannot be provided. This has the result that when the internal combustion engine starts up in this way, the control times do not correspond to the default positions, or an unstable position of the camshaft adjuster is set, which produces "unstable" control times. Furthermore, it can generate undesired vibrations, which can lead to undesired noise in addition to increased component wear.
For preventing such problems, mechanical locking devices are known. From DE 196 23 818 A1, a locking device is known with a locking element constructed as a locking pin, whose front-end region has a conical construction and is held without backlash in a bore, which has a conical longitudinal section or an elliptical cross section, in a cover of the camshaft adjuster in a locked position. The locking pin is spring loaded and has two hydraulic control surfaces, of which the first, end control surface is in hydraulic connection with a pressure chamber of the camshaft adjuster and a second control surface formed by a shoulder of the locking pin is in hydraulic connection with another pressure chamber acting in the opposite direction in the camshaft adjuster.
From DE 101 27 168 A1, a locking device is known, in which a locking pin interacts with a step-shaped locking groove, wherein different levels of the step-shaped locking groove correspond to different locking positions, for example, a farthest advanced angle, an intermediate position, and a farthest retarded angle.
From DE 102 53 496, a locking device is known, in which a first locking pin assumes a locked position between an end position ADVANCED and a middle position, while a second locking pin can assume a locked position between an end position RETARDED and the middle position. When the pressure of the hydraulic medium falls to zero, the first locking pin can be brought into the locked position, while the second locking pin further remains in the unlocked position. When the internal combustion engine starts up, the inner rotor is moved by a dragging moment of the camshaft towards RETARDED until the first locking pin reaches the middle position. At this point, the second locking pin also reaches the locked position. After a successful engine start, the regulator increases the pressure of the lubricant in a first lubricant line, a first pressure chamber, and in the region of the first locking pin. Therefore, the first locking pin is unlocked, while the second locking pin is held in pressure contact with the second middle stop. For transitioning to regulated operation, the regulator increases the pressure in the second pressure chamber, whereby the second locking pin is also unlocked, so that the inner rotor can move freely. A corresponding locking device is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,137 B2.
From DE 199 18 910 A1, a locking device is known, which has two locking pins that can be activated in the radial control direction.
From the unpublished patent application of the applicant with the internal filing number of the applicant E 2004 255 and the title "Locking device for a Camshaft Adjuster of an Internal Combustion Engine," it is known to lock the camshaft adjuster in a single position, especially the end position, with two locking pins, which have different amounts of peripheral backlash and which are acted upon by different pressure chambers of the camshaft adjuster.
Furthermore, from the unpublished patent application of the applicant with the internal filing number of the applicant E 2005 161 and the title "Camshaft Adjuster with a Locking Device," it is known to provide a locking element both in an end position ADVANCED and also in the region of an end position RETARDED and to provide, in particular, a third locking element in a middle position.
From the unpublished patent application of the applicant with the internal filing number of the applicant A 2004 03 and the title "Locking Device for a Camshaft Adjuster," a hydraulic actuation of a locking element is known, in which reliable measures for preventing undesired actuation of the locking element are taken.
The previously explained hydraulic camshaft adjusters and the locking devices are based on the requirement that, in an operating situation, in which locking is desired (in the following "locking situation"), care must be taken that the rotational angle of the rotor relative to the stator is located in a desired range or at a defined rotational angle. Here, the angle can involve, in particular, the rotational angle correlating to the locking position or a rotational angle between the end position ADVANCED and the locking position. Also possible are rotational angle ranges, for which it is guaranteed that the locking position is reached automatically when the internal combustion engine is turned off or when the internal combustion engine is restarted.
For guaranteeing that the rotor is located in a previously defined range for a locking situation, various measures are known:
According to E 2005 161, a spring element can be used, which applies a force on the rotor in the direction of the desired rotational angle range or the rotational angle coinciding with the locking position. Such a spring element, however, requires additional installation space.
From the unpublished patent application of the applicant with the internal filing number of the applicant E 2004 332 and the title "Method for Operating a Hydraulic Camshaft Adjuster," it is known to use a shutdown predictor, which indicates that locking of the camshaft adjuster is likely or required, for example, because the internal combustion engine is set for operation in the future. For the case that the shutdown predictor indicates that the locking is required, a force is applied to the camshaft adjuster automatically via a control unit, such that
a) the camshaft adjuster moves in the direction of the locking position or
b) it moves into a rotational angle lying between the locking position and an end position ADVANCED.
On the other hand, it has been shown that influencing the force relationships in a camshaft adjuster via a spring element can also be desirable independent of any end position locking:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,654 B1 addresses the problem that a hydraulic pump for charging the pressure chambers is typically driven by a crankshaft, which has the result that the flow of hydraulic means is reduced, under some circumstances, at a low rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. This can lead to an undesired adjustment of the camshaft adjuster.
For overcoming problems of the previously explained type, JP A 9 264 110 proposes to connect a torsion spring between a driving element and a driven element. For this purpose, the torsion spring is supported in the housing of the camshaft adjuster with one foot on the chain wheel, while the other foot of the torsion spring is supported on the rotor.
This solution is considered problematic according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,654 B1 because, under some circumstances, a bypass between the pressure chambers of the camshaft adjuster can be created via the receptacle for the torsion spring, which can lead to undesired operating states up to breakdown of the camshaft adjuster. For preventing such problems, U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,654 B1 proposes to arrange the pressure chambers and the vanes radially outside of the receptacle for the torsion spring element, so that in a radial intermediate space in the housing, a suitable seal can be realized. In this way, however, the total radial installation size of the camshaft adjuster is increased. Such enlarged radial dimensions can be prevented according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,654 B1 in that the pressure chambers on one hand and the receptacle for the torsion springs on the other hand are arranged axially one next to the other with radially overlapping extensions. Transferring the hydraulic medium between individual pressure chambers via the receptacle for the spring element is prevented by a circular ring-shaped separating disk, which is connected axially between the pressure chambers and the receptacle.
From DE 40 32 586 A1, a camshaft adjuster is known, which is actuated by a control piston and in which a torsion spring arrangement is arranged parallel to the adjustment chambers between a driving wheel and a camshaft. This torsion spring arrangement is used for transmitting an approximately average torque. This construction is based on the knowledge that for adjustments in different directions, torques must be generated in the camshaft adjuster, which have opposing directions, whose magnitudes, however, are different for different directions, under some circumstances, so that, for example, through the movement of the drive and/or the frictional relationships, an average moment for the torque requirements for different adjustment directions can be produced, which is not equal to zero. To limit the moment to be generated in the camshaft adjuster to the difference of the required extremes from the average moment—and not to the, under some circumstances, greater absolute extreme—the publication proposes to supply the average moment via an energy accumulator, which is constructed as a torsion-spring arrangement connected parallel to the adjustment chambers between the driving wheel and the camshaft. The torsion-spring arrangement is constructed separately from the camshaft adjuster.
DE 690 28 063 T2 discloses another construction of using torsion-spring elements for influencing the moment relationships for a camshaft adjuster.


A driver device (P) for a plurality of light blocks (LED_DRL/PL, LED_TI) of a motor vehicle comprising at least two inputs (P1, P2), each of the inputs being suitable for receiving, respectively, a first and a second execution control signals (SCF_DRL, SCF_TI/PL), the driver device being suitable for selecting at least one of the light blocks as a function of at least one of the execution control signals and delivering an electrical power supply to said selected light block, the driver device comprises at least one controller receiving said execution control signals, the controller being suitable for delivering, as a function of the logic state of execution control signals, a switching control signal (SCC) for switching the electrical power supply to the selected light block or blocks and a control signal for controlling the level of power (SCA) of the electrical power supply of the selected light block or blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a driver device for a plurality of light blocks of a motor vehicle and a light device for a motor vehicle incorporating such a driver device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the current driver devices for light blocks of a motor vehicle, the structure of such circuits usually comprises a controller provided with a power stage for each of the light blocks implementing one function or at most a group of two light functions.
The architecture of such a structure is represented in FIG. 1, relative to the prior art, for the control signals for the daytime running light, or DRL, light function, grouped together with the position light, PL, light function (PL standing for Parking Light), these two functions being driven by a common driver device controlling a common light block, denoted LED_DRL/PL, and, for the control signal of the turn indicator TI light function (TI standing for Turn Indicator).
Such an architecture in fact requires two driver devices, each provided with a power stage, and three distinct inputs, the grouping of the control of the daytime lighting DRL and position light PL functions however requiring separate inputs for the abovementioned control signals.
However, a recent change in the regulations concerning the implementation of motor vehicle lighting and/or signaling devices allows the grouping together of the control signals for the light functions of a vehicle, when this grouping does not compromise either the reliability or the safety of the assembly.

Device for driving a plurality of light blocks of a motor vehicle


The described technology is generally directed towards enabling user equipment to perform route selection across multiple mobile communication technologies. User equipment route selection allows specifying, by the user equipment, information which affects the way the user equipment's network communications are handled by a communication network. User equipment route selection across multiple mobile communication technologies enables certain route selection capabilities whether the user equipment is connected to a 5G Core network mobile communication technology, a 5G Option 3× network mobile communication technology, or a LTE network mobile communication technology.

Fifth generation (5G) mobile communications technology includes a new functionality referred to as User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP). URSP functionality allows 5G capable devices to configure network route selections for applications, thereby effectively steering network traffic from different applications into different network channels. Meanwhile, prior generation mobile communications technologies, e.g., long term evolution (LTE) technologies, as well as certain versions of 5G mobile communications technology itself, do not support URSP functionality. Technologies which enable the use of URSP functionality across multiple mobile communication technologies, e.g., various versions of 5G as well as LTE, are therefore desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A planar motor vehicle lining component made of a plastic-containing material, having a liner portion of predetermined shape which is embodied to cover, in the completely installed state, a predetermined area on a motor vehicle, the lining component includes at least one reinforcing portion that is connected to the lining portion and is connected by means of a hinge portion to the lining portion foldably in such a way that a supporting surface region of the reinforcing portion is conveyable, by folding over the reinforcing portion, into abutting engagement with an abutting surface region of the lining portion.

Planar lining components on motor vehicles, for example an underbody liner or a wheel well liner or an engine compartment liner, serve to acoustically and/or thermally and/or mechanically delimit large-area regions of the motor vehicle with respect to an adjacent environment, and protect them from external influences. While thermal and acoustic insulation tends to predominate in the context of an engine compartment liner, an important mechanical protective effect from impacting objects also exists in the context of a wheel well liner or underbody liner.
The term "planar" refers here to a lining component whose thickness dimension is considerably less than its dimension in two principal directions of extent which are orthogonal both to one another and to the thickness direction. In planar lining components, the dimension in the principal directions of extent is preferably more than 10 times or even more than 20 times the dimension in a thickness direction.
For reasons relating both to their effectiveness in terms of thermal and acoustic insulation and to minimum weight per unit area, the aforesaid planar motor vehicle lining components are often embodied as porous components, for example constituting a thermoplastically bonded fiber web material.
With decreasing weight per unit area the tear-out strength of the lining components unfortunately also decreases, making them difficult to fasten onto the motor vehicle. In order to fasten lining components onto the motor vehicle, fastening openings that pass through the lining components in a thickness direction are often penetrated by fastening means such as screws, clips, rivets, and the like, and a holding configuration of the fastening means engages behind the openings. That portion of the fastening means which passes through the opening is generally a smaller-diameter shank, and the holding configuration is a head of the fastening means which protrudes radially beyond the shank.
As a rule the holding configuration protrudes a few millimeters beyond an opening rim of the fastening opening, so that with decreasing tear-out strength and in the context of the usual relative movement of different vehicle components which occurs during vehicle operation, the holding configuration can gradually work through the fastening opening and widen it.
At present, a decreasing tear-out strength of the lining components around the above-described fastening openings is counteracted by a local reinforcement of the material of the lining component around the fastening opening, for example by applying stable washers made of metal. This implies, however, a considerable additional outlay in terms of installation and production.

Planar motor vehicle lining component having an integrated doubling reinforcing portion


An improved system for making packages includes one or more packaging machines, a storage device for storing film rolls and a transporting device for transporting these film rolls to the packaging machines for loading. The packaging machines are of a type having a cantilevered film-supporting shaft for holding a film roll and sealers for longitudinally sealing overlapped side edges of a film pulled out of a film roll supported by the film-supporting shaft and horizontally sealing tubularly formed film to make bags. The film-supporting shaft extends in the forward-backward direction of the machine such that, when a plurality of these machines are arranged in a mutually side-by-side relationship, their film-supporting shafts are also in a side-by-side relationship and can be easily approached from one direction. The storage device may store the film rolls horizontally or vertically. The transporting device may be a forklift. Conveyors or cranes hung from the ceiling may be used for both for transporting and storing the film rolls. The system may be automated such that a specified film roll at a specified location in the storage device can be automatically transported to and installed in any of the packaging machines.

This invention relates to combined systems including a so-called form-fill-seal type packaging machine, means for storing large rolls of flexible bag-making film material therefor and means for carrying such film rolls and setting them on the packaging machine. The invention also relates to methods of using such systems.
A prior art packaging machine requiring a film roll of a type considered herein will be described first with reference to FIG. 15 which shows a so-called vertical pillow type form-fill-seal packaging machine 1' having a frame 2 supported by a base 7 so as to be vertically movable. A film roll 4 is supported by a cantilevered film-supporting shaft 3 extending perpendicularly to the forward-backward direction of the machine 1. An elongated flexible bag-making material (herein referred to as the film 13) is pulled out of the supported film roll 4 and passed through guide rollers 8 and 9 as well as a dancer roller 10 to be delivered to a former 6 of which the function is to roll the delivered film 13 into a cylindrical form. As the film 13 is formed into the cylindrical shape, its mutually overlapping side edge portions are longitudinally sealed together by means of a vertical sealer 11 such that the film 13 now assumes a tubular form. The tubularly formed film 13 is next sealed transversely at top and bottom positions by means of a horizontal sealer 12 so as to form a bag.
Film rolls are usually set on prior art packaging machines of this type manually If film rolls are made too large, therefore, more than one operator will be required to transport and load them. In part for this reason, it has been customary to make film rolls no heavier than, say, about 30 kg. Recent requirement for high efficiency of performance, however, is making it necessary to use heavier and larger film rolls with packaging machines because smaller film rolls are used up more quickly and, hence, must be exchanged more frequently.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to eliminate such disadvantages of prior art systems and methods of making packages by providing a high efficiency system with which packaging operations can be performed with ease without the necessity of frequently exchanging film rolls.


A 3D stacked sASIC is provided that includes a plurality of 2D reconfigurable structured structured ASIC (sASIC) levels interconnected through hard-wired arrays of 3D vias. The 2D sASIC levels may contain logic, memory, analog functions, and device input/output pad circuitry. During fabrication, these 2D sASIC levels are stacked on top of each other and fused together with 3D metal vias. Such 3D vias may be fabricated as through-silicon vias (TSVs). They may connect to the back-side of the 2D sASIC level, or they may be connected to top metal pads on the front-side of the 2D sASIC level.

Due to continuing improvements in fabrication processes and design tools, and to demands for ever greater functionality in packages of limited volume, it has become commonplace to design and market application-specific integrated circuits (hereafter, "ASICs") of great complexity, including tens of millions of gates, or even more. In view of such demands, it has become attractive to consider three-dimensional (hereafter, "3D") fabrication techniques, because such techniques have a known potential to improve performance and reduce power consumption, as well as to reduce package size.
Indeed, it is possible with 3D technology to partition functions on different levels, enabling a smaller area die with much higher yield to be fabricated separately and stacked at wafer level. 3D technology also enables heterogeneous integration of different device technologies (e.g., digital, analog, RF, MEMS, and photonics), and may allow the use of less costly fabrication processes due to increased logic densities in the overall stack. However, one possible drawback is that, depending on the 2D technology chosen for individual layers and the 3D assembly processes employed, 3D integration could increase the total device fabrication duration and costs.
The costs of fabricating highly complex ASICs and other integrated circuits have in fact driven a further trend toward designing IC platforms that include both standardized building blocks and programmable logic and interconnects. A field-programmable gate array (FPGA), for example, reduces non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs because at least some of its application-specific functionality is programmed by the user.
Another approach is the structured ASIC (hereafter, "sASIC"). The sASIC concept resembles the FPGA concept in that it employs a regular fabric-like circuit architecture in pre-qualified base array platforms to accelerate turn-around times and reduce NRE costs and development risk.
The fabrication sequence for a sASIC uses a one-time metal-via mask to configure user function into the base array. As with an FPGA, the sASIC base array can be pre-fabricated before customization and re-used across multiple design implementations, and it can be produced in significantly shorter time and at a much lower cost than a custom ASIC. The sASIC provides some advantage over FPGAs because it is generally more competitive to custom ASICs in speed, power, and circuit densities.
As the above-described trends converge, there is a growing need for new approaches to 3D integration that offer the cost reductions and other advantages of standardized base arrays combined with programmable building blocks.

Three-dimensional stacked structured ASIC devices and methods of fabrication thereof


A printer includes an articulating user interface panel. The articulating user interface panel moves between a closed position and an open position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of printers and the user interface panel of printers.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems. One example of an information handing system is a printer.
Known printers often provide a user interface panel via which a user can access and control the functions of the printer. There are a plurality of issues relating to the printer user interface panel. For example, known user interface panels often have an intimidating cluttered interface that is not always needed to use the printer (most printers also include software for controlling the printer via an information handling system coupled to the printer). Empirical user in-home studies have indicated that users often feel that their printers look cluttered and intimidating with all of the buttons and display present. Also, users with children indicated that the children often try to play with the interface. To avoid this, the users would locate the printer out of reach of the children.
Additionally, known user interface panels often protrude from the printer body, thus increasing the shipping cost of the printer.


The invention provides a welding arrangement designed to respond to the need of an improved welding system that aids in supplying filler material to a weld location. Provided is a welding system including a welding gun and a welding wire feed directly coupled to the welding gun. The welding gun includes a filler material housing, a filler material positioning extension, and a manual advancement device configured to advance a filler material through the welding wire feed. Further provided is a method of operating a welding gun. The method includes passing a current between an electrode and a work piece at a weld location, and advancing a filler material toward the weld location via a channel of a positioning extension in response to engagement of a manual advancement device.

The invention relates generally to the field of welding systems, and particularly to welding systems that supply a filler material to weld locations during welding.
Welding systems generally include an electrode configured to pass an arc between a torch and a work piece, thereby heating the work piece to create a weld. In many systems, such as metal inert gas (MIG) welding and stick welding systems, the electrode is a consumable wire that melts into the weld to provide a filler material into the weld. In other words, a single wire serves both as an electrode and as the filler material. In contrast, tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding systems employ a non-consumable tungsten electrode that is independent from the filler material. In other words, the TIG welding process does not melt the tungsten electrode into the weld forming on the work piece. Instead, a user generally holds the TIG torch with the tungsten electrode in a right hand, while the user simultaneously and independently holds the filler material in a left hand. Unfortunately, this two-handed technique for TIG welding does not leave any hands free for controlling the welding current, wire feed rate, and so forth. Thus, a user may need to stop the welding process (e.g., set down the TIG torch or the tungsten electrode) in order to adjust various controls. As a result, the welding process may create a less than desirable weld due to the delays in adjustments, breaks in the weld continuity, and so forth.


An embodiment of the invention is a method of tracking calls from technicians equipped with technician assistance devices. The method includes a call center personnel accessing a call center terminal and the call center personnel receiving a call from a technician. The call center personnel enters call data through a user interface including a plurality of fields, one of the fields being a designation of whether the call from the technician was necessary or unnecessary. The call data is stored. Upon receiving a request from a user, a report is generated identifying the call from the technician as necessary or unnecessary. A system and computer program for implementing the method are disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to call tracking and in particular to tracking calls placed by technicians to call centers.
Field technicians are employed in a variety of industries to service equipment, customers, etc. For example, providers of telecommunications services employ field technicians for testing, troubleshooting, installing and maintaining telecommunications connections between a source, such as a central office, and a destination, such as a residential home or commercial building. Often, technicians contact a call center to request assistance, such as sending a test signal along a path.
Tools exist for aiding technicians in the field. For example, Telcordia provides a Tech Access System that provides technicians wireline or wireless access to a home base. This provides immediate access to operations systems for network testing, work assignment, maintenance and customer information. Such technician assistance devices should reduce the number of calls made to call centers allowing for call center staffing to be reduced. In practice, however, technicians continue to contact the call center despite having a technician assistance device. Such calls burden the call centers, which may have reduced staffing due to implementation of the technician assistance devices.

Method, system and storage medium for tracking technician calls to a call center

BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation


A ferroelectric liquid crystal cell with a monochevron structure includes a pair of opposed substrates each having an alignment layer. The alignment layer includes a conventional polymer and a ferroelectric copolymer. A ferroelectric liquid crystal material is disposed between the pair of opposed substrates and interacts with the alignment layers which force the ferroelectric liquid crystal into a monochevron structure because of the interaction between the ferroelectric liquid crystal material polarization and polarization of the alignment layers.

The rapid advance of information technology has created the need for high performance information displays having high spatial resolution, wide viewing angles, rapid response, low weight, low volume, low cost and low power usage. Conventional cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays satisfy the performance requirements but do not generally meet desired weight, volume, and power usage targets. Flat panel displays using liquid crystal (LC) technology represent an alternative to conventional CRT displays. However, due to the limitations of current LC technology, existing flat panel displays do not provide at this time the performance level characteristic of CRT displays.
Current flat panel display technology mainly utilizes nematic liquid crystal materials driven through an active or passive matrix. These displays offer restricted viewing angles, smearing of fast-moving images, restricted overall dimensions, and always consume external electric power to maintain the image. As an alternative, displays using ferroelectric liquid crystal materials overcome many of the limitations of the nematic liquid crystal displays. Surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal displays offer hemispherical viewing angles and a rapid, bistable response. These characteristics potentially make ferroelectric liquid crystal displays superior to nematic liquid crystal displays.
The advantages of ferroelectric liquid crystal displays derive in part from the properties of the ferroelectric liquid crystal material. In its smectic C* state, a ferroelectric liquid crystal material exists in a layered molecular orientation with a molecular director vector n tilted from the layer normal by temperature-dependent angle .theta.. Dipolar contributions of individual molecules within a layer result in a spontaneous polarization vector P.sub.s linearly coupled with the tilt angle .theta.. From layer to layer, the molecular director continuously rotates at a constant tilt angle .theta. around the layer normal due to the chirality of the smectic C* phase. One complete rotation of the director occurs through a distance known as the pitch.
If the ferroelectric liquid crystal material is contained within a cell of thickness comparable or less than the pitch of the material, the material assumes a molecular orientation wherein the molecules are parallel to the cell walls but exist in two distinct domains. In each of these two domains, the molecular director has a distinct orientation. The material contained in this way is referred to in the art as a surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal. The relative surface area covered by the domains vary in response to an externally applied electric field due to the linear interactions between the field and the spontaneous polarization of the material. When viewed through crossed polarizers the domains reveal electrooptical switching in response to changes in the electrical field. Advantageous features of this switching are bistability due to the two possible orientations of the molecular director, fast switching time due to strong linear coupling between the electric field and the spontaneous polarization, and a hemispherical viewing angle because in both possible director orientations the molecules form uniaxial birefringent plates that can be easily compensated.
A drawback of ferroelectric liquid crystal displays is their tendency to exhibit so-called "zig-zag" defects. In fabricating the displays, the zig-zag defects generally appear during cooling of the liquid crystal materials to reach the ferroelectric smectic C* phase or as a result of mechanical deformation of the liquid crystal display. An understanding of the source and nature of these defects is gained by considering the makeup of a typical liquid crystal light modulating cell. As is well-known in the art, a typical cell consists of two opposed glass or plastic substrates each having an electrode on its inner surface. A polymer alignment layer is disposed on each of the electrodes. When rubbed in a certain manner the polymer layer induces alignment of the molecular director in the liquid crystal material contained within the cell. Along with the alignment inducement, the polymer layer also induces an angular displacement of the liquid crystal molecules with respect to the polymer layer. The induced angle, or pre-tilt, is characteristic of a given polymer and is typically 2-3 degrees for conventional alignment polymers. When both alignment layers are rubbed in the same direction, the interaction of the polymer alignment layer with the ferroelectric liquid crystal in its smectic C* phase typically results in a chevron-like smectic layers orientation. Usually, two chevron patterns, each oriented in an opposite direction, are generated between the substrates. The boundary between macroscopic areas having different chevron patterns appears as a zig-zag defect using polarized transmitted light microscopy. If the layers are rubbed in opposite directions the resulting molecular orientation shows an increased number of zig-zag defects. These zig-zag defects are undesirable as they reduce the image contrast in ferroelectric liquid crystal cells, thus limiting the use of ferroelectric cells in various applications. It is therefore desirable to provide a ferroelectric liquid crystal cell wherein the liquid crystal in the smectic C* phase exists only in one chevron orientation.
Various approaches exist to overcome the zig-zag defects include treatment in a high frequency electric field, shearing of the cell substrates and gradient cooling. These approaches are not, however, compatible with existing liquid crystal display fabrication technology. Hanyu, U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,536, teaches a method to prevent zig-zag defects that is compatible with existing fabrication technology. This method relies on increased pre-tilt angles up to 10-15 degrees between the ferroelectric liquid crystal material and the alignment layer. Unfortunately, this method results in displays having increased switching times required for bistable response.
Therefore, a need exists for a method to prevent the appearance of zig-zag defects in ferroelectric liquid crystal displays. Moreover, there is a need for such a method that is compatible with existing display fabrication technology without compromising the performance of the displays.

Ferroelectric liquid crystal cell with a monochevron structure of smectic layers


A computer-implemented method that includes receiving a search query and, after receiving the search query, identifying a first subset of documents that include the search query by searching, based on the search query, an inverted index of a corpus of documents that includes the first subset of documents. The computer-implemented method additionally includes processing the first subset of documents to identify entities related to the search query and relations between the entities and the search query. The computer-implemented method additionally includes generating a knowledge graph based on the entities and the relations.

The present disclosure relates to knowledge graph generation. Techniques for generating knowledge graphs involve a large amount of up-front processing. For example, techniques for generating knowledge graphs run a full natural language processing stack over every passage in a corpus to extract knowledge for the knowledge graph, making the techniques slow and inefficient.

Generating a knowledge graph using a search index

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for determining the level of a bed of polymer particles in a vessel comprising providing water wet polymer particles and employing a guided wave radar probe unit carrying a pair of radar active probes spaced from the guided wave radar probe unit by a radar inactive member, and positioning the radar inactive member so that polymer particles that are introduced into the vessel first encounter the radar inactive member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for detecting in a vessel the surface level of a bed of polymer particles, such as polyethylene pellets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although this invention is described hereinafter, for sake of clarity and brevity, in respect of polyethylene particles, it is applicable to polymer particles that have similar dielectric constant values.
Heretofore, polyethylene has been formed by polymerizing ethylene while dissolved in a solvent such as hexane. The resulting single liquid phase solvent solution (solution or single phase solution) also contains a polymerization catalyst. The polymerization reaction is carried out in the single liquid phase containing at least ethylene and catalyst dissolved in a solvent. Optionally, one or more co-monomers can be present. For sake of clarity and brevity this invention will be described in respect of polymerizing ethylene alone to form linear high density polyethylene (HDPE). However, one or more co-monomers can be employed in the practice of this invention.
The polymerization of the ethylene monomer is carried out using a series of stirred reactors followed by a tubular (plug flow) reactor. The plug flow reactor is employed upstream of an adsorber to accomplish product uniformity with a uniform residence time distribution for the reactants in that reactor. This gives all portions of that process fluid essentially uniform residence time in the reactor.
Downstream of the last (plug flow) reactor a catalyst deactivator is injected into the solution, and the resulting mixture introduced into an adsorption pressure vessel which adsorbs various compounds and decomposition components from the single phase solution. The polymerization reaction is carried out at an elevated temperature of from about 150 to about 280 degrees Centigrade (C) at a pressure of from about 2,000 to about 4,000 psig. The adsorption step of this process is also carried out in this high pressure range.
The adsorbent material used in this pressure vessel is typically a particulate material. These particles adsorb from the single phase liquid solution catalyst, various catalyst moieties, and by-products (residue) from the decomposition of the catalyst deactivator. The adsorbent is typically activated alumina particles such as alumina spheres about 1.7 millimeters in diameter.
The HDPE process must be carried out in a single phase solution. If two phases (a polymer rich phase and a separate solution rich phase) is allowed to form in the reaction zone or in the adsorption zone, a phenomenon known in the art as "frosting" or "two-phasing" occurs wherein solid polymer forms and separates out from the single phase solution. Although two-phasing is desired downstream of the reactors and adsorbers, it is not desirable in the interior of the reactors and adsorbers because solid polymer that comes out of solution and deposits in the equipment in those zones.
Process conditions such as temperature, pressure, and mass composition of the single phase solution stream can determine whether the stream will stay in the single phase or move toward two-phasing. For example, an elevated ethane content can induce two-phasing. If two-phasing is allowed to continue unchecked, the reactors, adsorbers, and/or associated equipment in which the two-phasing occurs will eventually plug up with solid polyethylene deposits thereby requiring shutdown of the plant, and cleanup of at least the affected equipment, a costly event in terms of lost production and clean-up expenses.
Downstream of the adsorption step two-phasing is deliberately induced in a separation unit. This is accomplished by way of a series of de-pressurization steps to form the desired, at this point in the process, formation of distinct polymer rich and solution rich phases. In this separation step, the polymer rich phase is physically separated from the solvent rich phase.
The separated solvent rich phase is processed to remove impurities and to separate solvent from un-reacted ethylene so that the recovered, separate solvent and un-reacted ethylene streams can be recycled to and reused in the afore described ethylene polymerization process.
The separated molten polymer rich phase is processed in an extruding/melt cutting unit to convert the molten polyethylene to a solid extrudate that is cut to form the desired solid polyethylene pellet product of the process. The solid polyethylene pellets resulting from this process are right cylindrical in shape and are about ⅛ inch in diameter and length. These pellets (particles) are surface wet with water and/or solvent.
The polyethylene pellets are then processed in a de-lumping unit to remove some water and any oversized lumps of pellets. The polyethylene pellets recovered from this unit are passed to a feed tank which holds pellet feed for a stripper unit downstream thereof.
The downstream stripper unit, known in the art as the "pellet stripper," holds in a large vessel a bed of polyethylene pellets that are surface wet with water and solvent. The pellet stripper operates to remove from that bed, by way of a counter current low pressure steam treatment, residual solvent from the polyethylene pellets residing in that vessel. A slurry of water and polymer pellets is introduced into an upper portion of the vessel. This slurry first encounters near the top of the vessel a conical strainer (screen). Water passes through the strainer and is removed from the vessel. The liquid wet polymer particles roll down the upper, downwardly inclined surface of the strainer and into the interior of the vessel to form a bed of pellets in the interior of the vessel.
After solvent stripping in the pellet stripper, the water wet polyethylene pellets are removed from the pellet stripper vessel and subjected to de-watering, drying, blending, storing, and shipping operations.
It is desirable to be able to reliably, accurately, and continuously determine the upper level of the bed of polyethylene pellets residing in the aforesaid pellet stripper vessel. This is important to the reliability of the polymer production process as a whole.
Heretofore, the level of the bed of polyethylene pellets in the pellet stripper vessel below the conical strainer was determined by what is known in the art as a Bindicator which employs a weight on a cable. The weight is lowered into the upper portion of the pellet stripper vessel until a change in tension is detected in the cable presumably by contact of the weight with the upper level of the bed of polymer particles, and that is taken as the upper bed level measurement point.
Bindicator devices were set to operate periodically and software was employed in an attempt to make the measurements represent a continuous signal since the bed level is a controlled variable in the overall process.
The Bindicator approach proved to be less than desirable from a reliability point of view. Numerous problems were experienced such as cable kinks, motor failures, lost weights resulting in downstream equipment damage, and the like.
The detection of the upper level of the polymer bed in the pellet stripper vessel by way of lasers or ultrasound equipment was determined not to be feasible because the steam environment in the vessel and the loose pellets rolling off the strainer interfered with measurements using those classes of technology.
The detection of the upper level of the polymer bed in the pellet stripper vessel by way of guided wave radar was initially thought not to be useful not only due to the falling pellets, but, more importantly, the low dielectric constant of polymers, particularly polyethylene, even more particularly high density polyethylene.
To determine the upper level of the bed of polymer particles, a guided radar pulse must reflect off of that upper level with a strong enough reflection pulse to be detected by the radar receiver. Generally, the higher the dielectric constant value of the reflection surface, the stronger the reflection pulse back to the receiver. Guided wave radar transmitting/receiving units in general have a dielectric value limit of 2.0 to 2.5 as a lower operating range whereas, for example, the dielectric value range of high density polyethylene is from about 1.6 to about 1.8.
It was thought that the combination of falling polymer particles and low dielectric constant values also made guided wave radar technology inapplicable.
However, pursuant to this invention, a combination of factors has been discovered that can make guided wave radar technology useful in the detection of the surface level of a bed of polymer particles.

Method for locating the surface of a polymer particle bed


There is provided an information processing method including inputting a feature quantity vector and an objective variable corresponding to the feature quantity vector, generating a basis function for outputting a scalar quantity by mapping the feature quantity vector, mapping the feature quantity vector using the basis function and calculating the scalar quantity corresponding to the feature quantity vector, evaluating whether or not the basis function used to calculate the scalar quantity is useful for estimating the objective variable using the objective variable along with the scalar quantity and the feature quantity vector corresponding to the scalar quantity, generating an estimation function for estimating the objective variable from the scalar quantity by machine learning on the basis of the scalar quantity and the objective variable corresponding to the scalar quantity using the basis function evaluated to be useful, and outputting the estimation function.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.
In the related art, algorithms such as linear regression/discrimination, SVM/SVR, and RVM are known as learning algorithms for performing regression or discrimination. SVM stands for "support vector machine," SVR for "support vector regression," and RVM for "relevance vector machine." Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-122186 discloses a method of automatically generating a feature quantity detection algorithm for detecting a feature quantity from content data using a learning algorithm such as linear regression, non-linear regression, or SVM.

Implementing a learning algorithm and estimation function utilizing a randomly selected prototype function with randomly set parameters


The invention encompasses methods of forming insulating materials between conductive elements. In one aspect, the invention includes a method of forming a material adjacent a conductive electrical component comprising: a) partially vaporizing a mass to form a matrix adjacent the conductive electrical component, the matrix having at least one void within it. In another aspect, the invention includes a method of forming a material between a pair of conductive electrical components comprising the following steps: a) forming a pair of conductive electrical components within a mass and separated by an expanse of the mass; b) forming at least one support member within the expanse of the mass, the support member not comprising a conductive interconnect; and c) vaporizing the expanse of the mass to a degree effective to form at least one void between the support member and each of the pair of conductive electrical components. In another aspect, the invention includes an insulating material adjacent a conductive electrical component, the insulating material comprising a matrix and at least one void within the matrix. In another aspect, the invention includes an insulating region between a pair of conductive electrical components comprising: a) a support member between the conductive electrical components, the support member not comprising a conductive interconnect; and b) at least one void between the support member and each of the pair of conductive electrical components.

The invention pertains to methods of forming material adjacent electrical components and to methods of forming material between conductive electrical components. The invention further pertains to insulating materials formed adjacent or between conductive electrical components.
A prior art semiconductor wafer fragment 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1. Wafer fragment 10 comprises a substrate 12 and conductive electrical components 14, 16 and 18 overlying substrate 12. Conductive electrical components 14, 16 and 18 may comprise, for example, conductive lines. Such conductive lines may be formed from metal, or conductively-doped polysilicon. Between conductive components 14, 16 and 18 is formed an insulative material 20. Material 20 electrically isolates conductive elements 14, 16 and 18 from one another. Insulative material 20 may comprise materials known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, including, for example, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, and undoped silicon. Although each of these materials has good insulative properties, the materials disadvantageously have high dielectric constants which can lead to capacitive coupling between proximate conductive elements, such as elements 14, 16 and 18. For instance, silicon nitride has a dielectric constant of about 8 and undoped silicon has a dielectric constant of about 11.8.
A prior art method for insulating conductive elements 14, 16 and 18 from one another, while reducing a dielectric constant of a material between conductive elements 14, 16 and 18 is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. In referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, similar numbers to those utilized in FIG. 1 will be used, with differences indicated by the suffix xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d or by different numerals.
Referring to FIG. 2, a semiconductor wafer fragment 10a is illustrated. Fragment 10a comprises a substrate 12a, and overlying conductive lines 14a, 16a and 18a. Between lines 14a, 16a and 18a is a carbon layer 22. Conductive lines 14a, 16a and 18a are inlaid within carbon layer 22 by a damascene method. A thin, gas-permeable, silicon dioxide layer 24 is formed over conductive lines 14a, 16a and 18a, and over carbon layer 22.
Referring to FIG. 3, carbon layer 22 is vaporized to form voids 26 between conductive elements 14a, 16a and 18a. Voids 26 contain a gas. Gasses advantageously have dielectric constants of about 1.
It would be desirable to develop alternative methods for insulating conductive elements from one another with low-dielectric-constant materials.
The invention encompasses methods of forming insulating materials between conductive elements. The invention pertains particularly to methods utilizing low-dielectric-constant materials for insulating conductive elements, and to structures encompassing low-dielectric-constant materials adjacent or between conductive elements.
In one aspect, the invention encompasses a method of forming a material adjacent a conductive electrical component. The method includes providing a mass adjacent the conductive electrical component and partially vaporizing the mass to form a matrix adjacent the conductive electrical component. The matrix can have at least one void within it.
In another aspect, the invention encompasses a method of forming a material adjacent a conductive electrical component which includes providing a mass comprising polyimide or photoresist adjacent the conductive electrical component. The method further includes at least partially vaporizing the mass.
In another aspect, the invention encompasses a method of forming a material between a pair of conductive electrical components. The method includes forming at least one support member between the pair of conductive electrical components. The method further includes providing a mass between the at least one support member and each of the pair of conductive electrical components. Additionally, the method includes vaporizing the mass to a degree effective to form at least one void between the support member and each of the pair of conductive electrical components.
In yet another aspect, the invention encompasses an insulating material adjacent a conductive electrical component. The insulating material comprises a matrix and at least one void within the matrix.
In yet another aspect, the invention encompasses an insulating region between a pair of conductive electrical components. The insulating region comprises a support member between the conductive electrical components, the support member not comprising a conductive interconnect. The insulating region further comprises at least one void between the support member and each of the pair of conductive electrical components.

Constructions comprising insulative materials


A signal line, which branches into four more from a connecting line on the input side via a branch point and has the branch signal lines including λ/4 transmission lines at their parts, and FETs respectively connected in shunt with the branch signal lines between connecting points on the output terminal sides as viewed from the λ/4 transmission lines provided in the branch signal lines and ground ends are provided on a semiconductor substrate. Connecting points of the FETs at the two branch signal lines are disposed with being spaced such a distance that isolation corresponding to the frequency of an RF signal reaches more than equal to 25 dB and less than or equal to 35 dB at the ends of these branch signal lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high frequency switch, and particularly to a high frequency switch used for switching of an RF signal used for a radar and a communication device operated in a millimeter wave band.
2. Description of the Related Art
The application of a microwave device has been increasingly advanced with the progression of computerization. A microwave device of a cellular phone using a relatively low frequency, a microwave device used in information communication by a high frequency much higher than the low frequency of the cellular phone, a microwave device used in communication apparatuses such as a radar for automobile use, an observation satellite, etc. each of which uses a high frequency much higher than the above frequency in information communication, etc. have been applied in many fields.
Of these, the radar using the millimeter wave-band microwave device is used to recognize a forward vehicle or automobile and constitutes part of a system for performing automobile's collision avoidance.
A system for scanning nine directions has been used in a millimeter wave-band radar for detecting a forward automobile to carry out automobile's collision avoidance. This is used assuming that an automobile runs along three lanes. This system needs to perform the scanning of nine directions with a view toward scanning three directions for each lane. Therefore, there is a need to provide a nine-channel switch which switches an RF signal over to the nine directions.
As a high-speed switch, a small-sized and high-speed high frequency switch using a microwave IC (MIC) has been realized in recent years. Further, it is configured as an MMIC (Monolithic Microwave IC) in which connecting lines and switching elements are integrally formed on a semiconductor substrate, thereby enabling further speeding-up and miniaturization of the switch.
When the nine-channel high frequency switch is configured, the most basic configuration is proposed wherein nine SPST (Single Pole Single Throw) switches formed on a GaAs substrate are used. That is, a signal line that branches into nine branch lines from one input terminal via a branch point is formed on a dielectric substrate, and SPST switches are respectively provided in the individual branch lines of the signal line to thereby configure a nine-channel switch.
Alternatively, a nine-channel switch is configured wherein four SP3T (Single Pole 3 Throw) switches formed on a GaAs substrate are provided on a dielectric substrate, an input end of the first SP3T switch is connected to input signal lines on the dielectric substrate, and input terminals of the three other SP3T switches are respectively connected to three output terminals of the first SP3T switch to thereby set nine output ends.
As a known example of a conventional high frequency switch, there has been disclosed a configuration wherein by adopting a switch circuit using a distributed constant FET for SPDT, a less passage loss can be obtained in the case of switch ON and high isolation can be expected in the case of switch OFF (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-33602, paragraph numbers [0013] and [0014] and FIG. 1).
Further, as a known example of another high frequency switch, there has been disclosed a high frequency switch which includes a plurality of tristate switches which are connected in tournament form by strip lines and wherein the lengths of strip lines from branch points of adjacent lines connected to the individual switches to their corresponding switches are so adjusted that real parts of impedance obtained by viewing the turned-off switches from the branch points of the adjacent lines connected to the individual switches become maximum and imaginary parts thereof reach 0, and the lengths thereof from branch points of roots of the adjacent lines connected to the respective branch points to their corresponding branch points are adjusted to integral multiples of a ½ wavelength (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-261218, paragraph number [0006] and FIG. 1).
Furthermore, as a known example of a further high frequency switch, there has been disclosed one wherein when four or more receiving antennas are switched in a holographic radar, single pole 2 throw (SPDT) or single pole 3 throw (SP3T) unit switches, e.g., planar circuit type high frequency switches like an MMIC and an HIC are utilized and combined in the form of a tournament to thereby realize multi-switching (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No.2000-155171, paragraph number [0005] and FIG. 5).
Still further, as a known example of yet another high frequency switch, there has been disclosed an example wherein one transmission line is provided in the direction of the input of a signal and the remaining two transmission lines are provided in the directions of 90°, 180° and 270° with respect to the input direction of the signal to make equal distances to respective output terminals, thereby forming 3-distributed switches low in loss and equal in loss (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-294568, paragraph number [0031] and FIG. 5).
However, the nine channel switches respectively having such a configuration that the nine SPST switches are used and such a configuration that the four SP3T switches are used, are hard to achieve a size reduction because the dielectric substrates become large. Further, since the characteristics of the respective SPST and SP3T switches to be used are hard to match and the number of parts increases, the electrical characteristics of individual channels are apt to vary due to variations in bonding wire at their packaging. It was also difficult to constitute the high frequency switch having the nine channels uniform in electrical characteristic. It is thus considered that in order to constitute the nine-channel switch uniform in electrical characteristic, the MMIC configured by the one-chip GaAs substrate constitutes switches that branch into nine.
Isolation is considered as one of major parameters indicative of switch performance of a high speed switch. Since, however, the branch lines can be laid out at intervals of 90° with respect to the input signal line in the SP3T switch, it was easy to ensure the isolation between the respective branch lines. However, when the nine-branched switches are constituted by the MMIC simply configured of the one-chip GaAs substrate to configure the high frequency switch having the nine channels uniform in electrical characteristic, the branch angle formed between the respective branch lines becomes an acute angle. Therefore, a problem arose in that isolation between respective terminals for the nine channels was hard to obtain.