A method is provided for activating at least one vehicle component of a vehicle in a braking situation of the vehicle. The method includes, but is not limited to raking of the vehicle to a halt and monitoring of at least one second vehicle component take place, and the second vehicle component can be actuated by a vehicle occupant. In addition, actuation of the at least one first vehicle component after a predetermined time takes place in the event that the second vehicle component is not actuated by the vehicle occupant within the predetermined time.

From DE 10 2007 052 540 A1, a method for the location dependent warning of vehicles of danger situations is known, and the respective vehicles involved in the method comprise means for exchanging information, means for outputting warning signals and means for determining own location coordinates. Here, the means for outputting warning signals are activated with a first vehicle and via the means for exchanging information and as first information the position of the first vehicle and as second information the activated warning signal are transmitted to the surrounding vehicles. In at least one further vehicle the information is received via the means for exchanging information and the first information compared with further information about the position of the further vehicle and evaluated and in the event of a danger situation to the further vehicle, corresponding measures for minimizing the danger situation in the further vehicle initiated.
In view of the foregoing, at least object of the invention is to state a method and a device for activating at least one first vehicle component of a vehicle in a braking situation of the vehicle. Furthermore, other objects, desirable features, and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.

Method and device for activating at least one vehicle component of a vehicle


An improved exhaust pressure pulsation control apparatus for a marine propulsion system has a front ring, a reflector disk located downstream of the front ring, and a plurality of connecting members connecting the front ring to the reflector disk. Each connecting member has a concave outer edge to facilitate mounting the apparatus within an exhaust tube. A clamp outside of the exhaust tube clamps the exhaust tube against the concave outer edges of the connecting members to secure the apparatus longitudinally within the exhaust tube. The apparatus is preferably made of a fiberglass reinforced thermoplastic material, such as 33% fiberglass reinforced polythalamide or nylon 4,6, through an injection molding process.

In a typical inboard/outboard or inboard marine propulsion system, hot exhaust gases from engine cylinders discharge into a water jacketed exhaust manifold which directs the hot exhaust gases into a water jacketed exhaust elbow. The exhaust elbow normally has a generally vertical intake exhaust passage, and then bends around to a slightly downward sloping discharge exhaust passage. The hot exhaust gases flow into the exhaust elbow through the intake passage and exit the elbow through the exhaust discharge passage. Cooling water from the engine inputs the exhaust elbow water jacket from the same side as the exhaust intake and generally flows through the water jacket to the exhaust discharge where the coolant water is mixed with the hot exhaust gases. By mixing the coolant water with the exhaust gases, the exhaust gases are cooled. The mixture of exhaust gases and coolant water is then typically discharged through an exhaust bellows or exhaust tube and then through the transom, or the propeller torpedo, or the like.
It is sometimes desirable to discharge the mixture of cooled exhaust gases and spent coolant water through the transom of the boat above the surface of the water. Discharging below the water surface tends to create an exhaust back pressure which, under certain high performance conditions, can reduce the power output of the propulsion system. In high performance applications, it is also desirable to reduce the creation of exhaust back pressures during acceleration.
In systems where the exhaust tube passes through the transom of the boat to discharge the cooled exhaust gases and spent coolant water above the surface of the water (i.e. through-transom exhaust systems), water ingestion through the exhaust system back into the engine can be a significant problem. In through-transom exhaust systems, exhaust pressure pulsations due to reciprocating piston movement and valve overlap tend to suck water within the exhaust tube back into the engine. Water or moisture actually travels backwards into the interior of the exhaust passage within the elbow in a pulsating manner and eventually back into the engine. The pulsating water ingestion becomes more pronounced as engine size increases, especially in propulsion systems having little or no exhaust back pressure. This is typically true of high performance marine propulsion systems having through-transom exhaust systems.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/512,026, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,914, issued on Jul. 8, 1997, entitled "Exhaust Pressure Pulsation Control Apparatus for Marine Propulsion System" by Gregory B. Deavers, Loren T. Powers, and George E. Brown, assigned to the assignee of the present application and incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus that eliminates exhaust pressure pulsation water ingestion without creating back pressure in the exhaust system. The apparatus disclosed in the above referenced copending patent application is especially useful in through-transom exhaust systems, or in other exhaust systems in which the cooled exhaust gases and spent coolant water are discharged above the surface of the water. The apparatus attenuates pressure pulsations in the exhaust system when placed at the proper location within the exhaust tube downstream of the exhaust elbow.

Exhaust pressure pulsation control apparatus for marine propulsion system


The present invention provides microfluidic devices constructed from four layers. The layers include a rigid substrate layer, a patterned rigid layer having thickness t, a patterned elastomeric layer having thickness greater than t, and a rigid support layer. Microfluidic structures in the devices are defined by the alignment of openings in the patterned rigid layer and the patterned elastomeric layer. The rigid support layer, rigid substrate layer, and patterned rigid layer may be made of any rigid material, including but not limited to plastic or silicon-containing materials, such as glass, quartz, or SiO2-coated materials. Similarly, the patterned elastomeric layer may be made of any elastomeric material, including but not limited to polydimethylsiloxanes, polymethylmethacrylates, perfluoropolyethers, or combinations thereof. Microfluidic devices according to the present invention may include sensors or sensor arrays. The microfluidic devices are fabricated using the provided error-tolerant alignment, biocompatible process.

There are currently two main types of microfluidic structures, those that are rigid and those that are elastomeric. Rigid microfluidic structures are constructed from rigid materials such as silicon, quartz, SiO2, or hard polymers. These structures have stable surface chemistry and hydrophilicity, but suffer from several drawbacks. For example, the time and power required for fabrication are relatively high, and planarization and high heat are required for sealing the structures to a substrate.
Elastomeric microfluidic structures are primarily made from poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and similar elastomers using soft lithography. These structures have superior conformational abilities. However, elastomeric microfluidic structures can buckle or collapse when pressure, vacuum, or topside forces are applied. Elastomeric microfluidic structures will also shear when lateral forces are applied. Thus, ex-situ fabricated elastomeric microfluidic structures cannot be precisely aligned to a substrate using standard alignment tools. In addition, the process of soft lithography has problematic issues pertaining to separating the precision cast elastomeric microfluidic structures from the mold. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to develop microfluidic structures that have the rigidity, superior long-term surface chemistry, hydrophilicity, and alignability of rigid microfluidic structures, with the conformational and low-temperature sealing abilities of elastomeric microfluidic structures.

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


An electromechanical switch including a non-magnetic cup shaped housing, the interior of which is sealed from the atmosphere with a seal assembly. A first electric terminal extends through the seal assembly and is connected to a coil spring. A second terminal includes a stationary electrode. The electrode extends through the seal assembly and through the coil spring. The coil spring supports a movable contact. A permanent magnet is selectively movable via a solenoid in close proximity to the contact member for selectively moving the contact member in and out of contact with electrode. In the closed position, electric current flows between the first and second terminals and through the coil spring. In another embodiment, an electric magnet provides the necessary flux for selectively moving the contact member. In yet another embodiment, two electrodes extend through the seal assembly and the movable contact is selectively placed in and out of contact with both of the electrodes for selectively controlling electric current flow between the terminals. The coil spring is preferably made of beryllium copper and the movable contact and electrodes are made of molybdenum. The interior of the non-magnetic housing can be evacuated placing it in a vacuum or filled with an arc quenching gas.

Electromechanical switches and relays are very commonly used in various applications for automatically selectively switching electrical current on and off. For example, such switches or relays are used in heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, automobiles and trucks, control circuits, etc. Typically, such switches or relays have a life span which, in large part, depends on the wear of the contacts which occurs as a result of electroerosion. That is, electric sparks occur between the switch contacts which are selectively moved and placed in contact with or apart from one another. These sparks evaporate and/or otherwise deteriorate the contact surfaces thereby eventually decreasing the effective contact surface and also increasing the resistance therebetween such as by accumulation of carbon. This ultimately causes the switch or relay to fail or otherwise become unable to carry or transfer a sufficient current between the conductors.
It is known that electroerosion and carbon buildup on contact surfaces is significantly decreased when the contact action occurs in the absence of air or in a vacuum or if the contact action occurs in the presence of certain arc quenching gases. However, in practice, locating the contacts within a reliable vacuum or arc quenching gas filled enclosure and reliably and inexpensively selectively causing movement of the contacts can be quite difficult. One prior solution, as for example shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,846 to Wood et al., has been to utilize a vacuum tight bellows. There, the contacts are located within a vacuum tight housing or enclosure and are manipulated for switching on and off by mechanical movement which occurs through the bellows. Unfortunately, the bellows of such switches tends to fail over time thereby losing the vacuum or the gases within the switch enclosure or housing. Further, such bellows are typically made of relatively bulky materials making such switches relatively large in size and expensive.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved electromechanical switch or relay that incorporates a housing or enclosure wherein the switch contacts are located and are isolated from the atmosphere, and wherein the contacts can be manipulated without jeopardizing the integrity of the enclosure or housing and, further, wherein the contacts can be manipulated reliably and the electromechanical switch operates for a substantial number of operations.


A system, method, and computer program product are provided for copying data between memory locations. In use, a memory copy instruction is implemented. Additionally, data is copied from a first memory location to a second memory location, utilizing the memory copy instruction.

Data is commonly transferred between memory locations in order to be processed by a processor. For example, data may be copied from dynamic random access memory (DRAM) to local or shared memory for processing during a streaming application. However, current techniques for copying data between memory locations have been associated with various limitations.
For example, data may be first copied from external memory to a register file, where it is then transferred to local scratchpad memory within a processor. This may result in a limited number of outstanding data transfers, bottlenecking, wasted power, etc. There is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues associated with the prior art.

System, method, and computer program product for copying data between memory locations


A wireless communication device coupled to a wave antenna that provides greater increased durability and impedance matching. The wave antenna is a conductor that is bent in alternating sections to form peaks and valleys. The wireless communication device is coupled to the wave antenna to provide wireless communication with other communication devices, such as an interrogation reader. The wireless communication device and wave antenna may be placed on objects, goods, or other articles of manufacture that are subject to forces such that the wave antenna may be stretched or compressed during the manufacture and/or use of such object, good or article of manufacture. The wave antenna, because of its bent structure, is capable of stretching and compressing more easily than other structures, reducing the wireless communication device's susceptibility to damage or breaks that might render the wireless communication device coupled to the wave antenna unable to properly communicate information wirelessly.

Wireless communication devices are commonly used today to wirelessly communicate information about goods. For example, transponders may be attached to goods during their manufacture, transport and/or distribution to provide information, such as the good's identification number, expiration date, date of manufacture or "born on" date, lot number, and the like. The transponder allows this information to be obtained unobtrusively using wireless communication without slowing down the manufacturing, transportation, and/or distribution process.
Some goods involve environmental factors that are critical to their manufacture and/or intended operation. An example of such a good is a vehicle tire. It may be desirable to place a wireless communication device in a tire so that information regarding the tire, such as a tire's identification, pressure, temperature, and other environmental information, can be wirelessly communicated to an interrogation reader during the tire's manufacture and/or use.
Tire pressure monitoring may be particularly important since the pressure in a tire governs its proper operation and safety in use. For example, too little pressure in a tire during its use can cause a tire to be damaged by the weight of a vehicle supported by the tire. Too much pressure can cause a tire to rupture. Tire pressure must be tested during the manufacturing process to ensure that the tire meets intended design specifications. The tire pressure should also be within a certain pressure limits during use in order to avoid dangerous conditions. Knowledge of the tire pressure during the operation of a vehicle can be used to inform an operator and/or vehicle system that a tire has a dangerous pressure condition. The vehicle may indicate a pressure condition by generating an alarm or warning signal to the operator of the vehicle.
During the manufacturing process of a tire, the rubber material comprising the vehicle tire is violently stretched during its manufacture before taking final shape. Wireless communication devices placed inside tires during their manufacture must be able to withstand this stretching and compression and still be able to operate properly after the completion of the tire's manufacture. Since wireless communication devices are typically radio-frequency communication devices, an antenna must be coupled to the wireless communication device for communication. This antenna and wireless communication device combination may be placed in the inside of the tire along its inner wall or inside the rubber of tire for example. This results in stretching and compression of the wireless communication device and antenna whenever the tire is stretched and compressed. Often, the antenna is stretched and subsequently damaged or broken thereby either disconnecting the wireless communication device from an antenna or changing the length of the antenna, which changes the operating frequency of the antenna. In either case, the wireless communication device may be unable to communicate properly when the antenna is damaged or broken.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an antenna for a wireless communication device that can withstand a force, such as stretching or compression, and not be susceptible to damage or a break. In this manner, a high level of operability can be achieved with wireless communication devices coupled to antennas for applications where a force is placed on the antenna.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Wave antenna wireless communication device and method


A method and apparatus are described for building diagnostic systems for performance problems in computer and communications systems. The diagnostic system outputs explanations that quantify contributions to performance problems, such as "90% of the increase in response time is due to increased LAN traffic." The preferred embodiment comprises: (1) a representation of the target system as a directed acyclic graph; (2) diagnostic techniques that compute numerical weights for arcs in the directed graph; and (3) a diagnosis engine that uses the directed graph and arc weights to output quantitative performance diagnoses. Nodes in the directed graph are measurement variables in the target system. Arcs in the graph indicate functional dependencies between measurement variables. Arc weights indicate the contribution of a child variable to performance problems manifested in the parent variable. The diagnosis engine searches the directed graph to find paths with the largest explanatory power, as computed from the arc weights.

A critical element of operations and management is managing performance problems, such as addressing long response times in client-server systems and low throughputs for nightly database updates. Such considerations require mechanisms for detecting, diagnosing, and resolving performance problems. Detection uses one or more measurement variables to sense when a problem occurs, such as using on-line change-point detection algorithms to sense changes in client-server response times. Diagnosis isolates problems to specific components so that appropriate actions can be identified, such as attributing large client-server response times to excessive LAN utilizations. Resolution selects and implements actions that eliminate the problem, such as increasing LAN capacity or reducing LAN traffic.
Diagnosis is done for a target system, which may be an individual computer, a network of computers, or a combination of the two. Diagnosis requires extracting measurement data. Some of these data are collected during the time when a performance problem is present. These are referred to as problem data. Additional data may be used as well to obtain reference values for measurement variables. These are called reference data. Reference data may be measurements of the target system when no performance problem is present, values summarized from such measurements (e.g., distribution quantiles), or values obtained from manufacturer specifications (e.g., disk access times).
The present invention addresses quantitative performance diagnosis (QPD). A quantitative performance diagnosis consists of a set of explanations and a quantification of their importance. Ideally, this quantification takes the form of fractional contributions to the performance problem. For example, a QPD might attribute 5% of the performance problem to the explanation that the 30% increase in web server traffic accounts for 90% of the increase in LAN utilization, which in turn accounts for 20% of the increase in client-server response times.
Two benefits accrue from employing quantitative diagnoses rather than qualitative diagnosis. First, the importance of factors affecting performance can be ranked. With ranking, analysts and administrators can quickly focus on the most important problem causes. Secondly, quantitative information is often needed to specify not only the actions, but also the amount of the actions (e.g., by how much must the LAN capacity be increased, or by how much LAN traffic must be reduced) required to resolve the performance problems.
Vendors of diagnostic systems can increase their code reuse (and hence their profits) by employing an architecture that enables their diagnostic system to adapt for the diagnosis of many target systems. Examples of target systems include: operating systems (e.g., Windows 95, AIX, and MVS), database management systems (e.g., DB/2, Sybase, Informix), collaborative middleware (e.g., Lotus Notes and Netscape web browsers), and communications software (e.g., TCP/IP, APPC, SNA). Ideally, the diagnostic system is structured so that only a small, isolated fraction of code need be modified to handle new target systems.
Better still is an architecture that allows end-users of the diagnostic system to represent special characteristics of their environment, such as installation-specific measurement data that can be employed in QPD. Meeting this requirements is more demanding since the diagnostic system must be structured so that representations of the target system are externalized in a way that permits end-user modification without compromising the effectiveness of the vendor's software.
Numerous applications have been developed in the broad area of interpreting data (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,511 of Petrinjak et al.) and more specifically for diagnosing performance problems in computer and communications systems. The most common approach employs hand-crafted if-then rules (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,344 of Lewis). Systems using customized if-then rules produce qualitative diagnoses, such as "large response times are due to excessive LAN utilization." This approach requires diagnostic systems for which knowledge of the target system must be embedded in them.
When the diagnosis engine embeds the choice of diagnostic technique, the design makes the diagnostic system more difficult to adapt to new target systems, and the design limits the extent to which end-users can customize the diagnostic system.
Ease of adaptation and end-user customization is improved by employing an external representation of the target system. Some applications have attempted an external architecture by externalizing the if-then rules employed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,086 of Shiramizu et al provides know-how and declarative rules; U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,802 of Fujinami et al employs cases, rules, and heuristics; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,619 of Schwartz et al. has components for network topology, cases, and a diagnosis tree. Related work in fault diagnosis considers external models of the system, such as failure modes, qualitative models of system behavior, and fault trees. It is to be noted that none of the aforementioned systems employs external representations that are sufficient to provide quantitative performance diagnosis.
Analytic techniques are used for fault detection and diagnosis in technical processes wherein system behavior is expressed in terms of a set of equations. The approach entails: (a) computing the difference between expected and observed values of variables (referred to as residuals) and (b) employing techniques to assess the significance of the residuals. While this analytic approach employs an external representation of the target system, its application to performance diagnosis has a fundamental deficiency, in that the methodology does not quantify contributions to performance degradation. Instead, the prior art analytic approach assesses the probability of a binary event such as the failure of a component.
Some have approached QPD by using custom-tailored analytic models. However, doing so results in the same kind of system dependencies as with hand-crafted rules. Another approach is to externalize quantitative relationships present in the target system. To date, QPD algorithms taking this approach have employed representations of the target system that consist of tree-structured algebraic relationships between measurement variables.
There are several drawbacks to the existing systems that employ tree-structured algebraic relationships. Firstly, the specifics of the art limit its applicability for QPD (e.g., a system developed for application in explaining financial models will be limited to the domain of financial planning). Secondly, tree-structured representations of target systems are quite restrictive. In particular, multi-parent dependencies arise when shared services are present, thereby necessitating a directed acyclic graph (DAG) that cannot be represented as a tree. Shared services are a key element of modern computer and communications systems. Examples include having multiple clients share a server process and having multiple server processes share host resources such as communications buffers. Extending tree-structured representations to ones that employ directed acyclic graphs is not straigthforward for QPD. In particular, care must be taken to avoid double-counting the contributions of measurement variables (since there may be multiple paths from the detection variable to leaves in the graph).
Finally, a third drawback to prior art diagnosis systems relates to quantifying the effects of performance problems on measurement variables. Such quantification is an essential part of QPD. Several diagnostic techniques have been proposed:
(a) finding the variable with the largest value; PA1 (b) finding the variable whose value changed the most; or PA1 (c) finding the variable that has the largest absolute value for its cross correlation with another variable.
Weighted graphs are widely used in computer systems, such as for use in determining routing distances. Further, many have discussed the construction of algorithms employing graphical representations of systems and weighted graphs. In addition, existing algorithms for qualitative performance diagnosis employ graph representation. However, to those skilled in the art, it is not obvious how to transform qualitative performance diagnosis into an algorithm involving the navigation of a weighted graph.
What is needed, therefore, is a diagnosis engine that uses external representations of diagnostic techniques to control the quantification of performance problems on measurement variables.

Method and apparatus for quantitative diagnosis of performance problems using external representations

International Business Machines Corporation


A system for providing third-party certification of content in an electronic commerce transaction includes one or more servers operating on one or more computers. The one or more servers receive a first set of attribute values from a first party, the first set of attribute values being associated with one or more products that are the subject of an electronic commerce transaction between the first party and a second party. The one or more servers verify that the first set of attribute values matches, at least in part, a second set of attribute values maintained by the second party, the second set of attribute values being associated with the one or more products that are the subject of the electronic commerce transaction between the first party and the second party. The one or more servers store the first set of attribute values in one or more databases, generate a key identifying the stored set of attribute values, the key providing a holder of the key read-only access to at least certain portions of the stored set of attribute values, and communicate a copy of the key to the first and second parties. In response to presentation of the key, the one or more servers provide read-only access to at least certain portions of the stored set of attribute values.

Due to the ever-increasing popularity and accessibility of the Internet as a medium of communication, the number of business transactions conducted using the Internet is also increasing, as are the numbers of buyers and sellers participating in electronic marketplaces providing a forum for these transactions. The majority of electronic commerce ("e-commerce") transactions occur when a buyer determines a need for a product, identifies a seller that provides that product, and accesses the seller's web site to arrange a purchase of the product. If the buyer does not have a preferred seller or if the buyer is purchasing the product for the first time, the buyer will often perform a search for a number of sellers that offer the product and then access numerous seller web sites to determine which seller offers certain desired product features at the best price and under the best terms for the buyer. The matching phase of e-commerce transactions (matching the buyer with a particular seller) is often inefficient because of the large amount of searching involved in finding a product and because once a particular product is found, the various offerings of that product by different sellers may not be easily compared. After identifying a suitable seller, a buyer may contact the seller and negotiate a contract for the sale of certain products. Product data specifying the products that are the subject of the contract may be included in the contract. Such data, when recorded in an electronic or other copy of the contract kept by the buyer, the seller, or both may be susceptible to being changed without there being any way to easily detect the changes. As a result, it may be difficult to ascertain with certainty the original terms of the contract.

Third party certification of content in electronic commerce transactions


A durable and sprayable controlled release bead of active ingredient in the pores of a polymeric micro-porous bead having an anisotropic pore structure of large pores in the interior and small pores at the surface, the gradation of pore sizes between the interior and the surface being continuous.

Controlling the release of such active ingredients as pharmaceuticals, fragrances, insecticides, and other agricultural chemicals has proven to be extremely useful for providing valuable advantages over conventional products. Such advantages include longer durations of efficacy, decreased toxicity, and more flexibility and convenience in handling and application. Control of the release of active ingredients has been achieved by diffusion through membranes, diffusion through pores, osmotic pumping, erodible polymers, mechanical fracture, electrical energy, and other means appropriate for specific applications.
For applications in which it is desirable or necessary for the active ingredient to be sprayed or distributed in particulate or liquid-suspension form, controlled-release microcapsules, granules, and porous particles have been developed. Many different types of microencapsulation processes have been developed, as described for example in Nixon, "Microencapsulation" (1976). Microencapsulation, however, involves polymerizing or solidifying a polymeric shell around a core of the active ingredient, and the active ingredient is therefore present during the entire process. Although this is not a problem with many active ingredients, some are degraded or otherwise affected by the processing conditions, and not all of the active ingredient is microencapsulated, due to solubility in the liquid phases present or to inefficiency in the process itself. Due to interactions between the active ingredient and the polymer, solvent, or other chemicals, the range of active ingredients, as well as polymer, is limited. In addition, solvents, reactants, or other ingredients used in microencapsulation processes may remain in the microcapsules with the active ingredient, which may cause toxicity or further degradation problems. Washing the microcapsules to remove contaminants is usually not practical, because some of the active ingredient will be lost as well. Additional problems with microcapsules include a limitation on size (usually to smaller than about 200 microns in diameter), a limitation on strength, and a limitation on content of active ingredient, especially in combination with high strength.
Porous granules or particles to provide controlled release are also known. Such porous particles can be made in the absence of active ingredient, thus eliminating problems related to interactions between the active ingredient and particle materials, and enabling the particles to be extracted or cleaned, if necessary, prior to loading with active ingredient. However, unless the pore sizes are small, the active ingredient is typically released too rapidly to be useful. In addition, it is typically released by desorption, evaporation, or by leaching, all of which are dependent on the environment of use. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,684, there are disclosed porous cellulosic particles subsequently loaded with herbicides that must be water-leachable.
Other examples of microporous cellulosic particles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,985,298 and 3,846,404. These particles shrink upon drying, and must therefore be loaded by a complicated process of diffusive exchange of the water initially present with the active ingredient desired, taking care to avoid drying. In a further example of microporous particles of controlled release, U.S. Pat. No. 3,639,306 discloses the preparation of active ingredient-encapsulating particles having a finely porous skin on the surface and a substantially hollow interior containing the active ingredient. Although such active ingredient-encapsulating particles are stated to be useful for slow release of active ingredient, due to depletion of active ingredient in the reservoir over time and the consequent decrease in active ingredient-releasing surface area, the rate of release of active ingredient decreases with time, rather than being constant.
In summary, there is a need in the art for high strength sprayable granules or particles that can be prepared independently of loading with active ingredient, and that can release active ingredient at a constant rate over a prolonged period of time.

Asymmetric microporous beads for controlled release


An optical multiplexer is provided that includes a reconfigurable switching fabric with a number of inputs and outputs. In addition, the reconfigurable switching fabric employs VLSOAs that facilitate at least partial reconfiguration of the switching fabric by serving as switches to add, drop or pass-through one or more optical signals received at the inputs of the reconfigurable switching fabric. In some cases, one or more of the VLSOAs also serve to amplify one or more optical signals so as to compensate for losses that may be experienced by the signal in transit through the switching fabric, or elsewhere. Finally, this example of the optical multiplexer includes a wavelength division multiplexer coupled to the reconfigurable switching fabric and configured to multiplex at least some of the optical signals received from outputs of the reconfigurable switching fabric.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor optical amplifiers. More particularly, it relates to lasing semiconductor optical amplifiers used in combination with other optical elements to create a reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexer (OADM).
2. Description of Related Technologies
Fiber optic communications systems transmit information optically at high speeds over optical fibers. A typical communications system includes a transmitter, an optical fiber, and a receiver. The transmitter incorporates information to be communicated into an optical signal and transmits the optical signal via the optical fiber to the receiver. The receiver recovers the original information from the received optical signal. These systems are well adapted to transmit information at high speeds from one location to another.
However, efficient point-to-point transmission alone is not sufficient to construct a practical network. For example, a fiber running from New York to San Francisco may be efficient for transporting traffic from New York to San Francisco, but does not help much in transporting to/from Chicago, for example. To add Chicago to the New York-San Francisco route, traffic must be able to be added or dropped from the stream between New York and San Francisco.
An add-drop multiplexer (ADM) is the device which accomplishes this function. Many current ADMs are optical-electrical-optical, meaning that an incoming optical signal is converted to electrical form, the add-drop functionality is implemented electrically, and the resulting signals are then converted back to optical form. The two optical-electrical conversions add extra complexity and, strictly speaking, are unnecessary since the input and output signals are both optical.
Hence, ADMs which are entirely optical (in the sense that the signal remains in optical form while traveling through the ADM) are desirable. For example, in a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) system, an optical add drop multiplexer (OADM) might work in the following manner. An optical signal carrying a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical signal is input into a wavelength division multiplexer that demultiplexes the WDM optical signal into N single wavelength signals. The OADM is configured with N inputs, N outputs, N add inputs and N drop outputs. Each of the N single wavelength signals is coupled to an input to the OADM. As the N optical signals propagate through the OADM, each channel (i.e., each wavelength) can be dropped, added or passed through the OADM as needed. Dropping a channel means that channel is redirected by the OADM to the drop outputs. Conversely, adding a channel means that channel is received at one of the N add inputs and the OADM directs it to one of the OADM output ports. A pass through occurs when a channel is directed by the OADM from one input to an output. The N optical signals at the outputs of the OADM are wavelength division multiplexed back together into a single WDM optical signal. This signal is then forwarded out over the optical communications system.
OADMs may be either fixed or reconfigurable. In a fixed OADM, one or more of the channels are always dropped and/or added in the OADM. Thus, the path traveled by the particular optical signal is fixed based on which channel it occupies. In a reconfigurable OADM, switching elements inside the OADM allow each input signal to be dynamically added, dropped or passed through the OADM. Reconfigurable OADMs are preferred due to their increased functionality and flexibility in changing the topology of a network.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a fixed OADM 100. A fixed OADM is configured such that N wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) channels are input into OADM 100 and M channels are dropped and added while the remaining N-M channels pass through OADM 100. In this implementation, a single WDM optical signal containing four optical channels enters wavelength division demultiplexer 125 from optical fiber 115. Wavelength division deumultiplexer 125 demultiplexes the WDM signal into four single wavelength optical signals 110A-D. Incoming channels 110C and 110D are dropped to outputs 120C and 120D, respectively. Their outgoing counterparts are added from inputs 130C and 130D, respectively. The other two channels 110A and 110B simply pass through OADM 100. As one can see from the figure, the paths traveled by the various channels are fixed.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of another fixed OADM 200 wherein the switching fabric is a combination of circulators and a wavelength grating. As illustrated, three port circulator 250 is coupled to input 210 of OADM 200. Circulator 250 is also coupled to fiber Bragg grating 260 and drop output 220. Three port circulator 270 is also coupled to grating 260 and is coupled to output 240 and add input 230.
OADM 200 works in the following way. A WDM optical signal enters OADM 200 through input 210. The optical signal passes through circulator 250 and encounters grating 260. Grating 260 reflects a desired wavelength signal back to circulator 250 and passes the other wavelengths of the optical signal to circulator 270. The reflected signal is directed to drop output 220 by circulator 250. The remainder of the optical signal that was passed to circulator 270 is directed to output 240. However, an optical signal of the wavelength that was dropped can also be added to the remainder of the optical signal at circulator 270. Such a signal enters OADM 200 through add input 230. This signal then enters circulator 270, reflects off grating 260 and is combined with the remainder of the original optical signal. This new optical signal is then sent to output 240.
In addition to the two devices described above, an OADM can also be based on a crossbar switch. There are a number of devices and techniques that can implement (or attempt to implement) the basic switching of a crossbar. For example, various groups are attempting to develop optical crossbar switches based on MEMS (e.g., micro-mechnical mirrors), BUBBLES, liquid crystal (mirrors), LiNO3, or thermal optic switches. However, each of these devices has a loss associated with it when performing the switching function. This aspect of these devices makes their use less attractive in OADMs, particularly since switching may be cascaded in larger crossbars, thus compounding the overall loss through the crossbar. In addition, many of these approaches also suffer from other disadvantages, such as slow switching speed, large size, requiring complicated electronics, excessive intersymbol crosstalk and/or excessive crosstalk between different channels (e.g., WDM channels).

Reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer


The present invention is directed to a method of performing alignment during processing of a semiconductor device. The method is comprised of: performing alignment registration on a plurality of layers on said semiconductor device; measuring misregistration of said alignment registration in relation to a predetermined standard alignment key; and generating an offset for a subsequent process layer on said semiconductor using said measure misregistration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to semiconductor processing, and, more particularly, to process control of alignment in dual damascene processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional integrated circuit device, such as a microprocessor, is typically comprised of many thousands of semiconductor devices, e.g., transistors, formed above the surface of a semiconducting substrate. For the integrated circuit device to function, the transistors must be electrically connected to one another through conductive interconnections. Many modem integrated circuit devices are very densely packed, i.e., there is very little space between the transistors formed above the substrate. Thus, these conductive interconnections must be made in multiple layers to conserve plot space on the semiconducting substrate. This is typically accomplished through the formation of a plurality of conductive lines and conductive plugs formed in alternative layers of dielectric materials formed on the device. As is readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the conductive plugs are means by which various layers of conductive lines, and/or semiconductor devices, may be electrically coupled to one another. The conductive lines and plugs may be made of a variety of conductive materials, such as copper, aluminum, aluminum alloys, titanium, tantalum, titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, tungsten, etc.
One particular technique used to form such conductive lines and plugs is known as a dual damascene technique. One variation of this technique involves the formation of a first layer of a dielectric material, formation of a relatively thin etch stop layer (for example comprised of silicon nitride) above the first dielectric layer, patterning of the etch stop layer to define openings corresponding to plugs to be formed in the first dielectric layer, and formation of a second dielectric layer above the etch stop layer. Thereafter, an etching process is used to define an opening in the second dielectric layer, and to remove portions of the first dielectric layer positioned under the openings previously formed in the etch stop layer. The openings in the first and second layers of dielectric material correspond to a yet to be formed metal plug and metal line, respectively. Thereafter, the openings in the first and second dielectric layers are filled with an appropriate metal or layers of metal.
The dual damascene technique is very labor-intensive in that it requires the formation of three process layers, the first and second dielectric layers as well as the etch stop layer. In a typical dual-damascene copper process flow, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1E, a first dielectric layer 100 is deposited on a second dielectric layer 105 on a wafer 107. The second dielectric layer 105 has a xe2x80x9chard maskxe2x80x9d (typically silicon nitride, SiN) 110 deposited and patterned thereon, between the first dielectric layer 100 and the second dielectric layer 105. If necessary, the first dielectric layer 100 is planarized using CMP. Metallization patterns are then applied using the hard mask 110 and a patterned photomask 115 (FIG. 1A) and photolithography. Openings (such as trenches 120 and 125) for conductive metal lines, contact holes, via holes, and the like, are etched into both the first dielectric layer 100 and the second dielectric layer 105. The patterned photomask 115 is then stripped (FIG. 1B) and a thin barrier metal layer of tantalum 130A and a copper seed layer 130B are then applied to the entire surface using vapor-phase deposition. The barrier metal layer of tantalum 130A and the copper seed layer 130B blanket-deposit the entire upper surface 135 of the first dielectric layer 100 as well as the side and bottom surfaces of the trenches 120 and 125, forming a conductive surface 140, as shown in FIG. 1C.
The bulk of the copper trench-fill is again done using an electroplating technique, where the conductive surface 140 is mechanically clamped to an electrode to establish an electrical contact, and the wafer 107 is then immersed in an electrolyte solution containing copper ions. An electrical current is then passed through the wafer-electrolyte system to cause reduction and deposition of copper on the conductive surface 140.
This process typically produces a conformal coating 145 of constant thickness across the entire conductive surface 140, as shown in FIG. 1D. Once a sufficiently thick layer of copper 145 has been deposited, the surface of the wafer is planarized using CMP techniques. Ideally, this clears all copper and tantalum barrier metal from the entire upper surface 135 of the first dielectric layer 100, leaving copper only in the copper-filled trenches (such as copper-filled trenches 150 and 155), as shown in FIG. 1E.
The dual-damascene copper process flow, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1E, combines the intermetal via connection formation with the copper trench-fill deposition by etching a more complex pattern before the barrier metal layer and copper seed layer depositions and before the copper trench-fill. The trench etching continues until the via hole (such as trench 125 in FIG. 1B) has been etched out. The dual-damascene copper process flow, as compared to other processes such as the signal-damascene process, significantly reduces the number of processing steps and is typically a preferred method of achieving copper metallization.
Typically, in dual-damascene processes, at least two alignment registrations processes define an alignment from one process layer to the next process layer. In contrast, in single-damascene processes, one alignment registration process can define an alignment from one process layer to another. Alignment misregistration in dual-damascene processes can cause significant reduction in the quality of the processed semiconductor devices.
The present invention is directed to a method and device for solving some or all of the aforementioned problems.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for performing alignment during processing of a semiconductor device. The method is comprised of: performing alignment registration on a plurality of layers on said semiconductor device; measuring misregistration of said alignment registration in relation to a predetermined standard alignment key; and generating an offset for a subsequent process layer on said semiconductor using said measure misregistration.
In one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for performing alignment during processing of a semiconductor device. The apparatus of the present invention comprises: means for performing alignment registration on a plurality of layers on said semiconductor device; means for measuring misregistration of said alignment registration in relation to a predetermined standard alignment key; and means for generating an offset for a subsequent process layer on said semiconductor using said measure misregistration.

Method and apparatus for process control of alignment in dual damascene processes


A channel control unit of a storage apparatus is provided with: a variable-length DMA (Direct Memory Access) that performs data transfer of variable-length data sent to or received from the host computer in accordance with an I/O request; a fixed-length DMA that performs data transfer of fixed-length data to and from the cache memory; and a buffer intervening between the variable-length DMA and the fixed-length DMA. In performing the data transfer of the fixed-length data to the cache memory, the fixed-length DMA divides the variable-length data into multiple sets of the fixed-length data each having a data size equivalent to a unit size of data managed in the cache memory, and adds a first integrity code to the last fixed-length data set of the fixed-length data sets generated by the division, the first integrity code being generated based on the entire variable-length data.

As a method for improving reliability of a storage apparatus, there has been known a method of adding an integrity code such as an LRC (Longitudinal Redundancy Check) code to data to be stored in a storage device such as a hard disk drive. For example, Patent Citation 1 discloses that an integrity code for each data block to be stored in the storage device is calculated on a block basis.
In this regard, in a storage apparatus that receives an I/O request for variable-length data sent from a host computer such as a mainframe, the variable-length data is converted into one or more fixed-length data sets each equivalent to a sector size of a hard disk drive, and the fixed-length data sets are stored into the hard disk drive after an integrity code is added to each fixed-length data set.
[Patent Citation 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2005-84799

Storage apparatus and data integrity assurance method


People use their mobile devices anywhere and anytime to run various apps, and the information shown on their device screens can be seen by nearby unauthorized parties, referred to as shoulder surfers. To mitigate this privacy threat, techniques have been developed utilizing human vision and optical system properties to hide the users' on-screen information from the shoulder surfers. Specifically, the proposed techniques discretize the device screen into grid patterns to neutralize the low-frequency components so that the on-screen information will “blend into” the background when viewed from the outside of the designed visible range.

People use mobile devices everywhere they go, even in public areas. The information shown on their device screens could be personal or sensitive (e.g., bank account information and text messages to/from personal friends), and hence the users would not want others to see it. However, people nearby can easily see the information displayed on the device screen by peeking at (or shoulder surfing) the screen.
Although users will take proper defensive actions when they are aware of someone else peeking at their device screens, they are reported to be aware of only 7% of shoulder surfing incidents. Moreover, shoulder surfers are reported to succeed in obtaining a 6-digit PIN with a 10.8% probability by taking just one peek. Users may try not to view sensitive/private information in public areas, but cannot always help it. For example, the Justice Secretary of Philippines, Vitaliano Aguirre II, was enraged at the leakage of his text messages by someone who had peeked at, and taken a picture of, his smartphone screen during a Senate hearing.
The most popular defense against shoulder surfing is to attach a privacy film on the device screen, which limits the visible range of screen to a certain viewing angle to hide the on-screen information. Even though it is an effective way to protect on-screen information when the shoulder surfer is outside of the visible range, the privacy film provides little protection inside the visible range, e.g., the shoulder surfer is right behind the user. Also, it requires users to beware of the privacy risks and take appropriate actions before viewing any sensitive on-screen information. This requires users to buy and attach a privacy film, or buy devices equipped with privacy films (e.g., HP Sure View), incurring additional cost and/or effort.
Researchers and IT companies have been seeking software solutions that can proactively protect users' on-screen information from the end of information provider (e.g., Google's shoulder surfer detection), or let users hide their on-screen information without requiring other hardware protection (e.g., BlackBerry's Privacy Shade). They usually focus on the protection of (i) authentication secrets, which can be used to "unlock" devices and provide access to their contents, and (ii) other general information, including the on-screen texts and images displayed by applications. The former only focuses on the protection of authentication secrets, while the latter usually blocks the information altogether, which also prevents the intended user from viewing the on-screen information.
Considering the possible leakage of sensitive on-screen information and the lack of their effective protection, this disclosure enables information senders/providers to proactively protect sensitive on-screen information instead of passively relying on the awareness and presence of protection at the receivers, such as use of a privacy film. This goal is met by developing a novel solution, called HideScreen, for sensitive on-screen information protection without requiring any additional hardware. HideScreen can protect the sensitive on-screen information without compromising users' intended tasks/apps, and is simple enough to implement and run on commodity mobile devices while consuming as little resources (e.g., computing power and energy) as possible to support good user experience.
HideScreen is tailored to meet the need of apps that display some short but sensitive information—such as PIN, account/password, and partially-personal messages—and protect the on-screen information from unauthorized parties located outside of the designed viewing range. Specifically, HideScreen focuses on the protection of short texts on the screen which can also protect the texts shown on soft keypad/keyboard, as shown in FIG. 1. When key shuffling is used, HideScreen will prevent a shoulder surfer from acquiring sensitive information by observing the on-screen locations the user touches. Other than on-screen texts, some images, such as personal photos or the security picture used for bank account login, can also be privacy/security-sensitive, and hence HideScreen's protection is extended to on-screen images.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

System and method for protecting sensitive on-screen information

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN


A data compression system responsive to a preprocessed digitally encoded high definition video signal includes a discrete cosine transform, a frequency weighting filter, and an inverse discrete cosine transform circuit to provide a digitally encoded video signal within which the high frequency terms of the discrete cosine transform have been reduced. A motion compensated predictive coding data compression system organizes the current frame and a previous frame into a plurality of pixel blocks. The pixel blocks are compared by an error calculating and matching circuit under the influence of a timing control to provide an error value output. A spatial weighting factor is applied to each error value output to provide spatially weighted error values which are used to produce a corresponding plurality of motion vectors. The motion vector corresponding to the lowest weighted error value is selected by a motion vector selector for application to a channel buffer/encoder and eventual transmission.

The transmission of high definition television signals dramatically increases the amount of image information within the broadcast signal over that present in conventional television broadcast formats such as the NTSC format used in the United States of America. In view of the limited number of television broadcast channels available and the generally crowded condition of available broadcast spectra, it is advantageous to transmit high definition television signals in a so-called spectrum compatible format. Spectrum compatible requires that high definition television signals be capable of transmission within a standard six megahertz channel bandwidth used in the NTSC format. Because the image information required for high definition television transmission greatly exceeds that which may be fitted within a standard six megahertz bandwidth, practitioners in the art employ digital video information coding and sophisticated data compression techniques. While a number of types of data compression systems have been devised, generally all make use of the tendency of the image information between successive image frames to include significant redundancy.
In one type of data compression system, often referred to as motion compensated predictive coding, temporal redundancies are removed from the transmitted signal using a process which divides each image frame into a plurality of image or pixel blocks. The process then compares the video pixels in each block within the current image frame to the pixels within each block of the previous image frame. These comparisons are typically carried forward using means square error or absolute error computation to identify the most closely matching set of image blocks in the current frame and previous frame. The change in position of the matching block within the current frame from that of the corresponding image block in the previous frame is used to generate a so-called motion vector. The motion vectors associated with each image block are then transmitted and used within the high definition television receiver to read blocks of stored pixels representing the previous frame and reconstruct the blocks of the current frame.
Several problems are inherent in such data compression techniques which arise largely from the purely mathematical algorithm used to identify matching pixel blocks and generate the motion vectors. One manifestation of such problems arises from the possibility that the image block matching operation may, in essence, incorrectly match a current frame image block and previous frame image block due to the comparison being based upon the smallest error or difference between image blocks. This may result in substantial noise in the reproduced block and may also adversely affect the error masking operation carried forward within the receiver.
In anticipation of the reception of erroneous or contaminated data due to transmission difficulties and the like, the high definition television receiver utilizes an error masking system to minimize the degradation of the displayed image when incorrect or contaminated data is presented. In essence, such error masking systems utilize the image information received prior to the detected errors or data contamination. In the operation of motion compensated predictive coding data compression operations, the error masking system usually utilizes the previous motion vector to reconstruct the current image frame. This process, of course, is based upon the assumption that the video image is characterized by continuous motion and thus the previous motion vector will generate a block of pixels close to the desired block. In some instances, however, such as scene changes or the like, this assumption proves to be invalid and the error masking process will fail.
Another problem associated with data compression systems using motion compensated predictive coding techniques is their susceptibility to high frequency noise. In essence, high frequency noise may unduly influence or, in some instances, dominate the pixel block matching process. This again raises the possibility for incorrectly matching pixel image blocks within the current and previous frames and, as a result, generating erroneous motion vectors.
There remains, therefore, a continuing need in the art for evermore improved data compression systems which function reliably in the presence of noise or other image discontinuities such as scene changes, special effects or the like.

Data compression system having perceptually weighted motion vectors


Before a radiation image is captured, a rate of change of an output signal from an integrator, during a given period of time after the integrator has been reset and until a radiation start signal is supplied, is calculated. An offset voltage signal at a desired time is calculated using the rate of change, and is supplied to a voltage correcting circuit. An output signal from the integrator after a radiation X has started being applied to a subject is corrected based on the calculated offset voltage signal. The corrected output signal from the integrator is supplied to an X-ray tube controller for controlling application of the radiation X to the subject.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of capturing a radiation image by emitting radiation from a radiation source and applying the emitted radiation to a subject, and for controlling the radiation source based on the dose of radiation applied to the subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the medical field, for example, it has been customary to apply radiation to a subject and to detect the amount of radiation that has passed through the subject with a radiation detector, or to guide the radiation that has passed through the subject directly to an X-ray film or the like, thereby forming a radiation image of the subject for diagnostic purposes.
For obtaining a radiation image suitable for image interpretation and diagnosis, a tube voltage, a tube current, and a radiation application time are established as appropriate exposure conditions, depending on the body region to be imaged and other characteristics of the radiation source. There is known an image capturing system with an automatic exposure control function, which controls the dose of radiation to be applied to a subject, by detecting the dose of radiation that has passed through the subject with a dose detector, and then automatically stopping application of radiation when the detected dose reaches a predetermined value (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-298383).
In the image capturing system having such an automatic exposure control function, a small current output from the dose detector is converted into a voltage signal by a current-to-voltage converter. The voltage signal is amplified at a high magnification by an amplifier, and the amplified voltage signal is integrated with respect to time by an integrator, thereby determining a radiation dosage.
However, since the radiation dosage is determined after a low voltage signal has been amplified at a high magnification, the image capturing system having such an automatic exposure control function is problematic in that a temperature-dependent characteristic change of the circuit components tends to cause a large error in the determined radiation dosage.
In order to compensate for such temperature-dependent characteristic changes of the circuit components, there has widely been employed a process of canceling out the characteristic circuit component changes using a temperature compensating device, whose input/output characteristics change depending on temperature, such as a thermistor, a diode, or the like, wherein the temperature compensating device is inserted into the system circuitry (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-87607 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. No. 5-299955).
The temperature characteristics of the temperature compensating device vary from unit to unit. Therefore, if the temperature compensating device is not thermally coupled adequately to the circuit component whose temperature-dependent characteristic change is to be compensated for, then the temperature compensating device cannot provide highly accurate temperature compensation. In addition, the circuit component has its own time-variable characteristics, and as a practical matter, it is difficult to select a temperature compensating device that is capable of handling variations in characteristics.

Apparatus for and method of capturing radiation image


Blend (B) comprising at least one polyarylene in a form other than fibers, and at least one poly(aryl ether ketone).

Polyarylenes, especially polyphenylenes, exhibit some outstanding performance properties, including exceptionally high strength, stiffness, hardness, scratch resistance and dimensional stability. Unfortunately, polyarylenes have some limitations in toughness-related properties, in particular in terms of impact resistance and elongation properties. They have also limitations in melt processability due to their high viscosities, and tend to be anisotropic when melt fabricated under high shear such as during injection molding. Also, they have some limitations in chemical resistance. Also, they have some limitations in thermal resistance, which may cause some undesirable outgassing (weight loss) when submitted at very high temperature (380° C. or so).
Poly(aryl ether ketone)s, especially polyetheretherketones, exhibit also some outstanding properties, including exceptionally high melting point, excellent chemical resistance (including environmental stress cracking resistance) and excellent thermal stability. They have also high strength, stiffness, although somewhat lower than that of polyarylenes, and very good elongation properties. On the other hand, like polyarylenes, they have some limitations in terms of impact resistance.
Polymer blends have been widely taught and employed in the art. As broad as this statement may be, the blending of polymers remains an empirical art and the selection of polymers for a blend giving special properties is, in the main, an Edisonian-like choice. Certain attributes of polymer blends are more unique than others. The more unique attributes when found in a blend tend to be unanticipated properties. According to Zoller and Hoehn, Journal of Polymer Science, Polymer Physics Edition, vol. 20, pp. 1385-1397 (1982): "Blending of polymers is a useful technique to obtain properties in thermoplastic materials not readily achieved in a single polymer. Virtually all technologically important properties can be improved in this way, some of the more important ones being flow properties, mechanical properties (especially impact strength), thermal stability, and price ( . . . ). Ultimately, the goal of such modeling and correlation studies should be the prediction of blend properties from the properties of the pure components alone. We are certainly very far from achieving this goal."
In the field of miscibility or compatibility of polymer blends, the art has found predictability to be unattainable, even though considerable work on the matter has been done. According to authorities, "It is well known that, regarding the mixing of thermoplastic polymers, incompatibility is the rule and miscibility and even partial miscibility is the exception. Since most thermoplastic polymers are immiscible in other thermoplastic polymers, the discovery of a homogeneous mixture or partially miscible mixture of two or more thermoplastic polymers is, indeed, inherently unpredictable with any degree of certainty, for example, see P. J. Flory, Principles of Polymer Chemistry, Cornell University Press, 1953, Chapter 13, page 555."
U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,392 describes a class of polyphenylene polymers with phenylene units comprising a solubilizing side group which, because of this side group, are taught to help somehow in overcoming the problem of blending the rigid-rod and flexible components into a stable homogeneous phase (see col. 2, 1. 60-63). Per US'392, the rigid-rod polymers can be blended with thermoplastics, thermosets, liquid crystalline polymers (LCP's), rubbers, elastomers, or any natural or synthetic polymeric material (col. 4, 1. 16-20); US'392 keeps silent about the miscibility and compatibility of the polymers of such blends. It is of interest to note that, per US'392, only polymer blends containing a low amount of polyphenylene (at most 10 wt. %) with certain specific polymers could be prepared by a melt process [with polybutylene (example 23), nylon-6 (example 24), polystyrene and PPO (examples 24 and 25), polyethylene and polypropylene (example 25)], while blends comprising a higher amount of polyphenylene were prepared by solution mixing [blends with polystyrene (example 26) and polycarbonate (example 27)]; this suggests that the polymers involved in such blends have a very poor reciprocal miscibility/compatibility, or even are completely immiscible/incompatible, as many other couple of polymers are.
Example 13 of the same patent is a prophetic description (as evidenced by the use of the present tense and the absence of detailed operating conditions) of a pultrusion process involving a polyetheretherketone (PEEK) at molten state and fibers of a rigid-rod polyparaphenylene with a solubilizing group of high molecular weight, namely a poly 1,4-(4′-phenoxybenzoylphenylene). Accordingly, a fiber tow composed of the polyparaphephenylene fibers is continuously pulled through a PEEK melt and co-extruded through a die to form ribbed panels, which can be viewed as a composite material consisting of, as separate interconnected parts, essentially parallel polyphenylene fibers interconnected by a PEEK matrix so as to form a unified whole. In a pultrusion process, it is mandatory to preserve the fibrous nature of the fibers, so as to obtain a material with desirable properties, in particular a high modulus and strength; that the fibrous nature of the fiber is preserved in this prophetic example, is confirmed by the ribbed attribute of the panels (the ribs are deemed to be polyphenylene fibers), and also by the general teachings of US'392 about the pultrusion of polyphenylene fibers with thermoplastics (of undefined nature), from col. 21, 1. 54 to col. 22, 1. 3: "Related to extrusion is pultrusion, wherein a fiber reinforcement is continuously added to an extruded polymer. ( . . . ) the polymers of the present invention may be used as the fiber for pultrusion of a thermoplastic having a lower processing temperature. ( . . . ) lower cost thermoplastics having moderate moduli and strength can be formed into composites with high moduli and strength by the incorporation of rigid-rod or segmented rigid-rod polyphenylene fibers. Such a composite is unique in that the reinforcing fibers are themselves thermoplastic and further processing at temperatures above the fiber Tg will result in novel structures as the fibers physically and/or chemically mix with the matrix." Back to example 13 specifically, by giving credit to a pultrusion process comprising which requires contacting, during a significant amount of time, polyphenylene fibers (which have a Tg as low as about 160° C.) with molten PEEK (PEEK at a temperature above about 340° C.) without affecting the fibrous nature of the polyphenylene fibers, US'392 gives thereby credit to the incompatibility and the immiscibility of polyphenylene also with PEEK, discarding thereby the skilled person from mixing a polyphenylene in a form other than fibers with PEEK in a significant amount so as to obtain a valuable blend, since, in such a case, the expectation would be great to obtain an unstable physical blend, highly subject to phase separation.
There remains a strong need for materials offering a superior balance of properties, including part or all of the following ones:                very high strength;        very high stiffness;        good elongation properties;        good melt processability (in particular, good injection moldability);        high chemical resistance;        outstanding thermal resistance [capable of inhibiting undesirable outgassing even when the material is submitted at very high temperature (380° C. or so)], desirably as high as that neat poly(aryl ether ketone); and        outstanding impact resistance, as possibly characterized by a standard no-notch IZOD test (ASTM D-4810), desirably higher than that of neat polyarylene and neat poly(aryl ether ketone).

Abstract: Blend (T) comprising at least one polyarylene, at least one poly(aryl ether ketone) and at least one poly(aryl ether sulfone).

Abstract: Article or part of an article comprising the blend (B) or the blend (T).


A method of recording a transaction over a network generally includes staring a recorder, sending a request for information from a computer to an information source over the network to begin the transaction, interacting with the information source over the network to complete the transaction, and stopping the recorder. The recorded transaction is played back and feedback is provided on the recorded transaction. The recorded transaction is configured for use by a data acquisition agent operable to execute the recorded transaction with the information source and collect performance measurements for the transaction.

The present invention relates generally to evaluating quality of service provided over a network, and more particularly, to systems and methods for determining the amount of time it takes to perform a sequence of operations over a network such as the Internet.
With the explosive growth of the Internet, increased traffic has caused the performance experienced by users making connections over the Internet to vary widely. The longer it takes a user to download information from a web site, the more likely the user is to go to a competitor's web site. Thus, it is important for companies to be aware of the amount of time it takes users to download information from their Internet sites so that they can quickly identify problems, upgrade their equipment, modify the content of their web site, or otherwise increase the speed of delivery of information at their web site.
Many factors influence the performance of a connection including the user's modem and other equipment, the type of server, the load on the server, and the Internet service provider used. The first step in evaluating connection performance is to obtain reliable information regarding performance characteristics such as the time required to download web pages or other information across a connection.
One approach to measuring web site performance is to connect measurement agents to the Internet at various geographic locations. This approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,260 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The system disclosed therein uses a browser agent to send an HTTP GET command to a server and then record the amount of time it takes to complete transmission of the data. The agents evaluate the performance of a web site by measuring the amount of time it takes to download a web page. Due to their remote location, the agents are able to evaluate the performance of a web site from the end user's perspective, and are able to measure the effects of the intervening network itself in addition to the performance of the web server. As a result, the performance seen by an agent can provide a reasonable approximation for the service experienced by customers connecting to the Internet at approximately the same location, and at approximately the same time as the agent.
While this is a useful indicator of server performance, it would further be useful if a process could be developed that could measure web server performance during a typical session where the web server is accessed by a user to do multiple tasks in a sequential order. In addition to measuring page download, many web sites, such as e-commerce web sites, are interested in measuring multi-step transactions. For example, systems that simply measure page downloads are not able to measure the time it takes for a user to perform a series of transactions which require the agent to send information back to the web server to complete the transaction. Common on-line transactions include booking an airline reservation, executing a stock transaction, checking the balance in a bank account, and purchasing a book or CD. In order to evaluate the performance of these sites, measurements are required for the entire transaction, not just the download time for a single page. For example, a user may want to access a web site having financial information. The user may login to the web site and then type in a stock symbol and retrieve a graph of the stock corresponding to the stock symbol. Next, the user may look up one or more other stock symbols and add those to the chart for the purpose of comparing the stocks. Finally, the user exits the web site, thus ending the session. Complex transactions such as making a stock trade or searching for information involves a series of web pages and exercises multiple back end systems. Problems with any of these systems may cause the transaction to fail or slow down.
One method for recording and analyzing transactions over a network such as the Internet is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/475,765, filed Dec. 30, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
One important feature in recording transactions is providing feedback during the recording so that the user knows that they have successfully created a recording of a transaction. It would also be helpful if the user could provide annotations within the recording to aid in creating a script from the recording.

Method and system for evaluating quality of service for transactions over a network


A connecting node comprises a polyhedral structure comprising a plurality of panels joined together at its side edges to form a spherical approximation, wherein at least one of the plurality of panels comprises a faceted surface being constructed with a passage for integrating with one of a plurality of elements comprising a docking port, a hatch, and a window that is attached to the connecting node. A method for manufacturing a connecting node comprises the steps of providing a plurality of panels, connecting the plurality of panels to form a spherical approximation, wherein each edge of each panel of the plurality is joined to another edge of another panel, and constructing at least one of the plurality of panels to include a passage for integrating at least one of a plurality of elements that may be attached to the connecting node.

1. Field of Invention
The invention described herein relates generally to space structures and more particularly to a connecting node for docking or connecting other components of a space system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connecting node is a type of space module used in space systems, such as on the International Space Station (ISS). Current connecting nodes in the related art are limited of curved surfaces joined together to form a spherical metallic solid. Connecting nodes may be constructed of, for example, aluminum and other metals. Typically, connecting nodes serve as a passageway for the transfer of objects, as a connecting apparatus that can be used to connect expandable living and working areas in space, and/or as an airlock. Connecting nodes provide a relatively large volume for storage, containment, human habitation, shelter, or work, as well as for space flight. Connecting nodes typically include hatches that serve as docking ports for the joining of other modules to the connecting node.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional connecting node 100 known in the related art. The node 100 includes a spherical body 102 and several ports such as ports 104, 106, 108, and 110. These ports 104, 106, 108, 110 may be used as a docking station or hatch to attach external space systems to the node 100. As shown in FIG. 1, various curved, spherical portions of the node 100 have been modified to support the integration of docking ports and windows. For instance, the top and bottom portions of the connecting node have been re-shaped to include Port 3 108 and Port 4 (110), resulting in additional flat portions of the spherical body 102. When docking ports 104, 106, 108, 110 and other add-on structures are built into the node 100, the ports 104, 106, 108, 110 are often recessed into the node, requiring a connecting element to be in close proximity to the node 100 to attach to the ports 104, 106.
Construction of connecting nodes such as that shown in FIG. 1 often requires elaborate tooling and processes for manufacturing individual structural panels. Complex manufacturing processes such as plasma welding machines and other unique assembly tools are often employed to bend, cut, and transform the curved surfaces of the nodes to support add-on structures such as docking ports, pass-throughs, and other external systems. For the connecting node of FIG. 1, the spherical body 102 of the node 100 is actually cut and flattened to integrate the ports 104, 106, 108, 110. Thus, the original spherical shape is changed substantially, resulting in complex shapes within the generally spherical node that may cause a loss of interior volume.

Connecting node and method for constructing a connecting node

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


An externally mounted blown fuse indicator including a housing, a spring-biased plunger, a tungsten restraining wire, two terminals, and a cover, the plunger having a meltable region that is heated by the restraining wire and melts to release the plunger when the fuse blows, the spring engaging a midsection of the plunger, the housing carrying tabs at its ends for engagement with a switch to be activated by the plunger, the spring-biased plunger having greater than 3 ounces force at an extension of 0.11".

The invention relates to externally mounted blown fuse indicators.
Externally mounted blown fuse indicators are generally connected in parallel with a fuse and include thin restraining wires that restrain spring-biased plungers. When a fuse blows, all current temporarily goes through the thin restraining wire, which quickly melts and releases the spring-biased plunger. An example of such an indicator is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,963.


The present invention discloses a data synchronization method and system. The method includes that: a first device adds a time stamp to a received data packet and transmits the data packet to a second device; the second device determines a transmission period to which the data packet belongs according to the time stamp of the data packet, and transmits data packets of different services which belong to the same transmission period by using air resources corresponding to the transmission period after the data packets of the different services which belong to the same transmission period are multiplexed. By the technical scheme of the present invention, air resources can be fully utilized.

With the development of communication technologies, a mobile communication system has been evolved into a System Architecture Evolution (SAE) system. The SAE system includes an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and the E-UTRAN includes a core network and a wireless access network.
FIG. 1 is schematic diagram illustrating an E-UTRAN in a SAE system in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, an evolved Node B (eNB) belongs to the wireless access network, and the core network includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and a Subscriber Gateway (S-GW). The eNB is adapted to provide a wireless interface for User Equipment (UE) such as a handset and so on. The MME is adapted to manage mobility contexts and session contexts of the UE, and issue information related to security to a user through packets. The S-GW is adapted to provide functions of a subscriber plane. The MME and the S-GW may be in the same physical entity. Generally, the S-GW transmits user data streams through a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) to the eNB to which the UE belongs, and then the eNB transmits the user data streams to the UE. Each eNB is connected with multiple MMEs in an MME pool, and also is connected with multiple S-GWs in an S-GW pool. An interface between eNBs is called as an X2 interface, and an interface between the eNB and the MME or between the eNB and the S-GW is called as an S1 interface.
In order to effectively utilize air interface resources, some mobile communication services are provided to users in a broadcast and multicast mode, and these mobile communication services are called as Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS). Each MBMS is provided in its own serving area, and in each cell of the serving area, a special control channel is used to transmit MBMS signallings. A Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) is a multimedia broadcast and multicast service providing center, MBMS data are transmitted from the BM-SC to the S-GW in a SAE network, then are transmitted to a corresponding eNB by the S-GW, and finally are transmitted to a user by the eNB.
The MBMS service may be transmitted in a single carrier cell, and id different cells use different carriers, a user on the boundary of a cell only receives the MBMS service of the current cell. If adjacent cells use the same carrier to transmit the same MBMS service, and transmit the MBMS service in a synchronization mode, the user on the boundaries of the adjacent cells can receive a signal obtained by overlapping energies of the two MBMS services. Therefore, in the prior art, a continuous area is defined. In this area, all eNBs use the same carrier to synchronously transmit the same MBMS signal, to improve the receiving quality of the user's MBMS service. The continuous area is called as a Single Frequency Network (SFN) area.
The SFN area includes a group of cells which are continuous geographically, and the cells use the same radio resources to synchronously transmit a specific MBMS service. The SFN area exclusively belongs to one MBMS serving area.
The performance can be improved obviously through synchronously transmitting MBMS data by all eNBs in the SFN area. At present, different technologies may be used to implement the data synchronization transmission between eNBs. In one technology, a network provides synchronization, i.e. a transmission network obtains synchronization through clocks. In this technology, an IEEE1588 protocol may be used, to coordinate clocks of all eNBs and make these clocks synchronous, and the accuracy of these clocks is in a microsecond level. In another technology, a synchronization signal is transmitted to each eNB through a common satellite signal, e.g. a Global Position System (GPS). No matter which technology is used, the object is to make all eNBs synchronously transmit signals, to implement the overlapping of signals of different eNBs, thereby improving signal quality.
When MBMS data are transmitted from the BM-SC to each eNB, it is possible that data packets are lost or lagged, so it is needed to provide some mechanisms to guarantee that data transmitted by all eNBs can keep synchronous even if the data packets are lost or lagged.
A conventional mode includes that the BM-SC adds a synchronization frame head into a MBMS data packet, and the synchronization frame head mainly includes a time stamp and two counters. The time stamp is used to indicate absolution time in one synchronization period, one counter is used to indicate an Elapsed Octet Counter transmitted in one synchronization period, and the other counter is used to indicate a Packet Number in one synchronization period. The two counters are set as 0 at the beginning of each synchronization period.
MBMS data packets may be lost when being transmitted from the BM-SC to the eNB, and the eNB determines how many data packets and bytes are lost during the transmission procedure according to the Elapsed Octet Counter and the Packet Number in the synchronization frame head. The eNB needs to determine how many radio resources are occupied by the lost data packets, and fills filling bits of which quantity is the same as the quantity of the lost data packets on the radio resources. A simple example is taken hereinafter to describe how the eNB calculates the lost data.
For example, the eNB1 has received a first packet, the Packet Number of the first packet is equal to 1, and the Elapsed Octet Counter of the first packet is 50 bytes; the eNB1 receives a second packet again, the Packet Number of the second packet is 3, and the Elapsed Octet Counter of the second packet is 100 bytes; the eNB may determine that one packet is lost, the Packet Number of the lost packet is 2, and the Elapsed Octet Counter of the lost packet is 50 bytes; and thus the eNB1 needs to reserve air resources of 50 bytes on which any data can not be transmitted or predefined filling bits are transmitted. Another eNBx receiving the packet of which Packet Number is 2 transmits the packet normally. In this way, it can be guaranteed that the eNB1 and the eNBx can transmit the packet of which Packet Number is 3 by using the same air resources.
The time stamp is used to indicate absolution time, to tell the eNB when data are transmitted. According to a definition, the absolution time indicated by the time stamp is multiples of 10 ms.
In the prior art, time stamps of data packets of the same service are identical in each synchronization period of the BM-SC, and are calculated according to time at which the BM-SC receives the first data packet of the service in the synchronization period, a calculating formula is as follows:time stamp=time at which the BM-SC receives the first data packet+the length of the synchronization period+a delay.
The delay relates to the largest transmission delay and a processing time. The length of the synchronization period and the delay are configured by an operating and maintaining system. The change of the time stamp means the start of a new synchronization period.
After receiving a data packet, the eNB determines, according to the time stamp, the time at which the data packet is transmitted. The eNB caches, multiplexes and transmits data in one transmission period, and this time period is called as a MCH Subframe Allocation Pattern (MSAP) time period. Generally, the length of the MSAP time period is the same as the length of the synchronization period on the BM-SC, but on the eNB, the time period is called as the MSAP time period or a transmission period. The MSAP time period corresponds to certain physical resources. The physical resources are composed of subframes with a certain format. The subframes do not need to be continuous in time, and the format is called as MSAP. The eNB provides dispatching information to the UE, and the dispatching information relates to one MSAP time period. The dispatching information is used to tell the UE which MBMS service is received on which subframe.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation in which data packets of the same service are transmitted in the same synchronization period in the prior art. Suppose that the length of a synchronization period is 60 ms, the delay is 10 ms, and at 10:00:00:000, the BM-SC receives the first data packet of a service 1, called as a data packet 1 of the service 1, a time stamp added to the data packet 1 by the BM-SC is 10:00:00:000 (hour:minute:second:microsecond)+the length of the synchronization period+the delay=10:00:00:000+70 ms. After 10 ms, the BM-SC receives the second data packet of the service 1, called as a data packet 2 of the service 1, and the same time stamp of 10:00:00:000+70 ms is added to the data packet 2 because the data packet 2 and the data packet 1 are transmitted in the same synchronization period. The eNB has its own clock, and air resources corresponding to 10:00:00:000+70 ms are a radio time slot 1, so the data packet 1 of the service 1 should be transmitted at the time corresponding to the radio time slot 1, and the data packet 2 of the service 1 should be transmitted following the data packet 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation in which data packets of different services are transmitted in the same synchronization period in the prior art. Suppose that the length of a synchronization period is 60 ms, the delay is 10 ms, and at 10:00:00:000, the BM-SC receives a data packet 1 of a service 1, a time stamp added to the data packet 1 by the BM-SC is 10:00:00:000+70 ms. After 10 ms, the BM-SC receives a data packet 1 of a service 2, and a time stamp added to the data packet 1 of the service 2 is 10:00:00:010+70 ms=10:00:00:000+80 ms. For the eNB, air resources corresponding to 10:00:00:000+70 ms are a radio time slot 1, so the data packet 1 of the service 1 should be transmitted at the time corresponding to the radio time slot 1; air resources corresponding to 10:00:00:000+80 ms are a radio time slot 2, so the data packet 1 of the service 2 should be transmitted at the time corresponding to the radio time slot 2. If the data packet 1 of the service 1 is very large and the transmission of the data packet 1 is not be completed in the radio time slot 1, the data packet 1 of the service 2 can not be transmitted in the radio time slot 2 and needs to be delayed. Vice verse, as shown in FIG. 4, if the data packet 1 of the service 1 is very small and only a small amount of data are transmitted in the radio time slot 1, the air resources can not be fully utilized, which results in waste. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating another implementation in which data packets of different services are transmitted in the same synchronization period in the prior art.
Sum up, in the conventional data synchronization method, air resources can not be fully utilized.


A display device includes a display substrate, on which a display area and a non-display area are defined, a plurality of gate lines arranged in the display area to extend in a first direction, a gate driving unit including a plurality of stages which outputs gate signals to the plurality of gate lines, and a plurality of pixel rows disposed in the display area and connected to the plurality of gate lines, where a driving area and an electrode area are defined in the display area between two adjacent pixel rows in a second direction among the plurality of pixel rows, at least a part of the plurality of stages is disposed in the driving area, and a compensation electrode is disposed in the electrode area.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a display device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a display device may include a display panel and a driving unit that drives the display panel. The driving unit typically includes a data driving unit that applies a data voltage to a pixel of the display panel and a gate driving unit that applies a gate signal for controlling transfer of the data voltage. The gate driving unit and the data driving unit are typically mounted on a printed circuit board ("PCB") in the form of a chip and are connected to the display panel, or the driving unit chip may be directly mounted on the display panel. Recently, the gate driving unit having a structure in which the gate driving unit is integrated onto the display panel has been developed.