A method and system for characterizing application layer flood denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are provided. The method includes receiving an indication on an on-going DDoS attack directed to a protected entity; generating a dynamic applicative signature by analyzing requests received during the on-going DDoS attack, wherein the dynamic applicative signature characterizes requests generated by an attack tool executing the on-going DDoS attack; and characterizing each incoming request based on the generated dynamic applicative signature, wherein the characterization provides an indication for each incoming request whether a request is generated by the attack tool.

These days, online businesses and organizations are vulnerable to malicious attacks. Recently, cyber-attacks have been committed using a wide arsenal of attack techniques and tools targeting both the information maintained by online businesses, their IT infrastructure and the actual service availability. Hackers and attackers are constantly trying to improve their attack strategies to cause irrecoverable damage, overcome currently deployed protection mechanisms, and so on.
One type of popular cyber-attack is a DoS/DDoS attack, which is an attempt to make a computer or network resource unavailable or idle. A common technique for executing DoS/DDoS attacks includes saturating a target victim resource (e.g., a computer, a WEB server, an API server, a WEB application, and the like), with a large quantity of external requests or volume of traffic. As a result, the target victim becomes overloaded, and thus cannot assign resources and respond properly to legitimate traffic. When the attacker sends many applicative or other requests towards its victim service or application, each victim resource would experience effects from the DoS attack. A DDoS attack is performed by controlling many machines and other entities and directing them to attack as a group.
One type of DDoS attack is known as a "DDoS Application Layer DDoS Attack". This is a form of a DDoS attack where attackers target application-layer processes, resources or the applications as a whole. The attack over-exercises specific functions or features of an application to disable those functions or features, and by that makes the application irresponsive to legitimate requests or even terminate or crash. A major sub-class of application layer DDoS attack is the HTTP flood attack.
In HTTP flood attacks, attackers manipulate HTTP, GET, POST, and other unwanted HTTP requests to attack or overload, a victim server, service or application resources. These attacks are often executed by an attack tool or tools designed to generate and send floods of "legitimate-looking" HTTP requests to the victim server. The content of such requests might be randomized, or pseudo-randomized, in order to emulate legitimate WEB client behavior and evade anti-DoS mitigation elements. Examples of such tools include Challenge Collapsar (CC), Shaphyra, Mirai botnet, Meris botnet, Akira, Xerxes, WEB stresser, DDoSers, and the like.
Recently, a large number of new and sophisticated tools have been developed by hackers and are now being used in various lethal and very high-volume HTTP flood attacks. The need for very simple and accurate solutions for HTTP flood attack mitigation is becoming actual and urgent. Modern on-line services demand applicative anti-DoS solutions that are required to be able to characterize incoming HTTP requests as generated by an attacker or a legitimate client, all in real-time, with a low false positive rate and a low false negative rate. Attackers keep improving their attack tools by generating "legitimate-looking" HTTP requests, resulting in very challenging mitigation and more specific characterization of applicative attacks.
Characterization of HTTP flood DDoS attacks executed by such tools is a complex problem that cannot be achieved by currently available solutions for mitigating DDoS attacks. Distinguishing legitimate HTTP requests from malicious HTTP requests is a complex and convoluted task. The complexity of the problem results from the fact that there are dozens of attack tools that behave differently and generate different attack patterns. Further, the attack tools send HTTP requests with a truly legitimate structure (e.g., a header and payload as defined in the respective HTTP standard and follow the industry common practices) and with some parts of their requests' contents being randomized. For example, the values of HTTP headers, random query argument keys and values, and so on, can all be randomly selected. Furthermore, since the multitude of requests is high (e.g., thousands or tens of thousands of requests each second) and there is an ever-evolving content of requests, along with the vast usage of randomization, existing DDoS mitigation solutions cannot efficiently characterize HTTP floods application layer DDoS attacks.
Existing solutions are based on calculating the normal baseline during peacetime (when no attack is active or detected), and then any deviation from the baseline is detected as an attack. The baseline is a statistical model calculated or learned over received HTTP requests, representing a normal behavior of a legitimate client accessing the protected server, Upon HTTP flood attack detection, the normal baseline is also used for the actual attacker characterization tasks.
There are a number of disadvantages with HTTP flood mitigation solutions that are based on normal baselines for attack characterization. One disadvantage is that no accurate baseline can be established when the attack is carried out by attacks generating random requests. The entropy of such a request may be too large to baseline. Further, detection of attack using baselines requires setting the threshold to detect an anomaly or deviation from the baseline. Again, the nature of the requests generated by attack tools executing HTTP flood DDoS attacks would require implementing a threshold that has to be dynamically updated. The computation of such thresholds is complex and not always accurate, and thus may lead to a high number of false-positive detections.
Baseline-based HTTP flood attack characterization solutions are also configured to analyze in-line traffic (between a client and protected server) during peace time. Thus, such solutions are not applicable for out-of-path processing of traffic, i.e., when the traffic is directed to the mitigation solution (on-prem device or in the cloud managed service) only upon an on-going attack.
Further, since HTTPS flood attacks employ legitimate-looking requests with or without high volumes of traffic, it is difficult to differentiate such requests from valid traffic. Thus, such types of DDoS attacks are amongst the most advanced non-vulnerable security challenges facing servers and applications owners today.
It would be, therefore, advantageous to provide an efficient security solution for the characterization of HTTPS flood attacks.


Provided is a flight vehicle and in particular a flight vehicle in which a main module equipped with a device capable of carrying cargo, photographing, etc. may freely switch directions during flight while applying a posture independent of a thrust module because the thrust module is configured to freely perform roll and pitch motions with respect to the main module.

A small flight vehicle, also called a drone, has recently been actively developed and used in a wide range of fields owing to the development of lightweight materials, the development of small thrust devices, and the development of flight algorithms.
However, when the flight vehicle switches postures in the air, because the flight vehicle is not normally supported by the ground as it is on the ground, a posture is usually inclined. That is, as shown in (a) of FIG. 1, when the altitude simply rises, there is no problem because the posture is maintained by simply ascending as shown by arrow A, whereas, when the flight vehicle switches directions during flight, as shown by arrow B of (b), the flight vehicle needs to be inclined in order to generate thrust in a horizontal direction. As described above, the flight vehicle, which switches directions, undergoes a great inconvenience in a process of performing photographing and transportation. For example, in the case of a photographing flight vehicle that photographs the ground, when the entire flight vehicle is inclined to switch flight directions, a photographing field of view may be greatly out of a photographing target point. In this case, a continuous photographing of the photographing target point becomes difficult, or a rapid direction switch becomes difficult. In another example, in the case of a transport flight vehicle, when the entire flight vehicle is inclined to switch flight directions during flight, an accident may occur that a transport object may be inclined and damaged, spilled, or deformed.
Therefore, there is a need for the development of a flight vehicle that may freely switch flight directions while not affecting the performance of a mission.

Seoul National University R&DB Foundation


An acetabular reamer (10, 10′, 10″) is intended in particular for the shaping of the cotyloid cavity in the event of a replacement of a hip joint by total prosthesis. The reamer (10, 10′, 10″) is typically of a truncated hemispherical form and is adapted for attachment to a reamer spindle in order to be driven in rotation about a cutter axis (11). The ability to cut a full, continuous hemisphere to the apex (12) of the hemispherical body (14) is suppressed, so as to attain the principal advantage of the invention, namely, to adequately prepare the acetabulum for receipt of a prosthesis while minimizing the possibility of breakthrough of the fovea/acetabular fossa. The reamer (10, 10′, 10″) has an interface 16 typically made tip of cross bars (20) which a holder engages for rotationally activating the reamer for cutting.

The invention relates to surgical products, and in particular, to surgical reamers for cutting shaped cavities in bone.
In order to produce a shaped cavity in bone for a hip implant, which requires smooth walls and accurate shape, it is advantageous that the reamer shell or cutting bowl be hemispherical. Further, the cutting teeth must be properly located and oriented.
It is increasingly important, especially with cementless hip surgery, that the acetabulum be reamed to an exact form, generally a hemisphere, thus allowing optimal contact between the bone and the definitive (usually hemispherical) implant.
Further, there is increasing emphasis on cutting a smaller incision to minimize the trauma to the patient and to improve the rate of recovery. Meeting this additional requirement provides an additional challenge to the designers of medical instruments and implants. In addition, the change in surgical procedure includes the fact that the surgeon now more often maintains the acetabular reamer handle on a single axis rather than performing the step of "sweeping" the end of the tool handle through an angle and thus continuously changing the axis of the reamer cut. When a prior art reamer handle is powered, pressed against the acetabulum and maintained on a constant axis such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,105, to Salyer, filed Jan. 19, 1998, a series of concentric rings are cut that, on a macro-scale, approximate a hemisphere. When the surgeon "sweeps" the axis of the reamer handle, these irregularities are removed (in a similar manner to polishing) yielding a hemispherical surface. In an attempt to overcome this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,165 to Sayler, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a reamer having a limited number of discrete blade-like teeth, which therefore cuts a spline more approximating a perfect hemisphere. Despite the mention of these references as "prior art", nothing herein should be construed as an admission that the present invention is not entitled to antedate such material by virtue of prior invention.
The inventor(s) of the instant application have also invented a reamer that does not requiring a sweeping operation, such reamer being described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/500,944, entitled "Contour Reamer Teeth", filed Jan. 16, 2003, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto.
Re-surfacing of the hip has become popular. There is accumulating evidence that minimal Resection of the femoral head is an effective alternative procedure. Surgeons now consider that the same principle should be applied to the acetabulum and the bone should only be minimally resected prior to cup placement (such as described in an article entitled A randomized study comparing resection of the Ace tabular bone at resurfacing and total hip replacement.  P. A. Vendittoli et al. JBJS Br 2006 88-B: 997-1002, the content of which are incorporated herein by reference).
Minimal resection is particularly applicable to the acetabulum as it has a paper-thin translucent floor which can sometimes be damaged when using a conventional hemispherical reamer, given that sweeping using a conventional reamer cannot be avoided, and so the full hemispherical shape of the sweep can sometimes break through this thin floor.
Study of the anatomy of the acetabulum shows that articulation occurs only on the C-shaped articular surface and not on the fovea/acetabular fossa (the floor). In other words, there is no need to cut, resurface or resect the apex area of the acetabulum, and consequently, it should be avoided.
Therefore, what is needed is a reamer that reams on the outer areas of the acetabulum and not the paper-thin translucent floor.


A user operating a client system may access a plurality of remote servers requiring passwords for access by employing a master password. The master password is used to decrypt a stored password for a particular remote server to which the client desires access. The client system maintains a database of encrypted passwords and user IDs for remote servers to which the user is registered. Although each remote server is accessed using a different password, the user need only remember one master password. Since only the master password need be remembered, the passwords particular to specific remote sites may be made more random and thus more secure. Implementation of the password management system need not require modification of any remote servers.

The present application relates to user authentication and more particularly to authenticating a user operating a client system to a plurality of remote servers, each of which requiring a password for authentication.
Many remotely accessible computer systems require user authentication. The user, presumably operating a client system, must be registered with the remote system and must type in his or her user ID and a password for that remote system every time it is accessed.
One problem presented by the need for user authentication is that if the user accesses multiple remote systems, the user must remember numerous passwords and user IDs. Typical users confronted with this problem will often try to use the same password for each remote system or write down a list of passwords.
Both of these makeshift solutions compromise security. If the same password is used for each remote system, a system administrator of one remote system will be able to obtain passwords usable to access other remote systems. A written list of passwords is an obvious breach of security in that anyone with access to the list will be able to access any of the remote systems.
The problem of authenticating a user to a plurality of remote systems has become particularly apparent in light of the proliferation of limited access sites on the World Wide Web (WWW). Before accessing a site, the user is presented with an authentication form generated by his or her WWW browser requesting a user ID and password. The user must register separately with each such site and maintain multiple passwords. Furthermore, when navigating through the WWW, he or she is frequently interrupted by authentication messages requesting a user ID and password.
One known partial solution is to remember the last user ID and password typed into a WWW browser's authentication form and provide these values as a default the next time the form is brought up. This facilitates navigation of the WWW for users who employ the same user ID and password for multiple sites since logging into subsequent sites after the first one can be done by simply accepting the default. Thus, the problem of interruption by authentication messages is partially ameliorated in that it is easy to respond to the messages. However, the security problem presented by using a common password for multiple sites remains.
What is needed is a convenient yet adequately secure system whereby a user may access multiple remote servers that require passwords.

Password helper using a client-side master password which automatically presents the appropriate server-side password to a particular remote server


A reprocessor having a circulation system for circulating a microbial deactivation fluid through a chamber that forms a part of the circulation system. The reprocessor includes a water filtration system for filtering water used in the reprocessor. The water filtration system includes a fluid feed line connectable to a source of pressurized water. A first filter and second filter elements are disposed in the fluid feed line for filtering fluids flowing therethrough. The second filter element is downstream from the first filter element and has the capacity to filter particles smaller than the first filter element. The fluid feed line forms a fluid path for water entering the reprocessor, and defines a portion of a path for microbial deactivation fluid circulated through the circulation system.

Medical, dental, pharmaceutical, veterinary or mortuary instruments and devices that are exposed to blood or other body fluids require thorough cleaning and microbial deactivation or sterilization between each use. Liquid microbial deactivation systems are now widely used to clean and deactivate instruments and devices that cannot withstand the high temperatures of a steam sterilization system. Liquid microbial deactivation systems typically operate by exposing the medical devices and/or instruments to a liquid disinfectant or sterilization composition, such as peracetic acid or some other strong oxidant.
In such systems, the instruments or devices to be cleaned are typically placed within a chamber within the liquid microbial deactivation system, or in a container that is placed within the chamber. During a deactivation cycle, a liquid disinfectant is then circulated through a liquid circulation system that includes the chamber (and the container therein).
Following the deactivation cycle, a rinse solution, typically water, is circulated through the chamber to remove traces of the microbial deactivate and any particulate that may have accumulated on the instruments or devices during the deactivation cycle. As will be appreciated, it is important to have rinse water of high purity to insure that the microbially deactivated instruments and devices do not become re-contaminated during the rinse cycle.
The water used to rinse the instruments and devices generally passes through a filtration system to remove mycobacterium particulates from the water. Although small amounts of the liquid sterilant may back-up to the downstream side of the filtration system, the upstream contents of the filtration system are generally not microbially deactivated and/or sterile. Thus, there is a possibility that microbial contamination may accumulate in the upstream side of the filtration system over time, and subsequently pass into the downstream side of the filtration system and be introduced into the chamber during a rinse cycle.
The present invention overcomes these and other problems and provides an improved filtration system for filtering water used in a microbial deactivation system.


A method and apparatus extract information from a burst cutting area (BCA) of a recording medium. The BCA extraction includes (a) receiving a signal from the recording medium, the signal including BCA data read from the BCA, the BCA data being represented by channel symbols, (b) analog-to-digital (A/D) sampling the signal to generate input data, (c) identifying a BCA region within the input data, the BCA region corresponding to the BCA data, (d) determining an average channel symbol width of the BCA data, the average channel symbol width corresponding to an average number of A/D samples per channel symbol in the BCA data, (e) increasing a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the BCA data using the average channel symbol width, (f) generating a channel pattern data from the BCA data using a selected threshold value, and (g) generating a channel symbol data from the channel pattern data using the average channel symbol width.

The BCA information is used in digital versatile disk (DVD) Read Only Disk, for example, type A and C disks, as specified in standardized specifications such as the ECMA-267 specification, high definition (HD) Read Only DVD specification, Blu-Ray Disc specification, and the like. The BCA may be used for other formats. One of the primary purposes of providing the BCA to each format is copy protection. The information contained within the BCA region is used by the disk player to establish the software to be used in conjunction with the contents of that disk. The BCA information (or code) can be the same for a series of disks or unique for each disk. For example, the BCA information may specify a serial number of the disk so as to identify individual disks. The BCA information is typically recorded after the end of the disk manufacturing process.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a BCA 10 provided on an optical disk 12. The BCA 10 is an annular area inside of the lead-in area, typically at a radius about 22.3 mm to 23.5 mm. The BCA information is recorded using YAG laser after the main data content has been mastered on to the disk by the manufacturer. The information is "cut" into the reflective layer of the finished disk. The BCA information may also be recorded by means of replication process (stamping), for example, using embossed pits. The BCA information is written with a series of low reflectance stripes (or pits) arranged in circumferential direction and extending radially within the BCA region.
Conventionally, disk players read the BCA by rotating at a constant angular velocity (for example, 1440 rpm), moving the optical pickup unit (OPU) to the BCA area, focusing on the information surface, and using a special decoding circuit for the BCA signal which has a frequency much lower than a normal DVD high frequency (HF) signal. Typically, conventional solutions use dedicated hardware including some form of defect detection to extract the BCA channel data. Typically, the marks in the BCA are detected as a drop-out in the HF signal. Since the frequency of BCA signal is different from that of the normal DVD HF signal, additional hardware, such as phase lock loop (PLL) circuitry, is used to perfrom timing and data recovery on the extracted BCA data. Then, data formatting and error correction process (for example, using the Reed Solomon code) are performed on the BCA data to obtain the data contents.

Method and apparatus for extracting information from burst cutting area of recording medium


A cylinder sleeve for being inserted in a cylinder bore defined in a block body of a cylinder block for an internal combustion engine. The cylinder bore includes a first annular recess and a second annular recess, and projecting walls. The cylinder sleeve comprises a hollow cylindrical body that is inserted into the cylinder block with at least part of an outer circumferential wall thereof adjacent to an inner circumferential wall of the projecting walls of the cylinder block, a larger-diameter portion projecting diametrally outwardly from an upper end of the outer circumferential wall of the hollow cylindrical body, a step disposed on an outer circumferential wall of said larger-diameter portion, by which the larger-diameter portions of adjacent cylinder sleeves are stacked, and a reduced-diameter portion provided by reducing a diameter of an inner circumferential wall of said hollow cylindrical body. The reduced-diameter portion is located at a position adjacent to the projecting walls of the cylinder block and is removed after the cylinder sleeve inserts into the cylinder bore. A method for inserting the cylinder sleeve into the cylinder bore with a friction stir welding is also disclosed.

One type of cylinder blocks for use in internal combustion engines on automobiles or the like is a closed-deck cylinder block 1 as shown in FIG. 58 of the accompanying drawings. Since the closed-deck cylinder block 1 has a water jacket 2 closed at a gasket surface 3, the closed-deck cylinder block 1 is advantageous in that it is more rigid than open-deck cylinder blocks having a water jacket which is open at a gasket surface.
The closed-deck cylinder block 1 is normally manufactured as follows. First, a cavity is provided by a casting mold, and a collapsible core and highly wear-resistant cylinder sleeves 4 such as FC sleeves, plated sleeves, MMC sleeves, high-silicon-based aluminum sleeves, or the like are placed in the cavity. Then, molten aluminum is poured into the cavity so that it surrounds the collapsible core and the cylinder sleeves 4.
Then, the molten aluminum is cooled and joined in a solid state, producing a block body 5. At this time, the cylinder sleeves 4 are inserted in the block body 5. The cylinder block 1 is now formed wherein the cylinder sleeves 4 are disposed in cylinder bores 6.
The cylinder sleeves 4 and the block body 5 are made of different materials because if the block body 5 is cast of high-silicon-based aluminum, the cylinder bores 6 tends to have defective cavities in their surfaces, often making the cylinder block 1 defective. In addition, since high-silicon-based aluminum is difficult to cut, the cylinder block 1 requires a high machining cost.
Thereafter, the collapsible core is collapsed. A space that is created when the collapsible core is collapsed is used as the water jacket 2. As can be seen from FIG. 58, the water jacket 2 is formed by the removal of a portion of walls between the cylinder bores 6 in the block body 5.
In the closed-deck cylinder block 1 thus manufactured, pistons (not shown) are reciprocally moved in the respective cylinder bores 6. At this time, frictional heat generated by sliding contact between the circumferential side walls of the heads of the pistons and the inner circumferential surfaces of the cylinder sleeves 4 is removed by a coolant that is introduced into the water jacket 2.
In recent years, there have been demands for reducing the amount of fuel, i.e., increasing the mileage of automobiles or the like, for the purpose of preventing global heating. One proposal for meeting such demands is to reduce the weight of internal combustion engines and hence automobiles as final products, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 59-3142, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 58-74850, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 59-79056, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 60-94230.
The weight of the closed-deck cylinder block 1 may be reduced by reducing the volume of the closed-deck cylinder block 1. However, it is difficult to reduce the volume of the closed-deck cylinder block 1 because the wall thickness between the cylinder bores 6 needs to be large enough to accommodate the water jacket 2 between the cylinder bores 6. This drawback manifests itself especially in a multicylinder engine having a plurality of cylinders.
The block body 5 which has a reduced wall thickness may be produced by high-pressure die-casting (HPDC) or precision die-casting. However, the HPDC process makes it difficult to cast the closed-deck cylinder block 1 as it is extremely difficult to employ a core. Therefore the HPDC process is solely used to manufacture open-deck cylinder blocks.
According to the precision die-casting process, if the width of the water jacket 2 is to be reduced, then it is necessary to employ a collapsible core with high-strength and which may be removed easily. However, such a collapsible core is difficult to produce.
In this case, after casting the block body 5, the cylinder sleeves 4 may be inserted into the cylinder bores 6 in the block body 5, and the cylinder sleeves 4 and the block body 5 may be welded to each other. However, this process may cause the block body 5 or the cylinder sleeve 4 to be strained by the heat generated when they are welded to each other. Furthermore, if the block body 5 is manufactured by the HPDC process, then it is difficult to weld the cylinder sleeve 4.
As described above, various difficulties are experienced in manufacturing closed-deck cylinder blocks having small volumes.

Cylinder block and cylinder sleeve, method of producing cylinder block and cylinder sleeve by friction stir welding, and friction stir welding method


An object of the present invention is to provide a drill bit which is simple in design, high in rigidity, and superior in durability and whose drilling function is in no way inferior to that of conventional drilling bits. To this end, in a drill bit comprising a cutting blade tip 2 which is united tightly to a tip end of a bit body 1 and a plurality of cutting blade portions 2a, 2b and 2c which are formed around the cutting blade tip 2, a flat surface portion 3 is formed in a side surface of the drill bit from between adjacent cutting blade portions to a base portion of the bit body 1 so that the bit body 1 is formed into a straight configuration having an approximately polygonal cross section.

In drilling holes in materials such as concrete and stone, a special drill bit is attached to a drilling machine, e.g., a rotary hammer drilling machine, and either cutting by rotation or drilling by action of simultaneous application of a vibrational striking force in axial direction and a rotational torque is carried out. And, in order to meet the demand for higher efficiency in such a type of drilling work, drill bits of the type having a cutting blade tip of cemented carbide superior in resistance to abrasion which is united tightly to a tip end side of a steal bit body of the drill bit by brazing, welding, or the like, have been used extensively. Further, like a general-purpose drill, the following configuration has been employed in many cases. That is, a standardized shank portion conforming to the drive shaft is extendedly formed in a base portion of the bit body, and chip ejection grooves are formed in the outer peripheral surface of the bit body in association with cutting blade portions of the cutting blade tip, respectively.
On the other hand, during drilling operations against materials such as concrete and stone by use of the drill bit, i.e., during drilling work (cutting work), lots of powder/particle-like chips are created. However, these cutting chips are not always ejected out through the chip ejection grooves of the bit body.
Particularly, when drilling a hole using a rotary hammer drilling machine or a vibration drilling machine, cutting (impact cutting), in which the blade tip of a drill bit momentarily surfaces from a drill hole cutting surface and immediately thereafter starts impactingly knocking the drill hole cutting surface, is carried out. And, the movement of the drill bit in the longitudinal direction of the shaft of the drill bit during such knocking action also helps a lots of chips to be ejected out through a clearance defined between the bit body and the drill hole.
Further, for the case of rotary hammer drilling machines or for the case of vibration drilling machines, even when chips of relatively large particle size are created on a drill hole cutting surface, they are ground into small particles while impact cutting is repeatedly carried out on the drill hole cutting surface. Therefore, the situation that chips of large particle size remain in a drill hole to cause interference with drilling operations hardly occurs.
However, for the case of drill bits of small bit diameter, e.g., for the case of a drill bit whose bit diameter is not more than about 6 mm and which is provided with chip ejection grooves formed helically around the outer peripheral surface of a drill body, the rigidity of the drill bit falls because of the formation of the chip ejection grooves. This increases the rate of breakage during drilling operations. Particularly, for the case of drilling operations with a rotary hammer drilling machine or with a vibration drilling machine in which impact force in the longitudinal direction of the shaft is applied, the rate of breakage becomes high.


A system and method for backing up workloads for multiple tenants of a cloud computing system are disclosed. A method of backing up workloads for multiple tenants of a computing system includes triggering an archival process according to an archival policy set by a tenant, and executing the archival process by reading backup data of the tenant stored in a backup storage device of the computer system and transmitting the backup data to an archival store designated in the archival policy, and then deleting or invalidating the backup data stored in the backup storage device.

A cloud computing system of a cloud provider has a large number of hosts supporting many, perhaps thousands, of virtual machines (VMs) to meet the requirements of its cloud customers. The cloud provider performs various services for its cloud customers including data protection service (DPS).
DPS is offered in several forms. The first is provided in the same cloud in which the VMs are provisioned. In this context, the "same cloud" means that high-speed local area network (LAN) connections are available between host computers of the VMs being backed up and a backup storage device that is storing the backup data. This first form of DPS is referred to herein as "on-site backups."
Another form of DPS is off-site backups. Off-site backups may be carried out in another cloud computing system or even in a data center owned by the cloud customer. In these situations, the workload can be restored from the backup data at the off-site location.
As compared to on-site and off-site backups described above, a more inexpensive storage solution is archival. Using archival, storage costs are significantly lowered because the ability to store large amounts of data reliably for long periods of time, which can be provided by cheaper forms of storage, such as object stores, is emphasized over data retrieval speeds. Because of the slow data retrieval speeds, however, archival storage is typically used for older versions of backup data, and in general where the likelihood of the data being accessed again very low.

Tiered backup archival in multi-tenant cloud computing system


A method to determine a risk of failure for a machine including: generating a first value for a risk of failure of the machine, wherein the first value is determined by a first model receiving as an input a condition of the machine and the first model includes a relationship derived from historical machine failures and correlating the input condition of the machine to a value for the risk of failure; generating a second value of the risk of failure of the machine, wherein the second value is determined by a second model receiving as an input information regarding wear or degradation of the machine and the second model includes a relationship correlating the input information regarding wear or degradation to a value for the risk of failure, and determining a total risk of failure based on the first and second values of the risk of failure.

The invention relates to failure mode and effects analyses (FMEA) and particularly to FMEA of rotary power generation units.
Power generation units, and particularly units generating electrical power for utility companies, are often required to operate continuously for extended periods at high levels of reliability. Meeting these requirements is difficult because power generation units are prone to wear and require regular maintenance.
Power generation units typically have large rotating components, operate under extreme conditions, and are subjected to large mechanical and electrical loads. These units wear and will suffer failure if the units are not properly maintained. To avoid failure, the power units are scheduled to be taken off-line for periodic repair and maintenance.
A schedule of the repair and maintenance of power generation units typically involves setting a period during with a unit is continuously operated between successive off-line repair and maintenance events. The duration of this period usually requires a balance of the requirement for reliable operation of the unit and the need for continuous and extended operation. When undergoing repair and maintenance, a power generation unit is off-line and is not generating power for a power grid. If the period between successive off-line repair and maintenance events is too long, the power unit may fail during operation which results in an unplanned outage of power generation. Shortening the period reduces the overall period during which the unit is generating power and reduces the total amount of power generated by the unit over an extended period including one or more off-line sessions.
A calculated risk of failure is conventionally used to determine the period between planned off-line maintenance and repair events for an industrial power generation unit. This risk of failure is used to balance the requirement for reliability of the power unit with the need for generated power.
The calculated risk of failure may be characterized as a risk of the power generation unit suffering an unplanned outage. A power unit suffers an unplanned outage when the unit is taken off-line at a time other than a scheduled off-line period. The unplanned outage is typically due to a failure of a power generation unit operating in the field such as in a power generation plant.
Unplanned outage risk is traditionally determined based on historical data of actual field failures of power generation units. Actual field failures are useful for estimating the risk of failure, but do not accurately account for all risks involved in operating the power generation unit. Some risks are not reflected in the historical failures of units.
To model these other risks a "lurking model" has conventionally been used. For example, the risk to previously unseen failure modes may be estimated using lurking model. The lurking model approach is crude and is based on a hypothetical analysis of unforeseen and unseen modes of failures. A lurking model takes into account the risk associated with those unknown failure mode(s) of the system or system components which may precipitate in future if the system or component is allowed to operate beyond the current known operating experience. The risk is typically estimated by a lurking model using a Weibayes model, which is a type of Weibull model in which the shape parameter, also know as "beta", is assumed. A typical value of beta is relatively high and may be in a range of 3 to 4. The hypothetical analysis used in the lurking model may not anticipate actual unforeseen failure modes of a power generation unit.
There is a long felt and unsolved need for enhanced systems and methods to accurately assess the risk of an unplanned outage failure, and to anticipate the modes of failure that can occur in a power generation unit.

Method and system to model risk of unplanned outages of power generation machine


A sign assembly 10 that implements electronic paper to display an animated image. The sign assembly includes a controller 12, a power supply 14, a pair of substantially transparent, electrically conductive sheets 16, 18, and a sheet of electronic paper 24, which is sandwiched between sheets 16, 18. Image layers 20, 22 are imprinted on the sheets 16, 18, or are alternatively held frictionally adjacent to sheets 16, 18 by a frame assembly 56. Image layers 20, 22 include substantially transparent regions 36, 38, 40 and 42 in which sheet 24 is visible. The conductive sheets 16, 18 are connected to controller 12 which provides an electronic signal which is varied over time resulting in the display of an animated or changing image which may be visible when viewed from one or both sides of the sign assembly 10.

Signs are often used to identify, promote and/or advertise goods and services. Conventional signs typically utilize one or more static or unchanging images to provide advertising or identification of a product or service.
Efforts have been made to integrate electrical components into signs in order to provide animated or dynamic images and advertisements. By way of example, electrically-animated signs have been constructed using arrays of electrically-controlled lights, illuminated gas-filled elements (e.g., neon lights), and electrically-driven moving components. While these prior signs provide limited animation, they are often relatively complex in manufacture and therefore, are relatively expensive to produce. Furthermore, these prior electrically-animated signs typically consume a relatively large amount of electrical power during operation, thereby generating undesirable operating costs. Moreover, the relatively high voltages and currents used to operate these signs can raise fire and safety issues.
There is therefore a need for a new and improved animated sign assembly which overcomes at least some of the drawbacks of prior sign assemblies and which implements electronic paper to provide an animated image in a simple and cost-effective manner.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An exercise expenditure monitor device and method for monitoring a user's caloric expenditure at exercise, the exercise expenditure monitor device including a heartbeat sensing device for detecting heart rate of the user, a reference storage unit for storing a standard heart rate and a reference heart rate of the user at rest mode, an individual physiology database for storing data of physiology weighted value and a set of individual physiological parameters inputted by the user including sex, age and weight, each set of individual physiological parameters corresponding to a physiology weighted value, a calculating unit which calculates a general caloric expenditure of the user according to an algorithm including dividing the heart rate difference between the exercise heart rate and the reference heart rate by the reference heart rate and multiplying by the physiology weighted value. Preferably, the exercise expenditure monitoring device includes an activity mode selection unit for storing data of activity weighted value and the item of activity that the user takes e.g. walking, jogging, running, jumping, cycling or aerobic dance. Each activity corresponds to an activity weighted value which is provided to the calculating unit which multiplies the general caloric expenditure by the activity weighted value and obtains a true caloric expenditure of the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exercise monitor, and more particularly to an exercise expenditure monitor device and method for monitoring a user's caloric expenditure at exercise.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the modern society, people have been living and working busily. They are inevitably always under substantial pressure. To relief pressure and for the sake of health, many people do exercise during spare time. Most people have their favorite sports and exercises. Some people prefer simple exercises like walking, jogging, running, jumping, hiking, and so on, and some people like to do exercise with exercise equipment.
Usually, when a user do exercise, he wants to measure and control the amount of exercise he takes. There are a variety of body building devices and exercisers in the market. However, the exercise equipment early developed can only provide simple functions for exercising, and are not capable to measure the amount of calorie that the user consumes. Hence, it is not easy for the exerciser to control an appropriate amount of exercise.
There are various types of body/motion signal sensing devices for a person to measure the amount of exercise taken and to monitor his personal physical conditions e.g. pedometer and heartbeat sensing device. However, most body signal sensing devices or motion signal sensing devices are only able to detect and indicate simple data. For example, a conventional pedometer can only measure the accumulated steps taken, and a conventional heartbeat sensing device can only detect the heartbeats of the user.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,474, a telemetric transmitter unit is disclosed. The transmitter electronics is coupled to each electrode by means of a conductive plastic layer for transmission of signal. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,753, a heartbeat rate indicator in the form of a wristwatch is disclosed. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,180 describes a device for measuring heartbeat rate that includes a wrist strap with skin contact electrodes and a coil receiver for receiving telemetrically transmitted heartbeat signals either from a wireless receiver or from the skin contact electrodes.
Also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,371,945 and 5,164,967 disclose a pedometer for calculating a distance which a user walks, jogs or runs by electronically measuring the length of each stride taken by the use.
All of the aforesaid conventional body signal sensing devices and motion signal sensing devices are designed to have only one detecting and sensing function. That is, in practical use of these conventional sensing devices, they can detect and display only one type of signal. Body signal, for example heartbeat rate, if it is evaluated together with the exercise intensity, exercise type or exercise parameter, it is very useful and beneficial for athletes and sports fans. In fact, most of the products in market do not match the requirements in practical way.
Some producers have devoted to develop a few body signal sensing devices with multiple functions. Take for an example. U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,042 discloses a fitness monitoring device that includes an electronic pedometer which responds to a user's body motion at each step and a wireless heart rate monitor which is wirelessly coupled to the electronic pedometer. The pedometer is fitted to the user's waist and the wireless heartbeat monitoring device is fitted to the user's chest. The heartbeat signal is transmitted wirelessly to and is displayed on the pedometer. Practically, it is not easy and inconvenient for the user to view the data displayed on the pedometer.
Also, exercise monitors with calculating unit are known. Such exercise monitors are improved with expanded functions and are capable to measure the quantity of exercise. U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,044 discloses a caloric exercise monitor that is able to display either or both the calories remaining to be expended to reach the entered goal or the remaining exercise time required to reach the entered goal on a display. However, the calorie exercise monitoring device is not practical.

Exercise expenditure monitor device and method


A portable sound system including a body having an audio signal generator, such as a radio receiver or a tape cassette player, a headset and a communication line extending between the headset and the audio signal generator. The headset releasably engages the body such that a portion of the headset forms a load bearing handle for carrying the system. The headset engages the body to form a handle aperture therebetween for carrying the system. The headset includes a pair of opposing recesses in the headband, sized to engage tabs on a body to releasably engage the headset to the body such that a portion of the headset forms a load bearing handle.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,397,306 discloses a portable radio receiver having a carrying handle extending from a casing. The carrying handle includes a gripping portion having a tuning scale for adjusting the receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,383 discloses a compact radio wherein an earphone assembly is retained within a storage space in a disk-like body portion, such that the wire and earphone assembly cannot become entangled.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,678,999 discloses a portable radio comprising a headset sized to be received over the head to dispose a pair of earphones proximal to the ears.

Portable sound system having a detachable headset for selectively engaging the body to form a carrying handle


An arcuate building structure containing at least three five-sided building blocks, at least three six-sided building blocks, and means for connecting one of said five-sided building blocks to at least one of said six-sided building blocks. The top side of the six-sided block has a substantially triangular shape, and is substantially parallel to the bottom side of the six-sided block. The front side of the six-sided block has a substantially trapezoidal shape with a top edge, a bottom edge, a right edge, and a left edge. The right edge and the left edge have equal lengths and form equal angles with the bottom edge. The back side of the six-sided block has a substantially triangular shape with at least two sides equal in length to each other. The left and right sides of the six-sided block are congruent with each other, are in the shape of a parallelogram, and contain a recess within their borders. The five-sided block contains a top side with a substantially rectangular shape and a recess disposed within such shape, a left and right side (each of which are congruent with the left and right sides of the six-sided block), and a front and back side (each of which are congruent with each other and with the back side of the six-sided block).

Arcuate structures, such as domes and cylinders, are well known to those skilled in the art and have been manufactured by various techniques.
By way of illustration, a geodesic dome is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,682,235 of Richard Buckminster Fuller, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification. The structure of this patent is a building framework of generally spherical form in which the main structural elements are interconnected in a geodesic pattern of approximately great circle arcs intersecting to form a three-way grid defining substantially equilateral triangles.
The modules which form Fuller's geodesic dome are made from light metal pieces, such as aluminum alloy (see column 5); in other Fuller patents, modules are described which contain wood, canvas, and cardboard. These modules are so arranged into the domed structure so that each module undergoes both tension and compression.
Both the modules used to make Fuller's dome and the dome itself have relatively poor compressive strength. Thus, when substantial force is exerted upon Fuller's dome from the outside of such dome, it is likely to fail. This property limits the use of Fuller's dome in applications such as, for example, underwater structures.
The durability of Fuller's dome is also somewhat limited. Because each module in the dome consists of moderately reactive material, it is likely to degrade over time.
Fuller's dome often comprises fabric (such as canvas) and/or plastic, which is used to cover the containing modules. These modules, thus, are not fireproof; and they are not suitable for use as refractory containment structures (such as kilns, e.g.). At the Montreal Exposition, a Fuller geodesic dome caught fire and was rendered uninhabitable.
Fuller's dome, furthermore, does not provide any significant resistance to radiation.
It is an object of this invention to provide a building block suitable for preparing a geodesic dome.
It is another object of this invention to provide a building block suitable for preparing a cylindrical structure.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a building block suitable for preparing a straight wall.
It is another object of this invention to provide a building unit comprised of a multiplicity of the building blocks of this invention.
It is another object of this invention to provide a cylindrical building unit comprised of a multiplicity of the building blocks of this invention.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a building block with improved aesthetic properties.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a process for preparing the building block of this invention.


A gas turbine engine fan blade includes an airfoil and dovetail having an integral aluminum core and a fatigue resistant reinforcing sheath.

The present invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and, more specifically, to fan blades therein.
The high bypass turbofan gas turbine engine is commonly used for powering aircraft in flight. The fan includes a row of fan blades mounted to the perimeter of a rotor disk and powered by a corresponding turbine which extracts energy from combustion gases generated in a core engine. The core engine typically includes an axi-symmetrical multi-stage centrifugal compressor which provides pressured air to a combustor wherein it is mixed with fuel and ignited for generating hot combustion gases which flow downstream through a high pressure turbine which powers the compressor, followed in turn by a low pressure turbine which powers the fan.
Engine propulsion thrust is typically increased by increasing diameter of the fan blades, which also necessarily increases their weight and stress during operation. Accordingly, larger fan blades require correspondingly high strength materials in order to accommodate the various aerodynamic and centrifugal stresses generated during operation for obtaining a suitable useful life.
A typical fan blade includes an airfoil and an integral dovetail at the root thereof which permits individual assembly and disassembly of the blades in corresponding dovetail slots in the fan rotor disk. The blade dovetail must therefore have sufficient strength for transferring the significant centrifugal loads from the rotating fan blades into the perimeter of the rotor disk within acceptable stress limits. The size and configuration of the airfoil is determined by the specific aerodynamic requirements of the fan and is limited by the availability of suitable high strength materials capable of withstanding the various stresses experienced during operation.
For example, titanium is a common high strength material used in fan blades, but is undesirably expensive. A solid titanium fan blade is most readily manufactured, yet has a correspondingly high weight which adds to the centrifugal loads generated during operation.
Hollow titanium fan blades are also known for reducing weight while maintaining strength, but correspondingly increase the complexity of blade manufacture and associated costs.
Another form of the titanium fan blade is the hybrid fan blade which is primarily solid titanium with weight reducing pockets formed therein which may be filled with a lightweight, nonstructural filler material to complete the aerodynamic profile of the blade.
The hollow titanium blade has minimum weight with suitable high strength yet is very expensive to manufacture. The hybrid titanium blade is less expensive to manufacture yet does not enjoy the greater weight reductions of the hollow titanium blade.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an improved high strength, low weight fan blade at reduced cost.


A system and method for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) media content streaming are provided. In one embodiment, prior to streaming desired original media content, a playback agent of a first peer playback device downloads illustration media content, which is a derivate light-weight version of the original media content. The playback agent then initiates streaming of the original media content from one or more other peer playback devices hosting the original media content or a segment thereof. The playback agent monitors a quality of the network connection to the other peer playback devices streaming the original media content to the playback agent. If the quality of the network connection falls below a defined threshold, the playback agent switches playback to the illustration media content. Once the quality of the network connection improves or a new connection is established, the playback agent switches playback back to the streaming original media content.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) architectures are emerging as a potential platform for future Video-on-Demand (VOD) systems. VOD content may be provided in a downloadable format or a streaming format. Particularly with respect to the streaming format, one issue is that peer nodes in a P2P system are under loose autonomous control and are therefore unreliable. For example, a device owner may decide to power down his or her peer device at any time. As a result, if a peer device is streaming VOD content to another peer device and then suddenly goes offline, playback is interrupted. Such interruptions are unacceptable to viewers. Thus, there is a need for a P2P architecture for delivering VOD content that alleviates interruptions in playback resulting from an unstable network.

Illustration supported P2P media content streaming


An anilox roller for flexographic printing machines, which comprises a sleeve cylinder rotatably supported about its own axis by the fixed structure of a flexographic printing machine, and an anilox sleeve, which has a tubular body provided, on its outer side wall, with an anilox surface which can be axially fitted on and removed from the sleeve cylinder. Forced circulation of a temperature control fluid within the tubular body is further provided.

As is known, in printing machines the transfer of ink to the material to be printed on is basically achieved via three cylinders: an anilox roller, a plate roller and an impression roller.
Specifically, the function of the anilox roller is to ink the plate, which is carried by the plate roller, which in turn prints on the material, which is carried by the impression roller.
Typically, the anilox roller has a lateral anilox surface, that is to say it is provided with a plurality of cells that are open outward, inside which the ink is deposited via an inking device, known in the printing trade as a closed chamber doctor blade.
It should be noted that, for practical reasons when changing the print format, in most flexographic printing machines the anilox roller, instead of being constituted by an integral anilox roller, is now implemented by means of a sleeve cylinder upon which an anilox sleeve can be fitted and from which the anilox sleeve can be removed which is, in practice, constituted by a tubular body provided with an outer anilox lateral surface.
In general, the inking device associated with each anilox roller goes from an inking chamber, which is open toward the lateral surface of the anilox roller and is supplied with ink under pressure so that the ink fills the cells of the anilox roller. On mutually opposite longitudinal sides of the inking chamber, two doctor blades are situated which scrape the excess ink off the cells of the anilox roller.
The friction between the doctor blades and the surface of the rotating anilox roller generates heat.
For solvent-based or water-based inks, the heat produced causes the evaporation of the solvent or of the water in sufficient measure to keep the temperature of the ink and of the anilox roller substantially at ambient temperature.
For UV and EB-type inks (that is to say, inks that can be dried using ultraviolet rays or electron beams), which, as is known, are much more viscous than traditional inks and have a low percentage of volatile substances, the heat produced causes a sharp increase in temperature, making it necessary to adopt cooling systems in order to remove the heat and prevent high ink temperatures which could compromise the print process. This is especially true of EB-type inks, due to the fact that, when these exceed a certain temperature (around 30° C.), they quickly deteriorate and are no longer usable.
In some known solutions, these cooling systems are basically constituted by a central refrigeration unit that supplies, by means of a pump, cold water under pressure, to each of the sleeve rollers.
Current cooling systems are not very effective in controlling the temperature when using sleeve rollers, because anilox sleeves have a low thermal conductivity and, therefore, it is difficult to effectively remove the heat generated by the friction of the doctor blades on the outer surface of the anilox sleeves, especially when using UV and EB inks.
Traditional anilox sleeves are, in fact, constituted by multiple layers, which, beginning at the inside of the sleeves and moving outward, are provided, respectively, by: a fiberglass inner tube of a thickness of around 1.5 mm; a layer of soft rubber, necessary for the pneumatic expansion of the fiberglass to fit the sleeve over the sleeve cylinder and remove it from the latter; an aluminum tube of around 10 mm in thickness, the outer surface of which is provided with a layer of ceramic of a few tenths of a millimeter, which is laser-cut to form the cells which are of variable sizes and shapes as a function of the inking desired.
Because some of the materials used to make anilox sleeves have a low thermal conductivity, traditional cooling systems exhibit the drawback of performing a temperature control that is considerably slow and, therefore, inadequate for the specific requirements of flexographic machines.
Moreover, also because of the low thermal conductivity of the sleeves, current cooling systems have to operate with a large difference in temperature with respect to the outer surface of the sleeve and consequently they are not very efficient in terms of energy.
Another disadvantage of current cooling systems consists in that they are capable of controlling the temperature of the anilox roller only through cooling and not through heating as well.

Anilox roller, particularly for flexographic printing machines


A communication device (1001) is provided. The communication device (1001) can include a transceiver (1003), for transmitting and receiving communications when operably connected to a communication network. Also, the communication device (1001) can include a processor (1009) cooperatively operable with the transceiver (1003). The processor (1009) can facilitate receiving (1015) one or more frames from a transmitting device. Also, the processor (1009) can obtain a frame check sequence result (1019). Before obtaining the frame check sequence result, the processor can initiate (1017) a transmission of a responsive frame corresponding to the one or more frames. The responsive frame will explicitly indicate an acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NAK) of the one or more frames.

In a communication system, a transmitting device sends a frame of data to a receiving device. When receiving a frame, there can be significant delay between the time that the last bit of a frame is received over the air and the time that it is determined whether there was an error in the frame which can result in inefficient use of the channel.
There are a number of reasons for this latency. Several procedures can be performed by hardware, software, or a combination, to prepare received information for further processing and check for errors in the frame. These procedures typically include, for example, de-interleaving, de-whitening, and forward error correction such as Viterbi decoding. Depending on the protocol, other checks such as a CRC (cyclic redundancy check) or similar can be performed in addition to the de-interleaving, whitening, and decoding, to further determine whether there was an error. These procedures are sometimes collectively referred to as a "frame check sequence" (FCS).
Each of these procedures takes a certain amount of time before it can determine whether a frame has an error. While the de-whitening does not introduce significant time, the Viterbi decoder can be responsible for much of the delay. There can be a significant time from when the last bit of the frame is received over the air until it is decided whether the frame was received without error.
Certain protocols such as IEEE 802.15.3 provide for the receiving device to transmit a positive acknowledgement to the transmitting device when there is an error in the frame. However, according to the 802.15.3 protocol, if there is an error, the transmitting device does not expect to receive any particular response. Nevertheless, the transmitting device can await the possible receipt of a positive acknowledgement.
An ultra wide band (UWB) physical layer can turn around very quickly from to transmit. Nevertheless, the receive check processing described above adds latency and introduces unproductive dead air time.

Method and system for acknowledging frames in a communication network


Provided is a signal processing device including a communication unit which receives packets transmitted from an event-driven vision sensor including a sensor array including sensors generating event signals when a change in intensity of incident light is detected, a buffer memory in which the packets are temporarily stored, and a readout control unit which forcibly reads out the packets from the buffer memory in a case in which predetermined conditions are satisfied.

An event-driven vision sensor in which a pixel that has detected a change in the intensity of incident light generates a signal asynchronously in time has been known. The event-driven vision sensor is advantageous in that a low-power and high-speed operation can be performed as compared to a frame-type vision sensor, specifically, an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) that scans all pixels in each predetermined cycle. Techniques related to such an event-driven vision sensor are described in, for example, PTL 1 and PTL 2.
As a method of transmitting an event signal generated by such an event-driven vision sensor, an AER (Address Event Representation) format has been known. In the AER format, for example, four pieces of data of an x coordinate and a y coordinate of a pixel in which an event has occurred, ON/OFF (polarity) of the event, and a time stamp are transferred.

Signal processing device, electronic device, signal processing method, and program


A Serial Advanced Technology Attachment-based (SATA-based) flash memory device configured for coupling with a host machine. The device includes semiconductor memory configured for storing data and a plug having therein a plug cavity, the plug cavity having a generally L shape cavity for housing a set of SATA industry-standard signal pins in respective industry-standard positions with respect to the plug cavity. The plug additionally has a set of power pins that includes at least a first power pin. The SATA-based flash memory device employs a SATA protocol for exchanging the data with the host machine using the set of SATA industry-standard signal pins, the SATA-based flash memory device obtaining power via the set of power pins.

The present invention relates to an external Serial Advanced Technology Attachment-based (external SATA-based) flash memory device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a connector-powered flash memory device that can be connected to a host using the SATA protocol signals.
External flash memory devices have been in use for some time. Generally speaking, a flash memory device employs semiconductor memory instead of a magnetic or optical disk to store data. Well known advantages offered by flash memory include higher performance, enhanced background erasing, buffering, and caching for I/O. Furthermore, flash memory has a high degree of reliability, requires lower power and in general involves less size and weight. Compared to magnetic-based or optical-based memory, flash memory is thought to offer better longevity through bad block management techniques, ECC (Error Correction Code), and wear leveling. Furthermore, flash memory is more suitable for use in rugged environments where exposure to shock, high heat, and/or humidity may be expected. Additionally, flash memory is thought to have a greater future since the density of flash memory has been increasing at a higher rate than the rate of increase in the storage density of magnetic or optical-based memory. Although memory devices may employ any type of semiconductor memory, flash memory devices based NAND gates has been particularly popular.
An external flash memory device typically connects to a host using a connector, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector and a corresponding protocol. The USB protocol comes in a slower-speed version 1.1 and a higher speed version 2.0 and has been widely employed as an interface between a host and an external flash memory device. While the USB protocol is useful as protocol for transferring data to and from external memory devices, the limited top transfer rate of the USB protocol (roughly 480 Mbits/sec) has become a bottleneck in some situations due to simplex situation and the sharing of bandwidth by multiple USB devices. This bottleneck is exacerbated as flash memory read/write throughput increases.
What is desired, therefore, is an external flash memory device that employs an interface protocol operating at a higher data transfer speed than the transfer speed offered by the USB protocol. The alternative higher speed external flash memory device preferably leverages on an existing high speed protocol specification, while providing backward compatibility.

Architectures for external SATA-based flash memory devices


Embodiments of the present invention provide a perpendicular recording magnetic head having a narrow track width, high recording magnetic field intensity, and a good recording magnetic field distribution. According to one embodiment, a perpendicular recording magnetic head includes a read section and a write section. The write section includes a main magnetic pole layer, a lower sub magnetic pole layer, an upper sub magnetic pole layer, a pedestal magnetic layer, and a coil conductor generating a magnetic flux in the main magnetic pole layer. The write section further includes lower and upper auxiliary magnetic pole layers disposed on a leading side and a trailing side, respectively, relative to a medium moving direction, adjacent to the main magnetic pole layer. The lower and upper auxiliary magnetic pole layers are retracted from an air bearing surface. The upper auxiliary magnetic pole layer is retracted from the air bearing surface less than the lower auxiliary magnetic pole layer.

In line with the recent development in the information society, market needs have emerged for more compact magnetic disk drives offering higher densities and higher speeds. Perpendicular recording is suitable for these market needs. For a theory of operation involved thereof, the perpendicular recording system is suitable for achieving higher surface recording densities for the following reasons; specifically, the higher the linear recording density of a pattern recorded on a disk has, the smaller the demagnetizing field is for more stabilized magnetization; a leak component from a magnetic field generated from a write head is small in a track width direction; and the like. The perpendicular recording system also acts favorably on thermal decay characteristics of the disk. As compared with longitudinal magnetic recording medium, therefore, the perpendicular recording system imposes less stringent restrictions on development of medium. It can therefore be expected to realize even lower noise medium. From the foregoing advantages of the perpendicular recording system, there will be a major shift in magnetic disk drives to perpendicular recording in the near future.
A perpendicular recording magnetic head includes a read section and a write section, one stacked on top of the other. The read section includes a lower shield layer and an upper shield layer. The read section further includes a read element surrounded by the upper and lower shield layers and having a portion exposed to an air bearing surface. Types of the read element used include a giant magnetoresistive effect head, a tunneling giant magnetoresistive effect head having a large read output, and a CPP type giant magnetoresistive effect head applying current perpendicularly to a film surface. The write section forms a magnetic gap on the side of the air bearing surface. The write section includes a main magnetic pole piece and a sub-magnetic pole piece magnetically coupled to each other on a side opposite the air bearing surface. A coil is disposed between the main magnetic pole piece and the sub-magnetic pole piece. In perpendicular magnetic recording, a magnetic field component in a perpendicular direction from the main magnetic pole piece is used to record information. To achieve this purpose, a soft magnetic underlayer (SUL) is disposed on a lower portion of a recording layer of the disk. The SUL opposes the main magnetic pole piece, which allows a ferromagnetic field of a perpendicular component to be generated. A magnetic flux in the SUL is returned, for circulation, to a soft magnetic film of the magnetic head that serves as the sub-magnetic pole piece.
A higher linear recording density (BPI) and a higher track density (TPI) are required to achieve a high recording density. To improve BPI, it is typically necessary to improve magnetic field gradient from a write head and to improve resolution of a read head. To improve TPI, it is necessary to make a track width of the write head narrower. With the track width becoming narrower, however, there is a remarkable trend toward decreased head magnetic field intensity and an expanded effective track width that is recorded on the medium relative to an actual geometrical track width. Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-153013 discloses an arrangement, in which a yoke is disposed on either side of a main magnetic pole piece. The arrangement is intended to reduce a leak magnetic flux that represents the following problem. Specifically, in perpendicular recording, a closed magnetic circuit through which the magnetic flux flows is long. This decreases the amount of magnetic flux due to the leak magnetic flux. This, in turn, decreases a read/write output. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0176214 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-127480 disclose an arrangement, in which a side shield is disposed near the main magnetic pole piece in order to suppress expansion of the effective track width. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-277834 discloses a structure of the main magnetic pole piece having a side surface recessed inwardly.
As described above, the write head is required to have a narrow track width to achieve high recording densities. To achieve that end, it becomes necessary to narrow down the geometrical track width of the write head. Narrowing the geometrical track width, however, entails a decrease in the magnetic field generated from the write head, with which data is written in the medium, resulting in degraded writing performance. In the prior art using a head of a single magnetic pole piece structure for perpendicular recording, measures are taken to make up for a reduction in the magnetic field from the write head as a result of the narrowed track width. The measures include: shortening a flare point of the main magnetic pole piece; and, increasing the film thickness. The shorter flare point leads to degraded geometrical track width accuracy and an expanded distribution of the head magnetic field in the track width direction, which makes it difficult to achieve a magnetically narrow track. Increasing the film thickness, on the other hand, poses a problem in that part of the main magnetic pole piece protrudes, if provided with a skew angle, to a space over a track adjacent to a recorded track, so that a signal recorded therein is erased. Even in a magnetic head including a side shield, the presence of the side shield invites a reduction in the recording magnetic field, while an expansion of writing can be reduced. This makes it necessary, as in the structure having no side shields, to take such measures as shortening the flare point of the main magnetic pole piece and increasing the film thickness. In an arrangement having yokes on both sides of the main magnetic pole piece, the magnetic field distribution expands in the track width direction if there is a magnetic field leak directly from the yokes to the recording medium. This hampers the attempt to narrow the track width. The arrangement also poses a problem in that the magnetic field leaking to the recording medium erases the information in the adjacent tracks.

Hitachi Gloabl Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A system is provided for allowing temporary access to a desired area. The temporary access may be for the purposes of making a delivery. The system comprises a trainable transceiver configured to transmit an activation signal to a remote device; a mobile communications device in selective communication with the trainable transceiver; and an accessory selectively securable to mobile communications device and capable of transmitting information to trainable transceiver.

The proliferation of online shopping has led to an increase in package theft, and while several solutions have been developed for thwarting so-called "porch pirates," these all have drawbacks. Furthermore, most of these solutions do not address another issue—packages being left exposed to the elements. One such solution is to provide a numeric keypad that unlocks a door of the building so the delivery driver with the numeric code may unlock the door. Although this removes the packages from exposure to the elements, it may allow delivery drivers to have access to the inside of the building.

System and method for secure package delivery


A cup made of paper material having a fillable interior is provided. The cup is formed by a conical sleeve and a bottom. The bottom is attached to the sleeve at the lower end of the interior with a bottom skirt in an essentially liquid-tight way. The sleeve and/or the bottom in the area of the bottom skirt and/or the bottom skirt itself includes, at least in one area along the periphery, an outwardly projecting widening. A lower edge of the widening forms a standing surface for the cup. The widening can form a structure for holding another cup of the same type, which structure can act together with a similar cup during stacking. The cup can include a heat-insulting outer sleeve.

A cup of this kind is prior art in Japanese published patent application JP2001-192015A. The bottom skirt of the known cup widens out downwards. The widening serves to fix an outer sleeve, which surrounds the interior defining sleeve by forming a hollow space. As the widening of the bottom skirt defines the distance between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve, the widening of the bottom skirt along the periphery must be continuous. The outer sleeve is placed around the bottom skirt, folded inwards and attached thereto. When the outer sleeve is being attached to the bottom skirt, it may occur that the liquid tightness of the bottom skirt is affected. The attaching of the outer sleeve by means of folding inwards is a very complicated process.
In the case of the known cup, the outer sleeve surrounds the bottom skirt completely, so that this can no longer be seen from the outside. When the outer sleeve is folded inwards and attached from the inside to the bottom skirt, counter-holding from the outside is no longer possible. The outer sleeve can only be pressed against from the inside with a very low level of force, which the bottom skirt can take up itself. If the pressure force is too great, the bottom skirt may tear; on the other hand, the attaching of the outer sleeve can be inadequate if the pressure force is too low. In the case of attaching the outer sleeve by means of heat sealing it can occur that the sealing between the bottom and the sleeve defining the interior dissolves, as when the inwardly folded outer sleeve is being sealed, no counter pressure can be exerted from the outside on the bottom skirt.
In the case of cups made of paper material, the bottom skirt is a very important element of the cup. The bottom skirt is necessary for the connection between the sleeve and the bottom. At least two material layers are disposed in thickness direction on top of one another, namely the material of the bottom and the material of the interior-defining sleeve. The bottom is advantageously pot-shaped, whose open side faces away from the filling opening of the cup. The at least two material layers are advantageously arranged along the wall of the pot-shaped bottom. It can be additionally provided that for example the sleeve is folded inwards around the material of the bottom, and that the bottom skirt consists of three or more material layers. The material of the bottom is glued or sealed to the material of the sleeve in the area of the bottom skirt, in order that it is liquid-tight for at least a certain time.
The term "paper material", from which the bottom and the sleeve are made, includes various materials, which comprise at least one layer of paper, paperboard or cardboard. In addition the material can comprise one or more layers made of synthetics and/or aluminium. It can also be provided that the paper material is waxed or coated, in order to provide a resistance against the liquid with which the cup is subsequently filled. The paper material is advantageously coated at least on the side facing the interior with a thin synthetic layer, preferably made of polyethylene. In contrast to purely synthetic material, the formability and in particular the degree to which such paper material is ductile is limited. In the case of too great a deformation, the paper material itself, or a provided coating, may tear, so that the liquid-tight properties are impaired. The bottom skirt is therefore an essential design feature in the case of cups made of paper material and cannot be omitted.


A synchronized controlled oscillation modulator (SCOM), comprising at least one, Controlled Oscillation Modulator (5), and synchronizing means (1, 6) connected to said COM modulator. The modulator can comprise several COM modulators, and the synchronizing means can be arranged between the COM systems, so that the oscillation modulator signal is used as synchronization signal. The invention provides significant advantages in performance, topological simplification, improved robustness, stability and efficiency compared to prior art.

The pulse width modulator is a central element of any power conversion system. Most switching power converters are based on Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) as means to control efficient conversion between domains (DC or AC).
A typical power converter may include a PWM modulator, a switching power conversion stage, a filter and a control system. A prior art system of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,396 and by Mr. Attwood in Journal of the AES, November 1983. p. 842–853. However, PWM has a range of shortcomings also well known to the art, mainly due to the implementation of the carrier generation. This limits the system bandwidth and complicates design. Also, a stable and robust control system design is difficult.
In order to overcome these drawbacks, a controlled oscillating modulator (COM) was introduced in the applicant's international patent application PCT/DK97/00497. The disclosed modulator eliminates the need of a carrier generator, with a range of advantages, described in detail in said document.
A problem with this technique is that it can only synthesize standard two level modulation—hence giving disadvantages concerning the efficiency of the amplifier.
Another problem arises in multi channel systems such as multi channel audio amplifiers, the oscillating modulators will have oscillation frequency variations, which will cause intermodulation products, adding distortion components within the audio bandwidth. A prior art system for synchronizing an oscillating modulator to an external clock is given in U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,693. This prior art system can only comprise a sawtooth or a triangular signal shape as synchronization signal eliminating possibilities to use COM modulator signals as synchronization signals. Furthermore the system can only synchronize a modulator to an external clock leading to higher complexity when implementing an external clock generator.
In multilevel systems such as, but not limited to PSCPWM systems (as described in applicants international patent application PCT/DK98/00133), the first harmonic of the carrier is not present at the output, and said COM modulator can thereby not be used.

Synchronized controlled oscillation modulator


A wetsuit (10) having an upper trunk portion (14), a lower trunk portion (12), and a neck region (16) including a neck opening (30). A closure panel (34) seals a V-shaped cut out region (38) that forms part of neck opening (30). Hooks (54) and loops (57) secure closure panel (34) in its closed position. In its open position, closure panel (34) substantially enlarges neck opening (30) to permit entry into and exit from the wetsuit through the neck opening. V-shaped cut out region (38) is limited to the upper trunk portion (14) and a double lined neoprene panel (45) is secured below the apex (43) of the V-neck opening. The double lined neoprene panel (45) acts as a stress disperser, in order to minimize wear and tear at the apex (43).

Zipperless wetsuits have an advantage over zipper entry wetsuits in that they provide greater flexibility. Zippers by design are relatively rigid components of a wetsuit and, while they can flex to some extent, they can not stretch or contract at all along their length. Thus, when a surfer, for example, bends over or crouches down, a zipper entry wetsuit does not stretch in the back region along the spine, which either limits the surfer's ability to crouch down or causes the wetsuit to tighten in the neck and crotch regions. When a surfer arches his back, the zipper region does not contract, which can result in the neck region riding up the back side of the surfer's neck. Wetsuit designers tend to compromise by providing a zipper that is slightly shorter or longer than ideal.
One of the design challenges in eliminating the zipper from a wetsuit is to provide the neck region with sufficient expansion capability to allow a person to get into and out of the wetsuit, yet also allow the neck opening to be resealed snugly around the neck.
Japanese publication Utility Model Hei 7-6097, published Jan. 27, 1995, entitled "wet suit," discloses a zipperless wetsuit having a V-shaped cut in the neck and front region with a triangular fan shaped gusset sewn into the cut. An elongated, wrap-around strap is attached at the upper end of the cut, and mechanical fasteners secure the strap around the neck. While provision of a sewn-in gusset may improve the waterproof ability of the wetsuit, the gusset has the effect of restricting the extent to which the neck opening can be expanded for entry and may add an undesirable amount of bulk in the neck region.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,809,364 of Lent and 4,907,295 of Yasuda disclose zipperless wetsuits and are mentioned for background purposes.


A signal transmission method suitable for a signal transmitter includes: providing a plurality of clock signals with different phases, selecting some of the clock signals as a plurality of intermediate signals; transmitting the intermediate signals to a signal output circuit via a clock distribution network; selecting one of the intermediate signals as a reference clock of the signal output circuit to output data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a signal transmitter, and more particularly to a signal transmitter having a deskew function.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data transmission between electronic elements is usually achieved through changing or coupling/conducting data signals on conducting lines. Data transmission of a group of multiple data bits simultaneously completed through multiple transmission channels is referred to as parallel transmission. On the other hand, data transmission of data bits transmitted one after another through one single transmission channel is referred to as serial transmission.
Compared to serial transmission, parallel transmission is in general faster, and is more commonly applied to environments with shorter transmission channels between electronic elements. For example, data transmission between integrated circuits on a printed circuit board and data transmission between a printer and a personal computer mostly adopt parallel transmission. Long-distance parallel transmission may be affected by signal propagation delay differences between the parallel channels. In the occurrence of such signal propagation delay differences, multiple data bits that are expectedly to simultaneously arrive at a destination are often caused to arrive at a destination receiver at different time points. Differences in the arrival time are referred to as skew in the technical field.
For shorter transmission channels or moderate transmission speeds, the skew barely results in noticeable effects and can be neglected. However, as the transmission channel gets longer or the transmission speed increases, quantitative values and differences of such signal propagation delay may become quite apparent, hence an increase in the skew. With an excessive skew, a data bit originally belonging to a particular byte may be erroneously considered as a member of a previous or next byte, leading to a data transmission error.
In a convention approach for processing the skew, differences of signal propagation delays of individual channels at a receiver are first identified, i.e., offset values of the individual channels, and temporal compensations are then correspondingly provided at the receiver. For example, for a transmission channel that has a shorter signal propagation, delay is first provided with an additional signal delay by a filter at a receiver, such that the data bits in the transmission channel are regarded as being received at a later time point. Thus, a deskew function can be achieved at the receiver.

Data transmission method and associated signal transmitter


An electronic switch-mode power supply has a rectifier circuit at a line ac voltage and which comprises a pair of outputs at high level or at ground reference potential, and having an output stage that supplies a smoothed dc voltage. The rectifier circuit is connected to the output stage via an electronic switch and, triggered by a switch control signal supplied to the electronic switch can thus be optionally coupled to the outputs of the rectifier circuit. The electronic switch comprises a transistor switch element and a control transistor, the transistor switch element comprising a switching path arranged between the output of the rectifier circuit lying at high level and the corresponding terminal of the output stage, and which comprises a control input that is held to blocking potential via the conductively maintained switching path of the control transistor driven by the switch control signal, or is held to make potential given an inhibited control transistor. The switch-mode power supply is employable in dc voltage-converted power supplies, particularly given relatively high supply voltages.

The invention is directed to an electronic switch-mode power supply wherein a rectifier circuit connected to a line ac voltage is connected to an output stage for supplying a smooth dc voltage via an electronic switch.
Power packs fed from a line ac voltage for the dc supply of a load are known in numerous embodiments. An overview of circuit principles standard therefor is provided, for example, by Tietze-Schenk, "Halbleiter-Schaltungstechnik", Springer Verlag Berlin, 9.sup.th Edition 1989, Section 18.5 "Schaltnetzgerate", pp. 561 ff. Expressed in simplified fashion, such switched-mode power supplies comprise a rectifier circuit (frequently implemented as a rectifier bridge) connected to the feeding line ac voltage. The rectifier circuit supplies a pulsating dc voltage that is converted into a smoothed dc voltage in an output stage of the switched-mode power supply connected to it. As presented in greater detail in the above reference, these output stages can be rather differently designed dependent on the application, for example as a flow converter or a blocking oscillator.
The implementation of the output stage in and of itself is of only secondary significance for the initially cited electronic switched-mode power supply since it can be utilized in conjunction with a plurality of known output stages. What is thereby more critical, however, is that the smoothed output dc voltage is usually taken in the output stages at a storage capacitor having a relatively high capacitance. The necessary charging of this storage capacitor upon initialization of the switched-mode power supply causes a correspondingly high current at make. Not only the switched-mode power supply itself but also the entire supply chain at the preceding input side must be designed for this.
In this context, DE-A-34 02 222 discloses a circuit arrangement for limiting excess voltages in dc on-board networks. A controllable switch thereby has its switching path inserted into the mains line lying at low potential. A comparator with two inputs is also provided. One of these inputs is connected via a constant voltage source to the output side of this switching path, and the second of these inputs is connected to the other mains line. The comparator compares the signals supplied to it via its two inputs and controls the switch such that a device connected to this circuit arrangement is disconnected from the mains, given excess voltages. The controllable switch can also be designed as a semiconductor switch. On the basis of a capacitor lying in its drive circuit, this enables the high current surge at make to be reduced given a high capacitive load through the connected device.
Further, EP-A-0 423 885 discloses a power supply unit with a circuit for limiting the current at make. This circuit comprises a first semiconductor switch whose switching path, together with a resistor lying parallel to it, is connected into the supply line lying at low potential. An RC element as well as (in parallel thereto) the switching path of a second semiconductor switch are provided in the drive network of this first semiconductor switch. The control electrode of the second semiconductor switch is connected to the tap of a voltage divider to which a second capacitor in turn lies parallel. The switching path of a third semiconductor switch is also connected between the tap of the voltage divider and the supply line lying at low potential. This third semiconductor switch is controlled dependent on a control current supplied by a threshold circuit such that it blocks the supply voltage when a predetermined threshold is downwardly exceeded.
Specifically this last-cited, known circuit arrangement is very complicated in circuit-oriented terms--given all its functional advantages. What both known circuit arrangements also have in common is that they disconnect a connected output stage or a device supplied with the supply voltage from the dc supply with a switch coupled into the supply or mains line lying at low potential. They are switched-mode power supplies with what are referred to as "low side" switches. This supply line usually lies at ground reference potential. A different ground reference potential can thus derive given the different operating conditions at different assemblies, this having to be taken into consideration in the circuit design and definitely potentially making the implementation of the circuit more difficult.
This expense can be avoided given what are referred to as switch-mode power supplies with "high side" switches having controlled switches whose switching path is coupled into the supply line lying at high dc voltage potential.
However, P-channel types, with their known disadvantages, are usually utilized therein for the controlled switches when, of course, they are designed as semiconductor switches.