This invention is related to a shell-and-tube type reactor provided with reaction tubes packed with a catalyst and adapted to circulate a heat medium to the fluid outside the tubes and is characterized by a method introducing a gas into the catalyst beds so as to retain the relative humidity of the catalyst in the range of more than 40% while elevating the temperature of the reactor thereby starting up the reactor. This method prevents the catalyst from degradation of activity due to absorption of moisture, exalts the service life of the catalyst, and permits stable production of methacrylic acid.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for the production of methacrylic acid and more particularly to a method for the production of methacrylic acid, which includes a step of starting up a reactor by introducing therein a preheated gas so as to retain the relative humidity of the catalyst bed not more than 40% while elevating the temperature of the reactor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methacrylic acid is the raw material for a general-purpose resin which demands quantity production. Heretofore, it has been known to adopt for the production of methacrylic acid a method using a shell-and-tube type reactor which has incorporated therein built-in reaction tubes packed with an oxidizing catalyst. The official gazette of JP-A-04-90853, for example, discloses a method for the production of methacrylic acid, which is characterized by using a methacrylic acid-producing catalyst containing at least the oxygen compounds of phosphorus and molybdenum. The official gazette of JP-A-2001-11010 discloses a method for producing methacrylic acid by effecting the gas phase catalytic oxidation of methacrolein with a fixed-bed shell-and-tube type reactor, which method comprises using a molybdovanadophosphoric acid complex oxide as a catalyst and requiring the reaction tubes to be packed with the catalyst in such a manner that the quantity of the catalytically active component per unit volume of the reaction tubes may decrease from the raw material gas inlet part toward the outlet part.
Methacrylic acid is produced by the oxidation and/or oxidodehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from among methacrolein, isobutyl aldehyde, isobutyric acid, and isobutane. This reaction is exothermic in kind. For the purpose of recovering the heat of this reaction, therefore, it is necessary to circulate a heat medium to the reactor. Since the solidifying point of the heat medium generally is so high as to fall in the range of 50-250° C., the production of methacrylic acid with a reactor which is left standing at room temperature necessitates adoption of a specific method of starting up the reactor. The official gazette of JP-A-2001-310123, for example, discloses as a means of starting up a reactor adapted to circulate such a heat medium, a method which effects quick startup of the reactor by introducing a gas heated to a temperature in the range of 100-400° C. to the reaction tubes' side thereby starting elevation of the temperature of the reaction tubes, then circulating a heated heat medium to the fluid outside the reaction tubes, and introducing a gas of an elevated temperature in advance to the reaction tubes thereby preventing the heat medium which has been circulated from being re-solidified.
Since methacrylic acid is the raw material for a general-purpose resin, it is required to have the production efficiency thereof further improved by exalting the conversion ratio and the selectivity of the raw material compound. Further, methacrylic acid is a compound which is produced by continuously feeding the raw material gas and operating the plant for a long time. Thus, it is required to develop the development a method for improving the service life of a catalyst for use in the production line thereby exalting the productivity of the pertinent operation and stabilizing the production of methacrylic acid for a long time.

Method for production of methacrylic acid


Ethylene/carboxylic acid ionomers may be made, using a meltspun, and particularly meitblown process, into microfibers and thence to filter webs which are efficient gas filters for removing particles having a diameter of from 0.5 to 20 microns from a gas. The webs are effective without a deliberate specific post-charging operation during production. A deliberate post-charging operation can also be carried out to result in further efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to microfibers made from ethylene/carboxylic acid ionomers, the fibers being meltspun, particularly using the `meltblown` process. The microfibers in the form of a web material can be efficient gas filters without being electretized. The materials, however, may also be electretized.
2. Description of Related Art
Non-woven materials are well known and widely used in a variety of applications including apparel, adhesives, sorbents and filters. These materials are made from matted, entangled non-bonded, but also melt-bonded fibers. When the matting is very tight, the non-woven material may be thought of as fabric-like. Such non-wovens may be useful, for instance, for apparel. When the matting is relatively loose and open it may considered, and is often referred to as, a `web`. The form of a web may be thick or thin and the fibers entangled and/or bonded with varying degrees of openness, and with variations in the degree of bonding.
The properties of non-woven materials vary widely, from tough to relatively weak, flexible to stiff, highly porous to having low porosity, with highly absorptive or less absorptive capacity, yet may even have barrier characteristics, especially to liquids. The nature of non-wovens depends on (i) what material is used to make the fibers (ii) the nature of the fibers--which will depend on the process used to make them, and (iii) how the fibers are bonded together. It may be fair to say that the variation in the type and applications of non-wovens is as great or greater than that of woven materials.
A major market for non-wovens is in the filtration market, for gases and liquids. Gas filtration involves removing particulate matter, usually solid such as dust, but also liquid particles, from a gas, particularly air. Typical markets include heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC). Demanding markets such as pharmaceuticals, microelectronics and biotechnology use highly efficient or ultra efficient particulate air filters (HEPA and UFPA).
Because of the differing gas filter applications, the demands of, and characteristics of gas filters are varied. The filter may require high flux (i.e., high gas throughput) requiring high permeability, and/or require a high level of particle removal, and/or require removal of specific size particles. To a large extent flux, often quantified and measured in terms of the `pressure drop` across the web, and the `filtration efficiency` are conjugate quantities. Thus tighter filter webs may be more efficient but have lower permeability. The filtration efficiency however must always be characterized in relation to the particle size filtered. The drive in filter technology is towards improving the efficiency at given flux, or improving flux at a given efficiency--as well as reducing cost, of course.
The `architecture` of a filter web depends on the fiber diameters, and the distribution of the diameters, how the fibers are entangled/bonded together, the density of web, its uniformity, and the thickness and weight per unit area. These architectural features are a major factor in filter efficiency, the flux, and the size particles which they remove. To filter out small particles, it is necessary to have fine fibers and small passages throughout the web, with no large channels (somewhat comparable to a finer mesh in a woven filter). Webs made of `microfibers` as opposed to fibers of the size of normal textile fibers are used for filtering fine particles in the 0.1 to about 20 micron region.
While fibers for filter webs are often made of glass, synthetic thermoplastic polymers are also commonly used. Microfibers of synthetic thermoplastic polymers are commonly meltspun, particularly by a process known as the `meltblown` process, though certain other processes can produce microfibers such as fibrillating film. The meltblown process has been succinctly defined as `a one-step process in which high-velocity air blows a molten thermoplastic resin from an extruder die tip, onto a conveyor or take-up screen, to form a fine-fibered self-bonding web`. A meltblowing apparatus suitable for the production of microfibers was described in Report No. 4364 of the Naval Research Laboratories, published May 25, 1954, entitled `Manufacture of Super Fine Organic Fibers`, by Van Wente et al.
The ability to make microfibers from synthetic polymers, and the nature of the resulting web produced in the meltblown process depends on the melt rheological and crystallizing or, more generally, solidifying characteristics of the polymer. Other technologies that, in a broader sense, could be considered meltblown, or more generally meltspun processes, and can produce microfibers include electrostatic melt-spinning, flash spinning and centrifugal spinning.
For filtering fine particles however, the appropriate web architecture is a necessary factor but may not be the only factor in determining efficiency. Another major factor is the electrostatic nature of the surface of the polymer fibers. This is significantly dependent on the chemical nature of the polymer composition, the molecular conformation within the fiber, and the surface nature of the fibers made from it. Generally, filter microfibers are subjected to a surface treatment to increase their electrostatic charge or polar nature. So-called `insulating` polymers, those with high resistivity, are `electretized` which is sometimes said to mean `electrified to possess permanent dielectric polarization` or `electrified to make an electret` or to possess an `electret surface`.
A deliberately produced electret surface on filter web microfibers may be produced at different stages of forming the filter. A material may be treated even before fiber formation, such as a sheet before fibrillation. Fibers may be treated during or after their formation, or the treatment may be carried out during or after the actual web formation Such treatment is conventionally done by a procedure involving rubbing or corona charge treatment. Other techniques for providing electret enhancement are described in U.S. Pat. No 4,375,718 (Wadsworth); U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,537 (Klaase) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,815 (Nakao).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,682 (Kubik et al.) teaches that filtering efficiency of a meltblown microfiber web can be improved by a factor of two or more when made into an electret.
While electrets are often referred to as having a `permanent dielectric polarization`, which leads to or is associated with a surface charge, in fact to a greater or lesser degree, the electrostatic charge or permanence of surface polar nature, whatever its precise nature, decays with time. The usefulness of electret enhanced filtering is of course dependent on how permanent the electret nature is, in relation to the time span for use of the filter.
The most commonly used polymer for making such electret filters is polypropylene but other fibers have been used. U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,576 (Jones et al.) states that other polymers may be used, such as polycarbonates and polyhalocarbons, that may be meltblown and have appropriate volume resistivities under expected environmental conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,263 (Inoue) discusses the characteristics of electets made of non-polar and polar polymers. Non-polar polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene are indicated to produce stable electrets, but of relatively low electrostatic charging capacity, while polar polymers are indicated to have high initial electet capacity, but relatively rapid decay, particularly under humid conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,504 (Ohmori et al.) discloses microfibers which are able to be more permanently electretized than prior art materials. The materials used to make the fibers consist of polymers which include polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, polyamide, poly(vinyl chloride), poly(methyl methacrylate) etc., containing 100 ppm or more, preferably 200 to 2000 ppm, in terms of the metal, of a fatty acid salt such as an aluminum, magnesium or zinc salts of palmitic, stearic or oleic acid.
Electretizing generally requires extra steps and use of special equipment after or during making of the fibers or webs. There is a need for materials which can be made into filter webs without the need to post-charge or deliberately electretize, yet which have comparable or better efficiency/flux. At the same time, if such materials can be electretized to produce filters with even greater efficiency, then the materials serve yet an added need.

Meltblown ionomer microfibers and non-woven webs made therefrom for gas filters


A home base station (HeNB) that supports LIPA (Local Internet Protocol Access) defined in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standards: transmits (step S103) information indicating that a user terminal has an LIPA connection in a handover request, to a target base station, by including the information in the handover request, when a handover procedure from the home base station to the target base station is started for the user terminal having the LIPA connection; and continues (steps S106, S107) the handover procedure without releasing the LIPA connection when the target base station permits the handover request.

In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) which is a project aiming to standardize a mobile communication system, the standardization of LTE Advanced, which is a sophisticated version of LTE (Long Term Evolution), is conducted after 3GPP Release 10.
In the 3GPP Release 10, an LIPA (Local Internet Protocol Access) function by a home base station is defined (see NPLs 1 and 2). The home base station is a small-sized base station provided in a house or in a company and may be called a femto cell base station.
LIPA is a function of performing communication by an LIPA connection (LIPA PDN connection) which is established between a user terminal and a local device within an IP network of the house (or company) where the user terminal is located, via a home base station and not via a core network of an operator. The LIPA does not feed user data to the core network, and thus, it is possible to reduce a traffic load of the core network.
The 3GPP Release 10 does not support a mobility of the LIPA connection. Therefore, when a user terminal having the LIPA connection moves from a home base station to another base station, the connection is always released. As a result, when resuming communication between the user terminal and the local device to which the user terminal had been connected, a reconnection process is needed, and thus, the communication is interrupted.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Communication control method and home base station


A flash memory cell is of the type having a substrate of a first conductivity type having a first region of a second conductivity type at a first end, and a second region of the second conductivity type at a second end, spaced apart from the first end, with a channel region between the first end and the second end. The flash memory cell has a plurality of stacked pairs of floating gates and control gates with the floating gates positioned over portions of the channel region and are insulated therefrom, and each control gate over a floating gate and insulated therefrom. The flash memory cell further has a plurality of erase gates over the channel region which are insulated therefrom, with an erase gate between each pair of stacked pair of floating gate and control gate. In a method of erasing the flash memory cell, a pulse of a first positive voltage is applied to alternating erase gates (“first alternating gates”). In addition, a ground voltage is applied to erase gates other than the first alternating gates (“second alternating gates”). In a second method to erase the flash memory cell, a pulse of a first positive voltage is applied to the first alternating gates and a negative voltage is applied to the second alternating gates and to all control gates.

A non-volatile memory cell or an array of such cells is well known in the art. Typically, non-volatile memory cells are grouped in a sector and/or a block and all the cells within a sector or a block are erased simultaneously.
One particular type of non-volatile memory is a NAND cell array, wherein each sector or block in the array comprises many strings of stacked pairs of floating gates and control gates on top thereof. Between each pair of stacked pairs is an erase gate. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,885,586 and 6,992,929, whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. See also "Split-Gate NAND Flash memory At 120 nm Technology Node Featuring Fast programming and Erase" by C. Y. Shu et al, 2004 symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical papers, p. 78-79, which is also referenced in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) of U.S. Pat. No. 7,247,907; both of there references are also incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Another type of non-volatile memory is a NOR cell array, wherein each sector or block in the array comprises many strings of memory cell pairs. Referring to FIG. 3a there is shown a cross-sectional view of a unit of NOR cells of the prior art. FIG. 3b is a schematic representation of the cell shown in FIG. 3a. Each pair of memory cells comprises of two stacks of floating gates (see FG0 and FG1 in FIG. 3a) and control gates on top (see CG0 and CG1) an erase gate in between (see EG1), and two other erase gate, which also serve as select gates, or word lines during read operation (see WL0 (aka EG0) and WL1 (EG2)), on two other sides of the two stacks of floating gates and control gates on top. There is also a bit line contact between each two pairs of the 2-cell pairs.
In this type of memory cell, however, during erase operation, all of the erase gates in a cell or in an erase block are electrically connected together and the same erase voltage is applied to all of the erase gates in the erase block.
It is also well known in the prior that erase efficiency is proportional to the erase coupling ratio. As the erase coupling ratio is reduced, erase efficiency is increased.
Thus, it is one of object of the present invention to increase the erase efficiency by decreasing the erase coupling ratio.
Another object of the present invention is to improve the write-erase endurance performance. This type of memory cell is usually erased by tunneling electrons through a layer of inter-poly dielectric from a floating gate to an erase gate. During tunneling, a small portion of electrons are usually trapped in the inter-poly dielectric layer and, thus, increases the potential barrier to retard electron tunneling. When the trapped electrons accumulate to build up a high enough potential barrier after a certain write-erase cycles, erase can not be performed with the same applied erase voltage, which causes the memory cell to fail operation. The present invention allows the memory cell to switch to the other group of erased gate and/or increase the erase voltage for erase operation when the erase operation by the first group of erase gates fails, and the memory cell can continue functioning until more trapped electrons are built up.

Method for erasing a flash memory cell or an array of such cells having improved erase coupling ratio


A support pole with enhanced strength along it's base includes an elongated pole member secured to a mounting plate. A majority of the length of the pole member has a uniform cross-section. Slits are cut into each side of the pole member along its lower end. A mandrel is placed into the lower end of the pole and expanded, thereby expanding the lower end of the pole away from the center and creating a larger cross-sectional area at its lower end. The lower end of the pole is secured to the mounting plate. Reinforcing members are welded over the expanded slits and the bottom of the reinforcing member is further welded to the mounting plate. The lower section with a larger cross-sectional area increases the moment of inertia and surface area of the support pole, thereby increasing the strength of the support pole.

Support poles are common structures used for a variety of functions, including supporting lamps, holding power lines, antennas, and mounting devices that require a raised vantage point. Support poles are often made with a uniform cross sectional area to a standardized set of dimensions in order to utilize other standardized components. Maintaining adherence to industry standards is necessary in order that replacement poles fit preexisting installations. Typically, a support pole includes an elongated pole which is secured to a mounting plate that anchored in position. Common methods for securing support poles include welding the support pole to the mounting plate.
A problem with conventional support poles involves stress concentrations that occur near the interface between the support pole and the mounting plate. When external factors, such as wind, act on the support pole, they generate forces that act to introduce stresses causing structural faults at the base of the support pole that are propagated throughout the connection to the mounting plate. These stresses decrease the operational life of the pole.
Therefore, a need exists for a support pole with increased strength that fits within industry standards while increasing the operational life of the support pole.

Method and apparatus for improving the strength of a utility pole


The invention relates to the use of hGH, hGRF, hIGF-1, hIGF-2 or analogs of these or a mixture of two or more of these, alone or in conjunction with lactational enhancers for the treatment of human lactation failure. It also relates to the use of hGH, hGRF, hIGF-1, hIGF-2 or analogs of these or a mixture of two or more of these, alone or in conjunction with lactational enhancers for the manufacturing of a medicament for the treatment of human lactation failure, also a profphlactic treatment. Preferably human growth hormone is used. The invention also relates to a method for the treatment of human lactation failure as well as compositions and methods for their manufacturing.

Endogenous Growth Hormone (GH) plays an important role in the establishment (mammogenesis) and maintenance (lactogenesis) of ruminant lactation (Cowie et al. In "Lactation", 123-140 Ed. I. R. Falconer 1971, Vines et al. J. Dairy Sci 60: 1949-1957, 1977).
It is known that serum levels of endogenous GH are greater in high yielding than low yielding cows (Hart et al, Endocr. 77:333-345, 1978) and in animal studies it has been shown that a synergistic effect of GH together with other lactogenic hormones is obtained in the development of the mammary gland (Tucker J. Dairy Sci 64: 6: 1403-1421, 1981). The site of action of GH is less clear, as limited animal studies have failed to show binding of labelled GH to mammary tissue, suggesting GH receptors are not present in the gland in significant concentrations. Recent advances in understanding the mode of action of GH via insulin-like growth factors and the identification of various growth factors in mammary secretions suggest that GH may mediate its effect on the mammary gland via insulin-like growth factors (IGFs). (Phillips et al NEJM 302: 371-378, 1980, Baxter et al J. Clin Endocrinol Metab 58: 955-959, 1984, Corps et al J. Clin. Endocrinol Metab 67; 25-29, 1988) although there is contradictory data (Davis et al. J. Endocrinol 123,33, 1989).
It is not known if these growth factors are produced locally, or transferred from the maternal circulation and what influence maternal and milk levels of these peptides have an initial lactation, maintenance of lactation and neonatal growth.
For many years it has also been known that exogenous GH will significantly increase the milk yield in cattle (Machlin et al. J. Dairy Sci 56: 575-580, 1973) although close arterial infusions of GH into the mammary gland of ruminants does not increase milk yield, suggesting an indirect effect (Mc Dowell et al. Aust J Biol Sciences 40, 181-189. 1987).
The mechanism of GH-potentiated boosting of milk yields remains unknown, although several lines of research suggest that the most likely mode of action is via insulin-like growth factors acting either directly or indirectly. IGFs have now been found in the mammary secretions of various animals and more recently in milk samples from lactating mothers up to 6 months post partum.
While considerable knowledge has thus been obtained recently regarding animal lactation, this knowledge has to date not been extended to the human.
However in the non-ruminant, the role of growth hormone in lactation is much less defined and is likely to be very minor. GH may play a part in mammogenesis, but in lactogenesis the most important controlling hormone seems to be prolactin (Shiu RPC et al. Annu. Rev. Physiol 42:83-96, 1980). Prolactin receptors are present in mammary tissue (Shiu et al. Biochem J 140:301, 1974), indicating a direct effect of prolactin on the breast, and prolactin mediated events such as the incorporation of tritiated leucine into casein are blocked by antibodies to the prolactin receptor. (Shiu et al. Science 192: 259, 1976). Prolactin levels rise during suckling and basal levels are also elevated during the initial weeks of lactation (Noel GL et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 38:413-423, 1974). If levels are lowered e.g. by ergot drugs, lactation ceases.
Conversely, neuropharmacologic agents which block inhibition of prolactin release such as Reserpine (11,17-dimethoxy-18-((3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl)oxy)yohimban-16-carboxylic acid methyl ester) and Metoclopromide (4-amino-5-chloro-N-((2-diethylamino)ethyl)-2-methoxybenzamide), increase serum prolactin levels with a positive effect on lactation volumes. (Guzman et al. Acta Obstet Gynaecol Scand 58:53-55, 1979). These effects of pharmacologic intervention on prolactin levels and subsequent changes in lactation volumes are mirrored in several pathological conditions seen clinically. In Sheehans syndrome (pituitary failure following childbirth) prolactin levels are considerable diminished, with subsequent failure of affected mothers to establish lactation. Conversely, in situations of prolactin excess, e.g. prolactin-secreting tumours, the clinical presentation is often inappropriate lactation in both sexes. (Kleinberg et al. N. Eng J Medicine, 296:589-600, 1977). In contrast growth hormone levels are low throughout lactation and do not rise with suckling.(See Noel GL et al above). It is also known that ateliotic (GH-deficient) female dwarves lactate normally (See Rimoin DL et al J. Clin Endo Metab. 28,1183-88. 1986). Therefore the weight of evidence supports prolactin as the dominant hormone in human lactogenesis and any role for growth hormone in this situation appears minor.
Failure of normal lactation is a well established entity in man and causes considerable emotional distress to the affected mother. Current treatment options are relatively limited. Available drugs such as Reserpine and Metoclopromide are often used because their pharmacologic actions include stimulating release through dopamine pathways. However they can cause disadvantageous side effects, e.g. sedation and/or hypotension in a significant proportion of mothers and because they are probably, like sulpiride (another procainamide analogue), excreted in breast milk, could have potentially toxic effects for the infant. (See Aono T et al J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 47:675-680, 1978).
Alternative treatment approaches are clearly required. An obvious approach to this problem would be to directly increase maternal prolactin levels by supplementation. Unfortunately recombinant prolactin is not available for a large scale trial of this treatment and pituitary derived prolactin has now been found to be unsafe, following cases of Jacob-Creuzfield disease in children treated with pituitary derived hormones. Recombinant human growth hormone, however, is readily available.
Lactation failure in humans is a common clinical event with serious emotional sequelae. It has been considered to be a significant problem in 5 to 10% of all lactations. In many instances this leads to premature initiation of supplements or total weaning. This is considered to be an inferior child rearing practice and may be harmful to certain infants with an increased risk of gastritis etc. Many affected women are severely emotionally distressed by their perceived inadequacy, thus effecting the parent-child bond. Failure to thrive in infants is not uncommon if the mother refuses to supplement.
There has therefore been a long need for a medicament, which can promote human lactation e.g. when there is a lactation failure after the birth of the child. This is a human problem. For animals like cow and goat, there has only been a need for an increase of the milk production above a normal level.
In EP 317 387 it is suggested that the production of milk and the weight of the new born child as well as the post partum weight gain in animals and in humans will increase, when an effective amount of hGRF is given to the mother before child birth. The animal is treated for a short time (10-20 days). No experiments have been carried out on humans and in the examples only sheep have been used and any effect was probably indirect through stimulation of mammogenesis late in gestation, given the short half life of hGRF.
There is no substantive or direct evidence that in man growth hormone has a significant role in lactogenesis (Rimoin DL et al. J. Clin. Endocrinol Metab. 28:1183-1188, 1968).
There has been no reason to suppose that hGH would be useful in human lactation failure and no one has yet examined the use of hGH for lactation failure in the newly delivered human mother.


A printing head (106) as a first functional unit and at least one further functional unit (107) of the same kind or of a different kind are attached to a common carrier (105) and mounted by means of a carriage for displacement in each case in parallel in the direction of the print lines and are arranged so as to swivel between the individual working areas of the printing device by means of a common swivel drive. The arrangement of the individual functional units (106, 107) on the carrier (105) and the alignment of the swivel axis (104) are selected such that the functional units can be swiveled in each case in the direction of the print lines and perpendicularly to the feed direction out of and into the respective printing station (101, 102).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a printing device having at least two working areas which are separated spatially from one another and each have separate feed devices for the original assigned to the respective working area, using at least one printing head and at least one further functional unit of the same kind or different.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printing devices of this kind are preferably considered for use in counter workstations in which, for example, forms, savings books, checks, identification papers, labels or the like are printed and read and, in addition, receipts, cash slips etc. are issued for the customers and/or printed journals are kept. In view of the usual lack of space at the counter workstation, devices of this kind should only have very small external dimensions. On the other hand, simple handling and a high degree of accessibility are required during maintenance, for example when changing the ink ribbon, for the operation at the counter to proceed as rapidly and free of faults as possible.
In view of these requirements, concepts in which a separate printing head with separate drive and, if appropriate, also a reading head are used for each printing station do not come into practical consideration because of the increased outlay in terms of costs and the space requirement due to the plurality of units.
It is therefore already known (cf. DE A 3,039,124), to arrange the printing head and reading head next to one another on a common intermediate carrier and to provide a common drive for both units. This arrangement requires both a complicated ink ribbon guidance for the printing head, so that the reading window of the reading head arranged directly next to it is not covered and also an increased space requirement in terms of width since, in order to read and write the complete form width, the reading head must be moved beyond the form on the one side and on the other side the printing head must be moved beyond the form if a loss in form width is not to be accepted and the two margins are not to be dispensed with when reading and writing. Even here, the outlay is also still considerable because, as before, a separate printing head including drive and actuation must be provided for a separate printing station.
Therefore, another known device already provides a swivelable carrier element to which only a single printing head and a reading head arranged perpendicularly to the printing head are attached. The swivel axis of the carrier element drive extends in such a way that the printing head can be swiveled forwards and backwards perpendicularly to the direction of the lines between two printing stations. This swivelable arrangement also requires a large amount of space because in one swivel position the reading head protrudes to the front and only assumes a park position there, whilst in the other swivel position the printing head extends backwards into the device to a corresponding degree. A further amount of space in terms of width may also be required under certain circumstances if the printing head has to be positioned laterally outside the roller area of the feed device to swivel.

Printing device having at least two printing stations separated spatially from one another

Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme Aktiengesellschaft


Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for are provided for engaging and re-engaging a gesture mode. In one embodiment, a method performed by the computer system detects an initial presence of a user pose, indicates to a user progress toward achieving a predetermined state while continuing to detect the user pose, determines that the detection of the user pose has reached the predetermined state, and responds to the detection of the user pose based on determining that the detection has reached the predetermined state. The computer system may further prompt the user by displaying a representation of the user pose corresponding to an option for a user decision, detecting the user decision based at least in part on determining that the detection of the user pose has reached the predetermined state, and responding to the user decision.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to computing technologies. In particular, aspects of the disclosure relate to systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media that perform gesture recognition.
Increasingly, computing devices, such as smart phones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other devices, include touch screens, accelerometers, cameras, proximity sensors, microphones, and/or other sensors that may allow these devices to capture motion and/or other sensed conditions as a form of user input. In some devices, for instance, particular movements and/or occurrences may be recognized, for instance, as gestures that correspond to particular commands in different situations. For example, a device may recognize a gesture, such as a left swipe (e.g., in which a user waves their hand in front of the device to the left), as corresponding to a "previous page" command while a browser application is displayed and a "previous track" command while a media player application is displayed. In this example, a user may cause the device to execute these commands by performing the corresponding gestures in each of these situations. Improved gesture recognition may be beneficial in many circumstances.

Interacting with a device using gestures


A method, a mobile communication system and a mobile station for establishing a telecommunication connection on a direct mode channel and for improving radio coverage by way of using a simple and cheap repeater. An inexpensive and simple repeater is achieved by, instead of using two transceivers, using two receivers and just one transmitter. A mobile station, prepared for direct mode communication, is able to switch between channels answering to commands sent from the repeater.

The invention relates to radio telecommunications systems. A subscriber of a radio telecommunications system, i.e. a subscriber station, such as a mobile phone or some other means of communication, may be registered in a radio network or radio system through control or traffic channels maintained by the base stations of the radio network.
Apart from system channels of radio telecommunications systems, direct mode channels can also be used, i.e. direct mode operation is applied. Subscriber stations using direct mode operation do not communicate directly with a radio network or its base stations. Direct mode channels are frequencies at which the mobile phones or other means of communication are able to communicate directly with one another without the system.
Direct mode channels are typically used in situations where, e.g., a group of hand-held mobile phones communicate with one another at such a long distance from the base station that system channels cannot be used.
Another important use of direct mode channels is in the addition of capacity when traffic increases rapidly in one part of the service area of the system, e.g. at one point of the radio network.
A direct mode channel is also called a direct or simplex channel, or a simplex connection. A direct mode channel is a channel that is typically not used by the system at all. It may be, for example, a channel with the same channel spacing as the channels of the system, e.g. 12.5 kHz or 25 kHz. Further, especially a direct mode channel used for repetition may be a pair of frequencies comprising uplink and downlink frequencies, or in a time division multiple access system (TDMA), uplink and downlink channels. Of the mobile phones operating on the direct mode channel, the transmitting station has then tuned its transmitter to the channel and transmits speech or data information. The other mobile phones set to direct mode operation have tuned their receivers to the same channel.
On a direct mode channel, both analog modulation and digital modulation can be used. A mobile phone transmitting on the channel can also send signalling information, such as information about access rights and priorities or a group operating on the channel, or data traffic. On a direct mode channel, messages can be encrypted, or signals can be transmitted in clear form.
Subscriber stations operating in direct mode communicate with other subscriber stations on a direct mode channel, without necessarily being in direct contact with the base stations of the radio network. Subscriber stations operating in direct mode can, however, communicate with the radio network through repeater stations. A repeater station is an equipment in which two radio units are interconnected. A repeater station typically comprises two transceivers, one of which operates in the downlink direction and the other in the uplink direction. A repeater station transmits the information messages sent on the direct mode channel to the desired network elements, such as the base stations of the radio network, which forward the information messages to the mobile exchanges of the radio network. The information messages transmitted by the repeater station may be, e.g., data or signalling messages. With a repeater, e.g. semiduplex communication is used on a direct mode channel.
A problem with the solutions of the prior art is how to implement a reliable mobile communication system comprising a repeater that is cheaper to use and does not involve great equipment costs.
Another problem with the prior art solutions is how to provide a repeater and an operating method by which a repeater that is as simple as possible operates effectively, repeating and relaying information between the base station of the mobile communication system and the mobile stations that communicate or have been located on a direct mode channel.

Establishing a telecommunications connection in a mobile communication system


A method and computer executable program code are disclosed to verify the source of software downloaded from a remote site to a client computer over a computer network before the software can be executed on the client computer.

This invention relates in general to computer networks. In particular, the invention relates to secure ways of distributing software by server computers to client computers over a computer network.
The public data networks, collectively called the Internet and colloquially referred to as the Web, are becoming increasingly popular. Among other things, the Internet provides a communication medium to distribute software products to computers that are located at distant places. The numerous methods by which sellers of computer software programs deliver executable programs automatically to client computers owned or operated by users are described in the parent application, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
To understand the invention, it is helpful to understand the distinctions among the terms content, browser, type-setting program, embedded object and script. These five types of entities are described below in the context of Internet-related software.
Content is the subject matter contained in a web page. Content is distinguished from the other entities described herein in that content is not a program; it is the data that is presented to a user.
A web browser, or simply, a browser, is a computer program that provides access to the vast resources of the Internet. Typically, this is done by providing a xe2x80x9cwindowxe2x80x9d to the data located on other computers connected to the Internet. A frame is a part or section of a browser window that contains a distinct display area. If a web page is defined to contain multiple frames, each frame can act as an independent display area, and can download web pages located at different web sites, while displaying them together in one window on a browser. Alternatively, a web page may cause multiple browser windows to be created on the user""s computer. A browser can also be described as a xe2x80x9ccontainerxe2x80x9d of the various components it displays. Thus, while the components are embedded in a browser, the browser envelops the components.
In general, in a window-based computer system, such as the Windows(trademark) 98(trademark) program marketed by the Microsoft Corporation, windows are arranged hierarchically. A browser program that executes on a window-based computer system is also arranged hierarchically. When a browser application is launched on a windows-based computer system, the first window that appears is called xe2x80x9cparent windowxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cmain windowxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctop-levelxe2x80x9d window. This top-level window can later xe2x80x9cspawnxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cforkxe2x80x9d other windows, which are called xe2x80x9csub-windowsxe2x80x9d that run other applications. A sub-window may be created by executing a script within a browser window, and may be programmed to run another instance of a browser program. In such cases, the sub-window is called an xe2x80x9copenerxe2x80x9d window. Thus, it may be the case that a first window running a browser programxe2x80x94a top-level windowxe2x80x94is programmed to point to a web site, and a sub-window created from the same browser program is programmed to point to a different web site.
A type-setting program is a presentation program, typically written in the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). In an HTML-encoded program, content is surrounded by codes that indicate the manner in which the browser presents the content to a user. Additionally, HTML encodes certain devices called xe2x80x9clinksxe2x80x9d that allow a user to xe2x80x9cnavigatexe2x80x9d the web by simply clicking on a sensitive area of the web page.
A document that contains xe2x80x9cobjectsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccomponentsxe2x80x9d like graphics, audio or video files, or charts in addition to text is called an embedded document object. Several competing standards exist in the marketplace for documents that can be transmitted over the Internet and displayed in a browser. For example, two such standards are OpenDoc, promoted by the International Business Machines Corporation and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), promoted by the Microsoft Corporation. Typically, these standards provide for an application programming interface (API) that allows an independent software vendor (ISV) to develop applications that deliver components via the Internet. An API generally allows a programmer to interact with an enveloping browser. For example, a programmer may seek to determine the precise configuration of the browser by reading the values of its internal parameters. Alternatively, a programmer may wish to adapt the browser to a desired configuration by appropriately setting the browser""s parameters.
Finally, a script is a list of computer-executable instructions, typically written in a human-readable language. Some browsers are configured to execute instructions written in script languages. In such browsers, an analog of a Central Processor Unit (CPU)which is an essential component of all modern computers-is defined within the software contained in the browser. This software-defined CPU executes the scripts within the browser environment. For example, JavaScript(trademark) is a language in which a programmer can code in a human-readable set of instructions that can be executed within the browser environment. In this case, the browser is said to be a xe2x80x9ccontainerxe2x80x9d object to execute the script within its bounds.
Referring now to the parent application, to achieve the objective stated therein, a web browser program running on a client computer must be able to access the inner workings of the client computer. This can be achieved with the help of the OLE document object technology. The OLE technology is a xe2x80x9csystem-level object architecture that includes services for all-inclusive data access, remote distribution of software components across heterogeneous platforms, robust transaction processing, and large group development.xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cOLE is?xe2x80x9d, undated, (visited Dec. 12, 1998),  less than www.microsoft.com/oledev/olemkt/oleent/oleent.btm greater than . Active X(trademark) technology, developed by the Microsoft Corporation, of Redmond, Wash., uses the OLE architecture and provides the building blocks that enable a provider to distribute over a network software executables that can be executed on a client machine. In general, such distribution of software executables is done via a web browser as described in the parent application. Typically, this execution on a client machine is done when a page source is input to it by invoking certain scripts embedded in the web browser. The downloaded software components are called ActiveX(trademark) controls, which are computer executable pieces of program code. One feature of ActiveX(trademark) controls is hat they have no restrictions placed on them once they reach a user""s machine. For example, a programmer may write an ActiveX(trademark) control tat, upon downloading to a user""s computer, can shut down the computer or reformat its hard drive thereby destroying all data stored on the computer. This creates an easy way for malicious programs such as viruses to reach the client computer and be executed without the user""s notice.
To overcome these security problems, the Microsoft Corporation requires all ActiveX(trademark) controls to be verified by a signature initiative called Authenticode. This verification works in the following way. Each ActiveX(trademark) control is given a secure and encrypted digital signature by a trusted corporation. All browsers that allow download and execution of ActiveX controls are pre-programmed to verify the digital signature. Every time an ActiveX(trademark) control is about to be downloaded, the browser examines the digital signature associated with the control. If the signature is verified as authentic by the browser, it is downloaded without any problems. Otherwise, the browser issues a warning message to the user.
As explained in the parent application, the invention described therein uses some of the features of a programming methodology exemplified by ActiveX(trademark) to effect easy and xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d automatic downloading of software executables to a user""s computer without any action taken on the part of the user. While the invented method and system help achieve the stated ends, a security threat may be created because of the above-mentioned feature of the ActiveX-like technologies that allows unrestricted access by the embedded code to a user""s computer.
Because computers today are interconnected by networks such as the Internet, computer security has become a more important issue than before. Today, computers are more prone to attacks by viruses and Trojan Horses. A virus is a piece of computer code that replicates itself without a user""s intervention. Left unchecked, a virus may copy itself stealthily to other computers and corrupt the data stored in storage devices connected to the computers. For example, a virus may rewrite a section of a computer start-up program called the xe2x80x9cboot sectorxe2x80x9d. Every time a computer is started, the virus copies itself into the memory of the computer and waits. Suppose a user wishes to copy some data from the computer to a portable medium such as a floppy disk. The virus that has copied itself to the memory could be programmed to intercept the writing of the data to the disk and copy itself to the disk along with the data. In this manner, the virus has replicated itself to the floppy disk and is now ready to infect other computers where the floppy disk is used.
In contrast to a computer virus, a xe2x80x9cTrojan Horsexe2x80x9d is a malicious computer program thatxe2x80x94like the fabled instrument of war used by ancient Greeks to gain entry into Troyxe2x80x94causes a user to believe that it is a legitimate program and entices the user operating a computer to perform certain actions that lead to compromising the security of the data stored in the computer.
Referring back to the parent application, assume that in accordance with the invention described therein, an Internet Clinical Services Provider (ICSP) downloads a software program called QuickClean(trademark), designed to xe2x80x9ccleanupxe2x80x9d the user""s hard drive. In accordance with the above-mentioned ActiveX(trademark) Authenticode initiative, a license file is delivered to the user along with the QuickClean program. This software is designed with embedded methods or sub-routines that, when invoked properly using a script, rid the user computer of unwanted or unused software in an orderly manner. However, since these methods or sub-routines for removing unwanted or unused software are invoked by a script, a malicious user can also invoke the script in such a way as to remove desirable or valuable software, thereby causing severe damage to the user""s computer. Moreover, a malicious user may also attempt to secretly transfer the contents of a user""s computer by e-mailing these to his own computer. In the computer security lingo, such a malicious user or programmer is called a computer xe2x80x9chacker.xe2x80x9d The above-mentioned malicious act, called computer xe2x80x9chacking,xe2x80x9d can be accomplished in two ways.
In accordance with a first way of hacking, a hacker obtains a legitimate copy of QuickClean(trademark) and its associated license file from the ICSP. The hacker can then create his own web site and host both QuickClean(trademark) and the associated Authenticode license file on his web site and invite others to use the xe2x80x9cfreexe2x80x9d software. The hacker creates a web page on his web site that contains a malicious script that will use the methods or sub-routines in the QuickClean(trademark) program to erase a user""s hard disk. When a user, enticed by the xe2x80x9cfreexe2x80x9d software downloads the web page from the hacker""s web site, the hacker will download the QuickClean(trademark) program to the user""s computer and invoke the methods in the program to erase the user""s hard disk. Alternatively, suppose a user visits an authorized ICSP web site first and downloads the QuickClean(trademark) program along with the associated Authenticode license file. Later, the user visits the hacker""s web site. Since the QuickClean(trademark) program is already stored on the user""s computer, the hacker does not need to obtain a legitimate copy to wreak havoc on a user""s computer by providing a script to invoke the sub-routines embedded in the QuickClean(trademark) program.
In accordance with a second way of hacking, a hacker may entice an unsuspecting user to visit his web site. The hacker may program his web pages to invoke multiple frames or multiple browser windows. In one frame or browser window, the hacker can cause the user computer to download the QuickClean(trademark) program and the associated license file from the ICSP web site. In a second frame or browser window, the hacker can run his malicious script, thereby causing damage as described above.
There is a need, therefore, for a system and method to prevent a hacker from activating the methods or sub-routines embedded in a computer executable code downloaded to a user computer via the web.
The present invention is a method to verify a downloaded software object so that the software object is executed only if it is downloaded by an authorized entity. Accordingly, the invention comprises a software program that is downloaded to a client computer by a server computer and is programmed to execute on the client computer only if it is enabled to do so. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a computer-executable program code first determines the URL to which a browser running on the client computer is pointed and enables the downloaded software program only if the URL to which the browser is pointed is an authorized URL.
In another aspect of the invention, the determination of the URL to which the browser is pointed is made by verifying the URL pertaining to the xe2x80x9ctop-levelxe2x80x9d window of the browser. In a yet another aspect, the determination is made by verifying the URL pertaining to the xe2x80x9copenerxe2x80x9d window of the browser.

Method and apparatus for securing software distributed over a network


The present invention relates to managing defunct processes. A parent process that does not collect exit information associated with a child process may leave a defunct child process. A defunct child process is identified. The parent process of the defunct child process is modified. The parent process can be modified by changing an existing thread or instantiating a new thread to collect exit information associated with the child process. Collecting exit information causes the removal of the defunct child process.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to managing defunct processes. More particularly, the present invention relates to modifying processes to reap defunct child processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional operating systems provide mechanisms for a parent process to create a child process to perform various tasks. For example, in UNIX based operating systems, a parent process associated with a web server program can create a child process to handle an incoming content request. When the child process finishes handling the incoming content request, the operating system performs cleanup on the child process to release resources used by the child process. The operating system then typically notifies the parent that the child process has finished. The operating system, however, can not remove all resources associated with the child process. Exit information associated with the child process remains for consumption by the parent process. During conventional operation, the parent process waits for exit information associated with the child process so that the parent process can acquire exit information associated with the tasks performed by the child. In one example, the parent process can obtain information about whether or the child process terminated normally after completing a task or if the child process was terminated abruptly by the operating system.
In order to acquire exit information, conventional operating systems specify that the parent process be designed to make an explicit call to wait for the exit information associated with the child process. Collecting the exit information associated with the child process is referred to herein as reaping the child process. Generally, a parent process that implements the timely collection of exit information from its child process is referred to herein as a attentive parent process. If the parent process is not interested in the exit information, conventional operating systems specify that the parent process be designed to make an explicit call not to wait for the exit information. Generally, a parent process that signals that it will not collect the exit information of child process is referred to herein as a disinterested parent process. The operating system will not publish exit information to the disinterested parent, and defunct processes will not result.
However, because of various reasons such as faulty design or software bugs, parent processes often fail to make an explicit call to wait or not to wait for the exit information. That is, the parent is neither attentive nor disinterested. Generally, a parent that fails to indicate that it will not collect exit information and fails to collect exit information is referred to herein as a negligent parent process. If the parent process is negligent, the exit information of the child process remains indefinitely. A terminated child process associated with exit information that remains indefinitely is referred to herein as a defunct process or a zombie process.
Conventional operating systems provide no techniques for eliminating the defunct child process without terminating the parent process that created the child process. Defunct child processes negatively impact system operation in a variety of manners. Although defunct child processes use only a small amount of memory, they do consume finite system resources. Faulty software code that results in a single defunct child process may very well lead to many defunct child processes consuming a large amount of resources. In many UNIX based operating systems, processes including defunct child processes are retained in a process table of finite size. A large number of zombie processes can consume many of the process table slots and prevent the creation of new processes. A large number of defunct child processes can also cause a large amount of worry amongst system administrators, as defunct processes may create the impression that the system is operating improperly.
Only very limited solutions exist currently for eliminating defunct processes. One solution is to terminate the parent process that created the defunct child process. In conventional UNIX and UNIX-like environments, every process other than the init process has a parent process. Terminating a parent process which has child processes causes the operating system to modify the parent-child relationship of all child processes of the parent process. Each child's parent relationship is modified such that the init process is made the parent of the child process. The init process is programmed to collect exit information from all of its children as they exit. When the child processes exit, the exit information is collected, and the operating system can completely dispose of the child processes. However, terminating the parent process to reap defunct child processes disrupts system operation, since the parent process may be engaged in useful work. For example, terminating a parent process associated with a web server program to reap a defunct child process can temporarily take an entire web site off-line. Furthermore, if the defunct child process is the result of faulty software code, the defunct processes will likely result again after the restart of the parent process. Another very limited solution is to restart the entire system. However, rebooting the system is an even more disruptive technique for eliminating defunct child processes than terminating the parent process.
Accordingly, improved techniques for managing defunct processes are desirable.

Methods and apparatus for managing defunct processes


In a video coding/decoding system, reference picture caches in a video coder and decoder may be partitioned dynamically based on camera and background motion can lead to improved coding efficiency and coding quality. When a camera is fixed and therefore exhibits low motion, a system may allocate larger portions of the reference picture cache to storage of long term reference frames. In this case, foreground elements of an image (for example, a person) may move in front of a relatively fixed background. Increasing the number of long term reference frames can increase the chances that, no matter where the foreground elements are within a frame currently being coded, the reference picture cache will contain at least one frame that provides an adequate prediction match to background elements within the new frame. Thus the background elements uncovered in the current frame can be coded at high quality with a low number of bits. When a camera exhibits high motion, the system may allocate larger portions of the reference picture cache to storage of short term reference frames.

In video coder/decoder systems, a video coder may code a source video sequence into a coded representation that has a smaller bit rate than does the source video and, thereby may achieve data compression. The coder may code processed video data according to any of a variety of different coding techniques to achieve compression. One common technique for data compression uses predictive coding techniques (e.g., temporal/motion predictive coding). For example, some frames in a video stream may be coded independently (I-frames) and some other frames (e.g., P-frames or B-frames) may be coded using other frames as reference frames. P-frames may be coded with reference to a single previously coded frame (P-frame) and B-frames may be coded with reference to a pair of previously-coded frames, typically a frame that occurs prior to the B-frame in display order and another frame that occurs subsequently to the B-frame in display order. The previously-coded frames that support the P- and B-coding modes are called "reference frames." The resulting compressed sequence (bit stream) may be transmitted to a decoder via a channel. To recover the video data, the bit stream may be decompressed at the decoder, by inverting the coding processes performed by the coder, yielding a received decoded video sequence.
The coder and decoder both decode coded reference frames and cache them locally. Absent transmission errors, the reference picture caches at both the coder and decoder should be synchronized. The reference picture caches have limited depth and, when the caches are filled to capacity, a new reference picture evicts an older reference picture according to a predetermined eviction scheme.
Better compression efficiency and coding quality can be achieved if reference frames can be selected that provide good matches to later-received frames from a video sequence. Conventional management processes do not always cause reference frames to be retained in caches that provide good prediction references for other frames. For example, in many coding environments, a video coder always keeps a predetermined number of most-recently coded reference frames. In video sequences with extremely low levels of motion, however, improved coding efficiency may be achieved by retaining reference frames older than the Nth most recently coded reference frames. In video sequences having high levels of motion, improved coding efficiency may be achieved by retaining younger reference frames within a reference picture cache, those temporally closest to new frames being coded. No known coding system adequately balances these competing interests.

Adaptive configuration of reference frame buffer based on camera and background motion


Techniques are disclosed that involve the detection of smiles from images. Such techniques may employ local-binary pattern (LBP) features and/or multi-layer perceptrons (MLP) based classifiers. Such techniques can be extensively used on various devices, including (but not limited to) camera phones, digital cameras, gaming devices, personal computing platforms, and other embedded camera devices.

Smile detection techniques aim to determine whether a static face image is smiling or not. The face image may be cropped from raw digital photos or videos using face detection methods.
Nowadays, many consumer electronic devices are equipped with cameras such as camera phones, digital signage, and even television. For such devices, smile detection may be employed in various applications. For instance, smile detection can be used in digital cameras/camera phones to automatically determine when the shutter may be closed. Also, smile detection can be used to conduct automatic surveys in digital signage/television applications. For instance, smile detection may be used to determine how many people enjoy particular programming, advertisements, etc.
In embedded applications, the computing and memory resources are usually very limited. Moreover, smile detection functionality may be required to be resident in memory for continuous execution (such as in digital signage). This makes power consumption an important factor. Unfortunately, existing smile detection approaches require considerable computing and memory resources. Moreover, some existing techniques on embedded devices are quite inaccurate.


A user designated as a group leader of a group of users manages location information for the group of users using a base device. In particular, a client device is identified for each user in the group of users and an area within which each user in the group of users is to remain is defined. Subsequently, the base device can obtain location information for the client device(s) and process the location information for use by the group leader. For example, the base device can display the current location of one or more users, display the relative location of one or more users with respect to the group leader, and/or determine if one or more users are outside of the area. The group leader can then coordinate the group by communicating with one or more users in the group. In this manner, the group leader can make more informed decisions about the status of each group member and more efficiently coordinate the re-grouping and/or movement of the group of users.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to monitoring the locations of a group of users, and more particularly, to an improved solution for managing location information for the group of users.
2. Related Art
Frequently, when a group of individuals visit a relatively large location, such as an amusement park, a business convention, a shopping mall, or the like, the group will split up and move about the location according to each individual's particular interests. As a result, the group will often set a predetermined time and/or location at which to meet. However, often, one or more members of the group may not arrive at the location and the group must spend time and effort in locating these individuals.
To locate an individual, a mobile telephone can be used to talk to the individual and determine his/her location. However, in order to change a rendezvous time and/or location for the entire group, a telephone call will be required for each individual in the group. When use of a mobile telephone is not available/desired, a radio frequency identification (RFID) device can be used to locate an individual. For example, a family can rent an RFID device from an amusement park and pin it to a child. When the child is lost, detection of the RFID device at one or more RFID hot spots located in the amusement park can be enabled. Once the RFID device is detected, the parent(s) can be notified, and the area searched for the child.
These solutions have several limitations. For example, there is no ability for one member of the group (e.g., a group leader) to easily monitor the location of the other members of the group and/or members of the group to determine the location of the group leader. Further, when two-way communication is possible, it is limited to two group members and each individual will need to describe his/her location, which may be difficult in an unfamiliar environment. As a result, these solutions fail to provide a comprehensive solution for determining when a member of the group moves beyond an allowed area and/or for changing a rendezvous location. As the size of a group increases (e.g., a tour group), the effort required to locate one or more missing group members and/or change a pre-determined arrangement increases substantially. As a result, the group leader may not make any effort to locate missing member(s) and/or change the arrangement.
In light of the above, a need exists for an improved solution for managing location information for a group of users.

Managing location information for a group of users

International Business Machines Corporation


An optical disc readout apparatus having an optical system which guides a laser beam onto a signal recording surface of a loaded disc through an objective lens and guides a reflected laser beam onto a photo detector. An effective numerical aperture of the objective lens is adjusted according to the thickness between a substrate surface of the loaded disc and the signal recording surface, and the laser spot with a diameter suitable to a recording density of the loaded disc is focused on the signal recording surface. Therefore, the data recorded in a plurality of optical discs with different thickness or recording densities can be read out.

As a readout type optical disc for recording multimedia data, CD-ROM, etc., have been put to practical use. A CD-ROM is a medium having a diameter of 12 cm, a thickness of 1.2 mm, a track pitch of 1.6 .mu.m and a recording capacity of 540 Mbytes on one side. A digital video disc (DVD) which can record video data by utilizing compression technologies, such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) type compression technology, is under development. However, when video data in the MPEG-2 standard is to be recorded onto a current CD-ROM at a data transfer rate of 4 Mbps, only approximately 20 minutes of video data can be recorded. This means that the current CD-ROM medium is insufficient for recording a movie of about 120 minutes.
To solve this problem, technology for increasing recording density to several times that of current optical discs is under development. In this specification, the recording density equivalent to that of the CD-ROM is referred to as "standard density."
For example, an SD (Super Density) with a diameter of 12 cm (i.e., the same diameter as that of the CD-ROM), which can record approximately 5 Gbytes of data on one side, has been proposed. The SD has a track pitch of approximately 0.73 .mu.m, a shortest pit length of approximately 0.4 .mu.m, and employs an efficient modulation mode. The thickness of the SD is 0.6 mm. When two SDs are adhered together, back to back, the combined piece can record as much as approximately 10 Gbytes of data, which is equivalent to 240 minutes of movie data.
An HDMCD (High Density Multimedia Compact Disc) with a diameter of 12 cm (i.e., the same diameter as that of the CD-ROM), which can record approximately 3.7 Gbytes of data on one side, has been proposed. The HDMCD has a track pitch of approximately 0.84 .mu.m and a shortest pit length of approximately 0.45 .mu.m . The thickness of the HDMCD is 0.6 mm.
Art relating to embodiments of the present invention has been disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-57271.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-215406, an optical pickup is disclosed which can focus the respective beam spots upon the respective information-bearing surfaces of two different types of optical discs having different substrate thicknesses.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-303766, an optical pickup is disclosed which corrects the coma effect caused by the difference in substrate thickness of the optical discs without changing the focal length by advancing an aspherical optical element having no refracting power into a collimated light beam or withdrawing the optical element therefrom according to the thickness of the loaded optical disc. In this arrangement, the pickup can focus the respective beam spots upon the respective information-bearing surfaces of the respective optical discs having different substrate thicknesses.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-259804, an apparatus is disclosed which is equipped with a laser diode for reproducing the standard density CD with a thick substrate and a laser diode for recording and reproducing the high density optical disc with a thin substrate and can focus the laser beam output from the laser diode selected according to the optical disc upon the information-bearing surface through a common optical system.
In order to read information from the high density optical disc, the spot diameter of the laser beam focused upon the information-bearing surface must be reduced to approximately 0.9 .mu.m . In order to reduce the spot diameter to such extent, the wavelength of the laser beam must be shortened or the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens must be increased. However, if the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens is increased, the coma increases in proportion to the third power of the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens. For this reason, if the laser beam which falls upon the substrate surface of the optical disc inclines to the normal substrate surface, the coma increases and consequently the reproduced signals are degraded. Inclination of the optical disc, which makes it not possible for the laser beam to perpendicularly fall upon the substrate surface, is sometimes caused by warping of the optical disc or the like. On the other hand, as the coma is also proportional to the thickness of the optical disc substrate, it is possible to control the coma due to the inclination of the optical disc substrate by reducing the thickness of the optical disc substrate. Based on this principle, to reduce the spot diameter of the laser beam to approximately 0.9 .mu.m by increasing the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens while controlling the coma due to the inclination of the optical disc substrate, a means for reducing the thickness of the optical disc substrate has been examined.
The objective lens of the optical pickup is designed considering the thickness of the optical disc and the wavelength of the laser beam. Therefore, if the substrate thickness of the optical disc on which information is recorded or from which information is read is different from the substrate thickness supposed to be in the objective lens design process, wave aberration results. As a result, the laser beam fails to focus upon the information-bearing surface of the optical disc, and information recording or information reproducing to or from the optical disc is not possible. For example, when an optical pickup mounted with an objective lens designed for an optical disc of 0.6 mm in substrate thickness is used, it is not possible to focus the laser beam upon the information-bearing surface of an optical disc of 1.2 mm in substrate thickness, and therefore, it is not possible to record the information on or read the information recorded on the optical disc of 1.2 mm thickness. This means, for two different types of optical discs with different substrate thicknesses, an optical pickup mounted with two objective lens suitable to the respective different types of optical discs must be prepared.

Optical disc readout apparatus for different types of optical discs


A CT-SDADC of the present disclosure converts the analog input signal from a representation in an analog signal domain to a representation in a digital signal domain to provide the digital output signal. The CT-SDADC achieves the analog-to-digital conversion and ELDC by switching between two phases in the SAR sub-ADC: a sampling phase and a conversion phase. During the sampling phase, the SAR sub-ADC captures the analog input signal across multiple arrays of switchable capacitors. The conversion phase comprises a number of steps, and one or more bits of the digital output signal are resolved at each step of the conversion phase. A portion of the SC-DAC is driven by the delayed CT-SDADC output during the conversion phase to effectively compensate for excess loop delay caused by the CT-SDADC feedback loop.

Field
The present disclosure relates generally to analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and including excess loop delay compensation in sigma-delta ADCs.
Related Art
Sigma-delta modulation is a method for encoding an analog input signal into a digital output signal. A sigma-delta analog-to-digital converter (ADC) encodes the analog input signal using a high-frequency sigma-delta modulation, and then filters the encoded input signal to form a higher-resolution but lower sample-frequency digital output. The first step in a sigma-delta modulation is delta modulation of the analog input signal. In delta modulation, a change in the analog input signal, namely a delta, is encoded to provide the digital output signal. The accuracy of the delta modulation is improved by passing the digital output signal through a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and combining the resulting analog signal, namely the sigma, to the analog input signal forming a feedback loop with forward gain to reduce errors introduced by the coarse sub-ADC.

Method and apparatus for excess loop delay compensation in continuous-time sigma-delta analog-to-digital converters


Insulating element for expansion compensation device and method for manufacture thereof, of the type used in solar energy collector absorber tubes, being formed by a single piece in the form of a ring and with a bellows-like end portion, which is filled with rock wool or other equivalent insulating material, so as to create a hot air chamber which minimizes heat losses.

The general principle of solar thermal technology is based on the concept of the concentration of solar radiation to produce steam generally, which is then used in standard power plants.
One of the greatest challenges in the development of solar thermo power plants is to increase the capture of solar energy, which has a relatively low density. There are two types of solar concentrators: line-focus concentrators and point-focus concentrators. The line-focus concentration is easier to install, since it has fewer degrees of freedom, but it has a lower concentration factor and therefore it reaches lower temperatures than point-focus concentration technology.
That is why the aim is to continue progressing in the development of the receiver tubes used in line-focus concentrators, to increase the capture of solar energy and to reduce thermal losses, such that the overall performance of the concentration plant increases.
The present invention revolves around one of the elements that is a part of said receiver tubes, specifically it deals with an insulating element for an expansion compensation device, which is explained below.
In general, a receiver tube consists of two concentric tubes between which a vacuum is produced. The inner tube, or absorber tube, through which the fluid that is heated flows, is made of metal and the outer tube is made of glass, usually borosilicate.
The expansion compensation device is placed between both tubes, in such a way that it allows movement in the longitudinal direction of the tubes and ensures the vacuum, absorbing any strain that the existing differences between the metal and the glass expansion coefficients might create.
However, this element needs to be insulated at its extremity in order to avoid losses that can take place due to natural convection. This insulating element is the one being developed in this invention.
In the state of the art there are known several solutions for this element, but the element that provides best results is the one disclosed by SCHOTT in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,887. In said document the heat losses at the end portion of the absorber tube are reduced by means of a double vacuum insulation, resulting from the element connecting to the metal tube, which already provides an insulation and, a second insulation formed between the folding bellows of the expansion compensation device and the glass tube, given that the free space left is very narrow so there is no air exchange. Additionally, at the end of the absorber tube (metal tube) there is placed a protector tube (20) whose axial length matches the length of the bellows, so it can be placed in either the glass tube zone or the glass-to-metal transition zone, that the bellows or expansion compensation devices are not affected by the direct sun radiation.
Basically, the invention deals with an element that allows insulating this zone to decrease thermal losses in addition to avoiding any direct heating due to the incidence of the concentrated light from the mirrors upon the glass-to metal seals.
With this insulation system, it has been observed that when it comes to introducing improvements in the expansion compensation device to increase the solar collector performance, no element addresses the issue of thermal losses at the tubes extremities.
Because of all the foregoing, the object of the present invention is to provide an insulating element that decreases thermal losses at the extremities of the absorber tube to improve the system effectiveness.
That is why, unlike in the known state of the art, our protector element protects from thermal losses a part, which is not the part mentioned in the prior patent (it protects the cover and part of the metal absorber tube, according to proposal 1 or the cover and the vessel according to proposal 2) and to this end it uses a bellow system, which allows to absorb the relative movement between its component parts, something that would be unfeasible with the elements known up to now.

Insulating element for expansion compensation device and method for the manufacture thereof


The present invention provides electrolyte that can suppress reduction of battery efficiencies and capacities with increased cycles of charge/discharge of the battery, a method for producing the same, and a redox flow battery using the same electrolyte. The redox flow battery uses the electrolyte having a NH4 content of not more than 20 ppm and a relation of Si concentration (ppm)×electrolyte quantity (m3)/electrode area (m2) of less than 5 ppm·m3/m2. By limiting a quantity of contaminants in the electrolyte, a clogging of carbon electrodes to cause reduction of the battery performances with increased charge/discharge operations can be suppressed.

It is known about electrolyte for a vanadium redox flow battery that when contaminants such as Si compound are mixed in the electrolyte in the production process, the electrolyte has a detrimental effect on a membrane of the redox flow battery. Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 8-148177 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,634) discloses that when the contaminants are removed from the electrolyte by a method outlined below, the detrimental effect on the membrane can be avoided.
"After ammonium metavanadate is completely dissolved in a neutral or alkaline condition, it is acidified to deposit polyvanadium compound, so that the polyvanadium compound thus obtained is used as raw material of electrolyte.
Although the Si compound is mixed in the process of producing the polyvanadium, since the electrolyte is prevented from being gelled even in an acid condition by limiting the concentration of the Si component to 1,000 ppm or less, or preferably 500 ppm or less, durability of the membrane is improved."
This conventional technique has the following problems, however.
During repeated charge and discharge operations, contaminants gradually clog carbon electrodes in the battery cell or are adsorbed on the carbon electrode. For example, ammonium-vanadium compounds are deposited in the electrolyte, so that a flow of or a circulation of electrolyte is hindered by those deposited compounds.
As a result of this, the battery gradually becomes less efficient and eventually becomes inoperative to charge and discharge.
Also, in the technique disclosed by Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 8-148177 cited above, since NH4 is removed insufficiently, the battery efficiencies are reduced to eventually cause inoperativeness of charge and discharge of the battery, as mentioned above. Also, this publication discloses the limitation of the concentration of Si in the raw material of the electrolyte, but does not at all refer to the concentration of Si in the electrolytic solution produced by using such a raw material. Further, it defines only the limitation of the concentration of Si, but does not give any consideration to a quantity of electrolyte used for the battery and to a relationship between area of electrode and absolute quantity of contaminants.
It is an object of the present invention to provide electrolyte that can suppress reduction of battery efficiencies and capacities with increased charge/discharge cycles of the battery, a method for producing the same, and a redox flow battery using the same electrolyte.

Electrolyte for redox flow battery, and redox flow battery


A noise processing device and its method are provided for a video/audio system having a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI). The noise processing device includes a detecting unit, a signal generating unit, and a decision unit. The noise processing method includes using the detecting unit to monitor a variation related to an audio signal and generate a detecting signal accordingly; using the signal generating unit to produce an adjustment signal according to the detecting signal; and using the decision unit to produce an output audio signal according to the audio signal and the adjustment signal. Another embodiment of the noise processing device includes a compensation tracking unit having a control unit. The compensation tracking unit produces an output audio signal according to a difference between the output audio signal itself and the audio signal and a gain of the control unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a device for reducing noise of audio signals and a method for the same, and more particularly, to a device that is used to reduce the noise of audio signals of a digital video/audio system and its method.
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid progress of multimedia technologies, a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) was developed and introduced into the market. The high definition multimedia interface is a digital video/audio interface. In the high definition multimedia interface, packets for conveying audio data are first processed by an audio processing unit and then the audio data are outputted by a playback unit. For example, when a transmitting device having the high definition multimedia interface, such as an optical disk playback device, transmits digital audio packets to a receiving device, such as a digital television, the audio processing unit of the receiving device is used to process the data of the digital audio packets and then the audio data is outputted by the playback unit. However, in some circumstances, for example, the system being turned on or off, a mute mode being entered or left, or audio signals being transmitted to the receiving device at the first time after a period of pause, the receiving device might receive audio signals that change rapidly and thus an unpleasant noise is produced.
Accordingly, as discussed above, the prior art still has some drawbacks that could be improved. The present invention aims to resolve the drawbacks in the prior art.

Noise processing device and method thereof


The energy gel pack clamping fixture is a device used for fixably securing multiple gel packs in a central and convenient location about the horizontal tube member just behind the handlebar stem of bicycles. The fixture includes a central rail flame having an arrangement of integrally molded compression gland grooves and mounting tabs on both ends where adjustable cable tie wraps secure the rail about the tube member. A gel pack is secured about the rail frame by positioning the tear-off tab over the gland depression such that the tearing axis lies along the lateral edge of the gland. A snap clamp piece is oriented and pressed about the top of the tear-off tab then forcibly inserted into the mating gland while deforming the tab in place. The snap clamp piece locks in place when deflectable insertion tab arms become seated beneath the lower edge of the rail flame receiving slots. In this manner, repeated for each of multiple packs, the fixture facilitates central mounting and tear opening of energy gel packs in a repeatable and quick fashion.

Participation in extended distance bicycling activities, whether it be for competitive or exercise purposes, confronts the riders with physiological challenges. Particularly, the amount of calories expended by the rider can frequently result in an energy deficiency before the completion of the race or trip. To address this problem, riders periodically consume measured quantities of an electrolytic/carbohydrate rich solution that come in single serving packets available for purchase from many different suppliers.
When a race or exercise trip exceeds an hour in duration, it is not uncommon for the rider to consume multiple energy gel packs while riding. Particularly, in competitive racing events, riders may consume four or more packs while on the bicycle. As a result, it is necessary for the rider to have a mechanism for transporting multiple energy packs either on their person or mounted somehow to the bicycle. When the packs are stored in pockets or pouches integral to the rider's body or clothing, retrieval can prove to be inefficient, time-consuming, and, in some cases, unsafe when traveling at high speeds or over uneven terrain. Furthermore, retrieval from pockets or pouches may cause the rider to assume an unwanted position about the bicycle resulting in increased wind drag that is detrimental during timed events such as races or competitions. Finally, gel packs transported in a loose fashion within pockets or pouches result in two separate pieces upon opening, namely, the tear off tab and the remaining empty packet. The rider normally releases the tear off tab to the ground creating unnecessary litter.
A common method of securing the packs directly to the bicycle employs the use of electrician's tape. Typically, the gel pack is placed on top of the horizontal tube frame member just behind the handlebar stem. The electrician's tape is wrapped tightly over the tear off tab of the gel pack and around the tube member multiple times. This normally is a difficult and time consuming endeavor since the gear shift and rear brake cables are commonly routed just below the tube member to which the packs are taped requiring the tape to be woven between the cables and the tube member for each successive wrap. Upon completion of a race or exercise period, the rider must remove the tape and leftover tear off tabs from the frame before a new set of gel packs can be secured. Installation and subsequent removal of the tape creates waste, leaves behind an adhesive residue on the surface of the frame tube member, and can potentially result in damage or inconsistent performance of the gear shift and rear brake cables.
The present invention provides for a semi-permanently installed, multi-grooved, central clamping rail unto which up to four individual gel packs can be securely fastened in an area convenient to the rider directly behind the handlebar stem. By locating and securing the mounting rail in an area forward of the rider and adjacent to the handlebars, increased wind resistance and aerodynamic drag is minimized by keeping the rider in a crouched position during gel pack access and opening. While utilizing quick, snap action compression clamps about the central rail, the tear off tabs of the gel packs are locked in place and remain captured after the gel pack is torn free and opened for consumption. Since no tape or other adhesive backed material is used during installation and securing of either the rail, clamps, or gel packs, waste and residue deposits on the bicycle are eliminated. Finally, as an alternative design feature, this invention also may utilize a hinged snap clamp resulting in a fully contained and interconnected gel pack clamping fixture assembly.


A semiconductor package manufacturing method of the disclosure includes providing a multilayer adhesive film, forming a notch and a plurality of openings extending through the multilayer adhesive film, attaching the multilayer adhesive film to a back side of a wafer to form a stack, separating the stack into a plurality of individual stacks, separating each of the plurality of individual stacks into an upper stack and a lower stack, providing a substrate on which a first semiconductor chip is mounted, and stacking the upper stack on the first semiconductor chip. The upper stack includes a second semiconductor chip and a die attach pattern covering a portion of a back surface of the second semiconductor chip. A first side surface of the die attach pattern is aligned with a first side surface of the first semiconductor chip.

The example embodiments of the disclosure relate to a semiconductor package including a plurality of semiconductor chips stacked in a cascade structure and a method for manufacturing the same.
A semiconductor package may include a semiconductor stack including a plurality of semiconductor chips stacked on a substrate in a cascade structure, and a logic chip disposed adjacent to the semiconductor stack, to function as a controller for the plurality of semiconductor chips. The logic chip may be connected to the substrate at a position adjacent to the semiconductor stack having the cascade structure through wire bonding. The plurality of semiconductor chips may be stacked using an adhesive film. A pressure may be applied to the plurality of semiconductor chips stacked in a cascade structure in a molding process, etc. and, as such, the plurality of semiconductor chips may be likely to be inclined in one direction. When the semiconductor chips are inclined, a wire connected to the logic chip and an exposed adhesive film may be attached to each other. When the adhesive film is attached to the wire, the inclined semiconductor chips cannot be returned to original states thereof and, as such, cracks may be generated in the semiconductor chips.

Semiconductor package including plurality of semiconductor chips and method for manufacturing the same


A system and method is provided for assigning a plurality of executable processes to a plurality of physical processors in a multi-processor computer system using a minimum processor share and a maximum processor share defined for each executable process. In an embodiment, the method can include allocating shares of total processor time to each executable process in proportion to the minimum processor shares up to the maximum processor shares to form target share allocations. The target share allocations can be used to map processes to the physical processors.

Computing systems often have various limitations on system resources. For example, a multi-processor computer system may have a large, but finite, number of central processing units (CPUs). Processes executing on the computer system may compete for the system resources. Accordingly, it is often desirable to efficiently allocate the system resources among executable processes running on the system.
Various scheduling algorithms have been developed to allocate system resources. For example, a simple scheduling algorithm is the first-come, first-served algorithm, wherein processes requiring a resource are allowed to access that resource in the order in which they have requested it. When the importance or priority of the processes is not all equal, the first-come, first-served algorithm can provide a relatively poor solution. Better performance can be obtained in some situations using priority schemes, such as preemptive scheduling.
As the constraints placed upon the scheduling problem become more complex, obtaining an efficient solution becomes difficult. One particular complication is when there are multiple processes which can be assigned to multiple resources and/or processors. The addition of constraints, such as minimum resource allocations or maximum resource allocations on a per process basis adds even more complexity to the scheduling problem. Optimal solutions to such a multi-dimensional problem can take a considerable amount of computation to solve.

Process assignment to physical processors using minimum and maximum processor shares

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.