Systems, computer-implemented methods, and computer program products that facilitate synthetic system fault generation are provided. According to an embodiment, a system can comprise a processor that executes the following computer-executable components stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium: a generator component that employs a trained artificial intelligence (AI) model to generate a synthetic system fault, represented as a combination of discrete parameters and continuous parameters that define a system state; and a fault assembler component that analyzes the synthetic system fault and generates textual content corresponding to the synthetic system fault.

The subject disclosure relates to system faults, and more specifically, to synthetic system fault generation.
System fault data is very limited, due to the rarity of events. Many existing technologies that automatically detect system faults use machine learning (ML) and/or artificial intelligence (AI) methods. A problem with such existing technologies is that the amount of system fault data available for a particular system is often not enough to apply such ML and/or AI methods. Another problem with such existing technologies is that the quality of system fault data available for a particular system is often not sufficient enough to apply such ML and/or AI methods. In addition, information technology (IT) data is very complex, so generating an adequate amount of quality system fault data that can be used by such existing technologies is difficult.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An information management system comprises: an external device a comprising interactive communication unit that interactively communicates with an interactive communication device through a public telephone line; an information processing device connected to the external device in a communication-practicable manner; and a third storage unit that stores utilization data, which is accessed by the external device and the information processing device. When a period specified by a start and end of a communication performed by the interactive communication unit of the external device and a period specified by the start and end of utilization of the utilization data overlap with each other, the utilization data are correlated with the communication of the interactive communication unit.

In recent years, personal computers (hereinafter, referred to as "PC") have been widely used for a personal purpose or on business. For example, a PC is connected to an external device serving as an information input source or an external device for processing based on a command from the PC. Specifically, the PC receives data from the external devices and uses the information for management, while the processes based on the managed information are performed to the external device. When it is difficult to install a plurality of external devices, a multifunction machine comprising a plurality of units that execute a plurality of functions is connected to the PC.
The PC and the external device transmit and receive a large amount of information therebetween depending upon operations of the external device. The PC manages the large amount of information (for example, see JP-A-2004-32085).
In the PC for managing a large amount of data, there have been suggested techniques of correlating data so as to enhance an efficiency for data processing.
For example, there is known an information management system, which displays a message requesting for inputting instruction of correlating conditions, receives an instruction from a user in response to the display and perform the correlating operation, so as to correlate the data to be written with the relevant data at the time of writing data (for example, see JP-A-2000-315203).
An aspect of the present invention provides an information management system, which can classify and manage data correlated with a process of an external device, an information processing device installed in the information management system, and a program for performing a predetermined operation to the information processing device.

Information management system, information processing device, and program


An AV stream, as an entity of contents, is managed by ClipInformation. The reproduction of the AV stream is managed by PlayList. The attribute information of the AV stream is recorded in the ClipInformation, whereby the attribute information may include address information corresponding to the discontinuous point in the AV stream, information correlating the time information in the AV stream and the address information, and the time information corresponding to a characteristic picture in the AV stream. This enables a preset mark to be retrieved promptly.

Recently, a variety of types of optical discs have been proposed as a recording medium that can be removed from a recording apparatus. These recordable optical discs have been proposed as a large capacity medium of several GBs and are thought to be promising as a medium for recording AV (audio visual) signals, such as video signals. Among the digital AV signal sources (supply sources), to be recorded on this recordable optical disc, there are CS digital satellite broadcast and BS digital broadcast. Additionally, the ground wave television broadcast of the digital system has also been proposed for future use.
The digital video signals, supplied from these sources, are routinely image-compressed under the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 2 system. In a recording apparatus, a recording rate proper to the apparatus is set. If digital video signals of the digital broadcast are recorded in the conventional image storage mediums for domestic use, digital video signals are first decoded and subsequently bandwidth-limited for recording. In the case of the digital recording system, including, of course, the MPEG1 Video, MPEG2 video and DV system, digital video signals are first decoded and subsequently re-encoded in accordance with an encoding system for the recording rate proper to the apparatus for subsequent recording.
However, this recording system, in which the supplied bitstream is decoded once and subsequently bandwidth-limited and re-encoded prior to recording, suffers from deteriorated picture quality. If, in recording image-compressed digital signals, the transmission rate of input digital signals is less than the recording rate for the recording and/or reproducing apparatus, the method of directly recording the supplied bitstream without decoding or re-encoding suffers from deterioration in the picture quality only to the least extent. However, if the transmission rate of the input digital signals exceeds the recording rate of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus, it is indeed necessary to re-encode the bitstream and to record the re-encoded bitstream, so that, after decoding in the recording and/or reproducing apparatus, the transmission rate will be not higher than the upper limit of the disc recording rate.
If the bitstream is transmitted in a variable rate system in which the bit rate of the input digital signal is increased or decreased with time, the capacity of the recording medium can be exploited less wastefully with a disc recording apparatus adapted for transiently storing data in a buffer and for recording the data in a burst fashion than with a tape recording system having a fixed recording rate imposed by the fixed rpm of the rotary head.
Thus, it may be predicted that, in the near future when the digital broadcast is to become the mainstream, an increasing demand will be raised for a recording and/or reproducing apparatus in which broadcast signals are recorded as digital signals, without decoding or re-encoding, as in a DataStreamer, and in which a disc is used as a recording medium.
If a recording medium having plural data, such as data of a program comprised of image data and audio data, recorded thereon, is to be reproduced by the above-described apparatus, there is presented a problem that, while the processing of determining a readout position of the AV stream from the recording medium or that of decoding the stream needs to be performed promptly responsive to a command from the user for random accessing or stream decoding, increasing difficulties are met in prompt execution of such processing with increase in the volume of data recorded on a recording medium.

Information processing apparatus and method, program and recorded medium


A ferromagnetic thin-film based magnetic device with internal film coupling compensation including a nonmagnetic material intermediate layer with an initial thin-film of an anisotropic ferromagnetic material on one side. A compensation thin-film of an anisotropic ferromagnetic material is provided on the opposite side with an antiparallel coupling layer thereon and a subsequent thin-film of an anisotropic ferromagnetic material on the antiparallel coupling layer with the compensation thin-film being less thick than the subsequent thin-film. A antiferromagnetic layer can be supported by the layers on either side of the intermediate layer.

The present invention relates to ferromagnetic thin-film structures and, more particularly, to ferromagnetic thin-film structures exhibiting relatively large magnetoresistive characteristics.
Many kinds of electronic systems make use of magnetic material based devices. Digital memories are used extensively in digital systems of many kinds including computers and computer systems components, and digital signal processing systems. Such memories can be advantageously based on the storage of digital bits as alternative states of magnetization in magnetic materials in each memory cell, particularly in cells using thin-film magnetic materials, resulting in memories which use less electrical power and do not lose information upon removals of such electrical power.
Magnetometers and other magnetic sensing devices are also used extensively in many kinds of systems including magnetic disk memories and magnetic tape storage systems of various kinds. Such devices provide output signals representing the magnetic fields sensed thereby in a variety of situations.
Such memory cells and sensors can often be advantageously fabricated using ferromagnetic thin-film materials, and are often based on magnetoresistive sensing of magnetic states, or magnetic conditions, therein. Such devices may be provided on a surface of a monolithic integrated circuit to provide convenient electrical interconnections between the device and the operating circuitry therefor.
In the recent past, reducing the thicknesses of the ferromagnetic thin-films and the intermediate layers in extended "sandwich" structures in which the two major surfaces of the intermediate layer each have thereon an anisotropic ferromagnetic thin-film layer, including those having additional alternating ones of such films and layers, i.e. superlattices, have been shown to lead to a "giant magnetoresistive effect" being present. This effect yields a magnetoresistive response which can be in the range of an order of magnitude or more greater than that due to the well-known anisotropic magnetoresistive response.
In the ordinary anisotropic magnetoresistive response, varying differences between the direction of the magnetization vector in the ferromagnetic film and the direction of the sensing current passed through the film lead to varying differences in the effective electrical resistance in the direction of the current. The maximum electrical resistance occurs when the magnetization vector in the film and the current direction are parallel to one another or antiparallel, while the minimum resistance occurs when they are perpendicular to one another. The total electrical resistance in such a magnetoresistive ferromagnetic film can be shown to be given by a constant value, representing the minimum resistance, plus an additional value depending on the angle between the current direction in the film and the magnetization vector therein. This additional resistance follows a square of the cosine of that angle.
As a result, operating external magnetic fields can be used to vary the angle of the magnetization vector in such a film portion with respect to the easy axis of that film portion. Such an easy axis comes about because of an anisotropy present in the film typically resulting from depositing that film in the presence of a fabrication external magnetic field oriented in the plane of the film along the direction desired for the easy axis in the resulting film or annealing such a film afterward in the presence of such a field. During subsequent operation of the device with the resulting film, such operating external magnetic fields can vary the angle to such an extent as to cause switching of the film magnetization vector between two stable states which occur as magnetizations oriented in opposite directions along that easy axis. The state of the magnetization vector in such a film portion can be measured, or sensed, by the change in resistance encountered by current directed through this film portion. This arrangement has provided the basis for a ferromagnetic, magnetoresistive anisotropic thin-film to serve as part of a memory cell.
In contrast to this arrangement, the resistance in the plane of a ferromagnetic thin-film is isotropic with respect to the giant magnetoresistive effect rather than depending on the direction of a sensing current therethrough as for the anisotropic magnetoresistive effect. The giant magnetoresistive effect has a magnetization dependent component of resistance that varies as the cosine of the angle between magnetizations in the two ferromagnetic thin-films on either side of an intermediate layer. In the giant magnetoresistive effect, the electrical resistance through the "sandwich" or superlattice is lower if the magnetizations in the two separated ferromagnetic thin-films are parallel than it is if these magnetizations are antiparallel, i.e. directed in opposing directions. Further, the also present anisotropic magnetoresistive effect in very thin-films is considerably reduced from the bulk values therefor in thicker films due to surface scattering, whereas very thin-films are a fundamental requirement to obtain a significant giant magnetoresistive effect.
In addition, as indicated, the giant magnetoresistive effect can be increased by adding further alternate intermediate and ferromagnetic thin-film layers to extend the "sandwich" or superlattice structure. The giant magnetoresistive effect is sometimes called the "spin valve effect" in view of the explanation that a larger fraction of conduction electrons are allowed to move more freely from one ferromagnetic thin-film layer to another if the magnetizations in these layers are parallel than if they are antiparallel with the result that the magnetization states of the layers act as sort of a valve.
These magnetizations results often come about because of magnetic exchange coupling between the ferromagnetic thin-films separated by the intermediate layers, these intermediate layers typically formed from a nonferromagnetic transition metal as an electrical conductor. The effect of the exchange coupling between the ferromagnetic thin-film layers is determined to a substantial degree by the thickness of such an intermediate layer therebetween. The effect of the coupling between the separated ferromagnetic thin-film layers has been found to oscillate as a function of this separation thickness between these layers in being ferromagnetic coupling (such that the magnetizations of the separated layers are parallel to one another) and antiferromagnetic coupling (such that the magnetizations of the separated layers are opposed to one another, or antiparallel to one another). Thus, for some separation thicknesses, the layer coupling can be of zero value between extremes of such oscillations.
Exhibiting the giant magnetoresistive effect in a superlattice structure, or in an abbreviated superlattice structure formed by a three layer "sandwich" structure, requires that there be arrangements in connection therewith that permit the establishment alternatively of both parallel and antiparallel orientations of the magnetizations in the alternate ferromagnetic thin-film layers therein. One such arrangement is to have the separated ferromagnetic thin-films in the multilayer structure be antiferromagnetically coupled but to a sufficiently small degree so that the coupling field can be overcome by an external magnetic field.
Another arrangement is to form the ferromagnetic thin-film layers with alternating high and low coercivity materials so that the magnetization of the low coercivity material layers can be reversed without reversing the magnetizations of the others. A further alternative arrangement is to provide "soft" ferromagnetic thin-films and exchange couple every other one of them with an adjacent magnetically hard layer (forming a ferromagnetic thin-film double layer) so that the ferromagnetic double layer will be relatively unaffected by externally applied magnetic fields even though the magnetizations of the other ferromagnetic thin-film layers will be subject to being controlled by such an external field.
One further alternative arrangement, related to the first, is to provide such a multilayer structure that is, however, etched into strips such that demagnetizing effects and currents in such a strip can be used to orient the magnetizations antiparallel, and so that externally applied magnetic fields can orient the magnetizations parallel. Thus, parallel and antiparallel magnetizations can be established in the ferromagnetic thin-films of the structure as desired in a particular use. Such a structure must be fabricated so that any ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic coupling between separated ferromagnetic films is not too strong so as to prevent such establishments of film magnetizations using practical interconnection arrangements.
A magnetic field sensor suited for fabrication with dimensions of a few microns or less can be fabricated that provides a suitable response to the presence of very small external magnetic fields and low power dissipation by substituting an electrical insulator for a conductor in the nonmagnetic intermediate layer. This sensor can be fabricated using ferromagnetic thin-film materials of similar or different kinds in each of the outer magnetic films provided in a "sandwich" structure on either side of an intermediate nonmagnetic layer which ferromagnetic films may be composite films, but this insulating intermediate nonmagnetic layer permits electrical current to effectively pass therethrough based primarily on a quantum electrodynamic effect resulting in a "tunneling" current.
This "tunneling" current has a magnitude dependence on the angle between the magnetization vectors in each of the ferromagnetic layers on either side of the intermediate layer due to the transmission barrier provided by this intermediate layer depending on the degree of matching of the spin polarizations of the electrons tunneling therethrough with the spin polarizations of the conduction electrons in the ferromagnetic layers, the latter being set by the layer magnetization directions to provide a "magnetic valve effect". Such an effect results in an effective resistance, or conductance, characterizing this intermediate layer with respect to the "tunneling" current therethrough. The maximum fractional change in effective resistance is a function of the magnetic polarization of the conduction electrons given by(ΔR/R)=2P1P2/(1−P1P2)where P1 and P2 are the conduction electron spin polarizations of the two ferromagnetic layers. These polarizations appear dependent on the ratio of spin up to spin down electrons in the 3D shell of the transition elements used in the ferromagnetic thin-films, i.e. the spin polarization P of the conduction electrons. The fraction f of 3D electrons which are spin up have typical values of 0.75 for iron, 0.64 for cobalt and 0.56 for nickel. Conduction electrons in metals are normally S shell electrons which theoretically would be equally divided between spin up and spin down electrons. However, because of band splitting the conduction electrons in the magnetic layers are assumed to have a fraction of spin up electrons like that of the electrons in the 3D shell. The spin polarization is then determined from P=2f−1.
In addition, shape anisotropy is often used in such a sensor to provide different coercivities in the two ferromagnetic layers, and by forming one of the ferromagnetic layers to be thicker than the other. Such devices may be provided on a surface of a monolithic integrated circuit to thereby allow providing convenient electrical connections between each such sensor device and the operating circuitry therefor.
A "sandwich" structure for such a spin dependent tunneling sensor, based on having an intermediate thin layer of a nonmagnetic, dielectric separating material with two major surfaces on each of which an anisotropic ferromagnetic thin-film is positioned, exhibits the "magnetic valve effect" if the materials for the ferromagnetic thin-films and the intermediate layers are properly selected and have sufficiently small thicknesses. The resulting "magnetic valve effect" can yield a response which can be several times in magnitude greater than that due to the "giant magnetoresistive effect" in a similar sized sensor structure.
The current-voltage characteristics of such "sandwich" structure sensors will exhibit a relatively linear change in the quantum electrodynamic effect "tunneling" current therethrough from one ferromagnetic layer through the barrier to the other with respect to the voltage provided across the sensor, i.e. across the barrier layer between these ferromagnetic layers, for relatively lower value voltages, but the current magnitude increases more than linearly for higher values of voltage across the sensor. As the voltage across the sensor increases, the fractional change in the "tunneling" current through the sensor, for the ferromagnetic layers having magnetizations changing from parallel to one another to antiparallel, decreases to being only half as great with several hundred millivolts across the sensor as occurs in the situation with a hundred or less millivolts across the sensor so that this fractional change with sensor voltage will range from a few percent to 20% or more. The fractional change in the resistance of the sensor for the ferromagnetic layers having magnetizations changing from parallel to one another to antiparallel increases to about one and one-half the room temperature values when the sensor is cooled to 77° K, but the "tunneling" current through the sensor increases by only about 10% to 20% indicating that the effective resistivity of the sensor is relatively insensitive to temperature (around 500 to 1000 ppm/° C.).
The effective resistivity of such a spin dependent tunneling sensor is set by the amount of "tunneling" current through the cell permitted by the barrier layer for the voltage across the sensor. The high sensitivity of the "tunneling" current to the thickness of the barrier layer leads to a wide range of sensor resistivities which have been observed to be from 60.0 Ω-μm2 to 10,000 MΩ-μm2. On the other hand, the barrier layer appears to permit relatively little magnetic coupling between the ferromagnetic layers thereacross with the coupling fields typically being only a few Oe.
The barrier material used for such sensing devices has typically been aluminum oxide, Al2O3 and other such oxides, but other dielectric materials have been used. A typical construction therefor has had two rectangular ferromagnetic thin-film strips with the barrier layer therebetween such that the long axis of the bottom strip, supported directly on an electrically insulating substrate, is at some angle with respect to that of the upper strip supported thereon through the barrier layer. This arrangement leaves the crossover area where these ferromagnetic strips overlap having the shape of a parallelogram defining the portion of the barrier layer through which there is effective current tunneling between the strips.
These devices are fabricated using semiconductor based integrated circuit chip fabrication techniques having a junction structure in a sensor cell based on a nonmagnetic intermediate separating material with two major surfaces on one of which is a base anisotropic ferromagnetic thin-film, which is also on or is a base electrode, and on the other of which there is at least one or possibly a plurality of separate anisotropic ferromagnetic thin-films but typically of differing effective coercivity with respect to the base film. The nonmagnetic intermediate separating material is an insulator for a spin dependent tunneling device and is typically Al2O3. Ones of the plurality of similar structures formed of separated ferromagnetic films can be interconnected to one another. The base electrode and the separated films can have lengths with gradually narrowing widths toward each end which narrow to zero at the ends. The intermediate material supported on a single base electrode can be common to all of these separated films thereon. The ferromagnetic layers in these structures are typically simple single films of Fe, Co, NiFe or other common ferromagnetic alloys.
The operating current for such sensors is typically supplied through a pair of current leads with one such lead connected to an end of the upper strip and the other lead connected to an end of the lower strip. The effective electrical resistance of the sensor is determined from measuring the voltage across the tunnel junction at two voltage leads each connected to one of the remaining two ends of these strips. Then, by providing a current of a known fixed value through the current leads and measuring the corresponding tunnel junction voltage on the voltage leads, the effective resistance can be simply calculated by dividing the measured voltage value by the chosen fixed current value.
As indicated above, the measured resistance of the tunnel junction in such a sensor is a function of the relative orientation of the magnetizations of the two ferromagnetic thin-film metal strips. The portion of the tunnel junction resistance that is subject to change as a result of that junction experiencing changes in external magnetic fields to which it is exposed is termed junction magnetoresistance (often written JMR, and defined as ΔR/Rmin but is equivalently ΔV/Vmin for voltage measurements with a fixed current with either being expressed as a percentage). The sensors described above demonstrated that the JMR therefor can be quite large at room temperature (≅10 to 60%).
Often more than one such magnetic field sensor is used in a sensing configuration to provide a larger output signal and, in many instances, to provide some sensor noise cancellation. These goals are many times pursued through use of a bridge circuit in which such giant magnetoresistive effect structures or spin dependent tunneling structures are provided as circuit resistors connected in two parallel branches between two power supply nodes with each such branch having two such resistors in series with one another. A single polarity voltage source is typically connected between the two power supply nodes with in many instances the negative side of the source being grounded. A signal sensing differential amplifier with a pair of inputs is typically electrically connected between the two bridge circuit output nodes, i.e. the internal nodes of each of the two branches which for each is the node between the two resistors connected in series therein.
To have such a bridge circuit operate properly, adjacent ones of the magnetoresistors in the circuit must vary in resistance differently under an applied magnetic field if a signal output is to result. If they each have the same resistance variation, there will be a zero value signal developed between the bridge circuit output nodes, i.e. between the sensing amplifier inputs. Since an externally applied magnetic field to be sensed will be approximately the same for each of the closely spaced resistors in the bridge circuit, design measures are necessary to assure the needed resistive differences nevertheless occur between the adjacent circuit structures or resistors. One such measure previously used has been to place two of these magnetoresistors on opposite sides of the bridge circuit each connected to different power supply terminals under a magnetic shield leaving only the other two such resistors exposed to the effects of externally applied magnetic fields. Such an arrangement, however, allows determining the magnitude of an externally applied magnetic field in only one direction. Another such sensor must be provided to sense another field component.
A further variation of such a spin dependent tunneling sensor has the magnetization direction of one of the ferromagnetic layers on one side of the barrier layer pinned by an antiferromagnetic material layer provided thereon to thereby have its magnetization direction fixed relative to the remainder of the sensor as long as the magnitude of any external applied magnetic field is less than several times the maximum external field intended to be sensed. Again, the electrical resistance of the junction depends on the relative magnetization orientations of the two ferromagnetic layers with the resistance being low when the two magnetizations are parallel, and high when they are antiparallel. Therefore, the pinned magnetization direction layer becomes a magnetization direction reference in setting a pinned direction, and the magnetization orientation response of the free ferromagnetic layer to externally applied magnetic fields is translated into a corresponding change in the junction resistance. An electrical signal is again obtained between electrodes on the two ferromagnetic layers in connection with this manipulating of the magnetization direction of the free layer through an externally applied magnetic field.
Semiconductor integrated circuit chip fabrication techniques are again used for fabrication typically providing an integrated circuit based on silicon as a substrate for the spin dependent tunneling device sensors in a wafer supporting such devices thereon to result in having a typical basic wafer layer structure of Si(integrated circuit substrate)-Si3N4(200)-Ni65Fe15Co20(12.5)-Al2O3(1.5 or less)-Fe60Co40(5.0)-Cr45Pt10Mn45(30)(in nm). The Al2O3 barrier is formed by depositing a layer of metallic Al then oxidizing it in the plasma of Ar/O2. A magnetic field of 20 Oe is applied during deposition of the ferromagnetic layers to induce the desired easy axes therein in a direction parallel to the pinned direction maintained by the antiferromagnetic material Cr45Pt10Mn45.
A typical resulting structure of a chip from such a wafer is shown in the layer diagram of FIG. 1 which is not a true cross section views in that many dimensions therein are exaggerated or reduced for purposes of clarity. Typically, such a spin dependent tunneling sensing structure is provided on a semiconductor chip, 10, having suitable operating circuitry for the sensor arrangement provided in the resulting monolithic integrated circuit structure. An electrical insulating layer, 11, is formed on semiconductor chip 10.
A device conductivity enhancement base layer, 11′, is then provided on insulating layer 11 followed with a ferromagnetic layer, 12, formed of permalloy (NiFeCo) being provided thereon so as together form the common bottom electrode with layer 12 serving as the device free magnetic layer in being relatively free to have its magnetization direction altered by externally applied magnetic fields. There may be a further ferromagnetic material layer, 13, provided in some form on layer 12 as part of the free magnetic layer such as a higher magnetic moment layer to enhance device performance at the barrier junction. An easy axis is provided for the common bottom electrode ferromagnetic layer 12, 13 typically parallel to the length of this structure though not necessarily so.
Thereafter, an intermediate or barrier layer, 14, of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) is provided on the common bottom electrode ferromagnetic layer 12, 13 which supports two corresponding separate top antiferromagnetic material and ferromagnetic material electrodes each of which is a separate pinned magnetization direction layer. Thus, all of these electrodes have to be of magnetic materials adjacent to the barrier that "sandwich" between the bottom and top ones of such the electrically insulating barrier layer.
Barrier layer 14 has two separate compound ferromagnetic thin-film layers thereon to form the two upper electrodes shown. These compound ferromagnetic thin-film layers are provided to have a net layer magnetization that, when fixed in orientation in the finally formed structure, will resist rotation from that orientation, and certainly resist firmly any rotation that could be sufficient to lead to a reversal in its orientation as a result of externally applied magnetic fields of up to 1000 Oe or more. These compound ferromagnetic thin-film layers are formed beginning with a ferromagnetic layer, 15, of cobalt iron (CoFe) alloy on first composite ferromagnetic layer 12, 13. Then a nonmagnetic layer, 16, of ruthenium (rhenium or copper could alternatively be used) is provided on layer 15 as a Ru antiferromagnetic coupling layer. Thereafter, another ferromagnetic layer, 17, of CoFe is provided on layer 16 to complete a synthetic antiferromagnet 15, 16, 17 as the reference layer for each upper electrode. A further antiferromagnetic material "pinning" layer exhibiting a substantial magnetic anisotropy can (or must for best performance) be deposited on layer 17 to strongly set the magnetization direction of composite layer 15, 16, 17 in the direction in which the resulting sensor cell is intended to sense external magnetic fields during use as a sensor. Hence, a Cr45Pt10Mn45 pinning layer, 18, is provided on layer 17 with a selected magnetization direction. Then, a layer of aluminum is provided on pinning layer 18 to passivate the upper electrode and to allow electrical connections thereto for circuit purposes. A further layer, 20, is provided on layer 19 to serve as an etching termination layer in connection with subsequent etching steps not described here. The resulting pinned or top electrodes, 21, are provided having an easy axis of the antiferromagnetic layer, and so the easy axes of the ferromagnetic thin-films in the compound layers in each of pinned electrodes 21 either perpendicular or parallel to the direction of the longest extent of those structures. This choice depends on the desired device characteristics and is made in conjunction with the direction chosen for the easy axis of the common bottom electrode ferromagnetic layer 12, 13 forming the bottom electrode, 22, along with device conductivity enhancement base layer 11′. A tunnel junction structure, 23, comprises a base electrode 22 supporting a corresponding pinned electrode 21 separated therefrom by a corresponding barrier layer 14, with a base electrode 22 shown supporting two corresponding pinned electrodes 21 separated therefrom by a corresponding barrier layer 14 forming a sensor device.
Following the completion of sensor device structures 23, another layer of silicon nitride to form an insulating layer, 24. On insulating layer 24, a plurality of interconnections, 25, is provided for interconnecting sensor devices 23 and also for interconnecting them with electronic circuitry in the integrated circuits in semiconductor substrate 10 therebelow. Finally, a further insulating layer, 26, is provided over interconnections 25.
A typical tunnel junction magnetoresistive characteristic graph is given in FIG. 2A plotting magnetoresistance as a function of external magnetic fields applied along the easy axes of that pair of spin dependent tunneling junctions 23 having reference electrodes 21 supported on barrier layer 14 and common electrode 22 having the structure as specified above so that these fields are also applied parallel to the easy axis of composite free layer 12, 13. The characteristic exhibits that there are clearly two separate magnetoresistance states near zero values of the externally applied magnetic field as is needed for a magnetic memory device. These two states correspond to the parallel and antiparallel configurations of the free layer magnetization with respect to the pinned layer magnetization. The free layer magnetization flips back and forth from parallel to antiparallel with slight changes in the value of the externally applied magnetic field. A sensing device needs a more linear characteristic about the zero externally applied field point such as shown in the magnetoresistive characteristic graph of FIG. 2B which can be achieved for this device by using a biasing magnetic field therewith to force the free layer magnetization to initially be perpendicular to the free layer easy axis direction. When this "perpendicular bias" field is large enough to saturate the free layer magnetization in the perpendicular direction, the resistance vs. applied field characteristic becomes much more linear and has minimal hysteresis.
However, both of these characteristics are shifted along the externally applied magnetic field axis from being symmetrical about the zero values of such applied fields. Such a shift amounts effectively to a magnetic bias field being applied to the device to result in an asymmetric characteristic. The effective coupling field occurring in the device minor hysteresis loop characteristic representing the free layer for the switching device shown in FIG. 2A is about 6.7 Ge as measured from the offset of the center of the hysteresis loop to the zero field value.
When magnetic and nonmagnetic layers are deposited sequentially in a stack to form "giant magnetoresistance effect" (GMR) or spin dependent tunnelling (SDT) device structures like that shown in FIG. 1, the surfaces of the resulting layers are not perfectly flat, but instead have varying degrees of surface roughness. This surface roughness can lead to magnetostatic coupling between magnetic material layers. Such coupling is often termed as Néel coupling or topological coupling or "orange peel" coupling.
The magnetostatic coupling energy density J of two ferromagnetic material layers, having saturation magnetizations Ms and Ms′, that are separated by a spacer or intermediate layer formed from a nonmagnetic material with thickness t having a surface roughness that, as an example, can be modeled as a two dimensional sinusoidal waviness with an amplitude h and a wavelength w, is given by
  J  =                    π        2                    2                                h        2            w                  (                        μ          0                                  M          s                                  M          s          ′                    )                  ⅇ                        -                                    2                                                                                π                                            2                                      w                                  t            A schematic of a layer structure is given in FIG. 3A depicting two ferromagnetic material layers of infinite thickness separated by a finite thickness (t) spacer or intermediate layer of nonmagnetic material with each layer having such a sinusoidal surface roughness, a situation which tends to repeat in a subsequent layer surface as it is formed on the rough surface of a previously formed layer. This occurs because the subsequent layer, in being deposited on the rough surface of the previously formed layer in the stack, must fill in the surface depressions in that surface and cover the surface bumps thereof. Thus, the profile of the exposed surface of this subsequent layer tends to repeat the profile of the surface of the layer on which it is being deposited. This layer structure shown in FIG. 3A is the basis for the equation given above.
The derivation of this equation makes two reasonable assumptions to simplify calculations. One assumption is that a sinusoidal function is a good representation of the rough surface of a real magnetic thin-film. To the extent that the undulations in a real film do not exactly follow a sinusoidal form, the physical interaction being calculated will not exactly match the numbers obtained from this equation. However, two qualitative results are valid because they depend upon the conformal nature of the surfaces, and not the wave shapes. The key qualitative results are that the topological coupling between films decreases exponentially as the separation, t, between the two films increases, and that such coupling is proportional to the square of the roughness amplitude, h. If a triangle wave is used rather than a sine wave to represent the surface topology, for instance, these qualitative relationships would still be the same. The other assumption is that the two dimensional topology in the plane of the film can be described by a single wavelength. The equation above is actually a simplified version of a derivation that allows for different wavelengths along the two in-plane directions. However, there is no reason to think that the grain structure looks any different going along different orthogonal directions, i.e. the x or y directions. Such anisotropy in the grain structure would only come about through specific conditions of film growth like an anisotropic substrate surface (with atomic steps along one axis, for instance) or a rolling process, etc. In summary, if there is magnetic/non-magnetic/magnetic sandwich with a conformal "bump", the resulting magnetic interaction between the two closest ferromagnetic surfaces is a positive one, in that it results in trying to align the magnetization orientation in the two layers.
So far, only two ferromagnetic surfaces have been included in the calculation because the assumption has been made that the outer ferromagnetic surfaces are very far away to the point where the magnetic intereactions with those surfaces are negligible, or that the other surfaces have no roughness (appropriate for the starting surface). The effects of multiple nearby surfaces on a surface can be calculated by summing the effects of each nearby surface for the effect at the surface of interest through entering the appropriate separation, t, between the two surfaces using the same equation given above.
Another note, the equation above results in a surface energy density. In order to convert this to an effective magnetic field bias upon a given ferromagnetic layer such as the free layer, a conversion must be provided through dividing by the factor μ0Mtfree. Thus, Hcoupling=J/μ0Mtfree.
The layer structure given in FIG. 3B depicts two ferromagnetic material layers in which one is of finite thickness and the other is of infinite thickness with them again being separated by a finite thickness (t) nonmagnetic spacer layer and each again having a sinusoidal surface roughness. FIG. 3C shows a synthetic antiferromagnet in place of the finite thickness upper magnetic material layer of FIG. 3B (formed of a pair of top (TFM) and bottom (BFM) ferromagnetic films tightly antiparallel coupled to one another by virtue of a thin ruthenium layer therebetween) and a thick ferromagnetic material layer as a "free layer" on the opposite side of an aluminum oxide barrier layer in place of the infinite thickness lower magnetic material layer of FIG. 3B. The roughness profile of the surfaces at the layers interfaces, and the thickness of the spacer layer as well as the thicknesses of magnetic material layers in setting the interface separations are the controlling factors for Néel coupling.
If the interface roughnesses are conformal to one another because of the surface profiles tending to repeat from layer to layer in the stack, the lower energy state is when the two magnetic material layer magnetizations are parallel. The coupling magnetic fields, extending from the magnetic free poles of opposite polarities that tend to accumulate on the opposite sides of surface roughness caused outward protuberances in surfaces of magnetized magnetic material layers at layer interfaces in "giant magnetoresistive effect" and spin dependent tunneling structures, act as magnetic biasing fields. In the situation of magnetic material layers which have the magnetization thereof fixed in orientation, or pinned, the magnetic bias fields extending therefrom to other layer surfaces in the stack of layers are constant in nature, and do not depend on the magnetization state of intersected unpinned, or free, magnetic material layers because of being determined by the surface roughness conditions only. Since the outward protuberances in surfaces of magnetized magnetic material layers at layer interfaces on one side of a magnetic material layer tend to conform to a corresponding depression in the layer surface across the layer therefrom, the magnetic polarities on opposite sides of a magnetic material layer are oppositely directed. Thus, a coupling field from another layer adds to the coupling field generated at one intersected magnetic material layer surface and subtracts from the coupling field generated at the opposite layer surface.
There are undesirable effects of such orange peel coupling on the behavior of various magnetic material layer devices in which this coupling occurs. In low external magnetic field sensors, orange peel coupling effectively applies a bias magnetic field on the active part of the sensor where the free layer is under the pinned layer and not in the bordering free layer outside the pinned layer. This makes it impossible to bias the free layer to get optimum sensitivity as both portions cannot be biased equally. In the case of a sandwich tunneling magnetoresistive memory cell, orange peel coupling provides a bias in favor of one of the two memory states thus requiring a higher current to write both magnetic states since the same magnitude current will be used for each. Thus, there is a desire to overcome such unwanted topological coupling or orange peel based biasing of the ferromagnetic layers in such devices.

Spin dependent tunneling devices having reduced topological coupling


The present invention relates to an electric insulating oil inspection method for determining whether or not an inhibitor-consuming substance is present in an electric insulating oil. The inhibitor-consuming substance is such a substance that causes to decrease over time a concentration of an inhibitor which is added to the electric insulating oil to inhibit copper sulfide from being generated on an insulating paper immersed in the electric insulating oil. The electric insulting oil inspection method includes steps of: preserving the electric insulating oil at a predetermined condition, measuring a concentration of the inhibitor, and determining that the inhibitor-consuming substance is present upon condition that a decrement of the concentration of the inhibitor relative to an initial concentration of the inhibitor becomes not less than a specified amount within a predetermined period.

In an oil-filled electric device such as an oil-filled transformer or the like, copper coil serves as a conducting medium. The coil is wrapped by an insulating paper to ensure electric insulation, preventing the coil from short-circuiting electrically between adjacent turns.
Meanwhile, the oil-filled transformer is filled with an electric insulating oil generally containing mineral oil or the like. It has been known that the mineral oil or the like contains a very small amount of sulfur ingredient, and the sulfur ingredient reacts with copper coil disposed in the electric insulating oil to generate conductive copper sulfide on a surface of the insulating paper wrapped on the coil. It has been known that the generation of copper sulfide will reduce insulating performance of the insulating paper wrapped on the coil, and even cause the coil to short-circuit between turns, leading to dielectric breakdown (for example, NPL 1).
It has been known that a major causative substance for the generation of copper sulfide is dibenzyl disulfide serving as the sulfur ingredient in the mineral oil (for example, NPL 2). As a generation mechanism of copper sulfide , it has been known that after a complex generated from the reaction of dibenzyl disulfide with copper coil diffuses in the oil and adheres to the insulating paper, it decomposes to generate copper sulfide (for example, NPL 3).
It has been known that inhibiting, on the basis of the generation mechanism mentioned above, the reaction between dibenzyl disulfide and copper coil leads to preventing the generation of copper sulfide; therefore, methods of adding an inhibitor to the electric insulating oil have been widely employed. As the inhibitor, there has been known benzotriazole compound such as 1, 2, 3-benzotriazole (BTA), Irgamet 39 or the like (for example, NPL 4).
After the inhibitor against the generation of copper sulfide is added to the electric insulating oil, the inhibitor reacts with copper coil to form a film on the surface of copper coil. Owing to the formed film, the reaction between dibenzyl disulfide and copper coil is blocked or inhibited; thereby, the generation of copper sulfide can be prevented (for example, NPL 4).

Electric insulating oil inspection method, electric insulating oil treatment method, and oil-filled electric device maintenance method


A device for connecting to a two-wire communications bus, a bus station that, while utilizing the device, is able to send messages, represented on the bus lines as dominant and recessive bus levels, to additional connected bus stations and receive same from them. The device includes (a) an arrangement setting a dominant bus level in the form of a first voltage difference between the two bus lines by driving a first electric current, and the device is suitable for the recessive bus level to set in as the second voltage difference between the two bus lines, at least partially by the flowing of a discharge current via terminating resistors connected to the bus lines; and (b) an arrangement to speed up the setting of at least one of the bus levels by driving at least one additional electric current, at least in response to the presence of a switching condition.

From ISO Standard 11898, for example, a Controller Area Network (CAN) as well as a "Time-Triggered CAN" (TTCAN) version of the CAN is known. The media access control method used in the CAN is based on a bit-wise arbitration. In a bit-wise arbitration, a plurality of user stations is simultaneously able to transmit data via the channel of the bus system, without thereby interfering with the data transmission. Furthermore, the user stations are able to ascertain the logical state (0 or 1) of the channel while transmitting a bit over the channel. If a value of the bit sent does not correspond to the ascertained logical state of the channel, the user station terminates the access to the channel. In CAN, the bit-wise arbitration is usually carried out in an arbitration field within a message that is to be transmitted via the channel.
Because of the bit-wise arbitration, a non-destructive transmission of the message over the channel is achieved. Because of this, good real time properties of the CAN come about, whereas media access control methods, in which the message sent by a user station is able to be destroyed during transmission via the channel, based on a collision with a further message sent by another station, have a clearly more unfavorable real time behavior since, based on the collision and the new transmission of the message required thereby, a delay in the data transmission comes about.
The protocols of the CAN are particularly suitable for transmitting short messages under real time conditions. If larger data blocks are to be transmitted via a CAN domain, the relatively low bit rate of the channel becomes a limiting factor. In order to assure the correct functioning of the bit-wise arbitration, during the arbitration, a minimum duration is must be maintained for the transmission of a bit, so that all the bus users have a uniform picture of the state of the bus (0 or 1) and equal priority access to the state of the bus, the minimum duration being a function of an extension of the bus system, the signal propagation speed on the channel, and intrinsic processing times in the interface modules of the bus users.
Therefore, increase of the bit rate would be problematic since this would reduce the duration of the individual bits. Since the signal propagation speed on the channel is essentially fixed, then, in case shorter bit lengths are to be achieved, a smaller extension of the bus system or lower intrinsic processing times are required. With respect to the intrinsic processing times, those times essentially correspond to that which is required until the respective bus level sets in. In this connection, one should note that, to set the dominant bus level, the sending station in each case, using a corresponding output stage, drives a current onto the bus which leads to the buildup of a corresponding voltage difference. In contrast, a recessive bus level sets in by the voltage difference between the two bus lines becoming reduced via terminating resistors or changing to a value deviating from the dominant bus level. This deviating value may be zero but may also be a voltage difference different from zero.
G. Cena and A. Valenzano, in "Overclocking of controller area networks" (Electronics Letters, vol. 35, No. 22 (1999), p. 1924) treat, from a theoretical point of view, the effects of overclocking the bus frequency in subsections of the message on the effectively achieved data rate, without, however, going into details of the methodology and the problem of the factors limiting the bus frequency, such as the signal propagation speed and intrinsic processing times in the interface modules of the bus users.
It may be seen in the cited documents that the related art does not supply satisfactory results from every point of view.

Device and method for serial data transmission at a high data rate


A radar system is mounted on a moving platform moving along a great circle. The radar comprises a radar receiver for digitizing radar returns having a phase from a scatterer (target) in a scene. A computer focuses the phase of the radar returns from the scatterer in the scene, using cylindrical coordinates to arrive at an image. An initial position estimate of the scatterer (target) within the image is made. This initial position is converted from cylindrical coordinates to geodesic coordinates of initial latitude, initial longitude and initial elevation. The geodesic coordinates are used to compare with a database descriptive of earth's surface. The initial elevation is replaced with that contained in the database. A second scatterer (target) location is computed using the database elevation. The second target location is compared with the first target location to obtain a difference. If the difference is above a threshold, the second scatterer location is substituted for the initial position estimate. This is iterated until the scatterer location difference is less than the threshold.

1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the field of locating scatterers generating radar returns presented within a Synthetic Aperture Radar image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) radar is used for ground mapping as well as target identification. The general principle behind SAR is to coherently combine the amplitude and phase information of radar returns from a plurality of sequentially transmitted pulses from a relatively small antenna on a moving platform.
The plurality of returns creating a SAR image generated by the transmitted pulses along a known path of the platform make up a frame length and is descriptive of a scene. During the frame length, amplitude as well as phase information returned from each of the pulses, for each of many range bins, is preserved. The SAR image descriptive of a scene is formed from the coherent combination of the amplitude and phase of return(s) within each range bin, motion compensated for spatial displacement of the moving platform during the acquisition of the returns for the duration of the frame length.
The plurality of pulses transmitted during an SAR frame length, when coherently combined and processed, result in image quality comparable to a longer antenna, corresponding approximately to the "length" traveled by the antenna during the frame length. The clarity of a SAR image is dependent on the quality of the motion compensation applied to each radar return prior to SAR image computation. The SAR process depends on the coherent, phase accurate summing of radar returns. Slight deviations in the accuracy of the motion compensation of incoming pulses introduces distortions over the whole SAR image, reducing its utility.
The Range Migration Algorithm (RMA), a method based on convolution, is a popular way to focus the radar returns forming a SAR image, assuming straight line motion over a flat earth. Inaccuracies arise with the RMA method because the earth is not flat, being in fact ellipsoidal. Some of these inaccuracies are corrected in an ad hoc fashion, but become less accurate as the range and squint angle become larger. One parent application describes a method for compensating radar returns from a spherical, non-planar scene acquired with a platform moving in a non-linear track, the Conformal Range Migration Algorithm (CRMA).
One aspect of SAR mapping using above methods is the need to identify accurately the ground location of the target presented within the SAR image. In the prior art, ground target location was approximated using heuristic methods, but errors in positioning targets within the SAR image arose. It is the minimization of target positioning errors within the SAR image that this invention strives to achieve.

Mensuration for the conformal range migration algorithm


A liquid crystal finder attached video camera whose liquid crystal finder is usable as a liquid crystal projector. This liquid crystal finder attached video camera is composed of a video camera body, a liquid crystal view finder unit having a transmission-type liquid crystal display portion fixed thereto and an eyepiece portion turnable between a picture-taking position behind the transmission-type liquid crystal display portion and a projector position ahead of the transmission-type liquid crystal display portion, the front face of the liquid crystal view finder unit being detachably mounted on a battery attachment face at the back of the video camera body, and the back face of the liquid crystal view finder unit being formed with a battery attachment face, and a light unit having a light facing ahead at the upper portion thereof, the front face of the light unit being detachably mounted on the battery attachment face at the back of the video camera body, and the back face of the light unit being formed with a battery attachment face.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid crystal finder attached video camera, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal finder attached video camera in which a transmission-type liquid crystal display portion of a liquid crystal view finder is used as a part of a projector.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is disclosed a liquid crystal view finder attached video camera having a function as a projector by using a liquid crystal display portion (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 1-115371). In this video camera, a light source for projection is disposed behind a transmission-type liquid crystal display portion of a liquid crystal view finder, and light emitted from the light source passes the liquid crystal display portion and enters an optical system lens of the liquid crystal view finder. Then, an image in the liquid crystal display portion enlarged by the optical system lens is projected onto a screen or the like.
However, if the light for projection is radiated from behind the liquid crystal display portion, since an image taken from behind the liquid crystal display portion is projected onto the screen or the like, it is necessary to reverse the image in the liquid crystal display portion in picture taking in order to make the image accord with an image taken from the front of the liquid crystal portion, that is, a normal image.

Liquid crystal finder/projector for video camera


Methods and apparatus for spectrally-encoding plural source images and for providing the spectrally-encoded plural source images in a composite image, for rendering the composite image in a physical form, or for recovering at least one of the encoded source images from the rendered composite image such that the recovered source image is made distinguishable. A noise component is introduced in the encoding of the plurality of source images so as to mask at least one of the source images during spectral demultiplexing.

Whereas light sources are visible by their own emitted light, objects and materials appear to the eye according to how they modify incident light. The sensation of the color of an object is evoked by the physical stimulation of light-sensitive receptors in the human retina. The stimulation consists of electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum comprising wavelengths between about 380 and 780 nanometers.
Perceived color of the object is the result of a combination of factors, such as: (1) the spectral power distribution of an illuminant emitted by a light source that is incident upon the object, (2) the modification of the spectral power distribution of the illuminant by the spectral reflectance or transmission characteristics of the illuminated object, (3) the excitation of light sensitive receptors in the eye by the modified light from the object, and (4) the perception and interpretation by the brain of signals produced by the light sensitive receptors.
The perception of color is attributed to the differing spectral sensitivities of the light sensitive receptors. The trichromacy of color sensation implies that many different spectral distributions can produce the same perceived color. Such equivalent stimuli, which produce the same perception even though they are physically different spectral distributions, are called metamers, and the phenomena metamerism. For example, it is known that the perceived color of an object can change quite markedly when the object is moved from incident daylight into incident artificial light. The spectrum of the illuminating light source is also known to have an effect on the perceived colors of a printed image in spite of the considerable physiological compensation that the eye makes for differences in illumination. Light sources of differing relative spectral power distributions are therefore known to have different color rendering properties; for example, light sources which emit very narrow band, or almost monochromatic, light are considered to render colors very poorly.
According to the concept of metamerism, the respective colors of two objects may appear to be identical even though typically the spectral power distributions produced from the objects are different. Such power distributions, or stimuli, which are spectrally different but visually identical, are considered as metameric pairs. Because we measure light using only three cone types, the differences in these power distributions are indistinguishable. Two objects with different spectral reflectance functions may be perceived to match in color under one illuminant and not match under a different illuminant.
Certain aspects of perceived color have been employed to disguise images by printing an image in one color and then overprinting the first image with a pattern in a different color having approximately the same apparent brightness. Adjacent zones of equal brightness appear to be visually blended, even though they are of differing colors, thereby confusing the perception of the original image.
It is known to print patterns in different colors such that the patterns may be viewed through one or more filters having certain correlated colors, such that the patterns will change, depending upon the colors involved. It is also known to print characters in different colors in an overlapping relationship such that the overlapped characters, when viewed through one colored filter, will give the appearance of only certain ones of the superimposed characters, and when viewed through a second and differing colored filter, will reveal certain other ones of the superimposed characters. Such approaches are known for encoding (or encrypting) information to prevent recognition of the information content of the pattern until the pattern is decoded and made comprehensible. These approaches have been applied to promotional gaming technology and in document security and document verification applications.
Techniques are known for rendering flat, two-dimensional images that can stimulate an illusion of depth perception, that is, of a three-dimensional object or scene. Three-dimensional imaging can be classified into two major groups according to the quantity of information required to record the images: (1) binocular stereoscopic imaging, and (2) autostereoscopy, or three-dimensional spatial imaging. See Takanori Okoshi, Three-dimensional Imaging Techniques, Academic Press Inc., New York, (1976). Devices for performing binocular stereoscopic imaging include binocular viewers, parallax stereograms, lenticular-sheet binocular stereoscopic pictures, and binocular displays using Polaroid glasses or color filters. Devices for performing autostereoscopy include parallax panoramagrams, lenticular-sheet three-dimensional imaging, projection type three-dimensional displays, and integral photography.
In stereoscopy, a three-dimensional image is created by a series of two-dimensional images of an object captured from different perspectives, and therefore the three-dimensional image so produced contains multiple-angle information about the object. Physically displaced views of the same image are presented simultaneously to the eyes of an observer to convey the illusion of depth. These techniques typically employ a multiplexed pair of images, wherein the images are nearly identical and differ only so as to simulate parallax. The multiplexing is performed according to color, polarization, temporal, or position differences between the constituent images. For example, anaglyphic stereoscopy is a well-known process, in which left and right nearly-identical images are color-encoded by use of respective complementary color filters (e.g. cyan and red) for subsequent viewing through correspondingly colored lenses to separate the images as necessary for a simulated three-dimensional effect. When viewed through colored spectacles, the images merge to produce a stereoscopic sensation. The encoded image pair is known as an anaglyph, as it is typically rendered as two images of the same object taken from slightly different angles in two complementary colors.
This stereoscopic viewing of the multiplexed image pair typically requires the use of optical devices to channel each of the paired (left and right) images solely to the appropriate eye of the observer. A few autostereoscopic display techniques are known for providing subjectively three-dimensional viewing of a fixed image plane, without resort to eyewear and the like, by use of alternative devices based upon direction-multiplexed image displays. These devices typically employ optical diffraction, lenticular imaging, or holographic phenomena.

System for spectral multiplexing of source image to provide a composite image with noise encoding to increase image confusion in the composite image, for rendering the composite image, and for spectral demultiplexing of the composite image


In certain example embodiments, a system and/or method of guiding transitions between therapy modes in connection with the treatment and/or diagnosis of a patient for a respiratory disorder is/are provided. Respiratory disorder treatment according to a first therapy mode is provided. Input indicating a second therapy mode to be transitioned to following provision of the first therapy mode is received, with the second therapy mode being different from the first therapy mode. At least one default treatment parameter suitable for the second therapy mode is assigned or calculated. Each default treatment parameter of the second therapy mode is presented, with each default treatment parameter being adjustable by an operator during the presenting. Transitioning from the first therapy mode to the second therapy mode is performed by providing respiratory disorder treatment in accordance with the second therapy mode and each default treatment parameter and any adjustments made thereto prior to the transitioning. Advantageously, the chances of a patient being disturbed by transitioning from mode-to-mode are reduced.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and other dangerous sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) conditions affect thousands worldwide. Numerous techniques have emerged for treating SDB, including, for example, the use of Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) devices, which continuously provide pressurized air or other breathable gas to the entrance of a patient's airways via a patient interface (e.g. a mask) at a pressure elevated above atmospheric pressure, typically in the range 3-20 cm H2O. Typically, patients suspected of suffering from SDB register with a certified sleep laboratory where sleep technicians fit patients with numerous data collectors and monitor their sleep activity over a given period. After the patient is diagnosed, a treatment regimen usually is developed, identifying both a treatment apparatus (or treatment apparatuses) and program of use for the treatment apparatus(es).
FIG. 1 shows a simplified schematic of a typical CPAP treatment apparatus. An impeller 1 is powered by an electric motor 2 using a servo 3 under the direction of a microprocessor-based controller 4. The supply of breathable gas is carried to the mask 5 through a flexible conduit 6. The apparatus has various switches 7, displays 8, and a number of transducers. The transducers may monitor a number of processes, such as, for example volumetric flow rate 10 (e.g., at a predetermined point in the flow path), pressure 11 (e.g., at a predetermined point downstream of the flow generator outlet or at the mask), snore 12, flow generator rotational speed 13, and/or motor parameters 14.
It is well known for sleep clinics to observe and treat patients with respiratory disorders such as SDB or respiratory insufficiency (RI) with devices like the one shown in FIG. 1. Observable symptoms of SDB and/or RI only occur during sleep. Thus, it will be appreciated that disturbing a sleeping patient wastes effort and resources, and also reduces the amount of effective time that may be used to titrate the patient for an optimal therapeutic result. Accordingly, care must be taken when diagnosing and/or administering treatment to a patient, e.g., so as not to wake up the patient.
SDB symptoms often are layered. That is, treating one symptom may reveal yet another. Thus, the complicated nature of SDB symptoms typically means that a sleep clinician will attempt various different PAP therapies when diagnosing and/or treating a patient. As is known, each PAP therapy has a unique combination of settings that must be controlled. Unfortunately, it often is difficult to systematically and methodically attempt various PAP therapies and, similarly, it also is difficult to systematically and methodically vary the particular settings of a particular PAP therapy. Furthermore, switching from one PAP therapy mode to another may involve possibly large changes to one or more treatment parameters that may cause problems for the patient and/or cause the patient to wake up during diagnosis and/or treatment, thus leading to the above-noted disadvantages.
Thus, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for systems and/or methods that make it easier for a sleep clinician to diagnose and/or administer a treatment.

Systems and/or methods for guiding transitions between therapy modes in connection with treatment and/or diagnosis of sleep-disordered breathing


An apparatus and method for serial link down detection are described. In one embodiment, the method includes the detection of an initial link down condition of a serial link. In one embodiment, the initial link down condition is detected, for example, when a transition from a normal signaling voltage level to a squelch signaling voltage level is detected at a receiver input. When an initial link down condition is detected, the issuance of a link down signal is delayed for a predetermined period of time from the detection of the squelch voltage over the serial link. In one embodiment, the link down signal is asserted if a data error is detected following the predetermined period of time from the detection of the squelch voltage. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

For various serial interfaces, such as Serial ATA (SATA), Serial Attached small computer system interface (SCSI) (SAS), PCIe, Fibre-Channel, ten gigabit attachment unit interface (XAUI), where 8b10b encoding is used for signaling, it is necessary to decipher whether the interface is in a valid signal-level state. Squelch Detector circuits are often used in conjunction with the High-Speed receiver circuits to detect these various signaling levels and states.
At the physical layer level, signaling can be classified as "In-Band", "Out-of-Band", and "Link-Down" (Disconnected or powered down). In-Band signaling is used for normal data transfer operations, and Out-of-Band signaling is used for various Reset, Wake-up, and other asynchronous operations that do not need the high-speed receiver and Clock/Data Recovery Circuits to be "locked-on" to the incoming serial data stream.
As the squelch detector circuit is intended to detect signaling levels, rather than to decipher the incoming serial bit-stream, it can achieve its design objectives with a lower bandwidth performance than the high-speed receiver. In optimizing these circuits for low-power operations, it is an acceptable performance/power compromise to have process, voltage, temperature (PVT) variations for the detector circuit threshold within a prescribed range.
As this detector circuit threshold will vary, additional circuitry and respective detection algorithms are highly desirable to ensure robust detection of the signaling levels, and link states.
The definition of an 8b/10b transmission code is identical to that specified in ANSI X3.230-1994, Clause 11 (and also IEEE 802.3Z, 36.2.4, July 1998). Using this scheme, 8 bit characters and one control bit are treated as 3 bits and 5 bits, mapped onto a 4 bit group code and a 6 bit group code, respectively. The control bit, in conjunction with the data characters is used to identify when to encode one of the 12 special symbols included in the 8b/10b transmission. As such, these code groups are concatenated to form a 10 bit symbol, which is transmitted from a transmitter to a corresponding receiver via a dual differential link.
The 8b/10b code also provides a scheme which is DC balanced, indicating that the generated code stream, or bit stream, includes a balanced number of 1 and 0 bits. In addition, the code ensures a limited run length, such that no more than five consecutive ones, "1", or zeros, "0", and a guaranteed transition density which permits clock recovery from the data stream. Accordingly, the combination of these features allows the receiving end of an encoded 8b/10b data stream to extract the bit rate clock to determine symbol (and packet) boundaries and to detect most transmission errors. Likewise, 8b/10b codes include the concept of disparity, wherein the disparity of any block of data is defined as the difference between the number of ones and the number of zeros. As such, positive and negative refer to an excess of ones over zeros or zeros over ones, respectively. Consequently, the code scheme guarantees that an encoded symbol's disparity is always either zero (11111, 00000), plus two (111111, 0000) or −2 (1111, 000000), which is quite useful for error detection.

Method and apparatus for serial link down detection


A method for quickly invoking a small window while a video is being displayed in full screen, a graphic user interface, and a terminal are provided. The method may include: When a terminal displays a video playing interface in full screen, the terminal may display a small window in a hover box based on a user operation. A display interface of the small window may be switched. The terminal may further quickly switch between multi-window display and full-screen display based on a user operation. In this process, the terminal continuously plays the video. According to this method, the terminal can quickly switch between multi-window display and full-screen display while continuously playing a video.

Currently, a terminal device may simultaneously run a plurality of applications in the background, and a user may switch between different applications as needed, to enter an interface on which the user wants to perform an operation.
To pursue better use experience, the user expects that contents from interfaces of different applications are simultaneously presented on a display of the terminal device, and different interface contents do not affect each other. For example, when watching a video, the user wants to view instant messaging information (for example, a Facebook message, a WeChat message, or a QQ message) at the same time, and the video is not interrupted.
Based on the current urgent need of the user for presenting a plurality of windows on a same display, it is necessary to propose a corresponding technical solution, to conveniently and quickly present a plurality of windows on a display of a terminal device simultaneously.

Method for quickly invoking small window when video is displayed in full screen, graphic user interface, and terminal


The present invention is a compression ignition internal combustion engine and method of operation which expands the load limit of quietly operating a premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) engine by injecting a secondary fuel B, in ratios lean of stoichiometric, either into the intake air stream or directly into the cylinder to form a homogeneous fuel B and air mixture. Near top dead center of the compression stroke, a PCCI-type direct injection of fuel A event is used to initiate combustion of both fuel A and B at the proper time. At low loads the combustion mode is characterized a PCCI-type with high EGR rates. At medium loads the combustion mode is that of homogeneous combustion of fuel B coupled with PCCI combustion of fuel A. At the highest loads the engine will revert to a conventional diesel combustion mode of fuel A to maintain power density.

Internal combustion engines can generally be grouped into one of two classes, spark-ignited and compression-ignited engines. Spark-ignited engines typically operate by introducing a stoichiometric mixture of air and fuel into the cylinder of the engine. The piston then compresses this mixture, and at predetermined crankshaft angle, a spark plug will ignite the fuel and air mixture producing a flame front that propagates through the combustion chamber. The rapid increase in heat from the burned fuel triggers an increase in pressure which forces the piston downward in the cylinder. The ability to precisely time the combustion event through the use of a spark plug is a benefit of the spark-ignited engine. However, the spark-ignited engine may be somewhat inefficient since the compression ratio of the engine is kept to a lower than optimal level to avoid spark knock. Spark knock occurs when the fuel and air mixture ignites independently of the spark plug and may cause engine damage. Consequently, spark-ignited engines typically have compression ratios between 8 and 11.
The compression ignition engine, on the other hand, operates at relatively high compression ratio that is typically within the range of 15–22. This high compression ratio boosts the mechanical efficiency of the compression-ignited engine. The compression ignition engine operates by introducing unthrottled air into the cylinder, thereby increasing the efficiency over that of the throttled spark-ignited engine by decreasing pumping losses. In a traditional compression-ignited engine, the ignition timing is controlled by the injection of diesel fuel into the cylinder near the end of the compression stroke when the trapped air within the combustion chamber is of a sufficient temperature to ignite the fuel. The heat release of the combustion process causes an increase in in-cylinder pressure which then forces the piston downward in the same fashion as the spark-ignited engine.
The compression ignition engine, though efficient, can produce greater emissions than a spark-ignited engine. The two emission constituents that are of main concern are particulates or "soot" and oxides of nitrogen or NOx. Soot is formed in locally rich of stoichiometric areas within the combustion chamber. These overly rich areas occur due to the non-homogeneity of the fuel and air charge occasioned by the lack of adequate premixing of the fuel and air upon ignition. The formation of oxides of nitrogen is a function of combustion chemistry. The compression-ignited engine, due to its locally stoichiometric combustion, combusts the fuel and air mixture at high temperatures causing high NOx emissions in the exhaust stream. The expansion process occurs so quickly that the chemical reactions are frozen and the NOx quantities are unable to reach chemical equilibrium resulting in high engine-out NOx emissions. The treatment for NOx has traditionally been converter systems such as Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) for engines operating with lean of stoichiometric air and fuel ratios. The SCR system injects urea or ammonia into the exhaust stream to convert NOx into nitrogen and water. Engine designers may also seek to lower the temperature of combustion in a compression-ignited engine by decreasing the compression ratio. This may lessen NOx formation and may also lead to decreases in efficiency and difficulties starting at cold temperatures.
Recent interest in fuel efficiency and federally-mandated emission requirements has refocused efforts to develop highly efficient, low emission compression-ignited engines and modes of operation. Examples of such technologies are the Premixed Charge Compression Ignition (PCCI) and the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) modes of combustion. The PCCI mode of combustion incorporates a standard compression ignition combustion system with high rates of aggressively cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and an early start of injection (SOI) timing. The combination of high EGR rates and early SOI result in a long ignition delay period prior to the start of combustion (SOC). The ignition delay period exceeds the fuel injection duration during PCCI combustion resulting in a premixed combustion event at the SOC. The premixed nature of the fuel and air mixture, along with a high EGR rate, reduces the formation of locally rich, high temperature regions that contribute to soot formation. The high EGR rate acts as a charge diluent that suppresses the temperature of combustion below that which significant amounts of NOx are formed.
The PCCI combustion mode is effective at low engine speeds and loads where the amount of fuel injected is very low and the time available for premixing is very long. As the engine load increases, the amount of heat released in the rapid premixed burning process becomes large enough to create excessive combustion noise. This occurs even if there is sufficient premixing of the fuel and air during the ignition delay period. Excessive combustion noise is objectionable to consumers; consequently, PCCI combustion has a low engine load limit.
For a given noise constraint, HCCI combustion is capable of operating at higher engine loads than PCCI combustion since the nearly homogeneous fuel and air charge will result in lower localized temperature within the combustion chamber during combustion. Due to the low volatility inherent in diesel fuel, it is difficult to create a homogenous fuel and air mixture. To attempt such a mixture, early direct fuel injection must be used. A conventional diesel fuel injector has a wide injector spray cone, and the early injection timing required for HCCI combustion may cause significant fuel impingement on the cylinder wall. Fuel impingement on the cylinder wall inhibits the formation of a homogeneous fuel and air mixture and may cause fuel dilution of the lubricating oil. To correct these conditions, fuel injectors with different spray patterns and piston bowls to compliment the spray patterns are required. This is typically an expensive endeavor that requires much experimentation and development to perfect.
Premature ignition may occur with homogeneous fuel and air mixtures in compression-ignited engines. The high Cetane number of diesel fuel represents the relative ease in which the fuel and air mixture will ignite. This premature ignition can cause noise, poor performance, and engine damage in extreme cases. Therefore, to properly phase the SOC for an HCCI engine, a reduced compression ratio is necessary. This reduction in compression ratio will result in a decrease in efficiency. To maintain acceptable cold start performance, a high compression ratio must be maintained. Therefore, a variable compression ratio engine system is often employed in an HCCI engine.

Compression-ignited IC engine and method of operation


A mobile communication terminal and method are provided for receiving an incoming voice call and for displaying a notification, an incoming phone number, and an elapsed voice communication time during an incoming voice communication. The method includes receiving a call request from a base station; responding to the call request, to perform a call-setup with the base station; in response to the call-set up, automatically displaying a plurality of icons together with the notification, the incoming phone number, and the elapsed voice communication time, wherein the plurality of icons are respectively associated with voice communication related functions, and wherein at least one of the plurality of icons includes a graphic symbol portion and a text portion; receiving an input for selecting one of the plurality of icons; and performing a voice communication related function associated with the selected icon while in the incoming voice communication.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and communication terminal apparatus for displaying a function in communication, more particularly to a method and communication terminal apparatus capable of displaying and selecting functions which can be performed in communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a communication terminal apparatus such as a portable telephone or a wire/wireless telephone provides functions which can be performed in communication (hereinafter, referred to as 'function in communication'). For instance, the function list in communication may include a telephone directory, a transmission/reception volume control, a transmission sound interception (i.e. "mute") and a key sound control.
However, conventional communication terminals do not positively inform a user of such a function in communication. For instance, in order to use the function in communication, a user calling by means of the conventional communication terminal must display menus with respect to the function in communication through a separate key operation. Then, the user must select a desired function in communication from among the menus displayed by the result of the key operation.
FIG. 1 is an exemplary view regarding a screen in communication of a conventional portable telephone. Referring to FIG. 1, a portable telephone in communication displays an antenna bar representing a reception intensity of the portable telephone, a communication state, a power state of the portable telephone, a communication time of a corresponding communication and a telephone number of a counterpart. FIG. 1 shows, as an example, a portable telephone that includes a display unit for displaying items as described above.
That is, in the prior art, since the communication terminals in communication displays only communication information with respect to a corresponding communication, users can't conveniently use or readily be informed of function in communication. Furthermore, there have been users who have not known the function in communication itself. Therefore, there have been many users who are unable to effectively use such communication terminal apparatuses.

Method and communication terminal apparatus for displaying function in communication