An apparatus is described for supporting payloads at high elevations with respect to a planetary body. The apparatus comprises a bearing that encircles a portion of a planetary body. One ring of the bearing rotates, and a coupling mechanism transfers centripetal forces to another non-rotating ring. Lift stays connect the non-rotating ring to the planetary body; and contribute a force that is in equilibrium with the centripetal and gravitational forces. A preferred embodiment is constructed and tested in the ocean and then raised to altitude. Its coupling mechanism employs magnetic forces and its lift stays are interwoven, partially supported and stabilized aeronautically, and anchored to the planet. The apparatus's elevation is not supported by transferring forces to the surface through the inertia of precision-guided high velocity components, thus these components are not necessarily exposed to seismic activity, weather, or anomalous air traffic.

These teachings relate generally to a structure for supporting facilities, such as habitable floor space, space vehicle launch and recovery systems, and related support systems, at altitudes that are higher than can typically be reached using compressive structures such as buildings and towers. These teachings also relate to methods for erecting and maintaining said structure.
Currently, altitudes above the limited reach of towers, buildings, and aircraft are accessed using systems based on rocket propelled vehicles. These systems generally employ a multitude of different sub-systems to complete a round trip journey. For example, launch gantries and multiple thruster stages will typically be used for achieving orbit. Variants sometimes substitute an early rocket stage with a stage that uses air breathing engines. Aero-braking systems, such as ablative shielding, various parachutes, as well as more rockets, wings, and landing gear may be used during a return journey.
Some components of these systems experience extensive wear during their use. In practice, component recovery and refurbishment can be costly—so costly in fact that abandoning used components and replacing them with new ones is often economical. Therefore, these systems tend to have high operational costs.
The vehicles used typically subject their passengers and payloads to significant stress, shake, and vibration. They are not considered to be as safe or as reliable as commercial terrestrial transportation systems.
Many people are surprised that the cost of an "everyday object", such as a pen or a toilet, is significantly inflated when that object is designed to be used in space. Rocket based systems tend to make the cost and weight of the payload itself higher. Payloads need to be engineered to be stronger to withstand the stresses of launch, and this can make them heavier or costlier. When the payload is a passenger, the passenger typically needs extensive training and medical examination. Because the aforementioned costs are high, the verification costs associated with preparing payloads is also high, as it would not be acceptable for the payload to reach its destination and then fail to operate properly—or die, in the case of living payload or a passenger.
Years of developmental effort and substantial funding have been invested into this field by the military, research administrations, and commercial enterprises of several economically successful countries. Many variations and improvements on rocket propelled vehicle concepts have been produced; however, despite all the investment and effort, the complexity of these systems remains high, and therefore the cost of using these systems remains high.
An advantage that rocket based systems do have over several large-scale fixed infrastructure concepts, such as space elevators, is that they generally have a low "non-recurring" or capital cost. This makes them a good choice for small volumes of passengers and cargo. Similarly, a ferry can be a better choice than a bridge when choosing the best transportation infrastructure for traversing a certain body of water, provided that the demand for convenient passage across that particular body of water is sufficiently small.
As demand for routine access to space grows, the analogy of "building a bridge" becomes more attractive. Several ideas for "bridges" that can help our civilization to migrate out into space have been incorporated into works of speculative fiction or cited in the prior art. Those that are known to the inventor include:                1) The Space Elevator        2) The Orbital Ring        3) The Space Fountain        4) The Launch Loop        5) Inflated Towers        6) Artificial Inflated Mountains
Each of these ideas faces unique challenges if applied to service current and near-future demands of human civilization.
The Space Elevator concept is faced with at least some of the following challenges:                1) High capital cost, if the main tether is built with commercially available materials.        2) High cost to deploy the system using already established space access infrastructure, namely rockets.        3) Vulnerability to impactors (such as space debris) and possibly elemental oxygen.        4) The structure does not service a convenient destination for the purposes of space tourism—tourists would spend too much of their vacation time in transit.        5) During the journey to the destination (geosynchronous orbit) the elevator car is exposed to space radiation; therefore, shielding material would be needed to protect passengers and sensitive cargo. The weight of the shielding material would add to the energy cost of making a trip up the elevator.
The Orbital Ring concept is faced with at least some of the following challenges:                1) High capital cost of a minimally viable implementation. The main ring circumference is greater than the circumference of Earth. The ring must be massive and rigid enough to support the weight of at least one short space elevator without distorting because of the concentrated load. Note that as part of this concept, the small space elevator is attached to a magnetically levitated carriage that travels around the ring opposite to the direction of ring rotation. This allows the space elevator's tether to remain in a constant position over the surface of the planet.        2) High cost to deploy the system. All of the ring's components would need to be placed into orbit using our present space access infrastructure, namely rockets. Alternately, the structure would have a dependency on a non-existent infrastructure for mining materials and manufacturing components in space. Establishing that infrastructure would, in turn, be costly.        3) As a destination, it is a microgravity environment. This environment would be uncomfortable for many tourists to endure. Their visits would be short and thus a tourist industry would make less money. Workers supporting the industry would experience loss of muscle mass and reduced bone strength, and therefore they would need to be rotated out more frequently.        4) The ring is somewhat exposed to space debris.        5) The ring is somewhat exposed to space radiation.
The Space Fountain concept is faced with at least some of the following challenges:                1) It uses a high speed "mass stream" comprised of magnetically levitated and accelerated pellets which travel at high speed through an evacuated tube, making it a high-energy system. Energy is constantly being converted from potential energy to kinetic energy and back again in order to transfer static load forces from upper parts of the structure down to the surface of the planet. The constant conversion of energy from one form to another means that there is flow of energy. When energy flows, there are associated energy losses. For example, energy may be lost due to resistance in electrical wires, or inefficiencies in the magnetic systems that accelerate and decelerate the pellets. The lost energy will generate heat. Thermal dissipation systems will be needed to prevent overheating, and the structure will need to support their additional weight. The pellets themselves will convert energy into heat because eddy currents will be created within the pellets as they pass through magnetic fields of varying intensity during their journey through the evacuated tube. Therefore, ultimately, the operational cost of providing replacement energy to a space fountain may be quite high. This puts the technology into more direct competition with rockets, which also have high operational costs.        2) Portions of the precision-guided mass stream are exposed to a variety of terrestrial threats that could jar it or otherwise interfere with its smooth operation, leading to catastrophic failure. These threats include seismic events, lightning, strong winds, aberrant aircraft, small arms such as portable missiles, rocket propelled grenades, gun-fire. A catastrophic failure could cause the substantial energy of the mass stream to threaten nearby establishments. This would likely increase regulatory hurdles for securing approval to build the structure. Operational costs would also increase if a condition of approval were that it had to be constructed within a large secure zone that is enforced by a heavily patrolled perimeter.        3) As much of the system's cross-sectional area is exposed to wind shear, its top may sway. This could limit its utility for applications where stability is required.        4) The per square foot cost to buy or lease high-altitude floorspace at the top of a space fountain is expected to be very high. The floorspace would therefore not be a suitable for sustaining large static loads, such as the habitable facilities (restaurants, hotel rooms, entertainment venues, etc.) that typically are desired by tourists. Therefore, it is unlikely that the structure's capital and operational costs could be offset by leasing high-altitude floorspace to a tourist industry.        5) The top of a single space fountain is not well adapted, geometrically, to the problem of supporting a linear accelerator for accelerating space vehicles horizontally to orbital velocities.
The Launch Loop concept is faced with at least some of the following challenges:                1) See Space Fountain #1        2) See Space Fountain #2. Some proponents of this architecture recommend that it be deployed off-shore, and near the equator, where the weather is generally temperate. This would mitigate some kinds of terrestrial threats but also expose it to new threats. For example, it might be difficult to defend the underwater portions of the precision guided mass stream from a torpedo attack or prevent accidental collision with a submarine from ever occurring during the lifetime of the structure.        3) Some depictions of the Launch Loop in the literature suggest that the precision guided mass-stream component can withstand the point force loads, such as the point loads of the launched vehicles and the point loads of individual guy wires, which are widely spaced. This suggests that the precision guided mass-stream is designed to withstand these of point force loads, but how this is achieved does not appear to be adequately explained in the literature.        4) The procedure by which the structure is apparently erected adds complexity to the design. The precision guided mass-stream would experience more jostling and distortion during erection and startup than during steady state operation. The engineering challenge of maintaining vacuum along the considerable length of the structure is complicated by the need for expansion joints. These expansion joints would also add weight to the structure.
The Inflated Towers concept is faced with at least some of the following challenges:                1) It shares challenges 3, 4, and 5 with the Space Fountain, namely loss of stability due to exposure to wind shear, offering little useable floorspace at the top, and not being well adapted to the job of supporting a long linear accelerator for horizontally accelerating space vehicles up to orbital velocities.
The Artificial Inflated Mountains concept is faced with at least some of the following challenges:                1) Cost, including land cost and the cost of a staggeringly large number of individual building "blocks" that are needed to construct it.        2) Environmental impact, as the mountain would likely disrupt the natural habitat of everything underneath it. It would potentially interfere with migration. It could increase fuel costs for air traffic that had to route around it. And it could potentially affect the local climate.


A speech output device, a control method for a speech output device, a printer, and an interface board can improve the productivity of foreign language speaking workers in industries such as retailing and food services. A data communication unit 191 acquires print data. A data interpreter 193 analyzes and converts to text data at least part of the data acquired by the data communication unit 191. A language converter 194 converts the text data to one or more preset languages. A speech synthesizer 195 generates one or more units of synthesized speech data corresponding to the language-converted text data from the language converter 194. A speech data output unit 196 outputs the one or more units of synthesized speech data generated by the speech synthesizer 195 to a headphone 104.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a speech output device that supports employees in a retailer such as a supermarket or other type of store, to a control method for the speech output device, to a printing device, and to an interface board.
2. Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-H03-91893 teaches a POS system that can output the receipts that are issued for each sales transaction in a retail store in multiple languages. The POS system taught in JP-A-H03-91893 stores a product master file containing product information in one language (typically the language of the country in which the POS system is used), and a category master file containing product category information and the name of each category in plural languages, and when a product label is read with a barcode reader during a normal transaction, extracts the product name from the product master file for printing on the receipt. In other words, because product name information is stored in one language in the product master file, the receipt is printed in the customary language of that country. When a foreign language compatibility mode is selected using an input device, the name of the category of the product captured by the barcode reader in the selected foreign language is extracted from the category master file and printed on the receipt. This enables printing receipts in the language of the customer during transactions with tourists and other foreign language speakers, for example.
With the growing internationalization of commerce and industry in recent years, foreigners are employed in a wide range of occupations. The retail industry, including supermarkets, is no exception, and foreign language speakers are increasingly employed as cashiers to operate the cash registers. The greatest problems faced employing foreign language speakers as cashiers are language related. The system taught in JP-A-H03-91893 can issue receipts in a language that can be understood by the customer when the customer cannot read the local language. However, when it comes to POS system operations, particularly cash register operations, the system is compatible with only one language (such as Japanese), and foreign cashiers must operate the cash register using a language other than their own. More specifically, POS system operations often involve special tasks that are not commonly used and remembering all system operations completely is difficult, particularly when the operation must be learned in an unfamiliar foreign language.
Language problems therefore sometimes result in a severe drop in the accuracy of transaction processes (cash register operations) when foreigners are employed to operate the cash registers. Foreigners are also increasingly employed as kitchen workers in fast food restaurants, for example. Kitchen printers are often used to print customer orders for the kitchen workers, but language problems mean that reading the order may take longer, thus slowing down work and resulting in mistakes filling orders due to reading errors. Promptness is particularly important in stores with drive-through windows, creating strong demand for ways to reduce delays and prevent mistakes.

Speech output device, control method for a speech output device, printing device, and interface board


An improved object loader is provided that is designed to take advantage of the caching architecture of many of today's processors to improve performance. Some of today's most advanced processors, like the PENTIUM processor, have a two-level caching scheme utilizing both a primary cache and a secondary cache, where data contained in the primary cache is accessible 50 to 150 times faster than data in main memory. The improved object loader uses a hash table and an object handle table to load objects, where each of these tables is designed and utilized in such a manner so as to take full advantage of the processor's caching architecture to increase system performance.

As processors have become faster, main memory access has become the bottleneck to overall increased system performance. Therefore, in order to improve performance, memory caching schemes have been adopted to lessen the effect of the main memory bottleneck. The PENTIUM processor employs one such memory caching scheme. In accordance with the PENTIUM processor's caching scheme, when the processor needs to read data from memory, the processor first checks the primary cache to locate the data. If the data is located in the primary cache, the data is returned to the processor. If the requested data is not located in the primary cache, then the secondary cache is checked, which has a slower access time than the primary cache, but is still much faster than main memory. If the data is located in the secondary cache, the data is returned to the processor and the line ("cache line") of the secondary cache that stored the data is copied into the primary cache. That is, rather than just copying the data that is being read to the primary cache, an entire 32-byte cache line is copied to the primary cache. The primary cache is 8 KB in size, so it can store 256 cache lines. The secondary cache is typically 64 KB to 512 KB, so it can store between 2,048 to 16,384 cache lines.
If after checking the secondary cache the data is still not located, main memory is accessed, which has a significantly slower access time than the secondary cache. When main memory is accessed, not only the requested data, but an entire memory line of 32 bytes is returned. Upon returning the 32 bytes, the processor receives the data it requested and the primary and secondary cache both receive the entire 32-byte memory line, also known as a cache line. The 32-byte memory line is stored in the primary cache in the hope that the next time the processor needs to read data from memory, the data will be found within this cache line, saving a main memory access which saves significant processing time. To put the costs in perspective, it takes 1 processor cycle to access the primary cache, 4-12 processor cycles to access the secondary cache, and 50 processor cycles to access main memory. Therefore, the primary cache could be searched perhaps 50 times in the time that it takes to access main memory once. The PENTIUM processor's caching mechanism is described in greater detail in Anderson and Shanley, Pentium Processor System Architecture, 2d ed., Addison-Wesley, 1995, pp. 35-60, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Object loaders have been developed that load objects into memory in response to an application program's request to use the object. One example of an object is a portion of data, such as a range of spreadsheet cells from a spreadsheet program. In some conventional systems, when an application program wants to use an object, it has an identifier of the object, but it must obtain the memory address of the object before the object can be utilized. In this situation, an object loader is utilized to obtain the memory address. If, however, the object is not already loaded into memory, the object loader locates the object from a secondary storage device, stores the object into memory, and returns the memory address.
Some conventional object loaders use a conventional hashing mechanism to assist in performing their functionality. Conventional hashing mechanisms utilize a data structure known as a hash table to provide direct access to stored data. One example of a conventional hashing mechanism 100 is depicted in FIG. 1. The hashing mechanism 100 comprises a key 102, a hash function 104, a hash index 106, and a hash table 108. The hash table 108 contains a number of hash buckets 110-130, and each hash bucket contains data, such as a record, with one of the fields of the record acting as the key 102. In order to access the hash table 108, the key 102 is input into a hash function 104 which yields an index 106 (or hash address) that refers to a specific hash bucket (e.g., 114). Within the hash bucket 114 is the data that matches the key, unless the data has not yet been stored in the hash bucket. Hash tables are useful because they provide direct access to data by mapping a large range of key values into a smaller range of indexes. In this manner, for example, if a key of eight digits were utilized having a range of key values from 0 to 99,999,999 and if less than ten values are ever used, a hashing mechanism can be used to hash the key into an index of one digit to refer to a hash table containing ten buckets. Therefore, instead of using a hash table having one-hundred-million hash buckets where only a very limited number of the buckets are ever used, a hash table of only ten buckets can be used to more efficiently use system resources, but still provide direct access to the data.
The function "h" 104 maps each key value onto exactly one index, and therefore, whenever the same key value is used more than once, the same index 106 into the hash table 108 is generated. Sometimes, however, when attempting to store data in the hash table 108, more than one key value will hash to the same index 106. In this situation, a "collision" has occurred. When a collision occurs, the data must be stored in the hash bucket indicated by the index and therefore more than one record will be stored in this hash bucket. Hash bucket 118 depicts the state of a hash bucket after a collision has occurred and more than one record is stored in the hash bucket. In hash bucket 118, one record of data "data 3" is linked to a second record of data "data 4." As more collisions occur, the hash buckets become more populated and thus the benefits of a hash table start to diminish because each record within the hash bucket is no longer directly accessible. Instead, after hashing the key value into an index, the index refers to a hash bucket that contains a number of records linked together and the hash bucket must then be searched to determine the correct record, which is costly in terms of processing time. Therefore, conventional hashing systems are designed to avoid collisions.
The conventional object loaders utilize the conventional hashing mechanism 100 by using an object identifier as the key 102 and by storing both the memory addresses of the objects and the object identifiers as the data in the hash buckets 110-130 of the hash table 108. As such, upon receiving an object identifier of a given object from an application program, the conventional object loader retrieves the memory address of the object by applying the hash function 104 to the object identifier to create an index 106 which refers to a hash bucket of the hash table 108 and by retrieving the memory address for the object from the hash bucket. If the memory address for the object is not yet contained in the hash table, the object loader locates the object from a secondary storage device, stores the object into memory, stores the memory address into the hash table, and returns the memory address.
The processing of conventional object loaders can take a significant amount of processing time to locate objects and to load them into memory. This processing becomes even more burdensome on the system as the number of objects utilized within the system becomes extremely large. In addition, a significant amount of processing time and memory is used to locate an object even after loading it into memory. Thus, it is desirable to improve the performance of object loaders. However, conventional object loaders have not taken advantage of the caching architecture of today's processors to improve performance.


A first structural frame member (11) has two tabs (15) projecting from one end and may be secured to a second structural frame member (21) having two slots (25) piercing it intermediate its ends by insertion of the tabs through the respective slots N"Z and subsequent deformation of the tabs to prevent their withdrawal from the slots. Each tab tapers from a tab base (15A) to a tab tip (15B) which is narrower than the tab base, and each slot is defined by two opposed, short, end faces (26) and two opposed, elongate "Z side faces, said side faces comprising opposed center parts (27), each at least as long as the width of the tab tip, and opposed flanking parts (28) on either side of the center parts extending from the center parts to the respective end faces. The spacing between said center parts is greater than the lengths of the end faces, whereby, in use, the tab tips can be inserted freely into the slots notwithstanding some misalignment therebetween and, on continued insertion, the tabs are guided by flanking parts into alignment with the opposed end faces for snug accommodation of the tab base therebetween.

Steel framing systems for buildings may be assembled from structural members which are roll formed from steel strip and provided with tabs and slots so that they can be readily interfitted to form a strong frame.
The structural members may be factory produced on machinery which forms, punches and crops them to order for immediate supply and assembly into individually designed frames with virtually no wastage and with no need for stockpiling.
Machinery for production of such framing elements is disclosed in Australian Patent No. 570845 and pending Australian patent application no. 56949/90. A typical steel framing system using such elements is described in Australian Patent No. 484003. As disclosed therein, the frame is assembled by connecting structural members formed with projecting end tabs to further structural members formed with slots, by inserting the tabs through the slots of the further members and then folding the tabs laterally to prevent withdrawal.
Typically, the frame members may be produced as elongate channel-shaped members. These may have a pair of tabs projecting from each end and pairs of transverse slots punched in their connecting webs at regular intervals along their length, so that the tabs of one member can be passed through a pair of the transverse slots of a further adjoining member, at any one of a number of locations along the length of the further adjoining member. However, some of the frame members may have slots but no end tabs, and others may be formed with end tabs but no slots, for interconnection with the slotted members.


An integrated circuit chip includes a plurality of test input pads configured to receive a plurality of test input signals, a plurality of single-ended type buffers configured to receive signals input to the plurality of test input pads in a connectivity test mode, a plurality of differential-type buffers configured to receive signals input to the plurality of test input pads in a normal mode, a signal combination unit configured to combine the plurality of test input signals input through the plurality of single-ended type buffers, and to generate a plurality of test output signals, and a plurality of test output pads configured to output the plurality of test output signals in the connectivity test mode.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an integrated circuit chip and a memory device having the same, and more particularly, to a technology of testing whether each pad (pin) of an integrated circuit chip is electrically connected to a substrate (board).
2. Description of the Related Art
When an integrated circuit chip such as a memory device is attached to a board, a test is performed to check a bonding state regarding whether bonding of a package is made and pins are connected to the board, in a desired manner. The conventional art uses a scheme of testing a bonding state of a board and pins using a test scheme called a boundary scan test. However, since this scheme performs a test by shifting a test pattern, a much longer test time may be required.
In a recent memory device, a connectivity test scheme of simultaneously applying signals to a plurality of pads of a chip and testing an electrical connection state of the pads in a parallel manner has been proposed. In this regard, a chip design of stably supporting a connectivity test of new scheme may be required.

Integrated circuit chip and memory device having the same


A previously-computed scope definition represented as at least one begin-end node pair is obtained. The at least one begin-end node pair is usable to identify all nodes and interconnection path links that are reachable in a traversal from a begin node to an end node of each of the at least one begin-end node pair of a selection of a connected directed graphical representation of a process model. A change to the process model relative to the previously-computed scope definition is identified. A type of tooling environment used to change the process model is determined. The tooling environment includes one of a fully-integrated tooling environment and a componentized tool chain tooling environment. The previously-computed scope definition is adapted into an updated process scope definition based upon the identified at least one change to the process model relative to the previously-computed scope definition and the determined type of tooling environment.

The present invention relates to business process scoping. More particularly, the present invention relates to node-pair process scope definition and scope selection computation, and node-pair process scope definition adaptation.
Visual business process modeling tools allow representations of business processes to be entered and viewed in a graphical format. The graph of a business process may be represented, for example, by nodes and links between nodes that represent the flow of the business process.

Node-pair process scope definition adaptation

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The present disclosure is directed to an optical transport system and device that conserves power, provides for efficient transport of photonic signals and is capable to accommodate a number of different nodes. The system and device are implemented with the major components at the nodes to provide easy maintenance. In a first aspect, the disclosure is directed to an optical transport system that provides for low power and efficient transport of photonic signals. The optical transport system can be implemented with a plurality of similar or identical network interface units that correspond with each node of the system. Also disclosed is an optical transport system architecture having an example architecture that includes a primary system and a secondary system, which is redundant to the primary system and is adapted to be operational when the primary system is inactive, or an example architecture that includes just a primary system.

The present disclosure relates to optical, or photonic, transport networks or systems and associated devices. An example of the present disclosure includes a fiber optic communication network and optical circuit components used in the network. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to optical transport system architectures and optical devices used in the optical transport system.
Fiber optical systems generally refer to the medium and technology associated with the transmission of signals in the form of light pulses, or photons, along a glass or plastic fiber. Optical systems are distinguishable from electrical systems using conventional electrically conductive wires, such as copper wire, in the transmission of electrical signals. Optical systems also include advantageous capabilities over electrical systems. For example, electrical signals interact with each other and their environment. This results in a need for non-intersecting and spaced-apart electrical wire links between electronic devices or electrical components. In contrast, photons generally do not interact with each other, and this leads to the possibility of different photonic signals sharing the same optical fiber.
Optical systems typically combine different photonic signals onto the same optical fiber, or separate photonic signals carried on the same optical fiber, with a generally similar basic circuit structure. Several optical transmitters can be used to each generate a particular optical signal. The optical signals from the transmitters are input to an optical multiplexer. The optical multiplexer is a photonic circuit component that combines several photonic signals into a single photonic transmission that can be carried on the single optical fiber. In order to separate the single photonic transmission on the single optical fiber, systems can use an optical de-multiplexer. The optical de-multiplexer is a photonic circuit component that separates a single photonic transmission into the individual photonic signals. The outputs of the optical de-multiplexer are coupled to optical receivers. Each of the individual photonic signals is carried on to the corresponding optical receiver.
In general, the multiplexer or de-multiplexer in the basic optical structure performs a type of wavelength division multiplexing, or WDM. Wavelength division multiplexing is used to carry many different types of data on the same optical fiber. Wavelength division multiplexing is a fiber optic technique that employs light wavelengths to transmit photonic signals in parallel on the same optical fiber. Wavelength division multiplexing has enabled optical service providers to meet consumer demands for ever-increasing bandwidth. Wavelength division multiplexing uses several to many channels (also known as lambdas or colors) to provide high capacity bandwidth across the optical system or optical network. Each channel carries an individual photonic signal providing the same bandwidth per channel in a single photonic stream. The channels are de-multiplexed at the end location. Several devices can be used to provide the multiplexing or de-multiplexing functions.
Often, systems using wavelength division multiplexing employ one of two general network topologies to manage the bidirectional transmission of data over a network. (Bidirectional data transmission occurs when signals are transmitted along both directions of an optical transmission path such as optical fiber.) These two topologies are a star and a ring. The star topology is where all of the data is transmitted to a central location of the network and then retransmitted to the intended recipient. An example can be imagined by considering a company mail room. Letters to be sent are first collected and brought to the mail room, and from there the letters are taken to the intended addressees. A ring topology is where all of the transmitters and recipients are linked together in a closed loop. An example can be imagined by considering the numbers on the face of an analog clock. If 1 wants to send a signal to 6, 1 must send the signal clockwise through 2-5 (or counterclockwise through 12-7). A third type of topology, a linear bus, is popular with many types of electronic systems, such as a personal computer, but is difficult to implement in optical systems.
Despite the popularity of the star and ring topologies, they are not without their disadvantages. In a star coupled network, all of the nodes are connected to a central location using optical transmission paths, and the central location broadcasts data from each transmitting node to generally all of the nodes on the network. In a passive star network, data is broadcast by splitting the optical signal. This results in a practical limitation of about sixteen nodes due to the reduction of power in the splitting process. An active star coupler regenerates the optical signal within the star and can be used for larger networks, but this requires significantly more controls, expense, and maintenance issues. Also, active stars typically employ the technologies and controls used in constructing a difficult-to-implement linear bus topology. A ring coupled network is more easily implemented and more scalable than the star network. Ring networks, however, are more dependent on each of the nodes. If one node fails, the entire communication network could be disrupted. In addition, the entire communication network could be disrupted if power fails, and the ring typically requires relatively large amounts of power to operate.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for improved network topologies and devices used to support the network that conserve power, are scalable to accommodate a broad number of nodes, are easily maintained, and are readily implemented on optical systems where failure of a node or component does not disrupt a large portion of the network.


A bicycle chainring is formed from a first member and an second member. The first member includes a center rotational axis, a crank attachment portion with a plurality of chainring attachment openings and an annular tooth portion with a plurality of chain engaging gear teeth. The second member disposed around the center rotational axis and is fixedly attached to overlie at least one of the crank attachment portion and the annular tooth portion to reinforce the first member without obstructing access to the chainring attachment openings.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a bicycle chainring. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bicycle chainwheel that is made of at least two attached annular portions.
2. Background Information
Bicycling is becoming an increasingly more popular form of recreation as well as a means of transportation. Moreover, bicycling has become a very popular competitive sport for both amateurs and professionals. Whether the bicycle is used for recreation, transportation or competition, the bicycle industry is constantly improving the various components of the bicycle. One set of components that have been extensively redesigned is the bicycle power transmission gears.
Specifically, the chain engaging gears of the bicycle have been re-shaped to reduce friction and have been made more light weight to reduce the total mass of the bicycle. However, even with recent improvements in material science, the chain engaging gears contribute a measurable amount of weight to the bicycle.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for improved chain engaging gears that have a reduced weight. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


The present invention provides a silica-containing heat curing silicone rubber compound composition which can be produced safely and hardly suffers from inclusion of foreign substances. More specifically, when (A) 100 parts by weight of a polyorganosiloxane base polymer and (B) 1 to 100 parts by weight of a reinforcing silica are mixed together, (C) 0.05 to 80 ppm of an ionic liquid whose anionic component is bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide is added thereto.

Although Silicone polymers have very low mechanical strength, it is effective to add silica thereto in order to improve the reinforcement. Many silicone rubber compositions therefore include silica. However, the silicone polymer and silica charge negatively due to friction, thus the mixture shows highly negatively-charged friction potential. From this reason, when obtaining the silicone rubber compound including silica, the compound is highly negatively charged in the course of mixing, and accidents such as ignition and explosion may possibly be caused by this electric potential. In particular, the blending of a dangerous substance such as a silane compound or hexamethyldisilazane causes a greater danger, and therefore usually the production is performed in a sealed mixer under an atmosphere substituted by nitrogen as a main way for avoiding the danger. However, it cannot be said that the safety is completely secured, in consideration of accidental errors such as human mistakes or malfunctions of measuring instruments; for example, the nitrogen substitution is not sufficiently completed due to some troubles, or even if the nitrogen substitution is completed, a small orifice is opened for adding additives.
In order to blend the silicone rubber composition including silica with a vulcanizing agent or a coloring agent in processing manufacturers, there exists generally a step of mixing them together by using rolls or in a mixer. In this case, due to negative friction charge generated during the mixing time, dust easily adsorbs and troubles in which the dust contaminates the product as foreign substances are often observed. In particular, most of silicone rubbers are molded products having a semi-transparent appearance and therefore, the inclusion of even a slight amount of the foreign substances would cause problems.
On the other hand, JP-A 2002-363294 proposes a method of addition of a cationic antistatic agent or deionized water, against the friction potential charged, in order to greatly increase an amount of filler. According to the method, however, many of the cationic antistatic agents do not have high heat resistance and thus lose their effects in several hours in a heating process at temperatures of, for example, 150° C. to 200° C. Further, at least about 1000 ppm of the blending amount thereof is required, which may possibly exert adverse effects on the properties or appearance of the rubber. Similarly, the deionized water or city water also evaporates due to heat generated during the mixing time, whereby stable effects cannot be expected, and moreover, if the water is blended with silica, silica disadvantageously agglomerates to form foreign substances.
As described above, according to the method described in JP-A 2002-363294, the problems to be solved by the present invention cannot be solved.
In addition, JP-A 2005-298661, JP-A 2005-344102, JP-A 2006-83211, JP-A 2006-225422, and JP-A 2006-265340 propose a blending of an ion-conductive compound such as a specific lithium salt and the silicone polymer, but any of them are different from the present invention in terms of a composition or curing mechanism as well as an amount of the ion conductive compound to be added and the intended object, and accordingly the problems to be solved by the invention cannot be also solved by these methods.

Heat curing silicone rubber compound composition

Momentive Performance Materials Japan LLC


The invention is a method and system for integrating a security key infrastructure with applications programs on a computer system. A security key infrastructure service request is transmitted from a first application program to a security integration module. In the security integration module, a first policy is requested from a policy server and a first security key infrastructure is selected to service the security key infrastructure service request, according to the first policy. The security key infrastructure service request is transmitted from the security integration module to the selected first security key infrastructure.

The continued growth of digital communication has created an increasing need to make such communications secure and verifiable. One way to achieve these goals is through the use of a security key infrastructure (SKI). An SKI is a set of services enabling the use and management of a key based security system providing the underlying technology for authentication, privacy and non-repudiation of digital communications.
In an SKI based security system, every relevant entity (e.g. user, organization, network node) is assigned a unique secret key (typically a very large random number). The key is considered to be the xe2x80x9ccredentialsxe2x80x9d of the entity to which it is assigned, and an entity can prove its identity by proving that it xe2x80x9cpossessesxe2x80x9d its secret key. This can be done, for example, by performing certain mathematical functions on digital documents using the secret key to produce a so-called xe2x80x9cdigital signature,xe2x80x9d which can be used both to authenticate the source of the document, and to prevent the entity which xe2x80x9csignedxe2x80x9d it from repudiating its signature later on.
An SKI can be used to establish a temporary secure and trusted connection (a xe2x80x9csessionxe2x80x9d) between a client and a server as follows. The client uses procedures in the SKI to generate a xe2x80x9csession tokenxe2x80x9d which is mathematically related to the secret key of the client (or of the user working on the client), and which also includes an encrypted xe2x80x9csession key.xe2x80x9d The session token is then sent to the server, along with a request to establish a secure connection. The server uses procedures in the SKI which can test whether the session token has the appropriate mathematical relationship to the secret key of the putative sender of the request, thus enabling the server to test the authenticity of the request. The client may also use procedures in the SKI to extract the session key from the session token. Since the session key is known only to the client and the server, it can be used as an encryption key to establish an encrypted communication channel between the client and the server.
Examples of SKIs include so-called symmetrical key infrastructures, such as the Kerberos system, described in the document RFC1510 available from the Internet Engineering Task Force, and so-called public key infrastructures (PKIs) such as Entrust/PKI, available from Entrust, Inc., and described at http://www.entrust.com/entrust/index.htm, and OnSite, available from Verisign, Inc. and described as http://www.verisign.com.
A PKI is an SKI that utilizes public key cryptography, in which entities are assigned two keys, one public and one private. The two keys have a mathematical relationship such that data encrypted by one key can only be decrypted using the other key, and vice versa. An entity can therefore encrypt information using its private key, and send it to a recipient who can decrypt it using the entity""s public key. This permits the recipient to authenticate the identity of the sender without ever having to learn its private key, so long as the recipient can be assured of the sender""s public key. Conversely, information can be encrypted with an entity""s public key, thus providing way of securing the data so that only the entity possessing the private key will be able to decrypt it.
One of the features of a PKI is that it provides a trusted third party or certificate authority (CA), which is a trusted source of information about public keys. A certificate authority issues digital xe2x80x9ccertificatesxe2x80x9d which attest to the assignment of a particular public key to a particular entity. The certificate is cryptographically xe2x80x9csignedxe2x80x9d by the CA, and this signature can be verified using the CA""s public key. Thus, as long as the CA itself is trusted, recipients may rely on such certificates to authenticate sources of information.
For an organization to implement a PKI, it must either create an internal CA, or rely on a third party to provide one. Toolkits and products for creating CAs are available from vendors such as Entrust, Netscape, Microsoft and Xcert. Third party CA services are provided by vendors such as Verisign, GTE Cybertrust and CertCo.
One impediment to the widespread implementation of SKI systems is the problem of application support. SKI services are typically not accessed by users directly, but are instead called from within an application via an application programming interface (API). However an application can access an SKI only if it has been programmed to utilize the SKI""s API. Because many legacy applications and applications on the market today have not been programmed for use with an SKI, an organization seeking to utilize an SKI system would need to spend considerable time and effort retrofitting existing systems to take advantage of SKI services.
An additional problem arises because there is no standard API which is provided by all of the various SKI systems available today. As a result, software vendors that do incorporate the ability to use an SKI in their products typically provide compatibility with only one SKI API, thus limiting customers in the choice of SKIs they may wish to employ.
The difficulty in employing an SKI in an existing networked computing environment may be better understood by reference to FIGS. 1-6.
Shown in FIG. 1 is a network computer system 100 having a network 110 that connects clients 120 and servers 130. Clients 120 include any device capable of receiving information from a user and transmitting digital data over network 110, including networked computer workstations, automatic teller machines, cable television receivers, PCS devices, and the like. Data servers include any device responsive to data requests received over network 110, including network file system file servers, internet web servers, database servers, and the like. Users therefore use clients 120 to access data or services provided by servers 130.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a client 120 and a server 130 connected to a network 110. A client 120 includes an input device 140, capable of receiving information from a user, and an output device 150, capable of providing information to a user. Client 120 contains client programs 160 which receive inputs from a user via the input device 140, and provide outputs to the user via output device 150. Client programs 160 communicate over network 110 with server programs 170 located on servers 130, which provide data or services in response to requests received from client programs 160. By using a client program 160 located on client 120, a user may therefore access data or services located on a server 130.
Client programs 160 and server programs 170 will be referred to collectively as xe2x80x9capplication programs.xe2x80x9d Referring now to FIG. 3, an application program 175 typically does not have the ability to access network hardware directly. Rather, they access the network 110 by using network access module (NAM) 180 provided by an operating system. The network access module 180 provides a network application program interface (network API) 190 that is recognized by each client program 160. For example, in a MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95((trademark)) environment, application programs typically access a network through the Winsock network access module, which is provided as a dynamic load library (DLL) by the WINDOWS 95 operating system.
Client programs 160 are of two types, security extensible 200, and security non-extensible 210. Referring now to FIG. 4, security extensible client programs 200 may have a built-in security module 220, as in client programs 200a and 200b, which provides built-in security services for the client program. For example, the built-in security module 220 may provide authentication services by requiring a user to enter a password which can be checked against a password file maintained by the client program.
A security extensible client program 200 accesses its built-in security module 220 using a security services application program interface (security services API) 230, .such as the Generic Security Services API (GSS-API), described in the publication RFC2078 available from the Internet Engineering Task Force, the Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA), developed by Intel Corp. and described at www.intel.com/ial/security and www.opengroup.org/publications/catalog/c707.htm, or the Cryptographic Application Programming Interface (CAPI), described at www.microsoft.com/security/tech/cryptoapi. The security features of a program using a security services API are therefore extensible: built-in security module 220 can be replaced with an extension module that provides improved or extended security features using the same security services API 230.
Alternatively, a security extensible client program 200 may have no built-in security features, but may nonetheless be capable of requesting security services through a given security services API 230, as illustrated by client programs 200c and 200d. Such a program is able to provide security services if an appropriate extension module is linked to it.
The security services APIs 230 recognized by security extensible client programs 200 are not necessarily the same, as illustrated by the differing shapes used to represent security services APIs in FIG. 4.
Referring now to FIG. 5, a security non-extensible client program 210 may or may not provide built-in security features 215, however it is not extensible to provide additional security features because it does not recognize a security services API 230.
Like client programs 160, server programs 170 may be security extensible or security non-extensible.
FIG. 6 shows schematically a set of SKIs 260. Each SKI 260 includes a security services API 230, and a set of SKI services 270 that can be accessed through it. The security services APIs 230 provided by the SKIs 260 are not necessarily the same.
A system manager who wished to integrate one or more of the SKIs 260 shown in FIG. 6 with, for example, the client programs illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 would be faced with two difficulties. First, the system might include security extensible client programs 200 or security extensible server programs 240 that did not recognize the same security services API 230. In such a case, the system manager would have to install multiple SKIs 260 in order to provide SKI services 270 for all of the security extensible client programs 200 and server programs 240 on the system, and would not have the flexibility to use an SKI, such as SKI 260c in FIG. 6, having an API not recognized by any of the programs.
In addition, in the case of security non-extensible client programs 210 (or security non-extensible server programs), the system manager would not be able to link such programs to an SKI 260 without modifying the program itself, which could be quite time consuming and, where source code was not available, impractical.
The present invention provides a system and method for enabling security key infrastructure (SKI) resources to be easily integrated into a network computer system. The present invention further provides a system and method for providing secure and tamper-evident tracking of SKI service requests on a network computer system. The present invention further provides a system and method for authorizing user access to system resources on network computer system. The present invention further provides a system and method for integrating application programs lacking a security services API into a security framework utilizing SKI services.
In a first aspect, the invention provides a method for integrating a security key infrastructure. A security key infrastructure service request is transmitted from a first application program to a security integration module. In the security integration module, a first policy from a policy server is requested. In the security integration module, a first security key infrastructure is selected to service the security key infrastructure service request, according to the first policy. The security key infrastructure service request is transmitted from the security integration module to the selected first security key infrastructure.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method for securing a distributed data processing system having a client program on a client having a user, and a server program on a server connected to the client by a network, including, in the client, intercepting a request by the client program to open a network connection to a server program, determining whether the user is authorized to open the connection by reference to a policy associated with the user, sending a message requesting to the server to establish a network connection, only if the user is authorized by the policy to establish the connection.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method for auditing a security key infrastructure transaction including transmitting a security key infrastructure transaction request from an application program to a security integration modules the security integration module, selecting an appropriate security key infrastructure to perform the requested transaction, transmitting the request from the security integration module to the selected security key infrastructure, and storing in an audit log audit data related to the request.

Seamless integration of application programs with security key infrastructure


A method for identifying interferers in a radio communication band, such as the 2.4 GHz ISM band, uses a priori information of the interferers such as channel structure, channel frequency and channel bandwidth. Measured RSSI can be used to detect and identify interferers. RSSI measurements can be made at multiple frequencies within a channel of the interferer. Randomization of RSSI measurements improves the likelihood of interferer detection and identification if such interferer is present. Metrics other than RSSI can be used.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the field of interference mitigation in the frequency spectrum commonly used by cordless telephones. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of identifying of interferers in a cordless telephone system spectrum.
2. Background of the Invention
Cordless telephone products today often use the license-free 2.4 GHz ISM communication spectrum. However, a number of other technologies also use this spectrum. For example, 802.11b WLAN products and other products use this spectrum. The presence of such devices cause interference with communication between the cordless telephone handset and the cordless telephone base unit. Likewise, communication between the cordless telephone base unit and the cordless telephone handset causes interference with communication occurring in other products operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM spectrum. As a result of this cross-interference, the performance of these products is often degraded.
To mitigate the effects of interference, conventional cordless telephone devices allow users to manually change channels when interference degrades communication. Other conventional cordless telephone devices automatically switch channels if a detected bit error rate exceeds a threshold. Neither approach is optimal. A better approach is to identify the interferer and then use the identification information to mitigate the effects of the interference.
However, there are problems associated with detecting the presence of such interferers in cordless telephone system communications that must be overcome for a viable solution applicable to the cordless telephone environment. One such problem is detecting the presence of the interferer in a short time. A second problem is distinguishing one interferer from another, for example, distinguishing 802.11b from other interferers in the ISM band.

System and method for identifying interferes in a communication spectrum


Fluid compositions are disclosed containing a branched organopolysiloxane and a carrier fluid. The branched organopolysiloxane is obtainable by reacting an organohydrogencyclosiloxane and an alkenyl terminated polydiorganosiloxane. The disclosed fluid compositions possess pituitous rheological properties.

Besides providing certain functional benefits, silicones are incorporated into personal care products for their inherent aesthetic benefits. In particular, formulators will optimize the overall aesthetics of personal care products by selecting certain types and amounts of a silicone. As such, there is a continuing need in this industry to discover new silicone compositions that provide improved product aesthetics, sensory perceptions, or functional improvements. The present inventors have discovered certain silicone fluid compositions that provide such improvements.


An image forming machine such as a photocopier or a printer for forming a toner image of an original document on a recording sheet. The image forming machine includes a charger for charging a photoreceptor; the photoreceptor, having a surface, for holding a toner image on the surface; a laser beam writer for writing a latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor; a multi-color developer for developing the latent image with a color toner so that a color toner image is formed on the surface in which the color toner image is superimposed for multiple times so that a multi-color toner image is formed on the surface; a mono-color developer for developing the latent image with a monochrome toner so that a monochrome toner image is formed on the surface; a transfer mechanism for transferring one of the multi-color toner image and the monochrome toner image from the surface onto the recording sheet; neutralizer for neutralizing the surface after the transfer mechanism transfers one of the multi-color toner image and the monochrome toner image onto the recording sheet; a cleaner for cleaning a residual toner on the surface after the surface is neutralized by the neutralizer; and a controller for changing a neutralizing voltage of the neutralizer being impressed onto the surface.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus wherein a toner image obtained through development of a latent image on an image carrier therein is transferred onto a recording sheet through a physical means of a transfer belt device having a rotary transfer belt and then the recording sheet to which the toner image adheres is transported to a fixing means where the toner image is fixed, while the image carrier from which the toner image has been transferred is neutralized electrically by a neutralizer and then is cleaned for the following image formation.
On an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or the like, the surface of a photoreceptor drum, for example, which is an image carrier is charged evenly by a charging unit and then the surface of the photoreceptor drum is subjected to imagewise exposure for formation of an electrostatic latent image. The latent image is developed by a developing means and visualized to be a toner image. The toner image formed on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum is transferred by a physical means onto a recording sheet which is transported synchronously, and the recording sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photoreceptor drum and is transported to a fixing means where the toner image is fixed on the recording sheet. After that, the recording sheet is ejected to the outside of the apparatus.
As a means for transferring the toner image adhering to the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum to a recording sheet, a transfer unit that conducts electric discharge on the recording sheet from its back side charges with electricity having polarity opposite to that of toners, the toner image is transferred onto the recording sheet, and the recording sheet is separated from the photoreceptor drum after being neutralized with AC high voltage impressed thereon by a separating unit after the transfer. However, it is difficult to keep for sure the satisfactory conditions of transfer and separation. Especially when the photoreceptor drum has a large diameter, a recording sheet is difficult to be separated and a recording sheet onto which a toner image has been transferred sticks to the photoreceptor drum without being separated, tending to cause sheet jamming, which is a disadvantage. As a technology improving the disadvantage, a transfer belt device is used.
In the transfer belt device, a transfer belt stretched around a plurality of supporting rollers is rotated at the same speed as the photoreceptor drum. The transfer belt device is equipped with a charge-donating means that donates electric charges to a recording sheet so that the recording sheet may be attracted by electrostatic force to the transfer belt, thus the recording sheet is brought into contact with the photoreceptor drum at a transfer section while adhering to the transfer belt, and at the transfer section, high voltage having polarity opposite to that of toners is impressed on the recording sheet under the control of constant current for transferring toner images. Such transfer belt device offers excellent transfer efficiency and excellent separation effect at the transfer section.
For a color image forming apparatus wherein toner images are superimposed on a photoreceptor drum to be transferred onto a recording sheet at once, the transfer belt device mentioned above is used as a device which is especially preferable. In the color image forming apparatus mentioned above, a plurality of developing units are provided around the photoreceptor drum because toner images are superimposed on the photoreceptor, which requires a large drum diameter that needs more positive separation efficiency because sufficient separation efficiency can not be obtained in a conventional electrostatic transfer and separation system. Further, in the system of superimposing toner images, an amount of adhering toners is large and thereby a large amount of electric charges for transfer is required. Therefore, it is necessary to have great capacity for keeping electric charges for transfer. For the two points mentioned above, the transfer belt device is excellent, and therefore, it is used as an especially preferable device.
However, for photoreceptor drum 110 as shown in FIG. 4, corona discharge unit 136 is provided for corona discharge on the back side of transfer belt 131 at nip portion 135 to which the transfer belt 131 stretched around supporting rollers 132 and 134 touches, then, toner images formed on the photoreceptor drum 110 are transferred onto recording sheet sticking to and transported by the transfer belt 131, and after the recording sheet from which images have been transferred is separated from the photoreceptor drum 110, electric charges from corona discharge unit 136 are transferred onto the photoreceptor drum 110 from which the recording sheet has been separated to cause the photoreceptor drum to be in a charged state. When the photoreceptor drum 110 is superordinate for charging, it is not possible to remove sufficiently the toners remaining on and sticking to the photoreceptor drum 110 after transfer even when cleaning means 116 is used for removing them, which is a problem. Therefore, neutralizer 115 is provided to impress AC bias voltage for neutralizing.
An effect of the neutralizer 115 provided can be confirmed in cleaning. According to the study of the inventors of the invention, however, the photoreceptor drum subjected to AC neutralizing by means of simple AC bias voltage and still holding remaining toners thereon is not necessarily cleaned fully by the following cleaning means. Namely, there is observed a phenomenon that a part of remaining toners removed once from the surface of the photoreceptor drum by a cleaning blade in cleaning is scraped up to the tip of the cleaning blade and sticks to the surface of the photoreceptor drum again after being redeveloped. This phenomenon is remarkably observed on a color image forming apparatus of a multi-color type wherein toner images each having a different color are superimposed and formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum and then are transferred onto a recording sheet. The reason for the phenomenon that the remaining toners cause redeveloping is considered as follows: with regard to electric charges given to the photoreceptor and toners by the corona discharge unit 136, those given to the remaining toners which are in the state of adhering are not neutralized fully by AC neutralization although those given to the photoreceptor whose back side is grounded are neutralized to be zero in voltage by AC neutralization. A phenomenon of redeveloping is observed remarkably at a point of time of pressure-contact and releasing of the cleaning blade.
In a color image forming apparatus having the multi-color function, it is not possible to keep causing the cleaning blade of cleaning means 116 to be in pressure-contact when forming a color image because toner images each having a different color are superimposed and formed on the circumferential surface of photoreceptor drum 110. Namely, after transferring the precedent color images and before forming the following color images, the cleaning blade is brought into pressure-contact for cleaning the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 110, and then the pressure-contact of the cleaning blade is released for preparation for the following color image forming.
Toners used for redeveloping during the aforementioned releasing of the cleaning blade stay again within a region related to image forming, resulting in an adverse effect on color images.
In the case of a mono-color image forming apparatus (not illustrated), on the contrary, it is possible to keep causing the cleaning blade to be in pressure-contact with an entire region related to image forming because it is not necessary to superimpose toner images each having a different color on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum. Therefore, it does not happen that redeveloping caused by pressure-contact and releasing of the cleaning blade affects adversely on images. Further, an amount of residual toners is less on the mono-color image forming apparatus than on the color image forming apparatus of a multi-color type. Therefore, redeveloping does not affect adversely on images in the case of the mono-color image forming apparatus.
On an image forming apparatus of a multi-color type, therefore, neutralizing voltage for neutralizer 115 is made to be those wherein D.C. voltage that is the same in polarity as transfer voltage and is appropriate in voltage is superposed on A.C. bias voltage, so that there may be no difference in voltage between photoreceptor drum 110 and residual toner, for excellent cleaning.
Even in the case of a color image forming apparatus having the multi-color function wherein a plurality of developing units are provided around a photoreceptor drum and toner images each having a different color are superimposed and formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum after repetition of the process of charging, imagewise exposure and developing and then are transferred onto a recording sheet, it is not necessary to redevelop on a multi-color basis when images on a document are characters. In addition to a multi-color mode, therefore, there is provided a mono-color mode wherein only one of a plurality of developing units each containing different color developer is operated and a process including charging, imagewise exposure, developing and transfer that immediately follows the developing is taken. In the case of a multi-color mode, it is not possible to form a multi-color image whose length exceeds one circumference of a circle of the photoreceptor drum but is possible, in the case of a mono-color mode, to record an image whose size exceeds one circumference of a circle of the photoreceptor drum as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). In FIG. 2 (a), the numeral 10 represents a circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum, and dotted line portions D (A)-D (C) represent regions where images were formed on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum, while ranges D (B)-D (C) represent a portion where images were formed twice. FIG. 2 (b) shows a recording sheet on which P (A) corresponds to D (A) in image forming and P (C) corresponds to D (C).
In this case, when corona discharge impressed by a neutralizer is conducted under the same condition as in a multi-mode in recording an image whose size exceeds one circumference of a circle of the photoreceptor drum, ranges D (B)-D (C) where image forming was conducted twice for one image sometimes show thereon a photographic fog.
The reason for the foregoing is as follows. Since neutralizing voltage in the multi-color mode is one wherein D.C. voltage that is the same in polarity as transfer voltage and is appropriate in voltage is superposed on A.C. bias voltage, the D.C. voltage that is opposite in polarity to charging voltage affects adversely on charging characteristics. Ranges where image forming is conducted twice on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum for one image, in particular, show remarkable adverse effect on charging characteristics caused by bias voltage of a neutralizer. Therefore, occurrence of photographic fog is observed on the region where image forming is conducted twice for one image.
An object of the invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming an excellent image under a mono-color mode as well as a multi-color mode.
Further object of the invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming an excellent image independently of the size of an image to be recorded.

Image forming apparatus with an improved discharger


In a hydraulic drive of a tool, a piston is adapted to be acted upon by a pump via a pressure limiting seat valve and a parallel switching seat valve of a valve arrangement. A restriction is provided in a pressure line upstream of the pressure limiting seat valve which is connected to a tank on the flow-off side. A drain line leads from a working chamber of the piston via the switching seat valve to the tank. A closing side is adapted to be acted upon by pressure and an opening side is adapted to be acted upon by a force generated when the pressure limiting seat valve responds. The pump is adapted to be switched off when the maximum operating pressure has been reached, so that the piston will execute a return stroke. A pressure-increasing restriction is provided on the flow-off side of the pressure limiting seat valve.

In the case of the hydraulic drive of the type in question, which is known from EP 2 448 720 A1, a large cross-section to the tank is abruptly opened, when the pressure limiting seat valve has responded and as soon as also the larger pressure application area of the valve piston has pressure applied thereto. In the case of an at least approximately simultaneous deactivation of the pump (FIGS. 1, 2), a large volume flow abruptly flows through said large cross-section into the tank and the pressure rapidly collapses at the restriction defined by a valve cone portion of the switching seat valve. Following this, the pressure limiting seat valve returns immediately to its shut-off position. At the valve cone of the switching seat valve, a force is created on the opening side, which opens the switching seat valve and connects the working chamber to the tank via a nozzle limiting the return stroke velocity of the piston. If desired, the return stroke of the piston is stopped at a selectable return stroke position via a volume flow pulse by switching on the pump again, and the switching seat valve is closed. Even if the electric drive motor of the pump is switched off as fast as possible, e.g., by a reversal of poles, it will nevertheless be impossible to avoid coasting of the pump, which will cause a volume flow pulse in the pressure line. Although the pressure limiting seat valve, which has already been closed, will no longer respond to said volume flow pulse, the switching seat valve may respond thereto. Due to the interaction between the pressure limiting seat valve, which responds abruptly to open towards the tank, and the switching seat valve, the hydraulic drive has implemented therein a time logic, which is not defined unequivocally and which, under unfavorable operating conditions, may be outwitted by the coasting volume flow, whereby the switching seat valve will be closed unintentionally or not opened and the piston will either not even start its return stroke or discontinue it prematurely. This time logic is not able to unequivocally differentiate between the volume flow pulse occurring when the pump is switched on intentionally, e.g., for stopping the return stroke, and the coasting volume flow pulse.
DE 10 2006 026 552 A1 relates to a similar hydraulic drive.
Another hydraulic drive of interest is that according to EP 0 944 937 A1, in which a single return valve fulfils the functions of limiting the maximum operating pressure and switching to the piston return stroke, said piston executing its return stroke, however, up to an end position determined by the load acting permanently on the piston. The return stroke can here not be stopped at a selectable return stroke position by switching on the pump again.


A system for performing a less invasive surgical procedure and, in particular, devices and methods for spinal fixation. The system comprises dilation tool(s), at least one working/insertion cannula, a plurality of screws, at least one fixation rod for connecting the screws, and a rod inserter. The dilation tool(s) may be used to dilate an incision made in a patient to form an opening. An insertion cannula may be attached to a screw and inserted into the opening. The screws may be polyaxial screws and may be inserted into the vertebrae using a screwdriver. An operator may then move the insertion cannula to manipulate a head portion of the screws such that the head portions may be aligned to receive a fixation rod. A rod inserter may be used to insert a fixation rod into the head portions.

Spinal fixation systems used to correct spinal deformities generally consist of a series of bone fasteners anchored to the pedicles, lamina or transverse process of the vertebrae. The bone fasteners are interconnected to one another by one or more elongated spinal rods or plates. In order to access the spinal area for implantation of these spinal fixation systems and their individual components, open approach surgical techniques have historically been employed. These open procedures generally involve large skin incisions and extensive tissue retraction and resection, all which may result in considerable post-operative pain and prolonged hospital stays.
More recently, surgeons have used minimally invasive techniques to reduce the post-operative effects of spinal fixation procedures. A paraspinal approach is one form of minimally invasive technique and involves muscle splitting or muscle sparing in order to gain access to the posterior elements of the spine. Such a technique minimizes trauma to tissues adjacent the spine. Unlike open approaches where muscles and other soft tissue are cut, split, stripped and dissected, the paraspinal approach involves separation or splitting of the muscles along their fibers.
To perform a paraspinal surgical procedure, a midline skin incision is made and followed by bi/unilateral fascia incisions. The muscles are then separated to allow bilateral access to the spine via a single skin incision. Additionally, one or more off-midline skin incisions may be made to allow for a more direct approach.
Implanting a spinal rod fixation system generally involves at least two steps: (i) placing implants (e.g., screws) into the spine and (ii) inserting a rod between the implants. Proper placement of the implants requires correctly positioning the implants in the spine. The starting insertion point, the trajectory of the implants and the implants' size are crucial to implant placement.
The spinal implant generally comprises a screw portion and a body portion. The screw portion is inserted into the spine. And, the body portion generally has a channel into which a spinal rod is inserted and secured. The rod insertion procedure requires insertion of the rod through an incision in the skin, which may be separate and distinct from the incision through which the implant(s) is placed. In other embodiments, the rod is inserted through the same incision as the implant(s). The rod connects the implants together.
There exists a need for a less invasive spinal implant and rod introduction system that improves direct visualization, enables a rod to be connected to an implant anchored at varying depths in the body and is generally simple to use.

Less invasive surgical system and methods


An enhanced PCI bus architecture utilizing differential signaling is supported by an adapter slot connector providing differential signaling pins and a make-before-break connection between bus conductors and dummy loads for each bus conductor, enabling higher frequency and higher bandwidth operation. The dummy loads simulate the signal load of an adapter inserted into the slot. The PCI bus conductors are automatically disconnected from the dummy loads and connected to the adapter pins when an adapter is inserted into the slot. A balanced load bus is thus provided regardless of whether adapter slots are populated or empty.

1. Technical Field:
The present invention relates in general to bus architectures in data processing systems and in particular to connectors employed with the PCI bus architecture. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to providing an improved connector to be employed in an PCI bus architecture utilizing differential signaling.
2. Description of the Related Art:
Data processing systems typically experience data bottlenecks under older input/output (I/O) standard architectures such as the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) and Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA). These bottlenecks arise when data transfers are unable to keep pace with the requirements of a processing unit or other component within the data processing system. Alternative I/O architectures have been developed to eliminate such bottleneck by providing higher bandwidth buses. One such alternative is the peripheral component interconnect (PCI) local bus, a high performance 32-bit or 64-bit bus with multiplexed address and data lines. The mechanical, electrical, and operational characteristics for the current PCI local bus standard may be found in PCI Local Bus Specification, Revision 2.1 ("the current PCI specification"), available from the PCI Special Interest Group in Portland, Oreg. The current PCI specification and/or variants are expected to be employed in data processing systems for a considerable time into the future.
The PCI local bus specification provides a processor-independent interface to add-in boards, also commonly referred to as expansion cards or adapters. Because of AC switching characteristic limitations, a PCI bus is typically limited in both data transfer rate and fan-out (number of adapter slots supported). Data transfer rate and fan-out in a PCI bus are interdependent, such that achieving an increase in one generally results in a decrease in the other. The current 33 MHz 64-bit PCI architecture definition provides a peak data transfer rate of 264 MB/s and supports up to 4 slots per PCI I/O bus. This data rate is slow for many high performance adapters under contemporary workstation requirements. The current 66 MHz PCI architecture definition provides a peak data transfer rate of 528 MB/s, but only supports up to 2 slots per PCI I/O bus. This fan-out is extremely restrictive, limiting the usefulness of 66 MHz PCI architecture.
A high performance, general purpose parallel I/O bus similar to PCI, but with better performance and fan-out than provided by the current 66 MHz PCI definition, may be provided. The enhanced bus architecture builds upon the current 66 MHz PCI architecture but is not backwards-compatible with the existing PCI bus architecture specification since the connectors employed for the existing PCI bus architectures cannot be employed for the enhanced bus architecture. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a connector supporting the enhanced bus architecture.

Connector for higher performance PCI with differential signaling

International Business Machines Corporation


In a position detection system for detecting a position of a terminal apparatus of a radio communications system, a position detection time is shortened using a position detection method for determining signal times-of-arrival between the terminal apparatus and base stations neighboring the terminal apparatus. According to the present invention, means for generating a database in which received power information about signals transferred between the terminal apparatus and the base stations neighboring the terminal apparatus corresponds to position information about the terminal apparatus, and for determining the position information by searching received power information obtained in the position detection from the database, and means for determining the position by use of signal times-of-arrival are executed in parallel. Then, the use of a result of the means which has detected the position earlier than another means shortens the position detection time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio communications system and a position detection method for achieving position detection of a mobile or fixed terminal.
2. Discussion of Background
A GPS (Global Positioning System) is well known as recent mobile communications systems represented by, for example, mobile phones. GPS is such that a GPS receiver receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS satellites to determine distances from the satellites and then to calculate a reception position of a terminal according to trilateration. A method using a DGPS (differential GPS) is also well known. This method is such that a fixed GPS receiver of a known position receives radio waves from GPS satellites to measure a measurement error by comparing detected positions and a known position and then to remove an error of a neighboring GPS recipient.
In the position detection method using GPS or DGPS, at least radio waves from GPS satellites need to be received, so that a position of a terminal cannot be detected where GPS signals cannot be received. A position detection method not using GPS or DGPS is described in JP-A No. 247737/1997 (Patent Document 3). In this document, a trilateration method using estimated distances is disclosed. In this method, an electric field of signals received from a plurality of base stations of a mobile communications system is measured to estimate-distances between the base stations and a terminal. Also in this document, another method for detecting a position of the terminal by determining positions of the base stations in communication with the terminal is disclosed. Unfortunately, In the position detection method using received electric field, large errors occur due to level fluctuation such as multipath fading and shadowing, thus degrading accuracy of the position detection.
JP-A No. 93650/1994 (Patent Document 1) is an example prior art reference for improving the measurement accuracy. In this document, electric field strength maps of received electric field levels are previously prepared to determine a position of the terminal from the maps of a plurality of base stations. Unfortunately, in this method, the maps are hard to generate, and need to be generated again when the neighboring layout changes.
JP-A No. 244967/2000 (Patent Document 2) is an exampled of another prior art reference for improving the measurement accuracy. In this document, since a distance estimated from the received electric field strength has a large error, the measurement accuracy is improved using the fact that a round-trip propagation time between the base station and terminal in communication with each other has a small error. Additionally, to improve an accuracy of the distance estimated from the received electric field strength, a parameter of the radio wave propagation is modified according to accurate position information determined using the GPS system.
Documents "Wireless LAN Integrated Access System (1)" B-5-203 by Ogino, et al. (Non-Patent Document 1) and "Wireless LAN Integrated Access System (2)" B-5-204, by Tsunehara, et al. (Non-Patent Document 2), from Proceedings of the General Conference of the Institute of Electronics, March 2003, Information and Communication Engineers, are exampled as further prior arts for improving the measurement accuracy. These documents describe that, by use of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) system, a TDOA (time difference of arrival) from a terminal to each base station is measured to determine a position of the terminal according to trilateration. JP-A No. 244967/2000 describes that the error when a distance is estimated from the time-difference-of-arrival is smaller than the error when a distance is estimated from received power strength. The method of JP-A No. 244967/2000 uses the time difference of arrival only when the distance between the base station and the terminal in communication with each other is measured. In a position detection method according to TDOA using the wireless LAN system, the time difference of arrival between all the neighboring base stations and the terminal are measured to improve the accuracy of the position detection.
However, in the position detection method using the wireless LAN system, modulation of the time-differences-of-arrival between the base stations operated by asynchronous clocks and calculation of time-differences-of-arrival between all the base stations and the terminal are executed every measurement to determine the solution according to trilateration. As a result, many calculation processes are required to take a long time until the position detection.

System and method for position detection of a terminal in a network


A machine learning model including an autoencoder may be trained based on training data that includes sequences of non-anomalous performance metrics from an information technology system but excludes sequences of anomalous performance metrics. The trained machine learning model may process a sequence of performance metrics from the information technology system by generating an encoded representation of the sequence of performance metrics and generating, based on the encoded representation, a reconstruction of the sequence of performance metrics. An occurrence of the anomaly at the information technology system may be detected based on a reconstruction error present in reconstruction of the sequence of performance metrics. Related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are provided.

The operation of an enterprise may rely on an information technology (IT) infrastructure that includes hardware, software, networks, and facilities. For example, the information technology infrastructure may include a database be configured to store a plurality of electronic data records. These data records may be organized, in accordance with a database schema, into various database objects including, for example, one or more database tables. The database is coupled with a database management system (DBMS), which may be configured to support a variety of database operations for accessing the data records stored in the database. These database operations may include, for example, structured query language (SQL) queries and/or the like.

Variational autoencoding for anomaly detection


A fractional frequency divider circuit with a small circuit scale that outputs a clock with a duty ratio of 50%, and a data transmission apparatus comprising same. The fractional frequency divider circuit is constituted by multiple master-slave flip-flops, and comprises an integer frequency divider circuit that frequency-divides a clock signal with a frequency-division ratio of 1/N(N is an integer), and a logic circuit into which multiple signals outputted from master stages and slave stages of the master-slave flip-flops are inputted and that outputs a signal with a duty ratio of 50% obtained by frequency-dividing the clock signal with a frequency-division ratio of 2/N. The data transmission apparatus is constituted such that it is possible to switch over between a frequency-multiplied clock outputted by a PLL and a clock obtained by frequency-dividing the frequency-multiplied clock with the fractional frequency divider circuit for each channel.

A conventional high-speed interface circuit is formed of a receiver circuit (RX) that receives external data and performs serial-parallel conversion thereof, a transmitter circuit (TX) that performs parallel-serial conversion of internal data, and a PLL that multiplies an external reference clock and supplies it to the RX and TX. In an apparatus comprising multiple channels constituted such that an RX is coupled with a TX, one PLL generally supplies a clock commonly to the multiple channels. However, in this case, the data speed cannot be changed for each channel. It is thought to be possible to change the data speed by frequency-dividing the clock with a frequency divider circuit, however, it is difficult to realize this when the data speed ratio is not an integer.
A circuit shown in FIG. 5 is known as a fractional frequency divider circuit where the N of its frequency division ratio (1/N) is not an integer. (Refer to Patent Document 1.) The fractional frequency divider circuit shown in FIG. 5 uses adders et al., therefore the circuit scale becomes large. Furthermore, it is constituted such that it obtains a desired fraction frequency-divided output by varying the frequency division ratio over time and obtaining the average, therefore, it cannot be used at all as a clock to be supplied to an RX and a TX that require a waveform with a duty ratio of 50%. For this reason, conventionally a PLL is provided for each channel as shown in FIG. 6a, or two PLLs are shared by multiple channels as shown in FIG. 6b.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2001-251181A (FIG. 1)

Fractional frequency divider circuit and data transmission apparatus using the same


Embodiments of circuits, devices, and methods for a power detection arrangement are disclosed. The power detection arrangement may have a coupler coupled with, and in between, a switch and an output to couple a signal to a detector. The power detection arrangement may include a harmonic suppressor coupled with, and in between, the coupler and the detector to reduce an amount of harmonic signals transmitted back to the coupler. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

A radio frequency (RF) transmit chain typically has a power amplifier to amplify a signal for transmission within a given frequency band. A power detector, placed after the power amplifier, samples a signal output from the power amplifier in order to determine an amplification provided by the power amplifier. This sample is used in a feedback loop that may result in an adjustment of the amplification of the power amplifier.

Power detection arrangement with harmonic suppressor


An apparatus (10) and method (40) is provided for detecting data within the vertical blanking interval (VBI) lines of a video or television signal. The VBI data detection (18) samples (42) at least one point from the VBI lines of a video signal and compares (44) at least one data characteristic, such as luminance, from the sample to a threshold to determine if the sample contains VBI data. If the sample contains VBI data, the VBI line from which the sample was taken is routed (46) to the processing unit of a video processing device. If no samples from a VBI line are found to contain VBI data, the VBI line is not processed further. The VBI data detection apparatus improves processing efficiency and resource allocation by allowing only those VBI lines containing VBI data to be processed by the video processing device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to television signal processing. More particularly, the invention relates to the vertical blanking interval (VBI) portion of a television signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vertical blanking interval (VBI) is a portion of an analog video or television signal that is blanked, or left clear, of video or audio information to allow time for the electron gun in a television monitor's cathode ray tube (CRT) to move from the bottom to the top of the screen as it scans images. The VBI often is used to carry information other than video or audio information, such as test signals, reference signals, closed-caption signals for the hearing impaired, emergency weather information or stock market data. Also, recently, internet designers have been using the VBI to broadcast HyperText Markup Language (HTML)-formatted information, e.g., from web sites to web subscribers. The VBI typically is expressed as the number of horizontal lines scanned.
Typically, the broadcaster, such as the cable television provider, inserts or datacasts VBI data into the VBI portion of the television signal. The television signal then is transmitted to one or more video processing devices, such as signal converter or decoder (set-top) boxes, video cassette recorders (VCRs), digital video disk (DVD) recorders, or other suitable video (and audio) receivers. From the video processing devices, the television signal then is transmitted to a user system, typically a television.
Video processing devices have to pass VBI data through the device, i.e., from the device input to the device output, to make the data available to other processing devices that may be connected thereto. Not all scanned lines in the VBI contain data, thus it is inefficient for the processor in the video processing device to read all of the VBI lines to decode VBI data that may be contained only in a few of the scanned lines. Reading all of the scanned lines of the VBI can occupy valuable processing resources of the video processing device that otherwise can be used for the primary purposes of the video processing device, such as delivering audio and video services and supporting internal device programs like playback and recording functions.

Method and apparatus for detecting data in a vertical blanking interval