The invention makes it possible to measure a lateral displacement amount of a vehicle accurately in a short time on a bench testing machine without damaging a vehicle body and tires.

Conventionally, there is a known method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6-331505 in which a bench testing machine having rollers for front wheels and rollers for rear wheels is used and the front and rear wheels of a vehicle are rotated on the corresponding rollers to measure a lateral displacement amount of the vehicle. In this method, the bench testing machine is provided with adjusting wheels for coming in contact with the respective wheels of the vehicle from a lateral direction and load cells each for detecting a force of each wheel pressing back each wheel in a lateral direction. An input load of the load cell when the wheel is rotated on the roller is converted into the lateral displacement amount based on data showing correlation between a load cell input load and the amount of lateral displacement and collected by measuring the input load of a measuring apparatus and by measuring the lateral displacement amount in an actual traveling test on a common vehicle in advance and an evaluation of lateral displacement on a pass/fail basis is conducted based on whether the lateral displacement amount is equal to or less than a reference value.
Conventionally, there is also a known method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-43263 in which a bench testing machine is provided with a swinging frame for moving back and forth in a lateral direction toward side sills of a vehicle and for swinging about a vertical axis, the swinging frame is mounted with a pair of measuring rollers in contact with front and rear two positions of the side sills of the vehicle, and a lateral movement amount and a swinging angle of the swinging frame are detected in a rotating state of wheels and are respectively compared with each reference value to thereby conduct an evaluation of lateral displacement on a pass/fail basis.
In the former prior art, however, the data showing the correlation between the load cell input load and the lateral displacement amount need be obtained for each vehicle type, which require much time and labor. Moreover, because the data are obtained by bringing the adjusting wheels into contact with side faces of a tire of the respective wheels, data values are affected by projections and depressions on the side faces, true data cannot be obtained, and reliability decreases. Furthermore, contact marks may be left on the tires by the adjusting wheels which have come in contact with the tires.
In the latter prior art, translational motion of the vehicle in the lateral direction is detected as the lateral movement amount of the swinging frame and yawing motion of the vehicle is detected as the swinging angle of the swinging frame. Even if the vehicle is displaced laterally, much time is required for the vehicle to move laterally or yaw to such a degree as to be detected and it is difficult to measure in a short time. Moreover, because the measuring rollers are brought into contact with the side sills, the side sills may be damaged.
With the above points in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of measuring the lateral displacement amount of the vehicle accurately in a short time without damaging a vehicle body and tires by using a bench testing machine.

Method of measuring unilateral flow rate of vehicles

Abstract: Respective rollers 1F, 1R on which respective wheels WF, WR of the vehicle A are placed respectively are made movable in a lateral direction. In a state in which the respective wheels WF, WR are rotating at a predetermined speed, lateral forces (cornering forces) acting on the respective rollers 1F, 1R are detected by respective detectors 3. Then, a yaw angle speed when the vehicle A is brought into a state of steady circular turning is calculated based on the lateral forces acting on the respective rollers 1F, 1R and the lateral displacement amount is calculated from the yaw angle speed.


A marking device for defining the margins and orientation of radiography specimens includes a plurality of visually distinctive markers joined by a base that holds the markers until the markers are secured to a specimen. The base serves as a holder for the individual markers as the markers are secured to a specimen with sutures or staples, at which time the markers are disconnected from the base. One or more markers may be secured to a specimen as needed to define the orientation of the specimen. By securing markers to specific locations on a specimen, a surgeon can indicate to radiologists and pathologists the specimen's orientation in the body before removal, thus aiding in future study of the specimen. Since the markers are made either wholly or partially from radiopaque material, the markers are visible when radiographed.

Radiologists frequently use markers that absorb xrays and cast an image when placed within an xray field to convey pertinent information on xray film. For example, right and left markers are routinely used to designate the anatomical orientation of the patient or to identify a particular extremity being examined. These types of markers are often placed on the surface of the examination table or xray film cassettes, within the exposure field but outside the image of the patient, to define the patient's physical orientation in relationship to the xray beam or the film.
Markers consisting of a radiopaque body and adhesive can be attached directly to the skin of patients. These markers give the radiologist a specific target for the xray and, since the radiopaque body will appear on radiographs later taken, help pinpoint the location of the area in question when reading the developed film. Some markers have been developed that can be inserted into the body to mark tissues or organs that require repeated xray monitoring. These types of markers are manufactured as staples or hooks (to attach to tissues), and even partial rings (to encircle grafted veins).
All of the previously described devices, while useful for specific purposes, have not been ideal for marking specimens removed from patients, as the described devices fail to address circumstances particular to specimen removal, radiography, and pathology. Successful removal of tumors from a patient's body requires an accurate evaluation of the excised tissue boundaries. To ensure that the entire tumor is removed, an adequate amount of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor is also extracted. The success of the surgery and the patient outcome is directly related to resection of the entirety of the tumor with an adequate healthy tissue boundary. For example, successful removal of breast tumors requires an accurate evaluation of the removed tissue boundaries to see if the tumor has effected the surrounding healthy tissue.
In the case of biopsies, a specimen is marked by the surgeon during removal from the patient. This mark aids the radiographers and pathologists in identifying the orientation of the specimen as it was present in the patient's body. Permanent marking of the exact orientation of the specimen is critical because of the manipulations—specimens must be pressed flat to properly xray—that take place during radiography. Presently, a surgeon may mark a tissue specimen by attaching sutures of various lengths, colors, or number combinations. The lengths, colors, or number of sutures convey to the pathologist the orientation of the gross pathology specimen in the patient's body. Unfortunately, this process of suturing and knotting may not be regularly performed because it is time consuming and requires detailed oral and/or written communications between surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists which can result in frustrations between the three professionals. Additional confusion may arise due to the fact that there is no standard marking method in the medical profession, since each surgeon develops his or her own method of marking.
Some radiopaque markers have been developed to address this problem, but still have some shortcomings. For example, existing markers can be attached to specimens by securing the markers with a clamping pair of pinchers, but these markers may release while the specimen is being radiographed and otherwise examined, and thus, the benefit is lost. Also, because such existing markers have sliding components and locking points, they tend to be thicker and larger than ideal. Since specimens must lay flat for proper radiography and pathology, a large, thick marker may obscure subtle pathology within the specimen. While the simple solution to this problem would be to decrease the marker size, if the marker is too small, it may be virtually impossible to hold while securing to a specimen. Existing devices also fail to standardize the method of marking specimens, thereby perpetuating the confusion and misinterpretation between the surgeon removing the specimen and the pathologist studying the specimen.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-described drawbacks and disadvantages of existing markers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Device and method for margin marking tissue to be radiographed


A hands-free firearm stabilizer device comprising a means for securing a firearm to perpendicularly to the shoulder of a hunter. The fully adjustable device can be adjusted to accommodate any gunstock and hunter, allowing the hunter to wait for game in a relaxed hands-free position or utilize game calls without sacrificing firearm stability. Additionally, hunters can position themselves in a seated position allowing fine aiming adjustments using his/her knee preventing unwanted noise and movement that could be detected by the game and providing a viable option for hunters with disabilities that may limit their ability participate in the sport of hunting.

In hunting, the simplest way to ensure the hunter an opportunity to shoot a target is maintaining a motionless position while keeping the rifle in a ready to fire position. Due to the length of time a hunter may be in the field waiting for a target, an additional concern is fatigue and gun stability that can affect the safety of the hunter. In prior art, hands-free mechanisms have attempted to address this issue by creating attachable slings and strap systems that are not easily removable or do not provide adequate stability to the butt of the gun to prevent the gun from slipping.
It is known by those skilled in the art that the visual acuity of most wild game, especially turkeys, is such that small positional changes by the hunter can startle the game being hunted. With the time and patience necessary to be an effective hunter, having an open shot only to alert the game to your presence can be a frustrating reality.
The positioning of the gun in prior art does not fully eliminate the need to further lift the gun to sight a target, which does not fully address the motionless aspects hoped to be achieved. The complicated strap and attachment systems can become cumbersome and potentially belie the safety of the hunter should an event occur that would require the system to be removed quickly. Other concerns in the current state of the art pertain to hunters that suffer from disabilities that prevent them from using prior inventions effectively.


An encoding control unit obtains a quantization step size and a video encoding rate Rc on the basis of various kinds of conditions including a transmission time and image quality specified through an input unit by a user, and property of image contents from a signal compression processing unit. Next, the video encoding rate Rc is compared with a network transmission rate Rt which is obtained through a network IF unit. Then, if the transmission rate Rt of the network is smaller than the video encoding rate Rc and is present in the range any of values of which is equal to or larger than the value smaller than Rc by a predetermined quantity, then the quantization step size is corrected in such a way that the video encoding rate Rc is equal to or smaller than the transmission rate Rt of the network, or in such a way that the video encoding rate Rc is increased. As a result, it is possible to provide an apparatus for transmitting dubbing data of a digital VTR which is capable of suppressing the degradation of a transmission throughput.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transmitting dubbing data of a digital VTR which are capable of enhancing a transmission throughput.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case where the data which is recorded in the form of a digital format in a VTR is internationally dubbed in a remote place such as an associated country, conventionally, the dubbing is carried out through the transportation of the recording medium such as a magnetic tape. However, in this method, it takes a lot of time to carry out the dubbing. As a result, the higher speed processing has been required for the dubbing and hence the transmission through a network has been considered.
In the case where the digital data which has been reproduced by a digital VTR is transmitted to a remote place through a network, in order to realize the high speed operation, employing the double buffer system has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 8, a dubbing data transmission apparatus according to this double buffer system schematically consists of a digital VTR 51, a compression apparatus 52 for compressing the digital data which has been reproduced by the digital VTR 51, a double buffer 53 for carrying out alternately the operations of storing temporarily therein the data which has been compressed by the compression apparatus 52 and then of reading out the compressed data to output the data thus read out, and a network interface (IF) 54 for transmitting there through the data which has been read out through the double buffer 53 to a network 57. The double buffer 53 consists of a first buffer 53a and a second buffer 53b. In this connection, the data is stored in one of the buffers connected to an input side switch 55, while the data is read out from the other of the buffers connected to an output side switch 56. Both of the switches 55 and 56 are switched synchronously with each other.
However, in this dubbing data transmission apparatus according to the double buffer system, it is found out on the basis of the study made by the present inventors that there arises the problem that a null time in which no data is caused to flow through the network 57 may occur depending on the combination of both of the write speed at which the data is written to one of the buffers 53a and 53b (the encoding speed) and the read speed at which the data is read out from the other of the buffers 53a and 53b (the network speed) in some cases, so that the transmission throughput is necessarily reduced.

Method and apparatus for transmitting dubbing data of digital VTR


The present invention provides a packet re-transmitting system for a slotted-ALOHA type satellite communication system wherein communications are effected between a central office and a large number of local offices by way of a communications satellite and which decreases a packet re-transmitting time remarkably. The central office transmits a frame synchronizing signal, manages a reception slot number in a predetermined phase relationship with the frame synchronizing signal, detects a condition of a reception signal from any of the local offices and sends back a receiving condition signal including a reception slot number and detection information of a receiving condition at the point of time. Each of the local offices manages a transmission slot number in a predetermined phase relationship with a received frame synchronizing signal, compares a transmission slot number at a point of time when a packet was transmitted with a reception slot number in the receiving condition signal and re-transmits, when the transmission slot number corresponds to the reception slot number in the receiving condition signal and detection information of a received condition indicates irregularity, the transmission packet.

This invention relates to a packet re-transmitting system for a satellite communication system of the slotted-ALOHA type, and more particularly to a packet re-transmitting system for a satellite communication system of the slotted-ALOHA type wherein communications between a central office and a large number of local offices are effected by way of a communications satellite.
A satellite communication system of the slotted-ALOHA type is suitable to efficiently effect communications between a central office having a high information processing capacity and a large number of scattered local offices which involve a small amount of information by way of satellite channels interconnecting them.
By the way, if it is permitted for a large number of local offices to transmit packets at an arbitrary point of time, then the transmission packets will overlap frequently with each other on satellite channels, and consequently, the central office cannot receive them correctly.
Therefore, according to the satellite communication system of the slotted-ALOHA type, the central office transmits a slot signal, and each of the local offices transmits a packet signal in synchronism with the slot signal, thereby preventing otherwise possible occurrence of an overlap of transmission packets.
Even with the satellite communication system of the slotted-ALOHA type, however, it sometimes occurs that different local offices transmit packets to the same slot. In this instance, the packets collide with each other, and accordingly, each of the local offices must re-transmit its packet.
Therefore, minimization of such a packet re-transmission time is demanded.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional packet re-transmitting system for a satellite communication system of the slotted-ALOHA type. Referring to FIG. 1, the packet re-transmitting system shown includes a communications satellite 3, a central office 100 and a large number of local offices as represented by local offices 200a and 200b.
The central office 100 includes a terminal equipment 101, a packet transmission processing section 102, a modulator 103, a transmitter/receiver 104, a demodulator 105 and a packet reception processing section 106.
The terminal equipment 101 effects inputting and outputting processing of original data (packets). The packet transmission processing section 102 effects transmitting processing of a packet of data from the terminal equipment 101. The modulator 103 effects modulating processing such as, for example, QPSK.
The transmitter/receiver 104 includes, though not shown, a transmitting section including an up converter and a high power amplifier, and a receiving section including a down converter and a low noise amplifier, and effects up converting processing and amplifying processing for a signal from the modulator 103 and also effects down converting processing and so forth for a reception signal. The demodulator 105 effects demodulating processing for a reception signal, and the packet reception processing section 106 effects receiving processing of a packet of demodulated data.
Each of the local offices 200a and 200b includes a terminal equipment 201, a packet transmission processing section 202, a modulator 203, a transmitter/receiver 204, a demodulator 205, a packet reception processing section 206 and a timer 207.
The terminal equipment 201, packet transmission processing section 202, modulator 203, transmitter/receiver 204, demodulating section 205 and packet reception processing section 206 have substantially similar functions to those of the terminal equipment 101, packet transmission processing section 102, modulator 103, transmitter/receiver 104, demodulator 105 and packet reception processing section 106 of the central office 100, respectively. The timer 207 is provided to manage the time for re-transmission of a packet.
In the satellite communication system, the central office 100 transmits a slot signal SLT of a predetermined period by way of a down channel f1 while any of the local offices 200a and 200b transmits a packet in synchronism with the slot signal SLT.
By the way, in such a system which adopts a system of the ALOHA type or the slotted-ALOHA type as the satellite communication system described above, the scale (in diameter of an antenna, transmitting output power and so forth) of the local offices 200a and 200b is usually so small that, for example, the local office 200a cannot directly receive a relay signal from the communications satellite 3 of a packet transmitted from the local office 200a itself. Accordingly, the local office 200a cannot directly find from a relay signal from the communications satellite 3 whether or not a transmission packet therefrom has collided with another transmission packet from another local office 200b, but can find, only when it receives a reception answer signal (notification that a packet has been received regularly) from the central office 100 in accordance with an ordinary communications protocol, that the transmission packet has been received regularly.
In the meantime, at the central office 100, if packets from the local offices 200a and 200b collide with each other, then the data of them will be destroyed, and consequently, the central office 100 cannot determine whether or not a local office has actually transmitted a packet to the central office 100 and naturally cannot send back a reception answer signal.
Therefore, it is a conventional practice to employ, on the local office side, a timer which operates, for example, for several seconds (refer to the timer 207 in FIG. 1) after it sends out a packet and to follow a procedure wherein the packet is re-transmitted if no reception answer signal is received from the central office within the time of the timer.
Accordingly, with the conventional packet re-transmitting system, when packets of different local offices collide with each other on satellite channels, no reception answer signal can be received from the central office as described above, and consequently, a very long period of time is required for re-transmission of a packet. As a result, the transmission efficiency is low and data to be re-transmitted must be kept for a long period of time. The problems are particularly remarkable when data are transmitted in a plurality of packets.

Packet re-transmitting system for satellite communication system of the slotted-aloha type


A method is described for the preparation of superconductor massive bodies of MgB2, having a density close to the theorical value, which comprises the following passages: mechanical activation of crystalline boron with the formation of activated powders; formation of a porous preform of said powders; assembly of the porous boron preform and massive precursors of metallic magnesium in a container and sealing thereof in an atmosphere of inert gas or with a low oxygen content; thermal treatment of the boron and magnesium as assembled above, at a temperature higher than 700° C. for a time greater than 30 minutes, with the consequent percolation of the magnesium, in liquid phase, through the activated crystalline boron powders.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of highly densified superconductor massive bodies of Mgb2, the revant solid end products and their use.
2) Description of Related Art
It has recently been discovered that magnesium boride has superconductor properties up to 39 K and can therefore be applied in closed circuit cryogenic systems (cryo-refrigerators), which are less costly than those based on the use of liquid helium (Nagamatsu et al., Nature, 410, 63; 2001).
Like all borides, magnesium boride, a compound which has been known for about half a century, is characterized by extreme hardness when it is highly densified.
The densification of magnesium boride however into end-products, reaching values close to 100% of its theoretical density (2.63 g/cm3), effected by the compacting of the powders of the compound itself, normally requires the use of high pressures. Pressures in the order of several GPa are generally used.
Alternative synthesis methods of the compound MgB2 starting from stoichiometric, or non-stoichiometric, mixtures of boron and magnesium, both in powder form and in the form of massive bodies, are also known in literature. In the latter case, however, the use of high pressures is indispensable for obtaining highly densified end-products.
An example is described by Canfield et al., whereby, MgB2 fibres are obtained, starting from boron fibres reacted with liquid Mg or in vapour phase, (Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2423 (2001)), having an estimated density of about 80% of the theoretical value.
It is consequently only possible to obtain an end-product of magnesium boride densified up to values close to the theoretical value, and therefore characterized by improved superconductivity and mechanical properties, with the methods of the known art, by the use of high pressures at a high temperature.
The use of high pressures at a high temperature however limits the dimensions of the end-products obtained and necessitates the use of equipment which is not suitable for a mass production.

Method for the preparation of highly densified superconductor massive bodies of MgB


In a method for sampling image data from an image frame with component video, the image frame includes a first component frame, a second component frame and a third component frame. The method comprises steps of selecting a first component portion, a second component portion and a third component portion from the first component frame, the second component frame and the third component frame, respectively; and operating the first component portion, the second component portion and the third component portion to obtain a sampled unit arranged as a block array. The sampled unit includes at least a first component blocks derived from the first component portion, a second component block derived from the second component portion and a third component block derived from the third component portion.

With highly development and improvement of image-processing techniques, various electronic apparatuses including web camera, digital camera, cellular and picture phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), multimedia computer, etc., take advantages of these techniques to get well developed and enhanced. In order to facilitate rapid transmission of the digital images, the images are usually compressed, for example, in JPEG or MPEG compression operation before the image transmission. Full color images, perhaps presented in RGB format, however, cannot be compressed in JPEG or MPEG compression operation unless they are converted into images presented in a compressible format, for example, YCbCr (digital YUV) format.
Please refer to FIG. 1 which is a schematic diagram illustrating RGB to YCbCr conversion of an image frame. A full color image frame consists of m columns and n rows of pixels is practically stored as three sub-frames including a red frame IR, a green frame IG and a blue frame IB, each of which consists of m columns and n rows of pixel values. After color space transformation T, a luminance frame Y, a blue-chrominance frame Cb and a red-chrominance frame Cr, each of which consists of m columns and n rows of luminance values or chrominance values, are generated. The following equations are applicable to the color space transformation to get the Y, Cb and Cr values:Y(i)=0.299R(i)+0.587G(i)+0.114B(i)Cb(i)=−0.168R(i)−0.331G(i)+0.499B(i)Cr(i)=0.500R(i)−0.419G(i)−0.081B(i)where i is the serial number of the pixel of interest.
Afterwards, the image frame presented by the luminance frame Y, the blue-chrominance frame Cb and the red-chrominance frame Cr is ready to be compressed. The image frame is sampled portion by portion as illustrated in FIG. 1, and the basic processing unit 11, 12, 13, for example, is 8×8 pixels or 16×16 pixels. For executing JPEG compression, the image portions are sampled, discrete cosine transformed (DCT), quantized, and entropy coded in sequence.
Giving a basic processing unit consisting of 16 columns and 16 rows of pixels as an example, the image portions 11, 12 and 13 all have 16 columns and 16 rows of pixel values. The Y-component portion 11 consists of four 8×8 blocks Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4 arranged as a 2×2 array. The same arrangement is applied to the Cb-component portion 12 and the Cr-component portion 13 to provide eight 8×8 blocks Cb1, Cb2, Cb3, Cb4, Cr1, Cr2, Cr3 and Cr4.
The image portions are then compressed according to one of the sub-sampling algorithms conventionally used for JPEG compression, for example 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0, 4:1:1 or 2:1:1 sub-sampling algorithms. Through the sub-sampling operation, a minimum coded unit (MCU) for compression will be obtained.
FIG. 2(a) illustrates the 4:1:1 sub-sampling algorithm. The Y-component portion 11, the Cb-component portion 12 and the Cr-component portion 13 are processed by operators S11, S12 and S13 to result in the minimum coded unit M11 consisting of unit portions 111, 112 and 113, respectively. The Y-component unit portion 111 is identical to the Y-component portion 11 consisting of four 8×8 blocks Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4. The Cb-component portion 12 is converted into the Cb-component unit portion 112 consisting of an 8×8 block Cb′ by averaging the pixel values of four blocks Cb1, Cb2, Cb3 and Cb4 as the pixel values of the block Cb′. Similarly, the new Cr-component unit portion 113 consisting of an 8×8 block Cr′ is obtained by averaging the four blocks Cr1, Cr2, Cr3 and Cr4 of the Cr-component portion 13. Alternatively, the blocks Cb′ and Cr′ can be a selected one or respective portions, e.g. Cb1 and Cr1. The six blocks Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Cb′ and Cr′ map to four pixel arrays [Y1, Cb′, Cr′], [Y2, Cb′, Cr′], [Y3, Cb′, Cr′] and [Y4, Cb′, Cr′].
FIG. 2(b) illustrates the 2:1:1 sub-sampling algorithm wherein the resulting minimum coded unit (MCU) consists of 2-block Y-component portion, 1-block Cb-component portion and 1-block Cr-component portion. The Y-component portion 11, the Cb-component portion 12 and the Cr-component portion 13 are processed into unit portions 211a, 212a, 213a, 211b, 212b and 213b by operators S21, S22 and S23. One new Y-component portion 211a consists of blocks Y1 and Y2, and the other new Y-component portion 211b consists of Y3 and Y4. The two blocks Cb1′ and Cb2′ of the new Cb-component portions 212a and 212b are obtained by averaging the two blocks Cb1 and Cb2 and the two blocks Cb3 and Cb4, respectively. Similarly, the two blocks Cr1′ and Cr2′ of the new Cr-component portions 213a and 213b are obtained by averaging the two blocks Cr1 and Cr2 and the two blocks Cr3 and Cr4, respectively. The resulting four Y-component blocks, two Cb-component blocks and two Cr-component blocks are divided into two minimum coded unit (MCU) M21 consisting of blocks Y1, Y2, Cb1′ and Cr1′ and minimum coded unit (MCU) M22 consisting of blocks Y3, Y4, Cb2′ and Cr2′. The eight blocks Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Cb1′, Cb2′, Cr1′ and Cr2′ map to four pixel arrays [Y1, Cb1′, Cr1′], [Y2, Cb1′, Cr1′], [Y3, Cb2′, Cr2′] and [Y4, Cb2′, Cr2′].
FIG. 2(c) illustrates the 4:4:4 sub-sampling algorithm wherein all the blocks wherein all the blocks Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Cb1, Cb2, Cb3, Cb4, Cr1, Cr2, Cr3 and Cr4 remain to constitute a minimum coded unit (MCU) M31 through the processing of operators S31, S32 and S33 to obtain new unit portions 311, 312 and 313. The 4:4:4 sub-sampling is also called "no chroma sub-sampling" or "lossless sub-sampling". The twelve blocks Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, Cb1, Cb2, Cb3, Cb4, Cr1, Cr2, Cr3 and Cr4 map to four pixel blocks [Y1, Cb1, Cr1], [Y2, Cb2, Cr2], [Y3, Cb3, Cr3] and [Y4, Cb4, Cr4].
After the sub-sampling operation, the minimum coded unit M11, M21, M22 or M31 is loaded into memory. According to the 4:1:1 sub-sampling algorithm, the minimum coded unit M11 occupies storage space equivalent to six 8×8 blocks. On the other hand, a storage space equivalent to eight 8×8 blocks is required to store the minimum coded units M21 and M22 according to the 2:1:1 sub-sampling algorithm, and a storage space equivalent to twelve 8×8 blocks is required to store the minimum coded unit 31 according to the 4:4:4 sub-sampling algorithm. There is need to reduce the size of the minimum coded unit so as to save the storage space of memory.


The seat comprises a front end and a back end interconnected by foldable sides and a top which can be swung into a vertical position and inserted into the back end when the seat is collapsed. The ends are shallow, rectangular boxes with their smaller surfaces oriented top and bottom when the seat is erected. The seat further comprises two handles detachably attached to the back end and stored inside the front end when the seat is collapsed. The sides are hinged such that their centers fold inward when the seat is collapsed, allowing the ends of the seat to move together and be latched together. There are four casters, one at each corner of the bottom of the erected seat and a foot rest which swings or pivots out of the front of the seat. The casters are lockable to prevent the seat from rolling when desired. A carrying handle is attached to the front end of the top of the seat and is accessible for carrying the seat when the seat is collapsed with the top inserted and locked into the back end. Erected, the seat is sized to fit in the aisles of commercial aircraft. Collapsed, its size and shape conform to airline regulations for carry-on luggage.

The present invention relates to wheeled vehicles, particularly wheeled seats and chairs and, more particularly, wheeled seats which can be collapsed into compact form carriable by one hand. A closely related field is that of foldable or collapsible seats and chairs.
Conventional wheelchairs are typically bulky and not designed for carrying by hand or for usage in the aisles and lavatories of commercial aircraft. Conventional wheelchairs may therefore create an impediment to air travel and other activities by persons who do not have full use of their legs.


A technique for adaptive encryption of digital assets such as computer files. The system model monitors passage of files to uncontrollable removable storage media or through network connections and the like which may indicate possible abuse of access rights. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, an autonomous independent agent process running at a point of use, such a background process in a client operating system kernel, interrupts requests for access to resources. The agent process senses low level system events, filters, and aggregates them. A policy engine analyzes sequences of aggregate events to determine when to apply encryption.

Inexpensive and ubiquitous access to the Internet, websites, extranets and intranets have revolutionized the way that most reorganizations communicate and do business with one another. Information of all types now flows much more freely and is far more available. However the ease of access to these network-centric information resources also threatens the security of any system connect to it. By implication, almost all sensitive data in an enterprise is now at risk of exposure, since placing information on line means losing at least some measure of control over it.
Security continues to be a significant issue facing data processing system administrators. It is now almost a certainty that the most valuable assets of a company, its intellectual property, will be stored in some manner in digital form. These digital assets can include documents of many types, such as product plans and designs, customer data, customer and vendor correspondence, contract terms, financial data, regulatory compliance data, custom software applications and the like.
Further complicating matters is the fact that the managers at the highest level of responsibility in organizations, including even Chief Executive Officers and Directors, are now held legally and financially accountable by regulators and shareholders alike for maintaining the confidentiality, security and integrity of sensitive information.
Many different solutions already exist to protect an organization's data processing infrastructure from certain outsider threats. These include physical access control, firewalls, sniffers and other network monitors, intrusion detection systems and other solutions. These techniques can be effective against attacks by unauthorized outsiders in most instances.
However, there is a second class of computer users that also pose a security threat. Protection from these unauthorized insiders requires a different approach, but one that is also well known. Almost since the inception of disk-based storage systems, the concept of access control has been applied to limit the ability of certain users to access certain important files. Using these techniques, now a universal feature of almost every Operating System (OS), a desktop and/or network file server can provide for limited read, write, public, private and other types of access to files, directory structures and the like, depending upon permissions granted to particular users. Permissions can be attached to user accounts by a system administrator, based on the need to know, the departments in an organization of which a user is a member, and so forth.
Even when users obtain access to only a portion of a system, however, they can still use a variety of techniques to steal and/or damage information. These can include simple browsing for unsecured information in a network, and/or removal or deletion of information made available as a result of poor security practices. More sophisticated rogue insiders will employ network packet sniffers and/or spying software.
Encryption techniques such as those employing a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) enable an enterprise to provide authentication, access control and confidentiality for its applications and data. PKI systems can be used to protect the security of e-mail and other communications, business transactions with customers, as well as to protect data stored on network servers. PKIs typically require the issuance and tracking of digital certificates, certificate authorities, and public key cryptography elements in an enterprise wide network.
A variety of PKI-based approaches couple centralized document storage with so-called Digital Rights Management (DRM) tools to provide some measure of control over digital assets. In these systems, a policy enforcement process running on a file server, or even on a separate policy server, enforces encryption policies on file usage. In such systems, access to files on the file server is controlled first by the policy server, which uses centrally managed keys for encryption. The policy server is not itself responsible for storing and retrieving information, but is typically responsible for keeping lists of access policies (i.e., which users are authorized to access which types of documents), managing user authentication, securing client-to-server communication, and distributing encryption keys. Before accessing any information, the recipient must first authenticate with the policy server. The policy sever then issues copies of required keys to permit the recipient to decrypt the information.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,513 issued to Danieli and assigned to Microsoft Corporation describes a security and policy enforcement system that utilizes a series of transactions between a server and a client using electronic security certificates. A first client generates a request for access to data by submitting a security certificate containing a digest to a trusted arbitrator server. The trusted arbitrator authenticates the first client's credentials and returns the security certificate. The data and security certificate are then combined to create a distribution, which, in turn, is acquired by a second client. The second client extracts the security certificate and generates a digest from the data in the distribution. If the digest from the second client matches the digest from the first client, then data is considered to be valid. Depending upon the certificate type and a policy level, the trusted arbitrator server can provide services such as notification of improper usage.


A directional drilling system for use in drilling a wellbore can include a bit deflection assembly with a bit axis deflection mechanism which applies a deflecting force to a shaft connected to a drill bit. The deflecting force may deflect the shaft, without being reacted between the deflection mechanism and the drill bit. The deflecting force may deflect the shaft between the drill bit and a radial bearing which maintains the shaft centered in the bit deflection assembly. The deflection mechanism may both angularly deflect and laterally displace the bit axis in the deflection mechanism.

This disclosure relates generally to equipment utilized and operations performed in conjunction with drilling subterranean wells and, in one example described below, more particularly provides systems for directional drilling.
Directional drilling is the art of controlling a direction of drilling, in effect "steering" a drill bit, so that a wellbore is drilled in an earth formation in a desired location and direction. In the past, techniques have been developed for steering while sliding (e.g., without rotation of a drill string above a downhole motor) and steering while rotating the drill string.
It will be appreciated that improvements are continually needed in the art of directional drilling.


A therapy device is provided for trismus prevention and treatment, and includes a first arm hingedly connected to a second arm, and a spring device disposed therebetween to press the first and second arms apart. A pair of bite pads are provided at the ends of each of the first and second arms and are designed to be engaged by a user's teeth or gums in order to bite down on the device to exercise the user's jaw, and more specifically, the muscles of mastication.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Trismus is a medical complication common in radiation therapy patients that restricts range of motion in the oral cavity. Quality of life can be seriously degraded when patients cannot properly open their mouth.
The device of the present disclosure prevents developing trismus, helps cure it, and acts as a piece of exercise equipment. It uses springs to provide force, opening the mouth to stretch the muscles of mastication. It can also be used to exercise the muscles of mastication by providing resistance when the patient tries to close the device using their muscles.
The therapy device includes a first arm having a first end and a second end, the first arm including a first recess portion disposed between the first end and the second end of the first arm, and a first bite pad disposed at the second end. A second arm includes a first end and a second end, the first end of the second arm being hingedly connected to the first end of the first arm, the second arm including a second recess portion disposed between the first end and the second end of the second arm and opposing the first recess. A second bite pad is disposed at the second end of the second arm. A spring member is received in the first and second recesses and provides resistance when a patient presses against each of the bite pads with their upper and lower teeth. The spring member can be made from an elastomeric material, or other material providing a spring force. The spring members can be press fit in one of the first and second recesses. The first and second arms can include an extra pocket for receiving additional spring members having different spring characteristics. The first and second arms can be generally arch shaped, and the first and second bite pads can include an elastomeric material thereon to prevent the teeth from slipping on the bite pads.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Therapy device for trismus prevention and treatment


Techniques for managing cloud-based systems are provided. A user provides search criteria for cloud-based resources through a web-based user interface. A search for the cloud-based resources is conducted based on the search criteria. The web-based interface displays a listing of cloud-based resources matching the search criteria. The user provides an input indicating a request to keep awake a first cloud-based resource. In response, the web-based interface copies an original operating schedule for the first cloud-based resource into a first tag and modifies the original operating schedule contained within a second tag to form a modified operating schedule to cause the cloud-based resource to keep awake. The user can restore the original operating schedule when desired. Alternatively, the web-based interface can automatically restore the original operating schedule when a predetermined time period expires.

Many cloud-based systems are scheduled to shut down during periods of low activity such as at night. When a user desires to perform maintenance on an inactive cloud-based system, the user is typically required to locate the cloud-based system and to turn it on. Such a process is time-consuming and inefficient. Further, even after the cloud-based system is turned on it may automatically turn off according to a set schedule even as the user is performing maintenance. Accordingly, what is needed is a more efficient management of cloud-based resources to enable a user to more effectively perform maintenance on the cloud-based resources.

Method for managing operational schedules of cloud-based systems


In a display panel adopting the structure that conductive members surrounding a potential introducing terminal are disposed on both sides of a substrate, the potential introducing terminal is applied with a potential higher than those applied to the conductive members and a discharge suppressing mechanism is provided between the potential introducing terminal and at least the conductive member mounted on the surface of the substrate constituting an outer surface of the display panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus, and more particularly to an image display apparatus having a potential introducing terminal. The invention also relates to an information display apparatus such as a television using the image display apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
An anode cap of an image display apparatus such as a CRT is a structural component for connecting a high voltage cable to an anode button of a CRT. A conventional anode cap has the structure that a metal body is covered with an insulating cover (Refer for example to Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-21231, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 10-64456, and 2000-251981).
FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view showing a mount state of a conventional anode cap on an outer wall of a CRT. Referring to FIG. 10, reference numeral 41 represents a high voltage lead wire, reference numeral 42 represents a metal body, reference numeral 43 represents a contact piece, reference numeral 44 represents an insulating cover, reference numeral 45 represents a high voltage lead wire holder portion, reference numeral 46 represents a bowl portion, reference numeral 47 represents an anode cup, and reference numeral 48 represents an outer wall of CRT. The contact piece 43 fixed to the metal body 42 is provided at the front end of the high voltage lead wire 41. This contact piece 43 is electrically connected to a core wire of the high voltage lead wire 41.
The insulating cover 44 has the bowl portion 46 and the high voltage lead wire holder portion 45 which accommodates and holds the high voltage lead wire 41 at the position where the contact piece 43 is coupled. A through hole for the contact piece 43 is formed at the bottom of the bowl portion 46. The contact piece 43 is made of a bent linear conductor having an elasticity. Two contact pieces 43 are extend in the bowl portion 46. The insulating cover 44 is made of elastic material such as silicon rubber.
The outer wall 48 of CRT is generally made of glass. The inner surface of the outer wall 48 is formed with an anode conductive film (not shown). The anode conductive film and the bottom of the anode cup 47 is in contact with each other. The bowl portion 46 widely covers the connection area between the contact piece 43 and anode cup 47 to ensure insulating protection.
As described above, the conventional anode cap has the structure that the metal body is covered with the insulating cover. A distance between the border of the insulating cover and the metal body has been set to a distance sufficient for preventing creeping discharge when a high voltage is applied. There is therefore less necessity for adopting a special process or structure for preventing creeping discharge with nearby components.
Irregular projections have been invented as the means for improving a dielectric breakdown voltage between two conductors (refer for example to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 05-006748, 06-052812 and 07-131125). The means for improving a dielectric breakdown voltage by using the irregular projections disclosed in these applications can be applied to a high voltage applying portion of an image display apparatus when the present invention is reduced in practice.

Image display apparatus and information display apparatus


A data processing apparatus and method are provided for reducing trace bandwidth. The data processing apparatus comprises logic for producing data elements, and trace logic for producing a stream of trace elements representative of at least some of the data elements. The trace logic has trace generation logic for generating trace elements for inclusion in the stream, the trace generation logic including compression logic for performing a compression process on at least some trace elements prior to inclusion in the stream. A storage is also provided in association with the trace logic for providing control information which is dependent on an operating environment of the logic producing the data elements. The trace generation logic is arranged to reference that control information in order to adapt the compression process performed by the compression logic having regard to the operating environment. By such an approach, the efficiency of the compression process can be maintained irrespective of the operating environment of the logic producing the data elements.

Tracing the activity of a data processing system whereby a stream of trace elements is generated including data representing the step-by-step activity within the system is a highly useful tool in system development. However, with the general move towards more deeply embedded processor cores, it becomes more difficult to track the activities of the processor core or other on-chip devices via externally accessible pins. Accordingly, as well as off-chip tracing mechanisms for capturing and analyzing trace data, increased amounts of tracing functionality are being placed on-chip. An example of such on-chip tracing mechanisms is the Embedded Trace Macrocell (ETM) provided by ARM Limited, Cambridge, England, in association with a variety of their ARM processors.
Such tracing mechanisms produce in real-time a stream of trace elements representing activities of the data processing apparatus that are desired to be traced. This trace stream can then subsequently be analyzed for a variety of purposes, for example to facilitate debugging of sequences of processing instructions being executed by the data processing apparatus, for performing profiling operations in order to determine the performance of particular program code being executed on the data processing apparatus, etc.
Typically, the stream of trace elements that is generated by the trace mechanism is buffered prior to output for subsequent analysis. Such a trace buffer is able to store a finite amount of information and requires a dedicated data bus which has a finite bandwidth over which the elements to be buffered can be received. The trace buffer is generally arranged to store information in a wrap-around manner, i.e. once the trace buffer is full, new data is typically arranged to overwrite the oldest data stored therein. It has been found that the bandwidth of the dedicated data bus limits the rate at which information can be stored in the trace buffer.
Typically, a trace analyzing tool is provided which receives the stream of trace elements from the trace buffer when desired, for example once the trace has completed. The trace analyzing tool can then be used to reconstruct the activities of the device being traced based on the received trace elements. As devices such as processor cores increase in power and complexity, it is clear that the amount of information required to track the activities of such devices will increase, and accordingly there will potentially be a very large volume of trace elements that need to be traced.
However, there is a problem that there is finite bus bandwidth over which the trace elements can be output by the trace logic, and any trace buffer used to buffer such trace elements will have a finite size. Accordingly, the volume of trace elements that can be generated is limited.
The activities of a device that might want to be traced include, but are not limited to, the instructions being executed by a processor core (referred to as instruction trace), and the memory accesses made by those instructions (referred to as data trace). These activities may be individually traced or traced together, so that the data trace can be correlated with the instruction trace. The data trace itself consists of two parts, the memory addresses and the data values, referred to (respectively) as data address and data value trace. Again, the existing trace ETM protocols allow for data address and data value tracing to be enabled independently or simultaneously.
Experience shows that for existing processor cores and ETM protocols, a bit rate of less than 2 bits per instruction is achieved for instruction tracing only. However, to illustrate the above problem, a bit rate of approximately 10 to 16 bits per instruction is achieved for instruction and data address tracing. Therefore a processor having an operating speed of approximately 1 GHz executing one instruction per cycle will generate approximately 10 to 16 Gbits/s of trace data, all of which must be taken off-chip and captured in a fixed-size buffer. In addition to tracing instructions and data addresses, certain classes of problem also require data value tracing to be performed, and this will further increase the amount of trace data that needs to be generated to over 20 bits per instruction. Collectively, the two elements of data tracing, namely the data address tracing and the data value tracing, contribute to a large proportion of the overall volume of trace elements produced.
With the aim of seeking to alleviate the volume of trace that needs to be produced, a number of compression algorithms have been developed for seeking to compress certain trace elements prior to them being output in the trace stream. For example, considering address tracing, there are often periods of time when sequences of addresses follow a predictable pattern. For example, considering instruction tracing, the instruction address is often merely incremented to identify each subsequent instruction being executed. For such incremented addresses, it is not typically necessary to output the instruction address, but instead all that is required is some information indicating that another instruction has executed, and the address can be inferred. However, for instruction flow changing instructions such as branch instructions, these can cause a jump in instruction flow, such that the target address is not merely an incremented version of the branch instruction's address. Hence, when the instruction following the branch instruction is executed, it is often necessary to output sufficient information to identify the address of that instruction, so that it can be determined by trace analyzing logic reviewing the trace stream.
However, it is often not necessary to output the complete address in such situations, and instead compression algorithms can be used that send only the parts of the address that have actually changed from a preceding target address that was traced. In accordance with one particular embodiment, this technique involves working from the least significant portion of the address and iterating up to the most significant portion, until a point is reached where subsequent portions are identical to the ones the trace analyzing tool already knows about as a result of previously traced address information.
Whilst compression algorithms such as those discussed above can yield very effective compression in many situations, there are circumstances in which they do not operate particularly effectively. For example, certain operating systems, such as Linux, use a most significant part of the address as a type qualifier, for example to identify application code, library code, kernel code, etc. Branches will often cause a jump from one type of code to another, and accordingly the above type of compression does not work well, since the most significant portion of the address has changed.
More generally there is an issue that the effectiveness of particular compression algorithms varies dependent on the activities of the logic being traced, and accordingly there will be instances where the provided compression techniques are not very effective, and accordingly give rise to a larger volume of trace than is desirable. In some instances, this may cause the volume of trace data to exceed the available bandwidth, resulting in certain trace information being lost.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved technique for generating a stream of trace elements, so as to enable more effective use to be made of the finite bus bandwidth over which the trace elements can be output, and the finite size of any trace buffer in which those trace elements are buffered.

Data processing apparatus and method for reducing trace bandwidth


A coil arrangement with reduced core losses is provided. The coil arrangement has a first coil and a second coil and a ferrite layer below the coils. A perpendicular recess in the ferrite layer is provided to reduce magnetic flux density in a center conduction path.

Coil arrangements can be used to interact with an environment. For example, coil arrangements can be used to send information or energy to an environment or to receive information or energy from an environment utilizing magnetic fields. In wireless power transfer systems a transmission coil arrangement can transmit magnetic energy to a reception coil arrangement to transmit electric power without the need for direct and galvanic connection.
Coil arrangements usually utilize one or more coils arranged in a vicinity of a ferrite material to route the corresponding magnetic flux. However, known coil arrangements suffer due to core losses, i.e. dissipation of energy in ferrite material that establishes a magnetic core. Further, often a meaningful application of coil arrangements suffers due to a changing coupling factor and/or a changing coil inductance when the coil arrangement's environment changes. Changing coupling factors and changing coil inductances negatively influence the resonance circuit that may be electrically connected to the coil arrangement. Further, elaborate means for adjusting a desired inductance value of the coil arrangement are needed.
It is known to increase the amount of ferrite material in the vicinity of the coil arrangement to increase the mass of the magnetic core to reduce losses.
However, then the needed amount of ferrite material and the weight is increased and production costs are raised. Further, design parameters, in particular when miniaturization is designed, are negatively affected.
Consequently, it is desired to have lightweight coil arrangements with reduced core losses, improved stability of the coupling factor and a reduced variation of coil inductance while maintaining a high degree of freedom in designing corresponding devices while maintaining low manufacturing costs.

Coil arrangement and wireless power transfer system comprising a coil arrangement


A method of repairing a defect on a substrate includes the steps of shining a beam, such as a focused ion beam, on a substrate to remove a portion of the defect and to leave a thin wall of the defect, and then providing a second removal step, such as an isotropic etch, to substantially remove the thin wall, wherein the second removal step comprises a process different from the original shining step.

Phase shift masks include attenuator, rim shift, and alternating types. While attenuator masks provide a layer of material on the quartz substrate, rim shift and alternating phase shift masks can involve etching the quartz substrate itself to provide differential phase transmission. One of the key problems in fabricating any of these masks is the difficulty of repairing defects formed during the mask manufacturing process. A defect may arise because of the presence of a minute particle on the quartz substrate, in the chromium layer on the quartz substrate, or in the photosensitive material used to pattern the mask. The problem is particularly severe where the quartz substrate is etched because heretofore there has been no repair or rework method available for defects in the quartz. Thus, defects formed in the quartz after the etch step have been regarded as unrepairable, and masks with quartz defects have been scrapped. Because defects are pervasive in each of the steps of mask fabrication, the inability to repair quartz defects has sharply limited the ability to fabricate alternating phase shift masks and rim shift masks that require quartz etching.
In fabricating these alternating phase shift masks, a blanket layer of chromium on the quartz substrate is first photolithographically patterned to provide desired shapes of chrome, such as boxes and lines, and spaces there between. Then the quartz is etched in locations defined by the spaces between chromium patterns.
The etch is carefully controlled to create trenches having a specified depth so light passing through the region with a trench passes through a quartz substrate thinned compared to light passing through a neighboring region that has the full thickness of quartz, the difference in thicknesses providing a 180.degree. phase difference in the light transmitted by each. Because of the interference of the out of phase light there is a significant intensification of contrast between adjacent regions when light is shined through the mask, and this intensification of contrast provides the ability to resolve significantly smaller structures than can be achieved without phase shifting. Typically, the etch depth is controlled to provide a relative shift between the two neighboring regions of half of the wavelength of the light used with the mask to expose semiconductor wafers, thereby providing the 180.degree. phase difference.
Defects in the etching of the quartz are analogous to the opaque and clear defects of standard masks, described in commonly assigned co-pending patent application Ser. No. 08/786,061, (the '061 application). Thus, analogous to opaque defects are regions where quartz should have been etched but was not etched. In these regions of the mask there remain unwanted columns of full thickness quartz. Analogous to clear defects, are regions where quartz was etched but should not have been etched. In this case pits or divots have been etched in the quartz in regions that should have remained full thickness. The two types of defects can be in isolated regions or they can be adjacent or attached to a wanted region of full thickness quartz or to a region protected by chromium.
A solution is needed that provides for rapidly, accurately, reproducibly and reliably repairing defects in the quartz of phase shift masks, and this solution is provided by the following invention.

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus includes a breath sensor including a film configured to sense a variation in electrical impedance based on a moisture gradient and output the sensed variation as an output signal; and a controller configured to process the output signal from the breath sensor. The apparatus is configured to receive the output signal from the breath sensor and provide a signal in response thereto.

1. Technical Field
The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to touchless user interfaces and, more particularly, to a breath-controlled wake up of a data input system.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
Various types of touchless user interface devices are known. Touchless systems for the activation of a controlled element based on optical sensing and triangulation are known, as are systems for controlling the operation of a device by voice. One type of system for controlling the operation of a device by voice is a speech recognition system having a low power wake up circuit (a low power audio channel coupled to both a microphone and a second standard audio channel, with a processor to switch between the two audio channels).

Hybrid input device for touchless user interface


A shift control apparatus for a vehicle may include a GPS sensor detecting a vehicle location, a navigation device outputting short-distance road information and long-distance road information using the vehicle location, a vehicle controller restoring forward road information using the short-distance road information and the long-distance road information, and determining a degree of curve and an average degree of inclination of a road using the forward road information, and a vehicle shifting unit having a shift controller controlling a shift pattern of a transmission using the degree of curve and the average degree of inclination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for controlling a shift of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle shift control apparatus that controls gear shifting of a vehicle by predicting a condition of a driving road by a driver.
2. Description of Related Art
In vehicle driving, satisfaction of a driver related to driving performance of the vehicle depends on how much the vehicle is driven in accordance with the driving tendency of the driver and therefore information on a road is important. However, the driving tendency of the driver may have a difference with reaction of the vehicle because a performance characteristic of the vehicle is set to one performance characteristic with respect to the same vehicle model. Accordingly, the driver may feel dissatisfaction with respect to the driving performance of the vehicle. That is, when a driving tendency of the driver is assessed and gear shifting of the vehicle is controlled according to the driving tendency of the driver, satisfaction of the driver related to the driving performance can be optimized.
Therefore, a method for transmitting and receiving road information and predicting a road shape is used for prediction control of a gear stage of an auto transmission and a driving point of an engine according to a forward road shape to thereby improve drivability and fuel efficiency. In addition, a road (e.g., a road in a city and road in a mountainous area) having a severe curve so that the vehicle cannot be driven in high speed and a smoothly curved road (e.g., an intercity expressway) designed for high speed driving are different from each other in the degree of curve and the degree of inclination, and therefore various types of road information need to be predicted.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


Improved techniques are provided for detecting and correcting errors and skew in inter-cluster communications within computer systems having a plurality of multi-processor clusters. The local nodes of each cluster include a plurality of processors and an interconnection controller. Intra-cluster links are formed between the local nodes, including the interconnection controller, within a cluster. Inter-cluster links are formed between interconnection controllers of different clusters. Intra-cluster packets may be serialized and encapsulated as inter-cluster packets for transmission on inter-cluster links, preferably with link-layer encapsulation. Each inter-cluster packet may include a sequence identifier and error information computed for that packet. Clock data may be embedded in symbols sent on each bit lane of the inter-cluster links. Copies of transmitted inter-cluster packets may be stored until an acknowledgement is received. The use of inter-cluster packets on an inter-cluster link is preferably transparent to other links and to the protocol layer.

The present invention relates generally to multi-processor computer systems. More specifically, the present invention provides techniques for sending signals between clusters of computer systems having a plurality of multi-processor clusters.
A relatively new approach to the design of multi-processor systems replaces broadcast communication such as bus or ring architectures among processors with a point-to-point data transfer mechanism in which the processors communicate similarly to network nodes in a tightly-coupled computing system. That is, the processors are interconnected via a plurality of communication links and requests are transferred among the processors over the links according to routing tables associated with each processor. The intent is to increase the amount of information transmitted within a multi-processor platform per unit time.
In some multi-processor systems, local nodes (including processors and an interconnection controller) are directly connected to each other through a plurality of point-to-point intra-cluster links to form a cluster of processors. Separate clusters of processors can be connected via point-to-point inter-cluster links. The point-to-point links significantly increase the bandwidth for coprocessing and multiprocessing functions. However, using a point-to-point architecture to connect multiple processors in a multiple cluster system presents its own problems.
One limitation associated with such an architecture is caused by the inter-cluster links used to transmit signals between clusters. Inter-cluster links are relatively longer than intra-cluster links. Inter-cluster links pick up relatively more noise and therefore tend to include more errors than signals transmitted on intra-cluster links.
In addition, the extra length of inter-cluster links exacerbates the effect of skew between bit lanes. A typical intra-cluster link initialization sequence essentially indicates the device types at each end of a link and when each device will start sending data. Accordingly, this initialization sequence does not provide sufficient information to calibrate the linked devices for de-skewing.
Consequently, skew and error detection and correction methods that may be acceptable for intra-cluster links are not always adequate for inter-cluster links. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide techniques for improving skew and error detection and correction in systems having multiple clusters of multiple processors connected using point-to-point links.

Communication between and within multi-processor clusters of multi-cluster computer systems


A dynamic bearing apparatus which supports a shaft and a bearing so as to be capable of relative rotation by a dynamic pressure of a lubricating fluid. A bottomed screw hole (21a) is provided to at least one end of the shaft (21) to screw a headed screw (24) for attaching a thrust plate (23) a lubricating fluid (F) is filled in a gap of a screw portion between the screw (24) and the screw hole (21a) or a screw non-occupied space (17), and an interposing member (25) which reduces a void cubic content in the screw non-occupied space (17) is attached to the screw non-occupied space (17).

In recent years, there have been made various kinds of proposals concerning a dynamic pressure bearing apparatus used to support various kinds of rotors in a device having a portion which rotates at a high speed, which is typified by a magnetic disc, a polygon mirror or an optical disc. For example, in a dynamic pressure bearing apparatus adopted in a hard disk drive apparatus (which will be referred to as an HDD hereinafter) shown in FIG. 21, a rotary shaft (shaft) 2 is rotatably inserted in a fixed bearing sleeve (bearing) 1, and a lubricating fluid F such as an oil or a magnetic fluid is injected into a minute gap between an inner peripheral surface of the bearing sleeve 1 and an outer peripheral surface of the rotary shaft 2, thereby constituting two radial bearing portions RB and RB provided at respective positions so as to be separated from each other in the axial direction. It is to be noted that, in this HDD, a rotary hub 5 used to hold a recording disk (not shown) is joined to a part of the rotary shaft 2 which is protruding from the bearing sleeve 1 by press fitting or shrink fitting, and the recording disk is held by a clamper (not shown) screwed by utilizing a screw hole 7 at an upper end portion of the rotary hub 5.
In such a dynamic pressure bearing apparatus, a thrust plate 3 is provided at least one end of the rotary shaft 2 as well as the above-described radial bearing portions RB and RB, and thrust bearing portions SBa and SBb are constituted between the bearing sleeve 1 and a counter plate 4 attached to the bearing sleeve 1. The lubricating fluid F is continuously injected into the thrust bearing portions SBa and SBb from the radial bearing portions RB.
Here, as to attachment of the thrust plate 3 to the rotary shaft 2, the structure that joining is performed by a fastening force of such a headed screw 6 as shown in FIG. 21 is conventionally known from, e.g., Japanese Registered Utility Model Publication No. 256791, Japanese patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 74841/1996 and others. Such a screwing structure holds the thrust plate 3 so as to be sandwiched in the axial direction between a head portion 6a of a headed screw 6 screwed at a lower end portion of the rotary shaft 2 and an end surface of the rotary shaft 2.
The screwing structure of this thrust plate 3 corresponds to a request or the like for a reduction in thickness of the dynamic pressure bearing apparatus. That is, when a height of the dynamic pressure bearing apparatus in the axial direction is greatly suppressed owing to a reduction in thickness of the dynamic pressure bearing apparatus, a joint length of the thrust plate 3 relative to the rotary shaft 2 in the axial direction is reduced, and the joint strength of the thrust plate 3 may be possibly lowered. In particular, in an apparatus such as a mobile computer which is presupposed to be carried, the impact resistance at the time of falling or the like must be sufficiently assured, and hence the joint strength of the thrust plate 3 is a serious problem. Thus, adoption of the above-described screwing structure is used to firmly fix the thrust plate 3.
Further, as another attachment method of the thrust plate 3 relative to the rotary shaft 2, there is a fixing technique such as press fitting or shrink fitting as shown in FIG. 22, for example. In this case, the thrust bearing portions SBa and SBb are configured above and below the thrust plate 3′ between the thrust plate 3′ fixed at the lower end portion of the rotary shaft 2′ by press fitting or shrink fitting and the bearing sleeve 1 and between the thrust plate 3′ and the counter plate 4′ attached to the bearing sleeve 1. It is to be noted that a rotary hub 5′ used to hold the recording disk is joined to a part of the rotary shaft 2′ which is protruding from the bearing sleeve 1 by press fitting, shrink fitting or the like, and a damper 9 is fixed at the upper end portion of the rotary shaft 2′ by the headed screw 6′ so that the recording disk 8 is held by a pressing force of the damper 9 in the axial direction. It is to be noted that the reference numeral 6a′ denotes a screw head portion, 6b′ designates a male screw portion and 2a′ denotes a female screw portion formed from the upper end surface of the rotary shaft 2′ toward the lower end surface of the same in the drawing.
In the fixing structure of the thrust plate 3 using screwing shown in FIG. 21, however, the lubricating fluid F gradually penetrates by the capillarity generated in a gap, to the gap of the screw portion where the female screw portion formed to the shaft 2 and the male screw portion on the headed screw 6 side are screwed. As a result, the lubricating fluid F in the thrust dynamic pressure bearing portion is substantially decreased and becomes insufficient, thereby possibly reducing the duration of life of the bearing.
Furthermore, since a hole which is preparedly provided for thread cutting is opened longer than the female screw portion, a space (which is called a screw non-occupied space) is generated between the end of the headed screw 6 and the bottom of the screw hole. Since air remains in the screw non-occupied space, when the remaining air is expanded by an increase in temperature, the expanded air pushes the lubricating fluid F toward the outside, which results in the leak. Such leak of the lubricating fluid F may possibly lead to a fatal problem in the HDD or the like requiring the cleanness.
In the dynamic pressure bearing apparatus shown in FIG. 22, the female screw portion 2a′ used to fix the damper 9 formed to the rotary shaft 2′ is configured so as to be cut by a bottomed hole. Therefore, foreign matters such as chips generated at the time of thread cutting or the like are readily deposited on the bottom of the hole in which the female screw portion 2a′ is cut. Moreover, the foreign matters once deposited on the bottom of the hole of the female screw portion 2a′ cannot be completely removed even if a cleansing step or the like is carried out. If these foreign matters spatter to the outside during use of the apparatus, they adhere to the recording disk which must be cleaned, which may possibly result in a fatal error problem such that recording/reproduction of information is disabled, for example.
Additionally, if a reduction in thickness of the apparatus further advances, a length of the lower hole of the female screw portion 2a′ formed to the above-described rotary shaft 2′ is also decreased. In such a case, the female screw portion 2a′ is subjected to thread cutting in the shortened lower hole by using the similarly shortened threading tap tool. However, by doing so, a large stress is loaded to the tap tool when shaping the screw, a problem such that the tap tool is readily bent occurs, thereby possibly lowering the productivity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dynamic pressure bearing apparatus which can readily increase the joint strength of the thrust plate relative to the shaft and simultaneously obtain the excellent dynamic pressure characteristic and high productivity. It is another object of the present invention to provide a dynamic pressure bearing apparatus excellent in the cleanliness and the processability.

Kabushiki Kaisha Sankyo Seiki Seisakusho


A method to be executed by a user terminal for searching for locations of one or more wireless devices that are located within an area in which the one or more wireless devices can wirelessly communicate with the user terminal, wherein each of the one or more wireless devices periodically transmits a beacon signal. The method includes detecting a number of the one or more wireless devices that are located within the area based on the beacon signals; determining a transmission period for transmitting the beacon signals depending on the number of the one or more wireless devices; and instructing the one or more wireless devices that are located within the area to transmit the beacon signals in accordance with the determined transmission period.

An RFID tag can be attached to a to-be-identified object, such as a product or a person, and it has been used for logistics management or entering/leaving management at a station or at an office. For example, an RFID tag may store attribute information of a to-be-identified product to which the tag is attached. The RFID tag can be used by a user to identify the attribute information or the current location of the product to which the tag is attached, when the user's wireless terminal accesses the RFID tag.
For example, the following wireless search device has been known as a means for searching for a current location of an active RFID tag. First, the wireless search device queries an RFID tag to transmit an identification (ID) number.
Subsequently, the wireless search device that receives a radio wave that is transmitted from the RFID tag estimates a distance and a direction from the wireless device to the RFID tag based on reception intensity of the radio wave, an arrival direction of the radio wave, and the like. Finally, the wireless search device associates the estimated location with the ID number of the RFID tag, and displays the estimated location that is associated with the ID number of the RFID tag. At this time, in order to scan in all directions for the direction in which the RFID tag is located, it may be required to vary the antenna directivity for receiving a signal over 360 degrees by manually changing the direction of the wireless search device over 360 degrees for each search operation, or by application of beam-forming technology.
In such a system that is for searching for the current location of an RFID tag, when a transmission interval of transmitting signals from the RFID tag is too large, performance of searching for the tag (e.g., search accuracy or a search success rate) may be degraded, and when a transmission interval of transmitting signals from the RFID tag is too small, battery energy consumption may be increased because of a likelihood of collisions by simultaneous transmissions from a plurality of tags and frequent transmissions. Thus, in the above-described RFID tag search system, a technique may be required that is for adjusting the transmission interval for transmitting the signals depending on a situation.
Patent Document 1 discloses a terminal location search device for locating a position of a mobile terminal based on a positioning signal from the mobile terminal, as a scheme for adjusting the transmission interval of transmitting the signals depending on a situation in the above-described RFID tag search system. Specifically, the terminal location search device may transmit a control signal for adjusting the transmission interval for periodically transmitting positioning signals to the mobile terminal depending on current moving velocity of the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal that receives the control signal may transmit a positioning signal at every time interval that is indicated by the terminal location search device. Namely, the terminal location search device can prevent positioning accuracy from being degraded by adjusting the transmission interval for transmitting positioning signals at high moving speed to be smaller than the transmission interval for transmitting positioning signals at low moving speed.
As a technical effort to overcome the problem of the increase in likelihood of collisions by frequent simultaneous transmissions from the above-described plurality of radio wave sources, Patent Document 2 discloses a communication system and a base station for improving a throughput by preventing signals from interfering with each other between mobile terminals. Specifically, the base station apparatus monitors the number of the mobile terminals (users) that are located within its own cell. At the same time, in response to the number of the mobile terminals, the base station apparatus transmits, from an RF transmitter, control information (frame format identification information) to the mobile terminals that are located within its own cell. Here, the control information is for controlling a frame format of a RACH depending on the number of the mobile terminals. At this time, the base station apparatus may execute control so that, as the number of the mobile terminals within the cell is increased, an amount of overhead information that is included in a frame having a frame format that corresponds to the number is reduced. In this manner, the amount of the overhead information is reduced depending on the number of the users, and a RACH frame whose length is shortened by the corresponding reduction amount can be transmitted. Thus, even if the number of the users is increased, a likelihood of occurrence of collision between frames on the RACH can be reduced, and the throughput can be enhanced.
Further, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 3, the tag search device may switch power control operation for radio transmission and reception, depending on whether the current operating state of the device itself is a search state for searching for a desired RFID tag, or the current operating state of the device itself is a communication continuation state in which the tag search device is communicating with the detected RFID tag. Specifically, for radio transmission and reception by the device itself, in the search state, the device switches to a power control mode that corresponds to high antenna output power, and in the communication continuation state, the device switches to a power control mode that corresponds to antenna output power that is lower than that.

RFID tag search method, non-transitory storage medium storing RFID tag search program, and RFID tag search device


An apparatus for treating a human knee, such as a knee decompression apparatus or device, is described. In some examples, the apparatus includes a bolster, one or more support bars configured to place the bolster proximate to the popliteal fossa of the knee, and one or more straps or other attachment devices configured to removably attach the apparatus to the knee (or, area of the leg that includes the knee) of a patient.

Conventional medical care with respect to knee ailments and other joint ailments, such as arthritis, pain, meniscus tears, and others, often requires time consuming and costly treatments requiring numerous and routine patient visits to doctors, physical therapists, and other specialists. Typical treatments of osteoarthritis and other joint ailments may involve medication (e.g., analgesics), lifestyle modifications (e.g., restriction from certain activities), surgeries (e.g., joint replacements), physical therapy and so on. For example, a patient may work with a physical therapist in order to relieve pain or strengthen muscles around an ailing joint.
Although these treatments may alleviate suffering in a patient, they can be intrusive, time consuming, and, unfortunately in many instances ultimately ineffective. Further, typical treatments often seek to alleviate pain (e.g., medication) or remove the objects causing pain (e.g., joint replacements), rather than the making the appropriate adjustments, corrections, or modifications that may lead to the healing or improvement of affected and painful areas.
The most common device for facilitating the healing of various joints is a brace, or in a more primitive form, a splint. For example, there are many different types of knee and elbow braces that stabilize surrounding muscles in order to facilitate the healing process. Further, braces exist that are designed to insulate the joint and restrict the movement of a joint in order to allow the body to facilitate the healing process without causing further damage to joint. However, these braces merely assist in healing a joint by stabilizing a joint or surrounding muscles. They are generally not designed to contribute to the therapeutic care or healing of an ailing joint.
While aforementioned medical devices and treatments are generally suitable for a particular purpose, such devices are not sufficiently suitable for the purpose discussed in the present invention. Thus, it is clear that there exists a need in the art for a treatment device that overcomes these problems and progresses the state of the art, as well as one that provides there additional benefits enumerated in the present application.


A method of sorting and bundling mail for delivery to a plurality of delivery points includes sorting the mail pieces in one or more passes through an automated sorting machine using destination codes associated with the mail pieces that are scanned and stored by a computer so that the mail pieces are ordered such that a final sort to a plurality of locations using at least part of the destination codes will place the mail pieces in delivery order and transferring and feeding the mail pieces to a plurality of bundling machines as a singulated stream and sorting the mail pieces to the bundling machines so that mail pieces having the same destination code are sorted to the same machine where the mail pieces are bundled by destination code for delivery.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers millions of pieces of mail on a daily basis to over a million domestic addresses. Each day, before a carrier begins to walk through or drive through his or her delivery route, it is the carrier's responsibility to put all of this mail into an appropriate sequence for efficient delivery. Under the present USPS procedure, the carrier assembles at least three delivery order sequenced stacks of mail, including letters, flats (including enveloped and non-enveloped magazines), and parcels. At each delivery stop the carrier selects the items for that address from each of the various stacks and puts them all into the postal patron's mailbox. This sorting and shuffling through various stacks of mail is time consuming, inefficient, and consequently expensive to the USPS. Consequently, any reduction in amount of hand sorting done by the carriers represents the potential for increased efficiency.
To place mail in order by destination, a Delivery Bar Code Scanner (DBCS) and/or Carrier Sequence Bar Code Scanner (CSBCS) DBCS machine is typically utilized in a multi-pass sorting scheme. Two- and three pass schemes based on significant digits of the delivery points are most common. Multi-pass sorting strategies are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,971, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In general, a multi-pass sort scheme starts with a disordered collection of mail and sorts the mail into intermediate batches of partially sorted mail according to a first sorting criteria. The intermediate batches are fed back into the sorter again for sorting according to a second pass sort scheme. The process may be repeated several times until the mail is sorted into delivery order, depending upon the number of available bins and the number of destination points.
The result of this sorting process is, as noted above, multiple stacks of delivery ordered mail. In order to identify, for example, letters addressed to a specific address, the carrier "thumbs" through the stack, finding the first and last item addressed to the particular delivery point and separates the letters addressed to that address from the stack. This time consuming process is repeated with the stack of flats.
The invention set forth below provides a method of reducing the amount of hand sorting and stack handling required by providing the mail to the carrier in bundles corresponding to stops on the carrier's route.

Method and apparatus for sorting and bundling mail