A system for controlling a door of a drum type washing machine is provided. This system allows the door to be opened only if there is no water in the washing tub, or if the water level in the tub is very low, so as to prevent water in the tub from cascading out of the washing machine when the door is opened. A water level in the washing tub is sensed, and the sensed water level is compared to a reference water level. The door is locked or unlocked based on the comparison of the sensed water level and the reference water level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drum type washing machine, and more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling a door of a drum type washing machine and method thereof.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a drum type washing machine according to a related art, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a washing tub 11 for washing a laundry inside, a dewatering tub (not shown in the drawing) outside the washing tub 11, a case 10 protecting the washing tub 11 and to hold various driving equipments (not shown in the drawing) for driving the washing tub 11, a door 20 provided on a front side of the case 10 for putting the laundry in/out of the washing tub 11, a detergent box 12 and a control unit 13 for an operation and control of the washing machine provided in an upper front part of the case 10.
The door 20 consists of a door body 21 hinge-coupled to an opening 15 of the case 10 to open/close and a window 22 installed at a central part of the door body 21 and formed of a transparent material enabling an inside of the washing tub 11 to be seen through the closed door body 21.
The drum type washing machine performs washing by rotating the washing tub 11, which holds the water, detergent, and laundry inside and has a plurality of protrusions provided inside, at low speed centering on a horizontal axis using shock energy generated from lifting the laundry to fall by the protrusions. Hence, compared to a pulsator type washing machine performing washing using a frictional force between the laundry and the water rotated by a pulsator, the drum type washing machine almost prevents entanglement and damage of the laundry as well as reduces its water consumption.
Yet, the door 20 of the drum type washing machine is installed on the front side of the case. If the door 20 is opened before the washing machine operates, water in the washing tub 11 may flood out. In order to prevent such a problem, a door lock assembly 30 and 30′ determining open/close of the door 20 is installed at contact areas of the door 20 and the case 10. When the washing machine is not in use, the door 20 is always locked to close the door 20.
The door lock function is automatically performed. In case that power is cut off, the door is definitely performed so that the door is not opened. Thus, in order to control the locking/unlocking of the door, a door control equipment is needed.
In a door control equipment of a washing machine according to a related art, a user firstly checks whether power is on or off. If the power is off, the door lock function is maintained. If the power is on, the door lock function is released to let the door open. Hence, when the power is off, it is unable to open the door. But, the door can be opened only if the power is on.
However, the related art door control equipment of the washing machine allows the door to be opened when the power is on even if the washing tub is filled with the water. Hence, the water in the washing tub cascades out to cause inconvenience to the user.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus for controlling door of drum type washing machine and method thereof


A capacitive circuit incorporated in an integrated circuit, the capacitive circuit including a high-pass type non-inverting amplifier which receives an input signal and a differential amplifier which receives the input signal and an output signal of the non-inverting amplifier. A differential component between both signals is detected by the differential amplifier and fed-back to the input signal, the input impedance having a capacitive characteristic because the input signal is phase-shifted by 90 degrees.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitive circuit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel capacitive circuit capable of forming an equivalent capacitor having a relatively large capacitance value in an integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional integrated circuit, an equivalent capacitor is formed by utilizing a PN junction.
In such a prior art, although it is possible to change a capacitance value by changing a voltage applied to the PN junction; however, the capacitance value was normally small and a variable range thereof was also narrow.


Disclosed herein is mobile communication terminal for performing a voice-text message conversion process that includes a memory, a voice data detecting unit, a voice-text converting unit, and a controlling unit. The memory stores condition information for the voice-text message conversion process. The memory includes a voice message area for storing voice messages and a text message area for storing text messages. The voice data detecting unit extracts a voice signal from a specific voice message. The voice-text converting unit converts the voice signal to a text message. The controlling unit determines whether the voice-text message conversion process is required for the specific message, based on the condition information, and stores the text message converted by the voice data detecting unit and the voice-text converting unit in the text message area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal and method for managing voice messages, and more particularly to a mobile communication terminal and a method for converting a voice message into a text message and storing the converted text message in a memory having a limited capacity without erasing a previously stored voice message.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, one of the most frequently used application services of mobile communication terminals is a Short Message Service (SMS). At the current stage of development of the mobile communication technology, users of the terminals can exchange messages including voice data, image data and text only data. Users of terminals that utilize an All-IP (Internet Protocol) network can transmit data without a complicated conversion process, are always connected to the Internet with their unique IP addresses, and can engage in a one-on-one exchange of all kinds of messages. Such users can confirm received messages promptly without connecting to a server. A Push-To-Talk (PTT) service is an example of such service in the All-IP network. Namely, the PTT is a service wherein a user of one terminal can transmit a voice message, an image and a file to a user of another terminal connected to the Internet, without dialing.
As such, the characteristics of the All-IP network are designed to allow the terminal users to exchange multi-media messages, including voice and image data, as well as text data with one another without having to depend on a central server. Therefore the message size can be increased hundreds to tens of hundreds of times, compared with that of conventional text messaging.
Meanwhile, a general mobile communication terminal has inherent hardware restrictions, and therefore cannot secure a relatively large memory size to receive a plurality of multi-media messages. Therefore, a user of the general mobile communication terminal must always monitor whether the amount of received messages approaches a capacity limit of a message area allocated in its memory, and must manage the message area for receiving further messages.
In conventional voice message services, if a caller of one mobile communication terminal records his/her voice therein and then uploads it to a server, the server informs a corresponding recipient of another mobile communication terminal of arrival of a multi-media message corresponding to the caller's voice via SMS. Then the corresponding recipient connects to the server using his/her mobile communication terminal to receive the voice message.
A comparison of voice messages with text messages, and the inherent characteristics of voice messages, indicates that the data size per voice message is relatively larger than for text messages. For example, if the word "HELLO" is recorded as a voice message, even though voice data size depends on a reading speed and various environmental factors, the voice data will consume tens of kilobytes in a memory. However, if the same word is converted to a text message, then text data of the text message consumes a relatively small amount of the memory, compared with the voice data. More specifically, if the word "HELLO" is converted to a text message, text data of the text message consumes five bytes in the memory, because a character requires one byte. Therefore, when expressing the same information, the voice and text data differ greatly in terms of memory consumption.
Meanwhile, when a conventional mobile communication terminal receives a voice message, the voice message remains in a voice message area of a memory before a user directly confirms and then erases the voice message. From characteristics of the mobile communication terminal, since its memory size is restricted, if a voice message not confirmed by the user or a voice message confirmed but not erased by the user is successively stored in the memory, the size of the memory can be insufficient to store a newly received voice message.
A conventional technique for managing terminal memory to resolve such memory shortage, for mobile communication terminals that mainly provide SMS, is to inform a user that messages stored in a memory of the prior art mobile communication terminal must be erased when a total size of the messages exceeds a predetermined portion of the memory. Therefore, a user of the terminal directly selects and deletes corresponding messages.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,128 to Bahram G. Kermani entitled "PARTIAL VOICE MESSAGE DELETION" proposed that if the amount of messages stored in a memory of an automatic answering machine exceeds a predetermined portion, the stored messages are automatically erased from the memory, such that the memory can always receive a new message. However, such conventional automatic erasing method has disadvantages of a message to be deleted must be reconfirmed or a message not confirmed by the user may be automatically erased. Also, even if the "automatic deletion" mode is not set, when attempting to erase corresponding messages, the user must provide a confirmation of deletion one by one.
In a voice-text conversion technique, if a caller of one mobile communication terminal uploads his/her voice to a server, the server converts the voice to a text message and then transmits the converted text message to a corresponding recipient of another mobile communication terminal.
Korean Patent Application No. 10-2003-0045440, filed on Jul. 4, 2003, entitled "TERMINAL HAVING FUNCTION OF INTERCONVERTING BETWEEN VOICE MESSAGE AND TEXT MESSAGE AND METHOD FOR INTERCONVERTING BETWEEN VOICE MESSAGE AND TEXT MESSAGE IN THE SAME" discloses a technique for converting between a voice message and a text message. However, an object of the system described in that application is to provide a terminal for converting a voice message or text message received in a terminal to a format desired by a recipient of the terminal and outputting the same. Namely, if the terminal receives a voice message, the voice message can be converted to a text message and then outputted, or if the terminal receives a text message, the text message can be converted to a voice message and then outputted as voice. Therefore, the terminal can be easily used by the disabled.

Mobile communication terminal and method for converting voice message to text message


An inductor structure comprised of a magnetic section and a single turn solenoid. The single turn solenoid to contain within a portion of the magnetic section and circumscribed by the magnetic section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor devices and more specifically to an integrated inductor structure and its method of fabrication.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The need for inductors in semiconductor design dictates the use of discrete inductors or spiral inductors. The discrete inductor is in an off-chip, off-package configuration and requires long interconnects to connect the inductor to the chip. These interconnects have high impedances and result in large ohmic losses. Also, discrete inductors require extra space outside the chip package, which is difficult to provide for in high-density circuit board fabrication.
Spiral inductors are created through windings of metal thin films, usually on a silicon substrate. The first drawback of spiral inductors includes the large area necessary to create large inductances. Another drawback of spiral inductors includes the tendency of the inductors to have high resistances. This high resistance deteriorates the quality factor of the inductors making them too lossy for such applications as power delivery. Furthermore, spiral inductors force the magnetic flux into the silicon substrate causing both eddy current losses and interference with devices.

Integrated inductor structure and method of fabrication


A transceiver device for coupling between a power line and a network interface unit includes a power line modem for transmitting and receiving data between the power line and the network interface unit and a power circuit coupled to the power line modem that is adapted to deliver a DC power signal to the network interface unit. The power circuit includes a discovery circuit adapted to determine the type of network interface unit that is attached. A load path control circuit switches the DC power signal between a PHY interface and a connector interface of the power line modem based on the determined type.

As usage of the Internet expands, more and more people are purchasing multiple Personal Computers (PCs) for use by family members in the home. These multiple PCs can be "networked" together in the home to share and access common resources such as printers, files and Internet access (e.g., xDSL and cable modems). One well-known technology which has assisted in fueling the growth of networking is deployment of Local Area Networks (LAN) based on Ethernet (covered under several standards referred to generally as IEEE 802.3x), which has become the "default" LAN infrastructure standard.
At present, there are several types of the existing ubiquitous Ethernet technology that may be used in certain home networking applications, with each having its own standard to assure interoperability among various equipment vendors. A first type is the Power Line Communications (PLC) application that utilizes so-called Ethernet over Power (EoP) under the HomePlug standard, which allows the standard 10 Mbps Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) and 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet (IEEE 802.3u) to be deployed over the "common" home power line wiring distribution/infrastructure. The "HomePlug Powerline Alliance" (www.homeplug.org) coordinates interoperability among the various vendors of HomePlug compatible transceiver devices. A second type is the so-called Power over Ethernet (PoE) under the IEEE 802.3af standard, which allows DC power to be carried over the standard 10 Mbps Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) and 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet (IEEE802.3u) wirings. The underlying objective of PoE is to allow networking ready ancillary equipments/components the ease of having only "one" connectivity that combines the data and powering (less than 15 watts). The 802.3af standard provides for single cabling with a low voltage data line (Category 5, 5E, or higher grade) installation, and a nominal DC voltage of 48 volts (−10%, +20%) at 15.4 watts maximum continuous load.

Transceiver apparatus and method having ethernet-over-power and power-over-ethernet capability


Embodiments relate to multi-focal intravascular pressure catheters and related systems and methods. In an embodiment, a catheter comprises a plurality of pressure sensors spaced apart along at least a portion of the catheter. Each of the plurality of pressure sensors can comprise a pressure membrane arranged over an aperture in the catheter. In an embodiment, the pressure membrane can comprise carbon nanotubes, silver or gold nanoparticles, or another suitable material that can provide a signal in response to a mechanical change (e.g., deformation or flexing of the pressure membrane) to indicate a pressure or change in pressure. Signals from the plurality of pressure sensors can be communicated to an electrical interface which can calibrate or convert the signals into a visual indication of the pressure at any one of the plurality of pressure sensors as well as pressure gradients between various ones of the plurality of pressure sensors.

Intravascular pressure is the pressure of the blood within an artery or vein of the body and can refer to intraarterial pressure (i.e. pressure of the blood within an artery of the body) or intravenous pressure (i.e. pressure of the blood within a vein of the body). Intravascular pressure can be affected by many factors, including arterial stenosis, which is a narrowing of an artery. Narrowing of an artery restricts blood flow through the artery, leading to higher pressure. Stenosis can be treated or relieved in several ways, including by the placement of stents, clearing of blockages, administration of drugs and other treatments and therapies. These treatments and therapies can vary depending on the location of the stenosis. For example, some treatments are specific to the heart, such as for treatment of aortic valve stenosis. Others relate to treatment of peripheral vascular disease (PVD), which refers to blood vessel disease outside of the heart and brain and can include peripheral artery disease (PAD), which occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the internal organs, arms or legs become partially or completely blocked. Particular examples of PVD or PAD include iliac to popleteil artery stenosis, hepatic arterial stenosis and femoral artery stenosis, among many others.
Intravascular pressure measurements and gradients (i.e., changes in pressure measurements between different locations within an artery or vein) are universal metrics currently used to quantify the severity of a stenotic region prior to and after intervention. These measurements can be particularly important in the diagnosis and treatment of PVD. Conventional pressure measurement devices typically are guidewires with pressure sensitive tips that can measure the pressure at a single point in a vessel (i.e., at the location of the pressure sensitive tip), or end hole catheters that measure pressure via a pressure transducer at the end hole thereof.
In an example of a current process using such a conventional end hole catheter pressure measurement device, a physician directs a 5 French angiographic catheter proximal to the diseased area of vasculature, such as a femoral artery stenosis. The physician then injects iodinated contrast to assess the severity of the disease. Next, the catheter is advanced to a non-diseased section of the artery distal to the stenotic region of interest. This location and a pressure measurement there will serve as a gauge to assess the successfulness of the procedure. A pressure transducer is placed at the same level as the patient's cardiac notch and connected to the patient monitoring system. A nurse then selects a hemodynamic display setting on the monitor and "zeroes" the transducer by flushing the system with normal saline. Then the 5 French angiographic catheter is connected to the pressure transducer and the first measurement is made and documented. The physician pulls back the catheter, stopping at segments momentarily in order to document pressure. When all of the necessary pressure measurements are made and documented, a pressure gradient can be calculated from the individual measurements.
The conventional devices used in this process and others like it, as well as the process itself, suffer from several inadequacies, particularly when used in the peripheral vasculature. These inadequacies include a fragile guidewire (e.g., a 0.014 guidewire, which may be suited to delicate cardiac work but cannot hold up in more robust peripheral uses), low maximum vessel diameter for accurate pressure measurement (e.g., 5 mm, which is generally too small for peripheral uses), the aforementioned single focal pressure measurement at any time, and lack of a stable working platform for device delivery or intervention that does not require wire exchange.

Multi-focal intravascular pressure catheter devices, systems and methods


A wristwatch is disclosed, which includes a watch body part in which a glass is engaged at an upper center portion of the same, a gemstone ring is engaged at an outer side of the same, an adjusting pin is engaged at one side of the same, and a back cover having a plurality of fixing holes is engaged at a lower side of the same; a body casing in which an engaging groove is formed at an upper center portion of the came so that the watch body part is engaged therein, a casing fixing hole is formed at both sides of a bottom of the engaging groove, an adjusting pin engaging part is formed at a front side of the same, and a chain engaging part is formed at both sides for thereby connecting a watch chain; a fixing screw which is engaged into a fixing hole of the back cover through the casing fixing hole for thereby fixing the watch body part at the engaging groove of the body casing; and a watch chain which is connected at the chain engaging parts of both sides of the body casing.

Generally, a wristwatch includes a watch body part which indicates time, and a band shaped watch chain of which one end is connected with both ends of the watch body part, and the other end is connected with an engaging member such as a connection rung, etc, so that a user can wear a wristwatch adjusting the length of a watch chain based on a user's wrist size. With the above construction, a user can check time, so that a wristwatch has been recognized as an important item in life. The importance of a wristwatch has increased to modern people who are very busy.
However, the conventional wristwatch has the same structures and operation methods. The outer looks of the wristwatches are more emphasized by decorating certain expensive gemstones such as diamond, etc. as compared to their functional or practical views. New generations need various demands based on their characteristics and feelings.
Therefore, as the demand of new generation who wants to express various personalities increase, and a wristwatch tends to be a fashion item for showing a style and personality it is urgently needed to fabricate a wristwatch having a new feeling escaping from a conventional typical design.
So as to overcome the above problems, a large hole is formed at a center of a body casing of which both ends are connected with a watch chain, and a watch body part is inserted through an upper side of the hole and is fixed using an adhesive. A back cover is assembled for thereby finishing a fabrication of a wristwatch.
In the conventional wristwatch, since a back cover engaged to a lower side of a watch body part is exposed to the outside, so that there is a water sealing problem. In addition, since a metallic back cover is directly contacted with a skin, it is not good for human body.


Mixed polycycloaliphatic amines (MPCA) and alkylates thereof (MPCA alkylates), methods for making mixed polycycloaliphatic MPCA amines and MPCA alkylates thereof, as well as polymeric compositions, such as spray-applied polyurea coating compositions, comprising said mixed amines MPCA and MPCA alkylates thereof are described herein. In one embodiment, the polymeric composition comprises an isocyanate component, and a resin component comprising an organic compound having the following Formula I:

Disclosed herein are mixed polycycloaliphatic amines (MPCA) and alkylates thereof (MPCA alkylates), methods for making mixed polycycloaliphatic MPCA amines and MPCA alkylates thereof, as well as polymeric compositions, such as spray-applied polyurea coating compositions, comprising said mixed MPCA and MPCA alkylates.
The term "polymeric compositions", as used herein, describes compositions comprising 2 or more repeating units. Specific examples of polymeric compositions include, but are not limited to, polyureas, polyurethanes, and urea/urethane hybrid elastomer or coating compositions. Certain polymeric compositions such as polyurea elastomers are rapid cure coatings that have gel times that can be as short as 2-3 seconds. Because of its rapid cure speed, these polyurea coatings can be applied over a broad range of temperatures, are relatively moisture insensitive, and can be used on a wide variety of substrates. In addition to its application benefits, the fast cure speed may allows users and facility owners to return areas to service much faster than with other coatings systems, saving time and money for both the contractors and owners. These benefits, among others, have all led to significant growth in the polyurea industry over the last two decades.
One problem in the industry has been a lack of standardization in terminology; recent attempts to standardize the terminology include more or less arbitrary definitions of "pure polyurea", hybrid "polyurea-polyurethane" and "polyurethane" coatings. The impetus behind the attempted standardization is the effect of cure speed and reactivity on both final properties of the cured system as well as the sensitivity of the system to moisture during the spray application process. These delineations focus on the chemistry of the reaction process (as opposed to the chemistry in the manufacture of the components), where the cure speed and potential moisture sensitivity issues arise.
There are many examples of polyurea compositions in both the patent and scientific literature as well as many commercial systems that uses these coatings. Polyurea coatings can be formed by reacting an isocyanate component with an isocyanate reactive component such as, for example a resin blend. The isocyanate component may be generally comprised of a monomer, polymer, or any variant reaction of isocyanates, quasi-prepolymer, prepolymer, or combinations thereof. The prepolymer or quasi-prepolymer can be made of an amine-terminated polymer resin, a hydroxyl-terminated polymer resin, or combinations thereof. The isocyanate reactive component or resin blend may be generally comprised of amine-terminated polymer resins, amine-terminated curing agents, hydroxyl-terminated polymer resins, hydroxyl-terminated curing agents, and combinations thereof. The term "curing agent" as used herein describes a compound or mixture of compounds that is added to a polymeric composition to promote or control the curing reaction. In certain systems, the term "curing agent" may also describe chain extenders, curatives, or cross-linkers. The resin blend may also include additives or other components that may not necessarily react with the isocyanate contained therein as well as, in certain systems, catalysts.
While the compositions of these polyurea coatings vary, the isocyanate component within the composition may be generally divided into two broad classes: aromatic and aliphatic. The systems defined as aromatic may use an aromatic polyisocyanate, such as 4,4′-methylene bis isocyanto benzene (MDI), and isomers and adducts thereof. The MDI adducts referred to in both the patent and scientific literature include MDI prepolymers, quasi-prepolymers (which have a mixture of prepolymer and high free MDI monomer level and may be prepared in-situ) and mixtures of MDI prepolymers and quasiprepolymers with other MDI monomer streams. MDI adducts are sometimes prepared using an MDI monomer with a high 2,4′-MDI isomer level to reduce the reactivity and increase the pot life. For spray applied applications, the later property may be referred to as gel time and/or tack-free time. The composition may also employ one or more additional aromatic components such as, for example, the following curing agents, diethyl-toluenediamine (DETDA) or dithiomethyl-toluenediamine (ETHACURE® E300).
When the isocyanate component in the composition is aliphatic, the curing agents that are used as the isocyanate reactive component are generally also aliphatic in nature. Examples of aliphatic curing agents include, but are not limited to, dialkyl-methylene bis cyclohexylamine (which are marketed under the brandname CLEAR LINK®) or the aspartic ester products such as Desmophen® from Bayer Material Science LLC. The remaining ingredients within the polymeric composition, which can be added to either or both the isocyanate and resin blend components and can be aromatic or aliphatic in nature, may include any number of additional components. Examples of additional ingredients in the polymeric composition may include for, example, a polyalkylene oxide (i.e., polypropylene oxide) reacted into the polyisocyanate component to provide a quasi-prepolymer and one or more amine-terminated polypropylene oxides of functionality 2.0 or higher, such as for example, the JEFFAMINE® brand of curing agents.
Typical applications for polyurea compositions may include, for example, bedliners for pick-up trucks, pipe or pipeline coatings and linings, bridge coatings, joint fill and caulk, tank coatings and linings to contain chemical and industrial liquids, marine coatings, roof coatings, waste water treatment linings, manhole and sewer linings, as well as a number of additional applications falling under the general category of "protective coating" or liner. The polyurea composition may be applied as sheets, fibers, foams, adhesives, coatings, elastomers, or other methods. Depending upon its end-use and its application, it is desirable that the polyurea composition exhibits at least one of the following properties: corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, ease of application, durability, fast cure time, adherence, high tensile strength, high elongation, moisture insensitivity, flexibility, and combinations thereof. Depending upon the end-use, it is also desirable that the polymeric composition exhibit stability upon exposure to a variety of aggressive environments such as, for example, acids, bases, hydrocarbons, fuels, oxygenates, etc.
One of the more desired properties for polyurea compositions is improved chemical resistance. For example, U.S. Publ. No. 2006/0058491 describes a polyurethane-polyurea polymer having a polyisocyanate component and an isocyanate-reactive component that includes at least one organic compound having a mercaptan functional moiety such as a polysulfide. U.S. Pat. No. 6,797,789 describes phenolic/polyurea co-polymers that contain phenolic resins for improved chemical resistance performance.
There is a recognized need for a new family of curing agents which provide the end-user a tool to specifically tailor a wide-variety of cure-profiles and which generally improve the overall formulating latitude of polymeric coating. Further, there may be a need in the art to provide a family of curing agents that may provide improved chemical resistance.

Mixed polycycloaliphatic amines (MPCA) and MPCA alkylates

Abstract: where R1, R2 and R3 are each independently selected from a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group comprising from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an aryl group comprising from 3 to 12 carbon atoms, an aralkyl group comprising from 3 to 12 carbon atoms and combinations thereof, provided that there is at least one alkyl group within Formula I, and X is a methylene bridged polycycloaliphatic amine (MPCA).


An adjustable suspension apparatus and method. One embodiment provides a substrate mounting apparatus that provides the ability to mount the apparatus on a substrate and move the location of a suspended object in at least a substantial two-dimensional planar area. One embodiment allows the suspended object to be moved vertically, laterally, and tilted or leveled with respect to the substrate by merely sliding one or more components of the apparatus from one place to another on the apparatus, without moving the components of the apparatus mounted on the substrate. One embodiment includes a laterally extending element, a peaked or inverted-peaked structure, and interconnecting supports providing for mounting of the laterally extending element to the substrate and sliding support for laterally slidable members. The laterally extending element provides lateral adjustability, with these three features combined cooperatively providing lateral, vertical, and tilting or leveling adjustability of an object mounted on a substrate.

Hanging objects on or from a vertical substrate, such as a wall for example, has been an every-day human activity for a very long time. Still today, however, this activity commonly requires careful measurement prior to the mounting of the suspension apparatus to the vertical substrate.
For example, when hanging a picture, the person hanging the object commonly seeks to have it located at a relatively precise location on the wall, often with respect to other structures in the room, other wall hangings, etc. Adjusting the position of the object after first suspending on a substrate has long presented substantial and well known problems.
One method of suspending objects from a vertical substrate involves mounting one or more hook-shaped structures to a vertical substrate and then attaching the object directly to the hooks. Often, the operator desires to move the object upwardly, downwardly, to the side, or both. Doing so often requires either or both of removing and re-mounting the hook structure or adjusting the mating suspension structure on the object if possible. Multiple iterations of this procedure are often required to "get it right."
Even if the object can be moved to the side with a given hook mounting technique, the object will often tilt around the hook unacceptably. Further, the movement of the suspended object along the substrate often further damages the substrate.
Other methods allow for adjustment of an object's position based upon a stepped form of leveling. These methods may include a bracket fixed to the object that can be positioned on another bracket attached to a wall having two stepped channels, with the object bracket having 2 peaked portions that engage the stepped channels of the wall bracket. These methods provide for only one object position that is level by the nature of the stepped channels, thus allowing for only a leveling adjustment. Another disadvantage to this method is that each step is a specific adjustment that may not result in a level condition, for example if the steps are larger than a desired leveling adjustment. As a result, the object may not be able to reach an optimal leveled position without remounting the apparatus to the vertical substrate.
Other methods allow for only a lateral adjustment, such as attaching or hanging an object to a laterally sliding rail or other laterally slidable bracket system. One disadvantage of this method is that neither vertical adjustment nor leveling adjustment is supported, as the rail or bracket system allows for only movement in the lateral direction. As a result, it becomes particularly difficult to hang multiple objects in an aligned and evenly spaced manner without removing either the wall-mounted component or the object-mounted component of one or more objects, and subsequently reinstalling the removed components in order to achieve these adjustments. In many cases, this will result in damage to the vertical substrate or objects.
Still other methods allow for only vertical adjustment, such as hooks adjustably threaded to suspending structure secured to the substrate. These structures provide only vertical adjustment, and moving these structures laterally often results in substantial damage to the substrate.

Adjustable suspension apparatus and method of use


When testing or validating a hardware system, a script file representing a portion of the firmware may be used to test the system instead of using the firmware code itself. For example, the script file may be plurality of register commands that perform the same initialization sequence as the firmware. Before connecting the hardware system to firmware drivers, the script file may be used to debug the initialization sequence. Instead of generating this script file manually, a firmware testing tool may be used. While executing the firmware, the tool may record the different register access commands performed during the initialization process. The script file is then generated programmatically using these recorded commands without requiring input from the system designer. The generated script file may then be tested on the hardware system to determine whether the command sequence in the script file forces the hardware system into the desired state.

Designing and fabricating a hardware system typically requires multiple stages of testing. For example, the circuit design of the IC may be first simulated in a completely software-based environment before being fabricated. The simulated hardware is changed as various bugs are identified. Generally, updating simulated hardware is much faster and cheaper than updating a physical hardware system.
In addition to testing and debugging the circuit design, the firmware tasked with initializing and controlling the hardware system may also be tested using a simulator that includes a model of the hardware system. If the firmware causes the simulated model to behave in an unexpected manner, the firmware is changed and re-executed using the simulator. Once the firmware is validated using the simulator, the firmware may be executed on a physical representation of the hardware system—i.e., the IC or a plurality of ICs.

Firmware generated register file for use in hardware validation

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A slide glass with a sample rested thereon is placed on an interior total reflection prism with a matching oil between them. A laser beam is applied through a prism to the sample, and evanescent light is generated on the sample surface. Above the sample, a probe supported at a free end of a cantilever is located, and an objective is provided above the probe. The objective has an angular aperture exceeding a vertical angle of the probe, where the angular aperture indicates an angle from a focal point of the objective to a diameter of entrance pupil. A scattering light detection lens barrel is provided above the objective, and cooperates with the objective to constitute a scattering light detection optical system. The optical system detects scattering light generated when the probe is introduced to the evanescent light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanning probe microscope for obtaining optical information relating to a surface of a sample by using a probe. The present invention relates, for example, to a scanning near-field optical microscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term "scanning probe microscope (SPM)" generically represents an apparatus for detecting an interactive effect caused between a probe and a surface of a sample when the probe is at a distance of 1 .mu.m or less from the surface, while the probe is scanned in the X and Y or X, Y and Z directions, and for mapping the interactive effect in a two-dimensional manner, The term SPM inclusively encompasses, for example, scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs), atomic force microscopes (AFMs), magnetic force microscopes (MFMs), and scanning near-field optical microscopes (SNOMs).
SNOMs have been developed specifically since the second half of the 1980s as optical microscopes capable of achieving a resolution that is higher than a diffractometric limit by detecting an evanescent wave, and such property of the evanescent wave is employed in the principle of measurement so that the evanescent wave is localized in a region dimensionally less (in thickness) than a wavelength, and never propagated in a free space.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,330 issued to Betzig et al. on Dec. 12, 1993, discloses an SNOM. In the SNOM, an evanescent field is generated in the vicinity of a fine aperture in a tip of a probe by introducing a light to the probe which is tapered in the leading end thereof. The evanescent field is brought into contact with a sample, light caused by the contact between the evanescent field and the sample is detected by means of an optical detector which is placed below the sample, and the intensity of transmitted light is mapped in a two-dimensional manner.
In the SNOM, a bar-shaped probe is employed as an optical fiber or glass bar or crystal probe with a tapered tip. An improved bar-shaped probe coated, except in a tip area thereof, with a metal film is now commercially available. The probe is produced by rotating a bar-shaped probe such an optical fiber or glass bar or crystal probe with a tapered tip, while a metal is deposited thereon from behind it at an angle. An apparatus using such a probe provides a lateral resolution higher than that of an apparatus using a probe without a metal coating.
On the other hand, the AFM is the most popular of SPMs as an apparatus for obtaining information of configuration of a sample surface. In the AFM, the information on configuration of a sample is obtained indirectly by detecting displacement of a cantilever which is caused in response to a force acting on a probe by means of an optical displacement sensor, for example, when the probe supported in a distal end of the cantilever is brought to the vicinity of the surface of the sample. One type of AFM is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-130302.
The technique for measuring configuration of a sample by detecting an interactive force between a sample and a probe tip in the AFM is also applied to other SPMs, and is used as means for constantly maintaining a distance between a sample and probe tip, that is, so-called regulation.
N. F. van Hulst et al. suggested a novel SNOM for detecting optical information of a sample, while configuration of the sample is measured according to the AFM measurement technique by using a cantilever of silicon nitride. This novel SNOM is disclosed in Appl. Phys. Lett., 62 (5), p. 461 (1993). In the apparatus, the sample is placed on an internal total reflection prism, a HeNe laser beam is applied from the side of the total reflection prism to the sample, the sample is excited, and an evanescent light field is generated in the vicinity of a surface of the sample. Then, a probe supported in a distal end of the cantilever is inserted to the evanescent light field, the evanescent light field, which comprises a localized wave, is converted to scattering light which comprises a propagating wave. A part of the light propagates through the inside of the probe of silicon nitride which is almost transparent to the HeNe laser beam and out of a back side of the cantilever. The light is collected by a lens located above the cantilever, and applied to a photomultiplier through a pinhole which is provided in a position conjugate with the probe tip in respect to the lens, and an SNOM signal is outputted from the photomultiplier.
While the SNOM signal is detected, the cantilever is measured for displacement thereof by an optical displacement detecting sensor, and a piezoelectric scanner, for example, is feedback-controlled so that the displacement is maintained to a predetermined value. Thus, in a scanning operation, an SNOM measurement is achieved according to scanning and SNOM signals, and an AFM measurement is achieved according to scanning and feedback control signals.
In the SNOM of either Betzig et al. or N. F. van Hulst et al., the probe tip is required to be optically transparent. In addition, to achieve a high lateral resolution for an SNOM image, the probe is desirably coated with metal. However, it is not easy to uniformly mass-produce such a metal-coated probe having an aperture in a tip thereof. In the SNOM expected for a super-resolution, a resolution higher than that achievable by the usual optical microscope is demanded, and the diameter of the aperture in the probe tip is required to be 0.1 .mu.m or less, preferably 0.05 .mu.m or less, in order to achieve such resolution. It is very difficult to produce an aperture of such size with a high reproducibility.
Furthermore, because an amount of light applied to the probe through the aperture is reduced in proportion to the second power of a diameter of the aperture, it is a problem of trade-off that an amount of light detected is reduced, if a diameter of the aperture is reduced for providing a higher lateral resolution of an SNOM image, and the S/N of a detection system is lower.
In the SNOM of N. F. van Hulst et al., since light transmitted through the probe of silicon nitride is detected, it is difficult to detect evanescent light in a range of short wavelengths. For example, a silicon nitride film is significantly reduced in spectral transmittance at a wavelength of 450 nm or less, even if the stoichiometry of silicon and nitrogen is 3:4. For a silicon nitride film for a cantilever, those with a higher content of silicon are generally employed in order to provide a silicon nitride film of low stress. In such silicon-rich silicon nitride film, reduction of the spectral transmittance in the range of short wavelengths is more significant. Therefore, the SNOM measurement using a cantilever of silicon-rich silicon nitride in the range of short wavelengths is almost unachievable, or the S/N is very poor, even if it is achieved.
A novel SNOM without an aperture in a probe tip is proposed. With the SNOM, because it is not required to provide an aperture in a probe tip, such difficulty in producing an aperture and problem of trade-off as described above are avoided. The novel SNOM is also referred to as a scattering mode SNOM, since scattering light propagating outside a probe is detected as SNOM information. Owing to the detecting method, a problem of difficulty in detecting evanescent light in the range of short wavelengths is also avoided.
In Japanese Laid-open Patent 6-137847, a scattering mode SNOM is disclosed. The SNOM converts evanescent light formed on a surface of a sample to propagating light by scattering it with a needle-like probe, detects the propagating or scattering light by using a condenser lens located in a side of the probe and a photoelectric detector, and provides optical information of the sample according to the detected signal.
In the SNOM, because the probe and a scanner for scanning the probe in the X, Y and Z directions are provided above the sample, an objective of an optical microscope cannot be placed above the sample. Thus, an optical microscopic observation must be conducted either in the oblique or lateral direction. In such optical microscopic observation, it is difficult to determine a position of the probe on the sample at a high accuracy. It is also difficult to achieve a variety of general optical microscopic observations, polarization microscopic observation and Nomarski differential interference microscopic observation, for example. Besides, the objective may not be of high magnification and high NA, and it is, therefore, difficult to observe the sample at the high resolution. This is significantly disadvantageous for carrying out an SNOM measurement while simultaneously referring to a result of optical microscopic observation.
At the 42th Seminar of Japan Applied Physics Related Associations (Prepared Papers No. 3, p. 916, March, 1995), Kawata et al. disclosed an apparatus capable of achieving STM and SNOM analyses using a metal probe for the STM. In the apparatus, propagating light is generated when evanescent light produced on a surface of sample is scattered by a tip of the metal probe. The propagating light, thus generated, is detected with a detector located at the side of the probe and sample, while a distance between the sample and the probe is controlled by the STM.
In the apparatus of Kawata et al., because the distance between the sample and probe is controlled by the STM, samples to be observed are limited to those having an electrical conductivity. Such limitation is very disadvantageous, since nonconductive samples are generally much common than conductive ones.


A zoom lens system which includes, in order from an object side, a first lens unit having a negative refractive power; a second lens unit having a positive refractive power; and a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, a space between the lens units is changed to perform magnification change; a lens of the second lens unit closest to an image side has a concave surface which faces the image side; a lens of the third lens unit closest to the object side is a negative lens whose concave surface faces the object side; and during the magnification change, the space between the second lens unit and the third lens unit is larger in a telephoto end than in a wide-angle end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a digital camera has received considerable attention as the next-generation camera instead of a 35 mm film camera. Furthermore, the camera has several categories in a broad range from a multi-functional type for business use to a portable popular type. The present invention especially pays attention to the portable popular type of category, and aims to provide a technology of realizing a thin video camera and a thin digital camera while securing high image qualities.
Thinning of the camera in a depth direction is hampered most by a thickness of an optical system, especially a zoom lens system from the surface closest to an object side to an image pickup surface. In recent years, it has been a mainstream to use a so-called collapsible lens barrel so that the optical system is projected from a camera body during photographing and stored in the camera body during carrying.
To realize the thinning and miniaturization, an image sensor may be miniaturized. However, to obtain the same number of pixels, pixel pitches need to be reduced. In this case, the image sensor has an insufficient sensitivity. This has to be covered by the optical system. When the pixel pitches decrease, the image quality is adversely affected by deterioration of a resolution due to diffraction. This also has to be covered by the optical system. Therefore, a bright optical system having a small F-number is required. Furthermore, to satisfy a demand that a user desires to enjoy a broad range of photographing, a zoom lens system having a large angle of field in a wide-angle end and having a large zoom ratio is demanded.
Examples of a comparatively compact zoom lens system having a zoom ratio which is as high as about threefold and having a large angle of field are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2004-318099, 2004-318106 and 2004-318107.
Each of these zoom lens systems has, in order from an object side, a first lens unit having a negative refractive power, a second lens unit having a positive refractive power and a third lens unit having a positive refractive power. An axial space between lenses constituting the first lens unit is reduced, the first lens unit is constituted of only one negative lens, or an inner focusing system is adopted. In consequence, a zoom lens system having a comparatively compact lens barrel when collapsed is realized.


A system for compiling a machine operable diagnostic system includes a header unit, a component unit, an effects unit, a test unit, and an instantiation unit. The header unit identifies general properties of a system from a generic description in an electronic format which includes at least one category of a plurality of variations. The component unit identifies a plurality of components of a modeled system from the generic description, and adds and separates the plurality of variations to the plurality of components, and each identified component includes at least one type of failure and a probability of the at least one type of failure. The effects unit identifies from the generic description a plurality of observable effects. The test unit identifies a plurality of tests and test outcomes designed to elicit the observable effects. The instantiation unit constructs a procedural instantiation of the machine operable diagnostic system.

The following relates to compilers which construct diagnostic system models which are used to describe, simulate and diagnose complex systems.
Many aspects of design, manufacturing, quality control, operation, and repair of complex systems can be automated if a detailed, machine interpretable model of the system behavior is provided. For example, given a diagnostic model of a printing system, the effect of a component failure can be propagated through the system in simulation and compared to actual observations to diagnosis internal problems. In a printing system, the main observable is the resulting printed page. If the system operates normally, the observed printed page reflects the intended output based on the input. However, if a component fails or is damaged, (e.g., a scratched drum) then the printed page will include an observable difference in the output such as a line streak across the page. Different types of failures result in different kinds of observable output. In the printing system example, a scratch on the drum changes the polarity of the electric field in a narrow region of the drum. The change of polarity causes a spurious sharp-edged dark narrow line on the printed page.
In many systems, determining how the component failed helps determine the source or root cause of the failure, and determining the source of the failure provides opportunities for companies to improve or change the component. Identifying possible system component failures together with knowledge of component costs and/or difficulty of repair can improve servicing of such systems. In the printing system example, normal wear to the drum can also change the polarity, and the change in polarity will typically be to a general surface area. In the printed output the area processed with the changed polarity area on the drum will be viewed with an absence of toner or color over a large region with softer edges. In both the previous examples, the system user is left with printed pages which cannot be used. However, for a supplier of the printing system, knowing whether a drum is scratched due to outside contaminants or from normal wear helps determine an appropriate response. At the very least, a model that identifies a specific component failure to be repaired or replaced provides servicing information. Where there are multiple possible component failures, diagnostic models can provide information to prioritize servicing and/or cost reduction of servicing. In complex systems, the type of failure and the components involved in the failure can provide improved development, manufacturing, supply and/or servicing of such systems.
A generic inference mechanism can use a diagnostic model of a system with components such as a printing system with drums, belts, chargers, etc. to infer diagnostic faults of the system components. The diagnostic model of the system specifies how instances of these components are connected to compute the system response to any change in the properties of a component. For example, an image with specified colors sent to a printing system is processed by pre-determined or possible components of the printing system before outputted to a printed page. The diagnostic model infers from observed output from the system which reflects usage and/or properties of components, diagnostic faults of the system components. For example, problems observed in the printed output such as lines of missing printed color in the image, areas of missing printed color in the image, etc. can infer a scratch or worn area of the drum component.
Constructing diagnostic system models is time consuming and error prone. In many systems, there are many components with slight variations or perhaps many identical components connected according to some sort of regular pattern of variations. For example, a color printing system includes adding variations of components which are separated by the individual colors. A color printer requires one toner developer unit per color separation or each color used. The toner developers are likely similar with slight or no variation except that they are tracked separately and colors can be observed separately or combined in the printed output. A fault in the cyan developer will typically affect the cyan separation in the output but not the red separation. A printed output with the color cyan will show a problem while a printed output with the color red will not show a problem to the operator of the system. However, a printed output which combines both will be observed by the operator of the system as a defect, who may only be able to distinguish that a defect has occurred. A single component may also have effects in multiple areas. In the case of the fuser, there is only one fuser for all colors, and defects in the fuser affect all color separations. A printed output of any color will show a problem to the operator of the system. Other examples of components with variations in a printing system include media input trays which vary in capacity and paper weight handling capabilities or similar finishing units with different positions designed to collate individual reports. With large numbers of components and many possible points of failure, the diagnostic model can be very large and difficult to manage and maintain.

Generic programming for diagnostic models


Apparatus and method for handling pulverulant material in fluidized bed form. The material is fed into the upper part of a two-part container, whose lower part consists of two independent volumes separated from the upper part by a porous wall comprising two horizontal parts at different levels. A pressure gap is created between the two separate volumes, and the evolution of this gap enables clogging to be detected. When the pressure differential exceeds a predetermined value, the porous wall is cleaned.

It is known to transport pulverulent materials in the fluidized state from one point to another. A material is said to be fluidizable if it is in pulverulent form and if its grain size and cohesion are such that blown in air, even at low speed, leads to decohesion of the particles and reduction of internal frictional forces, so that the suspension thus formed behaves like a homogeneous fluid. Such materials are e.g., alumina, cement, plaster, lime, fly ash, calcium fluoride, fillers for rubber and plastic, catalysts, pulverized coal, sulfates, phosphates, metal powders, plastic materials in powder form, food products such as starches, powdered milk, flours.
The following three patents, owned by applicant, are illustrative of the state of the art.
French Patent 2 575 734, entitled "Apparatus for the distribution with a regulated flow rate of a fluidizable pulverulent material", describes an apparatus making it possible to regulate the flow rate of a fluidizable material, namely, alumina.
French Patent 2 575 680, entitled "Fluidized bed apparatus for the continuous separation of two mixed solid phases", described an apparatus making it possible to separate in a product formed by fluidizable fine particles the masses of agglomerated particles unsuitable for fluidization.
French Patent 2 391 136, entitled "Process for the autoregulation of a pneumatic transport", describes a process and an apparatus for the automatic regulation of the flow rate in a fluidized bed transportation system using no mechanical members.
The apparatus according to the invention can apply to any of the aforementioned apparatuses and processes.
The apparatus described in French Patent 2 575 734 comprises (FIG. 1) a storage tank (1) filled with alumina connected to the container (2) by a supply column (3) issuing on the side (7A) of the container (to the left in the drawing), a container (2) having in its lower part (2B), a porous fluidization wall (4) and an intake (5) for fluidization gas at a constant, adjustable pressure, column (6) in its upper part (2A) at the end (7B) opposite to that of the supply column, a balancing and degassing, and an oulet (8) for the fluidized pulverulent material on the face (7B) corresponding to the balancing column and immediately above the porous wall (4).
In the absence of fluidization gas, the pulverulent material stored in the tank (1) drops into the container (2), forming a crumbling slope (10) whose angle with the porous fluidization wall is dependent on the nature and physical state of the pulverulent material.
On supplying the fluidization gas, with the outlet (8) closed, using the pipe (5) and the regulating means (12), through the porous wall (4), the pulverulent material starts to fluidize. It rapidly falls the upper part of the container and then gradually rises in the balancing column to a height h (FIG. 2), which is a function of the fluidization pressure P.sub.f and the average density of the pulverulent material in the balancing column (6). Calculation shows and experience confirms that, when the system is in equilibrium for a given pulverulent material and outlet diameter, the material flow rate is only a function of the pressure of the fluidization gas, which provides an advantageous means for regulating said flow rate.
In reality, the fluidization pressure P.sub.f is balanced by the hydrostatic pressure due to the fluidized bed height h in the balancing column, increased by the pressure drop in the porous wall. The one-to-one relation between the fluidization pressure P.sub.f and the material flow rate consequently presupposes that the pressure drop in the porous wall does not change, i.e., there is no clogging of that wall. This is the case with preferably clean materials having a regular grain size constituting a single fluidizable phase. However, when the material to be distributed forms two solid phases, one of which phases tends to settle under the fluidization conditions, thus one phase when settled on the porous wall increases the pressure drop through the wall. Thus, for a constant fluidization pressure, there is a reduction of the fluidized material height h in the balancing column, as from the flow through the outlet (8).
This problem occurs with fresh alumina, which contains heavy firebrick particles called "sand", which are mixed with the alumina during its calcination and also in the alumina supply system for electrolytic tanks, where alumina used for trapping fluorinated gases emitted by the tanks. This alumina, containing the trapped products, tends to form compact agglomerates, referred to as "scales", which are deposited on the porous wall.

Apparatus and process for separating a material in fluidized bed form and the detection of clogging


High-speed data links between a processor and off-chip DRAM utilizes pulse-amplitude-modulation (PAM) signaling to increase data rate for a given bandwidth and resource budget in SoCs. However, the termination resistor used in the transmission line interface between processor and DRAM consumes large amounts of power during PAM signaling. By adding a biasing source between Ground and the termination resistor, the “floor voltage” that the termination resistor uses as a reference for determining signaling levels may be raised. Raising the floor voltage reduces the amount of voltage across the termination resistor and reduces power consumption accordingly. The biasing source is adjusted to various increments of the maximum amplitude of the PAM signaling. A floor voltage of one-half of the maximum amplitude of PAM signaling produces minimum power consumption in the receiver. Additionally, data inversion pre-coding may be concatenated with the floor voltage adjustment to further maximize power savings of the interface.

1. Field
Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to high-speed data communications interfaces, and more particularly, to pulse-amplitude-modulation-encoded data-communication links.
2. Background
Manufacturers of mobile devices, such as cellular phones, may deploy various electronic components in one or more integrated circuit (IC) devices and/or on one or more circuit boards. The electronic components may include processing devices, storage devices, communications transceivers, display drivers, and the like. In one example, a processing device may be provided on a printed circuit board (PCB) and may communicate with one or more memories on the same PCB and/or on a different PCB. The processor may communicate with the memory devices using a high-speed communications link that supports unidirectional and bidirectional channels for data and control signals.
In a multi-wire interface, the power consumption associated with a communications link can be significant in relation to a power budget available in a mobile wireless device. The power consumed by the communications link may be determined to some extent by one or more of Bus width, driver types used to transmit data on a transmission line, geometry and structure of the transmission line, encoding format, frequency of switching, logic states, which may be defined by voltage and current levels of an encoding scheme, and so on.
Pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) is a particular implementation of line coding techniques. PAM signaling can be used in high-speed data transmission schemes to implement data transfers. PAM line coding encodes message symbols (data symbols) into a pulse having an amplitude corresponding to the encoded data symbol. For example, each data symbol may be encoded into a pulse having a unique amplitude. Data symbols may have a one-to-one correspondence in mapping to pulse amplitudes or transmission symbols. PAM signaling on a channel involves the transmission of pulses with various amplitudes to a receiver on a single physical line.
In the PAM receiver, a termination resistor may be coupled between the transmission line and Ground (Gnd) to receive PAM signaling. The termination resistor value is generally selected to match the characteristic impedance of the transmission line and may be implemented as a fixed-value resistor. In some embodiments, the termination resistor could be implemented with an active device like a transistor. As PAM signaling is applied across the termination resistor, the voltage level across the termination resistor is measured to determine the amplitude of a particular PAM pulse. PAM signaling that causes positive and negative values of pulses across the termination resistor is a further aspect of line coding and may be referred to as bipolar encoding. The amplitude of the PAM pulse is used as the index into a lookup table to decode a data symbol that corresponds to the transmission symbol.
In PAM-4 signaling, four discrete pulse amplitudes makeup the encoded transmission symbols. As PAM-4 signaling is applied to the receiver, significant power is lost in the termination resistor. Currently, high speed data links using PAM-4 use a fixed resistor termination scheme with a unidirectional current flow mechanism. Each PAM-4 pulse produces an amount of current in the receiver proportional to the magnitude of the pulse across the termination resistor.

Data link power reduction technique using bipolar pulse amplitude modulation


A method of operating a wireless communication device to facilitate cell reselection comprises achieving downlink timing synchronization with a cell associated with a wireless access node based on information broadcast by the wireless access node over a synchronization signal, and performing a number of attempts to achieve uplink timing synchronization with the cell, wherein each of the attempts includes transmitting a preamble identifier and waiting to receive a positive acknowledgement. The method further comprises, if the number of attempts to achieve the uplink timing synchronization with the cell exceeds a threshold amount without receiving the positive acknowledgement, applying an offset to cell reselection parameters to generate modified cell reselection parameters, and responsive to the modified cell reselection parameters satisfying cell reselection criteria, performing both intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurements for potential cell reselection and selecting a different cell for potential synchronization based on the intra-frequency and the inter-frequency measurements.

Wireless communication devices transmit and receive information wirelessly via a wireless access node to communicate over a communication network. Typically, the wireless access node is part of a radio access network (RAN) which provides the wireless communication devices with access to further communication networks, systems, and devices. The wireless communication devices utilize "forward link" or "downlink" communication channels to receive voice and/or data transmitted from the wireless access node, and "reverse link" or "uplink" communication channels to transmit information up to the node.
In fourth generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE) communication systems, a wireless communication device is referred to as user equipment (UE), while a wireless access node is called an enhanced node B (eNodeB). In LTE systems, when the UE is first powered on, the initial connectivity for the UE requires it to synchronize with the network as a first step in gaining access to network resources. The eNodeB continuously broadcasts a primary synchronization signal (PSS) for slot synchronization and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) for frame synchronization. The eNodeB also periodically transmits data in the form of a master information block (MIB) and several system information blocks (SIBs). Once the UE synchronizes with the network, it receives and processes the MIB from the eNodeB. After processing the MIB, the UE reads the SIB1 and SIB2 information blocks which carry important information for the UE to select a cell.

Dynamic adjustment of cell reselection parameters for a wireless communication device


Path information is obtained in a bridged network by generating an L2 frame with a special MAC address in the header and a target MAC address embedded in the payload of the frame. The special MAC address in the header of the frame triggers the collection of path information as the frame traverses the bridged network while the target MAC address in the payload of the frame is used to forward the frame in the bridged network. In an embodiment, the destination MAC address of the frame is set to a special MAC address that identifies the frame as a “trace-path” frame, for example, a multicast MAC address.

To provide viable bridged (i.e., Layer 2) network services, it is desirable to be able to test the connectivity between nodes the in network. Two categories of testing functionality that are common in network management involve testing end-to-end connectivity between two nodes (often referred to as a "ping" test) and learning the path that traffic travels to get from one node to another (often referred to as a "traceroute" or "tracepath" test). Well-known "ping" and "traceroute" functionality has been developed for Layer 3 networks (e.g., IP-based networks). Although the ping and traceroute functions work well in IP-based networks, these functions are not exactly transferable to Layer 2 (L2) networks such as Ethernet networks. A solution for providing L2 ping functionality has been implemented and accepted by many L2 network equipment providers. The solution for providing L2 ping functionality involves designating a well-known EtherType (Etype) to indicate that an L2 frame is an operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM) frame. The OAM frame is sent to a target network node by setting the destination MAC address to the MAC address of the target network node. When the destination MAC address of the OAM frame matches the system MAC address of the receiving network node, the network node looks next at the Etype. If the Etype is set to the Etype that is designated for OAM frames, then the frame is pushed to an OAM task in the control plane of the network node, where the frame's specific function (e.g., L2 ping) is identified. Although there is general acceptance on how to test end-to-end connectivity (i.e., L2 ping), this approach has limitations when it comes to learning the path that an L2 frame has traversed to get from the source node to the target node. Specifically, an L2 ping frame is not pushed up to the OAM task until it reaches its target node and therefore there is no opportunity for the frame to collect path information at intermediate nodes.
In view of this, what is needed is a technique for obtaining path information related to a bridged network.

Obtaining path information related to a bridged network


A testing apparatus is presented which evaluates the performance of optical signal transmissions in the 1.3 .mu.m wavelength region, independently or simultaneously with signal transmission. An optical signal is transmitted in the network.fwdarw.user direction in a thermo-optic (TO) switch 11, and the signal is also looped in the direction A of an optical directional coupler 3. An optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) 10 Generates a test beam at 1.55 .mu.m wavelength region, which is reflected by a wavelength selective filter 8 back to the OTDR 10 in the user-network direction. The apparatus is thus able to perform testing of the transmission cable 7 simultaneously with the signal transmission. When an operating problem is to be pinpointed in the system, the optical switch 11 is switched so as to permit the signal from a line terminal LT 1 to transmit in the network.fwdarw.user direction. The signal is attenuated by the same magnitude as the loss budget between the terminals NT 9 and LT1, and is looped back to LT 1, thereby enabling Loop 1 testing at the same signal strength level as in the actual signal transmission.

This invention relates to an apparatus for performing optical loop back and line tests in an optical subscriber transmission system.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the testing set-up specified by the CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee). This figure illustrates the basics of Loop 1 test, in which the signal transmitted from the network-side to the line terminal LT is returned back to the network-side at the user-side of the line terminal LT. In Loop 2 test, the signal transmitted from the network-side to the user-side is looped back at the user-side of the network terminal NT 1 to the network-side. These two tests are concerned with evaluating the network-side of the communication system. Loop C test is concerned with evaluating the user-side of the system, including the network terminal NT 1, by sending the signal sent from the terminal equipment TE1 to NT 1 back to TE1 at the network-side of the network terminal NT 1.
The two conventional methods of testing the optical subscriber transmission system will be explained with reference to FIG. 2.
The first test is concerned with evaluating the performance of the transmission cable 7 between LT and NT. The method of testing, as explained in detail in a report, a first reference, ("Fiber line Support System-AURORA & FITAS", N. Tomira, K. Sato and I. Nakamura, NTT Review, vol. 3, No.1, January, 1991), utilizes a test beam generated by an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) 10, which is passed through a optical directional coupler 3 into a transmission cable 7, and is reflected at a wavelength selection filter 8 (which selectively transmits the optical signal beam of a certain wavelength but reflects the test beam of testing wavelength) back into the OTDR 10. This test is for evaluating the cable 7 in the transmission Region II between the optical directional coupler 3 and the user/network division point. The optical directional coupler 3 (henceforth referred to as the directional coupler 3) is provided with a terminal T1 on the network-side, a terminal T2 on the user-side and a terminal T3 on the OTDR-side. The directional coupler 3 used in this test has a special characteristic of generating an asymmetric coupling ratio: a low value attenuation between T1--T2 and a high value of attenuation between T2--T3. To prevent adversely affecting the performance of the transmission cable 7 by the reflected test beam, reflected at the user/network division point and transmitting through the path T2--T1, the system is provided with a wavelength selection filter 8 (henceforth referred to as the optical filter 8) so as to reflect on the test beam back into OTDR 10.
The second group of tests is concerned with evaluating the performance of the system in Loop 1 and Loop 2. The signal transmitted from network-side is looped back at LT (Loop 1) and at NT (Loop 2). These test are all tests based on electrical looping back.
The conventional testing methodology is acceptable when the loop back point coincides with the user-network interface (T reference point). For example, with reference to FIG. 2, Loop 2 test is able to identify whether a problem exists in the network-side. That is, if no problem is found by Loop 2 test, the performance of the transmission line between LT 1 and T reference point is deemed to be problem-free. However, because there have been cases of NT 9 being owned by the users, there has been a Growing demand in recent years for Loop C test which can evaluate the performance of the user-side of the transmission system including any optical devices, and which can identify problems in the network-side separately from those in the user-side.
The problems with the conventional transmission line test (henceforth referred to as the line test) and the methodology for Loop 1 and Loop 2 tests are summarized in the following.
(1) The line test is only for region II, and it was not possible to test for the regions I and III, and it was time-consuming to identify faults in the system.
(2) Even if the OTDR is applied to testing of the region III, because the conventional tests are designed for measuring only the transmission loss and reflection attenuation, the optical transmission performance (such as optical pulse width, extinction ratios and noises in the receiver) in LT 1 could not be evaluated.
(3) The Loop 2 test is able to perform overall testing of the regions I, II and III, but because it is not able to distinguish these regions, it was not able to pinpoint the fault point.
(4) Because an optical testing device for performing Loop 1 test within LT 1 was not available, it was only possible to conduct simulation testing by an electrically looping the signal without being able to access OS/OR in LT 1, thus forcing evaluation of the circuit performance within LT 1 to be performed manually.

Optical loop back and line test apparatus

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


An image recording apparatus including a controller for determining whether a recording operation is a first or a second recording operation and for determining whether an error that suspends the recording operation is occurring, wherein when the recording operation is the first recording operation and the error is occurring, the occurrence of the error is kept notified until the error is fixed, wherein when the recording operation is the second recording operation and the error is occurring, the occurrence of the error is kept notified for a predetermined time, wherein the recording operation, the performance of which was suspended by the occurrence of the error, is cancelled after the occurrence of the error has been kept notified for the predetermined time, and wherein the suspended recording operation is performed on condition that the error is fixed in a time period during which the occurrence of the error is kept notified.

Technical Field
The following disclosure relates to an image recording apparatus configured to perform a recording operation of an image based on image data and a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions executable by a computer of the image recording apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
When an error that suspends performance of a recording operation occurs in an image recording apparatus, the image recording apparatus notifies a user of the occurrence of the error. The user can notice the occurrence of the error owing to the notification and can deal with the error. In a case where the notification of the error continues for a long time, however, the user may feel uncomfortable. In this respect, there is known a technique of controlling the image recording apparatus to stop notifying the error after the error has been notified for a predetermined time.

Image recording apparatus having an improve usability of the apparatus in the event of an occurrence of an error


An electric shaver comprises a housing (1) formed as a grip, a shaving head (2) comprising at least one cutting unit (11) having an outer cutting member (16) and an inner cutting member which is rotatable relative to the outer cutting member, and drive element for driving the inner cutting member, the shaving head being pivotably connected to the housing. In known shavers the motor is accommodated in the shaving head, resulting in a poor balance and poor contact between the shaving head and the skin. According to the invention the shaver is characterized in that a motor (5) belonging to the drive element is accommodated inside the housing (1), the drive element being adapted to follow the pivotal movements of the shaving head (2) relative to the housing. Preferably, the drive element comprises flexible coupling element, for example a pulley-belt transmission (9, 12, 15) but alternatively the drive element may comprise a universal joint.

Such an electric shaver is known from EP-A-0,176,128. A disadvantage of this known shaver is that the motor is accommodated in the shaving head so that the shaving head is bulky and inconvenient in use. During use the comparatively large weight of the shaving head results not only in a poor balance but also in poor contact between the shaving head and the skin.


If simultaneous replacement main system and standby system of a management module was necessary due to a failure, fault or other problem in a structure containing redundant management modules, then the management information retained in the management module will be lost. A computer system contains an external storage device that is outside the manager module. This external storage device stores the same information as the management information held by the main system management module, and after replacing the management modules the management information held in the external storage device is restored in the management module. A switch is further included between the external storage device and the management module, and controlling this switch from the management module allows the plurality of management modules to exclusively access the external memory device.

An often seen structure in computer systems used nowadays such as blade servers utilizes a plurality of servers controlled by one management module. Moreover, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-148525 discloses a "Redundant System with a Hot Standby Function using Service Processor to Execute Services such as Computer System Power Control and Fault Monitoring."

Computer system and computer system information storage method


A flotation collar includes an exterior cover and a bladder with two cells separated by a baffle. The exterior cover includes circumferential cover zippers which unzip if the bladder is inflated, and bottle access zippers to allow, for example, CO2 bottles to be removed and replaced. Each cell has a manual inflation valve stem for manual inflation, and an automatic inflation valve stem for automatic inflation by the bottles. The baffle forms a vertical separation in a neck portion of the bladder, and a diagonal separation in lower portions of the bladder. The vertical separation allow either cell to fill the neck portion of the bladder if the other cell is deflated, to adequately carry the wearer's head above water, and the diagonal separation allows either cell in the lower portions of the bladder to retain sufficient volume if the other cell is deflated, to provide auto-rotation of the wearer.

The present invention relates to flotation collars and in particular to a flotation collar which ensures auto-rotation of a wearer, either conscious or unconscious, and that the head of the wearer is carried above the water
Military requirements and specifications, and Federal regulations require the presence of life preservers on board ships and on aircraft for use in the event of a water crash, ditching, ejection, or other event over water or in water. Crew members and passengers who may be required to use such life preservers may further desire features to enhance the reliability, operation, and ease of use of life preservers. In some instances, life preservers may be positioned at various locations around a ship, and donned only for drills or actual emergencies. In other cases, for example in military aircraft flown over water, inflatable flotation collars are worn while operating an aircraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,385,581, U.S. Pat. No. 2,210,809, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,760 disclose flotation devices residing about a wearer's neck. The resulting buoyancy carries the wearer face forward in the water in a somewhat vertical position. Swimming while thus positioned, especially for long distances, is difficult and exhausting.
Newer flotation collars extend below the neck, and thus lift more of the wearer's torso. Many of these newer flotation collars also include at least two chambers to provide redundancy. Unfortunately, multiple chambers may result in unstable support if one of the air compartments (or cells) fails. U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,933 describes a flotation collar having two symmetric cells within a fabric shell, either of which cells is able to support a wearer. Unfortunately, the flotation collar described in the '933 patent is somewhat bulky, and may limit the wearer's motion. Such limiting is often undesirable, for example, for a pilot.


The present invention provides a method of forming hybrid and composite filters, which are more durable than that of the prior art. The method of forming a hybrid tubular filter includes wrapping a first layer of fiber, wrapping a filtering material and then wrapping a second layer of fiber. A mandrel is retained in a lathe chuck or the like and an end of fiber is attached to the mandrel. A fiber guide moves parallel to a length of the mandrel according to the direction of a control device. The method of forming a composite tubular filter includes wrapping a first layer of fiber around a mandrel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tubular filters and more specifically to a method of forming hybrid and composite tubular filters, which are less expensive to manufacture than filters fabricated from other materials.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There are numerous water filters in the art. One type of water filter is constructed from a perforated metal tube that is terminated on each end with metal end tubes. A woven wire cloth screen is attached to an inside surface of the perforated metal tube. The manufacture of this water filter is not inexpensive. Further, the woven wire cloth screen may pull away from the inside perimeter of the perforated metal tube.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for a method of forming a hybrid tubular filter, which positively retains a screen and tubular filters, which are more economical to manufacture than that of the prior art.

Method of forming hybrid and composite tubular filters


A system and method for creating multiple test case scenarios from one test case by shuffling the test case instruction order while maintaining relative sub test case instruction order intact is presented. A test case generator generates and provides a test case that includes multiple sub test cases to a test case executor. In turn, the test case executor recursively schedules and dispatches the test case with different shuffled instruction orders to a processor in order to efficiently test the processor. In one embodiment, the test case generator provides multiple test cases to the test case executor. In another embodiment, the test case generator provides test cases to multiple test case executors that, in turn, shuffle the test cases and provide the shuffled test cases to their respective processor.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and method for re-shuffling test case instruction orders for processor design verification and validation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for creating multiple test case scenarios from one test case by shuffling the test case instruction order while maintaining relative sub test case instruction order intact.
2. Description of the Related Art
Processor testing tools exist whose goal is to generate the most stressful test case for a processor. In theory, the generated test case should provide maximum test coverage and should be interesting enough to stress various timing scenarios on the processor. The whole technology of these tools sits in the logic of building these test cases.
Verifying and validating a processor using test cases typically includes three stages, which are 1) test pattern build stage, 2) test pattern execution stage, and 3) validation and verification stage. A challenge found is that a large amount of test cases are usually generated in order to sufficiently test a processor. Unfortunately, this consumes a tremendous amount of upfront time, which leaves little time to test the processor.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method for efficiently testing a processor without spending a large amount of time generating test cases.

System and method for re-shuffling test case instruction orders for processor design verification and validation

International Business Machines Corporation