Rotation of a tray roulette for use in a disk changer is controlled by using disk ID codes, a start code and an end code, each code being produced while a scanner electrode contacts ID electrodes, start electrodes and end electrodes as the tray roulette rotates; specifically, the method generates fixed voltages while the scanner electrode contacts the ID electrodes, the start electrodes and the end electrodes; produces the ID codes, the start code and the end code by converting the fixed voltages received from the ID electrodes, the start electrodes and the end electrodes; and controls the rotation of the tray roulette by using the ID codes in order to rotate and stop the tray roulette at a pickup position.

A conventional optical disk player, which reproduces video and/or audio signals recorded on an optical disk and outputs them through a display and/or a speaker, includes a CDP(Compact Disk Player), an LDP(Laser Disk Player), a CDGP(Compact Disk Graphic Player) and the like. The CDP is typically an apparatus capable of reproducing audio signals only; and both the LDP and the CDGP are apparatus capable of reproducing video as well as audio signals simultaneously. A VCDP(Video Compact Disk Player) is also capable of reproducing both video and audio signals.
These disk players are becoming more and more popular because of their high-performance characteristics, e.g., high S/N ratio, low noise, little distortion and no ghost.
In some applications such as a motion picture film, however, the amount of data, e.g., a whole volume of data of the motion picture film, is too large to be stored on a single disk and the data has to be divided onto several disks. A disk changer can be employed to load a plurality of disks on a tray roulette thereof to reproduce the data off the plurality of disks sequentially or selectively in response to a user's instructions.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a typical tray roulette of the disk changer capable of loading three disks at a time.
The disk changer, as shown, comprises a base 10 to support a tray roulette 11 having three dishes 14 to 16 to cradle disks loaded therein, e.g., three disks 17, 18, 19, one disk in one dish, a spindle 12 around which the tray roulette 11 rotates, a sensor 13 which is attached to the base 10 and identifies each dish and generates a code for each dish.
A unique ID(identification) code is assigned to each of the dishes 14 to 16, e.g., ID1, ID2, ID3, respectively. A target dish may be easily sorted out by using these ID codes, wherein the target dish is the one that holds the disk the user selects among the disks loaded on the tray roulette for reproducing the data recorded thereon. The sensor 13, located at a position on a line making a preset angle counterclockwise with a radial line crossing a pickup position Y, is used in sensing the ID codes, wherein the pickup position is a position where the data on the target dish is reproduced, i.e., where an optical pickup device is located to catch the data read from the target dish.
For the optical pickup device at the pickup position Y to read data from the target dish, the tray roulette revolves around its spindle 12. During the rotation, the sensor 13 checks the ID of the dish passing it by generating pulse signals representing the ID of each dish to be identified.
Turning to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a conventional tray roulette controller.
The tray roulette 11 is revolved around its spindle by a motor driver 22 which drives the motor 23 by providing appropriate power to the motor 23 under the control of a micom 21, wherein the micom is a signal processing device including a microprocessor and basic peripherals such as ROM, RAM, I/O device, etc.
As is shown in FIG. 3, while the tray roulette 11 rotates, the sensor 13 generates a single pulse A for a first dish 14, two pulses B for a second dish 15 and three pulses C for a third dish 16. The micom 21 identifies each dish by counting the number of pulses coming from the sensor 13.
Also shown in FIG. 3 is a start/end pulse signal, which consists of four consecutive pulses between each ID pulse groups A, B and C. The start/end pulse signal is used for controlling the rotation of the tray roulette 11. A set of two pulses out of the four pulses is referred to as a start code S, and another set of the two remaining pulses is called an end code E.
To check the ID of the target dish while the tray roulette rotates clockwise, the micom 21 counts the number of pulses emerging after the start code S.
Upon detection of the end code E that follows an ID code pulses, the tray roulette 11 stops rotating for the target dish to be positioned exactly at the pickup position Y.
For example, the target dish is the dish 15 whose ID is ID2. If two pulses are detected after the detection of the start code S, the ID of the dish currently approaching the pickup position Y is identified as ID2. Immediately after the detection of the end code E following the pulses for the ID2, the rotation of the tray roulette 11 is stopped. The dish whose ID is ID2, i.e., the dish 15, will be positioned for the pickup position Y.
Moreover, for the purpose of easy detection, the pulses are designed such that the pulse width of the start/end pulses and that of the ID pulses are designed to be different from each other. When the tray roulette 11 rotates at its normal speed, the pulse width of the ID pulse is, e.g., 20 msec; that of the start/end pulse is, e.g., 60 msec; and the interval between the ID pulse and the start/end pulse is maintained high, e.g., at 350 msec. Therefore, merely by checking the pulse width, it is possible to determine whether a detected pulse is the start/end pulse or the ID pulse.
Upon receiving a user's instructions to search for a target dish, the micom 21 gets the ID of the target dish, and compares the ID of the target dish with the ID of the dish currently positioned at the pickup position Y. If the result of the comparison is not equal, the micom 21 sends a drive signal to the motor driver 22 to rotate the motor 23. Once the tray roulette 11 rotates, the micom 21 detects at first the start code from the sensor 13, and then receives the ID pulse. While the tray roulette keeps rotating, it detects a falling edge of the first pulse which is the starting point of the end pulse E. Upon detecting the falling edge, it outputs a PWM(Pulse Width Modulation) signal having a predetermined duty ratio for use in reducing the rotation speed of the motor 23 to the motor driver 22, wherein the PWM signal consists of a string of consecutive pulses whose duty ratio varies.
Then, when the micom 21 detects a rising edge of the second pulse, indicating ending of the end pulse E, it outputs a reverse-polarity one-shot pulse to the motor driver 22, thus forcing the tray roulette to stop rotating, wherein the reverse-polarity one-shot pulse is used for stopping the rotation of the motor 23 to generate a torque whose direction is opposite that of the rotation.
To control the tray roulette in accordance with the conventional disk player, however, the micom 21, on the basis of the received codes from the sensor 13, identifies the received codes by counting the number of pulses in the received codes and checking the duty ratio of the pulses, compares the received codes with the code of the target dish inputted by the user, and provides the drive signal and the reverse-polarity one-shot pulse to the motor drive 22, and the like. Therefore, it is rather time consuming to go through the whole processes, which after results in a rather long search time in seeking the target dish.

Method and apparatus for disk roulette control for use in an optical disk changer


A heat transfer assembly for transferring heat from a heat generating device to a circulating fluid, said heat transfer assembly comprising                an evaporator device having at least one microchannel formed therein, in thermally conductive contact with said heat generating device,        a condenser device,        actuating means and manifold means for circulating said fluid between said evaporator device and said condenser device,        wherein said heat transfer assembly further comprises a bubble generator capable to create bubbles in said at least one microchannel at a controlled frequency.

Most cooling systems of electronic devices, such as chips in laptop or desktop computers, use forced convection of air associated with large radiator surfaces to remove the heat dissipated and to decrease the operating temperature of the processor. The clock speed of a processor, its reliability and lifetime are strongly dependent on these temperatures. With high heat flux sources and/or when the volume available is small, forced convection of air is not sufficient to remove large quantities of heat. New processors exhibit heat fluxes higher than 100 W/cm2. For these applications, more efficient cooling systems are based on the circulation of a liquid, as disclosed for example in Phillips et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,709, or in Bonde et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,311. Some cooling systems are based on the vaporization of a cooling liquid inside a microstructure, in close contact with the heat source. Such cooling systems are disclosed for example in Tonkovich et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,536, or in Parish et al. WO 02/080270 A1. A further example of a micro-refrigeration system comprising an evaporator and a condenser based on micro-channel heat exchange elements is disclosed by Beebe et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,635.
This concept for heat removal is based on evaporation of fluids in microchannels. Some authors propose a somewhat arbitrary classification into microchannels, having internal diameters of between 50 μm and 600 μm, and minichannels having diameters of between 600 μm and 3 mm. The inventors consider that these figures do not constitute absolute thresholds, and that according to a functional threshold criterion, a microchannel is a small diameter channel in which the vapor bubbles are confined by the size of the channel and grow primarily in length once their cross-sectional diameter have nearly reached the internal diameter of the channel. Typically, this occurs indeed in channels smaller than about 2–3 mm in size. A microchannel may be round, square, triangular or of any other cross-sectional geometrical shape, and straight in length or have a complex loop geometry. A microchannel element may consist of one, usually meandering microchannel, or of several or many microchannels arranged side by side. The microchannel element may be one integral piece or may be an assembly of individual tubes into one multichannel element. This element may be arranged in thermally conductive contact with the device to be cooled. Alternatively, the microchannel(s) may be integrated directly into the device to be cooled.
Due to the presence of small cavities in the wall of the microchannel(s) and the high wetting capability of the working fluids envisaged in such micro-evaporators, the liquid superheat ΔTsat,i associated with the initiation of boiling is quite high, up to 50° C. Thus, during transient behavior, this temperature overshoot is a penalizing phenomenon that creates thermal stresses and obligates electronic component manufacturers to reduce the performance of the chips in order to reduce this temperature peak that precedes the efficient heat transfer by phase change.
Honda and Wei (Exp. Thermal and Fluid Science, 28, 159–169, 2004) have summarized the challenges that must be solved to use a two-phase micro-heat exchanger for such applications: (i) mitigation of the wall temperature overshoot at boiling incipience, (ii) enhancement of the nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient, (iii) increase of the critical heat flux (CHF). For pool boiling, Honda and Wei noticed that surface enhancement permits to lower the boiling incipience superheat but does not work if subcooled conditions are reached because in this case the liquid floods the microcavities. The most effective way to reduce ΔTsat,i is then to use a liquid completely saturated with a incondensable gas as coolant, but this pool boiling solution is not adaptable in microchannel flows because pure fluid is needed in the loop and because it is also difficult to implement surface treatment without increasing roughness. Until now, no reliable solution has been found to this problem inside small channels.
The present invention proposes a solution to solve these problems, in particular the temperature overshoot at boiling incipience.

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)


A resonant switching converter comprising a first pair of series connected switches comprising a high side switch and a low side switch coupled across a DC input voltage, there being a first switched node between the switches; a second pair of series connected switches comprising a high side switch and a low side switch coupled across a DC bus, there being a second switched node between the switches; a DC bus capacitor coupled across the DC bus; the first and second switched nodes adapted to have a load coupled therebetween; the high side switch of the first pair of switches supplying current to the load from the DC input voltage, the low side switch of the first pair of switches being switched opposite the high side switch of the first pair of switches and providing a re-circulation path to allow bi-directional current flow through the load; the high side switch of the second pair of switches supplying current to the load from the DC bus capacitor, the low side switch of the second pair of switches being switched opposite said high side switch of the second pair of switches and providing a re-circulation path to allow bi-directional current flow through the load; a controller for controlling the switching of each of the switches of the first and second pairs of switches, the controller comprising a phase shift circuit providing a phase shift between the control signals driving the switches of the first and second pairs of switches to shape the waveshape of the output voltage of the converter provided to the load; the controller further comprising a first circuit for providing a first compensation signal for the control signals driving the first pair of switches to compensate for variation of the DC input voltage; and a second circuit for providing a second compensation signal for the control signals driving the second pair of switches to compensate for variation of the DC bus voltage.

The present invention relates to power supply converter circuits, and in particular to converter circuits known as resonant converters, and more particularly to such converters for powering gas discharge lamps, e.g., fluorescent lamps.
Typical existing converter solutions include a power factor correction (PFC) stage for producing a sinusoidal input current and a regulated DC bus voltage, followed by a resonant mode output stage necessary for converting the DC bus voltage to the desired output voltage level. See FIG. 1.
The PFC stage is typically realized with a boost-type converter and requires a high voltage switch, an inductor, a diode, a high voltage DC bus capacitor, and a PFC control circuit. The resonant mode output stage is typically realized with a half-bridge driven resonant load and requires two high voltage switches, a resonant inductor, a resonant capacitor, a DC-blocking capacitor and a ballast control circuit.
In a traditional half-bridge ballast output stage configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the top switch of the half-bridge, M1, and the top of the DC bus capacitor, Cbus, are connected together at a single node. The power factor controller, comprised of Lpfc, Mpfc, Dpfc and a PFC control chip (not shown), must first charge Cbus and then Cbus supplies the half-bridge resonant converter the entire time.


A non-invasive, wearable and portable medical device for evaluation and monitoring the heart condition for patients with congestive heart failure and a CHF management system is provided comprising a wearable textile-based device utilizing physiologic and biometric sensors, a Signal Acquisition Unit, and a monitoring system executing a suite of software algorithms to monitor and evaluate patients with CHF.

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a complex clinical syndrome that results from any structural or functional impairment of the ventricular chamber of the heart that affects the filling or ejection of blood in a cardiac cycle. CHF manifests clinically as fatigue and dyspnea (shortness of breath). This may in turn result in exercise intolerance and fluid retention. Fluid retention leads to pulmonary congestion and/or peripheral edema. Cardiac rhythm abnormalities are very common among CHF patients. Any new abnormalities that arise in a patient with fluid decompensation prolongs hospitalization as well as increases mortality rates.
Within 5 years of a CHF diagnosis, the mortality rate is 50%. The 30 day, 1-year and 5-year fatality rates after CHF related hospitalization were 10.4%, 22% and 42.3% respectively. Post discharge mortality increased from 4.3% to 6.4% between 1993 and 2005. In 2006, the number of deaths with a mention of CHF was as high as it was in 1995. One out of every nine mortalities in the US has CHF mentioned as a cause. CHF related deaths are approximately 7% of all cardiovascular diseases. In the US, CHF related costs exceeded $30 billion in 2013. The average cost per patient for CHF related hospitalization was $23,077. Hospitalization after a CHF diagnosis happens at least once in 83% of the patients and up to four times in 43% of the patients. See C. W. Yancy, M. Jessup, B. Bozkurt, J. Butler, D. E. Casey Jr, M. H. Drazner, et al., "2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines," Journal of the American College of Cardiology, vol. 62, pp. e147-e239, Oct. 15, 2013.
The current diagnostic tests and monitoring methods for CHF are limited in terms of: the need for hospitalization, in-home monitoring, obtrusiveness, and invasiveness. The common evaluation methods are categorized into: laboratory tests, imaging studies, and additional studies based on patient history.
The laboratory tests include: Complete blood count (CBC), which may indicate anemia or infection as potential causes of heart failure, Urinalysis (UA), which may reveal proteinuria, which is associated with cardiovascular disease, Serum electrolyte levels, which may be abnormal owing to causes such as fluid retention or renal dysfunction, Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels, which may indicate decreased renal blood flow, Fasting blood glucose levels, because elevated levels indicate a significantly increased risk for heart failure (diabetic and nondiabetic patients), Liver function tests (LFTs), which may show elevated liver enzyme levels and indicate liver dysfunction due to heart failure, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro-B-type (NT-proBNP) natriuretic peptide levels, which are increased in heart failure; these measurements are closely correlated with the NYHA heart failure classification, Electrocardiogram (ECG) (12-lead), which may reveal arrhythmias, ischemia/infarction, and coronary artery disease as possible causes of heart failure.
The imaging studies include: Chest radiography (posterior-anterior, lateral), which may show pulmonary congestion, an enlarged cardiac silhouette, or other potential causes of the patient's symptoms, 2-D echocardiographic and Doppler flow ultrasonographic studies, which may reveal ventricular dysfunction and/or valvular abnormalities (Pinamonti B, Di Lenarda A, Sinagra G, Camerini F. Restrictive left ventricular filling pattern in dilated cardiomyopathy assessed by Doppler echocardiography: clinical, echocardiographic and hemodynamic correlations and prognostic implications. Heart Muscle Disease Study Group. J Am CollCardiol. 1993 September 22(3):808-15, and Temporelli P L, Scapellato F, Eleuteri E, Imparato A, Giannuzzi P. Doppler echocardiography in advanced systolic heart failure: a noninvasive alternative to Swan-Ganz catheter. Circ Heart Fail. 2010 May 3(3):387-94), Coronary arteriography in patients with a history of exertional angina or suspected ischemic LV (left ventricular) dysfunction, which may reveal coronary artery disease, Maximal exercise testing with/without respiratory gas exchange and/or blood oxygen saturation, which assesses cardiac and pulmonary function with activity, the inability to walk more than short distances, and a decreased peak oxygen consumption reflect more severe disease.
Other additional studies based on the patient history include: Screening for hemochromatosis, in which iron overload affects cardiac function, screening for sleep-disturbed breathing, which affects neurohormonal activation, screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which may result in heart failure from possible direct infectious effects, from disease treatment effects causing CAD, or from other causes, Testing for rheumatologic diseases, amyloidosis, or pheochromocytoma, all of which may cause cardiomyopathy, serum and urine electrophoresis for light-chain disease, Genetic testing for at-risk patients with a first-degree relative who has been diagnosed with a cardiomyopathy leading to heart failure, which may aid in detecting early disease onset and guide treatment (see Murphy R T, Starling R C. Genetics and cardiomyopathy: where are we now?, Cleve Clin J Med. 2005 June 72(6):465-6, 469-70, 472-3 passim, and Lindenfeld J, Albert N M, Boehmer J P, Collins S P, Ezekowitz J A, Givertz M M, et al. HFSA 2010 Comprehensive Heart Failure Practice Guideline. J Card Fail. 2010 June 16(6):e1-194); and holter monitoring, which may reveal arrhythmias or abnormal electrical activity (e.g., in patients with heart failure and a history of MI (Myocardial Infarction) who are being considered for electrophysiological study to document ventricular tachycardia [VT] inducibility). See [Guideline] Dickstein K, Cohen-Solal A, Filippatos G, et al. for the Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute and Chronic Heart Failure 2008 of the European Society of Cardiology. ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure 2008: the Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute and Chronic Heart Failure 2008 of the European Society of Cardiology. Developed in collaboration with the Heart Failure Association of the ESC (HFA) and endorsed by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). Eur Heart J. 2008 October 29(19):2388-442. [Medline], and [Guideline] Lindenfeld J, Albert N M, Boehmer J P, et al, for the Heart Failure Society of America. Executive summary: HFSA 2010 comprehensive heart failure practice guideline. J Card Fail. 2010 June 16(6):e1-194.)
Unobtrusive health monitoring is highly beneficial for maintaining health and independence of high risk and chronic disease patients. Intelligent wearable sensor systems with simple installation, minimal maintenance and user involvement can be the best method for ubiquitous health monitoring.
Wearable sensor systems in form of smart clothing can contribute tremendously to self-defined and autonomous (at home) living with improved quality of life. They are cost effective and provide lightweight simple technical infrastructure. Existing ambulatory recording equipment rely on conventional silver-silver chloride (Ag—AgCl) gel electrodes to perform long term monitoring. Such gel-based electrodes cannot be adapted to clothing as reusable sensors. Plain conductive textile-based electrodes do not form a good quality contact and are susceptible to ambient noise.
Nanostructured textile-based dry sensors and electrodes are better suited for long term non-invasive monitoring and measurement of physiological parameters with low baseline noise, because of their improved sensitivity and ability to perform adequately with the natural moisture level of skin. See Pratyush Rai, Sechang Oh, Prashanth Shyamkumar, Mouli Ramasamy, Robert E. Harbaugh and Vijay K. Varadan, "Nano-Bio-Textile Sensors with Mobile Wireless Platform for Wearable Health Monitoring of Neurological and Cardiovascular Disorders," J. Electrochem. Soc. 2014 volume 161, issue 2, B3116-B3150. These textile-based sensors can be seamlessly integrated into garments of daily use such as vests and brassieres. In combination with state of the art embedded wireless network devices that can communicate with a smart phone, a laptop, or directly to a remote server through the mobile network (GSM, 4G LTE, GPRS) (see US Pre-Grant Pub. No. 2013/0281815 A1), they can function as wearable wireless health diagnostic systems that are more intuitive to use.

Wearable congestive heart failure management system


The invention relates to the interaction between the electronic directory and sites cataloged therein. One embodiment of a directory system includes a first and second conduit, a receiver function and a global catalog. The first conduit runs between the directory and a first site and the second conduit runs between the directory and a second site. The receiver function accepts the first local catalog of directory information from the first site and the second local content catalog of directory information from the second site. The global catalog of directory information includes the first local catalog and the second local catalog.

This invention relates in general to electronic directories and, more specifically, to the interaction between the electronic directory and sites cataloged therein.
There is a desire to provide electronic directories on the Internet to allow searching for information. Conventional directories search the whole Internet by "crawling" from link to link and cataloging the information that is encountered. These crawling software bots or "crawlers" traverse the Internet constantly in an attempt to keep the directory information current. One pass through the Internet can take months.
Many electronic directories have crawlers associated with them that gather information across the Internet. When a crawler encounters information it is passed back to the electronic directory for cataloging. In this way, the crawlers consume tremendous bandwidth from the Internet that would otherwise be available to others.
Information cataloged in electronic directories is often stale. Clicking on the links provided by the directory often reveals many links are broken and/or the information in the catalog no longer accurately describes the state of the referenced web site. More quickly than the changes are uncovered by crawling, the contents of the Internet change. For example, a web page that describes a weekly television show may change weekly, but the crawler will only catalog it at a much slower frequency. Broken links and stale information reduce the usefulness of electronic directories on the Internet.


A nomographic apparatus for providing solutions to a mathematical relationship has a panel and several scales along three axes on a surface of the panel, the scales being arranged and calibrated in a nomographic relationship so that values on a straight line intersecting the scales satisfy the mathematical relationship. Guides are adjacent two selected ones of the scales, the two selected scales being separated by at least one other scale. First and second sliders are movable along the guides and strings extend between the sliders in substantially straight lines. The first and second sliders are positionable so that the strings intersect first and second locations on the selected scales, the locations representing selected numerical values of the mathematical relationship. As a result, a third value of the mathematical relationship is readable adjacent the other of the scales.

A nomogram is a graphic computing device defined as three numeric axes dimensioned and arranged in such a way that an arbitrary straight line will intersect the axes at values that are correlated by some specific mathematical function. In other words, the three axes are the loci of three variables that are correlated by some specific mathematical function so that three points on the lines which simultaneously satisfy the function form a straight line when connected.
Nomograms are capable of reducing the dimensionality of a solution space. Given, for example, two axes representing, respectively, numerators (n) and denominators (d) of a division (n/d), the solution space of the division can be said to be two-dimensional, since each value on each axis combines with each value on the other axis. If the axes are arranged as Cartesian coordinates, the locus of all solutions is the entire area of the coordinate system. The locus of equivalent solutions is a straight line starting at the origin. If the two axes are arranged nomographically, however, the locus of equivalent solutions collapses from a straight line to a point and the locus of all solutions collapses from an area to a line. This line is the third axis of the nomogram.
Solving two determined values for a third dependent value by means of a nomogram consists in drawing a straight line through the two determined values, each on its own axis, and reading the dependent value off the third axis where the straight line intersects. This property has two practical advantages. The first one is that a nomographic solution presents a picture whose interpretation requires far less abstract intelligence than the interpretation of an arithmetic or tabular solution: the numbers and their interdependence are intuitively comprehensible from the picture. The second advantage is that the function solves in all directions with equal ease, no matter which of the three variables is the unknown that depends on the other two.
The two advantages combine to render nomograms particularly useful for finding solutions, not so much for two predetermined values as for functional sets of undetermined values that should conform to certain incidental requirements. Mathematically intractable dependencies of this kind occur often in practical engineering. They must be solved by iterative experimentation. Iterative experimentation by means of a nomogram amounts to shifting a ruler around and assessing the quality of the values at three intersections in terms of the design objective, a fairly straightforward approach that is also expedient on account of the fact that the scales suggest which way the ruler should be moved to improve an unsatisfactory position.


A solar sensor is provided that has microspheres on an interior face of a protective cap or of another radiation-transparent area above a transducer of the sensor. The microspheres scatter the light but at the same time have a much lower damping effect. Preferably, the microspheres are glued to or sealed into the interior face.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar sensor having a transducer and a radiation-transparent area, for example, in a cap, or in a housing, above the transducer.
2. Description of the Background Art
From EP 0 492 352 B1, a sun sensor is known, which as an electro-optical transducer has a light-sensitive surface. The lens of the sensor located above the transducer is thereby a part of the housing, which, like the lens, is made of a light-permeating material, for example, plastic, or glass. The material of the lens is itself dispersive.
DE 100 62 932 A1 also describes a sun sensor. The electroscopic converter is thereby mounted below a concentrating area for the incident sunlight that is integrated in a cover. The concentrating area and the electroscopic converter are arranged such that incident sunlight striking a first angle of incidence area is scattered through the concentration area before it strikes the converter. In this way, the sunlight is scattered in a predetermined angle range, whereas it is not scattered outside this area. By dispersing the sunlight in the first angle range, a reduction of the sunlight striking the transducer is accomplished, thereby avoiding or reducing an inflated signal in the angle range. The concentrating area has an increased surface asperity, compared to the remaining surface of the sensor cover.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Solar sensor having microspheres on the inside face of the protective cap


A multiprocessor system having the capability of increasing the speed of a bus clock while retaining high reliability and fault tolerant performance as well as utilizing the current operating system resources. The multiprocessor system is made up of a plurality of processor modules connected together through a duplicated system bus. The duplicated system bus is divided into a plurality of segments, and these segments are coupled together by at least one bus extender mechanism. The multiprocessor system is also provided with first notification means which is provided between bus control mechanisms for controlling the states of physical buses and the bus extender mechanism, and the bus control mechanisms and the bus extender mechanism are mutually notified of the state of each mechanism through the first notification means.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiprocessor system made up of a plurality of processor modules and, more particularly, to a multiprocessor system having improved fault tolerant performance as a result of duplicating the connection bus between processor modules (i.e., as a result of providing a connection bus with redundancy).
2) Description of the Related Art
The performance of a CPU itself is approaching a limit, and, for this reason, so-called multiprocessor systems have been developed which involve a plurality of processors connected together in order to improve system performance.
Such multiprocessor systems are basically categorized into two types depending on the connection configuration of a plurality of CPUs.
One type is a so-called TCMP (Tightly Coupled Multiprocessor) in which a plurality of processors (CPUs) are tightly coupled together. In such a TCMP, the CPUs share a program and data using the same memory. Communication between processors (CPUs) is effected through the memory.
The other type is a so-called LCMP (Loosely Coupled Multiprocessor) in which a plurality of processors are loosely coupled together. In such an LCMP, each of the processors has its own memory. Communication between the processors is effected by transmitting messages through a communication path, for example.
The TCMP is more efficient because there is less overhead during communication between the processors, but the performance of the memory bus tends to become a bottleneck while increasing the number of processors. In the LCMP, overhead is relatively large because all messages must be transmitted for communication between the processors. However, a larger number of processors compared to the TCMP can be used.
To improve system performance of the LCMP configuration, it is commonly necessary to (1) improve the performance of each processor and (2) increase the number of processors coupled together. In an attempt to meet the demand (1), in addition to improved performance of the CPU, TCMP configuration has been employed in the processor, and a large-scale cache and/or memory has been incorporated into the processor. On the other hand, in an attempt to meet demand (2), since an increase in the number of processors coupled together depends on the performance of the system bus coupled to the processors, the number of signal lines of the bus and the speed of the bus clock have been increased.
In order to improve the performance of each processor as previously mentioned, it is necessary to increase the size of the processor hardware significantly, thereby resulting in an increased physical size of the processor. The increase in the physical size of the processor and the number of processors results in a large overall length of the bus, which in turn makes it very difficult to increase the clock speed for the purpose of improving bus performance.
For these reasons, there is a growing demand for a divided system bus in which a bus extension function is added to cause a plurality of physically compact buses to operate as a single system bus. The present invention is applicable to a multiprocessor system having the LCMP configuration and relates to the control of the status of a divided system bus and to recovery from failures in the divided system bus.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a common multiprocessor system. The multiprocessor system, shown in FIG. 13, is of the LCMP type, and it is made up of a plurality of processor modules 1 (hereinafter occasionally referred to as PM) connected together through a duplicated system bus 2. Each of the PMs 1 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 15, and the detailed configuration thereof will be described later.
The system bus 2 is made up of two bus lines (a main bus line and a spare bus line), that is, physical buses 2A and 2B. The physical buses 2A and 2B are connected to each of the PMs 1 through bus connecting sections 1A and 1B belonging to each PM.
The physical buses 2A and 2B are respectively connected to bus control mechanisms 3A and 3B which control the states of the physical busses. Bus status notification lines 4A and 4B for notifying the respective states (e.g. a HALT state) of the physical buses 2A and 2B are connected between the bus control mechanisms 3A and 3B and the PMs 1 through the bus connecting sections 1A and 1B of each PM. Each of the bus control mechanisms 3A and 3B has a configuration as shown in FIG. 17, and each of the physical buses 2A and 2B has a configuration as shown in FIG. 18. Their detailed configurations will be described later.
With the configuration as set forth above, the states of the physical buses 2A and 2B are controlled by the bus control mechanisms 3A and 3B. For example, when the physical bus 2A becomes unable to perform normal operations while being used as a main bus, the bus control mechanism 3A halts the physical bus 2A. Further, the bus control mechanism 3A notifies all the PMs 1 of the halted state of the physical bus 2A through the bus status notification line 4A.
Upon receipt of the notification of the halted state of the physical bus 2A, each of the PMs 1 switches from the physical bus 2A being used as the main bus to the physical bus 2B serving as the spare bus by a function of an operating system (hereinafter occasionally referred to as OS). Communication between PMs 1 is then carried out through the physical bus 2B.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of an expanded system bus in a multiprocessor system. The multiprocessor system shown in FIG. 14 has the same basic configuration as the multiprocessor system shown in FIG. 13. The reference numerals used in FIG. 13 are used to denote corresponding elements, and the explanation thereof will be omitted here for brevity.
In FIG. 14, adaptors 5A and 5B (hereinafter occasionally referred to as ADPs) are respectively connected to the physical buses 2A and 2B. The ADPs 5A and 5B perform I/O control operations for a hard disk or for a communication line. Each of the ADPs 5A and 5B has a configuration as shown in FIG. 16, and this configuration will be described in detail later.
Bus extender mechanisms 6A and 6B are respectively connected to the physical buses 2A and 2B. Generally, in order to enhance the adaptor function of the multiprocessor system bus, I/O physical buses 8A and 8B, (which are duplicated) respectively having adaptors (ADP) 9A and 9B, are connected to the bus extender mechanisms 6A and 6B through bus extender mechanisms 7A and 7B belonging to the I/O physical buses 8A and 8B.
In other words, as a result of the connection of the system bus 2 with the I/O physical buses 8A and 8B through the bus extender mechanisms 6A, 6B, 7A, and 7B, it becomes possible for each PM 1 to utilize the I/O control function of the adaptors 9A and 9B connected to the I/O physical buses 8A and 8B.
As shown in FIG. 14, the adaptor function for controlling an I/O device is generally expanded by the bus extender mechanisms 6A, 6B, 7A, and 7B. In the configuration shown in FIG. 14, the system bus 2 is expanded for only one system bus (that is, only for the pair of I/O physical buses 8A and 8B). However, the system bus 2 may be expanded to a plurality of pairs of I/O physical buses through the bus extender mechanisms 6A and 6B.
When any failures arise in the expanded system bus, the failures will be overcome in the following manner:
For example, in the.event that the physical bus 2A of the system bus 2 becomes unable to perform normal operations while being used as the main bus, the bus control mechanism 3A halts the physical bus 2A and notifies all the PMs 1 of the halted state of the physical bus 2A through the bus status notification line 4A.
Upon detection of the halted state of the physical bus 2A through the bus status notification line 4A, the OS of each PM 1 switches from the physical bus 2A being used as the main bus to the physical bus 2B serving as the spare bus. Thereafter, the OS requests the operator to replace the currently used bus control module (the bus control mechanism 3A) with a new bus control module. After the failures have been overcome as a result of processing performed by the operator, the physical bus 2A is released from the halted state. The OS then checks the recovery of the bus control module, and resumes use of the physical bus 2A.
On the other hand, when the bus extender mechanism 7A of the expanded I/O physical bus 8A detects abnormality, the operation of the bus extender mechanism 7A comes to a halt after informing the bus extender mechanism 6A of this abnormal state. In this state, when the PM 1 accesses the expanded I/O physical bus 8A, the bus extender mechanism 7A sends a response, representing the halt of the I/O physical bus 8A, back to the PM 1.
Based on the response, the OS of the PM1 recognizes the abnormality of the bus extender mechanism 7A belonging to the I/O physical bus 8A, and switches the communication path to the I/O physical bus 8B. Thereafter, the OS encourages the operator to replace the bus extender mechanism 7A that caused the failure. The halted state of the expanded I/O physical bus 8A itself does not affect the states of the physical buses 2A and 2B, and therefore the physical bus 2B and the normal I/O physical bus 8B are usable. The OS of each PM 1 can check the recovery of the expanded I/O physical bus 8A from the failure by periodically polling the I/O physical bus 8A.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a general processor module (PM). As shown in FIG. 15, each PM 1 comprises an MPU 1C, a local memory ID, and bus connecting sections 1A and 1B. These elements 1A to 1D are connected with each other through internal buses AB (address bus), DB (data bus), and CONTROL (control signal lines).
Since the PM 1 is connected to the physical buses 2A and 2B and the bus status notification lines 4A and 4B, the PM 1 is provided with the two bus connecting sections 1A and 1B. As will be described later with reference to FIG. 18, the physical buses 2A and 2B are respectively comprised of an individual signal line 2a for a bus request signal BRQ (Bus Request) #n! and an individual signal line 2b for a bus grant signal BGR (Bus Grant) #n!, in addition to a tag section (TAG) and a data section (DATA).
FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a general ADP. As shown in FIG. 16, as with the PM 1, the ADPs 5A and 5B are respectively comprised of an MPU 5a, a local memory 5b, a bus connecting section 5c, and a controller 5d for controlling a variety of inputs and outputs. Similarly, these constituent elements 5a to 5d are connected together through the internal buses AB, DB, and CONTROL. The ADPs 5A and 5B are only connected to the physical buses 2A and 2B, respectively. For this reason, each of the ADPs 5A and 5B is provided with only one bus connecting section 5c.
FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a general bus control mechanism. As shown in FIG. 17, the bus control mechanisms 3A and 3B are respectively comprised of an arbiter 3a for controlling the rights to use the physical buses 2A and 2B, a status control section 3b which controls the states of the physical buses 2A and 2B, halts the physical buses 2A and 2B when abnormal states arise in them and informs each of the PMs 1 of the halted state of the physical buses 2A and 2B through the bus status notification lines 4A and 4B, a command execution section 3c which responds to access from the PM1 by executing processing corresponding to a command from the PM 1, and a transceiver section 3d which receives data (a command or the like from each PM 1) from the physical buses 2A and 2B and transmits data to the physical buses 2A and 2B.
FIGS. 17 and 18 show an example of the multiprocessor system comprising PMs 1 in the number of "n", from #1 to #n. The individual signal line 2a is connected between each of the PMs 1 and the arbiter 3a, and the arbiter 3a receives bus request signals BRQ#1 to BRQ#n from the PMs 1. Further, the individual signal line 2b is connected between the arbiter 3a and each of the PMs 1, and bus grant signals BGR#1 to BGR#n are output to the PMs 1.
FIG. 18 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a general physical bus. As shown in FIG. 18, the PMs 1 (#1 to #n) are coupled together through the bi-directional physical buses 2A and 2B each composed of the tag section (TAG) and the data section (DATA). The bus control mechanisms 3A and 3B possess the arbitration functions (the function of the arbiter 3a shown in FIG. 17) for the physical buses 2A and 2B, and control the rights to use the physical buses 2A and 2B.
This example adopts a concentrated arbitration method, and the bus request signal BRQ for requesting the right to use the physical bus 2A (or 2B) is transmitted from each PM 1 to the bus control mechanism 3A (or 3B) through the individual signal line 2a. The bus grant signal BGR for conferring the right to use the physical bus 2A (or 2B) is transmitted from the bus control mechanism 3A to the PM 1 through the individual signal line 2b.
FIG. 19 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of a general system bus. FIG. 19 shows operations of the system bus comprising the issue of a command from the module (PM) #1 to the module (PM) #2 and the subsequent return of a reply from the module #2 to the module #1.
The module #1 issues the bus request signal BRQ #1 for data transmission. The arbiter section (see reference numeral 3a shown in FIG. 17) receives that bus request signal BRQ#1 and provides the module #1 with the bus grant signal BGR #1. In the module #1, a flip-flop BGRMF for retaining a grant signal receives the grant signal BGR #1 and starts bus transmission. Bracketed symbols in FIG. 19 represent the type of each flip-flop.
The module #1 has previously set transmission data in a flip-flop DBFO dedicated for outputting data onto the bus, and transmits the transmission data set in the flip-flop DBFO to the data bus during a period in which the flip-flop BGRMF is receiving the bus grant signal BGR #1.
In the example shown in FIG. 19, three words are transmitted. In the tag section TAG shown in FIG. 19, "F" represents First (the first word), "M" represents Middle (a middle word), and "L" represents Last (the last word). Further, in the data section DATA, "C" represents Command (a command), "A" represents Address (an address), and "D" represents Data (data).
The transmission data output onto the bus are received by all the modules connected to the multiprocessor system. Each of the modules checks a designation address included in the command, and fetches only the command addressed to itself. In FIG. 19, the flip-flop DBFI of the module #2 dedicated for inputting data from the bus receives the data transmitted from the module #1, and the received data are fed to the inside of the module #2.
Upon receipt of the command, the module #2 analyzes and executes that command, and then generates a reply comprising response data. That reply data are set in the flip-flop DBFO dedicated for outputting data to the data bus, and the module #2 issues a bus grant signal BGR #2 to the arbiter section. When the arbiter section issues the bus grant signal BGR #2 to the module #2, the module #2 sends the reply data set in the flip-flop DBFO to the data bus during a period in which the flip-flop BGRMF is receiving the grant signal BGR #2.
In the tag section TAG shown in FIG. 19, "S" represents Single (only one word). Further, "R" in the data section DATA represents Reply (a reply). The reply data on the bus are also received by all the modules. However, only the module #1 receives the reply data by the address included in the reply data. When the flip-flop DBFI of the module #1 receives the reply data, one data transmission of the module #1 is completed.
However, in the previously mentioned general multiprocessor system, the PMs 1 are connected to the same physical buses 2A and 2B (the system bus 2), and hence all the PMs 1 always receive the same bus status recognition.
As previously mentioned, in order to increase the speed of the system bus clock of the multiprocessor system, it is necessary to reduce the lengths of the physical buses 2A and 2B. As a result of this, it becomes necessary to divide and combine the physical buses 2A and 2B, that is, it is necessary to extend and connect a plurality of compact multiprocessor systems through the bus extender mechanism.
FIG. 14 shows an example of a conventional expanded system bus. The example shown in FIG. 14 includes an adaptor function which is added for extension through the bus extender mechanisms 6A and 6B. This example is different from such a general multiprocessor system as shown in FIG. 13 in which the system bus 2 is divided, that is, the multiprocessor system itself is connected to another multiprocessor system for extension.
When the system bus 2 is divided (that is, when the system bus 2 is connected to another multiprocessor system through the bus extender mechanism for extension), the system employing such a divided system bus is fundamentally different from the system shown in FIG. 13 in that the PMs are connected to different physical buses, thereby resulting in an inconsistency in the bus status recognition. Such an inconsistency in the recognition not only complicates processing but also makes it impossible to ensure normal operation of the system.
In other words, the operating systems of the PMs recognize the resources differently, and hence it becomes necessary to carry out complicated control (control of resources) by retaining a plurality of control tables. Moreover, the operating systems are resources which have already been constructed, and they are not constructed based on the assumption that inconsistencies will arise in the states of the system buses. Therefore, it is necessary to fundamentally reconstruct the operating system in order to change control (control of resources) associated with the division of the system bus. In this way, the change of the system bus significantly affects the operating system.

Multiprocessor system connected by a duplicated system bus having a bus status notification line


An electronic device includes a base substrate with a mica substrate thereon. A top face of the mica substrate has a surface area smaller than a surface area of a top face of the base substrate. An active battery layer is on the mica substrate and has a top face with a surface area smaller than a surface area of a top face of the mica substrate. An adhesive layer is over the active battery layer, mica substrate, and base substrate. An aluminum film layer is over the adhesive layer, and an insulating polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layer is over the aluminum film layer. A battery pad is on the mica substrate adjacent the active battery layer, and a conductive via extends to the battery pad. A conductive pad is connected to the conductive via. The adhesive, aluminum film, and PET have a hole defined therein exposing the conductive pad.

Portable electronic devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and cameras are popular with consumers. These electronic devices are powered by batteries, or power units. Due to the portable nature of these electronic devices, they are repeatedly exposed to environmental contaminants more often than electronic devices such as televisions, for example. This repeated exposure of the electronic device to environmental contaminants brings about a commercial desire for the various internal components, such as the power units, to be protected against such contaminants. Some such power units are flexible thin-film micro-batteries for example.
Such flexible thin-film micro-batteries include, in a stacked arrangement, a mica substrate, an active battery layer on the mica substrate, a polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) layer coating over the active battery layer, and a mica cover over the PVDC layer. While the PVDC and mica cover provide a degree of protection from environmental contaminants, oxygen and water may over time slowly be able to diffuse through the layers of the stacked arrangement and degrade the active battery layer.
Given that degradation of the active battery layer is commercially undesirable, new designs for power units that are more resistant to environmental contaminants, as well as the processes used to produce such power units, are desirable.

Electronic device including interposer substrate carrying mica substrate with battery layer environmentally sealed thereto


A device for filling a container with a plurality of objects standing substantially upright on a floor portion of the container includes: a depositing cavity temporarily created and maintained in the container for receiving one of the plurality of objects; a first moveable planar restraining member having a first anterior surface facing the depositing cavity and a first posterior surface, the first posterior surface restraining a previously deposited object against movement; and a second moveable planar restraining member having a second anterior surface facing the depositing cavity and a second posterior surface. The first and second restraining members are operationally arranged to be removably insertable into and between the opposing side walls of the container. After one of the plurality of objects is deposited into the depositing cavity, the first restraining member is moveable from a position on a first side of one of the plurality of objects, and the second restraining member is moveable away from the first restraining member to create a new depositing cavity.

Many technologies exist for the packing of flexible packages, particularly bags or pouches, into containers. Some machines place or drop the packages flat in the container, others position the packages vertically within the container. Most of the machines available to place bags or pouches in a packing case with a vertical orientation tend to be large, expensive and capable of high speed operation.
The trend in many areas of manufacturing including the food industry is for more frequent product changeovers with shorter production runs. A concurrent trend is to reduce the number of packages in a shipping container. There is also constant economic pressure to reduce the cost, size and complexity of equipment, improve the flexibility of equipment and simplify processes.
A particular application of wide interest is the insertion of flexible bags or pouches, in one or more rows in a case or carton, where the bags or pouches are standing on end so that the top of every bag or pouch is visible from above. An ability to provide such a packing configuration, at least at moderate speed applications of up to about 140 cycles per minute is desired.
There have been numerous designs for machines to insert bags or pouches into cases such as those disclosed in US patent document Nos. U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,050 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,285 (by Odenthal). These overlap the bags so that as one bag is loaded vertically into a case, the top of the bag is prevented from tipping forward into the empty section of the case by the bottom of the next bag. However, the mechanism to do this includes insertion of the end of a conveyor mechanism into the case which, when withdrawn from the case after filling, leaves an unused void in the case that compromises the volume efficiency of the operation, otherwise known as 'slack fill'.
A variant of this design is disclosed in German patent document No. DE 19917657, which fills the case in a different direction and uses different methods to prepare the group of bags to be loaded to the case, but which has a similar problem of slack fill.
A fast-operating machine which avoids the problem of slack fill due to a withdrawn conveyor is disclosed by Ferris in US patent document No. U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,105. The machine relies on angling of the cases and utilising gravity to encourage the bags to sit closely together, and thereby not fall into the unloaded portion area of the case. However, it is a considerably more complex, and hence expensive, machine. The machine further relies on gravity to compress the bags within the carton.
The issue of slack fill has been recognized and addressed in various patents, for example as disclosed by Benner, Dunhoft and Smith in US patent document No. U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,790 which specifically addresses the compression of a collated group of pouches to minimize the space required in the container into which the pouches are finally inserted. This mechanism is an example of the capable but rather complex, and hence expensive, designs that have been offered for higher speed operation.
The design disclosed by Saxrud and Hansen in US patent document No. U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,281 is one example of the method of creating a collated group of bags outside the carton and then inserting the group of bags into an erected carton or else erecting the carton around the group of bags. A variety of machines that collate the bags, condition them in appropriate ways and then place them inside a carton are offered by various of manufacturers. Although very effective, they are too complex and hence expensive to be cost effective for most low speed bag production processes.
A much simpler design for larger bags that also uses a tilted case to encourage bags to remain in the orientation in which they are placed is disclosed by Adamek in German patent document No. DE 19742017. It is relatively uncomplicated, but also relies on a bag 'flying'from the end of a chute into a case and stopping in the required position in the required orientation in a consistent manner. Furthermore, subsequent bags must then find a stable position on top of the bags already loaded into the case, and sufficient clearance must be left within the case for the last bag to enter reliably. Bags filled with liquid may flex and thereby conform to the interior of the case, but bags containing solid materials are much less likely to do so solely under the influence of their own weight.
A slightly different approach is disclosed by Ryan in US patent document No. U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,808, in which bags are individually conveyed into a tilted case on a retractable conveyor. This has the same problem of slack fill, due to the space required in the case to accommodate the conveyor, as per Odenthal. It also requires the conveyor to be inserted and removed for each bag which will tend to slow down the process.
A different approach is disclosed by Didier in European patent document No. EP 1186537, where pouches are conveyed, without grouping, to special containers divided into a series of compartments. One pouch is dropped into each compartment with a subsequent process grasping the top of each of the individual pouches of a group prior to lifting the pouches out of the special container and placing them into a case. The plurality of special containers and the associated machinery costs can not usually be justified for most low speed applications.
Another approach, disclosed by Heliot in US patent document No. U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,184 is to guide individual bags into a cavity defined within a specialised case by the end, bottom and sides of said case and by the previously loaded bag restrained at its top by part of the mechanism and at the bottom by a feature of the special case. After the bag has fallen into the cavity, it is pushed along the inner surface of the case to be similarly restrained before the next bag falls into position. A plate mounted on an angled roller prevents the previously loaded bags from falling into the unused part of the case. This approach requires a special feature on the bottom of the case to restrain the lower end of the bag and also relies on a pusher to displace the bag beyond both the bottom feature and the top first restraining member of the mechanism. The pusher design requires that the bag be quite stiff and the first bag loaded will be displaced the entire length of the case, following bags must move correspondingly shorter distances within the case. Such systems are not suitable for many applications where the cost of providing a specialised case would be prohibitive, and the excessive sliding of the deposited items along the base of said container could not be reliably sustained due to the natural physical variations in said items.
To summarise the drawbacks of the prior art, each of the above described systems possesses one or more of the following features:                A conveyor extending into the case which reduces the space available to be filled with bags (Odenthal, Ryan and DE 19917657).        Bags or pouches are transferred into a tilted case individually (Ryan, Adamek) and gravity is relied upon to keep the bags or pouches in place. The bags must form a stable stack within the case yet the case must have sufficient width for the bags to enter easily.        A group of pouches is transferred into a case in a single operation, which requires considerable machine complexity (Saxrud and Hansen). Many other machines are available to load cases but they tend to be complex and expensive.        The product is placed into separate cavities in special containers to define their position prior to transfer to a case (Didier).        The product is guided into a cavity within a case where one side of the cavity is defined by the end of the case and must then be displaced within the case to provide room for the next bag or pouch (Heliot). The case requires special construction details for this process to work.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for automated packing of cases or cartons with vertically oriented bags or pouches, which overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art.

Device for filling a container with a plurality of objects


An exemplary method includes a user computing device 1) determining current states, such as current integration states and/or current operational states, of software applications included in a suite of software applications relative to the user computing device, 2) identifying, based on the current states, access options for the software applications included in the suite of software applications, and 3) providing, by the user computing device for display, a graphical user interface that includes the access options configured to be selected by a user of the user computing device to access the software applications included in the suite of software applications. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

Advances in computing technologies have provided users of computing devices with access to a variety of computing tools. To illustrate, increased capabilities of computing devices such as mobile smart phones and tablet computers have allowed users of the devices to access and use a variety of software applications that have been developed for the computing devices. As such devices have become popular, an increased number of software applications have been developed and made available to users of the devices.
Such advances in computing technologies have challenged designers of user interfaces for computing devices, especially mobile computing devices such as mobile smart phones and tablet computers. For example, a common challenge has been to design and implement user interfaces that provide an appropriate balance of information, usability, intuitiveness, control, and functionality that promotes a quality user experience. While user interface technologies have made significant advances in this regard, there remains room for improvement. For instance, there remains room to improve the intuitiveness, convenience, and/or usability of user interfaces that are designed to be used by a user of a computing device to control, access, or otherwise manage software applications running and/or capable of running on the computing device.

Application shortcut user interface systems and methods


The application discloses a device (10) to retrofit into the cabinet (11) of newspaper vending machine racks to prevent the removal of more than one copy of the newspaper for each vend or door opening of the cabinet (11). The single vend device (10) consists of a front panel (12) with a T-slot (14). The arms (14a) of the T-slot (14) are normally closed off with a pivoted closure plate (16). Consumer access to the newspapers is provided through the leg of the T-slot (14b), but the newspaper must be slid through the gap between the closure plate (16) and the front panel (12). The thickness of the gap is adjustable to selectively allow for the variation in thickness between various editions of the newspaper. The closure plate (16) is spring loaded to be biased to the closed position. Following removal of the paper, the closure of the plate (16) and a locking pin (32) prevents the plate (16) from re-opening. The locking pin ( 32) is disarmed upon closure of the cabinet (11) door (25a).

Newspaper vending machines are an increasingly popular way of distributing newspapers throughout the country. Frequently, newspaper vending machines act on a honor system. That is, a consumer will insert the required amount of coinage into the coin mechanism of the newspaper vending machine which will then allow the consumer access to the newspaper containing cabinet of the vending machine through a manually-operated door. The door, being unlocked upon the insertion of the required amount of coinage, usually allows the consumer access to all of the newspapers. The dishonest consumer will take more than one edition of the newspaper. This is especially true when publishers, especially those in highly competitive metropolitan markets, offer a "game card," coupons, promotional inserts and the like with each edition. The dishonest consumer may take all of the editions, or at least more than the one purchased edition, in order to gain access to the game cards or coupons and increase his chances of winning a prize.
Thus, what is needed in the industry is a simple device to deter the theft of more than one newspaper with the device being capable of being retrofitted into the cabinets of existing newspaper vending machines.
The prior art discloses a number of devices designed to prevent the withdrawal of more than a single addition of a newspaper from the cabinet of a newspaper vending machine.
One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,074 (Owens 1985). Owens discloses a vending machine for newspapers designed to prevent the theft of periodicals by dishonest customers. The device of Owens can be installed in existing vending cabinets. Owens device is capable of dispensing newspapers of widely varying thickness to the use of an elliptical newspaper release roller (39). This roller depresses and buckles the top most paper of the stack to effect its release. However, retrofitting the Owens device into an existing cabinet (such as assignee's popular "K-80") would require extensive machining of the cabinet and replacing the existing elevator mechanism of the "K-80."
U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,896 (Harold 1987) discloses another machine for vending newspapers of varying thicknesses. The Harold device provides for a normally closed barrier member self-adjusting to the thickness of various newspapers and controlled by ratchet mechanisms such that upon withdrawal of the newspaper, the blocking mechanism is reset to lock in its closed position. The Harold device, however, is not retrofittable into an existing newspaper cabinet such as the K-80, and is mechanically rather complicated.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,503 (Emmel 1975) discloses a newspaper vending machine to prevent the theft of newspapers utilizing a gate mounted so as to oscillate between a closed and open position, the open position allowing the removal of the top paper of the newspaper stack. The Emmel device is not easily retrofittable into existing newspaper cabinets such as the K-80.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,733 (Knickerbocker 1973) provides for a newspaper periodical dispensing machine. The Knickerbocker device allows for the displayed paper in the window of the cabinet to be secure until the last newspaper is withdrawn from the storage compartment. When the last newspaper is withdrawn from the storage cabinet, the Knickerbocker device unlatches the display case access door to allow the consumer to remove the display copy of the newspaper from the display case. The Knickerbocker device provides for dispensing of the top newspaper in the storage compartment when the access door is swung open. When the top newspaper is removed from the cabinet, all remaining newspapers are locked in a storage compartment. The Knickerbocker device, however, is not easily retrofittable into existing newspaper cabinets, such as the K-80, without extensive modifications thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,236 (Riedle 1991) discloses an anti-theft device for use in a coin operated dispensing machine which is designed to be retrofittable into the K-80 cabinet manufactured by assignee of the present invention. The Riedle apparatus includes a cover panel assembly (17), cover panel mounting bracket (18), and a reset mounting tab (19).
However, the use of the Riedle device is needlessly complex, especially in the manner of retrofitting which requires the use of tools and extensive machining to modify the present cabinet of the K-80 by mounting, such as with bolts or the like, a reset mounting bracket to the inside door of the K-80, as well as mounting a cover panel mounting bracket (18) (see Riedle, FIG. 5) before the K-80 can accommodate the cover panel assembly.
Applicant's device solves a need for a less complex device by providing for a device to retrofit into the cabinets of newspaper vending machine racks to prevent the removal of more than one copy of the newspaper for each vend or door opening of the cabinet. The single vend device consists of a front panel with a T- or Y-shaped slot. The generally horizontal arms of the slot are normally closed off with a pivoted closure plate. Consumer access to the newspapers is provided through the vertical leg of the slot, but the newspaper must be slid horizontally through the discharge gap between the closure plate and the front panel. The thickness of the gap is adjustable to selectively allow for the variation in thickness between various editions of the newspaper. The closure plate is spring loaded to be biased to the closed position. Following removal of the paper and the closure of the plate, a locking pin prevents the plate from pivoting to a release position until the cabinet door is closed. The locking pin is disarmed upon closure of the cabinet door.
It is a purpose of this invention to provide for a single vend device for easily (without tools) retrofitting newspaper vending machines that will help deter the theft of more than one issue of the newspaper by providing an adjustable width closure plate and an access slot, with resettable means for locking the normally biased closure plate in a locked position following the removal of single edition through the access slot.

Single vend device for a newspaper vending machine


A flexible clothes hanger carrier which serves to allow someone to carry a number of clothes hangers comfortably even if these hangers are heavily weighted with clothes, and further allows a plurality of hangers to be simultaneously hung on a vehicular hook member. The flexible clothes hanger carrier is composed of an axially crumpled flaccidly flexible tube of plastic sheeting having mutually opposing first and second open ends. In a preferred method of production, the flaccidly flexible tube is provided from a plastic bag in which the closed end thereof has been cut away to thereby form a second open end opposite the bag mouth (which inherently supplies the first open end). The flaccidly flexible tube is then crumpled into a flexible loop which provides the flexible clothes hanger carrier. The hook portion of clothes hangers are interfaced with the flexible loop constituting the flexible clothes hanger carrier by being hooked thereonto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clothes hangers, and more particularly to a carrier which interfaces with the hook portion of clothes hangers. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a hanger carrier composed of a crumpled plastic sheeting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Clothes hangers are particularly well suited to carrying clothes, but the hook portion thereof can be bothersome to carry at times. For example, metal clothes hangers utilize wire in their construction so that when someone holds the hook portion thereof in his or her hand, the hook portion tends to discomfortingly bite into the fingers or palm. This situation is exacerbated when multiple hangers are held and/or each hanger has relatively weighty clothes hung thereupon.
Another problem that arises with clothes hangers is the difficulty to simultaneously attach many clothes hangers to the vehicular hook member of an automotive passenger compartment. Devices are known which serve to aid the placement of multiple hangers onto a vehicular hook member, but these are generally costly and not disposable.
Accordingly, what is needed is a simple, inexpensive and disposable clothes hanger carrier which serves to allow someone to carry a number of clothes hangers comfortably even if they support heavy clothes, and further allows a plurality of hangers to be simultaneously hung on a vehicular hook member.


A method and apparatus for protecting access to sensitive information stored in vulnerable storage areas (e.g., public memory, registers, cache) of a microprocessor. A microprocessor having a reset port to receive external reset commands may have a reset diversion circuit that may be selectively enabled. The microprocessor may operate in an open mode or a secure mode, indicating the absence or the potential presence, respectively, of sensitive information in the vulnerable storage areas. In open mode, the reset diversion circuit may be disabled such that external reset requests triggers a hardware reset. In secure mode, sensitive information may be recorded on vulnerable storage areas. The reset diversion circuit may be enabled to divert external reset requests to an interrupt which may trigger execution of a software code. The software code, when executed, may perform a secured system clean-up routine to erase the vulnerable storage areas prior to reset.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of computer security.
2. Description of Related Art
Reset is a mechanism used in computing to bring a computing device to an initial state or normal condition in a controlled manner. This may be desirable for a number of reasons. For example, the state of the computing device may become unknown, the computing device may become unresponsive, or it may be an expedient way of returning a processor to a predetermined state.
As a result of a reset, system registers may be restored to a predetermined (e.g., default) condition. System clocks (e.g., local oscillators) may also be reinitialized.
Resets may be activated externally, for example, by user input or through an attached device. A computing device may, for example, have a reset pin or reset button by which an external reset may be activated.
A reset may also be initiated by an internal mechanism. The computing device may support a reset command through software. In the event of a system crash or hang, a watchdog timer may expire, triggering a reset.

Method and apparatus for hardware reset protection


In general, techniques are described for automatically discovering services in computer networks. A service node comprising a control unit and an interface may implement the techniques. The control unit determines services provided by the service node and generates a routing protocol message that includes service discovery information related to the services. The interface transmits the routing protocol message to enable network devices of the network to discover the services provided by the service node based on the service discovery information. The interface then receives traffic via a path established based on the service discovery information included in the routing protocol message and configured so that the service node applies at least one of the services to the traffic received via the path. The control unit then applies the one or more services to the traffic received via the path.

Recently, network devices that form computer networks have been adapted to enable a form of networking referred to as "software-defined networking." In software-defined networking, the forwarding plane of a network switch, router or other network device is made available via a communication protocol such that this forwarding plane may be configured via the communication protocol rather than a routing protocol. In many implementations, the network devices may execute software to enable communications with other network devices in the network via this communication protocol so as to configure paths through the network. One example of a communication protocol that facilitates software-defined networking is the so-called "OpenFlow" communication protocol. OpenFlow is an open standard that allows users (e.g., researchers) to install software on the routers to run experimental or proprietary protocols to control packet routing or switching within a network.
The software controlled path setup may then orchestrate the configuration and deployment of paths on an as-needed basis to suit a particular service. To illustrate, orchestrating software that controls path setup may be manually configured with information identifying a network address translation (NAT) service operated by a first network device (service node). A second network device that does not provide a NAT service may communicate with the orchestrating software, learn of this NAT service and subscribe to this service, whereupon the orchestrating software may configure a path through the network from the second network device to the first network device. The second network device may then push traffic requiring NAT service through the path, where the first network device may apply the NAT traffic. When establishing the path, the orchestrating software may configure one or more filters on the second network device controlling admission of network traffic into the path. These paths having been engineered for a particular service, i.e., NAT service in this example, having filters controlling admission to the path may be referred to as "service engineered paths" (or "SEPs"). In this respect, the orchestrating software may define these SEPs to suit a particular service in terms of defining filters tailored for that service.
While SEPs may provide for service sharing and enable other network devices to forward traffic via a path that meets the needs of the service application (e.g., in terms of quality of service (QoS) provided, bandwidth, etc.), often network administrations must statically configure or otherwise specify the location of the service and various parameters associated with the service. Thus, when deploying new services within a network, the network administrator must update this database of service related information so that the orchestrating software may configure SEPs through the network directing traffic to these services. Manual entry of this data is both time consuming and prone to human error. Moreover, network administrators may not update this data as various service parameters change over time potentially resulting in inefficient utilization of the service.

Automated service discovery in computer networks


A capacitive sensing apparatus for a vehicle seat includes a deflectable dielectric mat and a flexible printed circuit that wraps around the major surfaces of the dielectric mat to define upper and lower conductor strips that overlap in a direction perpendicular to the dielectric mat. Overlapping regions of the conductor strips define an array of capacitive load cells distributed over the seating surface. A connector stub depending from the flexible printed circuit couples the conductor strips to an external circuit that measures the capacitance of the various load cells to determine occupant weight and weight distribution.

Seat occupant detection systems are commonly in connection with air bags and other pyrotechnically deployed restraints as a means of judging whether, and how forcefully, to deploy the restraint. It has been shown that the seated weight of the occupant in combination with the weight distribution over the seating area can be used to reliably classify the occupant for purposes of restraint deployment. For example, normal energy deployment can be enabled for adults, reduced energy deployment can be enabled for a seated child, and deployment can be disabled entirely for a child seat or infant seat.
Of the various ways that have been devised for determining the seated weight and weight distribution of an occupant, perhaps the most simple and cost-effective involves installing a multi-sensor pad in or under the bottom foam cushion of the seat. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,327 to Schousek and U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,375 to Cashler disclose the use of sensor pads comprising a plurality of variable resistance pressure sensors. A somewhat different approach is found in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,871 to Gray et al., where the sensor pad comprises a plurality of fluid-filled chambers corresponding to different areas of the seat and sensors for detecting the fluid pressure in each of the chambers. Finally, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,927,678 to Fultz et al. discloses a capacitive sensor pad defined by a fluid-filled seat bladder with upper and lower metalized films adjoining the major surfaces of the bladder; the bladder and its fluid form a dielectric that locally varies in thickness as a function of the force applied to the seat by an occupant. In Fultz et al., force distribution on the seat is sensed by dividing the upper (or lower) metalized film into a plurality of individual metalized segments to define an array of capacitive sensing elements with respect to the lower (or upper) metalized film.
While the capacitive sensing approach described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,927,678 to Fultz et al. can be very cost effective to manufacture and install, the number of sensing elements is limited by electrical connection costs. As a result, the overall resolution of the sensor pad is similarly limited and the development effort to determine optimal sensor placement for a given seat configuration can be considerable. Also, when the seat has a metallic cushion support pan, parasitic coupling between the lower metalized sensor film and the seat pan can introduce error in the capacitance measurements. Accordingly, it is desired to increase the number of sensing elements in a capacitive seat sensor array and reduce its susceptibility to measurement errors without increasing its cost of manufacture and installation.

Capacitive sensing apparatus for a vehicle seat


Supports for a junction box in a suspended ceiling. Two supports comprised of two, four-sided pieces of metal the length of a ceiling panel are secured to the suspended ceiling frame and to the sides of a junction box so that the junction box is held in position securely. The support also resists upward movement of the ceiling panel so that it does not rise when the light fixture is fastened to the junction box.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to supports for junction boxes for use in hanging light fixtures and the like from suspended ceilings.
2. Discussion of Background
A suspended ceiling is a "false" ceiling comprising a framework hung from the "true" ceiling and a number of panels carried and supported by the framework. The framework is formed of a matrix of interlocking sections that define spaces, usually rectangular, that support the panels, preferably acoustical panels. A suspended ceiling is an inexpensive and effective way of concealing wiring, ductwork, and piping between it and the true ceiling. It also enables wiring, etc. to be run after the ceiling is installed with minimum disruption and effort since the panels are easily lifted to permit access to the region thereabove.
There are a number of articles for supporting light fixtures and junction boxes of one sort or another in a suspended ceiling. Typically these articles have one or two supports that run beyond length of the panel to straddle the frame. Representative of these are the supports as shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,169,693 and 3,597,889 issued to LoNigro and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,327 issued to Williams and U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,071 issued to Sutter.
Typically, these supports hold the junction box at a height where the bottom of the box is flush with the bottom of the panel, but there is no structure provided by these supports to hold the panel down when the light fixture is tightened to the junction box. This tightening tends to push the panel up until it meets resistance, resulting in a junction box extending below the panel. Moreover, all of these supports extend beyond the panel by straddling the frame. When the adjacent panel is pushed up to gain access to the area above the suspended ceiling, the supports interfere with and mar the edges of the raised panel.

Junction box support for suspended ceilings


A transient current in a rectifier circuit is efficiently reduced. In a rectifier circuit, a first rectifier is provided between the first terminal and a second terminal. In the rectifier circuit, when a switch element is turned ON, a primary winding current flows from a power source to a primary winding in a transformer. When the switch element is turned OFF, a second rectifier current flows from a secondary winding in the transformer to a second rectifier. When the second rectifier current flows, a first reverse voltage is applied between the first terminal and the second terminal. The first reverse voltage is a reverse voltage applied instantaneously.

A rectifier circuit provided to a power source circuit uses such a rectifier as a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), or a first recovery diode (FRD). This rectifier includes a diode having a PN junction.
Hence, when a reverse voltage is applied to the rectifier, electric charges stored in the PN junction flow in the form of a transient current through the rectifier. This transient current is also referred to as a reverse recovery current. The transient current causes loss in the power source circuit.
Patent Documents 1 and 2 each disclose a circuit a purpose of which is to reduce the transient current. For example, the circuit disclosed in the Patent Document 1 includes a diode and a transformer connected in parallel to a semiconductor switching element to reduce a transient current. Patent Document 2 also discloses a circuit similar to that of Patent Document 1.

Rectifier circuit, power source device, and method for driving rectifier circuit


A cannula assembly includes an elongate shaft assembly that is adjustable by a clinician to vary the length of the cannula assembly. In particular, the elongate shaft assembly may be transitioned to provide various lengths of the cannula assembly by selectively positioning a plurality of segments of the elongate shaft assembly. In this manner, a single cannula assembly may be tailored to each patient or a surgical procedure being performed.

Minimally invasive surgical procedures, including endoscopic, laparoscopic and arthroscopic procedures, have been used for introducing surgical instruments inside a patient and for viewing portions of the patient's anatomy. Forming a relatively small diameter, temporary pathway to the surgical site is a key feature of most minimally invasive surgical procedures. The most common method of providing such a pathway is by inserting a cannula assembly through the skin.
Obturators are typically designed with a tip that may be used to form an opening through the abdominal wall. An obturator is inserted into a cannula, and then the combined obturator and cannula are together placed against the skin to be penetrated. In order to penetrate the skin, the distal end of the obturator engages the skin, which may or may not have been previously cut with a scalpel. The obturator is then used to penetrate the skin and access the body cavity. By applying pressure against the proximal end of the obturator, the tip of the obturator is forced though the skin and the underlying tissue layers until the cannula and obturator enter the body cavity. The obturator is then withdrawn. The cannula remains in place through the incision for use during the minimally invasive procedure.

Cannula assembly including an adjustable elongate shaft assembly


A three-dimensional surgery simulation system is provided for generating a three-dimensional surgery simulation result of an anatomical part undergoing a simulated surgical procedure. The system includes a display unit, a three-dimensional visual imaging unit, a storage unit for storing a plurality of voxelized three-dimensional model image data sets, an input unit for controlling progress of the simulated surgical procedure, and a computing unit for computing the simulation result data in accordance with the voxelized three-dimensional model image data sets and under the control of the input unit, and for controlling the display unit to permit viewing of the surgery simulation result in three-dimensional form thereon by an operator wearing the visual imaging unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a surgery simulation system, more particularly to a three-dimensional surgery simulation system that facilitates simulation of various surgical procedures in a three-dimensional environment with relatively high accuracy and at a relatively low cost.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the on-going global advances in surgical knowledge and practice, medical school students, interns, or even senior surgeons need to continuously enrich their professional knowledge of surgical techniques and procedures so as to provide patients with the best and most up-to-date medical services.
In the field of orthopedics or plastic surgery, for instance, if surgery simulating equipment is not available to assist teaching and training of surgeons, it is not possible to predict the outcome of an operation with a certain degree of accuracy or to meet the expectations of the patient undergoing the operation. Accordingly, the outcome of the operation depends largely on the clinical experience of the surgeon. Moreover, an operation subjects the patient to high risks because the patient's body does not lend itself to a trial-and-error process. If the operation is not successful, a remedial operation may be needed, which is, again, without certainty of success.
Therefore, teaching hospitals and some medical institutions in general have included surgery simulations as part of their curriculums or training programs. Traditionally, surgery simulations are largely limited to two-dimensional paper simulations based on X-ray images. In recent years, various two-dimensional surgery visual simulating equipment have been proposed to permit input of a desired manipulation and to display a two-dimensional image of the simulation result on a display. However, due to topological changes in skeletal morphology, a two-dimensional model is not sufficient to depict the geometry of bone structures in a realistic manner. Therefore, there are considerable visual errors when viewing the two-dimensional model on the display. In addition, since the manipulation is limited by the two-dimensional image, and since the input information cannot adequately match the manipulation in an actual operation, the simulation result is expectedly low and unreliable. Such a simulation model is therefore not very helpful to students or trainees as a pre-operation simulation tool, and the simulation result is not reliable when predicting the outcome of an operation.

Three-dimensional surgery simulation system


A method of estimating random events in positron emission tomography list mode data, including obtaining time-of-flight (TOF) list mode count data that includes TOF information; converting the obtained TOF list mode count data into four-dimensional (4D) raw sinogram count data, without using the TOF information, wherein the 4D raw sinogram count data includes random count values; interpolating the 4D raw sinogram count data to generate 4D interpolated sinogram count data; low-pass filtering the 4D interpolated sinogram count data to remove noise; converting the low-pass filtered 4D interpolated sinogram count data into filtered 4D raw sinogram count data; and generating, by a processor, five-dimensional (5D) TOF raw sinogram count data from the filtered 4D raw sinogram count data by effectively applying a TOF mask filter to the filtered 4D raw sinogram count data.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a branch of nuclear medicine in which a positron-emitting radiopharmaceutical is introduced into the body of a patient. As the radiopharmaceutical decays, positrons are generated. More specifically, each of a plurality of positrons reacts with an electron in what is known as a positron annihilation event, thereby generating a coincident pair of gamma photons which travel substantially in opposite directions along a line of coincidence. A gamma photon pair detected within a coincidence time is ordinarily recorded by the PET scanner as an annihilation event.
In time-of-flight ("TOF") imaging, the time within the coincidence interval at which each gamma photon in the coincident pair is detected is also measured. The time of flight information provides an indication of the location of the detected event along the line of coincidence. Data from a plurality of annihilation events is used to reconstruct or create images of the patient or object scanned, typically by using statistical (iterative) or analytical reconstruction algorithms.
FIG. 1 illustrates the transaxial and axial coordinates of an emitted positron and the measured line of response (LOR) of a 3D detector. The coordinates (xe, ye, ze) or (se, te, ze) define the emitted positron's image coordinate. The measured LOR's projection coordinate can be defined by either (s, φ, z, θ), where z=(za+zb)/2, or may include the additional dimension t for a TOF-LOR.
In PET, random coincidences occur due to the finite width of the coincidence window, which is used to detect true coincidences. If two uncorrelated single events are detected within the coincidence window, they can mistakenly be identified as a true coincidence event and recorded. The rate of random events is proportional to the single event rate on each detector and the size of coincidence window, as shown in Equation (1):Cij=2τriτj  (1)in which Cij represents the random coincidences count rate on the LOR that connects the i-th and j-th detectors, ri, rj represents the single count event rates of the i-th and j-th detectors, and τ is the coincidence window size.
Random coincidences can comprise a large portion of the recorded prompt coincidence events (which include true, scatter, and random coincidence events), especially in the operation of a 3D PET scanner and high radioactivity concentration. If not compensated for properly, random coincidence events can introduce substantial quantitative errors in the reconstructed images.
The most accurate and commonly used method for random estimation involves the use of a delayed coincidence window. The delayed coincidence window can remove the correlation of two single events in each recorded pair event. Since the delayed coincidence window is usually postponed several ten-to-hundred times the coincidence window size, the possibility of two recorded single events being from a single annihilation is very rare. Therefore, in this method, only random events are recorded.
Recently, a time-of-flight mask was designed to reduce random events in the prompt data by completely filtering out those random coincidences that provide no contribution to the reconstruction field-of-view (FOV). In this process, random events with a TOF difference out of the mask will be removed before reconstruction starts, which leads to more accurate reconstructed images in list-mode reconstruction and lower computation time.
In TOF list-mode reconstruction, the random events with TOF information are estimated in the following way. The non-TOF delay list-mode data are first rebinned and interpolated to a 4D interp-sinogram, smoothed, and then back-interpolated to a 4D raw-sinogram. In the last step, a 5D TOF raw-sinogram is generated by spreading the LOR counts evenly into tangential t-bins, and considering the difference in t-ranges along the LOR's radial direction and oblique angle.
However, with the TOF mask applied, the random distribution will be changed with the introduced circular-edged TOF mask, which causes more random events collected in the central regions of field-of-view (FOV) and fewer random events collected at the edges of FOV. The previously described procedure without TOF mask is not applicable in this case. The reasons are (1) the random smoothing step will change the random distribution over the s dimension, which may bring in estimation error during the back-interpolation step, and (2) when spreading the LOR counts evenly into each tangential t-bin, it is assumed that the random events counts are uniformly distributed along the t dimension, which is not true after applying the TOF mask. Thus, the random events are collected more in the center of the FOV, but fewer are collected at the circular edges of the TOF mask.

Random estimation in positron emission tomography with tangential time-of-flight mask