A turbine assembly having a hollow aerofoil, an impingement tube, and an impingement tube sleeve. The sleeve has as least one impingement tube sleeve segment, the aerofoil having at its interior surface longitudinal ribs extending from a leading edge towards a trailing edge. A first impingement tube sleeve segment provides a slotted flow blocker at a surface of the first impingement tube sleeve segment, the first impingement tube sleeve segment inserted into the hollow aerofoil such that the ribs of the hollow aerofoil engage with corresponding slots of the slotted flow blocker and such that the surface of the first impingement tube sleeve segment rests on the ribs. The impingement tube is inserted into the hollow aerofoil such that the at least one impingement tube sleeve segment is arranged between the interior surface of the hollow aerofoil and an exterior surface of the impingement tube.

Modern turbines, particularly gas turbines, often operate at extremely high temperatures to allow efficient operation. The effect of temperature on the turbine blades and/or stator vanes can be detrimental to the efficient operation of the turbine as high temperatures can result in damage of the turbine component, as the rotor blades are under large centrifugal stresses and materials of the rotor blades or stator vanes are weaker at high temperature. In extreme circumstances, this could even lead to distortion and possible failure of the blade or vane. In order to overcome this risk, high temperature hollow blades or vanes may be used with incorporated cooling channels, inserts and pedestals for cooling purposes. The mentioned features are used for impingement cooling and/or convection cooling. Also film cooling may be used to protect surfaces of the blade or vane.
Internal cooling is designed to provide efficient transfer of heat from the aerofoils and the flow of cooling air within. If heat transfer efficiency improves, less cooling air is necessary to adequately cool the aerofoils. Internal cooling typically includes structures to improve heat transfer efficiency including, for example, impingement tubes or pedestals (also known as pin fins). Hence, internal cooling within turbine aerofoils typically uses a combination of e.g. impingement cooling followed by a pedestal/pin-fin cooling region. The impingement cooling may be used for the leading edge and can span along a significant proportion of the aerofoil. The pin-fin/pedestals are usually used towards the trailing edge. Pedestals link opposing sides of such aerofoils (pressure side and suction side) to improve heat transfer by increasing both the area for heat transfer and the turbulence of the cooling air flow. The improved heat transfer efficiency results in improved overall turbine engine efficiency. Moreover, proportioning and configuration of each cooling zone is often a balance of many factors such as the material temperatures, cooling flow pressure drops, cooling consumption, as wells as manufacturing and cost constraints.
Cooling requirements of different cooling regions may differ to another. Such situations can mean that in meeting the cooling requirements in one region, excessive cooling is being used in other regions, which lead to an overall lower efficiency.
A further problem can arise when there is a need to upgrade a design by introducing film cooling into an existing non-film cooled design without changing the casting. The film cooling design can be limited because of the single feed cavity making it difficult to control the cooling flows sufficiently. In which case a multiple feed cooling cavity approach would be required. Single feed cavity means in this respect that there is a single cavity in the hollow aerofoil supplied by one supply channel. Multiple feed cooling cavity instead is a design in which several individual cooling passages are incorporated in the hollow aerofoil.
One problem for all cooling design features is that limitations in manufacturing or assembly need to be considered already in the design phase of the aerofoil.

Turbine assembly for impingement cooling and method of assembling


A method of reducing current consumption of an electric hydraulic power steering system for a vehicle includes determining whether or not a steering wheel is manipulated after an engine is started, and activating a sleep mode if it is determined that the steering wheel is not manipulated and if a vehicle speed is lower than a reference value for activating the sleep mode, or if it is determined that the steering wheel is manipulated and if an amount of current conducted in a motor, a vehicle speed and a steering angular velocity are lower than respective reference values for a predetermined time. According to the method, it is possible to reduce current consumption when the steering wheel is not manipulated and improve the vehicular fuel efficiency.

When a driver turns a steering wheel of a vehicle travelling or stopped in one direction, the vehicle wheels, which are in contact with a road surface, are turned in the same direction. A great amount of load is applied to the vehicle wheels turned by the steering wheel due to friction against the road surface.
For this reason, a conventional steering wheel system is equipped with an electric hydraulic power steering (EHPS) system. This EHPS system is adapted to sense amounts of torque generated from the steering wheel and the vehicle wheels when the driver turns the steering wheel, and allow a powering means to generate repulsive force corresponding to a deviation between the torque amounts so as to turn the vehicle wheels, thereby facilitating manipulation of the steering wheel.
The conventional EHPS system, however, has drawbacks. In particular, the electric hydraulic pump of the EHPS system, which feeds hydraulic pressure to a drive unit coupled with the steering wheel, is driven even when the steering wheel is not manipulated, resulting in unnecessary power consumption. Further, the current consumed when the steering wheel is not manipulated acts as an electric load to the vehicle, lowering fuel efficiency.
The above information disclosed in this Background Art section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method of reducing current consumption of electric hydraulic power steering system for vehicle


Sensing systems, connectors, and methods include a housing, including a sensor and a locking mechanism, a junction, and a membrane. The junction includes a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and a receiving mechanism. The receiving mechanism is removably attachable to the locking mechanism. The membrane is disposed within the junction, and is in fluid communication with the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet. The sensor senses a property of a fluid across the membrane when the locking mechanism is attached to the receiving mechanism.

The present disclosure generally relates to fluid sensors for measuring various properties of fluid. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to methods, devices, and systems for administration sets, such as intravenous ("IV") administration sets with integrated sensor configuration hardware for removable fluid sensors.
In healthcare settings, vascular access to a patient may be required for numerous reasons, such as when undergoing monitoring, testing, diagnosis, and/or treatment. For example, an IV set may used in conjunction with an administration set during pump infusion or related drug delivery. Infusion may occur through either of a vein or an artery of the patient. Once infusion begins, additional patient monitoring is often desirable. For example, blood pressure monitoring devices may be implemented to measure patient blood pressure from the patient's vascular access, such as venous access. In this example, a dedicated IV fluid line may be implemented, for the sole purpose of in-line blood pressure monitoring of the patient. The dedicated line may include a pressure sensor having direct contact with fluid in the patient line. The sensor thus measures properties of the fluid in the fluid line.
Common difficulties with pressure sensing measurement include the requirement of adding a new dedicated line for pressure monitoring, leakage around the dedicated line, and potential disconnection of the line, all of which may have serious consequences for the patient. Additionally, monitoring systems require expensive and/or time consuming sterilization of the pressure sensor between uses or, in the alternative, may incur significant costs with single use disposable sensors. Further, placing a pressure sensing device in into a system capable of measuring IV pressure may require a skilled technician and substantial set up time, for example specifically related to IV insertion into the patient's arm.

Removable fluid sensor in an administration set


An apparatus for locating a measurand anomaly, such as a hot-spot, along an optical waveguide is provided comprising: an optical waveguide, a light source configured to transmit pulsed light along the waveguide, and a first and second set of sensors provided along the waveguide. Each sensor is configured to reflect a portion of light propagating along the waveguide at a respective sensor wavelength corresponding to a measurand. The first set of sensors provides one or more groups of sensors configured to detect a measurand anomaly within that group. The second set comprises a plurality of sensors each separated from the adjacent sensor of that set by a distance along the waveguide greater than half the distance travelled by the light along the waveguide during the pulse duration. A plurality of sensors of the first set is provided between each adjacent sensor of the second set. The apparatus further comprises a detector configured to monitor the light reflected by the sensors, and a control system configured to control the light source and the detector to both locate at least the group containing a measurand anomaly and to monitor the measurand using the second set.

In many industries it is desirable to monitor measurands and to locate any anomalies in these measurands, such as a temperature in excess of or beneath a normal operating range, at different positions along an installation. One such example is in the aerospace industry. Modern aeroplanes often make use of engine "bleed air" for functions such as running the air conditioning, preventing ice build-up on flight surfaces and preventing electronics from becoming too cold when flying at altitude. This bleed air is tapped from a jet or turboprop engine just after the initial compressor stages, so it is at high pressure and temperature (up to 300° C.) and is conveyed around the aeroplane in insulated ducts. If one of these ducts should suffer a leak, hot bleed air would escape and could rapidly cause damage to aeroplanes systems and perhaps even to structures close to the leak. It is therefore important to know when and where a leak occurs so that the flow of air through the failed duct can be shut down before any damage occurs.
The current preferred method of leak or "Hot-Spot Detection" (HSD) involves running one or two continuous electrical sensors alongside each duct. These sensors comprise a metal tube forming an outer conductor and a wire suspended centrally in a solid salt, forming an inner conductor. Under normal operation, the two conductors are electrically isolated from each other but when the temperature reaches a certain value, the salt melts and a short-circuit is made between them. This is detected and a measure of the electrical characteristics (for example resistance and capacitance) between the two conductors is used to determine the location of the so-called hot-spot. An alarm will then be raised alerting a user to the location of the hot-spot. While this technology is functional, this system has certain disadvantageous characteristics, namely:
1) The temperature at which the alarm is raised is determined by the salt composition and cannot be adjusted, although different compositions may be used in different parts of the sensor to allow for different alarm temperatures.
2) The salt-filled conductors can only be manufactured in short lengths and are prone to break under a shearing force. This means that they are typically produced in relatively short lengths and so many sections need to be connected together to cover a complete duct. For example, 200 connectors may be required to cover a single bleed air duct of an aeroplane. Installation of these sensors is time-consuming. Furthermore each connector provides an additional potential point of failure.3) The sensor chains are heavy due to the number of metallic parts and connectors required.4) The nature of the electrical measurement means that the leak cannot always be localised accurately.
It is known to monitor measurands such as pressure, temperature or strain using optical fibres. These techniques generally do not suffer from the abovementioned problems associated with multi-segmented salt filled cables.
Current distributed temperature sensors (DTS) based on backscattered light detection, either Brillouin or Raman scattering, are not suitable for aeroplanes use because they require powerful lasers which may constitute an ignition hazard due to their high energy and expensive, delicate optoelectronic processing units.
Fibre Bragg gratings (FBG) make excellent temperature sensors, but using them for HSD is not straightforward because they are point sensors and the application demands continuous coverage of many tens of metres of ducting. Time-division multiplexing (TDM) and Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) are two techniques commonly used for monitoring measurands using FBGs. TDM systems cannot offer the spatial density required for detecting a leak along a bleed air duct. In conventional TDM systems the sensors typically need to be separated by at least 1 m along the waveguide in order for the reflected pulses to be individually resolvable according to the time of flight. A leak is usually highly localised and may initially only extend over 5 cm, so the system has a 95% chance of missing it entirely.
WDM cannot practically offer the large number of sensors required for covering a bleed air duct. In WDM each FBG sensor is configured to reflect light at a different respective Bragg wavelength within a different discrete wavelength band. Current WDM systems are limited to approximately 130 FBG sensors per fibre. If the FBG sensors are each spaced 5 cm apart, i.e. 20 FBGs per metre, this limits the system to 130/20=6.5 m. This is too short as a bleed air duct can extend 50 m or more in length. Many fibres would therefore be required to operate a WDM system, which increases the cost and complexity of the system.
Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry is a technique for addressing many hundreds of low-reflectivity gratings on one fibre. However, it requires expensive and delicate instrumentation (typically in excess of 100 k USD) which is not suitable for applications such as aeroplanes.
It is desirable to provide an improved method and apparatus for locating a measurand anomaly along an optical waveguide that does not suffer from the above mentioned deficiencies. In particular, it is desirable to provide a simple, light-weight, robust, flexible and cost-effective apparatus which can locate a measurand anomaly along an extensive elongate region, to a high spatial accuracy.
Additionally it is desirable to be able to sample the measurand at a number of discrete locations along the waveguide. In particular, certain existing systems provide the user with the ability to locate a measurand anomaly along a waveguide if and when one occurs. However, the arrangement of optical sensors does not allow the measurand itself to be monitored at an identifiable location in the absence of such an anomaly.
The invention is set in the context of solving these problems.


The present invention provides a low-cost piezoelectric cable and wire harness using the same, which offer a high connection reliability without picking up interference signals in areas where the cable acts as a sensor. Coaxial piezoelectric cable 10 has a piezoelectric material layer 14 disposed between a core conductor 12 and an outer conductor 16. Piezoelectric material layer 14 is polarized and shows piezoelectric properties in a region 20 which extends along a window frame 2 of an automobile, but is not polarized, and therefore shows no piezoelectric properties, in a region 22 in which it is not desired that the cable act as a sensor. Accordingly, there is no pick-up of false signals in the region 22.

In electrically driven windows such as power windows or electrically-operated sun roofs in automobiles, it is desirable that a safety device be provided which detects any foreign object (such as fingers, etc.) that becomes caught between the window and the window frame, and stops or reverses the motor that drives the window whenever such a foreign object is detected. Means for detecting such foreign objects include indirect-detection means for detecting the torque of the motor which changes when a foreign object becomes caught as described above, and direct-detection means, which detect the presence or absence of foreign objects by sensors installed in the window frame. Indirect-detection means suffer from problems such as a slow response speed; accordingly, Paragraph 118 of the FMVSS (U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) uses direct-detection means. Piezoelectric cables and tape-form mechanical switches, consisting of a pair electrodes facing each other across a very small gap have been proposed as pressure sensors, which directly detect foreign objects. In the case of mechanical switches, foreign objects which are inserted obliquely between the window and the window frame may fail to be detected in some cases. On the other hand, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-226679, piezoelectric cables have a uniform directionality, and can therefore detect foreign objects without being affected by the angle of insertion. Furthermore, since piezoelectric cables have a coaxial structure, such cables are resistant to electromagnetic interference from the outside.
In regard to actual configurations of wire harnesses, a configuration in which a piezoelectric cable 4 is caused to extend along a window frame 2 of a vehicle door 1, and is further caused to extend from the window frame 2 to a motor control unit 3 accommodated in the lower part of the door 1 or in the vehicle body (not shown) is shown in FIG. 3; or a configuration in which a connector 5 is attached to the end portion of a piezoelectric cable 4' installed along the window frame 2, and the motor control unit 3 and connector 5 are connected to each other by a separate wire harness 8 which has connectors 6 and 7 installed at both ends is shown in FIG. 4.
However, in the case shown in FIG. 3, unwanted signals caused by vibration of the vehicle, may be picked up if there is any slack in the piezoelectric cable 4 in the lower part of the door 1. Although the problem of such signals can be solved by firmly fastening the piezoelectric cable so that slack is completely eliminated, such fastening of the cable 4 will result in additional cost.
Furthermore, in the case shown in FIG. 4, although no unwanted signals will be picked up in areas other than the window frame 2 where the cable 4 is supposed to act as a sensor, the addition of the connectors 6 and 7 results in an increase in the number of connections. This not only lowers the reliability of the connection, but also leads to an increase in parts and assembly costs as a result of the additional harness 8.

Piezoelectric cable and wire harness using the same


An information processing apparatus which creates print data includes a common setting unit which accepts change of a print setting to the entire print data via a print setting window for making a print setting, and stores the print setting, a display control unit which, when change of a print setting is designated, displays a page designation window for designating page information to which the change of the print setting accepted via the print setting window is applied, and a specific page setting unit which generates exceptional page setting information based on a combination of the page information designated via the page designation window and the print setting accepted via the print setting window. The print setting window accepts, within the same window, change of a print setting to the entire print data and change of a print setting to specific page information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus control technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
These days, MFPs (Multi Function Peripheral) having print, facsimile, and copy functions are gaining advanced functions to perform various processes in printing. For example, MFPs can execute integration processing such as N-up to integrate a plurality of pages into one sheet in printing, additional information (e.g., watermark) processing, stapling, bookbinding processing, and color processing.
In the POD (Print On Demand) business field, various print settings are demanded in small-volume printing, and it is required to create sophisticated printed materials using a high-end printing apparatus. These print settings include a setting to add additional information to only an arbitrary page, and a setting to chapter a whole document and staple each chapter.
In general, a control program (printer driver) which controls a printing apparatus cannot grasp in advance the whole structure of a document to be printed, and sets processing functions for the entire document. To create a sophisticated printed material by adding additional information to only an arbitrary page, the printer driver must cooperate with an application which grasps an entire document.
For example, when a print setting is made to chapter one document, settings desired by a user for each chapter can be attained by dividing one document into a plurality of documents formally corresponding to chapters and making print settings for each document.
A user selectively uses an application according to the application purpose. When a user utilizes an application which cannot make print settings for each page, he cannot obtain a desired sophisticated printed material. It is difficult to finely control a printing apparatus via an application, and the ability of the printing apparatus cannot be fully exploited.
To solve this problem, there has been proposed a technique of designating functions for each page via the user interface of a printer driver (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-316835). According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-316835, an exceptional setting or function is designated for each page, unlike normal settings of an entire print document. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-316835 discloses a mechanism of designating settings different from those of an entire document in association with a page number.
Based on this mechanism, the printer driver can designate common print settings of a printing apparatus and exceptional print settings of a specific page regardless of an application.
However, functional development of printing apparatuses and an increase in the number of setting items by printer drivers lead to poor operability. It is difficult for a user to grasp exceptional settings different from common print settings.
There is available a printer driver called a family driver for creating a plurality of printing apparatus drivers with the same source codes. This printer driver must cope with both a printing apparatus capable of exceptional page settings and a printing apparatus incapable of exceptional page settings. When viewed from the development of printer drivers, complicated exceptional settings decrease the development efficiency.

Apparatus, method, and program product using same window for designating print settings for entire print job and specific pages


A method and apparatus for simulating the input/output operations of a memory unit, such as a disk drive array, provide for determining over a predetermined time period, a profile which includes the number of read and write operations for the memory unit and the number of blocks of data read or written during each such operation. The resulting data of the profile is sorted in accordance with the cumulative likelihood of occurrence of the operations, and the read and write operations are then recreated, in a random statistical fashion, in accordance with the sorted resulting data to simulate the frequency of occurrence of the read and write operations at a remote site for the original memory device. The validity of the simulation can be ascertained by repeating the read/write operation collection process during the simulation process and comparing the resulting data with the original data. The simulation can thus take place without adversely affecting operation at the customer's site.

The invention relates generally to input/output systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for simulating the input/output behavior of one system in a second system.
As computer systems become more complex, and as businesses rely more upon their computer systems, any performance problem which requires the system to shut down becomes a major and potentially disastrous event.
A failure of or decrease in input/output behavior in, for example, a memory system, could become a bottleneck to efficiency and throughput in the overall operation of the system. Thus, much effort and customer engineering has been directed to being able to resolve problems that occur in the input/output process. Typically, the problem is resolved by recreating the precise input/output data and path. This involves however, taking over the system having the performance problem, determining precisely where and what the problem is by recreating the problem at the customer site, for example by running the applications and data which led to the problem, and then resolving the problem.
Such methods of problem isolation and correction accordingly require the customer's system to be off-line for a period of time, and further can require intensive customer engineer time of the customer site. Aside from being relatively costly in customer time, this method of solving a performance issue can further adversely affect the customer's operations.

Method and apparatus for determining I/O size distribution of an input/output system and its use for load simulation


A reset ramp control structure and method is described. A fast ramp down condition of a monitored voltage is detected and used to force the state of system reset. Delay between fast ramp detection and the forcing of system reset is adjustable. Operation is adaptable to include all DC power systems. The reset ramp control structure provides operational protection during fast ramp down conditions when standard reset circuitry may not be operational.

Reset circuits are used to monitor power supplies in microprocessors, digital equipment, and various other electronic equipment and systems. A reset circuit is used to assert a reset signal whenever the supply voltage falls below a determined threshold voltage and to de-assert said reset signal when the supply voltage rises above a threshold. This reset signal may be input to the microprocessor, for example, to start the microprocessor in a known state during power up to prevent code execution errors, during power down to initiate a clean shutdown sequence, and during brownout to achieve control over marginal voltage conditions.
One deficiency of reset circuits is that proper assertion of reset signals during power down conditions may not reliably occur. The power supply voltage may decrease so quickly that existing reset detection circuitry may cease functioning before outputting a valid (changed) reset state.


Comprised are a sliding member for retaining a card and sliding in the forward/backward direction of a housing, and a locking member for sliding in the widthwise direction of the housing and locking the card received within the housing, the locking member comprising a sliding control part for controlling the sliding of the sliding member, the sliding control part preventing the sliding member from sliding when the locking member is in a first position, and allowing the sliding member to slide when the locking member is in a second position.

The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to a card connector, and, more particularly, to a card connector in which a sliding member slides smoothly in the forward/backward direction, a card can be guided in the forward/backward direction with consistent reliability, a lock member is capable of smoothly performing locking/unlocking operations, and the card can be easily and reliably inserted/ejected.
Conventionally, electronic devices (e.g., personal computers, portable telephones, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, video cameras, music players, game devices, vehicle navigation devices, etc.) have been provided with card connectors in order to use various types of memory cards. One example of a conventional card connector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-144638, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
FIG. 22 is an illustration of a conventional card connector. In FIG. 22, 811 is a base member for a card connector, and 871 is a cover member for covering the base member 811. An IC card (not shown) is received in the space between the base member 811 and the cover member 871. The IC card has an electrode pad (not shown) exposed on its underside. Terminals 851 are retained in the base member 811. Contact parts 851c of the terminals 851 are provided at positions corresponding to holes formed in the cover member 871, and tails 851d of the terminals 851 extend from the interior of the base member 811 (the upper side in FIG. 22). In the example shown, contact parts 851c for a total of six terminals 851 are arranged in two rows to match the arrangement of the electrode pads of the IC card.
Ejection member 823 is slidable in the forward/backward direction, and biases the IC card in the insertional direction, i.e., the front side, using a coil spring 882. FIG. 22 illustrates a state prior to the IC card being inserted into the space between the base member 811 and the cover member 871, and shows the ejection member 823 projecting to the utmost extend to the front of the card connector (downwards in FIG. 22). The ejection member 823 is also provided with a card-receiving part 823a engaging with the front end of an inserted IC card, a locking hook 823b and a guide pin 823c engaged to be capable of moving within a guide hole 822 formed in the cover member 871. The ejection member 823 is capable of rotating around the guide pin 823c. The outer surface of the ejection member 823 (i.e., the left surface in the drawing) is biased inward (to the right in FIG. 22) by the free end of a return spring 875 formed on a side wall of the cover member 871. The inner surface (i.e., the right surface of FIG. 22) of the ejection member 823 is thereby pressed against a projection 876 formed in the cover member 871.
When an IC card is inserted into the space between the base member 811 and the cover member 871 from the front side of the card connector, the card-receiving part 823a engages with the front end of the IC card, and the ejection member 823 proceeds into the interior of the card connector along with the IC card against the biasing force of the coil spring 882. When the IC card reaches the interior and insertion is complete, the projection 876 advances into a recess adjacent to the locking hook 823b of the ejection member 823, engaging with a locking surface 823d. The ejection member 823 is then rotated around the guide pin 823c in the counterclockwise direction, as shown in FIG. 22, by the biasing force of the return spring 875, and the locking hook 823b engages with the rear end of the IC card.
The ejection member 823 is thereby locked in place by the projection 876, preventing the card connector from projecting forward. The front and rear ends of the IC card engage with the card-receiving part 823a and locking hook 823b of the ejection member 823, preventing the card connector from projecting forward, like the ejection member 823. In other word, the IC card is prevented from popping out unnecessarily. During the process of removing the IC card from the card connector, when the locking hook 823b is moved to the left as shown, the engagement of the locking hook 823b with the rear end of the IC card is released, and the locking of the ejection member 823 by the projection 876 is released, resulting in the IC card being pushed out and ejected from the card connector along with the ejection member 823 by the biasing force of the coil spring 882.


A system for controlling fluid flow to an approximate constant rate is disclosed. The system includes a housing, a flow control element, a cutout formed in the flow control element, a valve element, and a spring. The housing has an inlet opening and an outlet opening. The ends are arranged and configured to receive piping. The flow control element is operatively positioned within the housing with the flow control element having an upstream end and a downstream end with a cutout formed therein. The fluid flows in the inlet and through the cutout into a larger chamber within the housing before exiting the outlet end of the housing in normal flow. A valve element is disposed within the housing adjacent and upstream of the flow control element. The valve element is positioned within the housing by a spring means which urges the valve element toward the outlet. The valve element is operatively connected to a plunger member and moves relative to the flow control element according to the pressure differential between the inlet and the outlet. The flow rate is controlled through the system by the relative position of the valve element and the cutout in the flow control element. A method for controlling fluid flow is also disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to fluid control systems that redirect or vary fluid flow or contain flow regulating devices, or particularly to fluid flow control systems including fluid flow regulating devices for maintaining a constant flow within a specified range of accuracy with varying pressure differentials, and more particularly to fluid flow regulating devices that provide accurate or precise flow control over a specified range of pressure differentials, producing little if any air borne or structure borne noise during operation of the fluid system throughout its range of control.
Fluid flow regulating devices are currently used in a variety of fluid control applications for industrial, military, or commercial requirements. Specifically, cooling water flow control systems are used to maintain a pre-determined flow rate to assure efficient heat transfer and maintain safe temperature operating range. The same basic concept is used as a temperature control wherever either an ambient temperature or heat generated from power consumption must be controlled. The use of flow control in hydraulic systems permits accurate positioning, control or rate, or precision retraction or extension under conditions that may have varying load. Examples of this type of fluid flow control are found in power lines in service vehicles, hydraulic lifting systems, and steel/roll mills.
The invention can also be utilized in medical applications to accurately or precisely control flow for cooling including oxygen, breathing systems, dialysis, heart and angioplasty machines. The flow control may be either liquid or gas. A typical application would include a cooling of the helium gas used to expand and/or contract "the balloon" inserted into a blocked arterial area.
Both pressure and flow control devices can generate noise that can be carried from the point of generation through some distance by either the system structure, its mounting or the structure surrounded and attached to the pressure or flow control system. This generated noise can be detected at a distance whether the atmosphere is a gas or a liquid. The noise generated can be the result of cavitation, impingement, turbulence, or entrained gases in liquid. A typical example of gas entrained in liquid as a noise generation in a pressure/flow system is the air hammering caused in hot water heat systems or steel pipes. The air entrained in the water results in flow variations. A similar condition occurs in liquids that are allowed to flow at sufficiently high velocities resulting in a high pressure drop in areas where the fluid conduit or pipe becomes restricted or changes direction. The pressure drop causes the fluid in these areas to change from a liquid to a gas. When the fluid containing entrained gas bubbles travels to a point where the system's pressure returns to a high pressure the entrained gas bubbles or voids collapse. The collapse generates noise and can result in the deterioration of the containment located at this vicinity (cavitation). The noise level generated into the fluid system can cause discomfort, annoyance, or harm to local inhabitancies. Public utilities are concerned with eliminating the noise generated capacity of fluid systems in gas transportation lines and other fluid flow systems. The control of an acceptable noise level depends on whether the noise is being transported or carried at a structure or is being detected or carried in a liquid or gas. Air borne noise can be controlled or diverted by unique structure designs. Minimizing the noise generated depends upon the flow rate, pressures, and system design. The level of noise reduction and the selection of the components of the system will determine the envelope or achievable noise level reduction with specific frequencies.
A typical flow control device is an elastomeric flow restrictor. The flow restrictor deforms into a plastic flow element as a pressure differential increases across the restrictor. In these devices as the pressure differential increases so does the deformation of the flow restriction and/or element cutouts. These devices are limited in use to a narrow pre-determined set of pressures and flow rates. The use of these devices creates high velocities, turbulence, and can result in cavitation. Similarly, if the fluid contains particulate matter either intentional such as a catalytic process, or contains dirt or other contaminants, the high velocities will result in impingement damage. All of these conditions are known to be sources of noise generation in fluid (liquid or gas) control systems using flow control or pressure control devices.
For specific shipboard applications, flow regulator valves similar to those described above are typically used to balance the flow rate of water to and from heating and cooling coils when several coils are supplied from one pump incorporating many branches in the flow circuit. For this reason, the flow regulator valves are typically called balancing valves because they balance the flow rate of water to each coil, although they are often used to balance flow control rates for other applications. The valves are most often used to control the flow rates of fluids with viscosities similar to that of water to fixed flow rates with variations in pressure drop across the valves. Without a flow regulation valve, as the pressure drop across a fixed orifice is increased, the flow rate is increased accordingly.
One specific type of prior flow regulator device employed a resilient diaphragm, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,189,125. In operation, the resilient diaphragm is forced against a contoured orifice as the fluid pressure drop increases across the valve. Increasing pressure drop across the valve will progressively press the resilient diaphragm against a contoured orifice, causing the flow area between the resilient diaphragm and the contour to be reduced. The reduction in flow area is sufficient to restrict the flow to a more-or-less constant value even though the pressure drop across the flow area has increased (see FIG. 14 of the '125 patent). Many of these existing balancing valves utilize ribs that are molded onto the resilient diaphragm to keep the resilient diaphragm concentrically centered in the flow path immediately upstream of the contoured orifice. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,409,042; 5,027,861; 4,986,312; 3,189,125 and 3,958,603. In these patents, the fluid first flows around the front of the resilient diaphragm, then through the annular section between the walls of the flow passage and the resilient diaphragm. Next, the fluid is diverted into the flow section between the resilient diaphragm and the contoured orifice (the variable flow area section) then exits out the back of the contoured orifice. Fluid flow through these devices is converging rather than diverging.
Thus, there is a need for new and improved fluid flow control systems including new and improved fluid flow regulating/control devices that maintain a constant flow rate therethrough within a range of pressure differentials. Such fluid flow regulating/control devices for maintaining a constant flow rate should: (1) overcome the aforementioned problems; (2) accurately control the fluid flow rate over a wide range of differential pressures; (3) produce little, if any, air borne or structure borne noise during operation; (4) have as few parts as possible and (5) significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the tendency for the flow control element from becoming dislodged; (6) significantly reduce, if not eliminate, all sharp bends or abrupt changes in the fluid flow path throughout the device and (7) be economically manufacturable.


A method is provided to generate a 3D image using a light-field camera that includes a main lens, a micro-lens array, a light sensing component, and an image processing module. The micro-lens array forms a plurality of adjacent micro-images at different positions of the light sensing component. Each micro-image includes multiple image zones corresponding to different viewing angles. For each micro-image, the image processing module obtains image pixel values from the image zones, so as to generate camera images corresponding to different viewing angles. The image processing module combines the camera images to generate the 3D image.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image, and more particularly to a method of using a light-field camera to generate a 3D image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional method for generating a 3D image requires at least two cameras to obtain parallax images for synthesis. Since parameters (e.g., an aperture, a shutter, a focal length, a light sensing component, etc.) of the cameras may not be identical, and the images obtained by the cameras may be out of focus, precision of the parallax images thus obtained may be insufficient. In order to solve such issues encountered in the conventional method, delicate cameras and complex image processing algorithms may be used for calibration of the parameters to obtain the parallax images and to synthesize the 3D image, resulting in higher costs and long times for calculation.

Method of using a light-field camera to generate a three-dimensional image, and light field camera implementing the method


An optical sensor and method for forming the same. The optical sensor structure includes (a) a semiconductor substrate, (b) first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth electrodes and (c) first, second, and third semiconducting regions. The first and fourth electrodes are at a first depth. The second and fifth electrodes are at a second depth. The third and sixth electrodes are at a third depth. The first depth is greater than the second depth, and the second depth is greater than the third depth. The first, second, and third semiconducting regions are disposed between and in contact with the first and fourth electrodes, second and fifth electrodes, and third and sixth electrodes, respectively. The first, second, and third semiconducting regions are in contact with each other.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to semiconductor structures, and more particularly, to semiconductor optical sensor structures having capability of collecting photons at different depths.
2. Related Art
Photons of different wave lengths after entering a semiconductor substrate will go down to different depths in the semiconductor substrate. Therefore, there is a need for a semiconductor optical sensor structure (and a method for forming the same) that can collect photons at different depths in the semiconductor substrate.

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus for printing on flat items during conveyance thereof in an item advancing direction include a perforated transport belt having a width, an outer face and an inner face. The outer face is oriented toward a first side of the perforated transport belt and the inner face is oriented toward a second side of the perforated transport belt. A cover belt is superposed on the inner face of the perforated transport belt for holding by friction an item sandwiched between the perforated transport belt and the cover belt. A drive moves the perforated transport belt and the cover belt together in the item advancing direction. A vacuum device extends along the outer face of the perforated transport belt on the first side thereof for pressing the item, sandwiched between and advanced by the perforated transport belt and the cover belt, with a pressing force against the inner face of the cover belt in a direction substantially perpendicular to the item advancing direction. A print head is disposed laterally externally of the width of the perforated transport belt on the first side thereof for printing on the advancing item, and a slide member is in engagement with the outer face of the perforated transport belt and guides the item past the print head.

The invention relates to a device and a method for printing markings on flat items (also referred to as consignments) wherein the items are conveyed to a print head and during printing are exposed to a vacuum force.
Mechanical printers can be used to cancel stamps, wherein the stamp layout, however, is very limited. Alternatively, it is possible to use non-contacting printing systems, in particular ink jet printers, with which high printing qualities can be achieved and for which a free design of the stamp layout is possible. Of advantage with this system is the lower wear as compared to mechanical systems. Particularly attractive is the use of printing systems that permit a free design of the stamp layout if stamps are to be canceled on one side of a consignment and advertisement is to be printed onto the same side or on the other side. In such a case, the advertisement logos can change from consignment to consignment, so that different clients can be addressed, depending on the point of destination.
In order to achieve a high printing quality, it is necessary with ink jet printers that the consignments are transported past the print heads at a preset distance, e.g. 0.5 mm, and with as little disturbance as possible. It is important here that the consignments are transported at a predetermined speed that is synchronized with the control for the print heads. The problem of a speed difference between the conveying belts and the consignments exists, in particular if the consignments are transported via conveyor belts that are arranged in pairs one above the other, between which the consignments are pulled along frictionally engaged. Such a speed difference is particularly disadvantageous if a uniform marking must be applied to the consignment by different print heads, which are arranged one after another and which print with a time delay.

Device and method for printing markings on flat consignments


Compositions and methods are provided for preventing formation of thrombosis on a liquid-contacting surface of a liquid delivery system, such as a port, catheter or port-catheter system. The liquid delivery system is connected to a patient for delivery of a liquid to the patient. The method involves contacting the surface with a thrombosis-preventing liquid containing taurolidine, taurultam or a mixture thereof, the thrombosis-preventing liquid further containing an anticoagulant agent. In an alternative embodiment, the liquid-contacting surface of the delivery system is contacted with a solution containing an anticoagulant agent, and thereafter contacted with a solution containing taurolidine, taurultam or a mixture thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and compositions for preventing thrombosis in or caused by the use of liquid delivery systems, e.g., catheter and port systems.
2. Description of the Background Art
Delivery systems are widely used in medicine for introducing liquid material which might include medicaments, nutrition, or other active agents to a patient. Such systems frequently involve the use of catheters which, for many applications, are surgically or intravenously located and stitched into place for long-term administration of the desired material. Typical systems include central catheters such as may be used for total parenteral nutrition (TPN), e.g. when treating short bowel syndrome (for the duration of a patient's life), catheters and drains in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis for those with terminal kidney failure, and subcutaneously implanted port systems such as may be used in the treatment of malignant conditions.
One problem associated with the use of liquid delivery systems, e.g., port or catheter-based systems, is that these can give rise to infections which in turn may lead to infected intra-atrial thrombus, embolism, phlebitis, sepsis, endocarditis of the mitral valve, ostium infection, septic lung abscesses, and/or purulent septic pulmonary infarction. One solution to this problem is the use of solutions containing the antibacterial agents taurolidine and/or taurultam. For example, long term continuous infusion of taurolin solutions to prevent septic complications in patients receiving parenteral nutrition has been proposed (see Blenkharn, Clinical Nutrition 6(1):35–38, 1987 and Johnston et al., Clinical Nutrition 12(6): 365–358, 1993). More recently in WO98/28027, taurolin solutions have been suggested for use as a temporary seal or flush to prevent or reduce sepsis in port systems or catheters.
Taurolidine and/or taurultam are particularly effective in combating not only infecting bacteria but also in preventing the release of bacterial toxins as well as inactivating any that may be present. These compounds are methylol transfer agents and exert their antibacterial activity by reacting with the bacterial cell wall components and forming covalent bonds. Despite, therefore, the possibility of quite lengthy residence time in the delivery system, they have been found not to cause any build-up of resistance.
Another problem associated with the use of liquid delivery systems is the potential for blockage of the delivery tubes due to the formation of a coating of fibrin sheath deposits, especially during periods of long term use. The coating starts around a catheter with a thrombus containing fibrin, and progresses into vascularized, fibrous connective tissue. This sheath contains fibroblasts and collagen. Fibrinolytic agents cannot dissolve connective tissue.
Fibrin and/or collagen deposits can result in a significant narrowing of the delivery tubes and, in severe cases, total occlusion. The consequences of the formation of fibrin and/or collagen deposits in liquid delivery systems are therefore clearly dangerous. Moreover, removal or replacement of the delivery system may well have to be carried out operatively, necessitating a further stay in hospital for the patient and further expense.
Removal of a thrombus, especially when located at catheter closures, is difficult and cannot be resolved by fibrinolytic agents such as urokinase, streptokinase, etc., and the following complications are likely to occur. In cavacatheters complications may include thrombosis, embolism, phlebitis and sepsis. In femoral catheters complications may include thrombosis, lethal cases of pulmonary embolism and sepsis. In subclavial-catheters complications may include puncture-proof blockage, thrombosis due to false catheter position, septic complications, total blockage of the vena subclava, and thrombotic changes caused by intima-damage (parietal thromboses between catheter- and vascular wall).
There remains a need in the art for methods and compositions for preventing thrombosis in liquid delivery systems.

Anticoagulant/sterilizing compositions and methods

ED. Geistlich Soehne AG Fuer Chemische Industrie


A system operable to monitoring bio/chemical activities includes a first measurement probe, a second measurement probe and a comparator. The first measurement probe is operable to interrogate one or more physical properties of a sample at a first location of the sample, and to output, in response, a first measurement signal. The second measurement probe is operable to interrogate one or more physical properties of the sample at a second location of the sample, and to output, in response, a second measurement signal. The comparator is coupled to receive the first and second measurement signals, the comparator configured to output a difference signal comprising the difference between the first and second measurement signals, the difference signal corresponding to the difference in one or more bio/chemical activities occurring at the first location of the sample relative to the second location of the sample.

Biologic systems and complex chemical processes, such as biochemical pathways, cellular activities, synthetic organic processes, and molecular interactions (collectively referred to bio/chemical activity herein) pose considerable challenges to scientists interested in directly monitoring activities. Such systems usually are rather complex, existing in environments where a number of differing activities are occurring simultaneously, and are thus noisy. Currently, there are a number of general techniques routinely used for detecting biochemical phenomena [David Freifelder, Physical Biochemistry, 1982, second edition, W. H. Freeman & Co., New York], most of which employ techniques in which one or more of the constituents of the system is labeled in some fashion; often times, these labeling approaches show whether or not a particular event has occurred, such as the binding of one molecule to another, or altered activity of a particular step in a biochemical pathway [D. E. Koshland, 1970, The Molecular Basis for Enzyme Regulation, in The Enzymes, P. Boyer, Ed., 341-396, Academic Press]. A very limited number of techniques utilize the measurement of properties which directly measure some physiologic property of a system, or do not require the attachment of a label. However, in these cases, only a very limited amount of information is available, and in most cases, the techniques are difficult to carry out, and thus the throughput is extremely limited.
Many chemical and biological systems are amenable to direct physiologic detection, such as through the use electronic measurement techniques. Many activities of interest in these areas result in direct or indirect changes in the electromagnetic properties of the system. Indeed, numerous methods have been developed in which various electronic and electromagnetic properties of the system are monitored, and changes therein are correlated to the presence or absence of one or more activities. Electronic and electromagnetic monitoring has many advantages over other methods of detection: Electronic systems can be made very small, can be scaled to very high densities and/or large parallel systems, can be manufactured very cheaply, and are highly durable and impervious to environmental factors.
In order for a given system to be amenable to electronic and electromagnetic monitoring, as is currently practiced in the art, the system, and changes therein, must produce a large enough signal to be measured. To be more precise, the signal needs to be detectable over the background noise which is almost always present in such systems. This poses many problems for the general application of these techniques to chemical and biologic systems, as there often is a high level of inherent noise, and small changes due do specific chemical or biologic activities are therefore not detectable. For example, many systems are comprised largely of water and ionic species, both of which exhibit large changes in their electrical properties as a function of temperature. Small changes in ambient temperature produce changes in the electrical properties of the system being studied, thus rendering the signal effectively undetectable. Another relevant example is the detection of s specific activity in a complex mixture, such as a suspension of biologic cells or tissues; there are multiple activities on-going at any given time, so the detection of a specific activity is very challenging, at least if its signal is not easily separated from all of the other signals in the system.
The have been many attempts to address the problem of specificity and noise in electronic detection modalities. In many cases, the signal measured electromagnetically is derivative of the activity desired to be monitored. In most of these cases, the specific activity or activities it is desired to detect is directly or indirectly coupled to a system which effectively amplifies the signal, and thus makes it detectable. Examples of this include enzymatic processes, in which a particular analyte is modified in some way that renders it more easily detected. One such example is the use of the enzyme glucose oxidase to change an uncharged species (glucose) into charged species (gluconic acid), resulting in a change in the conductance of the medium in which the glucose resides. The change in conductance can then be detected using conventional instruments for the measurement of electrical conductivity. Other approaches involve altering the oxidation-reduction characteristics of a given analyte, creating dense monolayers of specific chemistries on conductive surfaces, in order to alter the contact resistance and/or reactance as a marker for activity. Yet another class of approaches is the creation of ultra-sensitive measurement modalities, for the purpose of directly measuring altered electrical and/or dielectric properties which result from some specific activity in the system.
Each of the above-mentioned approaches has limitations. In systems where some form of amplification needs to take place, the added burden of incorporating a mechanism for amplification is time consuming, incurs costs, and in many cases is not possible. In cases where ultra-sensitive measurement systems are used, there are often considerable costs, and often the size and throughput of the system makes it unsuitable for many applications.
Thus, although electronic detection has found utility in biological, chemical, medical, and industrial applications, there exist significant limitations which prevent larger utility. Accordingly, there is need for a system operable to measure, monitor and detect biologic and chemical activities using electronic and electromagnetic measurement modalities.

Systems and methods for monitoring chemical and biological activities using differential measurements


To provide a base station apparatus, a terminal apparatus, and a communication method capable of efficiently performing retransmission control for small size data in grant-free multiple access where the base station apparatus accommodates a large number of terminal apparatuses. The base station apparatus for communicating with multiple terminal apparatuses, the base station apparatus including a receiver configured to receive an identification signal identifying a terminal apparatus having transmitted uplink data and the uplink data, and a transmitter configured to transmit a delivery confirmation signal for the uplink data, wherein the delivery confirmation signal includes a bundled delivery confirmation signal for the uplink data received on an identical time resource and an identical frequency resource, and a delivery confirmation signal for each terminal apparatus, the bundled delivery confirmation signal is associated with a parameter shared by the terminal apparatuses having transmitted the uplink data received on the identical time resource and the identical frequency resource, and the delivery confirmation signal for each terminal apparatus is associated with a parameter specific to the terminal apparatus.

In a communication systems specified in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), a terminal apparatus (User Equipment: UE) uses a Scheduling Request (SR) or a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to request a radio resource for transmitting uplink data to a base station apparatus (evolved Node B: eNodeB). The base station apparatus gives an uplink transmission allowance (UL Grant) to each terminal apparatus, based on the SR or the BSR. After receiving control information about a UL Grant from the base station apparatus, the terminal apparatus transmits uplink data on a prescribed radio resource, based on uplink transmission parameters included in the UL Grant.
In a case that the base station apparatus successfully receives the uplink data, the base station apparatus transmits a positive Acknowledgement (ACK) in downlink to the terminal apparatus after elapse of a prescribed time from receiving the uplink data. On the other hand, in a case of not successfully receiving the uplink data, the base station apparatus transmits a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) to the terminal apparatus after elapse of a prescribed time from receiving the uplink data. The terminal apparatus receiving the NACK retransmits data associated with the uplink data. In this way, the base station apparatus controls all uplink data transmissions (data transmissions from the terminal apparatus to the base station apparatus). The base station apparatus controlling the uplink radio resource allows Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) to be realized.
The 3GPP has been specifying a radio access technology for realizing Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) as the fifth generation mobile communication system (5G) (NPL 1). In the mMTC, it is assumed that a large number of devices including the terminal apparatus and a sensor transmit and/or receive small data. For uplink mMTC, grant-free Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) has been discussed (NPL 2). The grant-free non-orthogonal multiple access permits that data transmitted from the terminal apparatuses the number of which exceeds the number of receive antennas of the base station apparatus is non-orthogonally multiplexed in space. In the grant-free non-orthogonal multiple access, the terminal apparatus transmits the uplink data to the base station apparatus without the SR transmission, the UL Grant reception, or the like. For this reason, in the grant-free non-orthogonal multiple access, even in the case that a large number of devices transmit and/or receive small size data, increase in overhead due to the control information can be suppressed. In the grant-free non-orthogonal multiple access, a time taken from generation to transmission of transmission data can be also shortened because the UL Grant reception and the like are not performed.

Base station apparatus, terminal apparatus, and communication method thereof


Each of a mobile station and a base station stores a Wideband CQI table and a Subband CQI table. At the mobile station, a control unit transmits a CQI report value indicating Wideband CQI, and an index (Index S) indicating a differential value of a Diff reference value based on the CQI report value and Subband CQI, on the basis of the tables. In addition, the control unit makes the Diff reference value variable to prevent an expression amount of the index from being damaged if the Wideband CQI report value is in a range close to an upper lit or a lower limit of the Wideband CQI table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile radio terminal capable of executing adaptive modulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a radio communication system employing the adaptive modulation, a terminal measures a radio transmission path quality and transmits it to a base station as CQI (Channel Quality Indication). The base station determines a transmission format (combination of the modulation and the encoding rate) on the basis of the CQI and transmits transmission information over an individual information channel using an appropriate transmission format. The type of the transmission format of the individual information channel is transmitted over the control channel as control information immediately before the transmission of the transmission information (cf., for example, 3GPP TS 25.214 V5.11.0 (2005-06) 6A HS-DSCH-related procedures).
In addition, in a system employing OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), the base station executes transmission simultaneously using a number of sub-carriers. At this time, different terminals can be allocated to the respective sub-carriers. This system is similar to the conventional FDM system in terms of allocating specific frequencies, but greatly different in terms of a feature that each terminal simultaneously receives all the sub-carriers of OFDM, executes a receiving process of the OFDM signal and extracts the sub-carrier to be received (cf., for example, 3GPP TSG RAN1#40bis R1-050249 Downlink Multiple Access Scheme for Evolved UTRA Multiplexing of Common Channel and Shared Data Channel). In this document, the sub-carriers are allocated to the terminals by a unit of grouping.
If the above two conventional techniques are combined, a radio communication system employing the following frequency band allocation control and the applied control of modulation and encoding can be constituted.
In a system of simultaneously receiving a plurality of bands such as the OFDM system, the terminal measures a radio transmission path quality or reception quality of sub-bands determined by dividing the entire measured band, and transmits the measurement result to the base station as CQI information.
The base station selects the transmission format to be applied to the individual information channel on which the transmission information is transmitted, and a sub-carrier group (RB: Resource Block) to be used, on the basis of the CQI information transmitted from each of the terminals and the other information saved in the base station. The information of the transmission format applied to the individual information channel and the information of the RB to be used are transmitted to the terminal before the individual information channel is transmitted over the control channel.
In other words, the CQI of each sub-group is transmitted from the terminal, and the information of the transmission format of the individual information channel and the information of the RB to be used are transmitted over the control channel from the base station.
For this reason, the terminal receives all the control channels, detects the control channel on which its own terminal ID is recorded, discriminates the RB to be used over the individual information channel, on the basis of the information on the detected control channel, discriminates the applied transmission format and sets the receiving function, and receives the individual information channel transmitted from the base station.
Incidentally, in some systems, the terminal transmits a Wideband quality measurement value (hereinafter called Wideband CQI) and a quality measurement value (hereinafter called Subband CQI) of Subbands obtained by dividing the Wideband, as the CQI information to be transmitted to the base station (cf., for example, 3GPP TSG RAN1#51 R1-075064).
In such a system, the Wideband CQI is notified as the CQI information, by a CQI report value representing its quality at, for example, 32 stages while the Subband CQI is notified as the CQI information, by a Diff value representing a differential value of, for example, 8 stages about the CQI report value of the Wideband including the Subband.
As for the CQI information of this system, however, if the CQI report value is close to the upper limit or lower limit, the represented range of the Subband CQI based on the Diff value is made narrow and the bit sequence required for the transmission of the Diff value cannot be efficiently used.

Mobile radio terminal and mobile communication system

Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications Limited


There is provided switching of an uplink transmission mode. The switching includes manipulating an uplink transmission method and precoding of a demodulation reference signal. The switching may also include utilizing control signaling in indicating to a user terminal that the mode of uplink transmission is to be switched, for example.

As the number of mobile subscribers has been increasing constantly and most likely will continue to do so, a great number of users may be present in one geographically limited area (e.g. a cell of a communication network). This may cause issues with regard to capacity of the network. Thus, one of the targets of sophisticated radio communication networks, such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) or the LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), is to be able to accommodate several subscribers in a cell without severe problems in the connections between a serving eNB and the subscribers (user terminal, UT).
For example the above mentioned communication networks are planned to adopt multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission between the UT and the eNB in order to improve the throughput of the network. The UT may have, for example, two transmit/receive antennas, which are typically separated by at least one half of a wave length or have a different polarization direction. The multiple antennas can be used to transmit the same data to enhance reliability of the communication (transmit spatial diversity), or they can transmit different data to enhance the throughput of the transmission (data multiplexing). When a single user is transmitting/receiving data to/from the eNB by using multiple antenna elements, the communication may be called single user MIMO (SU-MIMO).
To further enhance the reliability of the transmission and also to decrease the power consumption of the device, the UT may apply beamforming with the multiple antennas. That is, instead of transmitting the data omni-directionally, the UT directs its transmission/reception antenna beam towards a certain direction. In order to do this, the data transmitted from the antenna elements of the UT need to be weighted with certain coefficients. The beam may be formed independently for each data stream to be transmitted. However, selecting the coefficients so as to maximize the communication throughput requires knowledge of the channel state information.
For this reason, channel sounding signals, such as the sounding reference signals (SRS), are transmitted in uplink and the eNB may obtain knowledge of the radio interface condition by receiving the signals. The eNB may then inform the UT about the appropriate antenna coefficients. However, as the SRSs for sounding the channel between the UT and the eNB have only a limited capacity, the use of SRS may not be enough in connection with a great number of simultaneous subscribers. Thus, it is important to provide a solution for improving the sounding of the channel.

Uplink transmission mode switching in single user multiple-input communication


The present invention is a precision location system for wireless devices within a host system using known location of blind spots or partial blind spots to advantageously increase the accuracy of location determination. The host system with known blind spots is particularly adept at providing the control system with precise location accuracy for determining the entering or departing of a known geofence zone by a wireless device host.

Prior art focuses on a wide range of wireless methods to determine location, with virtually all of them failing to achieve high enough accuracy particularly in regions where high precision is required including instances in which precision is relative to absolute certainty of being within a blind spot or a geofence in known proximity to the blind spot. Integrating precise identification devices within the blind spot is cost prohibitive as well as requiring the wireless device to have yet another wireless communication method. The wide-scale adoption of wireless device onboard sensors, particularly within smartphones, has been utilized to increase location accuracy but all failing to achieve high precision (i.e., in most instances not less than a few feet, and in rare instances certainly not less than a few inches) and not without significant cost both economically and energy usage by the wireless device.
The wide-scale adoption of smartphones, logistic delivery and pickup kiosks, ride sharing vehicles, automated guided vehicles, drones, salad bars, energy/building automation, automated shopping systems etc. can be enhanced by gaining high-precision through the placement of non-onboard (relative to the wireless device's calculated location) sensors particularly when the location is utilized by the host system in which the wireless device is communicating with at minimal cost by strategic placement of wireless device blind spot(s). The present invention includes multiple embodiments of strategic placement and integration of at least one known blind spot whether the blind spot is permanent or temporary depending on the prioritization of the wireless user and/or host system interacting with the wireless user.

Known blind spots for location accuracy improvements of wireless devices


According to one embodiment, a region-of-interest extraction apparatus includes following units. The acquisition unit acquires a structured document including elements. The first extraction unit extracts block regions including specific elements, from the structured document. The second extraction unit extracts, as a display region, parts of the elements being displayed on a display screen, from the structured document. The third extraction unit extracts a region of interest, in which a user is interested, from the structured document, based on relations between the block regions and the display region.

When text information (hereinafter referred to as "document") such as a Web page and a manuscript is browsed, the user demands to easily obtain information relating to an interesting keyword that is included in the document. For example, there is disclosed a method of presenting related information for keywords included in a region preset by the user in advance (for example, see JP-A 2009-37454 (KOKAI)). In addition, there is proposed a method of directly selecting a keyword in a Web page and retrieving related information for the selected keyword.
However, in the method disclosed in JP-A 2009-37454 (KOKAI), keyword extraction is performed for a preset screen region without determining in which region in display a user is interested. Therefore, it is impossible to perform keyword extraction in consideration of the region in which the user is interested, or in consideration of relation of the region to another region. In addition, keyword extraction for the whole page has the problem that the number of extracted keywords is large. Besides, in the case of using the method in which the user selects a keyword by manual operation, the keyword selection operation itself is complicated, in particular in small terminals.
Therefore, in the region-of-interest extraction apparatuses, it is required to estimate a keyword in which the user is interested, and estimate a region in which the user is interested at present from the document that the user is browsing, to retrieve information relating to the keyword.

Region-of-interest extraction apparatus and method


A method and apparatus, in a computer graphics display system, for reducing the number of polygon intersection tests required to test a ray against a set of polygons. With this method, a multitude of polygons that represent images of object or parts of objects are identified, and these polygons are grouped into a plurality of groups on the basis of the general orientations of the polygons. Also, a ray is identified that represents a line of sight, and the general direction of the ray is compared with the general orientations of the polygons in the above-mentioned groups of polygons. On the basis of this comparison, selected groups of polygons are eliminated from further consideration. Polygons in other groups may be tested to determine if the ray intersects the polygons. The preferred embodiment of the invention described herein in detail has a number of important features. These include (1) a compressed representation of the general direction of displacement of a 3D vector called the directional classification code and a method for computing it given a vector, and (2) a conservative but efficient technique for determining whether the dot product of two vectors of equal length will result in a positive or negative value by comparing their directional classification codes using boolean logic.

This invention generally relates to computer graphics display systems. More specifically, the invention relates to using ray tracing and backface culling technique to reduce the number of polygon intersection tests required to test effectively a ray against a set of polygons.
Backface Culling
Backface culling is a method of reducing the number of polygons rendered by a scan converting rendering architecture. The basic premise is simple: If we assume that the polygons we render are planar and only visible from one side, then we can easily detect when a polygon is facing away from the camera and eliminate it from consideration. The end result is that the time and computational resources which would have been wasted rendering invisible polygons can be used more efficiently on visible polygons. Since most computer graphics databases consist of polygon meshes of convex objects, approximately half of the polygons are backfacing when viewed from a single perspective. Therefore, the use of this technique effectively doubles the number of polygons processed by a scan converting rendering architecture in a given amount of time.
The traditional technique for culling backfacing polygons involves computing the normal vector of the plane in which each polygon lies and computing the dot product of this normal vector with the view vector from the camera focal point to a point on the surface of the polygon. If the sign of the dot product is positive, then the polygon is facing away from the camera (backfacing) and as such can be culled.
If the operation is performed in xe2x80x9ccamera coordinatesxe2x80x9d in which the virtual camera""s center of projection is the origin of the coordinate system and the virtual camera""s view direction vector is equal to the positive-Z axis of the coordinate system, then the computation of the dot product reduces to a simple sign check of the Z component of the polygon""s plane normal vector. If the sign of the Z component is positive, then the polygon is backfacing and can be culled, otherwise the polygon must be drawn.
Recent articles disclose procedures that attempt to improve the efficiency of the process of backface culling in a scan converting rendering architecture. These articles include xe2x80x9cFast Backface Culling Using Normal Masks,xe2x80x9d Zhangh, Hansen and Hoff, ACM Interactive 3D Graphics Conference, 1997 (Zhangh, et al.), and xe2x80x9cHierarchical Back-Face Computation,xe2x80x9d Kumar, Subodh et al., Proceedings of 7th Eurographics Workshop on Rendering, June 1996, pp. 231-240 (Kumar, et al).
Zhang, et al. transforms unit normal vectors from 3D Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) into polar coordinates (theta, phi) with an implied rho of 1.0. These 2D coordinates are used to generate a one-bit address within a backfacing maskxe2x80x94a two dimensional grid of single bit elements each of which corresponds to a solid angle on the unit sphere and represent all the unit normal vectors oriented within that solid angle. Any given unit vector can be mapped to one and only one bit in the 2D mask array. All of the normals mapped to one of the bits are said to belong to a xe2x80x9cnormal clusterxe2x80x9d represented by that particular bit.
Each time the camera changes orientation a backfacing mask is constructed by determining for each bit in the mask whether all of the normals lying within the cluster are backfacing. This determination is performed by computing the dot products between the camera and each of the normals at the four corners of the represented solid angle. If all of the dot products are positive, then the bit is set in the backfacing mask, indicating that all normals in the cluster would be backfacing. This process is repeated for each cluster in the backfacing mask. After the backfacing mask has been generated, the polygons can be processed in turn. Each polygon""s normal vector is computed from the cross product of its first and last edge vectors and is mapped to a normal cluster on the backfacing mask. If the corresponding backfacing mask bit is set, then the polygon is culled, otherwise the polygon is rendered. The mask technique described in Zhang, et al. offers a linear improvement in performance (forty to eighty percent faster) over traditional dot product evaluation, but can not achieve more than a one hundred percent increase in speed due to the fact that each polygon must be fetched and tested.
An approach advocated in Kumar, et al. groups normal vectors into a hierarchical tree of clusters based on position and orientation of polygons and their normal vectors. Each cluster divides space into three regionsxe2x80x94the front, the back, and a mixed regionxe2x80x94using separation planes. If the camera view point lies in the front region of a cluster, then all the polygons in the cluster are front facing. If the camera view point lies in the back region of a cluster, then all the polygons in the cluster are back facing. If the camera view point lies in the mixed region of a cluster, then sub clusters within the cluster must be evaluated because some of the polygons are front facing while others are backfacing.
This technique tests each cluster as a whole against the camera position and direction vectors without requiring that each triangle be explicitly fetched. In addition, this algorithm attempts to make use of frame-to-frame coherence. This algorithm does not eliminate one hundred percent of the backfacing polygons, but it eliminates between sixty and one hundred percent of these polygons, depending upon the polygon database.
Because the technique described in Kumar, et al. does not require each triangle to be tested, it is said to be a sublinear algorithm and as such has the potential to achieve an increase in speed of greater than one hundred percent. In practice, the algorithm achieves an increase in speed of between thirty and seventy percent when employed in a scan converting rendering architecture. This is because this algorithm significantly limits other optimizations, such as state sorting and vertex sharing, which are of critical importance to a scan converting architecture.
Ray Tracing
Ray tracing, also referred to as ray casting, is a technique employed in the field of computer graphics for determining what is visible from a vantage point along a particular line of sight. It was first reported as a technique for generating images and was first reported in xe2x80x9cSome Techniques for Shading Machine Renderings of Solidsxe2x80x9d, Appel, AFIPS 1968 Spring Joint Computer Conference, 32, 37-45 (1968) (Appel). Many improvements have been published including support for reflections and shadows, soft shadows and motion blur, and indirect illumination and caustics. These improvements are discussed in xe2x80x9cAn Improved Illumination Model for Shaded Display,xe2x80x9d Whitted, Communications of the ACM, Volume 23, Number 6, June 1980 (Whitted); xe2x80x9cDistributed Ray Tracing,xe2x80x9d Cook, Porter and Carpenter, Computer Graphics 18(3), July 1984, pp. 137-145 (Cook et al.); and xe2x80x9cThe Rendering Equation,xe2x80x9d (Kajiya) Computer Graphics 20(4), August 1986, pp. 269 (Kajiya).
Ray tracing has also been used to compute form factors for iterative thermal transfer and radiosity computations [Wallace89]. Ray tracing is the most sophisticated visibility technique in the field of computer graphics, but it is also the most computationally expensive.
A ray is a half line of infinite length originating at a point in space described by a position vector which travels from said point along a direction vector. Ray tracing is used in computer graphics to determine visibility by directing one or more rays from a vantage point described by the ray""s position vector along a line of sight described by the ray""s direction vector. To determine the location of the nearest visible surface along that line of sight requires that the ray be effectively tested for intersection against all the geometry within the virtual scene and retain the nearest intersection.
An alternative to scan conversion for rendering an image involves directing one or more eye rays through each pixel in the image from the center of projection or points on the lens of the virtual camera. After basic visibility has been determined, ray tracing can be used to compute optically correct shadows, reflections, or refraction by firing secondary rays from the visibility points along computed trajectories.
Ray tracing renderers often employ secondary rays to capture the effects of occlusion, reflection, and refraction. Because these secondary rays can originate from points other than the center of projection of the virtual camera and can travel in directions other than the line of sight of the virtual camera a ray tracer cannot use the sign bit of the Z-component to determine if a polygon is backfacing. The polygon""s normal vector could be precomputed in a preprocess and the dot product between the ray direction vector and this precomputed normal vector could be computed by the ray polygon intersection function. However, this approach would only yield a modest improvement at the cost of performing unnecessary memory accesses and dot product calculations for polygons which are front facing.
What would be better, and what is specified here, is a technique for grouping polygons together which have common orientation such that a single comparison between the ray direction and a representative direction for the group of polygons could eliminate large numbers of ray polygon intersection tests instead of just one. While each polygon is only processed once by a scan converting rendering architecture for each rendered frame, a ray tracer effectively processes each polygon millions of times (once for every ray cast) for each rendered frame. As a result, the effectiveness of such a technique would significantly reduce the computation, memory access, and rendering time necessary to produce images with ray tracing.
Ray Tracing Acceleration Using Intersection Test Reduction
To render a photorealistic picture of a 3D virtual scene with ray tracing requires hundreds of millions of rays and billions of ray intersection testsxe2x80x94depending upon the complexity of the scene, the number of light sources, and the resolution of the rendered image. It has been an active area of research to reduce the number of ray intersection tests while ensuring that accurate visibility is maintained. It is necessary for any ray intersection reduction technique to be conservative; that is, only irrelevant intersection tests should be eliminated. The method of testing a technique against this requirement is simple: A set of rays R tested against a set of targets T should result in a set of nearest intersection values I whether or not the ray intersection reduction technique is employed.
Prior art techniques for reducing the number of ray intersection calculations can be classified in three categories: Bounding volume techniques, spatial subdivision techniques, and directional techniques. Each of these techniques attempt to reduce the amount of computation required at the inner loop of the rendering process by preprocessing the scene into some sort of data structure that can be more efficiently traversed.
Bounding Volume Techniques
Bounding volume techniques were first introduced in an article xe2x80x9cAn Improved Illumination Model for Shaded Displayxe2x80x9d, Whitted, Communications of the ACM, Volume 23, Number 6, June 1980. This technique is based on the principal that if many geometric targets can be completely enclosed in a sphere in a rendering preprocess, then any rays which must be tested against the targets are first tested for intersection with the sphere. If a ray does not intersect the sphere, then it cannot intersect any of the geometric targets inside the sphere, and many ray intersection computations can be avoided. Other bounding volume techniques employ boxes, or groups of slabs or plane sets [Kay86] instead of spheres to provide a tighter fitting bounding volume. One such technique is discussed in xe2x80x9cRay Tracing Complex Scenes,xe2x80x9d Kay and Kajiya, Computer Graphics 20(4), August 1986, p. 269.
The efficiency of bounding volume techniques is directly related to the tightness of the bound and inversely proportional to the complexity of the ray bounding volume intersection test. Spheres and boxes allow for very fast ray intersection computation, but there are frequently encountered cases where the target they attempt to bound is not tightly bounded by the sphere or box and a large number of unnecessary ray intersection calculations result. Conversely, a customized polygon mesh can provide an extremely tight bound, but can very easily require nearly as many (or more) intersection tests than the geometry it attempts to bound. Bounding volumes are best used in concert with spatial subdivision or directional techniques.
Spatial Subdivision Techniques
Spatial Subdivision techniques were first introduced in an article xe2x80x9cSpace Subdivision for Fast Ray Tracing,xe2x80x9d Glassner, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 4(10), October 1984, pp. 15-22. These techniques are significantly more efficient than bounding volume techniques but require more preprocessing work. Spatial Subdivision techniques divide space into uniform grids or octrees. For example, a procedure that uses uniforms grids is discussed in [Fujimoto85], and a procedure that uses octrees is described in the above-mentioned Glassner article. Each voxel (cell in the grid) enumerates the geometric targets which partially or completely lie within it and when the ray is tested against the octree or uniform grid only those cells which lie along the path of the ray are consulted. This aspect of these techniques significantly reduces the number of geometric targets which need to be tested against each ray.
Voxels and Octrees also provide a mechanism referred to as an early exit mechanism. The cells which lie along the path of the ray are tested starting with the cell nearest to the ray origin point and ending with the cell which is farthest along the ray""s path. With this mechanism, if the ray intersects a geometric target within a cell, then the search may be halted after the remaining targets within the cell have been tested. The additional cells along the path of the ray are irrelevant because they lie beyond an intersection which is closer to the ray origin and as such any geometry within them would be occluded by that intersection. Another spatial subdivision techniques is described in [Kaplan85]. In this technique, Binary Separation Planes are used to subdivide space to reduce the number of target candidates.
Spatial subdivision techniques have matured and evolved into a number of different forms: Octrees, uniform grids, and BSP trees. They are simple to construct and traverse and offer an efficient early exit mechanism.
Directional Techniques
Directional techniques were first introduced in [Haines86]. These procedures attempt to use directional coherence to eliminate geometric targets from consideration in a manner similar to the manner that spatial subdivision techniques make use of spatial coherence to eliminate geometric targets. Where spatial techniques use a 3D grid in space directional techniques make use of a 2D grid of elements subtending finite solid angles mapped onto 2D surfaces. Examples of directional techniques are discussed in [Haines86], xe2x80x9cRay Coherence Theorum and Constant Time Ray Tracing Algorithm.xe2x80x9d Ohta, et al., Computer Graphics 1987 (Proc. of CG International ""87) (ed. T. L. Kunmi, pp. 303-314); and [Arvo87].
The technique described in [Haines86] uses a light buffer to reduce the number of objects tested for shadow ray intersection computation. The light buffer is a 2D grid mapped onto the surface of a direction cube surrounding a point light source. Each cell of the direction cube contains a near-to-far ordered list of the geometric targets visible within the solid angle subtended by the cell. To determine if a point is illuminated by the light or is occluded by another object, the shadow ray (originating at the point and directed at the light) is intersected with the surface of the direction cube and mapped into the 2D grid. The list of targets enumerated in the appropriate cell is then tested against the ray. If the ray intersects any target between the point and the light, then the search ends and the point is in shadow, otherwise the point is illuminated by the light. A similar approach known as First Hit Acceleration makes use of depth buffering scan conversion hardware to render from the camera""s point of view, but instead of storing colors in the frame buffer, the first hit acceleration approach stores a pointer or reference to the nearest target along the trajectory of the ray passing through each pixel.
The procedure, referred to as 5D Ray Classification, described in the above-identified Arvo article transforms each ray into a 5D point (x,y,z,u,v), where (x,y,z) are the ray""s origin and (u,v) are 2D coordinates mapped onto the surface of a direction cube derived from the ray""s direction vector. The scene database is duplicated and sorted into six listsxe2x80x94one for each of the six dominant axes (+X, xe2x88x92X, +Y, xe2x88x92Y, +Z, xe2x88x92Z). During the rendering process the scene database is dynamically partitioned into parallelepiped subsets of 5D space (corresponding to beams in 3D space). When a ray is tested against the scene, it is xe2x80x9cclassifiedxe2x80x9d (converted into a 5D point) and its dominant direction axis is computed from the sign and axis of the largest absolute valued component in the ray direction vector. A candidate list is selected which corresponds to the primary axis of the ray direction vector, and those targets within the candidate list which lie inside the parallelepiped are tested against the ray in approximately the same order that they would be encountered along the ray""s trajectory. For this reason, Ray Classification supports an early exit so not all the targets need be tested when an intersection occurs near the ray origin.
Because directional techniques require multiple lists of target geometry they consume a large amount of space and are not particularly efficient with memory caching schemes.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved technique, for use in a computer graphics image generation system, to reduce the number of polygon intersection tests needed to test a ray against a set of polygons.
Another object of the present invention is to arrange a set of polygons, and to provide a simple procedure to arrange these polygons, in different groups according to the general orientations of the polygons.
A further object of this invention is to provide a compressed representation, and a procedure for computing this compressed representation, of the general direction of a ray or similarly oriented group of rays and the general direction of a polygon normal or a group of polygons with similarly oriented normals.
These and other objects are attained with a method and apparatus, in a computer graphics image generation system, for reducing the number of polygon intersection tests required to test a ray against a set of polygons. With this method, a multitude of polygons that represent images of object or parts of objects are identified, and these polygons are grouped into a plurality of groups on the basis of the general orientations of the polygons. Also, a ray is identified that represents a line of sight, and the general direction of the ray is compared with the general orientations of the polygons in the above-mentioned groups of polygons. On the basis of this comparison, selected groups of polygons are eliminated from further consideration. Polygons in other groups may be tested to determine if the ray intersects the polygons.
The preferred embodiment of the invention described herein in detail has a number of important features. These include:
(1) A compressed representation of the general direction of displacement of a 3D vector called the directional classification code and a method for computing it given a vector.
(2) A conservative but efficient technique for determining whether the dot product of two vectors of equal length will result in a positive or negative value by comparing their directional classification codes using boolean logic.
(3) A rendering preprocess in which a set of polygons in a common coordinate system are arranged into directionally classified polygon groups according to their directional classification codes.
(4) A method of sorting the polygons within a directionally classified polygon group in front to back order along a group unit normal vector.
(5) A method of reducing the number of ray-polygon intersection calculations performed by a ray tracer which uses the directional classification code, the group unit normal vector and directionally classified polygon groups.
Further benefits and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description, given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which specify and show preferred embodiments of the invention.

Ray intersection reduction using directionally classified target lists