An optical recording method for an optical disk having a disk surface portion in which prepits, indicative of preformat information, are formed. In the optical recording method, a portion of a data signal which matches one of the prepits and corresponds to a write mark radially adjacent to one of the prepits is detected. Marks are recorded along a track of the disk by selectively using one of an optimal recording power and a proper recording power level, in accordance with the non-match portion or the match portion of the data signal. A radial width of the marks recorded in accordance with the match portion of the data signal is smaller than a radial width of the marks recorded in accordance with the non-match portion of the data signal. An optical reproducing method is adapted to accurately detect a wobble signal and a prepit signal from the optical disk to which data is recorded by the above optical recording method. Further, a wobble/prepit detection method for optical recording and reproduction is adapted to accurately detect the wobble signal and the prepit signal from the optical disk.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical recording and reproducing methods for an optical disk having a disk surface portion in which prepits, indicative of preformat information, are formed.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Recordable optical storage media are known. Generally, in a recordable optical disk, preformat information, including address information, rotation control sync marks and record position control sync marks, is recorded. For example, a CD-R (compact disk recordable) or a MD (mini-disk) includes a disk surface portion in which wobble grooves are formed in order to derive a wobble signal, indicative of the rotation control sync information, from the wobble grooves.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-326138, there is known an optical disk having a disk surface portion in which prepits, indicative of the preformat information (for example, the address information), are formed. In the optical disk disclosed in the above publication, the wobble grooves are formed as the tracks, and the lands between neighboring grooves are used to form the prepits at given distances along the track. These prepits are called the land prepits (LPP). Even when the track pitch is small, the prepits can be continuously formed on the lands of the disk without interruption, and the preformat information derived from such prepits of the optical disk is useful for obtaining accurate address information and accurate rotation control sync information.
FIG. 10 shows a track structure of an optical disk as disclosed in the above publication.
As shown in FIG. 10, in the disk surface portion of the optical disk, wobble grooves G are formed to extend in a tangential track direction TT of the disk, and land prepits LPP are formed on the lands L between neighboring grooves. In the optical disk in the above preformat structure, data is written in the grooves and the lands acting as a guard band. It is intended to prevent the influence of the prepits (on the lands) to the data recorded in the grooves. The lowering of recording density of the optical disk due to the preformat information can be avoided, and the compatibility with read-only optical storage media, such as CD (compact disk) and DVD (digital video disk), can be maintained.
As disclosed in the above publication or Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-17029, a method of detecting the preformat information from the optical disk of the above type is known.
In the preformat information detection method of the above publications, a push-pull signal is derived from a reflected laser beam from the optical disk by using a 4-segment photodetector. The push-pull signal is supplied to a high-pass filter, and the direct-current component of the push-pull signal is eliminated by the high-pass filter. The resulting signal is converted into a digital signal by using a slicer (comparator). The digital signal is subjected to demodulation so that a prepit signal indicative of the preformat information, such as the address information, is produced.
In a conventional optical recording method, an optimal recording power is predetermined which is the most suitable laser power of a laser light source for minimizing the amount of jitter in data recording. In the conventional optical recording method, this optimal recording power is used to record data to the optical disk, with respect to the entire track of the optical disk, even when the optical disk of the type shown in FIG. 10 is accessed.
FIG. 12A through FIG. 12E are diagrams for explaining a conventional optical recording method. FIG. 12A shows a waveform of a push-pull signal produced at an output of a high-pass filter. FIG. 12B shows a waveform of a prepit signal derived from the push-pull signal. FIG. 12C shows a waveform of a data signal produced by an EFM (eight-to-fourteen modulation) decoder. FIG. 12D shows a waveform of an LD (laser diode) emission power signal. FIG. 12E shows a pattern of write marks recorded along a track of the optical disk in accordance with the LD emission power signal.
When recording write marks along a track (groove) of the optical disk at the optimal recording power, the LD emission power waveform of FIG. 12D is used. As shown in FIG. 12E, the groove xe2x80x9cGxe2x80x9d is interposed between the neighboring lands xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d, and this prevents the write marks from radially extending beyond the boundaries between the groove G and the lands L. Hence, the write marks xe2x80x9cMxe2x80x9d have a radial width which is substantially equal to a radial width of the groove xe2x80x9cGxe2x80x9d.
However, in the optical disk of the type of FIG. 10, the prepits xe2x80x9cLPPxe2x80x9d are formed on the lands L before data is recorded to the optical disk. As shown in FIG. 12E, the center write mark xe2x80x9cMxe2x80x9d which is located radially adjacent to the prepit xe2x80x9cLPPxe2x80x9d may extend beyond the boundary between the groove G and the land L (with the prepit LPP). This causes the reflected laser beam from the prepit LPP of the optical disk to be lowered due to the presence of the write mark M adjacent to the prepit LPP. Also, the amplitude of the push-pull signal corresponding to this position of the optical disk will be lowered. The amplitude of a prepit signal in the conventional optical recording method may be significantly degraded due to the presence of the write mark radially adjacent to the corresponding prepit in the optical disk.
FIG. 11A shows a prepit signal before recording, and FIG. 11B shows a prepit signal after recording which may be produced in the conventional optical recording method.
When recording the write marks along the track (groove) of the optical disk in accordance with the data signal as shown in FIG. 12C, the write marks and the spaces between write marks on the groove are likely to confront the positions of the prepits on the neighboring lands with equal probability. The amplitude of the prepit signal always varies in accordance with the prepit pattern.
As shown in FIG. 11A, the amplitude of the prepit signal before the write marks are recorded to the optical disk is highly stable without significant degradation. By comparing the prepit signal with a slice level of the slicer, it is possible to accurately detect the preformat information from the optical disk.
However, if the write marks are already recorded along the entire track of the optical disk at the optimal recording power, the amplitude of the prepit signal becomes significantly unstable as shown in FIG. 11B. For example, when the prepit on the land aligns with the write mark on the neighboring groove, the peak amplitude of the prepit signal is reduced to below xc2xd of the peak amplitude of FIG. 11A. In such a case, the prepit signal cannot be properly detected by using the slice level of the slicer. When the prepit on the land aligns with the space between write marks on the neighboring groove, the peak amplitude of the prepit signal is substantially the same as the peak amplitude of FIG. 11A. For this reason, it is difficult for the conventional optical recording method to provide accurate detection of the preformat information from the optical disk.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 5-128564, a method of detecting the wobble signal from the optical disk of the above type is known. The conventional optical reproducing method of the above publication is aimed at obtaining accurate detection of the wobble signal even when a tilt of the optical axis of the objective lens with respect to the optical disk surface arises. In the method of the above publication, the gains of outputs from two photodiodes of a 2-segment photodetector are adjusted to be equal to each other. A difference signal indicative of a difference between the reproducing signals output from the photodiodes is produced by subtraction, and the difference signal is passed through a wobble decoder so that the rotation control sync information is produced the wobble signal. However, when the write mark is radially adjacent to the prepit in the optical disk, it is difficult for the conventional optical reproducing method to accurately detect the wobble signal and the prepit signal from the optical disk with data written thereto.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 6-290462, a method of detecting the wobble signal from the optical disk of the above type is known. The conventional optical reproducing method of the above publication is aimed at obtaining accurate detection of the wobble signal. In the method of the above publication, the outputs from two photodiodes of a 2-segment photodetector are supplied to two normalization circuits, and a sum signal indicative of a sum of the outputs of the photodiodes is supplied to the normalization circuits. The reproducing signals output from the photodiodes are normalized at the normalization circuits by the sum signal. A difference signal indicating of a difference between the normalized signals is produced by subtraction, and the difference signal is passed through a band-pass filter so that the wobble signal is produced. However, when the write mark is radially adjacent to the prepit in the optical disk, it is difficult for the conventional optical reproducing method to accurately detect the wobble signal and the prepit signal from the optical disk with data written thereto.
An object of the present invention is to provide improved optical recording and reproducing methods in which the above-described problems are eliminated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical recording method which allows accurate detection of the preformat information from the optical disk with data written thereto, by minimizing the degradation of the prepit signal when the write mark is radially adjacent to the prepit in the optical disk.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical reproducing method which provides accurate detection of the wobble signal and the prepit signal from the optical disk with data written thereto, with good reliability, even when the write mark is radially adjacent to the prepit in the optical disk.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wobble/prepit detection method for optical recording and reproduction of the optical disk, which provides accurate detection of the wobble signal and the prepit signal from the optical disk with data written thereto, with good reliability, even when the write mark is radially adjacent to the prepit in the optical disk.
The above-mentioned objects of the present invention are achieved by an optical recording method for an optical disk having a disk surface portion in which prepits, indicative of preformat information, are formed, the optical recording method including the steps of: detecting a portion of a data signal which matches one of the prepits and corresponds to a write mark radially adjacent to one of the prepits; recording marks along a track of the disk, using an optimal recording power, in accordance with a non-match portion of the data signal which does not match any of the prepits but corresponds to a write mark, the recorded marks having a first width in a radial direction of the disk; and recording marks along the track of the disk, using a proper recording power level, in accordance with the match portion of the data signal, the recorded marks having a second width in the radial direction which is smaller than the first width.
The above-mentioned objects of the present invention are achieved by an optical reproducing method for an optical disk having a disk surface portion in which wobble grooves indicative of rotation control sync information are formed to create a wobble signal, and prepits indicative of preformat information are formed to create a prepit signal, the optical reproducing method including the steps of: providing an automatic gain control AGC unit for each of photodiodes contained in a photodetector of a pickup, the AGC units being connected to the photodiodes, and each AGC unit providing a gain of a detection current output by a corresponding one of the photodiodes; detecting a portion of a data signal which matches one of the prepits and corresponds to a write mark radially adjacent to one of the prepits; detecting the wobble signal and the prepit signal along a track of the disk, using optimal gains of the AGC units, in accordance with a non-match portion of the data signal which does not match any of the prepits but corresponds to a write mark; and detecting the wobble signal and the prepit signal along the track of the disk, using reduced gains of half of the AGC units and the optimal gains of the other half of the AGC units, in accordance with the match portion of the data signal.
The above-mentioned objects of the present invention are achieved by a wobble/prepit detection method for optical recording and reproduction of an optical disk having a disk surface portion in which wobble grooves indicative of rotation control sync information are formed, and prepits indicative of preformat information are formed, the wobble/prepit detection method including the steps of: detecting a portion of a data signal which matches one of the prepits and corresponds to one of write marks radially adjacent to one of the prepits; detecting a wobble signal and a prepit signal along a track of the disk, using an optimal track offset, in accordance with a non-match portion of the data signal which does not match any of the prepits but corresponds to one of the write marks; and detecting the wobble signal and the prepit signal along the track of the disk, using a corrected track offset, in accordance with the match portion of the data signal, the corrected track offset having a margin of a prepit detection error to a permissible level, which margin being larger than a margin corresponding to the optimal track offset.
In a preferred embodiment of the optical recording method of the invention, the write marks are recorded along the track of the disk by selectively using one of the optimal recording power or the proper recording power level in accordance with the non-match portion or the match portion of the data signal. The radial width of the marks recorded in accordance with the match portion of the data signal is smaller than the radial width of the marks recorded in accordance with the non-match portion of the data signal. The optical recording method of the present invention is effective in minimizing the degradation of the prepit signal due to the presence of the write mark radially adjacent to the prepit in the optical disk, allowing accurate detection of the preformat information, such as the address information of the optical disk.
In a preferred embodiment of the optical reproducing method of the invention, the wobble signal and the prepit signal are detected along the track of the optical disk by selectively using the optimal gains or the reduced gains of the AGC units in accordance with the non-match portion or the match portion of the data signal. Even when the write mark is radially adjacent to the prepit in the optical disk, it is possible to accurately detect the wobble signal and the prepit signal from the optical disk with good reliability.
In a preferred embodiment of the wobble/prepit detection method of the invention, the wobble signal and the prepit signal are detected along the track of the optical disk by selectively using the optimal track offset or the corrected track offset in accordance with the non-match portion or the match portion of the data signal. Even when the write mark is radially adjacent to the prepit in the optical disk, it is possible to accurately detect the wobble signal and the prepit signal from the optical disk with good reliability.

Optical recording and reproducing methods for optical disk


A method for reading optical indicia involving the application of different symmetrical transforms to each of a plurality of images of an optical indicia. Characteristic features are identified in the transformed frequency domain representation of each transformed image, the characteristic features corresponding to repetitive features found in the original non-transformed representation of each image. Modified images are created by subjecting the frequency-domain representation of each image to an inverse transformation. The modified images can be combined to create an improved representation of the optical indicia being read. Thus, the depth of field and efficiency of an optical indicia reader can be enhanced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally pertains to the optical imaging arts. Further, the present invention pertains to an improved system for reading optical indicia.
2. Description of Related Art
Devices have been developed that can read optical indicia without coming into physical contact with the particular optical indicia being read. Such reading or imaging devices are said to read in an "non-contact" fashion. Portable and non-portable such devices are known.
The reading devices capture an image of the indicia by sensing light-energy reflected from the indicia to the reading device. Such optical indicia readers illuminate the optical indicia by directing or scanning a light-energy source, such as a laser-generated or other type of light, across the surface of the indicia. Other types of reading devices are sometimes referred to as "instantaneous" readers. These readers generally illuminate the entire optical indicia at once and sense the reflected light energy with an area-type sensor.
All types of optical indicia readers, however, often capture an image of an optical indicia that turns out to be unreadable. The unreadability can be the result of several factors. Sometimes, for example, the reader is not accurately aimed and a sufficient portion of the optical indicia is not within the captured field of view. Sometimes the light-energy reflected back to the reader is not sufficient to permit a quality imaging. Other factors can also cause a captured field of view to be unreadable. As a final example, if the optical indicia is not located within the indicia reader's depth of field, if the indicia is too far from the reader for example, the captured image will be too out of focus to be readable.
Past indicia readers have incorporated some features calculated to increase reading performance. For example, some readers employ filtering technology in the time or spatial domain to remove some problems. Some readers have used a Fourier transformation to aid the reading process. If, however, a filtered or Fourier transformed image is not readable, the reading process must start over and a new image must be acquired.
What is needed is an improved indicia reading system that can read images that would have been unreadable with previous systems. Such a capability would improve efficiency since fewer optical indicia would have to be reread.

Optical indicia reading via application of multiple transforms


An impedance adjustment device includes a variable capacitor unit. A microcomputer changes the capacitance value of the variable capacitor unit by switching PIN diodes included in n capacitor circuits on or off separately. Thus, the impedance on the plasma generator side when viewed from a high frequency power supply is adjusted. When changing the capacitance value of the variable capacitor unit to a target capacitance value, the microcomputer changes the capacitance value. When a predetermined period passes after the change of the capacitance value, the microcomputer changes the capacitance value again.

In a configuration in which a high frequency power supply applies a high frequency AC voltage to a load, an impedance adjustment device is disposed in midway of the transmission line of the AC voltage output from the high frequency power supply to the load. The impedance adjustment device adjusts the impedance on the load side when viewed from the high frequency power supply. Japan Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2017-69823 discloses an impedance adjustment device. The impedance adjustment device includes a variable capacitor unit. In the variable capacitor unit, a plurality of series circuits are connected in parallel. In each series circuit, a capacitor is connected in series to a semiconductor switch.
The capacitance value of the variable capacitor unit is changed by switching on or off separately a plurality of semiconductor switches included in the variable capacitor unit. By changing the capacitance value of the variable capacitor unit, the impedance on the load side when viewed from the high frequency power supply is adjusted to match the complex conjugate of the output impedance of the high frequency power supply, or is adjusted so that the absolute value of the reflection coefficient on the load side when viewed from the high frequency power supply is minimized. So-called impedance matching is performed. As a result, electric power can be efficiently supplied to the load side. In the load, plasma for performing various processes is generated by the application of an AC voltage input from the high frequency power supply.


The present invention refers to a plate heat exchanger (1) comprising a frame (2) with two end plates (3,4) and between them a package (5) of heat transfer plates (6) with intermediate gaskets, which delimit flow spaces for at least two heat transfer fluids, and a cover (8) extending round said package (5). The cover (8) abuts closely towards the end plates (3,4) and is arranged on distance from said package (5) so that a sealed space towards the surrounding atmosphere is created between the cover (8) and said package (5).

A plate heat exchanger of the above mentioned kind is known through GB 1 500 917. The previous known plate heat exchanger is provided with a cover of rubber material or similar which is moulded around the plate heat exchanger to prevent leakage to flow out to the surrounding atmosphere.
Plate heat exchangers, used at high temperatures, often require frequent gasket replacement, owing to hardening of the gaskets, which deteriorates the sealing ability. Mostly it is the influence from the oxygen in surrounding air in connection with heightened temperature, which causes the breaking down of the rubber material. The choice of heat transfer fluid in the plate heat exchanger is of minor importance. If the gaskets are protected, so that they will not contact the surrounding air during operation, a considerable increase of life at high temperatures can be attained.
One way to achieve this could be to locate the plate heat exchanger in a hermetic container. Such a container could become very expensive, in particular for larger plate heat exchangers. An additional problem with a hermetic container for a plate heat exchanger is that a hydrostatic test and inspection must be allowed. This means that the container must be able to be assembled and dismantled on a plate heat exchanger already tightened.
To embed the package of heat transfer plates, as proposed in GB 1 500 917, does not solve the problem sufficiently. A moulded cover cannot be dismantled in a simple way and besides the cover will assume a rather high temperature and thus aging in the same way as the rubber gaskets. A cover must also function and seal properly despite huge deflection of the end plates during operation, which a moulded cover does not.


Scalable means are provided for diagnosing the health of a parallel system comprising multiple nodes interconnected using one or more switching networks. The node pings other nodes via different paths at regular intervals. If more than a threshold number of pings are missed from a node, the system performs fault detection by entering a freeze state in which nodes do not send or receive any messages except ping messages. If ping messages still fail to reach destination nodes, the parallel system identifies faulty components that are causing ping messages to fail. Once the faulty component is identified, the parallel system is unfrozen by allowing nodes to communicate all messages. If redundant computers and/or switches are present, the parallel system is automatically reconfigured to avoid the faulty components.

Enterprise systems typically utilize multiple processors connected via network to increase efficiency as well as reliability. Efficiency of execution is improved by utilizing multiple processors to perform a computation in parallel. Reliability is improved by ensuring that the service performed by the enterprise is not interrupted in spite of failures. A failure can occur in a processor or in the communication infrastructure. A large distributed system that employs a large number of processors and a complex communication infrastructure is likely to encounter more failures in a given period compared to a smaller system since the larger system has more components that can fail. Enterprises often use distributed systems to provide services that can cause significant losses to the enterprise if interrupted. An enterprise that sells products or services online, for example, an online bookseller or an online reservation system can lose large amount of revenue if the online service is down for a long time.
Furthermore, distributed systems for certain businesses need to be designed so that there is no loss of data when failure occurs. For example, the system may continuously receive requests and updates from users. However, the system is not expected to lose any of the requests or updates in spite of failures. Loss of data can cause liability for enterprises or significant effort in either restoring the information or resolving issues with customers related to lost data. For example, if a customer places an order and the information regarding the order is lost, the enterprise needs to resolve the customer issue which may require live operators. Typically, the expense of resolving an issue using live operators is much higher than the cost of transactions executed automatically. Besides, loss of information may affect the reputation of the enterprise and resulting in loss of customer goodwill.
Enterprises rely on hardware solutions, for example, fault tolerant switching hardware. These solutions require the enterprise to design their architecture around specialized hardware and make it difficult for the enterprise to switch to a different vendor of hardware if they need to. Several enterprises utilize solutions that require a technician to debug the problem and isolate the faulty component. Manual determination of faults can be a tedious, slow, and expensive process. Furthermore, solutions utilized by certain enterprises require the system to be restarted. Requiring the system to be restarted results in the system being unavailable until the restart operation completes. Furthermore, requiring a restart of the system is likely to cause loss of requests from the customers and therefore loss of information.

Network fault detection and reconfiguration


Provided is a spacer device for assisting a surgeon during knee surgery on a patient, the spacer device having a housing and a support portion. The housing includes a lateral member having an outer surface and an inner surface and a pair of side members that comprise respective, internal, opposed side walls. The support portion includes a first end portion disposed between the side walls of the housing and including a first pair of lateral projections and a second end portion. The support portion is further adapted for axial slidable movement relative to the housing so as to define a first space and a second space between a first pair of lateral projections and respective side members for receiving one or more spacer elements therein. A surgical system including the spacer device as well as methods of using same are also provided.

Total knee replacement surgery is an increasingly common and expensive procedure. A successful outcome largely rests on the ability to match the flexion and extension gaps of the knee joint. True balance is reflected both by appropriate force being applied to the medial and lateral aspects of the knee joint as well as the excursion of the soft tissues on either side of the knee joint. These concepts are important if excessive excursion of the soft tissues is possible after knee replacement surgery. To this end, forces that may have been evenly distributed in a non-dynamic setting, may then cause uneven forces to be applied to the knee replacement prosthesis during the dynamic portion of movement. Similarly, if there is excessive lack of excursion (i.e., tightness) of the soft tissues then during dynamic movement the forces may be concentrated on one side of the joint. Alternatively, the forces within the knee joint may be equal or minimally different, but be too low or high.
Means of achieving a balanced knee in total knee replacement surgery currently exist, such as with the use of robotic surgical systems, computer assisted surgery or force registering sensors. Typically, these systems are complex and expensive. Furthermore, such systems generally achieve one but not both of: (a) measuring the total width of the flexion and extension gaps on both the medial and lateral sides of the knee; and (b) measuring the force that is present on the medial and lateral sides of the knee joint when the soft tissues are placed under tension. Accordingly, there remains a need for a simple, cheap and reproducible means for achieving both of these goals in total knee replacement surgery. As noted above, this is important for achieving an optimal patient outcome after a total knee replacement, as well as important generally to the healthcare system by providing a relatively cheap and cost efficient means of conducting surgery. As the cost of provision of healthcare rises more complex and expensive systems may not provide the necessary surgical outcomes in a cost-efficient manner.


A method for storage and retrieval of both time-oriented versions and view-oriented versions of engineering change information in which the engineering change information progresses through a set of status conditions and access to the data by different user groups is conditioned upon the status of the information. Version control software logic enables users to create versioned objects by logical key grouping of data elements. The version control logic acts upon the logical keys and special versioned attributes of these objects for the proper specification and selection of object instances during creation, update or retrieval processing. Insert and extract sequence numbers are automatically generated for both historical preservation of previous engineering change information and efficient retrieval of the currently effective designs. Instance level security facilitates the merger of different versions of the engineering change data having different engineering change status levels so that similar types of data can be contained within a single data base table.

The present invention relates to automated engineering management systems in general and more particularly to a method and system for establishing version control of engineering changes in order to keep track of all data pertaining to engineering changes.
Most manufactured products pass through a period of development during which the design data is very volatile. During this period, alternative designs for assembly items and their component items may be under consideration simultaneously. Each such alternative design may be stored in the data base as an independent version or iteration of the item before a selected design is authorized to be released via an engineering change notice (EC). This is an example of a non-engineering change controlled item which needs to have multiple versions.
An engineering change is used to package designs or design modifications that are related as, for example, all modifications to an original design necessary to improve the design. A single engineering change may affect different pieces of data on different items. It can result in the addition of one or more bill of material components on one part and create item data for the component item. It can also change a drawing reference on another part.
Once a design is selected, and an engineering change authorizes a new item to be released to manufacturing, the item is said to be under engineering change control. Subsequent changes to the same item are authorized by new engineering changes. Version control methods are used to maintain a history of all engineering changes. The types of engineering change data that need version control include item engineering data, components in bills of material, optional components, local substitute components, item responsibility data, sources of supply, reference documents, manufacturing lead time and yield, routing and operation, notes and comments. Engineering change data is further classified by its status such as pre-release, release, accepted by manufacturing and currently effective status. In pre-release status, design engineering data is being defined and reviewed by the design group. Release status indicates that a formalized engineering design has been released to manufacturing by the design group. Accept status is obtained when the released data has been reviewed by the manufacturing engineer or manager. At this stage in the design life cycle, additional manufacturing data can be added to the released data. Effective status is achieved when the released data is ready to be incorporated into production.
There are several known ways of storing the historical sequence of changes to data elements. The most detailed method treats every data element independently and stores both "before" and "after" images of every data element that has been changed. Several data base management systems use this approach for data base recovery purposes. It optimizes data storage but is inefficient for data processing. An opposing method includes all version controlled data elements in a single large object. Thus a change to any data element requires "before" and "after" images of the entire object. This second approach makes the processing logic very complex and wastes large amounts of storage space unless the types of data and the number of data elements in the object are limited to a manageable number.
Having adopted this second approach, commercially available products for version control for tracking engineering changes have been limited to bills of material (BOM) in released status only. Engineering change data in pre-release status, if any, are kept in a duplicate file or data base table so that the same computer program can be used for both. The most common version control technique used is known as date effectivity in which a range of effective dates is specified during which a released bill of material component can be used in an assembly. This information is stored in the computer system as an occurrence or instance of a specific bill of material component object. The ranges of effective dates are stored as attributes of the bill of material component object. These dates are then used for the selection of a specific occurrence or version of a bill of material component. Overlapped ranges of effective dates for different versions of the same component are not permitted. References to the engineering changes which added and removed the bill of material components are included as optional attributes and are not used for version control. No distinction is made between non-engineering change controlled and engineering change controlled versions of items or between pre-release and released versions of items and bill of material components.
A typical implementation of pre-release data for bill of material components is the use of a separate data base or file to contain the pre-release data which avoids the need to implement additional version control techniques. This is an inefficient implementation since at the time of engineering change release the pre-release data must be copied over to the data base or file containing the released data.
Traditionally, most commercially available software products were developed using date effectivity for version control of bills of material. Examples are IBM Corporation's COPICS (Communications Oriented Production Information and Control System) and MAPICS (Manufacturing Accounting and Production Information Control System) families of products. More recently, some of the commercially available products have been modified to handle serial number effectivity in order to track "as built" product configurations to satisfy statutory accounting requirements. An example of such product is IBM Corporation's "COPICS Defense" product. Such modified software products replace a range of effective dates by a range of serial numbers for version control. These version control techniques are limited to released versions of bill of material components only. Version control of other item related and bill of material related data and having a status other than release has not been implemented.

Method for the storage of multi-versioned data with retrieval based on searched query

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of calibrating the offset of angle sensors, which determine an angle to be determined on the basis of a sine signal assigned to the angle and a cosine signal assigned to the angle. This method includes determining the sine signal and the cosine signal for at least three different angles to obtain at least three value pairs, each pair containing one sine signal value and one cosine signal value; displaying the at least three value pairs in an at least two-dimensional coordinate system that represents a sine signal-cosine signal plane and determining a point, representing the offset to be calibrated, in the coordinate system with regard to which point the at last three value pairs are located on an arc.

The present invention relates to a method for calibrating the offset of angle sensors, which determine an angle to be determined on the basis of a sine signal that can be assigned to the angle and a cosine signal that can be assigned to the angle.
For measuring mechanical angles, measuring methods that are based on the evaluation of sine signals and cosine signals of a sensor are often employed. As examples that can be named in this respect are resolvers in the form of inductive transducers, anisotropic magnetoresistive sensors (AMR sensors), sensors which exploit the giant magnetoresistive effect (GMR sensors), Hall sensors in the form of magnetic angle encoders, and optical or micromechanical transducers.
AMR sensors are used for measuring steering wheel angles, for instance. In such sensors, the angle to be determined is determined via electronic processing of the sine signals and cosine signals of the sensors that can be assigned to the angle to be determined.
The angular precision of such sine-cosine sensors is limited by offset effects. Offset effects can occur especially when the sensors are used at high temperatures. For example, an angle measurement in the motor vehicle engine compartment, where high temperatures typically prevail, leads in the case of conventional angle sensors to offset effects that are not negligible. As a result, the ranges of production variation and operating tolerances for the mechanical, magnetic, optical or micromechanical components of such sensors must be set as low as possible, which increases their production costs.
The object of the present invention is a method with which the angular precision in angle sensors, especially in angle measurements at high temperatures, can be improved in a simple way without having to make overly stringent demands in terms of operating tolerance ranges.
According to the invention the method for calibrating an offset of an angle sensor, which measures an angle based on a sine signal assigned to the angle and a cosine signal assigned to the angle, comprises the following steps:
a) determining the sine signal and the cosine signal for at least three different angles to obtain at least three sine and cosine value pairs, each pair containing one sine signal value and one cosine signal value;
b) displaying the at least three value pairs in an at least two-dimensional coordinate system that represents a sine signal-cosine signal plane; and
c) determining a point, representing the offset to be calibrated, in the coordinate system, in relation to which point the at least three value pairs are located on an arc.
This object is attained by the above-described method according to the invention. By means of the method of the invention, the offset of an angle sensor can be calculated and compensated for in a simple way during operation. Compared with conventional versions, this makes it possible to enhance the angular precision, and in particular satisfactory angle measurements can be made at high temperatures, such as in the engine compartment of motor vehicles, The invention makes it possible to increase the ranges of production variation or operating tolerances for the mechanical, magnetic, optical or micromechanical components of the sensors used.
In an especially preferred feature of the method of the invention, the determination of the offset O sin of the sine signal is done in accordance with an equation
xe2x80x83O sin=xc2xdxc2x7{[U
cos(1)xe2x88x92U cos(3)]+[(U
sin(2)xe2x88x92U sin(1))xc2x7(U
sin(2)+U sin(1))/(U
cos(2)xe2x88x92U cos(1))]xe2x88x92
[(U sin(3)xe2x88x92U sin(2))xc2x7(U
sin(3)+U sin(2))/(U
cos(3)xe2x88x92U cos(2))]}/{
[(U sin(2)xe2x88x92U
sin(1))/(U cos(2)xe2x88x92U
cos(1))]xe2x88x92[(U sin(3)xe2x88x92U
sin(2))/(U cos(3)xe2x88x92U
cos(2))]},
O cos=xc2xdxc2x7{[U
sin(1)xe2x88x92U sin(3)]+[(U
cos(2)xe2x88x92U cos(1))xc2x7(U
cos(2)+U cos(1))/(U
sin(2)xe2x88x92U sin(1))]xe2x88x92
[(U cos(3)xe2x88x92U
cos(2))xc2x7(U cos(3)+U
cos(2))/(U sin(3)xe2x88x92U
sin(2))]}/{[(U
cos(2)xe2x88x92U cos(1))/(U
sin (2)xe2x88x92U sin(1))]xe2x88x92
[(U cos(3)xe2x88x92U
cos(2))/(U sin(3)xe2x88x92U
sin(2))]},
and the determination of the offset O cos of the cosine signal is done in accordance with an equation
O cos=xc2xd*{U
sin(1)xe2x88x92U
sin(3)+[((U cos(2)xe2x88x92U
cos(1))*(U cos(2)+U
cos(1))/(U sin(2)xe2x88x92U
sin(1)]xe2x88x92[(U cos(3) xe2x88x92U
cos(2))*(U cos(3)+U
cos(2)/(U sin(3)xe2x88x92U
sin(2)]}/[(U
cos(2)xe2x88x92U cos(1))/(U
sin(2)xe2x88x92U sin(1))xe2x88x92(U
cos(3)xe2x88x92U cos(2))/(U
sin(3)xe2x88x92U sin(2))],
in which U sin(i), U cos(i) represent the determined sensor signals for the positions i=1, 2, 3.
The equations given contain merely elementary operations with regard to three pairs of measurement values, each for different angles. Other types of calculation and in particular trigonometric types of calculation are also possible.

Method for compensating the offset of angle sensors


A system for calculating a position and orientation of an acetabular cup in computer-assisted surgery comprises a first trackable reference secured to a pelvis, with a frame of reference being associated with the first trackable reference. A device is positionable between a femoral neck and the acetabulum of the pelvis in a known relation, the device having a second trackable reference. Sensors track the trackable references for position and orientation. A position/orientation calculator calculates a position and orientation of the frame of reference and of the device and for determining an orientation of the neck axis with respect to the frame of reference from the known relation at a desired position of the femur. An implant position/orientation calculator provides cup implanting information with respect to the orientation of said neck axis as a function of the tracking for position and orientation of at least the first trackable reference.

Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) systems assist surgeons in different types of surgery like neurosurgery, total hip replacement (THR) and total knee replacement (TKR). Each of these surgeries presents numerous methods following different sequences of steps.
In THR, the patient can be positioned on his/her back or on his/her side during the surgery. Also, the surgeon can start either by working on the femoral head or on the acetabulum. Surgeons commonly start a THR by firstly working on the acetabulum, and thus by resurfacing the acetabulum to insert an acetabular cup implant. In the event that the cup is installed prior to the femoral implant being implanted, there are a few difficulties if the cup is not properly installed at the first try. If it isn't properly installed, the surgeon may remove the cup and reposition it, which can prove difficult without damaging the bone of the pelvis. Alternatively, the surgeon may compensate for the misalignment when installing the femoral implant. If the femoral and acetabular cup implants are misaligned, there are greater risks of dislocation of the femur, or impingement between the femoral implant neck and the acetabular cup or the pelvis.
When compared to the femoral implant, there is a greater range of possible positions/orientations associated with the implanting of an acetabular cup. It would be desirable to provide a method for selecting an orientation of the acetabular cup once the femoral implant is implanted, to lessen the risk of misalignment.

Hip replacement in computer-assisted surgery


A system for capturing regenerative energy includes a battery configured to provide power for a traction motor and other operations of a vehicle and a capacitor connected to the battery. An auxiliary motor is configured to operate as a generator during a regenerative energy operation. The system further includes a controller configured to direct the regenerative energy to the capacitor during the regenerative energy operation and discharge the capacitor to provide power to the traction motor or for the other operations of the vehicle.

Electric vehicles typically utilize an electric motor to provide for traction that provides horizontal movement of the vehicle. Batteries installed on the electric vehicle provide the electric motor with a source of electrical energy. The electric vehicle and associated motor or motors may be configured to operate using either an AC (alternating current) or DC (direct current) electrical system. A rate of energy discharge from the battery during operation of the vehicle depends on a number of conditions including vehicle travel speed, weight of load being transported, efficiency of the electrical system, and even operating temperatures, among others.
The overall productivity of an electric vehicle is limited by an amount of energy that is stored in the vehicle battery. Where the electric vehicle is operated for extended or multiple shifts, the battery typically needs to be recharged or replaced one or more times. This results in lost productivity time, and requires that charged replacement batteries are stocked and made available. Manufacturers of these vehicles have typically responded to these demands by increasing the size, and hence capacity, of these batteries. However, the increased size of the battery reduces vehicle performance and effective operating time due to the increased weight, and adds cost to the battery and vehicle purchase price. Furthermore, many vehicle operations place a premium on vehicle operating space, such that any increase in battery size is limited by the maximum allowable battery compartment space available.
With the advent of regenerative traction systems, electric vehicle manufacturers have designed electrical systems that are configured to regenerate electricity when the vehicle is decelerated or braked. The battery is partially recharged with regenerated energy that is delivered by the electric motor and a power circuit. In this case, the electric motor may operate as a generator to generate the regenerated electricity.
Typically, these regenerative braking systems include a lead acid battery. However, there are limits inherent in the chemical processes involved in charging a lead acid battery. As a result, a lead acid battery cannot change from discharging to recharging fast enough and accept a high enough rate of recharge to recover a high percentage of regenerative energy. Using the motor as a generator results in bursts of energy that tend to exceed the rate at which the battery may be recharged effectively. Further, the ability of a lead acid battery to absorb energy is inversely proportional to its state of charge. That is to say, the greater the existing charge on the battery, the lower the rate at which it can accept incoming energy during the recharging event. A nearly fully charged battery, such as at the beginning of a shift, is particularly inefficient at absorbing the incoming energy during regenerative braking. Energy not recaptured by charging the battery is dissipated as heat.
The present invention addresses these and other problems.

Energy recapture for an industrial vehicle


A headbox for passing fiber suspension from a headbox entrance to a headbox outlet. A microturbulence insert with a plurality of flow channels inside the headbox. The channels are defined by channel forming elements having upstream ends. The headbox has an antechamber upstream of the turbulence insert. Respective individually adjustable additional feeds for feeding at least one second liquid into the antechamber upstream of the upstream ends of the channel forming elements of the turbulence insert. The feeds are preferably directed counter to the direction of the main flow of suspension into the channels of the turbulence insert. Vanes direct the main flow of suspension through the antechamber to the channels creating a respective sectioned flow to each channel. The additional liquid feeds are positioned to feed their additional liquid into the respective sectional flows after the main flow of suspension has already been diverted to a sectional flow. A method of use of such a headbox wherein each feed of additional liquid into the main flow of suspension is deflected in the direction of the nearest channel of the turbulence insert by the main flow of suspension and by the vanes which guide the main suspension flow toward the channels and which prevent the additional liquid feed from one sectional flow entering another sectional flow.

The invention relates to a headbox or flowbox of a machine for producing a fiber web, in particular a paper web, and particularly relates to a structure and a method of reducing the effective width of a sectional liquid feed to each section of the headbox across its width, in or near the entry region of a turbulence insert in the main stream of stock suspension in the headbox.
A headbox receives pulp stock suspension from a supply, distributes it across the width of the headbox and sprays the suspension onto a wire screen belt of a following forming section of the paper machine. The headbox is intended to set the consistency, proportions of contents components, and fiber orientation transverse profile of the pulp stock suspension, so that the basis weight transverse profile, i.e., the cross machine profile and the fiber orientation transverse profile of the paper web produced from the suspension that exits the headbox corresponds to the desired requirements over the entire width of the web. Usually, these features are to be held constant over the width of the web. These parameters may be set at the headbox, at the latest before the exit of the suspension from the headbox.
In a dilution headbox, which is the type of headbox in this invention, the consistency of the pulp suspension is adjusted locally in sections across the headbox in order to produce a desired basis weight cross profile in the paper web produced. The narrower that the influenced width of an affected section of the paper web can be made, the better or more close to the ideal will be the cross profile of the basis weight.
When there is a goal of producing a desired fiber orientation cross profile in the web produced, then the flow rate, rather than the consistency, is adjusted locally in sections across the headbox. In the headbox, the narrower that the influenced width of an affected section of the paper web can be made, the better or more close to the ideal will be the fiber orientation cross profile of the web will be. For both the basis weight cross profile and the fiber orientation cross profile of the web, the narrower is each section of the headbox across its width, the closer to ideal will be the respective cross profiles of the web.
For this purpose, a modern headbox is equipped with sectional liquid supplies, i.e. respective controlled supplies of the suspension at the different sections across the width of the entrance to the headbox. This makes it possible, for example, to supply wire water, called "white water", i.e. water recovered from the dewatering of the suspension at the forming section, and to supply that water, individual section by section into the headbox. This influences the density of the stock or suspension flow in each section. As a result, this influences the web thickness in each section of the web across the web and also the basis weight of the web in each section across the paper web and/or, by means of section by section supply of stock suspension, this generates transverse flows in the headbox which influences the fiber orientation transverse profile of the web produced. To achieve as narrow width, influenced section across the width of the paper web as practicable, in relationship to the quantity of individual sections and the widths of the individual sections across the headbox at which consistency and/or flow rate is adjusted, it is desirable to avoid or at least minimize mixing of the sectional flows of adjacent sections over the headbox.
A modern headbox known, for example, from German patent specification DE 43 20 243 C2 comprises a machine width stock supply including a transverse distributor that delivers suspension across the inlet to the headbox, one or two turbulence inserts inside the headbox with, if appropriate, an intermediate chamber located between the inserts, and an outlet nozzle after the inserts. Furthermore, a multiplicity of individually adjustable supply lines of various liquids are provided in the region of and typically upstream of the turbulence inserts. The adjustable supply lines can supply wire water, or stock suspension or other additives to the main flow of the headbox, section by section over the width or over both the width and the height of the headbox.
This configuration of a headbox is disadvantageous, particularly for embodiments in which the section by section supply enters a channel in the headbox, because the channel is not limited laterally (FIGS. 6, 9, 10, 12 of DE 43 20 243 C2) and there are no guiding elements over the width of the chamber. The effective width of each sectional liquid supply is not limited laterally and, in addition, it is also dependent on the quantity of the liquid supplied. First, second, etc., sectional flows over the width mix laterally. As a result, the effective width of each sectional flow is too broad. A similar effect is seen with the headbox in U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,091. Hence, the basis weight cross profile of the web produced is not as well controlled as possible over narrow width sections across the web.

Headbox of a paper machine which reduces effective width of liquid feed


For a micromechanical resonator of a vibration gyrometer, the two resonating masses, which vibrate in phase opposition and are joined across a coupling region, are suspended by at least one suspension spring. The suspension springs are thereby designed to be soft in the direction of vibration and substantially harder in all other degrees of freedom. This allows the moment of rotation of the rate of rotation (absolute angular velocity) to be transferred to the resonating masses. Interference signals when measuring Coriolis forces are suppressed by means of subtraction. The resonator is patterned out of a semiconductor material and can be excited to vibrate in the electrostatic or electromagnetic field by means of suitable current supply leads.

A vibration gyrometer, in which two resonating (vibrating) masses are patterned out of a silicon semiconductor crystal, is described in German Published Unexamined Application No. DE-OS 40 22 495. When working with the known vibration gyrometer, the problem occurs that the oppositely phased vibration of the two resonating masses of the vibration gyrometer does not remain stable in phase, e.g., when subjected to a temperature change. The Coriolis force that arises in response to a rotational pulse can not always be measured precisely enough in this case, so that this sensor is not able to demonstrate the high level of operational dependability required in certain applications, e.g., in motor vehicles.
Another vibration gyrometer is known from the publication, "A Micromachined Comb-Drive Tuning Fork Rate Gyroscope", IEEE, Feb. 93, pp. 143-148. Two resonating masses that oscillate in phase opposition are suspended so as to allow them to move normally to the substrate under the influence of Coriolis forces. These movements are detected electrostatically with the aid of fixed counter-electrodes situated on the substrate. However, this gyrometer is not so suited for use in an environment which is replete with vibrations, e.g. in a motor vehicle, since the resonator structure not only carries out the excitation vibration of the resonating structure, but also takes up movements coupled in from the remaining degrees of freedom. This can distort the measuring result.

Micromechanical resonator of a vibration gyrometer


A homogeneous charge compression ignition engine operates by injecting liquid fuel directly in a combustion chamber, and mixing the fuel with recirculated exhaust and fresh air through an auto ignition condition of the fuel. The engine includes at least one turbocharger for extracting energy from the engine exhaust and using that energy to boost intake pressure of recirculated exhaust gas and fresh air. Elevated proportions of exhaust gas recirculated to the engine are attained by throttling the fresh air inlet supply. These elevated exhaust gas recirculation rates allow the HCCI engine to be operated at higher speeds and loads rendering the HCCI engine a more viable alternative to a conventional diesel engine.

A relatively new combustion strategy known as homogeneous charge compression ignition shows great promise in reducing undesirable emissions from internal combustion engines that utilize a compression ignition strategy. HCCI refers generally to the idea of mixing fuel with air in the engine cylinder before autoignition conditions arise. The mixture is compressed to autoignition, with a general desirability that the combustion event take place in the vicinity of top dead center. Although HCCI has proven the ability to drastically reduce undesirable emissions, especially NOx, the combustion strategy has brought new problems that must be overcome in order to render such an engine commercially viable. For instance, for an HCCI engine to be a viable alternative to a counterpart diesel engine, it must have the ability to operate effectively over a relatively wide load range. One problem encountered with HCCI engines is the extreme sensitivity and difficulty in controlling ignition timing. In addition, HCCI engines can have difficulty in operating in higher load ranges where more fuel is supplied to the individual cylinder. This perceived limitation may be due to extreme pressure spikes that occur when the charge burns. The pressures can get so high as to exceed the structural containment capability of an engine housing. Thus, controlling an HCCI engine, especially at higher speeds and loads, can be extremely problematic, but must be overcome to enable such an engine to be a viable alternative to a counterpart diesel engine.
One strategy for dealing with the problems of HCCI is described in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,838. This reference describes a mixed mode strategy where HCCI is employed over a lower load range portion of the engine, and conventional diesel engine strategies are employed at high speeds and loads. By conventional, this disclosure means that fuel is injected directly into an engine cylinder after autoignition conditions have arisen, with the injection taking place in the vicinity of top dead center. While a mixed mode strategy can produce superior emissions compared to that of a conventional diesel engine, it requires increased complexity, especially in manufacturing and controlling the fuel system, but mixed mode still results in more undesirable emissions than that possible with an entirely HCCI operation strategy.
The present disclosure is directed toward one or more of the problems set forth above.

Exhaust gas recirculation in a homogeneous charge compression ignition engine


A beverage cooler includes a receptacle, adjustable platform and raising mechanism. The receptacle has a bottom, walls and an open top. The platform has at least one orifice, at least one guide and a threaded orifice. The raising mechanism includes at least one track, a threaded shaft and a rotating mechanism to move the platform between an upper and lower position. The rotating mechanism is a crank or an electric motor. In another variant, the threaded shaft is located centrally on the bottom with the mating threaded orifice located centrally on the platform. In yet another variant, the threaded shaft is located adjacent an edge on the bottom with the threaded orifice located adjacent an edge of the platform. In other variants of the invention, the receptacle includes insulation, wheels, handles, a drain opening and an inner wall, outer wall and an evacuated space between the inner and outer wall.

Various types of beverage coolers have been developed for providing easy access to canned or bottled beverages contained in a cooler with ice.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,880, issued to Welker et al., is directed to a chilled beverage display container adapted to hold ice and beverages separate from water formed from melted ice. A float having a density less than water is adapted to support the ice and beverages and move upwardly within the cavity as the ice melts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,085, issued to Rogers is directed to a cooler with floating section. An outer container and a buoyant inner container assembly within the outer container is included. The inner container is dimensioned to slide vertically within the outer container and a container recess is provided in the upper surface of the inner container assembly to hold beverage containers and ice. The inner container assembly has a buoyancy which will float it upon the liquid which is drained into the outer container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,288 issued to Lewis describes an apparatus for organizing articles inside a portable cooler. A base having a channel defined therein provides an interconnecting structure for a plurality of tubular members. The tubular members have a flange at one end that fits into the channel on the base and slide onto the base from either of two open ends of the tubular members. The tubular members are capable of sliding in the channels from one end to the other. Accordingly, the base provides a structure for interconnecting the tubular members and for providing stability to the tubular members once the cooler or ice chest is loaded with ice.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,411 issued to Garland, Jr. discloses a cooler chest with ice-surrounded food compartment. The ice-surrounded food compartment includes an outer container that supports an outer lid. An inner container having an inner lid is carried within the outer container. In use, a portion of the base of the inner container is inserted into the recessed region defined in the base of the outer container. The inner container is thermally conductive between its outer and inner surfaces and allows heat to be transferred from items of food stored within the inner container to ice and water carried within the ice storage area defined between the outer and inner containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,559 issued to Hasanovic discloses an ice chest and insert. An ice chest is comprised of an insulating base and insulating sidewalls upstanding from the base. Within the container is a false floor supported in spaced relation from the insulating base and having a perimeter located close or adjacent to the insulating sidewalls. An ice feed tube secured to the false floor has a bore opening into the space between false floor and the insulating base. The bore permits passage of ice pieces through the bore into the space between the false floor and the insulating base. The false floor permits heat transfer across its thickness, thereby facilitating cooling of articles located on and above the false floor.
While other variations exist, the above-described designs for height adjustable beverage coolers are typical of those encountered in the prior art. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a beverage cooler that provides convenient access to canned or bottled beverages contained within ice. It is a further objective to provide such access in a beverage cooler that provides optimal cooling conditions for canned or bottled beverages. It is yet a further objective to provide a beverage cooler that may be easily cleaned and stored. It is an additional objective of the invention that the beverage cooler may be easily fabricated from standard and readily available components. It is a final further objective of the invention to provide the above-described capabilities in an inexpensive and durable beverage cooler that is capable of extended use.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.

Beverage cooler with adjustable platform


A three phase buck power converter having input power control is described. The power converter uses a three input buck converter comprising switches for each phase, a catch rectifier, an inductor and an output capacitor. The duty cycle of the three switches is constrained to have a sine function relationship that may be derived from the input voltage wave form or from a reference oscillator. When so constrained, the input currents have high power factor. The output is a precise, high quality dc voltage, comparable to the output of a dc—dc buck converter, and the dynamic response is comparable. Voltage mode and current mode controls are shown, as is a precise line regulation feed forward for the voltage mode embodiment. The three phase buck power converter may be operated in reverse as a three phase boost converter, as they are reciprocal. A three phase ac—ac converter may have a three phase buck converter as its input and a three phase boost converter as its output.

This invention relates to power converters, and more particularly to power converters having a three phase ac input and requiring power factor correction. This invention also relates to control of the input current and frequency of free-wheeling power sources, dc to three phase ac conversion and three phase ac to three phase ac power conversion, particularly when the frequencies differ.
Usually power factor correction is accomplished by monitoring the three input currents using three input current shunts or current transformers or the like. A sine wave current reference is also generated for each phase, often using the ac voltage inputs. The measured currents are compared to the current references and a feedback control pulse width modulates the input currents so that they conform to the current references.
The input stages are usually boost converters that boost the input to a high voltage storage capacitor. A buck converter may then convert the energy on the storage capacitor to a useful dc output. Upon application of the input power, large inrush currents occur. Present three phase power converters with power factor correction are notoriously sluggish in their response to transients.

Three phase buck power converters having input current control


The present invention is directed to method of bonding mineral fibers in a mineral fiber material, according to which an acid is applied to the mineral fiber material in an amount sufficient to dissolve mineral material from the fiber to form a silica containing binder on the mineral fiber, and curing the mineral fiber material to bond the fibers.

Mineral fibres made by melting and centrifuging of mineral raw materials, such as stone, slag, glass, ceramics or the like, are extensively used for the manufacture of mineral fibre mats and blankets, primarily for heat and sound insulation purposes, especially within the construction industry. Such mineral fibre products conventionally contain a binder, of which a number of different types are known.
Thus for example, phenol cured insulating products are known. Phenol is a fairly inexpensive and also a rapidly curing binder. A phenol cured product resists temperatures up to 250° C., but the bonds are destroyed if the temperature is maintained above 250° C. for an extended period of time. At higher temperatures, at 400° C. and more, the binder loses its strength, the temperature increases rapidly and the product collapses. In addition, a phenol cured insulating product emits poisonous gases during burning. An additional and also major disadvantage is that the presence of phenol in the product will cause an undesired load on the environment when the binder-containing mineral wool product is to be disposed of after use.
Also water glass has been widely used as a binder. Water glass is traditionally made by melting silica sand with sodium or potassium carbonate at a very high temperature and then dissolving the finely divided solidified product in water. Thus water glass can be considered an ecologically acceptable substance to include as a binder in mineral wool products. A disadvantage is, however, that the manufacture thereof uses pure raw materials and is energy consuming.
It is also known to use a mixture of water glass and clay as a binder for mineral wool products, see e.g. SE 420 488. Such a product, although providing good water and heat resistance, has poor compression resistance, is brittle and causes dusting. The EP B 466 754 on the other hand describes the use of a binder made from slag and water glass for making a temperature and moisture resistant mineral wool product which is also capable of withstanding high temporary loads.
The international application WO 01/00916 discloses a binder for mineral wool products, which is made by dissolving a particulate glassy mineral material in an aqueous solution, nucleating and stabilizing the so obtained solution to form a binder solution in the form of a sol, and applying the so obtained binder to mineral fibres in order to bind the same. The aqueous solution can be an alkaline or an acidic solution. The sol so obtained can be made to gel, either before application, for example by changing pH or adjusting the electrostatic repulsion between the particles in the solution, or gel formation of the sol is brought about after having been applied to the mineral fibres.
The object of the present invention is to provide an easy and economically feasible method for binding mineral wool products, which binder has excellent binding and fire resistant properties and is acceptable from a use or occupational health point of view. An important advantage is that the binder used according to the invention presents no ecological load on the environment, but contains only such components that are already inherently present in the mineral wool product.

Method for the production of a mineral fibre product


A full depth display for use in three dimensional (3D) imaging has an array of optical emitters on a first plane, an aperture array having a plurality of apertures on a second plane separated from the first plane, and an optional set of corrective lenses which direct the image to a slightly divergent path about the z axis. The optical emitters are organized in left/right pairs. The aperture array contains periodic structures which direct optical energy from the array of apertures to an observer's left and right eyes to create the effect of a full depth image.

The capture of images for full depth (3D) viewing can be done with multiple coordinated imaging devices, and most frequently with just two. Presently, and for the most part, these images are stored, manipulated and then re-created as multiple images for viewing on flat screens. To see the images in full-depth, observers using prior art systems typically wear switching, polarized or anaglyph glasses. With varying degrees of success this has been done for many years. What has been done with much more difficulty is to re-create the images without the use of viewing glasses, and more difficult still to do this without converting from capture to display format in milliseconds, that is, in real time.
Within the field of directly viewing full-depth 3D images without viewing glasses (auto-stereoscopy), a number of techniques have been used to re-create full-depth images from flat screens. The most successful of these has been lenticular arrays, in which each cylindrical lens creates multiple points of view by bending the light from several LEDs, giving, in aggregate, an observer a vivid sense of depth. This is especially true at "sweet spots", where a confluence of beams arrive in close coincidence.
A different technique physically divides the light from the emitting elements into left and right with small strips, so that each eye sees just one half of the full perspective. These are called "parallax barriers". They have long been used, but are generally limited to just two points of view. Efforts to make them work well include liquid crystals, active barriers, reversed barriers and multiple barriers.
Another approach is a rear projection system with multiple points of view, possibly hundreds. This replicates the way we see scenes with our eyes, acquiring a great number of image snapshots from different perspectives to create full depth panoramas in our visual cortex. This approach requires as many cameras and as many projectors as there are points of view to recreate. These cameras and projectors must all be carefully coordinated both in capture and display. Even small failures, such as those of intensity or color balance, in any camera or projector will leave streaks in the display. For so many imaging devices storage requires considerable memory and streaming substantial bandwidth. Nonetheless multiple projectors can produce full-depth and full-parallax images of great quality.
Another technique using MEMS structures, utilizes tiny flipping solid-state mirrors to guide light through narrow-angle screens to create images of differing viewpoints.


A method and apparatus for managing register renaming in an information handling system that supports out-of-order and speculative instruction execution. Register entries are stored in architected registers, and rename entries are stored in rename registers. Register and rename entries are transferred between the rename and architected registers in response to dispatch of instructions or upon the occurrence of a canceling event, such as a mispredicted branch instruction or an interrupt condition. Rename entries are stored in the rename registers in a round robin fashion and tagged by age. Age order of the rename entries is determined without keeping the rename entries in age order through the method of shifting rename entries to the next rename register each time a rename entry is removed from a rename register. By eliminating shifting of rename entries to maintain age order, a power savings is realized.

The design of a typical computer or information handling system requires the establishment of a fixed number of addressable registers, such as general purpose registers (GPRs), condition registers (CRs), and floating point registers (FPRs) for the programmer to use in designing programs for the information handling system.
The design of computers and computer programs is based on the assumption that computer or information handling system program instructions are executed by the information handling system in the order in which they are written in the program and loaded into the information handling system. While instructions must logically appear to the information handling system to have been executed in program order, it has been learned in an effort to improve computer performance that some instructions do not have to be physically performed in program order, provided that certain dependencies do not exist with other instructions. Further, if some instructions are executed out of order, and one of such instructions is a branch instruction, wherein a branch prediction is made to select the subsequent instruction sequence, a need to restore the registers affected by instructions in the predicted branch to their original values can occur if the branch is mispredicted. In such a case, the information handling system is restored to the condition before the branch was taken. The process of efficiently executing instructions out of order requires that values for registers prior to the predicted branch be maintained for registers affected by the instructions following the branch, while provision is made to contingently store new values for registers affected by instructions following the predicted branch. When branch instructions are resolved, the contingency of the new register values is removed, and the new values become the established values for the registers. The above-described register management technique is referred to as register renaming. For an example of a register management system utilizing register renaming techniques, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,561, of common assignee herewith.
Register renaming may also be needed upon the occurrence of an interrupt condition such as for overflow conditions or page faults and the like.
There are two basic approaches to register renaming. The first approach is referred to as the future file approach. In this approach, all updates to a value stored in an architected register are stored or assigned to future file entries in a rename queue or register until the data is available and the instruction that is causing this update is committed or becomes non-speculative. When the instruction is committed, the update in the oldest future file entry assigned to the architected register is written to the architected register.
Thus, the rename queues or registers contain the speculative update values for the architected registers, and the architected registers contain the non-speculative values for the architected registers. An instruction which reads the value of an architected register first determines if any future file entries have been assigned to that architected register in the rename registers. If no future file entries have been assigned, the instruction reads the value in the architected register. If one or more future file entries have been assigned, the instruction reads the value from one of the rename registers.
The second register renaming approach is referred to as the history file approach. With this approach, the architected registers contain the speculative update values for the architected register, and the rename registers contain the values of the architected registers prior to being speculatively updated. Thus, an instruction which reads the value of an architected register simply reads the speculative value in the architected register.
Upon the occurrence of an interrupt or a mispredicted branch instruction, non-speculative values for the architected registers must be determined. With the future file approach, the non-speculative values for the architected registers would be stored in the architected registers themselves, whereas with the history file approach, the non-speculative values for the architected registers would be stored in the rename registers.
Thus, upon the occurrence of an interrupt or a mispredicted branch instruction, the age order of a value stored in the rename register is critical to determining the non-speculative values of the architected registers in the history file approach. Prior art rename registers used in the history file approach utilized shift registers which shift each history file entry down as an entry is removed from the rename registers as a result of being retired or written to an architected register to restore the architected register with a non-speculative value existing prior to the interrupt or mispredicted branch instruction. By using a shift-down register array for the rename registers, the history file entries remain in age order. The problem with this age order shift register approach is the excessive power required for the shifting.
What is needed is a register renaming approach which eliminates the need for shift rename registers to save power while minimizing the complexity required to track the age order of values stored in the rename registers.

Method and apparatus for managing register renaming including a wraparound array and an indication of rename entry ages


Radiation diagnosis devices, systems and methods are in general catheter form and include at least one diagnostic balloon that provides at least one diagnosis function and assists in placement of at least one radiation detector at a desired diagnosis location within an existing body cavity or at a percutaneous site. Data collected by the detector that is positioned as determined by the medical professional allows the medical professional to monitor radiation levels, either residual from a prior radiation treatment, during a brachytherapy treatment at the diagnostic catheter insertion site or in adjoining site, or during externally administered radiation.

Diagnostic and marking systems, devices and methods are known and used by medical professionals in dedicated units of numerous hospitals and free-standing cancer treatment centers, and some incorporate balloons to achieve and maintain proper placement during diagnosis.
Diagnostic and marking tasks often utilize devices of the type intended to be inserted into living body cavities through existing body orifices or into surgically executed openings for treatment under the skin of a patient. For example, once a catheter and its balloon are inserted in a prescribed manner into a body cavity, its balloon can be inflated to mark the boundary of the body cavity during radiographic examination, and the inflated balloon may also be used to move, push or otherwise manipulate body tissue during the diagnostic procedure.
Various devices, systems and methods have been developed, each typically being designed for a specific diseased body organ, area or part and/or for one or more treatment locations. Whether a treatment regimen involves a one-step or a multi-step protocol, it is important to maintain a good balance among radiation dosage, placement and timing. To do so requires precision in diagnosis so that the target location or locations are treated with the radiation source while protecting as much as possible areas of the body that are disease-free and otherwise could be vulnerable to unintended treatment if positioning with respect to the treatment locations is not modified during diagnosis, marking and treatment.
Proper, precise and accurate marking, diagnosis and manipulation procedures can precede and be reproduced or maintained during carcinoma treatment procedures, such as when following high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. At times, the diagnoses by the radiation oncologist will be intended for regimens using low dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy, typically based on cesium delivery as in 137Cs. For HDR brachytherapy regimens, 192Ir is frequently used because of its high specific activity. Diagnoses for using other isotopes are available and used as warranted. The degree of treatment measurement is in terms of units of radiation exposure (in roentgens or Gray or Gy), and often these are prescribed at specific locations and points. Details in this regard are known to radiation oncologists, medical physicists and other medical professionals experienced in brachytherapy and cancer treatment in general. An objective also is to provide reasonably constant and predictable dose rates at each specific location that diagnosis and marking have determined are most beneficial for the patient.
Intracavitary and percutaneous radiation treatment diagnoses need to be exacting and specific at each radiation target location. Typically important is protection of tissue that is not diseased. Pre-treatment diagnoses also are important for developing a plan for dose rate and duration specifics, for example.
In terms of protecting non-diseased tissue, an example is presented relating to intrauterine diagnosis and treatment where it typically is important to minimize, if not eliminate, radiation exposure to the bladder and the rectum. Generally, marking and diagnosis devices, as well as brachytherapy devices, are visible (or can be rendered visible) under x-ray images or other imaging technologies in order to insure intended placement and to allow the medical physicist or radiation oncology professional to generate a radiation treatment plan specific for this placement and for the particular anatomy and disease location and severity for the particular patient and for each particular treatment event.
It will be appreciated that radiation delivery systems can be used in treatments that are applied manually or remotely using remote afterloading systems. In remote afterloading systems, the radioactive materials are delivered from a safely contained access location to distal reaches of the delivery tubes at treatment portions or locations. Radioactive material can be in the form of wires, seeds, liquids or other species. In such systems, the radioactive material typically is delivered via remote control, such as by operation of a motor, after the medical professionals are out of view from the treatment room. Such remote delivery equipment can move the radioactive dose into the applicator already positioned within the body cavity, the accuracy of which is facilitated by the marking and diagnosis device or catheter.


A document search and retrieval system and program product therefor. Search requests are provided to the system through a user interface. A document decomposer decomposes documents into individual document components. Document components and corresponding searchable indices for each are stored in a Component Library. A search unit searches stored document components responsive to search queries. A results validator compares document hitlists with a document type identified in a search query to select valid hitlists entries for a final hitlist. A document view assembly module collects identified document components and assembles them into a document for view at the user interface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to searching and retrieving electronic documents over a computer network and more specifically, to dynamically assembling electronic documents at retrieval, based on the document type most suitable for the user context.
2. Background Description
Normally, someone wishing to find information over the Internet uses a search engine to identify and retrieve relevant documents. Documents available over the Internet normally have a fixed document type (e.g. Download, Hints & Tips, White Paper, etc.) with static content layout. Specialized search engines may filter search results based on document type, filtering out all documents not matching the specified document type or types.
FIG. 1 illustrates a traditional document search and retrieval system 100 or search engine that may be used for such searches. In response to each search query, the search engine 100 returns documents of one preferred type only without returning other possibly more relevant documents. The system 100 includes a user interface 102, a search unit 104, a textual index 106 and a document storage system 108. The document storage system 108 contains different types of static documents, e.g., Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), Downloads and Authorized Program Analysis Reports (APAR). The textual index 106 contains a searchable index for documents in document storage system 108. Each search query includes both search terms and preferred document type that are entered at user interface 102 and passed to search unit 104. Search unit 104 searches textual index 106 to identify a hitlist, e.g., of FAQ documents, that contain specified search terms. Search unit 104 returns the document hitlist through user interface 102. So, for example, listed FAQs are selected from document storage system 108 for viewing through user interface 102. Two such examples of technical support search engines that include document type with a search query are support sites from Microsoft Corporation (support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;sq1), where topic category must specify document type; and, from IBM Corporation (www-1.ibm.com/support/manager.wss?rs=0&rt=2), where the user directly specifies document type.
Unfortunately, very often this typical system 100 may not provide an answer/solution to the query, especially, when the correct answer is embedded in a document that does not match the requested document type/layout. In another example, to find downloadable video driver for product A, a prior art system may limit the search scope to 'Download' documents only. So, the search engine may overlook relevant information that appears in a Hints&Tips document instead for example. So, the search result is somewhat limited by a document layout or type that is normally once and forever determined by the document provider. Typically, unless the same document is stored in multiple formats, the searcher cannot choose content layout. So, typical state of the art search engines are restricted by the static nature of available documents. Thus, navigating through document storage to find relevant information often requires a level of familiarity with the document type schema. Document organization may hamper searching. Different content providers cannot choose suitable content and layout for particular local portals. So, users must live with whatever documents are stored and available.
These search constraints are especially troublesome in corporate technical support systems, typically a complex hierarchical schema of document types combined with a product taxonomy tree. Usually corporate-wide documents are standardized to provide a unified document view through the corporate technical support portal. These constraints make retrieving information from a corporate technical support system a challenging task especially if the document storage system contains heterogenous document collections.
Thus, there is a need for a way to select document presentation according to the needs of a particular user or presentation context.

System and method for generating and retrieving different document layouts from a given content

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for providing electro-static discharge (ESD) protection between a first and a second circuit node. One embodiment of the ESD protection circuit includes one or more steering diodes that generate electromagnetic radiation and couple the first circuit node to ground in response to a voltage applied to the first circuit node. The ESD protection circuit also includes a latch circuit that couples the first circuit node to ground in response to the electromagnetic radiation generated by the steering diode(s).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electrostatic discharge protection, and, more particularly, to an optically triggered electrostatic discharge protection circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Circuits, particularly integrated circuits that are formed on semiconductor wafers, are vulnerable to damage or destruction caused by unexpectedly large surges of power through the circuit. For example, a packaged integrated circuit typically includes numerous bond pads that can be used to electrically couple the integrated circuit to the outside world. However, current from electrostatic discharges, e.g. from lightning strikes or static electricity buildup on a person, can enter the integrated circuit through the bond pads and potentially cause damage to the integrated circuit. Circuit packages therefore typically include electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuits that attempt to electrically isolate the bond pad from the integrated circuit in the event of an unexpectedly large power surge. The ESD protection circuit usually directs the current produced by the power surge to ground so that this current does not enter the protected circuit.
FIG. 1 conceptually illustrates a conventional ESD protection circuit 100. In the illustrated embodiment, a bond pad 105 is separated from a circuit by a primary ESD protection element 110, an isolation resistor 115, and a secondary ESD protection element 120. The secondary ESD protection element 120 typically turns on in response to an ESD event to protect the circuit until the primary ESD protection element 110 can turn fully on. The primary ESD protection element 110 shunts most (or all) of the current during the ESD event. However, the primary ESD protection element 110 may not immediately reach a fully on state in response to the start of the ESD event. The secondary ESD protection element 120 may therefore serve to limit the voltage/current until the primary ESD protection element 110 is fully on. Current is pulled from the bond pad through the isolation resistor 115 when the secondary ESD protection element 120 turns on. The current causes a potential drop across the isolation resistor 115 and the primary ESD protection element 110 turns on when this potential drop reaches the triggering voltage of the primary ESD protection element 110.
The conventional ESD protection circuit 100 suffers from a number of drawbacks. For example, problems may occur with setting the proper latching thresholds for a given technology. Furthermore, the additional resistance and/or capacitance associated with the conventional ESD protection circuit 100, and in particular the isolation resistor 115, may limit the range and/or performance of the protected circuit or node.

Optically triggered electro-static discharge protection circuit