A system for remotely assessing the condition of a roof of a building is disclosed. The system may compare multiple pieces of image data of the roof, representing the roof at different moments in time, to determine if at least a portion of the roof has been repaired, replaced or damaged in the time between the pieces of image data. If the roof is determined to have been repaired, replaced or damaged, the system may calculate a date of repair, replacement or damage of the roof that corresponds to the date on which at least one of the pieces of image data was captured or created. In the case where the roof has been repaired or replaced, the system may calculate the age of the roof based on the date of repair or replacement, and subsequently, calculate the actual cash value (ACV) of the roof based on the roof age.

A significant factor in property insurance liability is the replacement cost of roofs and roofing materials, especially in areas prone to severe weather. Accordingly, it may be desirable for insurance companies to offer insurance policies that cover the actual cash value (ACV) of a roof, rather than the replacement cost of the roof. ACV takes into account the depreciation in roof value that occurs naturally over the lifespan of the roof. For example, the ACV of a roof may be equal to the replacement cost of the roof multiplied by the percentage of useful remaining life of the roof. In order to accurately calculate the ACV, knowledge of the age of the roof is important.
For newer buildings, the age of the roof may correlate to the date on which the building was erected. This correlation, however, may not apply to older buildings because roofs are replaced periodically (e.g., every 20-50 years) due to ordinary wear and tear. In regions prone to severe weather, roofs may be replaced at more frequent intervals due to, for example, damage caused by wind and hail. Because a number of variables affect the timing of roof replacement, it is generally not possible to estimate roof age solely based on the date the building was erected.
One conventional method for determining roof age involves having an appraiser or inspector climb onto the roof and perform a visual inspection. This method exposes the inspector to the risk of falling, especially if the roof is icy or wet. In addition, this method can be costly and time-consuming as it requires an inspector with specialized training and, in some cases, requires an inspector to travel significant distances to reach the site of the building. Additionally, assessments by inspectors are inherently subjective and can lead to inconsistent and unreliable results. For instance, different lighting conditions and shingle types can make it difficult, even for an experienced inspector, to accurately assess the age of the roof.
In some cases, it is possible to assess roof age by referencing a public record of construction permits issued for roof replacement or repair. However, this method is not effective in jurisdictions which do not require a permit for roof repair or replacement. Furthermore, even if a permit is required, some building owners may skip the step of obtaining a permit, particularly if they plan to replace the roof themselves without the assistance of a professional construction company.
Until recently, satellite imagery was not considered a feasible option for determining roof age because of the substantial expense associated with traditional satellites, and because of the rather infrequent intervals with which traditional satellite systems can image a particular geographic location. Some older satellite systems, for example, may have the ability to image a particular geographic location only once a month. This aspect of older satellite systems, in combination with their significant cost, tends to make them an economically unattractive option for frequently monitoring a roof of a building or multiple building roofs.

Systems and methods for remotely assessing roof condition

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


Photos are shared among devices that are in close proximity to one another and for which there is a connection among the devices. The photos can be shared automatically, or alternatively based on various user inputs. Various different controls can also be placed on sharing photos to restrict the other devices with which photos can be shared, the manner in which photos can be shared, and/or how the photos are shared.

Digital cameras today can be found in numerous different types of devices, including dedicated digital cameras, cell phones, computers, game consoles, and so forth. This widespread availability of digital cameras allows users to take large numbers of digital photos, but problems still remain. One such problem is that it can be difficult for users to share the digital photos they take with other users. Sharing digital photos is oftentimes a complex process involving numerous steps, which can be time-consuming and frustrating for users.

Proximity and connection based photo sharing


A device and a method provide for the non-destructive simulation or reproduction of driving situations involving collisions and/or near-collisions between a test vehicle and a target object, while testing driver assistance systems or anticipatory vehicle sensor systems of the test vehicle. The target object is moved along a guide rope, for example by a drive rope. If a load exceeds a threshold value during a collision of the test vehicle with the target object, then the target object decouples from the guide rope.

Driver assistance systems are increasingly being used in motor vehicles. Some of these driver assistance systems serve to protect passengers and further participants in traffic, e.g., pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles. To this end, the driver assistance systems usually comprise electronic auxiliary devices for monitoring the surroundings in order to be able to suitably assist the driver in particular driving situations, e.g., by means of braking assistance, emergency braking or evasive maneuvers.
Various testing devices are used to test the above-mentioned driver assistance systems, particularly driver assistance systems with so-called anticipatory sensors for monitoring the surroundings of a motor vehicle, wherein, in known testing devices, various test objects are moved across the driving path of the motor vehicle in order to simulate, e.g., a situation in which a pedestrian crosses a road or in which another vehicle crosses the driving path. In order to be able to check or interpret whether or when a driver assistance system initiates an intervention in the dynamics of the vehicle or activates other protective measures in the event of an imminent collision, the test object must stay in the driving path of the motor vehicle until the moment of contact with the motor vehicle or at least until a moment shortly before the moment of contact.
A testing device, particularly for a pedestrian protection system in a motor vehicle, is known from, e.g., DE 10 2008 025 539 A1, wherein a test object is connected to a carriage that can be moved along a crosshead that extends across the driving path of the motor vehicle, wherein the crosshead is arranged at such a height across the driving path of the motor vehicle that the motor vehicle can drive under the crosshead and the test object is thus suspended freely in the driving path of the motor vehicle.
A disadvantage of known testing devices consists in the fact that the test object or the motor vehicle is damaged when driving situations involving collisions are simulated. Moreover, the number of possible applications of known testing devices is very small. Mostly, said known testing devices are stationary devices installed at a test area so that they can be used to simulate a small number of different driving situations only. Another disadvantage consists in the fact that particular natural sequences of movements (e.g., on account of unevenness of the ground) cannot be simulated because of the use of test objects that are freely suspended from a crosshead or a guide rope, and that unrealistic vibrations of the test objects or of the dummies may occur during the test.

Continental Safety Engineering International GmbH


Biguanide and dihydrotriazine derivatives, preferably substituted asymmetrical imidodicarbonimidic diamides derived from hydroxylamines, and compositions containing biguanide and dihydrotriazine derivatives are disclosed. In addition, methods of using the biguanide and dihydrotriazine derivatives, inter alia, as antimicrobial agents and methods of using the dihydrotriazine derivatives in biological assays are disclosed. Methods of making the biguanide and dihydrotriazine derivatives are also disclosed.

Certain dihydrotriazine derivatives have been explored as antimalarial compositions (Onori et al., Ann. 1st Super Sanita., 1989, 25:659-74). However, they are poorly absorbed and have been shown to be less effective in eliciting cures when administered orally, as compared to injection, to malaria-infected Aotus monkeys. These triazine derivatives must be administered by injection to observe activity comparable to or exceeding other known antimalarial drugs and are poorly tolerated when given by the oral route. (Knight et al., I. Ann. Tropical Med. Parasitol., 1980 74:393-404; Knight et al, IV. Ann. Trop. Med. Parasitol. 1982 76:9-14; U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,022; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,562).
Certain other dihydrotriazine derivatives have been explored as antimicrobial or antimalarial compositions. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,723,429)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,858 discloses biguanide derivatives, including N1,N5-substituted asymmetrical imidodicarbonimidic diamides, having antimicrobial and antiparasitic activity of various kinds, including antimalarial and antituberculosis activity, and discloses that such compounds provide elevated levels of bioavailability due to their ready absorption when taken orally. While the imidodicarbonimidic diamides exhibited inherent biological activities in claimed therapeutic applications, significant activities of the claimed compounds may arise by virtue of their conversions, in vivo, to the corresponding dihydrotriazine metabolites.
More recently, Jensen, et al., J. Med. Chem. 2001, 44, 3925-3931 reported a series of dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors that were effective as antimalarial agents, and unlike earlier antimalarial agents, were not cross-resistant with their previous counterparts.
In view of the importance of pharmaceutical compounds with these types of biological activity in the treatment of malaria, and other microbial and parasitic-type diseases and afflictions, compounds with enhanced pharmaceutical properties, and their methods of manufacture, are needed. Such improvements may include, for example, one or more of the following: enhanced biological activity, decreased toxicity, improved stability, better patient drug tolerance, increased solubility, in-use cost effectiveness, improved bioavailability, ease of drug administration, simplicity of manufacture, use of more environmentally friendly reagents, reduced environmental impact of co-generated by-products and their related waste disposal issues, and the like.
The compounds, processes for their manufacture, methods of use, and compositions of the present invention are directed to these, as well as other, important needs.


Manufacturing a counterfeit resistant document as a randomized assembly of material constituents with a large variety of electrical conductivity attributes, thereby achieving a unique set of physically measured properties of the document, so that a document verifier will be convinced of the authenticity of the document by comparing the results of real time measurements with measurements pre-recorded in a public ledger.

The rising wave of computer fraud has created a dire need to reliably authenticate digital entities via a tie-in with unhackable material attributes. The applications continued herein (U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 15/898,876, 16/578,341, 16/915,938) describe such 'material cryptography', and this invention extends the continued applications towards manufacturing counterfeit resistant documents.

Doqumint technology: counterfeit resistant documentation


An example computing device includes a controller to control operation of a firmware subsystem of the computing device. The controller is separate from a main processor of the computing device. A memory stores subsystem data that is useable by the controller. The subsystem data includes recovery information executable by the controller to initiate recovery of the subsystem. The computing device further includes recovery coordination instructions. The recovery coordination instructions determine integrity of the recovery information as stored on the memory and. In response to determining that the recovery information lacks integrity, the recovery coordination instructions initiate recovery of the firmware subsystem using a backup of the recovery information and perform recovery of the firmware subsystem using an update to the firmware subsystem.

Computing devices, such as desktop computers, notebook computers, servers, tablet computers, and smartphones, often include firmware stored in non-volatile memory. When a computing device is booted, the firmware may initialize hardware of the computing device and start runtime services that may be used by an operating system or application executed by the computing device.
Various mechanisms may be provided to firmware to mitigate erroneous or unauthorized modification, which could allow a malicious person or program to take control of a computing device, render a computing device inoperable, or similar.

Recovery via backups of recovery information

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.


Transparent regions are allocated on the color filter regions to promote luminance of LCD devices. Shielding regions are allocated on the pixels regions of TFT substrate corresponding to the transparent regions to promote chromatics. These two designs can be adapted to both display devices for laptop computers with high luminance requirement and desktop computers with pure chromatics requirement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a liquid crystal display panel, particularly liquid crystal display device for both laptop computer and desktop computer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Liquid crystal display (LCD) devices are used for display device of portable laptop computers. However, one major issue for the portable laptop computer is the power consumption. The longer battery lifetime is the more convenient and widely efficient for users who use a laptop computer. Battery capacity of a laptop computer nowadays is about between three to five hours, even up to seven hours for some certain models. The major devices that consume most power are the processor, chipsets, hard disk, and LCD device.
High luminance back light plates are not used for LCD devices of laptop computers in order to reduce power consumption. Nevertheless, luminance or luminance of display devices will be diminished according to such design. One solution is to lower the thickness of color filter films. The reason is because color filter films will not only filter lights but also absorb light to lower luminance. Chromatics will also diminish with thinner color filter films. Another solution is to increase the aperture ratio of a pixel, but more complex manufacturing processes and designs will have to be incurred.
Alternatively, LCD devices are also used for as monitors of desktop computers. Power consumption will not be an issue, and high luminance back light plates can be used as light sources to promote chromatics of color filter films. A simple way to increase chromatics is to increase the thickness of color filter films. However, such a solution can not be suitable for laptop computers.
Hence, one liquid crystal display device will have two different, opposite designs to apply for laptop computers and desktop computers. While manufacturing the two kinds of LCD panels, different specifications for color filter films of the same LCD panel size are needed. Thus, one design is not available for the two applications.


Networked application event data associated with a session of a networked application is identified and provided to an event data collection system in one format. Web service event data associated with an event of a Web service and also associated with the session is also identified and provided to another event data collection system in another format. The networked application event data and the Web service event data associated with the session identifier are merged into a consolidated storage of event data in a common format.

Computers and network connectivity have become increasingly commonplace, resulting in a large amount of content (e.g., products, services, other data, etc.) being available to users. Given the large amount of content that is available, it can be difficult for users to find content that is of interest to them. In order to improve the content available to users, as well as provide suggested content to users, content providers oftentimes attempt to track patterns of usage indicating how groups of users tend to behave. However, accurately tracking such usage patterns can be difficult to carry out.

Consolidating event data from different sources


A computing environment with methods for monitoring access to an open network, such as a WAN or the Internet, is described. The system includes one or more clients, each operating applications or processes (e.g., Netscape Navigator.TM. or Microsoft Internet Explorer.TM. browser software) requiring Internet (or other open network) access (e.g., an Internet connection to one or more Web servers). Client-based monitoring and filtering of access is provided in conjunction with a centralized enforcement supervisor. The supervisor maintains access rules for the client-based filtering and verifies the existence and proper operation of the client-based filter application. Access rules which can be defined can specify criteria such as total time a user can be connected to the Internet (e.g., per day, week, month, or the like), time a user can interactively use the Internet (e.g., per day, week, month, or the like), a list of applications or application versions that a user can or cannot use in order to access the Internet, a list of URLs (or WAN addresses) that a user application can (or cannot) access, a list of protocols or protocol components (such as Java Script.TM.) that a user application can or cannot use, and rules to determine what events should be logged (including how long are logs to be kept). By intercepting process loading and unloading and keeping a list of currently-active processes, each client process can be checked for various characteristics, including checking executable names, version numbers, executable file checksums, version header details, configuration settings, and the like. With this information, the system can determine if a particular process in question should have access to the Internet and what kind of access (i.e., protocols, Internet addresses, time limitations, and the like) is permissible for the given specific user.

The present invention relates generally to information processing and, more particularly, to system and methods for regulating access and maintaining security of individual computer systems and local area networks (LANs) connected to larger open networks (Wide Area Networks or WANs), including the Internet.
The first personal computers were largely stand-alone units with no direct connection to other computers or computer networks. Data exchanges between computers were mainly accomplished by exchanging magnetic or optical media such as floppy disks. Over time, more and more computers were connected to each other using Local Area Networks or "LANs." In both cases, maintaining security and controlling what information a user of a personal computer can access was relatively simple because the overall computing environment was limited and clearly defined.
With the ever-increasing popularity of the Internet, particularly the World Wide Web ("Web") portion of the Internet, however, more and more personal computers are connected to larger networks. Providing access to vast stores of information, the Internet is typically accessed by users through Web "browsers" (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer.TM. or Netscape Navigator.TM. browser software) or other "Internet applications." Browsers and other Internet applications include the ability to access a URL (Universal Resource Locator) or "Web" site. The explosive growth of the Internet had a dramatic effect on the LANs of many businesses and other organizations. More and more employees need direct access through their corporate LAN to the Internet in order to facilitate research, competitive analysis, communication between branch offices, and send e-mail, to name just a few.
As a result, corporate IS (Information Systems) departments now face unprecedented challenges. Specifically, such departments, which have to date operated largely in a clearly defined and friendly environment, are now confronted with a far more complicated and hostile situation. As more and more computers are now connected to the Internet, either directly (e.g., over a dialup connection with an Internet Service Provider or "ISP") or through a gateway between a LAN and the Internet, a whole new set of challenges face LAN administrators and individual users alike: these previously-closed computing environments are now opened to a worldwide network of computer systems. Specific challenges, for example, include the following: (1) attacks by perpetrators (hackers) capable of damaging the local computer systems, misuse these systems, or steal proprietary data and programs; (2) unauthorized access to external data (e.g., pornographic or other unsuitable Web sites); (3) infiltration by viruses and "Trojan Horse" programs; (4) abuse of the local computer system for unauthorized personal activities (e.g., extensive Web browsing or game playing) with subsequent loss of productivity; and (5) hording available network bandwidth through use of bandwidth-intensive applications (e.g., real-time audio programs).
The software industry has, in response, introduced a myriad of products and technologies to address and minimize these threats, including "firewalls," proxy servers, and similar technologies--all designed to keep outside hackers from penetrating the LAN. Firewalls are applications that intercept the data traffic at the gateway to a wide area network (WAN) and try to check the data packets (i.e., Internet Protocol packets or "IP packets") being exchanged for suspicious or unwanted activities. Initially firewalls have been used primarily to keep intruders from the LAN by filtering data packets. More recently, the concept has been expanded to include "Stateful Inspection." Here, a firewall not only looks at the IP packets but also inspects the data packets transport protocol (e.g., TCP) header (and even the application level protocols) in an attempt to better understand the exact nature of the data exchange.
Proxy server or Application Gateways, on the other hand, are LAN server-based applications that act on behalf of the client application. Accessing the Internet directly, the application first submits a request to the proxy server which inspects the request for unsafe or unwanted traffic. Only after this inspection will the proxy server consider forwarding the request to the destination on the Internet.
Both strategies are based on a centralized filter mechanism, with most of the filtering work being performed at the server (as opposed to the individual client PCs). Such an approach is problematic, however. Because of the centralized nature of firewalls and proxy servers, each approach extracts significant performance penalties. During operation of a typical system employing either approach, a single server might have to do the filtering work for hundreds or even thousands of PCs or workstations. This represents a major bottleneck to overall system performance. Further, a centralized filter poses a significant bottleneck even when client PCs are idly awaiting data. As emerging technologies on the Internet require still faster data delivery (e.g., real-time audio and video fees) and use more complex protocols, this problem will likely be exacerbated. In the case of firewalls employing "Stateful Inspection" technology, performance problems are aggravated by the fact that the firewall software needs to duplicate much of the protocol implementation of the client application as well as the transport protocol (e.g., TCP and UDP protocol) in order to understand the data flow.
As another problem, centralized filter architectures are missing vital information to correctly interpret the data packets because the underlying protocols were designed for effective data transfer and not for data monitoring and interception. For instance, monitoring based on an individual client application (or versions thereof) is not supported, all despite the fact that two identical data packets (or series of data packets) can have completely different meanings based on the underlying context--that is, how the client application actually interprets the data packets. As a result, computer viruses or Trojan Horse applications can camouflage data transmissions as legitimate traffic.
There are still other disadvantages to centralized filtering. The approach is difficult to configure and administer. The task of setting up different rights for different users, workstations, or workgroups, for instance, is particularly difficult. No facilities are provided for delegating certain access and monitoring authority, for example, in order to allow a workgroup supervisor to manage less critical aspects of the Internet access for his or her group without going through a central authority. Also, a centralized filter cannot distinguish between "active" use of the Internet (i.e., when user interaction with the PC causes the Internet access) and "background" use (i.e., when an application accesses the Internet without user interaction). Still further, a centralized filter is easily circumvented, for example by a user employing a modem for establishing a dial-up connection to an ISP (Internet Service Provider). Similarly, the proxy-server approach is unattractive. Special versions or specialized configurations of client applications are required, thus complicating system administration. Internet setup for portable computers employed at remote locations is especially complicated.
Providing a client-based filter (e.g., SurfWatch and CyberPatrol) for preventing users from accessing undesirable World Wide Web sites does not adequately overcome the disadvantages of centralized filtering. Designed largely as parental control tools for individual PCs, these programs are easily disabled by uninstalling (accidentally or intentionally) the filter. A Windows user can, for example, simply reinstall Windows, replacing certain driver files of the filter. This disables the filter and provides the user with unrestricted access to the Internet.
All told, comparably little has been done to date to effectively minimize or eliminate the risks posed from within one's own corporate LAN, specifically, how one manages access to the Internet or other WAN from client machines. Quite simply, the technical framework to successfully implement an Internet access management product does not exists. What is needed are system and methods providing network administrators, workgroup supervisor, and individual PC users with the ability to monitor and regulate the kinds of exchanges permissible between one's local computing environment and external network or WANs, including the Internet. The present invention fulfills this and other needs.

System and methodology for managing internet access on a per application basis for client computers connected to the internet


A display device that efficiently dissipates high temperature heat generated from a driver IC of a driver IC package. The display device includes a display panel, a chassis base having the display panel on a first surface, the printed circuit board assembly mounted at a second surface of the chassis base the second surface being opposite to the first surface, and a driver IC package having a driver IC connected to an electrode of the display device and the printed circuit board assembly. Additionally, the display device may include a thermal conduction sheet inserted between the display device and the chassis base and having an extension portion formed at a position corresponding to the driver IC, and a thermal conduction member formed between the extension portion of the thermal conduction sheet and the chassis base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a plasma display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a number of various display devices have been developed. Among these display devices is a plasma display device which incorporates a plasma display panel (PDP). A PDP is a display device that displays an image by using visible light generated from a phosphor layer excited with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) which is emitted from plasma generated by gas discharge.
A typical plasma display device includes the PDP, a chassis base supporting the PDP, a printed circuit board assembly (PBA) connected to a display electrode or an address electrode located in the PDP through a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and connectors, and a case enclosing the PDP, chassis base, and PBA.
The chassis base supports the PDP and PBA, and dissipates heat generated during the operation of the PDP by rapidly transferring and diffusing the heat.
However, by using only the chassis base, diffusion of heat generated during the operation of the PDP is limited, and thereby performance of the PDP may be reduced due to the heat generated during the operation. In particular, much heat is generated by a driver integrated circuit (IC), which generates a pulse to be applied to an address electrode.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


A charging control circuit includes a charging module, a switch element, a load detecting element, and an adjusting element. According to the power consumption of a chargeable battery of an electronic device, the load detecting element issues a load range signal. According to the load range signal, the adjusting element issues a control voltage to the switch element. According to the control voltage, the switch element is turned on, and the magnitude of a control current from the switch element is correspondingly adjusted. By the charging module, a charging current corresponding to the control current is provided to charge the chargeable battery. Consequently, the magnitude of the charging current is controlled according to the operating situation of the electronic device, and the charging speed is changed.

In modern societies, computers become essential apparatuses in our daily lives. Moreover, peripheral electronic devices such as input devices (e.g. mouse devices or keyboards) are important accessories of computers. During operations, these peripheral electronic devices are connected to the computer through connecting wires to acquire electric power. Due to the limitations of the connecting wires, these peripheral electronic devices have to be operated at the positions near the computer in order to acquire the electric power from the computer. For solving this drawback, a wireless electronic device is introduced into the market. For operating the wireless electronic device, it is not necessary to place the wireless electronic device near the computer.
Generally, a battery is usually installed in the wireless electronic device. The battery is a chargeable battery for providing electric power to the wireless electronic device. By acquiring the electric power from the battery, the wireless electronic device can be normally operated without being restricted by the connecting wire. In case that the residual battery capacity of the chargeable battery is zero or very low, the chargeable battery needs to be charged, so that the wireless electronic device can be continuously operated. Generally, the wireless electronic device comprises a charging module for charging the chargeable battery. Conventionally, the charging module may transfer a fixed charging current to the chargeable battery in order to charge the chargeable battery. A higher magnitude of the charging current denotes a shorter charging time. Whereas, a lower magnitude of the charging current denotes a longer charging time.
A controlling device for adjusting a charging current with a system load was disclosed in Taiwanese Patent Publication No. TW440760. The controlling device is used for controlling a power source to provide the charging current to the chargeable battery. The controlling device comprises a current sensing element, a voltage conversion circuit, and a charging current adjusting circuit. The current sensing element (i.e. a resistor) is connected to the system load in series. By the current sensing element, a load current flowing through the system load is converted into a corresponding load voltage. The voltage conversion circuit is connected to the current sensing element. According to the load voltage, the voltage conversion circuit generates a control voltage. The charging current adjusting circuit is arranged in a charging path of the power source to charge the chargeable battery. Moreover, the charging current adjusting circuit is connected to the voltage conversion circuit. According to the control voltage, the charging current provided from the power source to the chargeable battery is adjusted by the charging current adjusting circuit. From the above discussions, the controlling device disclosed in Taiwanese Patent Publication No. TW440760 is capable of detecting the change of the system load in real time, thereby correspondingly adjusting the supplied charging current. Consequently, the charging speed is accelerated.
For example, if the system load is heavier, the charging current adjusting circuit generates a lower charging current to charge the chargeable battery. On the other hand, if the system load is lighter, the charging current adjusting circuit generates a higher charging current to charge the chargeable battery, so that the charging speed is accelerated.
From the above discussions, the current sensing element, the voltage conversion circuit and the charging current adjusting circuit are additionally installed in the electronic device to adjust the charging current. These components not only occupy much space of the electronic device but also increase the fabricating cost of the electronic device.
Therefore, there is a need of providing a cost-effective charging control circuit for adjusting the magnitude of the charging current.


A digital AV data transmitting unit includes a data significance deciding section for deciding the significance degree of digital AV data, and a transmitting-side plurality-of-authentication-rules storing section storing a plurality of types of authentication rules. Also included are a transmitting-side authentication selecting section for selecting one type of authentication rule from the transmitting-side plurality-of-authentication-rules storing means in accordance with a decision result by the data significance deciding section when receiving an authentication request, and a transmitting-side authenticating section for performing authentication in accordance with the selected authentication rule.

A conventional system for performing authentication between AV units will be described below by referring to FIGS. 2 and 3.
First, in FIG. 2, a digital AV data transmitting unit STB 18 is provided with a public key and secret key 20, authenticating means 19, a digital interface D-I/F 22, and enciphering means 19 (sic). The public key and secret key 20 is connected with the digital interface D-I/F22 through the authenticating means 19. Moreover, the enciphering means 19 (sic) is able to refer to the public key and secret key 20 and connects with the digital interface 22. A digital AV data receiving unit TV 23 is also provided with a public key and secret key 26, authenticating means 25, a digital interface D-I/F 24, and decoding means 27. The public key and secret key 26 connects with the digital interface D-I/F 24 through the authenticating means 25. Moreover, the decoding means 27 is able to refer to the public key and secret key 26 and connects with the digital interface D-I/F 24. Furthermore, the digital interface D-I/F 22 and the digital interface D-I/F 24 are constituted so as to be able to transfer data each other.
Then, operations between the digital AV data transmitting unit STB 18 and the digital AV data receiving unit TV 23 are described below. First, the digital AV data receiving unit TV 23 outputs an authentication request. Then, the authentication request reaches the digital interface D-I/F 22 constituting the digital AV data transmitting unit STB 18 through the digital interface D-I/F 24. The digital interface D-I/F 22 receives and authenticates the authentication request by referring to the public key and secret key 20 by the authenticating means 19. When the public key and secret key 20 is authenticated by the digital AV data transmitting unit STB 18, data is enciphered by the enciphering means 21 and enciphered data is transmitted through the digital interface D-I/F 22. The data is decoded by the decoding means 27 through the digital interface D-I/F 24 by referring to the public key and secret key 26.
Thus, a function strong against forgery and alteration can be realized. However, authentication using public key and secret key requires a lot of time. In case of the data not very important such as news, unnecessary time may be required for authentication. Moreover, as for a unit for receiving only data which can be copied such as a VTR, a digital AV data receiving unit may not require a strict authentication according to circumstances. In this case, time is wasted.
Then, in FIG. 3, a digital AV data transmitting unit STB 28 is provided with a common key 30, authenticating means 29, a digital interface D-I/F 32, and enciphering means 31. The common key 30 connects with the digital interface D-I/F 32 through the authenticating means 29. Moreover, the enciphering means 31 is able to refer to the common key 30 and connects with the digital interface 32. A digital AV data receiving unit TV 33 is also provided with a common key 36, authenticating means 35, a digital interface 34, and decoding means 37. The common key 36 connects with the digital interface 34 through the authenticating means 35. Moreover, the decoding means 37 is able to refer to the common key 36 and connects with the digital interface 34. Furthermore, the digital interface 32 and the digital interface 34 are constituted so as to be able to transfer data each other.
Then, operations between the digital AV data transmitting unit STB 28 and the digital AV data receiving unit TV 33 are described below. First, the digital AV data receiving unit TV 33 outputs an authentication request. Then, the authentication request reaches the digital interface D-I/F 32 constituting the digital AV data transmitting unit STB 28 through the digital interface D-I/F 34. The digital interface D-I/F 32 receives and authenticates the authentication request by referring to the common key 30 by the authenticating means 29. When the request is authenticated by the digital AV data transmitting unit STB 28, data is enciphered by the enciphering means 31 and enciphered data is transmitted through the digital interface D-I/F 32. The data is decoded by the digital decoding means 37 through the digital interface D-I/F 34 by referring to the common key 36.
Thus, it is possible to authenticate data in a short time. However, authentication using a common key is weak in forgery and alteration. Therefore, in case of the data important for a copyright such as a new movie, data may be looked and listened by a third party free of charge. Moreover, it is necessary to correspond to a case of connecting with a unit for performing a strict authentication in order to display all received data such as a case of TV or there is a case in which a digital AV data receiving unit requires a strict authentication. In this case, a trouble may occur that the copyright of important data is not protected.
Therefore, there are problems that a lot of time is required to authenticate the data not very important and that the authentication of important data is weak in forgery and alteration. Moreover, there are some digital AV data receiving units that do not require a strict authentication. When applying a strict authentication to these units, there is a problem that time is wasted. However, there some digital AV data receiving units which require a strict authentication. When applying a loose authentication to these units, there is a problem that the copyright is not protected. Moreover, when preparing an enciphering key for a strict authentication and a loose authentication respectively in order to prevent illegal use, it is necessary to newly perform a loose authentication even if loose data is necessary after performing a strict authentication and obtaining an enciphering key. Furthermore, when a receiving side uses a unit not having a function for excluding units, there is a problem that a transmitting side is constituted so as not to be able to exclude illegal units.

Digital AV data transmitting unit, digital AV data receiving unit, digital AV data transmitting/receiving unit, and medium

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A lens blank for a fluid lens includes a rigid lens and a semi-flexible inflatable membrane attached to the rigid lens. The lens blank is divided into a cavity zone and a bonded zone. The cavity zone extends radially outward from a central area of the lens blank and a cavity is formed between the membrane and the rigid lens within the cavity zone. The bonded zone extends radially outward from the cavity zone and the membrane is bonded and fluidly sealed to the rigid lens throughout the bonded zone. The bonded zone is dimensioned to be trimmed to accommodate a plurality of frame shapes and sizes. Methods of manufacturing lens blanks are also provided. Arrays of lens blanks and fluid lenses are also provided.

Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to lens blanks for fluid lenses and methods of manufacturing fluid lenses.
Background Art
Basic fluid lenses have been known since about 1958, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,101 to Swart, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. More recent examples may be found in "Dynamically Reconfigurable Fluid Core Fluid Cladding Lens in a Microfluidic Channel" by Tang et al., Lab Chip, 2008, vol. 8, p. 395, and in WIPO publication WO2008/063442, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. These applications of fluid lenses are directed towards photonics, digital phone and camera technology, and microelectronics.
Fluid lenses have also been proposed for ophthalmic applications (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,085,065 to Silver, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Power adjustment in fluid lenses has been accomplished for example by injecting fluid into a lens cavity, by electrowetting, application of ultrasonic impulse, and by utilizing swelling forces in a cross-linked polymer upon introduction of a swelling agent, such as water.

Fluid lenses, lens blanks, and methods of manufacturing the same


A power supply implanted behind a tissue barrier in a human body and operating a medical device and incorporating a high frequency power receiver antenna coil; a transmitter having a high frequency transmitter antenna coil generating high frequency power and transmitting the power from the transmitting coil to the implanted receiver coil; an implanted non-ferrous magnet affixed within the implanted annular receiver coil; and a magnetic field sensing device or magnetically operated reed switch affixed concentrically within the transmitter coil of the transmitter and controlling transmission of high frequency power from the transmitter to the implanted power supply.

Various types of medical devices may be implanted in a person's body to assist normal body functions or to provide therapeutic functions. One example is a nerve stimulator which may be implanted for therapeutic purposes to act on the nerves in a person's body.
Such an implanted device may need to be supplied with power from outside the body for recharging batteries or for operating the device. Similarly, some devices require data transfer by telemetry. High frequency transfer to the implanted device requires an implanted receiving coil receiving high frequency power from a transmitter antenna coil at the outside of the body. Of course, the transmitter coil and receiver coil must be properly positioned relative to each other as to be coupled with each other for maximum transfer of high frequency power Proper position may be difficult when the precise location of the implanted receiver coil is not known.
High frequency power may be transmitted at approximately 2 MHz (VHF) or at 70 MHz (VHF) or more.

Position sensitive power transfer antenna


Disclosed is a pinched rail guide system which is comprised of a pair of guide rails 18 exteriorly jointed to the parallel side walls 20 of a drawer 16 or the like. There are two sets of three guide rollers 14 positioned so that two of the guide rollers 24 are beneath the guide rail 18 and supporting the drawer-like member 16. The third guide roller 26 is stationed to engage the top of the guide rail 18 and which location is of paramount importance to the present invention 10. Sets of guide rollers 14 can be mounted to the structural drawer-like holding member 16 by individually fixedly mounting each guide roller 14 to the structural drawer-like holding frame member 12 according to the aforementioned prescribed method or each set 14 can be fixedly mounted to a guide roller plate member 40 Drawer stops 30 are located on the top rear section of the rails 38 and are milled into wooden rails 18 and are formed into metal rails 18. In operation the drawer-like member(s) 16 can be pulled open until the stops 30 in the upper tracks of the pinched rails 18 come in contact with the third guide rollers 26. Embodiments are also disclosed wherein dual guide rollers 62 are used, and, wherein pre-formed guide roller rails 18 are placed at the top 63 and bottom 64 of the drawers 16.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to roller drawer guides and more specifically, to a pinched rail guide system that provides lateral relief to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and expansion and contraction during the life of the furniture. The pinched rail guide system is comprised of a pair of guide rails exteriorly mounted to the parallel side walls of a drawer or the like. There are two sets of three guide rollers positioned so that two of the guide rollers are beneath the guide rail and supporting the drawer-like member. The third guide roller is stationed to engage the top of the guide rail and whose location is of paramount importance to the present invention. Due to the fact that most manufacturing is performed on assembly lines by machinery that can consistently achieve tolerances within thousandths of millimeters, the third roller can be positioned so that a force is created on the guide rail between the third roller and the other guide rollers. Further, the third roller is fixedly attached at a point past the median point of the base guide rollers. This will prevent any vertical play while sliding the drawer-like member within the guide roller members.
This assemblage of guide rollers and rail is an improvement over the existing guide rail systems by requiring less hardware and case components while improving vertical and lateral stability over prior art. Installation of guide rollers is simplified when using the present invention as is drawer installation and removal.
In addition, the present invention allows for expansion and contraction of the drawer or like member(s) and the exterior structural drawer or like holding article. A first set of guide rollers and a second set of guide rollers form a mating set of guide rollers that are fixedly attached opposite the other and spaced apart by the drawer or like member. The sets can be mounted to the structural drawer-like holding member by individually fixedly mounting each guide roller to the structural drawer-like holding frame member according to the aforementioned prescribed method or each set can be fixedly mounted to a guide roller plate member. The first set of guide rollers has each roller rotatably mounted onto a guide roller hub element. The second set of guide rollers has each roller rotatably mounted onto a guide roller hub element. Each guide roller of the second set being mounted onto the guide roller hub element has a through bore which varies in size whereby the head of the guide roller mounting element is contained in a cavity within the guide roller which permits the guide roller to move in a transaxle fashion dictated by the variable expansion and contraction of the drawer-like member and the exterior structural drawer-like holding article.
Drawer stops are located on the top rear section of the rails and are milled into wooden rails and are formed into metal rails. In operation the drawer-like member(s) can be pulled open until the stops in the upper tracks of the pinched rails come in contact with the third guide rollers. To remove the drawer-like member the drawer-like member is extended to its full open position whereupon the guide rail stops will be engaged by the third guide roller members. The face member is raised pivoting on the first guide roller members until the guide rail stops pass under the third guide roller members whereby the drawer-like member can be completely withdrawn from the exterior structural drawer-like holding article. The degree of difficulty for removal of the drawer member is decreased compared to those of conventional guide systems. The clearance needed above the drawer member is also reduced due to change in removal procedure allowing the manufacturer to use larger drawers in a given face frame opening.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous roller drawer guide systems which provide for guiding and limiting the movement of sliding drawers. While these roller drawer guide systems may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. The present invention offers many improvements to both manufacturers and users. It is thus desirable to provide a roller drawer guide system utilizing pinched rails to achieve vertical and lateral stabilization of the drawer member while maintaining a smooth, quiet ride, ease of removal and installation, and lower manufacturing costs. It is further desirable to provide a pinched rail drawer guide system that allows compensation for lateral differentiation while maintaining lateral stability through a combination of fixed and lateral relief wheel guides.
It is yet further desirable to provide a pinched rail drawer guide system that may be configured to accommodate milled or formed rails each of which can be either assembly mounted or a screw mounted to the furniture piece.
The present invention discloses a pinched rail guide system which is comprised of a pair of guide rails exteriorly jointed to the parallel side walls of a drawer or the like. There are two sets of three guide rollers positioned so that two of the guide rollers are beneath the guide rail and supporting the drawer-like member. The third guide roller is stationed to engage the top of the guide rail and which location is of paramount importance to the present invention. Sets of guide rollers can be mounted to the structural drawer-like holding member by individually fixedly mounting each guide roller to the structural drawer-like holding frame member according to the aforementioned prescribed method or each set can be fixedly mounted to a guide roller plate member. Drawer stops are located on the top rear section of the rails and are milled into wooden rails and are formed into metal rails. In operation the drawer-like member(s) can be pulled open until the stops in the upper tracks of the pinched rails come in contact with the third guide rollers. Embodiments are also shown wherein dual guide rollers are used, and, pre-formed guide rails are placed at the top and bottom of the sides of the drawer-like member.
An object of the present invention is to provide a lateral relief pinched rail drawer guide system that is self compensating to variations in drawer width through the use of a combination of slidable lateral relief wheel guides and fixed wheel guides.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a pinched rail drawer guide system with lateral relief which will overcome the shortcomings of prior art devices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pinched rail drawer guide system wherein rails have grooved tracks to accommodate the wheel guides and restrict vertical movement more effectively than the prior art thereby increasing lateral and vertical stability and allowing a smoother, quieter travel.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pinched rail drawer guide system wherein all of the wheel guides on either side of the drawer member are proximally located within the housing member and are positioned to require less clearance above drawer and greater ease to remove or install the drawer member than is needed in the prior art thereby increasing the spatial efficiency of each drawer member.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a pinched rail drawer guide system with a retrofit version that can be adapted to existing sliding drawer systems.
Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.


A mounting apparatus for supporting a string of ornamental lights of the type having a length of electrical wiring, a plurality of bulb sockets therealong, and a plurality of light bulbs inserted in the sockets. The mounting apparatus includes a plurality of retaining members, each retaining member including a configuration complementary to a configuration of an upper lip of an expanse of guttering for releasable attachment thereto. A clamp member is attached to a front side of each retaining member. Each clamp member includes a pair of legs having free ends biased toward one another and selectively movable away from one another when electrical wiring of a light string is urged therebetween. In another embodiment, each clamp member is attached to a mounting plate for flush mounting to a flat surface with fasteners. In another embodiment, each clamp member is attached to an offset bracket for attachment to siding.

This invention relates to light mounting systems and, more particularly, to a light mounting apparatus for supporting decorative lights upon the outside of a home or building.
Strings of small or miniature decorative lights are frequently positioned along roof edges or around window and door frames. These light strings typically include a length of electrical wire, a plurality of bulb sockets spaced apart and connected to the wires, and a plurality of weatherproof lights inserted into the bulb sockets. Various devices have been proposed in the art for mounting decorative lights to a house or other building. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, many light mounting systems include molded fasteners that are permanently attached to a house structure with nails or screws that leave unsightly damage if removed.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a light mounting apparatus which may be removably mounted to a gutter or other trim structure for supporting a string of decorative lights. Further, it is desirable to have a light mounting apparatus which includes a clamp that is easy to operate for receiving the electrical wires of a string of ornamental lights. Finally, it is desirable to have a light mounting apparatus which may remain unobtrusively mounted year round.
A decorative light mounting system according to the present invention for supporting a string of lights on a house or other structure includes a plurality of retaining members with each retaining member having a clamp member. In one embodiment, each retaining member includes a configuration substantially similar to a configuration of the upper lip of conventional rollform S-shaped guttering. Each retaining member is dimensioned to be releasably coupled to the upper lip of the gutter in a snap-fit relationship. Each retaining member includes a front surface to which a clamp member is attached. Each clamp member includes a pair of legs that are biased toward one another. One of the clamp legs includes a tab which, when depressed by a user, urges the clamp legs apart so that the wires of a light string may be inserted therebetween.
Another embodiment of the mounting apparatus includes the clamp member described above attached to a flat mounting plate having a generally rectangular configuration and defining at least one aperture such that the mounting plate may be attached to a flat surface with nails or screws. This embodiment combines the unique clamp construction with a more conventional mounting plate. Yet another embodiment of the mounting apparatus includes a mounting bracket to which the clamp described above is attached. The mounting bracket includes an offset configuration having a flange extending along an upper edge of a back plate thereof such that the mounting bracket may be releasably coupled to the upper edge of a lower portion of a piece of siding without the use of any fasteners.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a mounting apparatus for supporting decorative lights on a house or building.
Another object of this invention is to provide a mounting apparatus, as aforesaid, having retaining members which selectively may be permanently or temporarily attached to a gutter or eaves trough.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a mounting apparatus, as aforesaid, which may be manufactured in elongate strips from which individual retaining or mounting members may be selectively removed.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a mounting apparatus, as aforesaid, in which a clamp for receiving the wires of a decorative light string is attached to each retaining or mounting member.
A further object of this invention is to provide a mounting apparatus, as aforesaid, in which each clamp includes a pair of legs biased toward one another with a tab extending from one leg which urges the legs apart when depressed.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention.


Private certificates designed to counteract problems associated with certificate lending are configured such that disclosure of a secret key associated with one certificate automatically results in disclosure of a secret key associated with another certificate, while the corresponding public keys are unlinkable with one another. In an illustrative private certificate generation protocol, a user generates verification information associated with a first public key. The verification information is generated at least in part using a corresponding first secret key. The verification information is supplied to a certification authority, which generates based at least in part on the first public key and the verification information a second public key having a corresponding second secret key, and generates a certificate based at least in part on the second public key. The private certificate generation protocol may be asymmetric or symmetric.

As is well known, certificates play an essential role in public key cryptography. For example, public key certificates allow public keys to be communicated over unsecured media without danger of undetectable manipulation, thereby ensuring that public key authenticity and validity remain verifiable. Public key certificates are described in, e.g., A. J. Menezes et al., "Handbook of Applied Cryptography," CRC Press, 1997, which is incorporated by reference herein. A public key certificate typically includes a data part and a signature part. The data part, which is in plaintext form, generally includes at a minimum the public key and a corresponding subject entity identifier, and may include additional information such as specified access rights. The signature part comprises a digital signature of a trusted certification authority (CA) on the data part. By its signature on the data part, the CA vouches for the authenticity of the public key bound to the subject entity. The public key certificate may thus be viewed as assigning an identity as well as specified access rights to the holder of the associated secret key. Such certificates are useful in many applications, including providing secure access to accounts, subscription-based services, and other types of restricted information, and controlling signatory authority for documents.
A significant problem with conventional certificate generation techniques is that the resulting certificates are not secure against "certificate lending." This refers to a situation in which a certificate holder voluntarily shares with others the rights bestowed upon that holder through the certificate. This type of abuse is of particular concern for several types of applications, such as those involving digital rights management. Moreover, if a given user has multiple secret keys each having a corresponding certificate, it is generally the case that if the user shares a particular one of the certificates with other users, it does not adversely impact any other certificates held by the given user. This feature of conventional certificate techniques tends to encourage certificate lending, thereby aggravating the problem.
A need therefore exists for improved techniques for generating certificates, such that the above-noted certificate lending problem can be alleviated.

Methods and apparatus for private certificates in public key cryptography


In a digital boost or buck-boost converter, a pulse width modulation signal has an on-time and an off-time. A constant off-time period is provided to set the off-time to be constant, and an on-time period to determine the on-time is derived by monitoring the output voltage of the converter. With the constant off-time, the output voltage and the on-time period will have a linear relation, thereby reducing the output ripple when the converter operates with a high duty-ratio.

Due to the advantages of small size, reduced number of passive elements and lower cost, digital voltage converters have been popularly adopted. FIG. 1 shows a conventional digital boost converter 100, in which an output stage 102 converts an input voltage Vi to an output voltage Vo, an error amplifier 112 generates an error signal VE based on the output voltage Vo and a reference voltage Vref, an analog to digital converter 110 quantifies the error signal VE to generate a digital error signal VD, a digital compensator 108 generates a duty-ratio d by compensating the digital error signal VD, and a digital pulse width modulator 106 generates a pulse width modulation signal PWM based on the duty-ratio d for a driver 104 in the output stage 102 to switch a power switch M1. The duty-ratio d is defined asd=Ton/(Ton+Toff),  [EQ-1]where Ton and Toff are on-time and off-time, respectively, of the pulse width modulation signal PWM.
FIG. 2 shows a conventional digital buck-boost converter 200, in which an output stage 202 converts an input voltage Vi to an output voltage Vo, an error amplifier 212 generates an error signal VE based on the output voltage Vo and a reference voltage Vref, an analog to digital converter 210 quantifies the error signal VE to generate a digital error signal VD, a digital compensator 208 generates a duty-ratio d based on the digital error signal VD by compensating the digital error signal VD, and a digital pulse width modulator 206 generates a pulse width modulation signal PWM based on the duty-ratio for a driver 204 in the output stage 202 to switch switches M1 and M2. The duty-ratio d is also defined as the equation EQ-1, and the switches M1 and M2 are turned on and off at the same time. More details of digital voltage converters may refer to D. Maksimovic, R. Zane and R. Erickson, "Impact of Digital Control in Power Electronics," Proceeding of 2004 International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices & Ics, pp. 13-22, and R. W. Erickon and D. Maksimovic, "Fundamentals of Power Electronics", Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001.
In steady state, the output voltage Vo and the duty-ratio d of the digital buck-boost converter 100 have the relationVo=Vi/(1−d),  [EQ-2]and the output voltage Vo and the duty-ratio d of the digital buck-boost converter 200 have the relationVo=d×Vi/(1−d).  [EQ-3]As shown in the equations EQ-2 and EQ-3, neither the converter 100 nor the converter 200 has a linear relation between the output voltage Vo and the duty-ratio d. In further detail, FIG. 3 shows the relations between the voltage conversion ratio Vo/Vi and the duty-ratio d, in which curve 300 represents the relation for the converter 100, and curve 302 represents the relation for the converter 200. As shown in the curves 300 and 302, as the duty-ratio d increases, the voltage conversion ratio Vo/Vi also increases in a non-linear manner. Since the conventional digital pulse width modulators 106 and 206 are implemented with digital control, their duty-ratio d is quantified. The quantization step Δd is also referred as resolution. In a conventional digital pulse width modulator, the quantization step Δd is constant. When it operates with high duty-ratio d (i.e. close to 1), the voltage conversion ratio Vo/Vi varies significantly when the duty-ratio d increases or decreases, thereby causing a great ripple at the output Vo. For example, if the converter 200 has a quantization step Δd of 0.01, then at the duty-ratio of 0.9, as shown by the curve 302, when the duty-ratio d increases or decreases by 0.01, the voltage conversion ratio Vo/Vi will change to 10 or 8 accordingly, thereby generating a ripple of ±1V on the output voltage Vo.
The resolution of the duty-ratio d in the converters 100 and 200 is determined by the digital pulse width modulators 106 and 206, respectively. In a conventional counter-based digital constant-frequency pulse width modulator, the timing resolution Tclk, bit width n and switching period Tsw are correlated, where the timing resolution Tclk is the clock cycle of the controllers 102 and 202, the bit width n is the bit number in each cycle of the pulse width modulation signal PWM, and the switching period Tsw is the switch cycle of the switch M1. Since the pulse width modulator operates at constant frequency, the switching period Tsw has a constant value. The timing resolution Tclk, bit width n and switch period Tsw have the relationTsw=2n×Tclk.  [EQ-4]To increase the resolution of the duty-ratio d, conventionally, the timing resolution Tclk is reduced, namely the clock frequency of the controllers 102 and 202 (1/Tclk) is increased. However, it is limited by this way. When the clock frequency (1/Tclk) of the controllers 102 and 202 reaches the order of GHz, the power loss will be too large to implement. Moreover, the smaller the timing resolution Tclk is, the more the implementation cost is.
Therefore, it is desired a digital boost and buck-boost converter capable of reducing the output ripple when operating with high duty-ratio.

Digital voltage converter with constant off-time and variable on-time of controller


A supercontinuum generation system comprises a noise-like pulse fiber laser structure, an amplification unit and a broadening medium. The noise-like pulse fiber laser structure generates at lease one noise-like pulse of the wavelength less than 1300 nm. The amplification unit includes a gain fiber with which the noise-like pulse is coupled. The broadening medium is coupled with the gain fiber. A supercontinuum is generated when the noise-like pulse is amplified by the amplification unit and broadened in spectrum by the broadening medium.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a supercontinuum generation system.
2. Related Art
First observed in 1970, a supercontinuum is generated when an optical pulse with high energy intensity and a narrow spectrum is largely broadened in spectrum by passing through an optical device of stronger nonlinear effects. If the pulse energy required to generate a supercontinuum can be decreased, this kind of white light source generated by the supercontinuum can be applied to the measuring of biology, chemistry and material due to the natural coherence and high base-mode luminance. Because the white-like LED source generated by mixing two complementary lights is not a continuous spectrum and the fluorescent lamp is heavier and not adaptable sufficiently, the white light source generated in the supercontinuum manner is obviously a promising light source in the future.
The supercontinuum is generated by the cooperation of multiple optical nonlinear effects. The current research mainly focuses on decreasing the least average input power required to generate the supercontinuum on the premise that the output spectrum is broadened sufficiently. To achieve this goal, there are two aspects needed to be improved. One aspect is to confine the inputted energy of the light source to a narrower pulse to achieve the higher transient light intensity. The other aspect is to use the optical device with stronger nonlinear effects. The supercontinuum generated by such methods usually appears in the anomalous dispersion region.
To confine the inputted energy of the light source to a narrower pulse, an amplified femtosecond laser is required, and currently the Ti:Sapphire laser is the most frequently used. However, Ti:Sapphire is too big and expensive. Besides, the optical devices with stronger nonlinear effects also result in the problem of the higher cost.
Therefore, it is an important subject to provide a supercontinuum generation system that can generate a supercontinuum in an easier method without using femtosecond laser.


A storage library is described that includes a shelf system adapted to support a number of tape cartridges. The storage library further includes a tape drive adapted to read and write data to and from tape cartridges. The storage library further possesses a temporary repository near the tape drive that is adapted to facilitate an exchange of a first tape cartridge intended to be loaded in the tape drive with a second tape cartridge ready to be removed from the tape drive with a single tape picker device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present embodiments are directed to a data cartridge library that is useful in storing data on a recording medium located in a cartridge and/or retrieving data from such a recording medium.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, data cartridge libraries transfer tape cartridges between a shelf system and a tape drive. If access to a target tape cartridge is required, for reading and/or writing data, the target tape cartridge is moved from a shelf system to the target tape drive where it is loaded therein. Following any access requirement, the tape cartridge is returned to the shelf system before a different tape cartridge is accessed. These basic operations are essentially repeated each and every time a new tape cartridge is accessed.
It is to innovations related to this subject matter that the claimed invention is generally directed.


In accordance with one embodiment, a method comprises querying, with a querying component, a print engine to ascertain one or more printmodes that are supported by the print engine, and, receiving, responsive to the querying, a list that describes printmodes supported by the print engine.

Printers, such as inkjet printers and laser printers, use what are called "printmodes" to facilitate printing upon print media. A printmode typically refers to a set of controls and resources that instruct a print engine on how to print a page. Printmodes may allow a trade-off between speed and image quality. For example, a printer's draft mode provides the user with readable text relatively quickly. Presentation, also known as best mode, may be relatively slow but may produce relatively high image quality. Normal mode is a compromise between draft and presentation modes. Printmodes allow the user to choose between these trade-offs. Different printmodes can also be employed depending on the media type.
Print engines can typically have a number of different printing algorithms that provide the print engine with flexibility as it allows a user to select between tradeoffs associated with print quality and performance over different media types. For example, some users might prefer faster print outs, while others might prefer higher quality. Printmodes can control both the selection of an appropriate printing algorithm and its proper execution. Thus, print engines can support multiple different printmodes that are designed to serve different user needs.

Methods and systems for discovering printmodes supported by a print engine

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention is a method of producing a photographic support. The method includes providing a photographic paper and transporting the photographic paper through an atmospheric glow discharge zone, wherein the atmospheric glow discharge zone contains a gas with a dielectric strength which is less than air. The atmospheric glow discharge zone is subjected to an electric frequency between 40 kHz and 13.56 Mhz and an electric field such that an atmospheric glow discharge is formed; and the photographic paper is coated with a polymeric coating.

Corona discharges are used widely in industry to promote adhesion between various materials. In manufacturing polymer coated paper products, there is a large body of literature describing various applications of coronas to make polymeric coatings adhere to paper substrate materials. Almost all of these coronas are produced by applying a high voltage (approximately 5-10 kV), typical frequency (10 kHz) signal to electrodes in air at atmospheric pressure. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,411,908, 4,147,836, 4,220,471, 4,476,153, or 5,466,333. There are limitations to the usefulness of corona treatments, however. Coronas produce locally energetic discharges, known commonly as streamers, and these streamers may cause a non-uniform level of treatment. Furthermore, although coronas are generally effective at promoting adhesion of polyethylene to paper, they are relatively ineffective at promoting the adhesion between paper and other polymers such as PET, PEN, etc. Thus, there remains a need to improve adhesion between paper and other polymers.
An alternative method of pretreating paper for polymer coatings is with low pressure glow discharge treatments. Glow discharges are, by nature, very diffuse and homogeneous, producing a more uniform treatment. A major disadvantage in glow discharge treatments done at reduced pressures is the problem of maintaining a low pressure at the treatment station. This is an especially acute problem for paper, since its porous structure contains air and is continuously degassing during the treatment process. It is necessary to use either a batch process, in which the paper is loaded into a chamber and the air is removed, or an in-line process, which requires that the support pass through a differential pressure region. In the first case, the support must go through an additional offline step before the coatings are applied. This is unattractive from a product-flow perspective and requires additional capital. The second choice is difficult and expensive to implement because of the very tight tolerances needed to maintain the pressure differentials in the transport path. This requires expensive and complicated hardware and pumps. The closer to atmospheric pressure that these treatments can be done, the simpler and less costly the process becomes.
It is known that under the right conditions, stable diffuse glow discharges can be produced at atmospheric pressures. Work in this area has been limited and directed primarily at etching of photoresist and deposition of materials. However, there are references to treatments for adhesion (WO 94/28568). Many reports indicate that a reliable method of producing diffuse glow discharges at atmospheric pressures is to use helium as the discharge gas. Furthermore, Yoshikawa et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,739) have described devices to be used to treat rubber at atmospheric pressure with helium and mixtures of helium with other gases. They use power supplies ranging in frequency from dc to 13.56 MHz, and show no advantage to be gained by using a particular frequency or small range of frequencies.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,843 a method of treating a polymeric support comprising a first electrode having a first surface, the first electrode having a plurality of spaced apart holes adjoining the first surface, positioning a second electrode, having a second surface spaced apart from the first surface of the first electrode, pumping gas through the holes wherein the gas is greater than or equal to atmospheric pressure, the gas comprising helium and optionally oxygen and/or nitrogen, coupling power to the first electrode having a frequency of 10 kHz to 50 MHz, and positioning a web between the first surface of the first electrode and the second surface of the second electrode wherein the polymeric web is subjected to atmospheric glow discharge to improve the adhesive properties was disclosed.
The above method has been found to be very useful, but it is quite important in photographic systems to be able to run paper at extremely fast rates, such as 30 meters per minute or above and at comparatively low power densities, such as 5 joules per square centimeter or less.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,308 was described a preferred combination of treatment gases and treatment frequencies that allow the use of the above device at higher than expected speeds and lower than expected power densities. Specifically, the gas comprises helium and optionally oxygen and/or nitrogen. Particularly effective and fast treatments are possibly when the power supply operates at a frequency of between 40 kHz and about 500 kHz.
One disadvantage of using the technique described in the aforementioned filings is the need for a treatment electrode fabricated with a plurality of closely-spaced holes. Making such an electrode requires precision machining, leading to considerable cost. Furthermore, it is matched to a particular drum electrode, and is not interchangeable with other diameter drums. There would be considerable advantages to being able to use standard corona discharge treatment devices, many of which are already in-place throughout photographic manufacturing operations, to achieve the same results described in these previous filings.
The present invention solves the above mentioned problems and provides a method for improving the adhesion between photographic paper and polymer coatings such as polyethylene.

Atmospheric pressure glow discharge treatment of paper base material for imaging applications


A power supply device is provided. The power supply device provides a maintenance voltage at an output terminal to a system chip of a system and includes a first battery, a capacitor, a charging circuit, and a monitoring circuit. The first battery provides a battery voltage. The capacitor stores a capacitor voltage. The charging circuit is coupled to the capacitor. The monitoring circuit detects whether the battery voltage is less than a first threshold and whether the capacitor voltage is larger than a second threshold and generates a control signal according to the determination result. When the monitoring circuit detects that the battery voltage is less than the first threshold and the capacitor voltage is not larger than the second threshold, the monitoring circuit asserts the control signal to control the charging circuit to charge the capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a power supply device, and more particularly to a power supply device which monitors power of a coin battery of a main system and provides backup power to maintain data in a CMOS storage area on a system chip when the power of the coin battery is insufficient and the coin battery is taken out to be replaced by a new one.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a coin battery is disposed on a main board of a computer apparatus. When the computer apparatus is powered off (at this time, no stand-by power and no normal power is provided to the computer apparatus), the coin battery provides power to maintain data in a CMOS storage area on a system chip. Thus, when the computer apparatus is powered off and the coin battery provides no power, the data in the CMOS storage area on the system chip is lost because there is no power to maintain the data. When the computer apparatus is powered on at the next time, a user has to re-adjust the time of the main board and re-load a BIOS optimal setting to the computer apparatus. Current techniques provide a monitoring circuit to monitor power of the coin battery. Before the power of the coin battery is consumed completely, the monitoring circuit reminds the user to replace the coin battery with a new coin battery. However, in the process of the replacement of the coin battery, the data is lost because there is no power to maintain the data.
Thus, it is desired to provide a power supply device which is capable of monitoring power of a coin battery and providing backup power to maintain data in a CMOS storage area on a system chip when the coin battery is replaced by a new coin battery.

Power supply devices and control method thereof


Systems and methods for controlling sounding reference signal transmission are provided; a user equipment starts transmitting the sounding reference signal in anticipation of uplink data transmission, and then discontinues transmitting the sounding reference signal after completion of uplink data transmission.

In traditional wireless telecommunications systems, transmission equipment in a base station transmits signals throughout a geographical region known as a cell. As technology has evolved, more advanced network access equipment has been introduced that can provide services that were not possible previously. This advanced network access equipment might include, for example, an enhanced node-B (eNB) rather than a base station or other systems and devices that are more highly evolved than the equivalent equipment in a traditional wireless telecommunications system. Such advanced or next generation equipment is typically referred to as long-term evolution (LTE) equipment. For LTE equipment, the region in which a wireless device can gain access to a telecommunications network might be referred to by a name other than "cell", such as "hot spot". As used herein, the term "cell" will be used to refer to any region in which a wireless device can gain access to a telecommunications network, regardless of whether the wireless device is a traditional cellular device, an LTE device, or some other device.
Devices that might be used by users in a telecommunications network can include both mobile terminals, such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, handheld computers, portable computers, laptop computers, tablet computers and similar devices, and fixed terminals such as residential gateways, televisions, set-top boxes and the like. Such devices will be referred to herein as user equipment or UE.
In wireless communication systems, transmission from the network access equipment (e.g., eNB) to the UE is referred to as a downlink transmission. Communication from the UE to the network access equipment is referred to as an uplink transmission. Wireless communication systems generally require maintenance of timing synchronization to allow for continued communications. Maintaining uplink synchronization can be problematic, wasting throughput and/or decreasing battery life of a UE given that a UE may not always have data to transmit.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for uplink timing synchronization in conjunction with discontinuous reception


A plating cell for plating a flat substrate employs a sparger to introduce a flow of electrolyte or other plating solution across the surface of the substrate to be plated. A fluid-powered rotary blade or wiper within the cathode chamber has a rotary blade with an edge spaced a small distance, preferably about three-eighths inch, from the substrate, and an annular turbine which rotates under a flow of the electrolytic fluid that is also being fed to the sparger. The rotary wiper is run at a speed between about 35 and 80 rpm and draws the electrolyte away from the substrate. This helps remove hydrogen bubbles that form during electroplating. In addition, a megasonic transducer applies megasonic acoustic energy to the solution, e.g., at 0.2 to 5 MHz.

This invention relates to wet process chemistry (galvanic or electroless) plating cells, and is more particularly directed to a technique that provides an even distribution of electrolyte or plating solution onto and across a substrate to be plated, and which prevents accumulation of bubbles or other plating by-products on the surface of the substrate. The invention is more particularly directed to an improved plating cell for either galvanic or electroless plating in which megasonic energy is applied to the solution in the plating cell. The invention is more specifically directed to a plating cell in which a fluid powered rotary wiper, in combination with the megasonic action of the transducer, ensures efficient and uniform plating, regardless whether the workpieces or substrates are rotated during the plating process.
Electroplating plays a significant role in the production of many rather sophisticated technology products, such as masters and stampers for use in producing digital compact discs or CDs. However, as these products have become more and more sophisticated, the tolerances of the plating process have become narrower and narrower. For example, in a modem CD, impurities or blemishes of one micron or larger can create unacceptable data losses. Current electroplating techniques can result in block error rates of 70, and with higher density recordings, the block error rate can be 90 or higher. Current plans to increase the data density of compact discs are being thwarted by the inability of plating techniques to control blemishes in the plating process.
A number of techniques for electro-depositing or coating on an article face have been described in the patent literature, but none of these achieves the high plating purity and evenness of application that are required for super-high density compact discs.
A recent technique that employs a laminar flow sparger or injection nozzle within the plating bath is described in my recent patent application Ser. No. 08/556,463, filed Nov. 13, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,460. The means described there achieve an even, laminar flow across the face of the substrate during the plating operation. A backwash technique carries the sludge and particulate impurities away from the article to be plated, and produces a flat plated article of high tolerance, such as a high-density compact disc master or stamper.
In the manufacture of compact discs, there is a step that involves the use of a so-called stamper. The stampers are negative discs that are pressed against the material for the final discs to create an impression that becomes the pattern of tracks in the product compact discs.
Stampers are nickel and are electroformed. The stampers are deposited on a substrate that has the data tracks formed on it, and has been provided with a conductive surface, e.g., by sputter coating. Then the substrate is placed into a plating tank. The nickel is introduced in solution into the process cell so that it can be electrochemically adhered onto the substrate surface, using standard electroplating principles. Present industry standards require the stamper to have an extremely high degree of flatness, and where higher density storage is to be achieved, the flatness tolerance for the nickel coating becomes narrower and narrower.
The flow regime for the plating solution within the tank or cell is crucial for successful operation. Flow regime is affected by such factors as tank design, fluid movement within the process vessel, distribution of fluid within the vessel and at the zone of introduction of the solution into the vessel, and the uniformity of flow of the fluid as it contacts and flows across the substrate in the plating cell.
Present day electroplating cells employ a simple technique to inject fluid into the process vessel or cell. Usually, a simple pipe or tube is used with an open end that supplies the solution into the tank or cell. The solution is forced from the open end of the pipe. This technique is not conducive to producing a flat coating, due to the fact that the liquid is not uniformly distributed across the surface of the workpiece. This technique can create high points and low points in the resulting plated layer, because of localized eddies and turbulences in the flow regime.
In the plating cell as described in said U.S. Pat. 5,597,460, a plating bath contains the electrolyte or plating solution, in which the substrate to be plated is submerged in the solution. A sparger or equivalent injection means introduces the solution into the plating bath and forms a laminar flow of the electrolyte or plating solution across the surface of the substrate to be plated. Adjacent the plating bath is an anode chamber in which anode material is disposed, with the material being contained within an anode basket. In a typical CD-stamper forming process, the anode material is in the form of pellets, chunks or nuggets of nickel, which are consumed during the plating process. A weir separates the plating bath from the anode chamber, and permits the plating solution to spill over its top edge from the plating bath into the anode chamber. The weir is in the form of a semipermeable barrier that permits nickel ions to pass through from the anode chamber into the plating bath, but blocks passage of any particulate matter. A circulation system is coupled to the drain outlet to draw off the solution from the anode chamber, together with any entrained particles, and to feed the solution through a microfilter so that all the particles of microscopic size or greater are removed from the plating solution. Then the filtered solution is returned to the sparger and is re-introduced into the plating cell. In this way a backwash of the plating solution is effected, so that the flow regime of the fluid itself washes any particulates out of the anode chamber in the direction away from the plated article. At the same time, the cleansed and purified solution bathes the plated surface of the substrate as a uniform, laminar flow of solution, thus avoiding high spots or voids during plating. As a result, very high tolerance is achieved, permitting production of compact disks of extreme density without significant error rates.
The flow regime as described in said U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,460 is further improved by the geometry of the well that forms the tank for the plating bath. In that patent the substrate can be positioned on either a fixed or a conventional rotary mount. A conventional cathodic motor rotates the substrate, e.g. at 45-50 RPM. The substrate can be preferably oriented anywhere from vertical to about 45 degrees from vertical. The well has a cylindrical wall that is coaxial with the axis of the substrate. This arrangements avoid corners and dead spaces in the plating cell, where either the rotation of the substrate or the flowing movement of the plating solution might otherwise create turbulences.
A U-tube laminar flow sparger, shaped to fit on the lower wall of the plating bath or plating cell, can be positioned adjacent the base of the weir to flow the solution into the space defined between the substrate and the weir. The sparger's flow holes are directed in parallel to create a uniform, laminar flow of the electrolyte across the planar face of the substrate. The axes of the flow holes in the sparger define the flow direction of the plating solution, i.e., generally upwards and parallel to the face of the plated substrate.
Unfortunately, even with these improvements, the plating is not completely even over the substrate. There is a tendency for hydrogen bubbles to accumulate on the surface of the substrate where electrolytic plating is taking place, and these can interfere with the plating and cause errors in the data on the CD master. Also, with conventional plating there is a tendency for the plated surface to become bowed out, that is, for the plated metal layer to lose its flatness away from the center. Consequently, it is necessary to plate a large margin around the target CD master or stamper, so that center part will have the desired flatness. This necessitates using additional time and materials.
Megasonics have been employed in semiconductor wafer processing, but only in connection with cleaning of the wafers prior to plating or etching. Several megasonic devices have been proposed for this purpose, and some of these have been made the subject of U.S. patents.
Shwartzman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,649 relates to a transducer assembly for producing acoustic energy at megasonic frequencies, i.e., from about 0.2 MHz to about 5 MHz, and applying the megasonic energy to a cleaning tank. Guldi et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,205 and Bran U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,960 each relate to a megasonic cleaning assembly for cleaning semiconductor wafers in a cleaning tank. The megasonic energy is used to loosen material from the surface of the wafers, and it apparently did not occur to anyone involved with the above-mentioned patents to apply megasonic energy for the opposite purpose, namely, to assist in depositing material on the surface of the wafers.
In a metal plating technique, flow regime for the plating solution within the tank or cell is crucial for successful operation. Flow regime is affected by such factors as tank design, fluid movement within the plating cell, distribution of fluid within the cell and at the zone of introduction of the solution into the vessel, and the uniformity of flow of the fluid as it is contacts and flows across the workpiece. However, optimal sparger design can only achieve a limited increase in flatness of metallization.

Plating cell with rotary wiper and megasonic transducer