A request manager analyzes API calls from a client to a host application for state and performance information. If current utilization of host application processing or memory footprint resources exceed predetermined levels, then the incoming API call is not forwarded to the application. If current utilization of the host application processing and memory resources do not exceed the predetermined levels, then the request manager quantifies the processing or memory resources required to report the requested information and determines whether projected utilization of the host application processing or memory resources inclusive of the resources required to report the requested information exceed predetermined levels. If the predetermined levels are not exceeded, then the request manager forwards the API call to the application for processing.

The management tools for computer networks including but not limited to storage systems are becoming more automated. Historically, network administrators used management stations to manually obtain state and performance information about network elements such as servers and the applications running on the network elements. Requests for information were manually generated in the sense that an administrator created each request individually. The state and performance information collected in response to the requests was used by the network administrators to determine appropriate actions to be performed on the network elements. Recently, organizations have implemented "zero touch" management systems that automate management tasks such as generation of requests for state and performance information using scripts and programs that generate and send hundreds or thousands of API calls over a short period of time without administrator intervention. Examples of third-party tools that are used in zero touch systems include SPLUNK and Ansible. Splunk is a software platform for searching and analyzing data. Ansible is a tool for software provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment. A software architectural style used by network administrators and third-party tools is representational state transfer (REST) using Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Applications that run on network elements typically have REST APIs for receiving API calls as requests for state and performance information in zero touch systems. The volume of REST API calls generated by zero touch management systems may degrade performance of network elements.

Processing rest API requests based on resource usage satisfying predetermined limits


A method for applying a control policy of a mobile device is provided. The method includes determining whether a current location of the mobile device satisfies predetermined location parameters of the control policy, and, if it is determined that the current location of the mobile device satisfies the predetermined location parameters of the control policy, applying the control policy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for controlling network access of mobile devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for providing a location-based control policy of a mobile device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile terminals are developed to provide wireless communication between users. As technology has advanced, mobile terminals now provide many additional features beyond simple telephone conversation. For example, mobile terminals are now able to provide additional functions such as an alarm, a Short Messaging Service (SMS), a Multimedia Message Service (MMS), E-mail, games, remote control of short range communication, an image capturing function using a mounted digital camera, a multimedia function for providing audio and video content, a scheduling function, and many more. With the plurality of features now provided, a mobile terminal has effectively become a necessity of daily life.
FIG. 1 is a smartphone according to the related art. FIG. 2 is a tablet computer according to the related art. Mobile devices such as tablet computers and smartphones that include internet browsers as standard applications have become common enough that it is no longer unusual for a child to have such a device. Given the wide availability of 3rd Generation (3G) and Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) wireless network services, children may now use tablet computers and smartphones to access the internet from almost any location.
In the related art, there have been various software packages that could be installed on computers to monitor or control access to the internet generally, or to specific sites on the internet. For example, many parents install filters to prevent a computer from displaying pornography, drug use, violence, or other disturbing material. Such filters sometimes have options to apply different filters according to the user and time of day, or to specifically ban or allow access to particular web sites. At least one such filtering software package, NETNANNY MOBILE™, is available for parents to install on children's smartphones using the BLACKBERRY™, ANDROID™, SYMBIAN™, or WINDOWS MOBILE™ operating systems.
However, before now there has been no option to implement a control policy which takes into account a desire to configure the policy according to the user's location.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for providing a location-based control policy and validation for mobile devices.

Method for applying location-based control policy of mobile device


There are provided isotope-enriched compounds of Formula (I) and pharmaceutically acceptable salts or esters thereof, as well as pharmaceutical compositions thereof and methods of use thereof for prevention and treatment of amyloid-β related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.R1R2X—CR2—CH2—CH2—SO3H  (I)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain primarily associated with aging. Prevalence of AD in the United States in 2000 was close to 4.5 Million. It has been estimated that approximately one in ten individuals over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 are affected by AD. Approximately 360,000 patients will be diagnosed with AD each year in the United States alone.
Clinical presentation of AD is characterized by loss of memory, cognition, reasoning, judgment, and orientation. As the disease progresses, motor, sensory, and linguistic abilities are also affected until there is global impairment of multiple cognitive functions. These cognitive losses occur gradually, but typically lead to severe impairment and eventual death in the range of four to twelve years.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by two major pathologic observations in the brain: neurofibrillary tangles and beta amyloid (or neuritic) plaques, comprised predominantly of an aggregate of a peptide fragment known as Aβ. Individuals with AD exhibit characteristic beta-amyloid deposits in the brain (beta amyloid plaques) and in cerebral blood vessels (beta amyloid angiopathy) as well as neurofibrillary tangles. Neurofibrillary tangles occur not only in Alzheimer's disease but also in other dementia-inducing disorders.
3-amino-1-propanesulfonic acid (also known as 3APS, Tramiprosate, and Alzhemed™) is a promising investigational product candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. 3APS was the subject of Phase III clinical trials in North America and Europe (Wright, T. M., Drugs of Today (2006), 42(5): 291-298). Results from these clinical studies have been published (Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging (2009), 13(6), 550-557; Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging (2009), 13(9), 808-812; Archives of Medical Science (2011), 7(1), 102-111; Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2016), 50(3), 807-816; Aging: Clinical and Experimental Research (2012), 24(6), 580-587).
3APS is believed to act by reducing amyloid aggregation, deposition and/or load of amyloid in the brain through its binding to soluble Aβ peptide. It is known that 3APS is metabolized both in vitro and in vivo (U.S. Pat. No. 8,748,656). 3APS is extensively metabolized in vivo to produce three potential metabolites: 2-carboxyethanesulfonic acid, 3-hydroxy-1-propanesulfonic acid, and 3-acetylamino-1-propansulfonic acid. The only major metabolite of 3APS produced in mice, rats, dogs, and humans is 2-carboxyethanesulfonic acid. This metabolism of 3APS has significant effect on its pharmacokinetic profile and accordingly its pharmaceutical efficacy. In order to increase therapeutic effectiveness of 3APS, attempts have been made to increase overall bioavailability, for example by increasing stability or reducing metabolism. One such approach is the use of prodrugs and derivatives of 3APS that will generate 3APS in vivo after administration to a subject (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,748,656 and PCT International Application Publication No. WO 2015/143447, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety).
Foreign substances including compounds and other therapeutic agents are often metabolized to facilitate their elimination from the body. For example, various enzymes such as cytochrome P450 enzymes, esterases, proteases, reductases, dehydrogenases, transaminases, and monoamine oxidases, can react with foreign substances and catalyze their conversion to more polar metabolites for renal excretion. The resultant metabolites can have substantially different pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and acute and long-term toxicity profiles relative to the parent compounds.
Such metabolic reactions frequently involve the oxidation of a carbon-hydrogen bond to a carbon-oxygen or a carbon-carbon π-bond. Carbon-hydrogen bond strength is directly proportional to the absolute value of the ground-state vibrational energy of the bond. This vibrational energy depends on the mass of the atoms that form the bond and increases as the mass of one or both of the atoms making the bond increases. Since deuterium (D) has twice the mass of protium (1H), a carbon-deuterium (C-D) bond is stronger than the corresponding carbon-protium (C—1H) bond. If a C—1H bond is broken during a rate-determining step of a metabolic reaction, then substituting a deuterium for that protium will cause a decrease in the reaction rate.
Deuterium is a stable and non-radioactive isotope of hydrogen which has approximately twice the mass of protium, which is the most common isotope of hydrogen. Deuteration of pharmaceuticals to improve pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics has been demonstrated previously. For example, SD-809, a deuterated drug (deutetrabenazine), has been used for the treatment of Huntington's disease. Such isotope-enrichment can potentially affect a therapeutic agent's metabolism, release from prodrugs and derivatives, absorption, and/or clearance, significantly altering the agent's pharmacokinetic profile.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Isotope-enriched 3-amino-1-propanesulfonic acid derivatives and uses thereof


A new distinct cultivar of Asplenium plant named ‘CRISPY WAVE’, characterized by its lanceolate-shaped fronds, which are extremely stiff and curvy; fronds color ranges from RHS 146A to RHS 147C; and plants are dense and bushy in plant form.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Asplenium plant, botanically known as Asplenium nidus L., of the Aspleniaceae, commonly known as Birds Nest Fern, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination 'CRISPY WAVE'.
The new Asplenium 'CRISPY WAVE' is a product of a planned breeding program conducted in Yaku Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. A naturally occurring whole plant mutation of the unpatented Asplenium nidus L. 'OSAKA' was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant by the inventor's grandfather, Haruo Sugimoto, in 1961. Many more years of spore propagation and further selection in the proprietary offspring of 'OSAKA' resulted in the discovery and selection of the new Asplenium 'CRISPY WAVE' in 2000 by the inventor, Yuki Sugimoto. The parent plant of 'CRISPY WAVE' is an unnamed, unpatented proprietary Asplenium nidus L. plant, and is an offspring of 'OSAKA'. Plants of the new Asplenium 'CRISPY WAVE' are more stiff, upright, and compact than plants of 'OSAKA'.
Asexual reproduction of the new Asplenium 'CRISPY WAVE' cultivar by spores was first performed by the inventor, Yuki Sugimoto, in 2000 in Yamato-gun, Fukuoka, Japan, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of spore reproduction. The new cultivar reproduces true-to-type.


An exemplary method for stimulating an autonomic nerve that includes delivering power to, for example, an electrode at a set power level, determining whether the delivering achieved an autonomic response that affected cardiac function, and delivering power to the electrode at a reduced power level if the delivering affected the cardiac function. An exemplary device for performing such an exemplary method. Other exemplary methods and exemplary devices are also disclosed.

The autonomic nervous system includes sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways. Stimulation of nerves in these pathways can affect cardiac operation or function. In general, sympathetic activation causes an increase in heart rate and inotropy (contractility) and hence cardiac output. Frantz, "Beta blockade in patients with congestive heart failure," Postgraduate Medicine, 108(3), 103–118 (2000), explains that "[i]n a teleological sense, an acute increase in sympathetic drive was advantageous for our ancestors. When they were being pursued by a tiger or bleeding from a wound, increasing heart rate, peripheral tone, and myocardial contractility allowed them to reach safety or maintain central perfusion." In contrast, parasympathetic activation generally causes a decrease in atrial rate and contractile force, atrio-ventricular nodal conduction, and ventricular contractile force. Hence, selective activation or stimulation of the autonomic nerves can provide a means for cardiac control. While reports of autonomic nerve stimulation are known, a need exists for setting stimulation parameters (e.g., power level, thresholds, etc.), especially when stimulation occurs via an implantable device with a limited power supply.


A system and method for utilizing a humidity sensor with an internal combustion engine of a vehicle is described. Specifically, information from the humidity sensor is used to adjust a desired air-fuel ratio to reduce engine misfire while improving vehicle fuel economy. Further, such information is also used to adjust timing and/or lift of the valve in the engine cylinder. Finally, diagnostic routines are also described.

Vehicle engines use various sensors to provide information that is then used to control engine operation for a variety of reasons. One example system, described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,148, uses a specific humidity sensor to modify the engine air-fuel ratio, as well as other engine parameters.
The inventors of the present invention have recognized a disadvantage with such an approach. In particular, such a system can produce degraded results due to interrelationships between engine misfire, humidity, and the achievable fuel economy performance. Specifically, the inventors of the present invention have recognized that the achievable lean air-fuel ratio combustion limit varies as ambient humidity varies. In other words, if a lean air-fuel ratio is optimized for low humidity (as lean as possible to maximize fuel economy in low humidity conditions), an increase in humidity may cause a change in the mixture dilution that results in engine misfire. Likewise, if the lean air-fuel ratio is set for a worst case of high humidity, thereby reducing engine misfires, this results in less vehicle fuel economy and increased emissions on low humidity days. As such, operation according to prior approaches results in either increased engine misfires, or lost vehicle fuel efficiency and increased emissions.

Engine control advantageously using humidity


The disclosure relates to method and apparatus for geolocation determination. In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a method for detecting an erroneous satellite measurement by a receiver, including the steps of (a) determining an approximate location of the receiver; (b) for each of a plurality of satellites from which the receiver receives a signal: (i) determining a range difference between an expected range between the receiver and the satellite and a measured range between the receiver and the satellite; (ii) determining a median value of the range differences; (iii) determining an offset value between the range difference and the median value; (iv) comparing the offset value with a predetermined threshold to thereby detect an erroneous satellite measurement.

It has become increasingly important to determine the location of a mobile telephone or other mobile device capable of radio communication. One method of assessing geolocation of a mobile device is using the mobile device in conjunction with a geolocation system. Such geolocation systems include, for example, the Navstar Global Positioning System (i.e., GPS). GPS is a radio positioning system which provides its subscribers with highly accurate position, velocity, and time (PVT) information. The GPS includes a constellation of GPS satellites in non-geosynchronous 12 hour orbits around the earth.
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of constellation 100 of GPS satellites 101. The GPS satellites 101 travel in six orbital planes 102 with four of the GPS satellites 101 in each plane, plus a number of on orbit spare satellites. Each orbital plane has an inclination of 55 degrees relative to the equator. In addition, each orbital plane has an altitude of approximately 20,200 km (10,900 miles). The time required to travel the entire orbit is about 12 hours. Thus, at any given location on the surface of the earth at least five GPS satellites are visible at any given time.
GPS position determination is made based on the time of arrival (TOA) of various satellite signals. Each of the orbiting GPS satellites 101 broadcasts spread spectrum microwave signals encoded with positioning data and satellite ephemeris information. The signals are broadcast on two frequencies: 1575.42 MHz (L1) and 1227.60 MHz (L2). The L1 frequency carries the navigation data as well as the standard positioning code, while the L2 frequency carries only the P code and is used for precision positioning code for military applications. The signals are modulated using bi-phase shift keying techniques. The signals are broadcast at precisely known times and at precisely known intervals and each signal is encoded with its precise transmission time.
A GPS subscriber receives the signals with a GPS receiver configured to time the signals and to demodulate the satellite orbital data (ephemeris information) contained in each signal. Using the ephemeris information, the receiver can determine the time difference between transmission of the signal by the satellite and its reception by the receiver. Multiplying the time difference by the speed of light provides a pseudo range measurement of that satellite. Assuming that the receiver's clock is perfectly synchronized with the satellite clocks, this information could yield actual range measurement for each satellite. However, the clock drift at the receiver can cause it to differ by time offset value thereby making the accuracy of a pseudo range measurement questionable.
Because the time offset is common to the pseudo range measurement of all the satellites, the pseudo ranges of four or more satellites enables the GPS receiver to determine the time offset and its location in three dimensions. Thus, a receiver is able to determine his PVT with great accuracy, and use this information to navigate safely and accurately from point to point, among other uses.
However, the signal received from each of the visible satellites does not necessarily result in an accurate position estimation. The satellite pseudo-ranges measured and reported by GPS receivers are sometimes inaccurate. For example, this may occur due to "multipath" effects, i.e., where the GPS signal has not taken a direct path to the receiver but instead has, for example, bounced off a building.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for geolocation determination that would overcome this problem.

Method and apparatus for geolocation determination


A telecommunications management network (TMN) is directly connected for operation and maintenance data message exchange to a common channel signaling network. The direct connection to the telecommunications management network is made through a gateway one of a plurality of signal transfer points included within the telecommunications network. Addressing and format conversions are effectuated between the transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) used for the telecommunications management network operation and maintenance messages and the common channel signaling--signaling system no. 7 messages. The telecommunications management network and each of the network element nodes are accordingly assigned both an internet protocol address and a signaling system no. 7 (SS7) address. Static tables maintained in certain ones of the signal transfer points map internet protocol addresses and signaling system no. 7 (SS7) address against each other for message routing.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications networks and, in particular, to the operation and maintenance Of a common channel signaling network by means of a telecommunications management network.
2. Description of Related Art
In the telecommunications field, two commonly recognized methods exist for sending signaling messages. The traditional telephone mode, referred to as in-band signaling, transmits signaling messages over the same trunk connections as the information messages or calls themselves. The more modern approach, however, utilizes common channel signaling (CCS) in which control messages or signals are carried over one or more separate signaling channels. Common channel signaling typically utilizes a packet-switched network separate from the voice communications network for transmitting call setup and routing packets, as well as other supervisory and control information and application data. The most commonly utilized technology for implementing common channel signaling is the signaling system no. 7 (SS7).
It is further well known in the telecommunications field to provide a telecommunications management network (TMN) to monitor and maintain the telecommunication network over which calling services are offered to subscribers. Conventionally, a separate data communications network (DCN) is used to connect the telecommunications management network to each switching node (or other network element node) within the telecommunication network that is being monitored. The necessity of installing a separate data communications network in order to provide operation and maintenance services to a telecommunications network comprises a significant drawback. There is a recognized need then for a more efficient and less expensive way of transporting operation and maintenance data.

Telecommunications management network connected to a common channel signaling network


A joint device for providing hinged movement between a first and second arm member and for providing independent delivery of electrical power to the arm members, wherein said device includes a central portion for receiving at least two sets of electrical conductors and for delivering said at least one set of electrical conductors to each of said arm members, characterised in that upon hinged movement of the arm members about the central portion, the central portion maintains the conductors in a spaced apart relationship in a manner such that the structural integrity of said conductors is maintained for a predetermined minimum number of hinged movement cycles of said arm members.

Stands or racks for the heating or warming of clothes, for example, towels or other bathroom apparel, are often used to preheat or warm such clothes prior to being worn or used by a user. Particularly, in countries having a relatively cold ambient temperatures during the winter months, particularly European in countries, the use of such racks is often used to also remove small amounts of moisture accumulated in clothes whilst providing a pre-heated clothing which mitigates the impact of temperature differential between the clothes and the user upon the user dressing in the clothes.
Such devices as those described above are typically powered by mains power and heating elements are placed at or adjacent rack-liked portions which hold the clothes, the heating elements applying heatable warmth to the clothes either via convection or conduction, thus imparting warmth to the clothes. Due to the relatively close exposure of the heating elements to a user, such devices should comply with CE marking and GS mark, in particular when used in European countries. With the exception of some higher risk products, most products can be self-declared to meet the essential requirements by a manufacturer. While the use of a CE marking permits a product's access to the European Union, it is not an approval certification, and a CE marking is only a declaration of the supplier's own responsibility. Thus, while allowing products to be placed on the European market, such marking allows for the free movement of goods and permits the withdrawal of non-conforming or offending products.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a clothes warmer which overcomes or substantially alleviates at least some of the deficiencies exhibited by those of the prior art.


A six speed transmission is provided that includes three planetary gear sets having a common carrier member and six torque-transmitting mechanisms operated in combinations of two to provide at least six forward speed ratios and two reverse speed ratios. A method of assembling a transmission is also provided. A reduction in components and component standardization is achieved.

Passenger vehicles include a powertrain that is comprised of an engine, multi-speed transmission, and a differential or final drive. The multi-speed transmission increases the overall operating range of the vehicle by permitting the engine to operate through its torque range a number of times. The number of forward speed ratios that are available in the transmission determines the number of times the engine torque range is repeated. Early automatic transmissions had two speed ranges. This severely limited the overall speed range of the vehicle and therefore required a relatively large engine that could produce a wide speed and torque range. This resulted in the engine operating at a specific fuel consumption point during cruising, other than the most efficient point. Therefore, manually-shifted (countershaft transmissions) were the most popular.
With the advent of three- and four-speed automatic transmissions, the automatic shifting (planetary gear) transmission increased in popularity with the motoring public. These transmissions improved the operating performance and fuel economy of the vehicle. The increased number of speed ratios reduces the step size between ratios and therefore improves the shift quality of the transmission by making the ratio interchanges substantially imperceptible to the operator under normal vehicle acceleration.
It has been suggested that the number of forward speed ratios be increased to six or more. Six-speed transmissions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,927 issued to Polak on Jan. 31, 1978; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,969 issued to Raghavan and Usoro on Jul. 23, 2002.
Six-speed transmissions offer several advantages over four- and five-speed transmissions, including improved vehicle acceleration and improved fuel economy. While many trucks employ power transmissions having six or more forward speed ratios, passenger cars are still manufactured with three- and four-speed automatic transmissions and relatively few five or six-speed devices due to the size and complexity of these transmissions.

Six speed transmission with a single carrier


A method and apparatus for the coherent demodulation of a digital signal constituted by digital elements distributed in the time-frequency space and transmitted in the form of symbols constituted by a multiplex of N orthogonal carrier frequencies modulated by a set of said digital elements and broadcast simultaneously, the digital signal also including reference elements having a known value position in said time frequency space. The method includes a Fourier transform of at least samples of said digital signal containing said reference elements from a frequency domain into a temporal domain, a weighting of the transformed samples in the temporal domain by a rectangular temporal window f.sub.n, a thresholding of the transformed samples in the temporal domain to eliminate any samples below a predetermined threshold, and a reverse Fourier transform of the samples remaining after said weighting and thresholding from the temporal domain into the frequency domain for projection onto said digital signal. The threshold level can be fixed or varied based on the power level of the noise affecting the transmission channel or an estimated pulse response of the transmission channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is that of the broadcasting of digital data intended to be received notably by mobile receivers moving about in an urban environment, i.e. under conditions of multiple propagation (Rayleigh Process) generating phenomena of fading, and in the presence of parasites and jamming. More generally, the invention relates to the broadcasting of digital signals in channels assigned multiple paths, the characteristics of which vary in time.
The invention can be applied more particularly, but not exclusively, to the system of digital sound broadcasting known as the COFDM (Coding Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex), as described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,241 of Nov. 14, 1990.
This system of digital broadcasting is based on the combined use of a channel coding device and a method of modulation by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The modulation method proper of this prior art system can be used to resolve the problems related to the frequency selectivity of the channel. It consists in providing for the distribution of the constituent digital elements of the data signal in the frequency time space f-t, and in simultaneously transmitting sets of digital elements on a plurality of parallel broadcasting channels by means of a multiplex of frequencies using orthogonal carriers. In particular, this type of modulation makes it possible to prevent two successive elements of the data train from being transmitted at the same frequency.
The known encoding method seeks, on the whole, to enable the processing of the samples coming from the demodulator to absorb the effect of variations in amplitude of the received signal, due to the Rayleigh process. The encoding is advantageously a convolutive encoding, possibly concatenated with a Reed-Solomon type of encoding. The decoding may be advantageously a soft decision type of iterbi decoding.
In a known way, the encoded digital elements are furthermore interlaced (interleaved), in time and in frequency, so as to maximize the statistical independence of the channels with regard to the Rayleigh process and to the selective character of the channel.
The demodulation of the received signal may be differential or coherent.
The value of differential demodulation lies essentially in the simplicity of its implementation and in its absence of inertia after a deep fading. It is this approach that has been used to validate the general principles of the COFDM system.
In theory, coherent demodulation offers greater resistance to noise than differential demodulation, making it possible to obtain a gain in performance of about 3 dB. However, it can be clearly seen that, under the reception conditions specific to systems of broadcasting towards moving receivers in a disturbed environment, it is particularly difficult to extract a phase and amplitude reference from the modulation signal for each carrier of the multiplex. In the case of coherent demodulation, the error made in the estimation of the carrier therefore leads to a substantial deterioration in performance characteristics. This is especially true in the case of deep and fast fading encountered when the carrier frequency or the speed of the vehicle increases.
In other words, coherent demodulation, in principle, performs better than differential demodulation, but makes it necessary for the carrier recovery device to be capable of giving a good estimate of the frequency response of the channel at any instant.
There is a method, known from the patent application No. FR 90 01491 dated Feb. 6, 1990 (corresponding to the U.S. Convention patent application U.S. Ser. No. 07/648,899 filed on Jan. 31, 1991) for broadcasting with time-frequency interlacing: this method enables coherent demodulation in providing for the insertion, among the useful information elements to be transmitted, of reference elements of the value and position, known to the receivers, in the frequency-time f-t space.
The basic idea of this method therefore consists in using certain carriers, judiciously distributed in the time-frequency domain, as phase and/or amplitude reference pilot frequencies. That is to say, fixed words, acting as amplitude and/or phase references at reception are inserted, at predetermined locations, among the data elements to be transmitted.
Thus it is possible, by interpolation, to determine a phase and amplitude reference for each of the digital elements, and hence to carry out a coherent demodulation.
More precisely, the estimation of the response of the channel is obtained by an interpolation filtration, either by circular convolution, as described in the already mentioned French patent application No. 90 01491 or by Fourier transform. The advantage of this latter approach is that, for equal quality, it needs a smaller number of operations than the former one.
However, it is seen that these methods do not provide satisfactory results in practice. Indeed, while the gain for the coherent demodulation as compared 7ith the differential demodulation is theoretically 3 dB when the response of the channel is perfectly estimated, in practice it is only 0.5 dB.
This poor result is due essentially to the fact that the estimation of the response of the channel is highly noise-infested, thus adversely affecting the quality of the interpolation.
The invention is designed notably to overcome this drawback of the prior art.

Device for the coherent demodulation of time-frequency interlaced digital data, with estimation of the frequency response of the transmission channel and threshold, and corresponsing transmitter


A pipeline closing apparatus comprises a lid member attachable to a downstream end portion of a sluice valve, a first control shaft extending through the lid member, a second control shaft extending through the first control shaft, an elastic annular member disposed between pressing plates and provided on inward end regions of the control shafts and elastically deformable to a diameter-increased position by being clamped and pressed, thereby to block between an inner peripheral surface of a branch pipe and the pressing plates, and a retaining device. The retaining device includes engaging link pairs flexing and bulging to a diameter-increased position in response to outward sliding movement of the second control shaft relative to the first control shaft. The apparatus further comprises a reversal preventing device F which, contacts and limits the engaging link pairs and to an outwardly bent position where flexing pivotal portions of the engaging link pairs project radially outward.

As shown in FIG. 21, a conventional pipeline closing apparatus includes a bottomed tubular lid member 7 attachable to a downstream end portion of a sluice valve for closing an end opening of a branch pipe diverging from and connected to a fluid transmitting main and having the sluice valve disposed in an intermediate portion thereof, a cylindrical first control shaft 8 extending through the lid member 7 to be axially slidable in sealed condition, and a second control shaft 9 extending through the first control shaft 8 to be axially slidable. The first control shaft 8 and second control shaft 9 have pressing plates 10 and 11 attached to inward end regions thereof, respectively. An elastic annular member 12 having a circular cross section is disposed between the pressing plates 10 and 11 to be elastically deformable, by being clamped and pressed by the pair of pressing plates 10 and 11 from axial directions, to a diameter-increased position in tight contact with an inner peripheral surface of the branch pipe to block between the inner peripheral surface and outer peripheral portions of the two pressing plates 10 and 11. Further, a retaining device D is provided as having engaging link pairs 13 and 14 arranged in three circumferential positions and extending between the inward end of the second control shaft 9 and the first pressing plate 10 disposed upstream, for flexing and bulging to a diameter-increased position to engage a large diameter pipe portion formed upstream of a blocked position by the elastic annular member 12, in response to an outward sliding movement of the second control shaft 9 relative to the first control shaft 8.
The retaining device D includes a mounting tubular member 21 slidably fitted on the inward end portion of the second control shaft 9 and having second connecting elements 22 provided in three circumferential positions on an outer peripheral surface thereof to which to ends of the upstream engaging links 13 pivotably connected. Ends of the downstream engaging links 14 are pivotably connected to first connecting elements 20 provided in three circumferential positions on an end surface of the upstream second pressing plate 11. Further, a stopper nut 15 and a lock nut 16 are screwed to the inward end portion of the second control shaft 9 for determining a maximum upstream movement position of the second pressing plate 11 relative to the second control shaft 9 (see Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example).
Patent Document 1: Utility Model Publication No. 4-3196
Patent Document 2: Patent Publication No. 7-81669

Waterworks Technology Development Organization Co., Ltd.


A system and method of obtaining and utilizing an activity signature that is representative of a specific category of network activities based on directory service (DS) log data. The activity signature may be determining by a learning process, including segmenting and pruning a training dataset into a plurality of event segments and matching them with activities based on DS log data of known activities. Once obtained, the activity signature can advantageously be utilized to analyze any DS log data and activities in actual deployment. Using activity signatures to analyze DS event log can reveal roles of event-collection machines, aggregate information dispersed across their component events to reveal actors involved in particular AD activities, augment visibility of DS by enabling various vantage points to better infer activities at other domain machines, and reveal macro activities so that logged information becomes easily interpretable to human analysts.

In general, an Active Directory (or AD) is a network directory service that provides a broad range of directory-based identity-related services, including recording information about user, computer and service accounts in an AD domain network.
With regard to each network activity in an AD domain, an AD domain controller collects and records pertinent information in the form of multiple well-defined AD events, such as the information related to a logger machine ID, a user ID, logon attempts made during the authentication of a user, data access events, execution operations on a server, logoff events, etc. This sort of information is useful for providing insight in diagnosing performance problems, detecting and investigating security breaches, monitoring user interactions, profiling users, ensuring quality of services, etc.
Part of the AD's role is authentication and authorization, which makes the AD the target of many types of attacks intent on rogue access to various business resources. Various defensive mechanisms have matured over time and have been implemented in the AD's design, but disproportionally little has been done to enable security analysis of the AD's operation in real deployments. The state-of-the-art approaches to such analysis are heavily reliant on "trial and error," resulting in costly, erroneous investigations and often based on inconclusive findings by security professionals.
The key challenges to making effective use of the AD log data are imposed by limited visibility or clarity that are inherent to the AD's event reporting. The origins of these challenges are diverse, including some events not being reported to/at specific vantage points (AD systems/computers) by design, or events not disclosing some critical information also by design, or event parameters being ambiguous, or events being reported for an a priori unknown number of times. These outlined problems result in blind spots, effectively hiding users, machines or activities that may be a part of a security incident. Even if incidents are detected under blind spots, these problems can cause incorrect incident attribution or overrepresentation of security-sensitive activities.
Further, the lack of clarity can largely be attributed to the fact that AD events are designed to describe fine-grained activities, e.g., interactions between AD Objects and Security Principles. At this level of granularity, it is often impossible to comprehend a big picture of activities, such as actual malicious activities, happening in AD domains. It is also rarely possible to understand the roles of machines that reported events (roles being: source of the activity, destination of the activity, and a domain controller machine).
Current state-of-the-art in AD security analysis focuses on tracking per-event or even per-event-parameter phenomena. Moreover, state-of-the-art analysis relies on information coming from various sources. For example whenever a feasible event or parameter is discovered, it can be tracked and used as an indicator of a particular type of exploit. Therefore, it is usually very difficult to make effective use of AD log data to characterize, and even observe, activities like logins (including direct logins, remote desktop protocol (RDP) logins), remote command executions, and shared access and so on.
Particularly with respect to characterization of login activities in an AD, the challenges include lack of information (inherent to event logging design) and AD's flaws in reporting true user identities. The visibility problems generally originate from discrepancies in the types of events logged at sources, destinations and domain controllers, specific authentication protocols offering only a disparate amount of login information, and generally accepted practices of analyzing logs on a per-event basis.
Additional challenges arise due to certain events reporting inconclusive information about actors in a given user/machine activity. It is often the case that event parameters are equally likely to point to destinations or sources of login activity. In some cases, such confusion is caused by a priori lacking information about the roles of event-reporting machines.
Moreover, in some activities, AD login procedure reports may completely invert reporting of source and destination user accounts depending on the roles of these accounts in the domain. Specifically, when a source user has domain administrative privileges, while a destination user is local to the destination machine, the loing process at the destination would designate the source user as performing most activities. In those same events, the situation would completely change, and a destination user would be the one reported as doing most activities in a setting where a source user is local and the destination user has domain-administrative privileges. Therefore, by observing the same set of events in such login procedures, one cannot tell roles of the reported users as a priori.
For example, incorrect attack attribution is a common practical problem in interpreting AD event logs. Possibilities for incorrect attack attribution are numerous in AD logging when only specific event IDs are observed or when events are observed in isolation. The simplest example is observing events with ID 4624 (an account was successfully logged on) when they report Kerberos authentications. The Network Information section of these events is ambiguous, such that its meaning depends on where the event was reported. This opens possibilities for misattribution. Specifically, if 4624 events are reported by domain controllers, the Network Information section points to a destination machine, while if the events are reported by a destination machine, the same section points to a source machine. Using the conventional approach, it is impossible to determine which machine reported the event. Consequently, an attack that was happening at the destination machine could easily be falsely attributed as if it was happening on a source machine. Similar problems can occur with Kerberos ticketing events (IDs 4768 and 4769) whose network information is equally ambiguous, but ambiguities are imposed by how these events are sequenced in time.
Another common problem is over-representation of security sensitive activities. The simplest example of security-sensitive events being exaggerated is the basic statistic of login counting or login duration assessment. Currently, it is believed that a login activity is represented by a single 4624 event—which is not unusual given that the name of that event is "an account was successfully logged on." However, in reality most logon activities are represented by several 4624 events: First, there is a domain authentication part represented by one or more 4624 events. Then, to complete a login activity, a user must pass local authentication which adds more 4624 events. Finally, during activities following a login, the user may be re-authenticated adding yet more 4624 events. Consequently, by current analytical standards, it would would be falsely diagnosed that a user logged in many times and that durations of such logins were mostly short which may indicate a security risk, while the user had only a single login activity in reality.

Network activity identification and characterization based on characteristic active directory (AD) event segments


A method and apparatus for transmitting data frames, and a method and apparatus for data rate matching wherein, via an interleaver, elements to be transmitted are distributed over a plurality of radio frames and repeated, the repetition being carried out in such a way that, when put into its relationship with the original arrangement of the elements before the interleaving, the pattern prevents the spacing between arbitrary consecutive repeated elements from being substantially greater than the mean repetition spacing.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transmitting data frames, as well as to a method and an apparatus for data rate matching; in particular, by using a repetition of bits to be transmitted.
Digital communications systems are designed for transmitting data by representing the data in a form that facilitates the transmission of the data via a communication medium. For example, in the case of radio transmissions, the data are transmitted, represented as radio signals, between transmitters and receivers of the communications system. In the case of broadband telecommunications networks, the data can be represented as light transmitted, for example, via a fiber optic network between transmitters and receivers in the system.
During the transmission of data, bits or symbols of the transmitted data can be corrupted, with the effect that these bits or symbols cannot be correctly determined in the receiver. For this reason, the data communications systems frequently have ways to moderate the corruption of the data that occurs during the transmission. One of these ways consists in equipping transmitters in the system with coders that code the data before transmission in accordance with an error control code. The error control code is designed such that it adds redundancy to the data in a controlled fashion. In the receiver, errors that occur during transmission can be corrected by decoding the error control code. As a result, the original data are reproduced. The decoding is effected by using an error decoding algorithm that corresponds to the error control code which is known to the receiver.
After the data have been coded, it is frequently necessary for the purpose of data rate matching to puncture or to repeat data bits or symbols from a block of coded data before these data are transmitted. The term puncturing/repetition is intended here to signify a process of removing or deleting bits from a coded data block with the effect that the punctured bits are not transmitted with this data block, or to signify a process of repeating bits from a coded data block with the effect that the bits to be repeated are transmitted several times with this data block. Even if only one term "puncturing" or "repetition" is commonly used below, it goes without saying that the present invention also can be used for the other case of "repetition" or "puncturing."
The puncturing could be required, for example, because a multiple access method that serves for transmitting the data via the data-carrying media requires formatting of the data to form blocks of predetermined size, which size does not correspond to the size of the coded data frame.
In order to accommodate the coded data frame in the transport data block of the predetermined size, data bits are therefore either punctured from the coded data frame in order to reduce the size of the coded data block, in a case in which the coded data frame is larger than the size of the transport block, or bits in the coded data frame are repeated, in a case in which the coded data frame is smaller than the predetermined size of the transport block. In a case in which the data frame is smaller than the transport data block, the data bits (bits) or data symbols are repeated to the extent necessary to fill the rest of the transport data block.
Those skilled in the art are familiar with the fact that one effect of puncturing a coded data frame is that the probability of correct reproduction of the original data is reduced. Moreover, the performance of known error control codes and of decoders for these error control codes is best when the errors that occur during the transmission of the data are caused by Gaussian noise, since this has the effect that the errors are distributed independently over the transport data block. When a coded data frame is intended to be punctured, the positions in the coded data frame at which bits are punctured are to be separated as far as possible from one another. To this extent, the puncturing positions should be distributed uniformly over the data frame. Since errors during transmission frequently occur in bursts, particularly in the case of radio communications systems that do not use interleaving, and since the repetitions of bits are not intended to particularly raise the quality only in a certain region of the data frame but as uniformly as possible, bit positions in a coded or uncoded data frame at which data bits are intended to be repeated should also be arranged such that they are uniformly separated from one another in the entire data frame.
Known methods for selecting the positions of bits or symbols that are intended to be punctured or repeated in a coded data frame include the division of the number of bits or symbols in a frame by the number of bits or symbols that are intended to be punctured or repeated, and the selection of the bit positions with integral values corresponding to the division. However, in a case in which the number of bits to be punctured is not an integral division of the number of bits in the data frame, this does not lead to a uniform spacing of the punctured or repeated bit positions, thus resulting in the disadvantage that specific bit positions are situated closer to one another than this whole number or are situated further (in part, substantially further) removed from one another than this whole number, and in some cases even alongside one another.
The interleaving in a transport multiplexing method is frequently carried out in two steps. The various solutions for carrying out the puncturing/repetition have specific consequences when the puncturing is carried out downstream of the first interleaver as is provided for the UMTS system. It is necessary here to take particular notice of the fact that the performance could deteriorate when a block interleaver with a column exchange, such as the FS-MIL (FS Multistage Interleaver) used in UMTS, is used as interleaver in the up-link multiplexing method in conjunction with a rate matching algorithm. Downstream of the first interleaver, the bits assigned to a frame are further interleaved by a second interleaver that is described, for example, in TS 25.212 (see below for more accurate details), Chapter "4.2.11 2nd interleaving." This second interleaver has no influence, however, on aspects of the puncturing/repetition and is therefore not taken further into account below; it is of no importance with regard to the present invention. Consequently, the above-named first interleaver is frequently also simply named interleaver in this document.
A block interleaver with column exchange functions as follows. First, the bits are written rowwise into a matrix. This matrix includes F columns, F being the number of frames (also frequently termed radio frames or columns below) over which the data of a data frame are distributed; see also TS 25.212 (see below for more accurate details) Chapter "4.2.5 1st interleaving."
In the current version of the UMTS standard (3GPP TSG RAN WG1; Multiplexing and channel coding (FDD); TS 25.212 V2.3.0 (1999-10)) Chapter "4.2.7 Rate matching," in particular section "184.108.40.206.2 Determination of parameters needed for calculating the rate matching pattern," a method is represented that was presented in the article R1-99641 (Siemens; Properties of optimised puncturing scheme; TSG-RAN WG1#5, June 1-4, Cheju, Korea). This method distributes punctured bits as uniformly as possible and, in particular, avoids the case of the puncturing of bits situated close to one another. This is also achieved for the case of the application of puncturing using the (interframe) interleaver. The same method also can be applied for the case of repetition, which likewise leads to good results.
In the article R1-99641 mentioned, the following modifications were proposed to the rate matching method The rate matching was carried out using the puncturing/repetition pattern by applying a common pattern to all frames, the pattern being displaced in the case of the individual frames. Use was made for calculating the displacement of simple calculating rules that take account of the effect of the column exchange by the interleaver (for example, an FS-MIL)) (the term column exchange, sometimes also termed column randomizing, is used here instead of "row-by-row processing").
Owing to the fact that the operation of column exchange is taken into account in the formulas, the same effect is achieved as if the rate matching were carried out upstream of the column exchange of the interleaver, although for practical reasons it must be carried out downstream thereof. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that account is taken of the column exchange rule, more precisely its inversion RF (and RF, respectively, or RF(k) and RF(k), respectively) in the formulas for calculating S (the displacement of the pattern per column or frame) or eoffset (a parameter that is used in the rate matching algorithm, presented further below, that is carried out per frame). Similar procedures can be used for puncturing and repetition, the present invention particularly dealing with the case of repetition. The carrying out, necessary owing to other prescriptions, of the rate matching downstream of the first interleaver has consequences, in this case, for the optimum generation of puncturing and repetition patterns.
The aim of a good repetition method is to distribute the repeated bits as uniformly as possible. The same also holds for a good puncturing method. The method presented in the abovementioned article R1-99641 operates as represented below (for the sake of simplicity, puncturing/repetition will not always be written below, but only one alternative; it is obvious that the argument also can be applied for the other alternative). The most uniform distribution can be achieved when each nth bit is repeated. However, if the repetition rate or n is not integral, the spacing must be varied; that is, sometimes the nth and sometimes the n+1th bit must be repeated. An attempt also can be made to apply this principle when the repetition is applied downstream of the first interleaver, although there is a further secondary condition in this case: the repeated bits must be distributed uniformly over all radio frames.
As an example, an interleaving interval of 80 ms and a repetition rate of 1:6 will be assumed in FIG. 4. The numbers printed in bold mark the bits to be repeated. If each 6th bit were repeated, only bits in the columns 0,2,4,6 but not in the columns 1,3,5,7 would be repeated, which leads to a nonuniform distribution of the repeated bits over the radio frames. In order to distribute the repetitions uniformly over all columns, the repetition interval is sometimes modified (in this case, once) in order to prevent always the same columns from being punctured. This is shown in FIG. 4.
The narrow horizontal arrows with thin outlines show a repetition spacing of 6, and the wide horizontal arrow with a thick outline shows a repetition spacing, differing therefrom, of 5, in order to avoid repeating the first column too early a second time. After each column has been repeated once, the repetition pattern can be displaced downward by 6 rows, in order to determine the next bits (beginning at 48) to be repeated, and so on. Clearly, this procedure is equivalent to puncturing each 6th bit in a column and displacing this puncturing pattern in different columns relative to one another.
The formulas or the calculating method are specified below, with the aid of the example of puncturing, for the optimized method that is defined in the abovementioned article R1-99641 and is best suited to the case of puncturing.
The number of bits per radio frame before the rate matching can be denoted by Nc, the number of the bits per radio frame after the rate matching by Ni, the index or the position of a bit to be punctured/repeated in the first column (k=0) by mj, the frame number by k, and the number of frames over which the interleaving is carried out by F. It is essentially the case of Nc>Ni, that is to say puncturing, that is considered. However, the formulas also can be applied for the case of repetition. Let the following first set of parameters hold in the example: Nc=20, Ni=16, m1=4, m2=9, m3=14, m4=19, k=0, . . . 7, and F=8. The displacement of the puncturing pattern then can be determined with the aid of the following formulas. Here and in the context of the overall application, a commentary on the corresponding steps is given after the double dash "--"
--calculation of the mean puncturing spacing.
q: = (└Nc/(/Ni−Nc/)┘) mod F -- here, └ ┘signifies rounding down and // the absolute value.Q: = (└Nc/(/Ni−Nc/)┘) div Fif q is even - treat special case.then q = q − lcd(q, F)/F-- Here, lcd (q, F) denotes the greatest common divisor of q and F.-- The greatest common divisor can be calculated easily by bitmanipulations when F is a power of two.-- For the same reason, calculations with p can be carried outeasily by binary fixed-point operations (or, alternatively, by integerarithmetic with the use of displacement operations.endif-- calculation of S and T; S represents the displacement of therow mod F and T the absolute displacement value div F;S therefore represents the displacement of the row with respectto q (that is to say mod F), and T the absolute displacement value withrespect to Q (that is to say, div F).for i = 0 to F−1S(RF (┌i*q┐ mod F)) = (┌i*q┐ div F) -- ┌ ┐ signifying rounding up.T((RF(┌i*q┐ mod F)) = i -- RF(k) inverts the interleaver,end for
In a real implementation, these formulas can be implemented as a reference table, as shown in FIG. 5. The table also includes the effect of the column exchange taken into account by RF(k). S can be calculated from T as a further implementation option.
It is then possible to calculate eoffset as follows:eoffset(k)=((2*S)+2*T*Q+1)*y+1)mod 2Nc
With the aid of eoffset (k), e is then preloaded in the rate matching method for UMTS. This choice of eoffset obviously effects a displacement of the puncturing patterns of the columns relative to one another or relative to the column denoted by k=0 by the amount S+T*Q.
eoffset is sometimes also termed einit. The rate matching method for UTMTS, which is applied inside a single frame, is described in TS25.212 (see above for more accurate details), section 126.96.36.199 "Rate matching pattern determination." It describes a puncturing or repetition method based on an error control. This method is described here once more.
Before the rate matching, the bits may be denoted as follows:
xi,1, xi,2, xi,3, xi,4, . . . xi,N, in which case i denotes the number of the transport channel (TrCH number) and N is the parameter that is defined in chapter 22.214.171.124 of TS 25.212.
The rate matching algorithm then operates as follows:
if puncturing is to be carried out,e = eini -- initial error between the current and desired puncturing rate.m = 1 -- Index for the currently treated bit.do while m <= Ne = e − eminus-- match error value.if e <= 0 then -- query as to whether bit number m is to be punctured.Puncture bit xi,me = e + eplus-- match error value.end ifm = m + 1-- next bit.end doelsee = eini-- Initial error between the current anddesired puncturing rate.m = 1 -- Index for the currentlytreated bit.do while m <= Ne = e − eminus-- Match error value.do while e <= 0 -- query as to whether bit numberm is to be repeated.repeat bit xi,me = e + eplus-- match error value.end dom = m + 1-- next bit.end doend if
If a bit is repeated, it is inserted immediately after the bit originally already present.
Described below is a simplified representation which simply results from the fact that the calculation of q and Q is not carried out separately for the remainder in the case of the division by F and the multiple of F, but in a combined fashion for both components. In the same way, S and T cannot be calculated separately for q and Q, but are likewise calculated in a combined fashion. The substitution q+F*Q→q and S+Q*TS yields the following equivalent representation. Depending on the details of the implementation, one or other calculation method (or further methods likewise equivalent thereto) can be carried out more favorably.
--Calculation of the mean puncturing distance
q: = (└Nc/(|Ni−Nc|)┘) -- └ ┘ signifying rounding down and ∥signifying absolute value.if q is even -- treat special case.then q = q − lcd(q, F)/F -- lcd (q, F) signifying the greatestcommon divisor of q and F.-- note that lcd can be calculated easily by bit manipulations,because F is a power of two.-- For the same reason, calculations with q can be carried outeasily with the aid of binary fixed-point arithmetic (or integer arithmeticand a few shift operations).endif-- Calculation of S(k) of the displacement of column k.for i = 0to F−1S(RF(┌i*q┐ mod F)) = (┌i*q┐ div F) -- ┌ ┐ signifying roundingup.-- RF(k) inverts the interleaver.end for
It is then possible to calculate eoffset in the following way:eoffset(k)=((2*S)*y+1)mod 2Nc
With the aid of eoffset (k), e is then initialized in advance in the rate matching method.
Those skilled in the art know that the constant 1 used in this definition of eoffset also can be replaced by any other value desired if it is identical for all columns or frames. For reasons of simplified representation, this will not be examined explicitly below. Furthermore, the methods presented can be further modified or expanded, although the basic assumptions are retained.
If the puncturing rate is an odd-numbered fraction (that is to say with an odd denominator), such as 1:5 or 1:9, this known method produces the same perfect puncturing pattern that would be applied directly before interleaving by puncturing with the use of the rate matching method. In other cases, adjacent bits are never punctured; however, a distance between punctured bits can be greater than the others by up to lcd(q,F)+1. This method also can be applied correspondingly to bit repetitions. Although the repetition of adjacent bits does not impair the performance of the error correction code so strongly as is the case when puncturing adjacent bits, it is nevertheless advantageous to distribute repeated bits as uniformly as possible.
The fundamental objective of this known method is to achieve a uniform spacing between the punctured bits in the original sequence, while taking account, however, of the constraint that the same number of bits are to be punctured in the various frames. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that the puncturing distance is reduced by 1 in specific cases. The method presented is optimum to the extent that it never reduces the distance by more than 1 and reduces it only as often as necessary. This yields the best possible puncturing pattern subject to the constraints mentioned above.
The following example shows the use of the first set of parameters (Nc=20, Ni=16, m1=4, m2=9, m3=14, m4=19, k=0, . . . 7, and F=8), that is to say puncturing with 1:5 (FIG. 6). The optimized method obviously not only avoids the puncturing of adjacent bits, but moreover distributes punctured bits with the same spacing in the original sequence. In fact, the same characteristics are achieved as if the puncturing had been carried out directly after the coding and before the interleaving.
The aim now is to investigate the next case, that is to say puncturing with 1:8 (FIG. 7). Once again, the puncturing of adjacent bits is avoided. In this case, it is impossible to achieve uniformly spaced puncturing, because all the bits in an individual frame would be punctured, which is completely unacceptable. In this case, most of the distances between adjacent bits are 7 (only 1 less than in the case of an optimum distribution). In return, some distances are greater (every eighth).
However, it has emerged that the previously proposed solutions, that is to say the proposed puncturing pattern in the case of application as a repetition pattern, still is not always optimal in all cases. Starting therefrom, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to specify a technical teaching that permits decoding of good quality in the receiver; particularly, in the case of the repetition of bits.

Method and apparatus for transmitting data frames, and a method and apparatus for data rate matching


The purpose of the present invention is to obtain a fiber-reinforced composite material having excellent appearance or mechanical characteristics, whereby a three-dimensional shape is molded with high productivity while appearance defects such as fiber meandering or wrinkling are suppressed. In this method for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced composite material, when a stack in which a plurality of sheet-shaped prepregs (X) in which a plurality of continuously arranged reinforcing fibers are impregnated with a matrix resin composition are layered in different fiber directions is molded into a three-dimensional shape by a molding die (100) provided with a lower die (110) and an upper die (112), a stretchable sheet (10) or a resin film (Y) used in the stack (12) is utilized. In this method for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced composite material, the stack may be pre-molded to obtain a preform, and the preform may be furthermore compression-molded to obtain a fiber-reinforced composite material.

In a variety of fields such as aircraft members and automobile members, for example, a fiber-reinforced composite material formed in a complicated shape such as a three-dimensional shape by heating and pressurizing a sheet-shaped prepreg containing a reinforcing fiber and a thermosetting resin or a stack composed of a laminate of the prepreg is used. In the manufacture of a fiber-reinforced composite material, it is difficult to form the fiber-reinforced composite material at one time particularly in the case of manufacturing a fiber-reinforced composite material having a complicated shape accompanied by shear deformation such as a three-dimensional curved surface shape or a hemispherical shape. In this case, a preform is manufactured in an intermediate shape based on the final shape by subjecting the stack to preparatory molding prior to the compression molding for forming the final shape.
However, in the manufacture of fiber-reinforced composite materials and preforms, the reinforcing fibers in the stack cannot follow the deformation at the time of molding, fiber meandering and generation of wrinkles occur in the fiber-reinforced composite materials and preforms to be obtained, and this results in appearance defects in some cases. Particularly in the case of using a prepreg in which reinforcing fibers are oriented in one direction or two or more directions, the reinforcing fibers hardly follow the deformation in the direction in which the reinforcing fibers are not oriented.
Specifically, in order to obtain a fiber-reinforced composite material having excellent isotropic mechanical properties, for example, a stack in which a sheet-shaped UD prepreg having reinforcing fibers aligned in one direction is generally pseudo-isotropically laminated so that the fiber directions of the respective layers in a planar view are [0°/45°/90°/135°] is used in molding. However, wrinkles are likely to be generated in the preform to be obtained when this stack is molded into a three-dimensional shape having a curved surface. In addition, meandering of the reinforcing fiber is likely to occur in the fiber-reinforced composite material obtained by compression molding of this preform, and the appearance and mechanical properties of the fiber-reinforced composite material greatly deteriorate in some cases. This problem is partly improved by molding a stack in which a UD prepreg is laminated so that the fiber directions of the respective layers are [0°/90°/45°/135°] instead of a general pseudo-isotropic laminating, but there is a limitation on this improvement effect.
It is possible to mold the fiber-reinforced composite material into a three-dimensional shape having a curved surface while suppressing the generation of wrinkles when a laminated UD prepreg is divided into a paired part in which the fiber directions are [0°/90°] and a paired part in which the fiber directions are [45°/135°] and the respective paired parts are molded. This is because it is considered that it is possible to relatively easily extend and stretch the paired part of [0°/90°] in the directions of 45° and 135° and the paired part of [45°/135°] in the directions of 0° and 90° at the time of molding. However, this method leads to increases in working time and cost since it is required to mold a plurality of paired parts, respectively, in this method.
Meanwhile, there is also proposed a method in which a tensile force is applied to a stack to be molded to promote the followability in a direction in which the reinforcing fibers are not oriented and thus to improve the moldability when manufacturing a preform (Patent Literatures 1 and 2).
However, in the above method, the manufacturing steps are troublesome since it is required to grip the stack to be molded with a clamp each time. In addition, the stack is directly gripped with a clamp in order to apply a tensile force, and thus the reinforcing fiber meanders or damage is caused at the gripped part in some cases. There is also a method in which a surplus part is provided in advance in addition to the part to be a product and the surplus part is gripped with a clamp. However, this method is unsuitable for mass production since it is required to cut and remove the surplus part after molding, thus the steps are further increased, and the manufacture is more troublesome.

Method for manufacturing fiber-reinforced composite material and fiber-reinforced composite material


The present invention provides an in-plane switching liquid crystal display (IPS-LCD) device that includes a substrate, a protrusive layer having many protrusions on the substrate and a transparent electrode on each of the protrusions. One may dispose a color filter on the protrusions and fill in liquid crystal material between the color filter and the substrate. In contrast to conventional IPS-LCD devices, the IPS-LCD device of the present invention does not require the use of spacers. The present invention may thus largely enhance the light penetration rate and simplify the manufacturing process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to an in-plane switching liquid crystal display (IPS-LCD) device and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Prior Art
The invention of liquid crystal display (LCD) devices has revolutionized the way information is displayed. Its overwhelming application in almost all aspects of electronic products guaranteed its success in the market. However, for many years, LCD devices have suffered from its narrow viewing angles. This drawback is solved by many techniques. Among them, the most popular one is the so-called in-plane switching (IPS) technique, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,464, for example.
Referring to FIG. 3, a conventional IPS-LCD device 100 is illustrated. The IPS-LCD device 100 comprises a source line 102, a gate line 104, a common line 112, at least a counter electrode 114, at least a pixel electrode 116, and a thin film transistor (TFT) 106. The IPS-LCD device 100 further comprises an insulating layer 103 electrically separating the common line 112 and the source line 102, an insulating layer 105 electrically separating the gate line 104 and the source line 102, and at least a via 113 electrically connecting the counter electrode 114 with the common line 112.
Referring to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, cross-sectional views taken along line II—II of FIG. 3 are illustrated. As shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the IPS-LCD device 100 comprises a substrate 101, the source line 102, at least the counter electrode 114, at least the pixel electrode 116, a spacer 107, a color filter 109, and liquid crystal material 120. The source line 102, the counter electrode 114 and the pixel electrode 116 are disposed on the substrate 101. The presence of the spacer 107 provides room between the color filter 109 and the substrate 101 so as to fill in the liquid crystal material 120. The IPS-LCD device 100 shown in FIG. 4A does not supply an electric field to the liquid crystal material 120. Referring to FIG. 4B, an electric field is now supplied to the liquid crystal material 120. The liquid crystal material 120 is thus rotated and aligned in response to the electric field supplied. The curved lines each having an arrow at one end, as shown in FIG. 4B, represent the electric field lines.
It is clearly seen from FIG. 4B that the electric field supplied to the liquid crystal material 120 near the substrate 101 is stronger than that supplied to the liquid crystal material 120 near the color filter 109. Therefore, the rotation angle of the liquid crystal material 120 adjacent the color filter 109 is less than that of the liquid crystal material 120 adjacent the substrate 101. These inhomogeneous rotation angles of the liquid crystal material 120, resulting from the inhomogeneous electric field distribution, may reduce the light penetration rate, hence lowering the display quality.

In-plane switching liquid crystal display device with protrusions into the liquid crystal layer and method of manufacturing the same


A local antenna for transmitting and/or receiving radio frequency signals in a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes first and second sub-antennas which are axially spaced from each other. The sub-antennas each are composed of at least one conductor turn. An electrical series circuit is formed of the first sub-antenna, a capacitive element for shortening the path length effective for the radio frequency signal and of the second sub-antenna. The two sub-antennas have the same winding direction. A capacitor is connected in parallel with the series circuit. The respective capacitance values of the series capacitive element and the parallel capacitor are approximately the same. For constructing a local antenna system especially suitable for mammography, two such local antennas are arranged side-by-side and are electrically connected in parallel. The series capacitive elements of the two local antennas face each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a local antenna for transmitting and/or receiving radio frequency signals in a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, of the type having first and second axially spaced sub-antennas, with each sub-antenna being formed by at least one conductor turn.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A local antenna of the aforementioned type, having axially spaced first and second sub-antennas, with each sub-antenna being formed by at least one conductor turn, is described in German OS 36 28 035. The local antenna disclosed therein is specifically for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, with the two sub-antennas being secured to a stand. Each sub-antenna, constituting a coil, has a variable capacitor connected thereto, with the variable capacitors for the respective sub-antennas being set to respectively different capacitances, thereby forming two different sets of resonant conditions. The two sub-antennas are connected in parallel, and form a Helmholtz arrangement wherein the distance between the coils is prescribed by their diameters. As a result, this known local antenna cannot be adapted as well as desired to the anatomy of a body part to be examined. The signal-to-noise ratio is therefore degraded, in some instances due to a filling factor for the local antenna which is too low.
Another local antenna is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,190. This local antenna design includes a base carrier on which two local coils are arranged axially spaced from each other. Each local coil is composed of two so-called "loop-gap" resonators connected oppositely in parallel, with the local coils being connected in parallel via the base carrier. The spacing of the two local antennas from each other can be set, dependent on the size of the body part to be examined, so that the anatomical structures of a hand as well as a thigh or a head can be covered with the local antenna design. This is accomplished by plugging the respective local antennas into the base carrier in sets of receptacles in the base carrier which are differently spaced from each other. Because the resonant frequency of the loop-gap resonator is principally defined by its geometry, the manufacture and formatting are relatively complicated, because tight tolerances must be observed. Moreover, loop-gap resonators can generate undesired oscillatory modes, which are difficult to suppress. If such modes are incompletely suppressed, unwanted coupling of the antennas to the excitation system can arise.

Local antenna with homogeneous sensitivity for a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus


A disc clamp with a varying peripheral wall height at its outermost diameter. Variation of the peripheral wall height results in a circumferentially varying stiffness modulus of the disc clamp at specific circumferential positions relative to the position of multiple mounting screws which attach the central mounting portion of the disc clamp to the spindle motor hub. Varying the stiffness modulus of the disc clamp circumferentially results in even distribution of the clamping force about the contact surface of the disc clamp.

Disc drives of the type known as "Winchester" disc drives, or hard disc drives, are well known in the industry. Such disc drives magnetically record digital data on a plurality of circular, concentric data tracks on the surfaces of one or more rigid discs. The discs are typically mounted for rotation on the hub of a brushless DC spindle motor. In disc drives of the current generation, the spindle motor rotates the discs at speeds of up to 10,000 RPM.
Data are recorded to and retrieved from the discs by an array of vertically aligned read/write head assemblies, or heads, which are controllably moved from track to track by an actuator assembly. The read/write head assemblies typically consist of an electromagnetic transducer carried on an air bearing slider. This slider acts in a cooperative hydrodynamic relationship with a thin layer of air dragged along by the spinning discs to fly the head assembly in a closely spaced relationship to the disc surface. In order to maintain the proper flying relationship between the head assemblies and the discs, the head assemblies are attached to and supported by head suspensions or flexures.
The actuator assembly used to move the heads from track to track has assumed many forms historically, with most disc drives of the current generation incorporating an actuator of the type referred to as a rotary voice coil actuator. A typical rotary voice coil actuator consists of a pivot shaft fixedly attached to the disc drive housing base member closely adjacent the outer diameter of the discs. The pivot shaft is mounted such that its central axis is normal to the plane of rotation of the discs. An actuator bearing housing is mounted to the pivot shaft by an arrangement of precision ball bearing assemblies, and supports a flat coil which is suspended in the magnetic field of an array of permanent magnets, which are fixedly mounted to the disc drive housing base member. On the side of the actuator bearing housing opposite to the coil, the actuator bearing housing also typically includes a plurality of vertically aligned, radially extending actuator head mounting arms, to which the head suspensions mentioned above are mounted. When controlled DC current is applied to the coil, a magnetic field is formed surrounding the coil which interacts with the magnetic field of the permanent magnets to rotate the actuator bearing housing, with the attached head suspensions and head assemblies, in accordance with the well-known Lorentz relationship. As the actuator bearing housing rotates, the heads are moved radially across the data tracks along an arcuate path.
Disc drives of the current generation are included in desk-top computer systems for office and home environments, as well as in laptop computers which are used wherever their users happen to take them. Because of this wide range of operating environments, the computer systems, as well as the disc drives incorporated in them, must be capable of reliable operation over a wide range of ambient temperatures.
Furthermore, laptop computers in particular can be expected to be subjected to large amounts of mechanical shock as they are moved about. It is common in the industry, therefore, that disc drives be specified to operate over ambient temperature ranges of from, for instance, -5.degree. C. to 60.degree. C., and further be specified to be capable of withstanding mechanical shocks of 100 G or greater without becoming inoperable.
One of the areas of disc drive design which is of particular concern when considering ambient temperature variations and mechanical shock resistance is the system used to mount the discs to the spindle motor. During manufacture, the discs are mounted to the spindle motor in a temperature- and cleanliness-controlled environment. Once mechanical assembly of the disc drive is completed, special servo-writers are used to prerecord servo information on the discs. This servo information is used during operation of the disc drive to control the positioning of the actuator used to move the read/write heads to the desired data location in a manner well known in the industry. Once the servo information has been recorded on the discs, it is assumed by the servo logic that the servo information, and all data subsequently recorded, are on circular tracks that are concentric with relation to the spin axis of the spindle motor. The discs, therefore, must be mounted to the spindle motor in a manner that provides sufficient clamping force to prevent shifting of the discs relative to the spindle motor due to differential thermal expansion of the discs and motor components over the specified temperature range, or due to mechanical shock applied to the host computer system.
Several systems for clamping of the discs to the spindle motor have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos., including U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,434, issued Jun. 18, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,376, issued May 14, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,157, issued Sep. 19, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,080, issued Jul. 26, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,517, issued Dec. 28, 1993 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,030, issued Mar. 15, 1994, all assigned to the assignee of the present invention and all incorporated herein by reference. In each of these incorporated disc clamping systems, the spindle motor of the disc drive includes a disc mounting flange extending radially from the lower end of the spindle motor hub. A first disc is placed over the hub during assembly and brought to rest on this disc mounting flange. An arrangement of disc spacers and additional discs are then alternately placed over the spindle motor hub until the intended "disc stack" is formed. Finally, some type of disc clamp is attached to the spindle motor hub which exerts an axial clamping force against the uppermost disc in the disc stack. This axial clamping force is passed through the discs and disc spacers and squeezes the disc stack between the disc clamp and the disc mounting flange on the spindle motor hub.
From the above description, it would appear that the only element that would need to be considered when designing a disc clamping system would be the disc clamp, with any requirement for additional clamping force being met by an increase in the strength of the disc clamp. However, with the industry trend of size reduction in the overall disc drive, the size of various components within the disc drive has also been reduced, including the thickness of the discs. As the discs have grown thinner, the amount of clamping force that can be applied to the discs without causing mechanical distortion of the discs has also fallen. That is, due to inescapable tolerance variation in the flatness of the disc mounting flange on the spindle motor, the discs themselves and the disc spacers between adjacent discs, as well as the yield strength of the disc material, only a finite amount of axial clamping force can be applied to the inner diameters of the discs before the desired flatness of the disc surfaces is lost.
One type of disc clamp which is used extensively in the industry is the so-called "spring-type" clamp. A spring-type clamp is typically formed of sheet material stamp-formed to provide both mounting and force-application features, and commonly consists of three major portions: 1) a central mounting portion; 2) a spring portion extending radially outward from the central mounting portion and; 3) a contact portion adjacent the outer diameter of the spring-type clamp.
The central mounting portion, also sometimes referred to as a web, typically includes one or more screw holes through which machine screws are inserted into corresponding tapped holes in the upper surface of the spindle motor hub. It is also typical for the web to include an arrangement of tooling holes, aligned with corresponding tooling holes in the upper surface of the spindle motor hub, which are engaged by an assembly tool to maintain the relative position of the spindle motor and disc clamp while the screws used to mount the disc clamp are tightened.
The radially extending spring portion is commonly formed at an angle to the plane of the central mounting portion of the disc clamp, and acts, when the web is displaced into contact with the top of the spindle motor hub, similarly to a "belleville" spring to determine the amount of clamping force applied to the top surface of the uppermost disc in the disc stack.
The contact portion of a typical spring-type disc clamp is a circumferentially formed corrugation at the outermost extent of the spring portion. The corrugation is first formed downward, toward the disc surface, and then back upward, thus forming a contact portion which is substantially circular in section at a fixed diameter from the spin axis of the disc stack, and producing a perimeter wall at the outer extreme of the disc clamp.
While spring-type disc clamps have been seen which employ a single, centrally located mounting screw, it is much more common to utilize a plurality of screws evenly spaced about a diameter just inside the outer diameter of the web portion of the disc clamp. The use of multiple mounting screws placed close to the spring portion provides greater overall clamping force than a single central mounting screw, given the same configuration of the remainder of the disc clamp.
One typical drawback to the use of multiple mounting screws for the disc clamp is uneven distribution of the clamping force between locations radially aligned with the mounting screws and those portions of the disc clamp contact surface lying circumferentially between adjacent screw locations. For example, such a disc clamp often produces the greatest contact surface stress on the top disc surface at the same angular locations as the screw positions. This is especially true in disc clamp designs that have a web that is substantially free of secondary holes, openings or cutouts.
In disc clamp designs that do have secondary openings, the openings can direct the load concentrations away from the angular position of the screws to angular locations at the contact surface other than at the angular positions of the screws.
In any case, if the stress at the contact surface is localized, those locations at the contact surface where the load stress is not concentrated can experience a significantly lower contact force, in some clamp designs even approaching zero force.
The end result is that the circumferentially varying contact surface stress introduces an associated circumferential waviness into the uppermost disc in the disc stack that is most severe near the inner diameter clamping area, but which may possibly extend over the entire disc surface. Such waviness in the disc surface can have a major impact on the flying characteristics of the heads, particularly if the wave length of the disc distortion is of the same scale as the length of the slider used to support the read/write transducer.
Previously incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,080, U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,434 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,376 are each specifically directed to improving the distribution of clamping force provided by spring-type disc clamps using multiple mounting screws, and the resultant reduction in mechanical distortion of the discs, particularly the top disc, in the disc stack. U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,080 also requires, however, the inclusion of a shim between the disc clamp and the spindle motor hub, which increases part count in the disc drive, adds to assembly complexity, and adds an otherwise non-functional element to the overall vertical height of the disc stack.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,376 requires the inclusion of specially formed components and additional assembly adjustments in order to achieve even distribution of disc clamping forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,434 achieves even distribution of disc clamping force by including an additional circumferential bend in the disc clamp between the central mounting portion and the circular contact surface at the outer extent of the spring member. While each of these prior art disc clamping systems achieves improvement in the distribution of disc clamping forces, they each require either the inclusion of additional components--and potentially increases in the height requirement of the clamping system--or an increase in the complexity of the forming of the disc clamp after the unformed disc clamp is excised from flat spring stock.
A need clearly exists, therefore, for a disc clamping system which provides an even distribution of the clamping force applied to the disc stack to prevent mechanical distortion of the discs.

Disc clamp with contoured peripheral wall Height


Electric machine in which parts subject to magnetostrictive forces are sized and configured in a particular manner. Such parts (1) have radial dimensions that vary along the axial direction. The pads are formed by laminations (12) that are assembled in an alternated arrangement, either individually or by groups, and have differing inner and/or outer dimensions and/or shapes. Such a solution is instrumental in reducing the noise caused by vibrations brought about by the electromagnetic forces generated by the machine.

The present invention relates generally to an electric machine, such as an electric motor, and in particular to the sizing and the shaping of the parts thereof, which are subject to magnetostrictive forces, such as rotor and stator stacks.
Magnetic fields that are present in electrical machines generate forces that are substantially the main function and purpose of such machines. However, these forces also tend to mechanically distort the working parts, that is, the parts that are involved in the operation of the machine. As a consequence, the tangential component of the electromagnetic forces generating the working torque in an electric motor acts on the rotor and stator teeth and distorts them in a tangential direction. The radial component, although usually undesired, is always present and in some cases, such as in variable reluctance motors, reaches quite high values and causes radial distortions. These forces, which are generally variable with time, bring about elastic deformations and, hence, vibrations of the machine. If the natural mechanical-resonance frequencies happen to be present in the vibrations, such vibrations are amplified and the machine can become quite noisy.

Electric machine, in particular electric motor