A method for operating a telephony device accounts for variations in international standards for certain telephony operations, including hook flash functionality, pulse dialing operations, tone dialing operations, jitter buffer size, debounce characteristics, transmitter and receiver gain, caller identification functionality, pulse signaling operations, and ringing operations. The method includes defining each of the plurality of values as a management information base object; receiving a plurality of downloadable values downloaded to the telephony device over an Internet Protocol network as a management information base table; storing the plurality of downloadable values in a memory in the telephony device; and using the stored plurality of downloadable values to control operations of the telephony device, including hook flash functionality, pulse dialing operations, tone dialing operations, jitter buffer size, debounce characteristics, transmitter and receiver gain, caller identification functionality, pulse signaling operations, tone operations, call progress tones (e.g., busy tone, ringback, tone, dial tone, etc.) and ringing operations. Various ranges and default values are established to provide a wide range of operating capability.

In the international telephony marketplace there is historical precedence that varies a number of telephony interface performance parameters across National Boundaries. In the past, products were "nationalized" by either unique hard construction or a combination of hardware and software to adapt to the national deviations. Recent European Union (EU) attempts to "harmonize" these national deviations across the EU have been unsuccessful in achieving complete "harmonization" due to the large base of legacy Telephony Terminal Equipment (TE). Therefore, these national deviations must continue to be accounted for in customer premises equipment. Moreover, the same remains true for the rest of the world.
Yet, manufacturers and telephony operators desire telephony access networks to be capable of adapting to these national deviations without hardware differences in order to reduce terminal equipment compatibility problems, cost and support requirements.
In particular, as it relates to Internet Protocol (IP) based networks, a standards body known as CableLabs was tasked with developing standards for voice-over-IP networks to operate in North America. PacketCable is a communications and signaling standard developed by CableLabs to provide telephony services over a DOCSIS cable modem. DOCSIS stands for Data Over Cable Systems Interface Specifications, which is the CableLabs standard that cable modems use to communicate with the headend and the data network. The ensuing standards developed by Cablelabs/Packetcable provide limited configuration and provisioning capability along with Network Call Signaling (NCS) messages to modify the operation of access devices (called MTAs) based on North American Standards. A Multimedia Terminal Adapter (MTA) is a device that connects to a cable modem to provide telephony service over Hybrid-Fiber-Coax (HFC); an MTA also interfaces with traditional Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) telephones. These standards essentially describe only one profile of possible operation and are not sufficiently flexible to adapt to all of the variations in the international market.
Due to recent interest from multiple International Marketplaces, there is a need to increase the applicability of domestic systems to operate in new and varied environments. To maintain system/product profitability, there is a need to adapt existing system such that it can be configured to operate in these environments so that the same product or products that are employed domestically will operate just as well in foreign countries.
Thus, the present invention is therefore directed to the problem of developing a method and apparatus for enabling domestic telephony equipment to be configurable to operate in foreign countries or in the United States.

Method for generalization of telephone signaling requirements to support multiple international marketplaces in a single customer premises device


A data processor apparatus comprises a plurality of data receiving means each for receiving data from a data source; a computational element coupleable to each of said data receiving means for performing an operation on said data; and a controller for controlling the flow of data from each data receiving means to the computational element.

This invention broadly relates to parallel processing in the field of computer technology, and more particularly concerns systems, devices and methods for transferring data in an efficient manner for a parallel computer such as a Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) data processor.
Parallel processing is increasingly used to meet the computing demands of the most challenging scientific and engineering problems, since the computing performance required by such problems is usually several orders of magnitude higher than that delivered by general-purpose serial computers.
Whilst different parallel computer architectures support differing modes of operation, in very general terms, the core elements of a parallel processor include a network of processing elements (PEs) each having one or more data memories and operand registers, with each of the PEs being interconnected through an interconnection network (IN).
One of the most extensively researched approaches to parallel processing concerns Array Processors, which are commonly embodied in single instruction stream operating on multiple data stream processors (known as Single Instruction Multiple Data or SIMD processors). The basic processing units of an SIMD processor are an array of processing elements (PEs), memory elements (M), a control unit (CU), and an interconnection network (IN). In operation, the CU fetches and decodes a sequence of instructions from a program, then synchronises all the PEs by broadcasting control signals to them. In turn, the PEs, operating under the control of a common instruction stream, simultaneously execute the same instructions but on the different data that each fetches from its own memory. The interconnection network facilitates data communication among processing units and memory. Thus the key to parallelism in SIMD processors is that one instruction operates on several operands simultaneously rather than on a single one.
An example of such a data processor architecture is disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT/CA02/00299, Publication No. WO 02/071246, to Atsana Semiconductor Corporation, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. An example of a data processor disclosed in this document is shown in FIG. 1. The apparatus comprises a memory block 1, a two-dimensional array of processor elements (PEs) 3 each of which can be coupled to the memory via a switching element (SE) 5. Each processor element may comprise a single bit processor element and a computational unit (CU) comprises a predetermined number of processor elements generally formed from a row of contiguous PEs, as shown in FIG. 2. Data from the memory block can be downloaded into each CU sequentially and data processing may be performed by each CU sequentially, row by row, or simultaneously, (i.e. in parallel) once data has been downloaded into all CUs.
One of the main advantages of the memory time-multiplex CU architecture is that the vertical transfer of data between the processor elements (or CUs) can be performed very efficiently. For example, referring to FIG. 1, it would only take one cycle to load data from one row of PEs to another row of PEs, for example row n into row 0. In a previous architecture it would take n−1 cycles (assuming it is possible to write from CU register to neighbouring CU register through the switching element(s) 5.
Another advantage of this architecture is that a deeper memory can be used (e.g. 1024 rows or greater) because the memory requirement per CU can be shared, and communication through the Switching Element is minimized allowing more time for memory accesses. For example, one implementation may require 4 kbytes/CU, and therefore if the memory is shared between 4CU's, this would mean that a 16 kbyte deep memory could be used.
As multiple CUs share the same memory space, CU accesses to memory must be pipelined. This means that each row of CUs is loaded with data from the memory in successive cycles so that, for example, the row 0 CUs are loaded with data in one cycle followed by the row 1 CUs in the next cycle, followed by the row 2 CUs in the next cycle, and so on to row n. This is illustrated in the timing diagram 28 in FIG. 2, which shows successive data download cycles from the memory, where "DATA 0" in is the cycle in which data is downloaded from the memory into the first Computational Unit CUO, and so on. As mentioned above, there are two different ways of processing the data row from memory: the first is to pipeline operations, and the second is to wait until all the memory reads are complete and have the CUs operate simultaneously. The reason that this architecture improves timing between the memory and the CU is that the data output from memory only goes through a single switching stage, and the interconnect between that switching stage and its nearest neighbour is very short. A problem with this architecture is that the latency of the device is increased relative to an unpipelined structure in which each processor is arranged in a one dimensional array and has its own dedicated section of memory so that all processors perform memory reads in parallel.

Two-dimensional processor array of processing elements


A video observation system, useful for location of fish and other plant and animal life underwater, comprises a solid state imager having substantial sensitivity to infrared radiation; video signal generating means for generating a video signal corresponding to the image formed on the solid state imager; mounting means for mounting the solid state imager on a submersible portion of a watercraft; and a video display device arranged to display a visible image corresponding to the image formed on the solid state imager.

Fishermen and marine engineers use a variety of devices to enhance their observations of subsurface phenomena. Fishermen often use polarizing sunglasses to eliminate surface reflections and thus enhance their ability to see subsurface objects. "Inverted" periscope devices (i.e., periscope devices which enable an observer above the water surface to view objects beneath the water surface, in contrast to conventional submarine periscopes which are designed to allow a submerged observer to see objects above water) are commercially available.
As fishing has become a more and more competitive activity over the years, fishermen have constantly sought to improve their results by using technology to detect the presence of fish and features of the aquatic environment. Thus, the use of sonar and related devices such as fish finders to provide information on subsurface objects, creatures and conditions is well established. However, such sonar-type devices tend to be relatively bulky and require substantial power supplies. Thus, they are not easily adapted for use on the small boats often used by fishermen on inland rivers and lakes. Furthermore, the images which sonar-type devices produce, being based upon acoustical properties of the environment rather than visual ones, are often not easy for inexperienced operators to interpret.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for more effective devices for observing and detecting fish, other wildlife, objects and features of the environment beneath the surface of a lake, stream, river, estuary, ocean or other body of water. Desirably, such devices should be compact, have sufficiently low power requirements to permit operation by storage battery, and produce images based upon visual properties of the environment so that the images are easy for even inexperienced operators to interpret. It is a primary object of this invention to fulfil this need.
Fish and other underwater creatures are of course sensitive to light and indeed, since such creatures may often live in underwater environments where the light level is much lower than at the surface, fish and other creatures may be more sensitive to certain types of lights than are humans and other terrestrial creatures. Accordingly, it is desirable that devices used for underwater observation not require levels of illumination that are likely to scare away the fish or other creatures being sought, and it is a further object of this invention to provide devices which meet this need.
Yet another object of the invention is to control the spectral illumination of the scene and the sensitivity of the image detector to maximize the visibility of features of interest as displayed to the user.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide means to accommodate large variations of natural illumination of the area under observation and to provide supplementary illumination when required.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide video observation systems in a mechanical package having a streamlined profile in the water, this package being readily manipulable by an observer to provide views over a range of directions.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide video observation systems which can be packaged with means for propelling watercraft to which the video observation systems are to be attached. Preferred devices of the present invention using currently available video technology can readily be incorporated into existing trolling motor products with minimal modifications of such products.
Other objects of the invention will be apparent and will appear hereinafter in the following detailed description when read in connection with the drawings.


A color density measuring device (10) for determining the color density of an ink layer applied to a printing material (22), having a light source (24) for illuminating the printing material (22) and a sensor for receiving the light remitted from the printing material (22), is characterized according to the invention in that the sensor is fashioned as a multicolor image sensor (12), and a device (14, 24, 26; 30) is provided with the aid of which the light incident at the multicolor image sensor (12) is restricted to at least one predetermined wavelength band.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a color density measuring device for determining the color density of an ink layer applied to a printing material or subject, the color density measuring device having a light source for illuminating the printing material, and a sensor for receiving the light remitted from the printing material. The invention further relates to the use of such a color density measuring device on a printing apparatus for multicolor printing. Moreover, the invention also relates to a method for determining the color density of at least one of the three colors cyan, magenta or yellow, or black on a colored material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Particularly for the purpose of controlling the ink management in the case of printing units for multicolor printing, it is customary to determine the color density of an ink layer applied to the printing material. So-called reflected colored light densitometers are currently used for this purpose. This type of measurement is based on a linearity between a printed quantity of ink and optical density. The density measurement is performed using the known principle of remission measurement of body colors. An emitted measuring light beam penetrates the ink layer and is reflected at the interface between ink layer and printing material. The reflected light penetrates the ink layer once again and is received by a photoelement of the reflected colored light densitometer. Upon two-fold penetration of the ink layer, the originally white measuring light is colored and attenuated by absorption. The remission of the light is reduced in a typical wavelength region. An electric signal proportional to the light intensity is generated at the photoelement. This electric signal contains the information, resulting from the modulated reflected light, relating to type and quantity of the printed color that is used to determine the density value.
Densitometers having so-called status filters or color filters are known which can be used for separately detecting the printing inks cyan, magenta, yellow and also black. In the case of these densitometers, individual photoelements for white light are arranged downstream of a total of four individual filters each having different transmission ranges. The photocells form individual measuring channels for each of the printing inks cyan, magenta and yellow. The density of these colored inks is determined in each case in the low remission range because variations in remission take place here that are prominent and can be effectively measured. The density of cyan is therefore measured with the aid of a red filter at a wavelength of approximately 600 nm. Similarly, magenta is measured with a green filter at approximately 530 nm, and yellow is measured with a blue filter at approximately 430 nm.
The characteristic of the filters is laid down in the standards DIN 16 536-2 and ISO 5-3. Filters of status DIN E are used in Europe. With regard to the SWOP color standard, ISO T filters are customary in the USA and, to some extent, in England.
This procedure is illustrated in FIG. 1 using the example of remission curves of cyan for various color densities. The density is measured with the aid of a red filter (transmission range at a wavelength of approximately 600 nm) in the region of the largest variations.
It is an object of the invention to specify a color density measuring device for determining the color density and the use thereof, as well as a method for determining the color density which together lead to a substantial reduction in cost by comparison with known measuring devices and methods.


A semiconductor processing component has an outer surface portion comprised of silicon carbide, the outer surface portion having a skin impurity level and a bulk impurity level. The skin impurity level is average impurity level from 0 nm to 100 nm of depth into the outer surface portion, the bulk impurity level is measured at a depth of at least 3 microns into the outer surface portion, and the skin impurity level is not greater than 80% of the bulk impurity level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to methods for treating semiconductor processing components for use in a semiconductor fabrication environment, as well as semiconductor processing components formed thereby.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the art of semiconductor processing, typically integrated circuit devices are formed through various wafer processing techniques, in which semiconductor (principally silicon) wafers are processed through various stations or tools. Processing operations include, for example, high temperature diffusion, thermal processing, ion implant, annealing, photolithography, polishing, deposition, etc. As new generation semiconductor devices are developed, demand continues to exist in the industry to achieve better purity levels during such processing operations. In addition, there continues to be a driving force to transition to larger semiconductor wafers. The desire for superior purity levels and larger wafers introduces further integration challenges for next generation processing.
Despite improvements in the industry to address next generation purity concerns as well as handling issues associated with larger-sized semiconductor wafers, a need continues to exist in the art for further improved semiconductor processing components, methods for forming such components, and methods for processing semiconductor wafers.

Method for treating semiconductor processing components and components formed thereby


A system is described that can include a first database, a simulator, and a second database. The first database can store data indicating operation of at least one module within a computing device of an autonomous vehicle. The simulator can receive the stored data from the first database. The simulator can generate, based on the received data, a simulation of the operation of the at least one module. The simulator can identify at least one portion of the simulation that indicates a deviation between the collected data and the simulated operation of the autonomous vehicle. The simulator can analyze the at least one portion of the simulation to generate metrics for the at least one portion of the simulation. The metrics can be used to avoid another deviation between the collected data and the simulated operation of the autonomous vehicle. The second database can store the metrics.

Various simulation techniques exist for testing of autonomous vehicles (AVs). In conventional techniques, a simulation of the testing environment is created to enable the AV to detect objects in environment, navigate through different weather conditions (e.g. rain or daylight). Such techniques are however are not sufficient to adequately improve the safety and reliability of AVs. For example, such traditional techniques often fail to diagnose and treat (a) false generation of alerts when a collision of the AV is unlikely (i.e. false positives) and (b) failure in generation of alerts when collision is likely (i.e. false negatives). Additionally, when a takeover occurs in an attempt to prevent a collision, such techniques do not assess whether a collision would have likely occurred had the takeover not occurred, and thus may often generate inaccurate alerts.
Like reference characters in various drawings indicate like elements or components.

Simulation of autonomous vehicle to improve safety and reliability of autonomous vehicle


When a number of document data registered in one of full-text index-for-registration/deletion storage parts reaches a predetermined number, or when a capacity of the full-text index-for-registration/deletion storage part reaches a predetermined capacity, a merge processing is performed for merging data from the full-text index-for-registration/deletion storage part to a full-text index-for-search storage part. While this merge processing is performed, a registration/deletion processing is performed by using another full-text index-for-registration/deletion storage part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a database management system, a full-text search device, and a full-text search method, and more particularly, to a database management system for performing a merge processing by a delayed update, and a full-text search device and method for searching for a document containing a specified character string from a plurality of document data.
This invention is applicable to a system managing a large quantity of document data, such as a document management system, an electronic library system, and a patent publication search system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a relational database, data is represented and managed as a table. This table is composed of sets of tuples each of which is a list of attribute values. Besides, a substance of the table is stored in a file.
Operations to a database are classified into the following four operations.
(1) Search (Retrieval) Operation
This is an operation of providing conditions concerning attribute values as search conditions so as to retrieve a set of tuples that match the conditions.
(2) Insertion Operation
This is an operation of inserting a new tuple having given attribute values into a table.
(3) Updating Operation
This is an operation of changing attribute values of a tuple selected from a table into new values.
(4) Deletion Operation
This is an operation of deleting a tuple selected from a table.
Hereinafter, the above-mentioned insertion operation, the updating operation, and the deletion operation are collectively referred to as a changing operation.
In a system using the relational database, a response time upon performing the search operation is an important performance indicator.
Therefore, in order to shorten the search response time, there is a method of building a relational database by using an index file.
This index file includes particular structures converted from one or more attribute values so as to evaluate conditions concerning the attribute values at high speed.
On the other hand, in the changing operation, a time required for updating the index file makes a cause of aggravating a performance.
In a common form of using the index file, only the search operation is performed since the changing operation is less frequently requested compared with the search operation; and a mass of the changing operations are performed at night when the system is stopped. Therefore, the performance measured by the response time to the changing operation.
However, when a real-time property is required as in an on-line system, the response time to the changing operation is regarded as being important.
To solve these problems, in a "database management system" disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-143412, a writing to a database is temporarily retained in a nonvolatile memory before being reflected to a magnetic disk, and corresponding data is referred to by using the nonvolatile memory as a disk cache, in place of the magnetic disk.
However, since only data having a simple structure can be retained in the disk cache, there is a problem that a highly functional index file cannot be used.
Besides, in a "database management method and device, and a machine-readable recording medium recording a program thereof" disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-163294, a reference and an updating to a database on a secondary storage are performed on data buffers provided on a primary storage, and an updated page is reflected to the database asynchronously with a processing by an application program, thereby performing a delayed updating process using only one set of data buffers; this reduces a required capacity of the main memory.
However, since only data having a simple structure can be retained in this data buffer, there is a problem that a highly functional index file cannot be used, as in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-143412.
When a plurality of users simultaneously use a database system, the search operation and the changing operation are asynchronously requested. In this course, a transaction processing is used so as to maintain a consistency of data. The transaction processing is explained in detail in (1) "'Principles of Transaction Processing' Philip A Bernstein, Eric Newmarker; Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.".
Completely isolating transactions guarantees the consistency of data at any point of time. However, a reduction in a concurrent execution property may result in a reduction in a throughput as a whole considerably. In order to solve this problem, a concept of an isolation level is used. The isolation level is explained in detail in (2) "'A Critique of ANSI SQL Isolation Levels' Hal Bereson, Philip A Bernstein, Jim Gray, Jim Melton, Elizabeth J. O'Neil, Patrick E. O'Neil Proc. ACM SIGMOD Conf. (June 1995) p.1-10".
In order to explain the above-described problems of the conventional technology, a consideration is given of a merging operation of arranging together data retaining parts (inverted files) used for full-text search which are divided in plurality.
A merging operation is started when an amount of data in an inverted file to be merged reaches a threshold value. There are two types of such merging operation: one is a synchronous merge that performs a merging as an operation (a foreground operation) in a same series as an insertion operation to the inverted file; the other is an asynchronous merge that performs a merging as an operation (a background operation) different from the insertion operation.
In the asynchronous merge, in order to perform an insertion during merging correctly, an inverted file to be merged has to be processed exclusively. Therefore, during a period of the exclusive processing, the merging operation and the insertion operation each undergo delayed processing, as a result of which a response of the insertion operation is aggravated.
Besides, in recent years, as information communication technology has developed, electronic documents and information about the documents are distributed in large quantities via the Internet etc. Thereupon, there is proposed a document search device for searching a desired document with accuracy and at high speed.
In such document search device, a keyword search method and a full-text search method are used. A full-text search device using the full-text search method compares any given search character string with all documents to be searched so as to extract all documents containing the search character string. Thus, unlike the keyword search method, the full-text search device using the full-text search method involves no need for a large amount of manpower for providing keywords beforehand to all the documents to be searched. Various types of full-text search device are proposed, one type of which is a device adopting an inverted (index) file method. In the inverted-file method, an inverted file that records documents containing a character/word/n-gram (n character juncture), or records appearance positions thereof in the documents, is built beforehand as an auxiliary file for searching; and upon a full-text search, the search is performed by using only the inverted file. Thus, the inverted-file method enables a considerably high-speed search, and is effective for a system necessitating a high-speed search of a large quantity of documents.
Besides, a full-text search method in general and an inverted-file method in detail are described in "Information Retrieval Algorithm" (Kenji Kitasato, Kazuhiko Tsuda, Masami Shishibori; Kyoritsu Shuppan Co., Ltd.; pp.160-179), "Description of the Related Art" of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-073429, and 1998 Activity Report of Full-Text Search System Conference etc., and are well-known; therefore, an explanation thereof is omitted.
As a conventional technology adopting the inverted-file method, Japanese Patent No. 3024544 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-265420) describes an information search device that stores real-time processing data apart from a search index file so as to perform a search processing even when the search index file is being updated. Besides, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-146880 describes a document search device and method registering a new document in a subindex smaller than a main index, thereby shortening a registration time.
However, in the inverted-file method including those described in the above-described Laid-Open Patent Applications, it is commonly necessary to build an inverted file several times as large as original data. Accordingly, as an amount of registered document data increases, a full-text index of the inverted-file method requires a longer time for a registration/deletion processing. Thus, as a full-text search device, a response time of the registration/deletion processing becomes long from a user's point of view.

Full-text search device performing merge processing by using full-text index-for-registration/deletion storage part with performing registration/deletion processing by using other full-text index-for-registration/deletion storage part


An apparatus and method for correctly determining the position of a vehicle in a traffic lane by obtaining correct information about the position of the traffic lane without being affected by variations in the road surface, weather, time of day, or such imaging conditions as fixed or moving lighting, are provided. An edge signal of a high spatial frequency component and a luminance signal of a low spatial frequency component of a digital image signal representing the view of the local area to the front of a vehicle are extracted. A road contour signal is then extracted from the edge signal, and a road region signal is extracted from the luminance signal. The position of the lane Sre is then detected with high precision by evaluating the lane contour Sre based on the road region signal Srr and lane contour data Sre.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a local positioning apparatus used in a local positioning system particularly suited to detecting the condition of a subject, such as an automobile or other motor vehicle, on a road while either stationary or moving based on such local positioning information as the relative location, velocity, and attitude of the subject within a localized region with reference to an image obtained by imaging the area in front of the subject. More specifically, the present invention relates to a local positioning apparatus for correctly detecting the position of a subject within a localized region without being affected by changes in the condition of the road surface, weather, time of day, fixed lighting, moving lighting, and other changes in the imaging condition.
A local positioning apparatus according to the prior art used in an automobile is shown in FIG. 25 and described below. As shown in FIG. 25, this conventional local positioning apparatus LPP comprises an edge extractor 1P, threshold generator 3P, contour extractor 5P, matching operator 9P, lane (marker) contour extractor 11P, region limiter 13P, current position detector 15P, curvature detector 17P, and yaw angle detector 19P.
The edge extractor 1P is connected to a digital imaging apparatus 100 (FIG. 1). The digital imaging apparatus 100 is mounted to the subject, which in this explanation of the prior art and the specification of the present invention below is, by way of example only, an automobile AM (FIG. 4), for capturing a perspective image Vi of the view to the front of the automobile AM in the direction of travel, and generating a digital image signal Si of the perspective image Vi. Included in the perspective image Vi are an image of the road, the lane markers Lm1 and Lm2 defining the boundaries (sides) of the lane Lm in which the automobile AM is currently travelling, and a lane marker Lm3 defining the far boundary of an adjacent lane (FIG. 5). The edge extractor 1P extracts the edge pixels of the lane markers Lm1, Lm2, and Lm3 from the digital image signal Si, and generates an extracted edge pixel signal Sxxe2x80x2. The extracted edge pixel signal Sxxe2x80x2 contains only the edge pixels extracted by the edge extractor 1P, and thus represents an extracted edge image Vxxe2x80x2.
Using a known method, the threshold generator 3P scans the extracted edge pixel signal Sxxe2x80x2 to extract a line for each of the lanes Lm delineated by the lane markers Lm1, Lm2, and Lm3, and determines a threshold value Ethxe2x80x2 for extracting pixels representing the contours of the lane markings from the extracted edge pixel signal Sxxe2x80x2. Using the supplied threshold value Ethxe2x80x2, the contour extractor 5P then extracts contour pixels and generates an extracted contour signal Scxe2x80x2 representing the contour lines of the lane markings.
The matching operator 9P then determines the line segment or arc matching the contour lines contained in the extracted contour signal Scxe2x80x2, and generates matching data Smxe2x80x2 containing all of the matching line and arc segments.
The lane contour extractor 11P then compares the matching data Smxe2x80x2 with typical lane dimension characteristics stored in memory to extract the matching line elements meeting these dimensional criteria as the contour lines of the lane, and outputs the result as lane extraction signal Smcxe2x80x2.
Based on this lane extraction signal Smcxe2x80x2, the region limiter 13P defines a certain region around the extracted lane, and generates a region signal Srxe2x80x2 delimiting this lane region. By feeding this region signal Srxe2x80x2 back to the edge extractor 1P, the edge extractor 1P limits the area within the perspective image Vi used for edge extraction to the region limits defined by the region limiter 13P.
Using the lane extraction signal Smcxe2x80x2 from the lane contour extractor 11P, the current position detector 15P detects the position of the automobile AM on the road, or more specifically in relationship to the lane being followed.
The curvature detector 17P detects the curvature of the lane being followed while the automobile AM is moving. The yaw angle detector 19P detects the angle of the automobile AM relative to the lane, i.e., whether the automobile AM is travelling parallel to the sides of the lane or is following a course while would result in the automobile AM leaving the current lane being followed.
It should be noted that all of the processes described above are based on the perspective image Vi of the area to the front of the vehicle obtained by the digital imaging apparatus 100. It is obvious, however, that correct information about the lane dimensions cannot be obtained from the perspective image Vi because the perspective image is a simple two-dimensional representation of three-dimensional space. Specifically, shapes change in the perspective image Vi as the distance from the digital imaging apparatus 100 increases with the size of an object at a distance from the digital imaging apparatus 100 being displayed smaller than the same object in close proximity to the digital imaging apparatus 100. In addition, the edges of a road or lane are indistinct in a perspective image Vi, making edge detection difficult.
Road conditions are also not constant, and this further complicates road edge detection. For example, recognizing the contour of a road or lane by means of edge detection is, in fact, impossible when the side of a road or a lane marker is hidden by such as vegetation, dirt, or gravel. Edge detection is also not practically possible when the lane markers are not recognizable in part or in full because of soiling, damage, or other cause.
The brightness of the road surface is also extremely variable, and is affected by such factors as the weather, whether the road is inside a tunnel, and whether it is day or night. Stationary lights installed in tunnels and beside the road also only partially and locally illuminate the road surface, and spots of extreme brightness or darkness can result even from the same road surface. These conditions are further complicated at night by irregular changes in illumination resulting both from the headlights of the subject automobile AM and the headlights of other vehicles. Accurately determining the edge detection threshold value Ethxe2x80x2 is effectively impossible under environments subject to changes in driving conditions, time of day, and weather, as well as dynamic changes in brightness in the perspective image Vi due to fixed or moving lighting even when the driving conditions, time, and weather remain constant.
In other words, it is not possible to obtain accurate dimensional information about the road and lane from an extracted contour signal Scxe2x80x2 that is based on such an inaccurate threshold value Ethxe2x80x2.
It is therefore clearly extremely dangerous to detect the local positioning of a vehicle relative to a road or lane based on such unreliable, inaccurate, and distorted dimensional information, and to detect the road curvature and vehicular yaw based on such erroneously determined positioning information.
The object of the present invention is therefore to resolve the above problems by providing a local positioning apparatus for detecting the local position of a subject capable of advancing in a direction related to a lane within a localized region based on a digital image signal representing a localized region in the direction of subject travel. To achieve this object, the local positioning apparatus comprises a first image signal generator for extracting a high frequency component of a spatial frequency from the digital image signal to generate an edge signal; a contour extractor for extracting lane contours based on the edge signal, and generating lane contour data; a second image signal generator for extracting a low frequency component of a spatial frequency from the digital image signal to generate a luminance signal; a lane area extractor for extracting the lane area based on the luminance signal, and generating lane area data; and a lane detector for detecting a lane position and generating a lane detection signal based on the lane contour data and lane area data.

Local positioning apparatus, and method therefor

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A purse designed to be worn by an individual, the purse being specifically designed to reduce the possibility of the purse being snatched away from the individual, the purse including a panel of material having a fold along which the panel of material is folded to create an interior surface of the panel of material and an exterior surface of the panel of material, the interior surface of the panel of material being substantially concealed when the panel of material is in a folded state. At least one interior pocket is formed on the interior surface of the panel of material, and a securement device is provided for securing the panel of material to the individual, the securement device being located on the panel of material substantially adjacent the fold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a purse which is designed specifically to reduce the possibility that the purse will be snatched away from the owner.
Particularly in urban areas, purse snatching has become a major concern. An individual may be attacked at almost any time, and for nearly any reason, and traveling with a purse in plain view can be an open invitation to muggers. Additionally, while most purses are too bulky to be effectively concealed, particularly while walking, leaving one's purse at home is unfortunately usually not a viable option.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,900 relates to a combination garment and purse, in which an article of clothing resembling a vest is provided with both inside and outside pockets. The vest-like garment includes a resilient yoke portion that extends across the back of the individual and acts to spread the weight of the articles carried.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,225 discloses a purse that is equipped with a number of fasteners along its upper edge, thus allowing it to be either hand carried or, optionally, attached to a shoulder strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,858 concerns a pocket for a garment that is designed to prevent pick-pocketing and which is provided with an attachment to the pocket opening that issues an alarm whenever the interior of the pocket is accessed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,815 relates to a purse that is removably attached to the inside of a garment. Magnets are employed to sound an alarm whenever the purse is detached from the garment.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,672 discloses a device positioned on the shoulder of a garment by which the strap of a purse may be secured thereto. A removal actuated alarm may be included within the housing of the device.


The present invention provides a method and multi-channel optical interconnect device (28) including an optical substrate (29) including a first optical channel (30) having a first predetermined thickness, a second optical channel (32) having a second predetermined thickness, and an optically isolating intermediate section (34) connected to the first optical channel (30) and to the second optical channel (32), the optically isolating intermediate section (34) having a third predetermined thickness, wherein the third predetermined thickness is less than either of the first predetermined thickness and the second predetermined thickness for minimizing optical cross-talk between the first optical channel (30) and the second optical channel (32).

Printed circuit boards are known in the art. Common printed circuit boards comprise metal traces to transmit an electrical signal between components mounted on a substrate. As the number of components on a printed circuit board increases, the number of metal traces needed to connect the components also increases. This decreases the spacing between metal traces, which can lead to capacitance problems between the metal traces and space constraints due to the limited area available on the printed circuit board for metal traces.
It has been proposed to utilize optical interconnection to transmit optical signals between components, particularly components located on remote regions of the board. The optical signals are composed of modulated light beams that carry data between components. An optical emitter, such as a laser, is mounted on one region of the board and emits the optical signal. This optical signal is routed by an optical guide, such as a layer composed of molded plastic, to an optical detector mounted on a second region of the board.
One approach to connecting an optical emitter and an optical detector is through waveguides, similar to an optical fiber, attached to or formed on the surface of the board. However, the interface between the component, i.e., the emitter or detector, and the optical waveguide is difficult to fabricate. Also, there is still the difficulty of having to fit the optical waveguides within the space of the board, similar to the problem with metal traces.
Another approach is to direct the signal from the emitter away from the surface of the board and then redirect, by means of a holographic element or a reflective surface, the signal toward the surface of the board at the site of the detector. Heretofore, this has required that the emitted signal be directed away from the board at an acute angle so that the targeted detector intercepts the reflected signal. Careful placement of several components and the reflecting surface or element is needed in order to assure accurate targeting of the optical signal. It can be difficult to align the optical emitter, the reflector, and the optical detector so that the optical signals accurately reach the optical detector. Further, if the spacing of the reflector from the board varies, the optical signal may not accurately reach the desired optical detector.
Another limitation on the prior art is the lack of flexibility in the assembly of printed circuit boards. Since the optical emitters, reflectors, and optical detectors must be mounted during assembly of the printed circuit board, there is no flexibility in adding any of these elements or adjusting their position once the printed circuit board has been fabricated.
A further limitation of the prior art is that when a plurality of optical signals are interconnected between the various components on the electronic boards, cross-talk is produced between the optical signals. The cross-talk results in the erroneous communication between the components.
Consequently, there is a need for a method, an optical interconnect device, and an optically interconnected electronic device for minimizing cross-talk between the optical signals.

Method, multi-channel optical interconnect device, and a multi-channel optically interconnected electronic device for minimizing cross-talk between a plurality of optical signals


A rotary metal-cutting tool includes a tool body and a cartridge carrying a cutting insert that is adjustable in relation to the tool body. The adjustment is accomplished by providing a serration on one side surface of the cartridge and a correspondingly curved recess in the tool body adjacent the serration for the receipt of a key element. The key element has teeth engageable with the serration such that rotation of the key produces adjustment of the cartridge and insert.

The present invention relates to a cutting tool comprising a rotatable tool body having a recess therein and a cartridge carrying a cutting insert, received in said recess, said cartridge being releasably secured to said tool body. The invention provides means to enable displacement of said cartridge in relation to said tool body.
Rotary milling cutters with adjustment means are known, such as an eccentric element or a set screw to permit adjustment of the position of the insert prior to having such insert locked in its final position. Such means for permitting adjustment often suffer from disadvantages in that an eccentric element can yield at its pivoted mounting. Such adjustment element, however, can start to yield even when subject to axial loads. This can lead to difficulties where great accuracy of finish is required.
Further, milling cutters with adjustment wedge members are known. The usage of such wedge members, however, if used for axial adjustment, requires additional space in the axial direction.
It is therefore a demand for rotary cutters with improved adjustment means which require a minimum of space while not being susceptible to axial and radial loads.
The present invention aims to provide a solution to the above related problems.

Cutting tool having a cutting cartridge adjusted by a turning key engageable with a serration of the cartridge


A water transportation system and method are described, generally related to water amusement attractions and rides. Further, the disclosure generally relates to water-powered rides and to a system and method in which participants may be actively involved in a water attraction. This transportation system comprises at least two water stations and at least one water channel connecting the at least two water stations for the purpose of conveying participants between the at least two water stations. In addition, the water transportation system may include conveyor belt systems and water locks configured to convey participants from a first source of water to a second source of water which may or may not be at a different elevation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to water amusement attractions and rides. More particularly, the disclosure generally relates to a system and method for a water transportation system. Further, the disclosure generally relates to water-powered rides and to a system and method in which participants may be actively involved in a water attraction.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
The 80's decade has witnessed phenomenal growth in the participatory family water recreation facility, i.e., the waterpark, and in water oriented ride attractions in the traditional themed amusement parks. The main current genre of water ride attractions, e.g., waterslides, river rapid rides, and log flumes, and others, require participants to walk or be mechanically lifted to a high point, wherein, gravity enables water, rider(s), and riding vehicle (if appropriate) to slide down a chute or incline to a lower elevation splash pool, whereafter the cycle repeats. Some rides can move riders uphill and downhill but for efficiency and performance reasons these rides also generally start on an elevated tower and generally require walking up steps to reach the start of the ride.
Generally speaking, the traditional downhill water rides are short in duration (normally measured in seconds of ride time) and have limited throughput capacity. The combination of these two factors quickly leads to a situation in which patrons of the parks typically have long queue line waits of up to two or three hours for a ride that, although exciting, lasts only a few seconds. Additional problems like hot and sunny weather, wet patrons, and other difficulties combine to create a very poor overall customer feeling of satisfaction or perceived entertainment value in the waterpark experience. Poor entertainment value in waterparks as well as other amusement parks is rated as the biggest problem of the waterpark industry and is substantially contributing to the failure of many waterparks and threatens the entire industry.
Additionally, none of the typical downhill waterpark rides is specifically designed to transport guests between rides. In large amusement parks transportation between rides or areas of the park may be provided by a train or monorail system, or guests are left to walk from ride to ride or area to area. These forms of transportation have relatively minor entertainment value and are passive in nature in that they have little if any active guest-controlled functions such as choice of pathway, speed of riders or rider activity besides sightseeing from the vehicle. They are also generally unsuitable for waterparks because of their high installation and operating costs and have poor ambience within the parks. These types of transportation are also unsuitable for waterpark guests who, because of the large amount of time spent in the water, are often wet and want to be more active because of the combination of high ambient temperatures in summertime parks and the normal heat loss due to water immersion and evaporative cooling. Water helps cool guests and encourages a higher level of physical activity. Guests also want to stay in the water for fun. Waterparks are designed around the original experience of a swimming hole combined with the new sport of river rafting or tubing. The preferred feeling is one of natural ambience and organic experience. A good river ride combines calm areas and excitement areas like rapids, whirlpools, and beaches. Mechanical transportation systems do not fit in well with these types of rides. There exists a need in waterparks for a means of transportation through the park and between the rides.
For water rides that involve the use of a floatation device (e.g., an inner tube or floating board) the walk back to the start of a ride may be particularly arduous since the rider must usually carry the floatation device from the exit of the ride back to the start of the ride. Floatation devices could be transported from the exit to the entrance of the ride using mechanical transportation devices, but these devices are expensive to purchase and operate. Both of these processes reduce guest enjoyment, cause excess wear and tear on the floatation devices, contributes to guest injuries, and makes it impossible for some guests to access the rides. Also, a park that includes many different non-integrated rides may require guests to use different floatation devices for different rides, which makes it difficult for the park operators to provide the guests with a general purpose floatation device. It is advantageous to standardize riding vehicles for rides as much as possible.
Almost all water park rides require substantial waiting periods in a queue line due to the large number of participants at the park. This waiting period is typically incorporated into the walk from the bottom of the ride back to the top, and can measure hours in length, while the ride itself lasts a few short minutes, if not less than a minute. A series of corrals are typically used to form a meandering line of participants that extends from the starting point of the ride toward the exit point of the ride. Besides the negative and time-consuming experience of waiting in line, the guests are usually wet, exposed to varying amounts of sun and shade, and are not able to stay physically active, all of which contribute to physical discomfort for the guest and lowered guest satisfaction. Additionally, these queue lines are difficult if not impossible for disabled guests to negotiate.
Typically waterparks are quite large in area. Typically guests must enter at one area and pass through a changing room area upon entering the park. Rides and picnic areas located in areas distant to the entry area are often underused in relation to rides and areas located near the entry area. More popular rides are overly filled with guests waiting in queue lines for entry onto them. This leads to conditions of overcrowding in areas of the park which leads to guest dissatisfaction and general reduction of optimal guest dispersal throughout the park. The lack of an efficient transportation system between rides accentuates this problem in waterparks.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems for water amusement conveyor


Provided herein are compositions and methods for polishing surfaces comprising cobalt and optionally a low-K material, e.g., in semiconductor device fabrication. Embodiments include a slurry for chemical mechanical polishing a surface comprising cobalt and low-K materials, such as Black Diamond (BD) or SiN, comprising a complexor, an oxidizer, an abrasive, a Co corrosion inhibitor and an ILD suppressor.

One of the major chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) challenges for semiconductor manufacturing is the selective polishing certain materials. Cobalt (Co) has become widely used in semiconductor device fabrication. Likewise, low-K materials, such as Black Diamond™ (BD, low-k, SiOC:H) or SiN, are commonly used in interlayer dielectric (ILD) of semiconductor devices. It has been challenging to use current CMP compositions in Co polishing applications due to high removal rates of ILDs, such as low-K materials.
The art includes US Pub. No. 2017/0158913, in which a non-ionic surfactant, such as Triton™ DF 16 is used in a cobalt polishing composition. However, this composition does not effectively suppress ILD removal rates.
Accordingly, a need exists for novel CMP compositions that can effectively and efficiently remove Co selectively without an increased removal of ILDs.

Compositions for polishing cobalt and low-K material surfaces


A display panel assembly includes a display panel including an array of LED (Light Emitting Diode) pixels, and includes a support assembly configured to hold the display panel near the rear window of the vehicle. In one embodiment, the support assembly for holding the display panel in the vehicle includes a first strap and a first hinge. The first hinge includes: a first flap having a first hole; a pivot; and a second flap having a second hole and a third hole. The first strap includes a fourth hole and a fifth hole located at a hinge end of the strap, and a sixth hole located at a cross beam end of the strap.

It is difficult to mount a display near the rear window of a vehicle. There are no structural elements readily accessible for attachment.
In one conventional approach, a support assembly for a small, light sign may be attached directly to the horizontal surface near the rear windshield.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,677 B1 by Williams provides a support assembly in FIG. 1 that includes: a lock nut 37, an externally threaded strut 40, an internally treaded cylindrical riser member 42, support base plate 44, and base-plate-to-vehicle fasteners 46. One support assembly is located on the left of the display, and another support assembly is located on the right of the display.
Base-plate-to-vehicle fasteners 46 bolt the support assembly down to horizontal surface 46. However, in most vehicles, the horizontal surface near the rear window is very flimsy, and is not structural. Thus, this horizontal surface generally cannot bear the weight of a large display on the small support base plates. In the event of a crash, the display will likely break loose and injure passengers.
Further, the Williams support assembly extends outwards away from the display (towards the sides of the vehicle), and this reduces the maximum width of the display.
If the Williams support assembly is removed, then unsightly holes from the base-plate-to-vehicle fasteners will remain in the horizontal surface, thus decreasing the market value of the vehicle.
Thus, it is desirable to design a support assembly that remedies the above problems while providing increased stability.

Support assembly for vehicle mounted display


The present invention provides a method for producing a printed-wiring board in a semi-additive process, comprising the steps of: providing a chemical copper plating 4 on an insulation layer 3 or forming a copper thin film on the insulation layer 3 using a sputtering method; subjecting the obtained copper surface 4 to a roughening treatment using an etching solution containing 0.1 to 3% by mass of hydrogen peroxide, 0.3 to 5% by mass of sulfuric acid, 0.1 to 3 ppm of halogen ion and 0.003 to 0.3% by mass of tetrazoles; attaching a dry film resist 5 to the copper surface 4 after the roughening treatment to perform exposure and development and providing an electrolytic copper plating 7 to an opening 6 after the exposure; and subjecting the remaining dry film resist to a stripping treatment using a resist stripping liquid containing 0.5 to 20% by mass of monoethanolamine, 0.2 to 10% by mass of quaternary ammonium hydroxide, 0.01 to 10% by mass of ethylene glycols and 0.01 to 0.5% by mass of azoles.

Recently, with miniaturization, reduction in weight and sophistication of electronic devices, refinement and density increase of copper wiring have been strongly desired for printed-wiring boards.
A semi-additive process is one of production methods for forming a micro wiring. According to this method for forming a wiring, a metal layer called a seed layer is formed on an insulation layer, a plating resist layer is formed on the surface thereof, and after that, exposure and development are performed to form a resist pattern. After that, an electrolytic copper plating is provided to an opening, the resist is stripped, and the seed layer is removed by etching to form a copper wiring.
Conventionally, the surface of the insulation layer is subjected to the roughening treatment to form concavity and convexity chemically or physically, and the adhesion between the insulation layer and the chemical copper plating as the seed layer is ensured by the physical (anchor) effect. The thickness of the chemical copper plating is generally 0.5 to 1 μm or less. Therefore, since the surface of the chemical copper plating is formed in conformity to concavity and convexity of the insulation layer, regarding the surface roughness, the arithmetic average roughness Ra is large (0.4 to 1 μm). Recently, the width of copper wiring has been decreased to 10 μm, and moreover, decrease to several μm has been studied for next-generation products. However, the surface of the conventional chemical copper plating that is formed on the insulation layer coarsely roughened is markedly uneven, and therefore, in the exposure process for a dry film resist, it is difficult to form a fine pattern with a wiring width of less than 10 μm because of reduction in the resolution due to light scattering.
Recently, for micro wiring, an insulation layer material, which has a surface roughened at a level lower than conventional insulation layer materials and can ensure adhesion to the chemical copper plating, has been produced. The insulation layer material ensures adhesion to the chemical copper plating with the physical effect and chemical effect of low-level roughening. The surface of the insulation layer to which the chemical copper plating is applied is almost flat and smooth without concavity and convexity. In the case of the surface of chemical copper plating, adhesion to a dry film resist material is insufficient, and it is impossible to form a pattern.
Further, for the production of micro wiring, there is a case where a copper film formed by the sputtering method (sputtered copper) is formed on the seed layer instead of the chemical copper plating (thickness of sputtered copper: 0.5 to 0.7 μm). The surface of the sputtered copper is flatter and smoother than the chemical copper plating, and it is impossible to obtain sufficient adhesion to a dry film resist material, and therefore, it is difficult to form a pattern.
As conventional roughening agents for copper, for example, a surface treatment agent containing hydrogen peroxide, mineral acid, azoles, silver ion and halogen ion (Patent Document 1), an etching solution containing oxoacid, peroxide, azoles and halide (Patent Document 2), a surface roughening treatment solution containing hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid, benzotriazols and chloride ion (Patent Document 3), a micro-etching agent containing sulfuric acid, peroxide, tetrazole and a metal ion having a potential nobler than that of copper (Patent Document 4), and a surface roughening agent containing sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, aminotetrazole, a tetrazole compound other than aminotetrazole and a phosphonic acid-based chelating agent (Patent Document 5) are disclosed.
In a semi-additive process, a resist pattern is formed, an electrolytic copper plating is provided to an opening thereof, and at the time of the resist stripping step, when the width of a resist pattern is smaller than 10 μm, the resist does not sufficiently swell with a conventional resist stripping liquid or the like containing sodium hydroxide that allows the dry film resist to swell and to be stripped, because the space of the adjacent resist pattern is narrow. For this reason, stripping is insufficient. Further, dry film resist materials for micro wiring formation have been improved to be a low-swelling type having a high resolution, and therefore, such resists cannot be stripped with conventional stripping liquids.
As resist stripping liquids containing an organic compound, a stripping agent made of an aqueous solution containing quaternary ammonium hydroxide, water-soluble amine and hydroxylamines (Patent Document 6), a stripping agent made of an aqueous solution containing ammonium fluoride, a polar organic solvent and epoxy polyamide (Patent Document 7), a resist stripping liquid containing alkanolamine, diethylhydroxylamine, diethylene glycol monoalkyl ether, sugars and water (Patent Document 8) and the like are disclosed.

Method for producing printed-wiring board


A portable cooler and tackle box provided in sizes from about 5 gallon to about 60 gallon capacity with at least one wheel affixed on or proximally to the bottom and at least one handle affixed exteriorly, and insulation, and a pivotally attached cover. Aprons are removably attached to the exterior and are fitted with pockets, holders, and pouches for holding accessories, and at least one horizontal partition wall is within the main body. At least one tray is slideably contained within the lower interior. The main body interior may contain at least one permanent or removable compartment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to portable coolers and tackle boxes and more specifically to a portable cooler that is also a fisherman's tackle box.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art teaches various devices for attempting to accommodate a fisherman's needs in tackle boxes and coolers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,981 to Zeman discloses a combination tackle box/cooler/storage container. The device does not provide for as many varied partitions and storage aids as does the present invention, nor does it provide for the variety in sizing of the present invention, nor the mobility.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,539 to Matthews discloses a composite support system for fishermen. The system, though, provides a detachable tackle box and does not provide wheels for transport. U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,170 to Elliott discloses a cooler, which contains latching means for attaching a tackle box. The design of the device differs substantially from the present invention. While the above-described devices fulfill their respective and particular objects and requirements, they do not describe a portable cooler and tackle box that provides for the advantages of the present invention. Therefore, a need exists for an improved portable cooler and tackle box, particularly one that includes the advantages of the present invention. In this respect, the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.


A system and method include implementing and accessing a subscriber's telecommunications services, using a graphical user interface (GUI) via the Internet, and an interactive voice response (IVR) system via the public switched telecommunications network (PSTN). The system and method enable a subscriber to review, schedule and modify call forwarding information stored and implemented by a service control point (SCP) through a common server from any dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) telephone and IVR system via the PSTN or any GUI and Web client via the Internet. The subscriber is able to build and edit call forwarding data, such as a scheduler and priority and rejection screening lists, by the GUI via the Internet for subsequent implementation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to call forwarding services that enable subscribers to forward calls to alternative locations.
Acronyms
The written description provided herein contains acronyms which refer to various telecommunications services, components and techniques, as well as features relating to the present invention. Although some of these acronyms are known, use of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of the written description herein, the acronyms are defined as follows:
Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)
Authentication/Subscription Information (ASI)
Caller Identification (Caller ID)
Central Office (CO)
Customer Premises Equipment (CPE)
Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF)
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Generic Data Interface (GDI)
HyperText Mark-Up Language (HTML)
HyperText Transfer Language Protocol (HTTP)
Incoming Call Manager (ICM)
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Internet Caller Identification (ICID)
Internet Call Waiting (ICW)
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
Line Information Database (LIDB)
Outgoing Call Control (OCC)
Personal Computer (PC)
Personal Call Manager/Personal Communications Manager (PCM)
Personal Identification Number (PIN)
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
Registration Server (RS)
Service Control Point (SCP)
Service Management System (SMS)
Service Node/Intelligent Peripheral (SN/IP)
Service Switching Point (SSP)
Signaling System 7 (SS7)
Signaling Transfer Point (STP)
Terminating Attempt Trigger (TAT)
Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP)
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
World Wide Web (WWW)
2. Background Information
Currently, subscribers to call control services within the public switched telephone network (PSTN) are able to initiate and modify their services by calling a customer service representative or by interacting with an interactive voice response (IVR) system using a standard dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) telephone device. These methods practically limit the number and types of services that can be provided to and modified by the subscribers because all information pertaining to the services is presented audibly. In addition, the potential market for subscribers to call control services is not fully exploited because of customer reluctance to use IVR systems.
There have been attempts to remedy the problems associated with IVR access to PSTN services. These attempts incorporate use of packet switched data networks, such as the Internet, to avoid conventional IVR systems and to streamline the initiation and modification functions. The current Internet based systems have several drawbacks, however, including the inability to ensure near real-time update of services and incompatibility with existing IVR implementations.
For many call control services, subscribers must submit requests to the customer service arm of their provider to initiate new services or update existing ones. The requests are implemented according to the provider's time line and discretion. It is difficult for the users to gauge when the service alteration will take effect. Also, because the current Internet based systems operate exclusively from the conventional IVR systems, i.e., the two systems cannot coexist, customers must select either the Internet interface or the IVR interface. Consequently, a customer who has selected the Internet interface, and who is without a PC and/or Internet access, is not able to make desired changes to his or her services through an IVR. The inability to implement desired changes is especially troublesome considering that users are often interested in altering some call services (e.g., call forwarding, paging, and caller ID) when they are away from their home or business telephone and PC.
An example of call control services provided over a packet switched data network is described in CHANG et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,016, which teaches enabling advanced intelligence network (AIN) services over the World Wide Web (WWW or "the Web") through a provisioning system called the service management system (SMS). The service management system as disclosed in CHANG et al., however, does not ensure near real-time data update and is not compatible with existing IVR implementations. Therefore, the services presented via the Web are limited in functionality to the extent near real-time data updates are not guaranteed. For example, if a subscriber modifies an incoming call service, which blocks calls from selected phone numbers or classes of phone numbers, to add an allowed incoming phone number, the subscriber will not begin immediately to receive calls from the previously blocked phone number. Rather, the subscriber must wait an unspecified period of time for the service to be updated via the SMS. Also, as discussed above, the Web interface and the IVR interface are mutually exclusive.
One conventional call control service affected by these disadvantages is call forwarding. Currently, a subscriber must painstakingly interact with the service provider every time the subscriber wishes to forward incoming calls to a different telephone number. Generally, this process must be performed using an IVR system dependent on touch tones of a DTMF telephone. Although there are systems available that permit the subscriber access to a call forwarding service over the Internet, these systems are limited in functionality. For example, a conventional approach to implementing a call management system, including a call forwarding service, is presented in WOOD et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,808, which describes a telephone call management network that can be remotely accessed by customers using Web browsers over the Internet. One of the call services managed by the system disclosed in WOOD et al. is call forwarding. In WOOD et al. the customer is able to activate and deactivate call forwarding via a Web facility. However, there is no provision for accomplishing the same objective alternatively via a PSTN, only using a DTMF telephone.
Another disadvantage of conventional Internet accessible call forwarding systems is incompatibility with IVR access to the same call forwarding account. In other words, if the subscriber elects to have Internet accessible call forwarding, then the service cannot be routinely changed through existing IVR systems. Therefore, subscribers are not able to update the service unless they have immediate access to a PC and modem (or device capable of implementing Internet connections). In order to have both IVR and Internet access to control call forwarding, subscribers would have to open separate accounts, which is inconvenient and potentially difficult for the provider to reconcile, especially where the multiple accounts may send conflicting information regarding calls to be forwarded with respect to the same telephone number.
The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art, as described below.

System and method for implementing and accessing call forwarding services


On a rear plate of a vacuum envelope are provided a plurality of electron guns for emitting electron beams to a phosphor screen, and deflection devices for deflecting the plurality of electron beams emitted from the respective electron guns so as to dividedly scan a plurality of regions of the phosphor screen by the electron beams. Each of the deflection devices has a horizontal deflection coil and a vertical deflection coil. The horizontal deflection coils of the deflection devices are connected to one another in series, and the vertical deflection coils of the deflection devices are connected to one another in series. All the deflection devices are driven by a common deflection driving circuit which has a horizontal deflection driving circuit connected to the horizontal deflection coils and a vertical deflection driving circuit connected to the vertical deflection coils.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a cathode-ray tube apparatus such as a color-picture tube apparatus and, more particularly, to a cathode-ray tube apparatus wherein electron beams emitted from a plurality of electron guns are deflected by a plurality of deflection devices and the phosphor screen has a plurality of regions which are dividedly scanned.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, a high resolution cathode-ray tube has been more and more demanded for high-definition TV broadcasting and large screen display accompanied therewith. Particularly, to display such high definition pictures, a much higher performance has been demanded in the display screen. To achieve these demands, flatness of the screen, high resolution of pictures and reduction of aberration in deflection are absolutely necessary. At the same time, the weight and thickness of the cathode-ray tube must be reduced.
In the prior art, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-36363 has disclosed a cathode-ray tube apparatus which satisfies such demands. According to this proposal, an integrated phosphor screen without discontinuity is formed on an inner surface of a flat, rectangular face plate. An electron gun is disposed within a neck of each of a plurality of funnels provided on a rear plate opposing the face plate. Electron beams emitted from such a plurality of the electron guns are deflected by a plurality of deflection devices disposed corresponding to the respective electron guns. The phosphor screen has a plurality of regions which are dividedly scanned by the electron guns. Then divided images obtained by such divisional scanning are joined together to produce a synthesized image and the synthesized image is displayed on the phosphor screen.
In the cathode-ray tube apparatus, the plurality of the deflection devices disposed corresponding to the respective electron guns are driven by a plurality of independent deflection driving circuits like an ordinary cathode-ray tube apparatus in which a single phosphor screen is entirely scanned with electron beams emitted from a single electron gun so as to produce a single image on the phosphor screen.
Further in such a cathode-ray tube apparatus, divided images displayed in adjacent regions must be smoothly continuous with each other visually without any sense of incongruity across borders between the regions scanned independently of one another. For this purpose, in the cathode-ray tube apparatus, a plurality of the deflection devices disposed corresponding to the plurality of the electron guns are adjusted in position so that they are located at optimum positions. Further, the deflection driving circuits corresponding to the respective deflection devices are adjusted into optimum condition. Through these adjustments, it is intended so that the division pictures displayed in respective regions are smoothly continuous with each other visually without sense of incongruity between the division pictures displayed in the adjacent regions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,921 discloses a method for adjusting the position of deflection devices. According to this method, preliminarily, a plurality of deflection devices are fixed at reference positions on a reference fixing board and the relative positions thereof are adjusted to a predetermined position. After that, the deflection devices are mounted to funnels in a cathode-ray tube together with the reference fixing board. Then, the position of the reference fixing board is adjusted relative to the funnels. Accordingly, the mounting positions of the plurality of the deflection devices are adjusted at the same time.
Further, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-241,684 discloses a method for making orbits of electron beams emitted from a plurality of electron guns coincide with reference axes in respective regions to be scanned independently of one another.
However, a plurality of the deflection driving circuits disposed corresponding to the plurality of the deflection devices must be adjusted individually because the scanning range with electron beam differs depending on the deflection device and the linearity of each region differs from the central portion to the peripheral portion thereof. Further, discontinuity between adjacent regions must be eliminated so as to produce a continuous image without discontinuity.
As a result, in the cathode-ray tube apparatus having such a construction, if the number of the regions of the phosphor screen increases, the number of the deflection driving circuits also increases, so that time needed for adjustment of those components increases. To obtain a synthesized image visually without any sense of congruity by synthesizing divided images displayed in the respective regions, such adjustments are necessary, first, that the linearity in the central portion and peripheral portion of each divided image is smoothly continuous other visually without sense of incongruity, and second, so that the divided images are continuous with each other at the boundaries between adjacent regions.
However, in the adjustment of the deflection driving circuit, first, one of those adjustments, for example, adjustment of linearity in respective regions is carried out and then adjustment for ensuring continuity between adjacent regions is carried out. In this case, when the latter adjustment is performed, the initially adjusted linearity is deviated. Thus, these two kinds of adjustments must be performed repeatedly. Additionally, these adjustments are very difficult to do and take long time.

Cathode-ray tube apparatus with a common deflection driving circuit


A fiber laser uses a chirped Bragg grating as the output coupler and the grating is oriented so that the grating period increases in the direction towards the end of the cavity--the "red" end of the grating is at the output coupling end of the cavity. This grating orientation unexpectedly produces a relatively large reduction in the noise generated by the fiber laser. In one embodiment, the chirped Bragg grating is produced by transversely doping spaced-apart portions of the longitudinal fiber core with elements that modify the refractive index of the core. The "chirp" in the grating period is produced by modifying the period of the transversely doped fiber core portions during manufacture of the grating. In another embodiment, a partially reflective chirped fiber grating is used at the input side of the laser as well as at the output side. In yet another embodiment, the chirped grating is manufactured as an unchirped fiber grating where the period of the transversely-doped fiber core portions is constant and a chirp is introduced by selectively bending the fiber along its length, thereby producing a varying grating period.

As is known in the art, a laser is a device that produces optical radiation using a population inversion in an active laser amplifying medium to provide light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. The active medium is placed in an optical resonant cavity which provides positive feedback to generate oscillation. The resonant cavity is typically formed by surfaces or gratings which present a relatively high reflection to signals having a desired wavelength propagating within the cavity. The medium is conventionally pumped with intense energy from a pumping source to obtain the population inversion.
A fiber laser refers to a device in which the active laser amplifying medium is an optical fiber. Such a fiber typically has a core doped with an active element, for example, a rare earth element, and one or more cladding layers surrounding the core. When fiber lasers are used in practical communication systems, the output power of the laser is limited by the power available from the pump sources which pump the fiber.
A conventional technique of pumping the fiber core is to generate pumping power by an array of pump sources and launch the pumping power launching into a cladding layer using a technique commonly referred to as "cladding pumping". In a cladding pumped laser, a core is surrounded by a multi-mode cladding layer which, in turn, is surrounded by an outermost cladding layer. A relatively high-power multimode pumping signal from an array of sources is launched into the cladding. As the pumping energy propagates along the cladding layer, the energy is absorbed by the core, thereby pumping the core.
In order to insure that most of the pumping power is absorbed by the core, the optical fiber used in a fiber laser can have a length of 50 meters or more. A laser constructed with such a fiber has a very long laser cavity which can oscillate in many longitudinal modes. These modes have frequencies that are separated by an intermodal spacing value which is dependent on the round-trip propagation time of the light in the oscillator cavity.
One problem with multiple longitudinal modes in continuous wave lasers is the modes can beat together producing noise at the beat frequencies. Noise can also be produced by a phenomenon called "mode-locking." Although the longitudinal modes of a laser oscillator normally oscillate independently, their phases can be locked together by an external mechanism. For example, one such external mechanism could be absorption centers in the fiber in the region in which the light propagates. When the mode phases are locked together, the mode amplitudes combine to generate pulses in the output which appear as noise in a multiple longitudinal mode laser.
One mechanism for reducing mode beating and mode locking noise is to insure that the laser oscillates in only one longitudinal mode. An article entitled "Stable Single Mode Hybrid Laser with High Power and Narrow Bandwidth", P. A. Morton, V. Mizrahi, T. Tanbun-Ek, R. A. Logan, P. J. Lemaire, H. M. Presby, T. Erdogan, S. L. Woodward, J. E. Sipe, M. R. Phillips, A. M. Sergent and K. W. Wecht, Applied Physics Letters, v. 64, n. 20, May 16, 1994 discloses the use of a chirped fiber Bragg grating in a hybrid laser with a semiconductor--fiber cavity. The cavity is formed by coupling a semiconductor laser diode with an anti-reflection coating to an optical fiber. A chirped fiber Bragg grating forms one of the reflectors which define the laser cavity. Such a grating can be created using conventional doping techniques and can be arranged to transmit a portion of the laser light. Consequently, such gratings can be used as the output coupler of a laser cavity. The article describes that such a chirped Bragg grating can stabilize a single longitudinal mode when the chirped grating is oriented so that the grating period decreases in the direction towards the end of the laser cavity--the "blue" end of the grating is at the output coupling end of the cavity.
However, it would be desirable to decrease further the amount of noise in fiber laser output signals, especially in high-power lasers.

Noise suppression in cladding pumped fiber lasers