A drive control apparatus receives an instruction from an upper unit, to mount a predetermined medium onto a predetermined drive unit. If a combination of the predetermined medium and the predetermined drive unit is determined as inappropriate, the drive control unit replies to the upper unit that the predetermined drive unit cannot be used. A combination of a medium and a drive is appropriate if both, the medium and the drive are suitable for any one of encrypted and unencrypted data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for drive control, and computer product for mounting a predetermined medium onto a predetermined drive unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a so-called tape library device that includes plural mediums, plural drive units, and a drive control apparatus receives an instruction from an upper unit, and mounts a predetermine medium onto a predetermined drive unit (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. S58-108571).
Specifically, in reading data from or writing data to a medium stored in the tape library device, the upper device transmits, to the drive control apparatus, an instruction containing information of the specified medium and a specified drive unit onto which the medium is to be mounted. Upon receiving this instruction, the drive control apparatus confirms that the drive unit specified in the instruction from the upper unit is not being used. If the specified drive unit is not being used, the drive control apparatus transmits a signal to a robot to mount the specified medium onto the specified drive unit, based on the instruction from the upper unit.
On the other hand, if the specified drive unit is being used, the drive control apparatus replies to the upper unit that the drive unit is being used. Upon receiving this reply, the upper unit selects any other drive unit, different from the drive unit specified in the preceding instruction, and transmits an instruction containing information similar to the above, to the drive control apparatus. This information exchange between the upper unit and the drive control apparatus is repeatedly carried out until the specified medium is mounted onto the specified drive unit.
The media stored in the tape library device include media in which encrypted data are stored, and media in which unencrypted data are stored. The drive unit as one of the units that configure the tape library device includes drive units for encrypted data corresponding to the media in which the encrypted data are stored, and drive units for encrypted data corresponding to the media in which the unencrypted data are stored.
While configuring a tape library device to including both types of the drive units, the following problem occurs. That is, the drive control apparatus mounts the medium storing encrypted data onto the drive unit for unencrypted data, or mounts the medium storing unencrypted data onto the drive unit for encrypted data. This problem occurs because the drive control apparatus faithfully executes the instruction from the upper unit.
Therefore, at present, there is no other means to configure physically-different tape libraries, i.e., a tape library in which only drive units for encrypted data are present, and a tape library in which only drive units for unencrypted data are present. Consequently, configuring physically-different tape libraries has a problem in that cost performance and compactness of peripheral units of a computer cannot be achieved.

Apparatus and method for drive control, and computer product


A liquid crystal display device comprises first and second substrates that face each other, first and second lines formed on the first substrate in first and second directions that cross each other, respectively. The liquid crystal display device further comprises a protrusion formed at a predetermined portion on the first line, a first column spacer formed on the second substrate so as to correspond to the protrusion and having a corresponding surface with respect to the protrusion. The corresponding surface is wider than the protrusion. The liquid crystal display device also comprises a compensation pattern formed at another predetermined portion on the first line where the protrusion is not formed, and having a lower height than the protrusion, a second column spacer corresponding to the compensation pattern. The liquid crystal display device then comprises a liquid crystal layer between the first and second substrates. A method for manufacturing the LCD device is also disclosed.

Advances in information technology result in rapidly increasing demands for display devices having various shapes. Correspondingly, various flat panel display devices, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panels (PDPs), electro luminescent display (ELD) devices, vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) devices, and the like, have been continuously investigated, and some of them have been already applied to various apparatuses in practice.
Among these flat panel display devices, the LCD devices are most widely used for a mobile image display device in place of CRT monitors in view of their merits including excellent image quality, light weight, compactness, and low power consumption. Specifically, the LCD devices are developed for monitors of TV sets which can receive and display broadcasting signals, and monitors of computers in addition to mobile display devices such as notebook computers.
In order to allow the LCD devices to be applied to various apparatuses as a general screen display device, it is necessary for the LCD devices to realize high quality images such as high definition, high brightness, large size while maintaining merits such as light weight, compactness, and low power consumption.
Generally, the LCD device comprises a first substrate, a second substrate, a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and second substrates which are assembled to each other with a predetermined space defined therebetween.
More specifically, the first substrate is formed with a plurality of gate lines arranged at uniform intervals in one direction, and a plurality of data lines arranged at uniform intervals in another direction perpendicular to the gate lines to define pixel regions. Each of the pixel regions has a pixel electrode formed therein, and a thin film transistor formed at a region where the respective gate lines and the data lines cross each other, and acting to transmit a data signal of the data lines to an associated pixel electrode according to a signal applied to the gate lines.
In addition, the second substrate is formed with a black matrix layer to shield light from a portion excluding the pixel regions, a color filter layer of R, G and B to exhibit color images, and a common electrode on the color filter layer to realize the images.
For such an LCD device, liquid crystals are arranged in the liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and second substrates by electric field generated between the pixel electrode and the common electrode such that an image is exhibited by adjusting an amount of light transmitting through the liquid crystal layer according to an orientation degree of the liquid crystal layer.
Such an LCD device is referred to as a twisted nematic (TN) mode LCD device. Since the TN mode LCD device has a disadvantage in terms of a narrow view angle, an in-plane switching (IPS) mode LCD device was developed to overcome the disadvantage of the TN mode LCD device.
For the IPS mode LCD device, the pixel electrode and the common electrode are formed, and parallelly separated a predetermined distance from each other on the pixel region of the first substrate to generate a horizontal electric field between the pixel electrode and the common electrode such that the liquid crystal layer is oriented by the electric field.
Meanwhile, the LCD device further comprises a spacer formed between the first and second substrate to maintain a constant separation therebetween where the liquid crystal layer is formed.
The spacer can be, classified into a ball spacer, and a column spacer according to the shapes thereof.
The ball spacers have a spherical shape, and are scattered on the first and second substrates. The ball spacers move relatively freely even after the first and second substrates are assembled, and have a small contact area with the first and second substrates.
On the other hand, the column spacer is formed by an array process on the first substrate or the second substrate, and is secured to one of the substrates in a column shape having a predetermined height. Accordingly, the column spacer has a higher contact area than that of the ball spacers.
A liquid crystal display device having a conventional column spacer will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the liquid crystal display device having the column spacer.
Referring to FIG. 1, the LCD device having the column spacer comprises first and second substrates 30 and 40 facing each other, a column spacer 20 formed between the first and second substrates 30 and 40, and a liquid crystal layer (not shown) filled between the first and second substrates 30 and 40.
The first substrate 30 is formed thereon with gate lines 31 and data lines (not shown) vertically crossing each other to define pixel regions, each of which has a pixel electrode (not shown) formed therein, and thin film transistors (TFT) at respective regions where the gate lines 31 cross the data lines.
The second substrate 40 is formed thereon with a black matrix layer 41 at a region excluding the pixel regions, a color filter layer 42 of a stripe shape corresponding to the pixel regions on a longitudinal line horizontal to the data lines, and a common electrode or an overcoat layer 43 on the overall surface.
Here, the column spacer 20 is formed at a predetermined position above the gate lines 31.
In addition, the first substrate 30 is further formed with a gate insulation layer 36 over an entire upper surface including the gate lines 31, and a passivation layer 37 on the gate insulation layer 36.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are a plan view, and a cross-sectional view illustrating a touch defect on the liquid crystal display device comprising the column spacer.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, for the liquid crystal display device comprising the conventional column spacer described above, if an operator touches a surface of a liquid crystal panel 10 in a predetermined direction with a finger or other articles, a spot is formed on a touched portion. Since it is generated by touching the surface of the panel, the spot is called a touch spot, or since the spot is observed on a screen, it is also called a touch defect.
Such a touch defect is considered to be created due to a large frictional force resulting from a greater contact area between the column spacer 20 and the first substrate 1 facing each other in comparison with the structure employing the ball spacers. That is, since the column spacer 20 has a columnar shape, and has a great contact area with respect to the first substrate 1 compared with the ball spacers, as shown in FIG. 2B, it takes a longer period of time for the touched portion to recover an original state after shift of the first substrate 1 with respect to the second substrate 2 caused by touch on the surface, thereby allowing the spot to remain on the touched portion until the touched portion recovers the original state.
However, such a liquid crystal comprising the conventional column spacer has problems as follows.
First, since the contact area between the column spacer and the substrate facing each other is wide, causing a high frictional force, it takes a long period of time for the touched portion to recover the original state when one of the substrates are shifted with respect to the other due to the touch, thereby causing the spot to be observed while the touched portion is recovered to the original state.
Second, when the liquid crystal panel comprising the column spacer is brought into a high temperature condition in an upright state, liquid crystals suffer from thermal expansion. In severe cases, the cell gap expands thicker than a height of the column spacer, and causes the liquid crystals to flow down to a lower portion of the liquid crystal panel so that the lower portion of the liquid crystal panel bulges, and looks opaque.

Liquid crystal display device and method for manufacturing the same


An ecosystem operated in a plant having a drying unit is provided. The ecosystem includes: a regenerative thermal oxidization unit for processing a waste gas to produce a hot gas; a first hot gas pipeline connected to the regenerative thermal oxidization unit and the drying unit, wherein the hot gas is transferred from the regenerative thermal oxidization unit to the drying unit via the first hot gas pipeline; a heat recovery unit disposed at the first hot gas pipeline to absorb heat from the first hot gas pipeline; an absorption refrigeration unit connected to a target to be cooled; and a hot liquid pipeline connected to the heat recovery unit and the absorption refrigeration unit, wherein the heat recovery unit transfers heat from the first hot gas pipeline to the absorption refrigeration unit via the hot liquid pipeline to actuate the absorption refrigeration unit to cool the target.

In general, plants nowadays process rubbish at the cost of a waste of energy and resources. Taking a chemical plant as an example, it carries out a product manufacturing process, which produces a specific amount of waste gas or redundant gas, such as volatile organic compounds, which are discharged to a conventional flare tower to undergo a combustion process before being discharged to the environment. Environmental protection laws in force require that the conventional flare tower is restricted to urgent waste/redundant gas discharge following process malfunction and prohibited from serving as a regular environmental protection processing tool or equipment. The waste/redundant gas must be treated with an environmental protection processing system, such as a heat-storing oxidization furnace or any other incinerator before being discharged to the environment. Hence, the plant must provide sufficient power to an ecosystem. The ecosystem converts the waste gas into clean gas and then releases the clean gas to the environment. The clean gas as a product of combustion carries a high level of thermal energy. If the humankind releases the clean gas to the environment without making good use of its thermal energy, there will be a waste of energy. Furthermore, the environmental protection laws prohibit the release of the clean gas at high temperature. Hence, to abide by the environmental protection laws, it is necessary to reduce the temperature of the clean gas to an appropriate temperature with a cooling apparatus before releasing the clean gas to the environment. However, it amounts to a waste of resources by installing a cooling apparatus for the mere purpose of cooling the clean gas to be released to the environment. In view of this, plants, especially those confronted with the aforesaid waste gas processing-related problems, are usually looking forward to an applicable ecosystem effective in solving problems pertaining to a waste of energy and resources.


The present invention provides a novel process for making compounds of formula 2a or 2b or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 is selected from the group consisting of phenyl and phenyl substituted with at least one group selected from NO.sub.2 and halogen;. R.sub.2 is H; PA1 R.sub.3 is selected from the group consisting of C.sub.1-4 alkyl, phenyl, and benzyl; and, PA1 R.sub.4 is selected from the group consisting of H and halogen; PA1 a) oxidizing a racemate of formula 2 or a salt thereof to form a dehydro-compound of formula 3, ##STR2## wherein R.sub.5 is selected from the group consisting of H, CH.sub.3, benzyl, C.sub.2-8 acyl Na, Li and K; and, PA1 b) asymmetrically hydrogenating a compound of formula 3 in the presence of a chiral phosphine catalyst to form a compound of formula 2a or 2b.. which comprises the steps of:

Coumadin.RTM., (warfarin sodium) the most widely prescribed anti-thrombotic in North America, results in decreased activity of clotting factors II, VII, IV and X by inhibiting vitamin K epoxide reductase and leads to prolonged coagulation times, measured as INR's. The active component of Coumadin.RTM. (warfarin sodium) is a racemic mixture of the sodium salt chiral coumarin molecule warfarin (1). ##STR3## Considerable differences exist in the metabolic disposition of its two enantiomers. However, only racemic mixtures of S- and R-warfarin (1a and 1b, respectively) are clinically available. This is due to the difficulty of large scale preparation of enantiomerically pure warfarins. ##STR4##
The R- and S-enantiomers of warfarin have been successfully resolved. West et al (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1961, 81, 2676) used quinidine and quinine salts to obtain enantiomerically pure S- and R-warfarin, respectively. Unfortunately, their procedure had a net yield of 31% based on the amount of racemic warfarin used.
Cook et al (J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 1979, 210(3), 391) derivatized R,S-warfarin with d-10-camphorsulfonyl chloride to give d-10-camphorsulfonates of R,S-warfarin which were separated by column chromatography. The purified R- and S-warfarin camphorsulfonates were converted to R- and S-warfarins upon treatment with 5% sodium hydroxide. The yields of R- and S-warfarin were 10.5% and 12.2%, respectively.
A variety of small scale enrichment or separation methods for racemic warfarin have been reported. Armstrong et al (Anal. Chem. 1994, 66, 4278) reported enantiomeric enrichment of racemic warfarin via adsorptive bubble separation. Using two different derivatized cyclodextrin collectors, enantiomeric excesses of 12% and 20% were obtained. Soini et al (Anal. Chem. 1994, 66, 3477) illustrate separation of racemic warfarin with capillary electrophoresis. Maltodextrin oligosaccharides were shown to separate R- and S-warfarin via an electropherogram. Bargmann-Leyder et al (Chromatographia 1993, 37, 433-443) describe chromatographic resolution of warfarin enantiomers using column liquid chromatography and supercritical fluid chromatography. Chiral stationary phases derived from tyrosine enabled enantiomer resolution. The enantiomeric excesses obtained were not reported. The above-noted procedures would appear to be able to resolve R- and S-warfarin; but, unfortunately, they are either not suitable for industrial scale up or provide insufficient resolution.
Dehydrowarfarin (3, R.sub.1 =phenyl, R.sub.2 =H, R.sub.3 =Me, and R.sub.4-5 =H, shown below) has been identified as a minor metabolite of warfarin and was first isolated and prepared by Kaminsky et al (J. Med. Chem. 1978, 21 (10), 1054). The procedure reported by Kaminsky et al involving copper (I) catalyzed oxidation of warfarin racemate in pyridine was shown by the present inventors to be unreliable and gave at best poor yields (<33%) of dehydrowarfarin.
Highly enantioselective hydrogenations of .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated ketones have rarely been achieved. Recently, Ohta et al (J. Org. Chem. 1995, 60, 357-363) reported enantioselective hydrogenation of a series of cyclic .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated ketones using chiral phosphine catalysts. Their hydrogenation procedure failed or provided a very low enantiomeric excess when a phenyl (like that in warfarin) or phenethyl group was present on the olefin. More important to the present invention, if an acyclic .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated ketone was used, e.g., dehydrowarfarin, the procedure of Ohta et al failed completely.
Thus, the present art is unable to industrially produce enantiomerically pure R- and S-warfarin and its analogs. Therefore, it is desirable to find an industrially useful procedure for the asymmetric synthesis of R and S warfarin and its analogs.

Asymmetric R and S warfarin and its analogs


A printing device enables a laid-out and drawn image to be printed without any subsequent rotation. In the presence of an orientation change command, the printing device receives a layout command and determines a layout of each object in each page on the medium with conversion of coordinates at a preset position of the object. In the presence of the orientation change command, the printing device receives a print command, fetches an object according to the stored layout in each page, and draws and prints the fetched object in response to the orientation change command. No subsequent orientation change of drawing data, which has been laid out and drawn in the specified page orientation, is required to generate converted drawing data corresponding to the specified medium orientation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing device, a printing method, and a storage medium for a printing device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One proposed printer system includes a printer that analyzes and prints SVG documents and a formatting server that converts HTML documents into SVG documents as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Gazette No. 2002-91726 (see FIG. 1 and page 5). In this printing system, the formatting server converts each received HTML document into an SVG document, and the printer analyzes and prints the converted SVG document. The printing system rotates an image having specification of an A4 horizontal page layout by 90 degrees to an orientation-changed image corresponding to an A4 vertical paper layout.

Printing apparatus and storage medium for printing apparatus


A method is disclosed for the degradation of persistent contaminants in soil. The method provides the combination of a stabilizing reagent and a degradative reagent where both are admixed into a contaminated soil site for the reduction of permeability at the site and the chemical degradation of the contaminant over time.

The present invention relates to the field of environmental remediation and 5 specifically to the remediation of pollutants in contaminated soil. More specifically the instant invention provides a method for the remediation of toxic compounds from soil whereby the contaminated soil is stabilized in the presence of a pollutant degradative agent.
Soil and groundwater pollution is a worldwide problem associated primarily with government and industrial sites where mishandling or improper disposal of chemicals has brought a variety of pollutants in contact with the soil. Common pollutants include hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and halogenated volatile organic solvents such as tetra-, tri-, or di- chloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and methylene chloride. The toxicology of many organic solvents suggests that these compounds may be carcinogenic and damaging to specific organs such as the liver and kidneys (Price, P. S., Memo of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Washington, D.C. (1985); Vogel, T. Ni, Environ. Sci. Technol. 21, 722, (1987).
Many of the most troublesome solvents fall into the category of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). The remediation of DNAPLs is problematic since, their high density and low water solubility cause them to sink through the soil and water thereby contaminating successive levels, and follow topographic lows within an aquifer system often accumulating atop the underlying clay stratum. Further, since most are sparingly soluble in water they are adsorbed on to soil particles producing tenacious underground plumes of dissolved organic which cannot be readily and permanently removed by standard pump and treat technology (Biswas,. N., et al., Water Environ. Res. 64,170,10,1(992); Hutter, G. M., et al., Water Environ. Res. 64, 69, (1992)).
Current methods for remediation of DNAPLs include excavation, slurry walls, cutoff trenches, in-situ biodegradation and pump and treat. Because of the pervasive nature of DNAPL contamination a common approach to remediation has been to treat the DNAPL contaminated groundwater plume as opposed to addressing the source of contamination. One successful method for groundwater plume treatment involves the use of zero valent metals. For example, Matheson et al., (Environ. Sci. Technol., 28, 2045, (1994)) disclose a method for the reduction of chlorinated solvents by fine-grained iron metal in a well-mixed anaerobic batch system. Similarly R. Gillham (U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,213) teaches a method for the decontamination of chlorinated solvents from a groundwater plume where the contaminated groundwater is fed through a trench containing iron filings under strict exclusion of oxygen and under highly reducing conditions. Finally, Sweeny et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,821) teach that halogenated organic pesticides, typified by DDT, chlordane, lindane and the like that are typically near the surface and strongly absorbed on soils, may be degraded by reacting them with metallic zinc under mildly acid conditions (U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,82 1) or by metallic couples such as iron and copper (U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,384).
The above methods are useful for the treatment of dissolved groundwater plumes but do not address how the source of DNAPL contamination may be remediated in-situ.
Methods of treating soil contamination with elemental metals are known. For example, Cutshall et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,823) discloses a method for treating polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated soils by adding an effective amount of elemental zinc powder to moistened soil. In similar fashion Butler et al., (J Environ Sci Health Part B Pestic Food Contam Agric Wastes 16, 95, (1998)) disclose the reductive dechlorination of dieldrin and endrin in soil samples containing powdered zinc metal in combination with acetic acid and acetone to facilitate the reaction.
These methods of treating soils are useful, but cannot be applied to DNAPL source treatment. An effective method of deactivating the source of DNAPL contamination is by reducing the permeability of the contaminated region to water flow. This is typically done through the use of stabilizing agents. Stabilizing reagents can be selected or designed to greatly reduce the permeability of the soil, thereby diverting groundwater around a contaminated area, thereby preventing fin-ther leaching into the groundwater. Stabilizing agents also function to a reduce the hazard of a waste by binding and converting the contaminants into a less soluble, less mobile or less toxic forms. Typical stabilization reagents include Portland cement, metal oxides, clays, natural materials (peat moss, natural zeolites, vermiculite, etc.), synthetic materials (zeolites, fly ash, organic polymers, etc.), and activated carbon. (Conner, J. R., Chemical Fixation and Solidification of Hazardous Wastes, Van Nostrand Reinhold, II 5 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10003, (1990)).
Although stabilization technologies are now widely used for treatment of hazardous waste sludge, power plant residues, municipal ashes, nuclear wastes, and contaminated soils, these processes have shortcomings for organic contaminants, including the difficulty in demonstrating the long-term stability of the treated waste and the fact that the contaminants are not destroyed or degraded.
The problem to be overcome therefore is to develop a method that will chemically attack the source organic DNAPL""s in the soil and effectively prevent the contaminant from migrating in the groundwater. Applicants have solved this problem by developing a method that combines the use of stabilization technology to reduce water permeability at the contamination source and a degradative agent that facilitates the destruction of the organic contaminant in its stabilized form. Although both elements of this method have been practiced separately, applicants are the first to teach how to combine the two technologies such that the two are operable in concert. Applicant""s method reduces the permeability at the contamination source by adding/mixing a stabilizing agent such as cement, bentonite clay or iron chloride with a degradative agent. such as elemental iron, 10 metal couples or a base catalyzing decomposition agent. Introduction of the combined stabilizing agent/degradative agent into a contaminated area results in the diverting of the majority of groundwater flow around the source volume (thus preventing leaching into the groundwater) while at the same time binding and destroying the contaminant.
The present invention concerns a process for the chemical degradation and stabilization of chemical pollutants at a contamination source in a soil contaminated with pollutants comprising admixing with the soil at said contamination source an effective amount of degradative reagent and a suitable stabilizing agent to form a stabilized degradative reagent such that said admixing results in the reduction of permeability at said contamination source, diversion of groundwater around the contamination source, and the degradation of said pollutant over time. Further provided is a process for the metal initiated chemical degradation of halogenated organic compounds from soil contaminated with halogenated organic compounds comprising admixing with said contaminated sod an effective amount of a metallic couple comprising a reductive zero valent metal and a metal catalyst, an effective amount of ferrous iron and alkaline buffer, or an effective amount of an alkali metal sulfide or polysulfide, wherein said metallic couple, buffered ferrous iron, or sulfide dehalogenates said halogenated organic compounds to lower the concentration of said halogenated organic compounds in soil.

Method for remediating contaminated soils


A method of producing a computer program for a computer capable of operating in a plurality of disjoint instruction sets. The method produces a plurality of independently callable functions. For each function the method determines a target instruction set employed by the function. The method provides the function with a name corresponding to the target instruction set. The function name is preferably a modification of a user provided function name corresponding to the target instruction set. The method identifies each call of another independent function and provides each with a name corresponding to the target instruction set. The method produces a veneer function for each function and for each other instruction set. The veneer functions include changing the computer from operating in the other instruction set to operating in the target instruction set, calling the corresponding function, changing the computer to operate in the other instruction set, and a return command. Each veneer function is provided with a name corresponding to the other instruction set. Each function and its corresponding veneer functions are converted into a linkable object code module and then linked into an executable object code file of the computer program. The linker preferably omits from the executable object code file any veneer functions not called by a function.

Some microprocessors support multiple, disjoint instruction sets which can be selected or changed during program execution. When using such a microprocessor, the program development tools, such as a compiler, assembler, linker, debugger, must manage the state of the processor. These program development tools must track and control which instruction set should be employed at each point in the program.
The version 7 of an ARM microprocessor is capable of executing in either of two disjoint instruction sets. The first instruction set is called the ARM instruction set. All ARM instructions are 32 bits in length. This was the original instruction set for the family of microprocessors. The 32 bit instructions permit coding many functions as well as enabling specification of two source registers and a destination register. The ARM instruction set is constructed according to the reduced instruction set computer (RISC) model. Instruction sets employing the RISC model are generally known for their speed of computation due to reduced decode complexity and simplified operation model. The second instruction set is called the THUMB instruction set. All THUMB instructions are 16 bits in length. The THUMB instruction set is a subset of the ARM instruction set. During the decode phase the microprocessor transforms each THUMB instruction into the corresponding ARM instruction. Operations coded in the THUMB instruction set generally operate more slowly than equivalent operations coded in the ARM instruction set. This is due to the additional decode processing and the limitations of the less rich set of instructions. However, functions coded in the THUMB instruction set generally require less program memory than equivalent functions coded in the ARM instruction set. The reduced length of the THUMB instructions relative to the ARM instructions produces this result. This is advantageous especially for portable embedded processors which may have limited memory space. The ARM microprocessor has two states: the ARM state, in which it executes only ARM instructions; and the THUMB state, in which it executes only THUMB instructions. Both instruction sets contain an instruction which changes the microprocessor to the other state.
The process of changing between the ARM and THUMB states is expensive in time. The ARM microprocessor is pipelined, that is, portions of plural instructions are executing in different hardware at the same time. Thus the microprocessor may fetch one instruction, decode an earlier instruction, execute a yet earlier instruction and store the results of a still earlier instruction. Upon changing from one state to another, all later instructions in the instruction pipeline are in the wrong instruction set. Thus the instruction pipeline must be flushed and reloaded. This process idles and wastes computational resources which could otherwise have been devoted to performing the flushed instructions. As a result, the accepted practice changes states only on function entry and exit. Therefore, any particular function is either entirely coded in ARM-state instructions or in THUMB-state instructions.
In a typical application, it is desirable to have some functions compiled in ARM state and other functions compiled in THUMB state. For example, some time critical operations and often used inner loops would be coded in the faster ARM instruction set. Other operations which are not time critical would be coded in the THUMB instruction set. This would result in a generally smaller program code size with little speed degradation. The decision of how to compile a particular function is typically decided by the programmer. In such a program, the compiler must generate code for a function in one state which may be called by code in the other state. The compiler must also generate code for a call to a function with an unknown state to support separate function compilation.
In the prior art the general solution is to generate veneer functions for each function. A veneer function manages the state change when the function is called by code in the other state. To illustrate, for an ARM-state function called "xyz", we would have the following veneer function:
______________________________________ xyz.sub.-- veneer: <change to ARM state> THUMB instruction(s) call xyz ARM instruction <change to THUMB state> ARM instruction(s) <return to caller> THUMB instruction ______________________________________
In this example, calls to "xyz" from THUMB-state code would generate a call to "xyz.sub.-- veneer." The "xyz.sub.-- veneer" function changes to the ARM-state, calls "xyz", restores the THUMB-state, and returns to the caller. ARM-state code may call "xyz" directly. The reverse occurs for a THUMB-state function "uvw":
______________________________________ uvw.sub.-- veneer: <change to THUMB state> ARM instruction(s) call uvw THUMB instruction <change to ARM state> THUMB instruction(s) <return to caller> ARM instruction ______________________________________
In this case, all calls to function "uvw" from ARM-state code would generate a call to "uvw.sub.-- veneer". THUMB-state code would call "uvw" directly.
This procedure presents a problem to the development tools. The development tools must determine when veneers are needed for a function. Producing unneeded veneers in the object code would needlessly increase the code size. The development tools must insert the veneers as required. Finally, the development tools must rewrite all calls which require a state change to call the corresponding veneers. Ideally this process should be seamless and transparent to the user programmer.
The prior approach to this problem uses the linker during the final link. The linker first reads all the object code functions. The linker then identifies the compiled code state of each function. The linker next determines for each function if it is ever called by a function which is compiled in the opposite state. For each such function, the linker must generate a corresponding veneer. For an ARM-state function, the linker generates a THUMB-state veneer. For a THUMB-state function, the linker generates an ARM-state veneer. The linker determines for each call instruction for code for either state if the destination of the call is compiled in the opposite state of the call instruction. If so, the linker must rewrite the call instruction to call the corresponding veneer.
There are several difficulties with this prior art approach. The linker must identify the object code associated with each function and the state in which it is compiled. The linker needs to be able to generate or modify instructions. Providing these capabilities is a major disadvantageous complication for a target-independent linker. These tasks are not particularly complex. However, these tasks are not normally within the scope of what a linker is expected to do. Accordingly, providing these additional capabilities to a linker presents major problems.

Maintaining code consistency among plural instruction sets via function naming convention


A chute shovel that facilitates manual pushing of garbage down a garbage chute in a wall, and which is replaceably mounted to the wall adjacent the garbage chute in the wall. The chute shovel includes a handle and a push plate affixed to the handle. The push plate has a center with an aperture therein that perpendicularly receives the handle, which is maintained therein by a nut. The push plate further has corners that are bent downwardly in opposition to the handle so as to prevent the push plate from sliding laterally on the garbage when the chute shovel is in use, wherein the corners of the push plate are generally semi-circular-shaped so as to prevent puncturing the garbage when the chute shovel is in use. The chute shovel further includes a chain that extends at one end from the handle, and at another end is affixed to a spring clip that is mounted to the wall adjacent the garbage chute and which replaceably retains the handle therein when the chute shovel is not in use so as have the chute shovel ready for use without the chute shovel being misplaced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shovel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a chute shovel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for chutes and shovels have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
FOR EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 296,834 to McDermott teaches the ornamental design for a trash chute.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,530 to McCullough teaches a shoveling aid for a shovel that includes an elongated bracing member releasably attachable to the handle of the shovel at a selected position away from the shovel blade to permit the shovel to be levered with the aid to lift a load carried by the blade. The bracing member includes a pipe section which has upper and lower openings on opposed sides. A sleeve coupled to the pipe section in the upper opening receives the handle at a predetermined angle relative to the pipe section.
STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,768 to Mitchell teaches a shoveling tool that has a flexible portion at the base of the handle that helps prevent the risk of injury when shoveling by absorbing the initial shock when digging or by adjusting gradually to a different load when shoveling. This tool, which is preferably telescopic, is particularly useful for removing snow and ice.
FINALLY, YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,576 to Importico teaches a system to separate and store trash which has been segregated into various categories for use in a multi-floor building. The system has a vertical waste chute with at least one access door to the chute located at each floor of the building. The chute has an upper and lower portion and two paths therethrough. The first path permits vertical disposal of the trash and the second path is angled to the first to permit designated trash to follow a different pathway for disposal. The system further includes a diverter located adjacent the lower portion of the chute for diverting the path of the trash placed into the chute from a first location containing a plurality of trash receptacles located on a platform to a second location having at least one trash receptacle, such as a trash compactor. The system also includes a receptacle mover to move a selected trash receptacle beneath the chute to receive a particular category of trash deposited into the chute. A controller controls the receptacle mover and includes a selector to select the particular category of trash to be deposited into the access door and an indicator to indicate the category selected. The selector and indicator are located adjacent each access door. The controller is operatively connected to the receptacle mover to selectively control the receptacle mover. The system also includes a dispenser to place an empty receptacle onto the platform to replace a receptacle which is removed from the platform after the receptacle is filled with trash. The system further includes a replacing mechanism to remove a receptacle filled with trash from the platform to allow the dispenser to dispense an empty receptacle onto the platform. The replacing mechanism includes a sensor to sense when a receptacle on the platform is filled with trash and needs to be replaced with an empty receptacle. Each access door to the chute includes a locking mechanism connected to each door to lock it while the receptacle moving mechanism is in motion and to prevent another person from depositing trash into another access door.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for chutes and shovels have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

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An improved gaming ticket having a first portion and a second portion, the second portion having folded sections forming three thicknesses containing hidden indicia. The three thicknesses are glued together along only the outer edges thereof. Perforations are placed only in the top two sections on the inside of the glue areas such that by tearing the top two sections along the perforations, the ticket sections can be separated to view the hidden indicia.

Games of chance are becoming increasingly a part of industry and commerce. Such games of chance include specialty tickets of the paper type which have first and second sections, a first section of which identifies the ticket and a second section which contains a hidden combination of indicia representing winning and nonwinning combinations.
In one such type of ticket, the portion containing the concealed indicia comprises a plurality of folded sections on the inside of which is printed the combination of indicia. Once the sections are folded, a strip of thin colored paper is wrapped over the outside of the folded sections and the ends of the paper are glued together to hold the sections in the folded condition. The colored paper also serves to prevent the concealed indicia from becoming visible upon "candling" with a high-power light source. When the purchaser desires to open the ticket he simply tears the thin paper wrapping and opens the folds.
In another type of specialty ticket, one or more combinations of indicia may be placed on a first card with a second card placed over and covering the surface of the first card. The two cards are attached in some manner such as by glue placed at the edges. Over each combination of indicia is a rectangular cover section in the second card that has perforated edges around at least three sides thereof which can be torn loose and the rectangular cover section lifted to view the indicia thereunder.
Because these specialty tickets are becoming so numerous, it is important that they be made as economically as possible and as simply as possible and still ensure that the concealed indicia cannot be seen through the paper without the ticket being opened. In the prior art specialty tickets, it is expensive and time-consuming to either place a colored paper band around the folded portion of the ticket and glue the ends thereof or to place a top card over the indicia printed on a bottom card and place perforations in the top card to form an area superimposed on and surrounding the indicia on the bottom card so that the perforated area of the top card can be torn loose to expose the concealed indicia.
In partially commonly assigned co-pending application Ser. No. 07/477,675 filed Feb. 9, 1990 for "Specialty Game Cards and Method and Apparatus for Making Same", a specialty ticket is disclosed that has a first panel with identifying indicia and a second panel formed with folded sections that conceal winning or nonwinning combinations of indicia. The sections are securely held by crimped perforations extending along and through the side edges of only the folded sections forming the second panel. These crimped perforations hold the folded sections securely together yet allow them to be easily separated so that the combination of indicia concealed on the inside of these sections may be exposed. However, the perforations must be formed after the ticket has been folded and glued. This process is somewhat complicated by reason of the requirement to form the perforations through the folded portion of the ticket after it has been folded and glued.
The present invention overcomes this disadvantage by providing a specialty ticket that can be made in a much more simple and economical manner. The ticket has a first panel with identifying indicia and a second panel integrally formed with the first panel and formed of two folded sections which, when folded over at least an area of the first panel, forms at least three thickness concealing indicia representing winning or nonwinning combinations on the inside of the folded sections. Adhesive holds only the outer side edges of the folded sections securely together. Perforations extend inwardly of the adhesive and along the outer side edges of only the two folded sections forming the second panel to allow the two folded sections to be torn along the perforations to expose the indicia hidden on the inside thereof. With this construction, the perforations extending inwardly of the adhesive and along the outer side edges of only the two folded sections forming the second panel can be placed in the tickets after the printing but prior to the folding and gluing and, thus, enable a simpler process to be used to construct the ticket that is more economical. The folded sections also have an opaque color on at least one side of one or more of them to prevent the concealed indicia from being viewed through the folded sections. Further, if desired, the entire first and second panels, both sides, may be a solid opaque color with contrasting colored indicia printed thereon. This embodiment is included in the use of the term "opaque section" herein. In addition, a glue dot may placed between the bottom one of the folded sections and the adjacent folded area to assist in preventing unwanted separation of the folded sections.
A method is disclosed in which the elongated tickets in the unfolded state are first printed with the desired indicia and have opaque colors added on at least one side of one or more sections to prevent the concealed indicia from being revealed with a powerful light when the sections are folded. The ticket is then perforated inwardly and along the outer side edges where the top two folded sections will be formed. Then the ticket is taken to a device well known in the art for placing the glue in the desired areas between the outer edge of the ticket and the perforations. Finally, the tickets are folded to their final state.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a game ticket that is more easily and economically formed.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide perforations in the ticket in its unfolded state in desired areas that enable the ticket to have a portion removed along the perforations to view the concealed indicia.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a ticket which has a first panel with the visible indicia on a first area thereon and having a second adjacent area and a second panel integrally formed with the first panel and having folded sections that can be folded over the second area to form at least three thicknesses with indicia thereon representing winning or nonwinning combinations and having perforations extending inwardly of adhesive placed only on the outer side edges of the folded sections such that when the sections are folded over the second area, only the two sections can be torn along the perforations to expose the indicia hidden on the inside thereof.


A method for ameliorating the effects of hemorrhagic shock in a subject consists of locally administering to the gut of the subject, at a selected time during the period of from about 5 hours before blood loss to about 5 hours after blood loss, a therapeutic amount of a cytokine.

Severe trauma frequently results in massive blood loss leading to hemorrhagic shock. Survival following hemorrhagic shock has improved significantly with therapeutic interventions such as blood transfusion, rapid volume resuscitation, alteration of gut flora, and improved nutrition. However, infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality after severe hemorrhagic episodes..sup.1 Following hemorrhagic shock, the translocation of enteric bacteria to extraintestinal sites frequently contributes to sepsis and increases the risk of severe illness..sup.2
Prolonged susceptibility to infection is often seen in subjects who have initially recovered from hemorrhagic shock. Hemorrhagic shock also may cause suppression or reduction of various immune functions, thus rendering the subject less able to cope with an increased bacterial influx and further endangering the subject..sup.3
Therapy, such as intravenous antibiotic therapy and massive fluid infusion, which is directed towards alleviating post-shock infection, is of limited effectiveness because the initial damage, translocation of enteric bacteria and suppression of the immune response, have already been sustained. In one study, 89% of subjects developing sepsis after hemorrhage died of systemic septic shock despite such treatments..sup.4 It would be desirable to utilize therapy that minimizes the translocation of bacteria to extraintestinal sites, thus reducing post-shock infection.

Use of oral interleukin-6 as therapy for hemorrhagic shock

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A turbine engine that includes an engine core, an inner cowl, an outer cowl and an accessory gearbox. The engine core includes at least a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section in axial flow arrangement. The accessory gearbox is operably coupled to the engine core and includes a first portion and a second portion.

Gas turbine engines often include an accessory gearbox to power or drive accessory systems such as fuel pumps, lubrication pumps, air compressors, scavenge pumps, electrical generators, hydraulic pumps, etc. The accessory gearbox can be driven by one or more components of the gas turbine engine. When powered or mechanically driven by the gas turbine engine, the accessory gearbox can interface with the accessory systems that require different rotational input, torque, or horsepower.


Method and arrangement for providing a vehicle having a combustion engine (1) with valves (7, 8) adapted to have variable valve timing and/or valve lift height. The valves are provided with operating devices (9,10) that are controlled by electronic controlling devices (3), which are arranged, while the vehicle is being driven, with the aid of entered information about at least the gradient of the road and the throttle position, to calculate future resistance to forward motion and the period of time to a future transient in the engine's operating condition, for example in association with a future change of engine operating mode and/or a future gear change in a gearbox (2) connected to the engine. The controlling devices are arranged to control valve timing and/or the valve lift height during the period of time for optimization of the engine's performance, once the transient has arisen.

The equipping of combustion engines with mechanisms that make it possible to vary the opening and closing of the valves both with regard the length of the period of opening and its position in relation to the crankshaft angle, and that also make it possible to vary the lift height of the valves is already known. A mechanism can be arranged to vary the valve timing and the lift heights for all the inlet valves simultaneously, while another can be arranged to vary the valve timing and the lift heights for all the exhaust valves simultaneously. Recently, however, mechanisms have been developed that make it possible to regulate each valve individually with regard to valve timing and lift height. By continually regulating the valve timing and the valve lift height to suit the engine's operating conditions while the vehicle is being driven, better efficiency, increased life of components, better performance (for example with regard to emissions), better response (power performance), and better handling can be attained than for a comparable engine with non-variable valve timing and/or valve lift heights.
It is common to all such previously-known regulation that the adjustment of the valves is instantaneous and internal in the engine, which means that it can not predict and take into account future transients in the engine's operating condition. Such transients are, for example, gear changes in the vehicle's gearbox or in association with a general increase/reduction in torque or in association with connection/disconnection of engine braking when going downhill. Even though the actual valve adjustment for matching a new operating condition can be carried out very quickly with modern equipment, the large volumes, particularly in the pipe systems of turbocharged engines on the inlet side, and the inertia in the turbo unit have meant that, to date, delays in the adjustment to the operating condition have not been able to be avoided. For example, delays of up to three to four seconds have not been uncommon, which has a negative effect on the engine's emissions, response, efficiency and handling.

Method for controlling the adjustment of the valves in a combustion engine with variable valves and a vehicle with such an engine with electronic controlling device for the valve control


A data storage system (12) may include a plurality of source systems (14) and a common database server (16). Each source system (14) may include a source database (20), an extraction engine (24) and a transformation engine(26). At least two of the source systems (14) may have source databases (20) that store data in disparate formats and file structures. The extraction engine (24) may extract data from the source database (20). The transformation engine (26) may transform data extracted from the source database (20) into a common format and file structure. The common database server (16) may include a common database (32), a common database controller (34) and a load engine (48). The common database controller (34) may receive data transformed by the transformation engine (26). The load engine (48) may load the data received by the common database controller (34) into the common database (32).

Modern businesses often employ various computer systems to record information for different departments and operations. Typically, each department selects a database system that best suits its particular needs. Thus, for example, an accounting department may utilize a system designed especially for accounting tasks while a production department of the same business may utilize a system designed to fit its manufacturing needs. As a result, many businesses have data stored on a number of disparate database systems in different formats.
The lack of common functionality between database systems of a business is problematic because it does not allow data from different departments and operations to be readily integrated. Such integration is often desirable to allow managers to readily review, compare and combine data from all departments and operations of a business.

Distributed data integration method and system


A unique article case and clip cooperatively associated therewith wherein the clip is preferably integrally formed with the case or comparable base member, and includes confronting major and minor tongues whereby the clip may be associated as desired with varying supports. The clip may also be employed apart from a case or carrier in a wide variety of environments.

There have been a myriad of article carrying cases, as eyeglass cases, for example, having means for retaining the articles therein and attaching the same conveniently to the clothes of the user. The same have embraced varying forms, as fabric sleeves having narrow steel spring clips secured within the fabric of the carrying case, or simple sleeve-like loops on a lidded case thereby permitting such a case to be slid onto the waist belt of the user, for example.
These and other forms are known in the art, but present manufacturing and use disadvantages which are desirably avoided. Thus, illustratively, a steel U- or hairpin-like clip may permit the case to be all too easily accidentally removed from a pocket or other garment portion by inadvertently engaged upwardly lifting forces, while in the case of belt-retained sleeve devices, the case cannot be easily removed at all without extensive manipulation or removal of the belt.
Other approaches known in the art have their varying utility but lack features of both ready convenience and durability. Also illustrative thereof is U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,925 to Boothe, among others, wherein the complexity of a pivot pin and spring assembly is required, for example.
Additionally, while generally rigid carrying cases are known, there is a need for such an article case which is attractive, durable, protective of the contents, readily receptive to promotional use as by advertising thereon, and which incorporates, preferably integrally therewith, ready means for detachably securing the same to the apparel of the user, especially as to a belt.


A method and system for link adaptation between a wireless multi-carrier access point (102) and a wireless multi-carrier communication device (104) is described. The wireless multi-carrier access point obtains a set of available LEP methods from the wireless multi-carrier communication device. The wireless multi-carrier access point selects an LEP method from the set of available LEP methods, based on at least one link parameter. The wireless multi-carrier access point then communicates the LEP method selected, to the wireless multi-carrier communication device. The selected LEP method is used during the transmission of information between the wireless multi-carrier access point and the wireless multi-carrier communication device.

A wireless multi-carrier communication system includes at least one wireless multi-carrier access point and a plurality of wireless multi-carrier communication devices. Advanced wireless multi-carrier communication systems such as the IEEE 802.16e system utilize Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) to improve system performance. With AMC, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of a transmitted data stream for a particular receiver is changed to predominantly match a current received signal quality (at the receiver) for the particular frame being transmitted. The modulation and coding scheme may change on a frame-by-frame basis in order to track the channel quality variations that occur in mobile communication systems.
The performance of any system employing AMC is highly dependent upon the accuracy in determining a receiver's channel quality, and in particular the accuracy of the underlying link error probability prediction. Link error probability prediction (LEP) maps the current radio conditions (channel quality) to an expected link performance metric, such as Frame Error Rate (FER). Bad link prediction severely degrades the performance of AMC. In order to achieve high system throughput, a simple link error probability predictor that accurately models coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) performance or any other multi-carrier modulation is therefore critical for any multicarrier system employing AMC.
Several LEP methods are available, such as the Exponential Effective SIR Mapping method (exp-ESM). Another known method proposes that a wireless multi-carrier communication device advertises a preferred modulation and coding scheme (MCS), and that transmission of data takes place, based on the advertised MCS. The advertised MCS method is considered as an LEP method since advertising an MCS is one way of signaling the link quality. LEPs can vastly differ in terms of performance, complexity, or range of applicability. A simple LEP method may do very well for single antenna transmission case and low coding rate, but may have a severely degraded performance for multiple antenna transmissions where a more complex method could perform very well. Also, LEP methods require a different amount of feedback, for example, SNR based LEP requires very little feedback whereas more advanced LEP methods require more feedback. Depending on the system configuration, the wireless multi-carrier system may or may not tolerate a large amount of feedback.
Known methods for link adaptation do not define a detailed procedure for selecting an LEP method. Moreover, the link adaptation methods are generally designed for one specific LEP method, and are therefore not capable of handling various LEP methods, as conditions change. Therefore, a need exists for a method and system for link adaptation in a wireless multi-carrier system capable of dynamically changing the underlying LEP method, upon which the AMC algorithm relies.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

Method and system for link adaptation in a wireless multi-carrier communication system


The present invention relates to a wiring structure for reducing the equivalent series inductance (ESL) of a laminated capacitor. The laminated capacitor comprises a number of conductive layers, a power via extending along a thickness direction of the laminated capacitor and arranged to extend from the top conductive layer to the bottom conductive layer, and a ground via extending along the thickness direction of the laminated capacitor and arranged to extend from the top conductive layer to the bottom conductive layer. The conductive layers include a set of first conductive layers and a set of second conductive layers. The power via is electrically coupled to the first conductive layers and the ground via is electrically coupled to the second conductive layers. The laminated capacitor further comprises a supplemental via between the power via and the ground via. The supplemental via is shorter in length than the power via and the ground via. The supplemental via is electrically coupled to one of the first conductive layers and the second conductive layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to capacitors, and more particularly, to a wiring structure of laminated capacitors.
2. Background of the Invention
Multilayer printed circuit boards (PCBs) are used in computer systems and electronic devices for interconnecting integrated circuit (IC) chips and other electronic components and devices. In recent years, substantial efforts have been expended in the design of such PCBs and the device arranged thereupon to compensate for voltage fluctuations arising between the power and ground planes in the PCBs. The voltage fluctuations, including switching noises, may be caused by switching or other operations of transistors or other devices in integrated circuits. A common solution to this problem is to place one or more capacitors serving as decoupling capacitors or bypass capacitors coupled between the power and ground planes near the integrated circuits.
Capacitors may be electrically coupled either as discrete elements mounted on the surface of a circuit board, or may be embedded within the circuit boards. Generally, discrete decoupling capacitor or surface mounted device (SMD) decoupling capacitors are often used to reduce undesirable voltage fluctuations. However, SMD decoupling capacitors may become less effective in many modern applications. For example, SMD decoupling capacitors usually occupy a large surface area of a PCB and may limit package design when a smaller board is needed. In addition, since SMD decoupling capacitors are mounted on a PCB, the distance between an IC's power supply and the associated SMD decoupling capacitors are greater than the distance between the IC's power supply and the capacitors embedded within the PCB. Therefore, the use of SMD decoupling capacitors causes greater parasitic inductance and reduces the effectiveness of reduction on voltage fluctuations. In other words, when the operating frequency reaches to hundreds of megaherts (MHz) or even several gigahertz (GHz), SMD decoupling capacitors become ineffective for reducing and stabilizing voltage fluctuations.
FIG. 1 is an impedance curve for exemplary surface mounted capacitors of 1 μF (including low inductance 0612 and 1206 capacitors and a capacitor from Inter-Digitated Capacitors (IDC)) in the frequency range from 0.01 MHz to 1000 MHz. Referring to FIG. 1, the impedance of the capacitors exceeds the desirable impedance (about 0.5 ohm) when the operating frequency reaches hundreds of MHz. The desirable impedance for future designs will be lower, which can be as low as 0.1 ohm or below. Accordingly, none of those SMD capacitors provide a sufficiently low impedance when being operated at high frequencies. Specifically, the poor high frequency performance of surface mounted capacitors make them unsuitable for today's high speed integrated circuits, which may operate at a frequencies in GHz ranges.
Laminated capacitors embedded in a circuit board may save the surface area of circuit boards. In addition, because laminated capacitors may be placed much closer to the integrated circuits, they may minimize parasitic inductance caused by the internal wirings. While the laminated capacitors may provide a better decoupling effect, the laminated capacitors also suffer the parasitic effect due to the inductance from the power and ground vias. The parasitic effect becomes significant as the circuit frequency of the capacitor becomes higher. In the some applications, the capacitor characteristics can be impacted to a stage that the capacitor exhibits significant inductance effects. The threshold frequency for such transition in characteristics is known as the self-resonance frequency. Equation (1) below represents the self-resonance frequency:
                    fr        =                  1                      2                        π                                      LC                                                          (        1        )            where fr represents the self-resonance frequency, L represents the parasitic inductance (i.e., equivalent series inductance "ESL"), and C represents the parasitic capacitance (i.e., equivalent series resistance "ESR"). According to Eq. (1) above, the function of a capacitor is lost at a higher frequency than the resonance frequency. In other words, the self-resonance frequency becomes high when the ESL value is small.
In modern high-speed circuit designs, electronic components are required to function well in high frequency regions. Accordingly, it is desirable to lower the ESL and impedance in high frequency circuit applications, thereby increasing its decoupling effect or its bypass bandwidth. Certain wiring structures of a laminated capacitor capable of lowering the value of the parasitic inductance have been developed in recent years.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,086 to Howard et al. describes a common wiring connection structure as shown at FIG. 2 for laminated capacitors in a multilayer circuit board. Referring to FIG. 2, the surface mounted integrated circuit 14′ is interconnected with the conductive layers 28′ and 30′ of a laminated capacitor respectively through power and ground leads 34′ and 36′. The power lead 34′ is connected with the conductive layers 28′ and passes through a hole in the conductive layer 30′. Similarly, the ground lead 36′ passes through a hole in the conductive layer 28′ while being electrically coupled with the conductive layer 30′. In this manner, the integrated circuit 14′ is properly connected with both the power and ground planes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,678,145 to Naito et al. proposes a wiring connection structure of laminated capacitors that may lower the value of the parasitic inductance. FIG. 3(a) is a plan view of the internal structure of the laminated capacitor 41. FIG. 3(b) shows a cross-section along the line III-III shown in FIG. 3(a). Referring to FIG. 3(a), a number of first feedthrough conductors 46 and second feedthrough conductors 47 respectively connect to the first internal electrodes 44 and the second internal electrodes 45. Each of the first feedthrough conductors 46 is arranged adjacent to a second feedthrough conductor 47, thus diversifying the direction of the electric current flowing through the internal electrodes 44 and 45. In this manner, the magnetic fields induced by the electric current flowing through the internal electrodes may be offset and the length of the current flow path may be shorten. As a result, the ESL value may be decreased.

Wiring structure of laminated capacitors

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A method of displaying non-textual indication of question verification status in a user interface, the user interface including a plurality of questions associated there-with, includes receiving an answer to at least one question of the plurality of questions, associating a non-textual indication of the verification status of the answer, and displaying the non-textual indication of the at least one question.

Embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to user interfaces, and more particularly, to user interfaces including question verification indicators.
A common computer-program user interface involves having the user answer a set of questions that are structured hierarchically. Examples are wizards, questionnaires, and configurators. In these applications, the answer to a question may trigger the requirement that the user answer a list of subquestions, some of which may have answers that trigger another list of subquestions, and so on. Typically, for some questions the user is very confident in his or her answer; for other questions, the user inputs a "preliminary" answer, pending additional research to "verify" the answer. Generally, there are no means for identifying, locating, and reporting questions that are unanswered or questions that are answered and unverified

User interface including question verification indicators

International Business Machines Corporation


A self-diagnosis system for an energy storage device, the latter including a plurality of electrochemical cells connected in series or parallel to form a cell string. The self-diagnosis system correlates a state of health of the battery based on the internal resistance value of each electrochemical cell of the energy storage device and determines a corresponding battery initial capacity which enables the self-diagnosis system to evaluate the exact capacity of the battery at any given time.

Rechargeable batteries are used in a wide variety of applications, for example as a propulsion power source for electric and hybrid vehicles or as a power reserve in telecommunications network stations. In any application, it is important to monitor the discharge capacity of the battery at any given time, as well as to monitor the state of health of the battery as it ages through degradation of its chemistry over repeated floating/charging/discharging cycles. This information helps to manage the timely replacement of a battery approaching the end of its useful life.
A battery can be approximated as a voltage source with an internal resistance. The internal resistance of a battery varies with battery age, but remains relatively constant over a short time period. As the battery ages during floating, charging and discharging, its internal resistance increases. The increase of the internal resistance is caused by the degradation of the battery's chemistry, which in turn reduces the battery's ability to hold a charge. The performance of a battery is characterized by its discharge curve, which is a curve of the battery voltage as a function of time at a predetermined discharge rate or as a function of the percentage of the remaining charge of the battery. As the internal resistance of the battery increases, the discharge curve drops, indicating a reduction of the battery capacity. The battery discharge curve may vary with the internal resistance of the battery, its discharge rate and its temperature.
Various systems, methods and apparatus have been devised to estimate the battery capacity and the battery remaining life based on the internal resistance of the battery. U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,106 discloses an electronic control unit, switching means for connecting and disconnecting the positive and negative terminals of the battery from an electrical load, first and second voltage measurement means for measuring battery voltage in the connected and disconnected states, discharge current measurement means and battery electrolyte temperature sensing means. The voltage and current measurements are relayed to the control unit, which calculates the internal resistance of the battery. The remaining capacity level of the battery is then estimated from stored values corresponding to the calculated internal resistance, and a correction coefficient associated with the electrolyte temperature reading is applied to the remaining capacity level of the battery to more accurately estimate the remaining battery capacity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,808 discloses a system and circuit means that measure the internal resistance of the battery and an output current at varying battery loads. These measurements are relayed to a computer having stored in its memory an array of discharge curves specific to the battery type. Software running on the computer employs the internal resistance and output current readings to select from its memory a discharge curve most closely associated with the state of the battery as characterized by the internal resistance and output current values. The selected discharge curve is then used to estimate the relative remaining life of the battery.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,309 discloses a system or process for estimating the level of power depletion in a cardiac pacing system having a lithium battery, by measuring and correlating the rate of charge of a charge storage capacitor connected to the lithium battery to a value of the internal resistance of the battery, which provides an estimation of the remaining battery capacity and the replacement time for the battery.
Each of the systems or methods described above provide an estimation of the remaining battery capacity based on a correlation of voltage measurements taken at the battery terminals to a discharge curve. Unfortunately, these voltage measurements prove inaccurate when a battery discharge curve comprises a mild slope and are inadequate when a battery discharge curve comprises a plateau wherein the voltage of the battery is not sufficient to establish the remaining battery capacity. The systems or methods described above also measure an output current to determine the internal resistance of the battery. However, the measurement of an output current to determine the internal resistance renders the value of the internal resistance somewhat approximate. Also, the internal resistance is calculated based on measurements taken at the battery terminals, and provides little information on the state of the individual cells of the battery.
Furthermore, none of the systems or methods described above provide an accurate evaluation of the state of health of a battery, in order to predict how long the battery may be able to perform before reaching a level of performance (battery capacity) at which replacement is required.
Against this background, it clearly appears that a need exists in the industry for an improved system for accurately predicting the remaining capacity of an energy storage device, as well as for accurately evaluating the state of health of the energy storage device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Self-diagnosis system for an energy storage device


A method for rapidly accessing program guide information is described. The method includes displaying program guide information on a grid showing a channel axis and a time axis, with each program positioned at a location in the grid representing a channel of transmission and a corresponding time of transmission. The method includes the steps of: (a) displaying the program guide information; (b) placing a time selection field on the display; (c) highlighting and activating the time selection field; (d) determining a time index in response to the activating step; (e) calculating a new time of transmission for display based on the time index; and (f) displaying the program guide information at the new time of transmission. The time selection field includes a page field, a day field and a date field. The page field is adapted to provide a six-hour time index, the day field is adapted to provide a 24-hour time index, and the date field is adapted to provide a seven-day time index. The method includes activating the time selection field to index forward in time and backwards in time.

There are numerous television channels available for viewing at any particular time. These television channels may contain a variety of programs originating from cable distributors or direct satellite transmissions. The variety of programs complicates the viewer's task in learning what programming is available on a specific channel at a particular time.
A common approach to presenting television programming information is by use of a digital set top box (STB), or as a component of an STB such as a cable decoder, satellite decoder or digital television (DTV) decoder. The set top box presents a menu on a display containing programming information of current and future programs. The program guides typically store between three to seven days of information. In the future, program guides of two weeks to a month may be common place.
An example of a program guide is shown in FIG. 1. As shown, display screen 10 includes program guide 12 with channel panels 16 identifying channels available for viewing. Time panel 14 lists particular times, for example, Thursday with 90 minute increments (e.g. 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM). Program grid 18 lists titles of programs on the identified channels at the listed times.
The channels available may vary depending on the viewer's particular cable system or satellite link, and the service level. Although the viewer may only be interested in certain programs, he or she must nonetheless search through the entire table for programs of interest. Because of the resolution limitations of the display and the viewing distance, the viewer may see, for example, 1.5 hours of programming at a time for six or seven channels.
In order to see different program events on the menu, the viewer may hold a remote control unit including an infrared transmitter for emitting control signals. A directional control keypad on the remote control unit allows the viewer to control movement of a cursor on the programming grid. For example, in order to see events in the future, the viewer may move the cursor to the right. To see events in the past, the viewer may move the cursor to the left. Tiles 20 and 22 indicate to the viewer that the menu continues respectively into the past and into the future. The viewer may also scroll the cursor up or down to see additional channels.
Since the viewer may only scroll forward or backwards in time by 30 minute increments, accessing programming information several days in advance may be very time consuming. For example, displaying the menu six days into the future requires that the viewer scroll for 288 half hour increments. With current technology, it may take over three minutes to access the desired information.
In view of the shortcomings of conventional program guides, improved methods are required for providing more rapid access of future program guide information.

Method and apparatus for rapid access of program guide information

Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Ltd.


A system and method for data acquisition in a wireless sensor network include receiving measurements made by a plurality of sensor nodes in the wireless sensor network during a given time period, the measurements being carried in data packets that are routed from the plurality of sensor nodes to a base node. The system and method also include determining a plurality of routing paths for the data packets based on routing topology tomography. The system and method further include determining a measurement matrix and a representation basis, and acquiring sensor signals in the wireless sensor network based on the measurement matrix and the representation basis.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs), comprised of spatially distributed sensor nodes, are being increasingly deployed for continuous monitoring and sensing of physical variables of our world. One of the critical challenges in large-scale outdoor WSN deployments is energy consumption, since outdoor sensor nodes are mainly operated by battery power. Motivated by the breakthrough of compressed sensing (CS), CS based approaches for WSN data collection have gained increasing attention from the research communities. However, existing CS methods for WSNs are facing the following major difficulties in practice: (i) how to effectively and efficiently interplay with WSN routing so that per-packet routing path can be exploited as a random projection in CS measurement matrix to further reduce nodes' transmissions, and (ii) how to design a suitable representation basis in CS for real-world signals that has good sparsification and incoherence with the measurement matrix for applying CS to large-scale WSN data acquisition.
As such, finding a suitable transformation with good sparsification and incoherence properties remains an open problem. Furthermore, existing CS approaches for multi-hop WSN data acquisition are only evaluated by numerical simulations with the assumptions of some routing models. While useful, numerical simulations alone are not adequate. The lack of validation in multi-hop WSN deployments in situ operated in real-world dynamic communication environments hinders any deep understanding of CS approaches for large-scale WSN data collection and their meaningful comparison. Therefore, the need of practical validation and evaluation of CS approaches in real WSNs in situ is also urgent.
In the recent years, many research efforts have been pursued to incorporate CS into data collection schemes in WSNs. Traditional CS based approaches do not exploit the knowledge about WSN routing topology but rely on the use of dense measurement matrices, resulting in high transmission costs and storing a part of measurement matrix in each resource-constrained sensor node.
One recent study focused on sparse random projections for WSN data querying without interaction with routing. While this approach could reduce WSN transmission costs for data nodes compared to the CS approaches based on dense measurement matrices, it does not solve the problem of storing a part of the measurement matrix at each sensor node, and its performance would also be largely diminished in multi-hop WSNs. Another study focused on the interplay of routing with compressive sensing in multi-hop WSNs, where the measurement matrix is defined according to the routing paths. However, the results of this study were unsatisfactory due to the difficulty to find a suitable representation basis for real signals.
Some theoretical analysis has been presented regarding the nonuniform random projection of CS. However, it is not clear if this study is applicable to the situation where the nonuniform random projection of CS projection is formed from practical WSN routing. Besides, each per-packet routing path is recorded in the data packet routed towards the sink, which is neither scalable nor efficient. For example, if a node identifier is two bytes (e.g., as in TinyOS), then for a WSN of the maximum path of J hops to the sink it would have to allocate 2(J-1) bytes in a data packet for its path recording overhead. This heavy overhead of path recording also increases energy and band-width consumptions for transmissions, reducing or eliminating the performance of data compression. Another study proposes a random walk algorithm for data gathering in multi-hop WSNs, where the measurements are collected along the random walks before they are sent to the sink using shortest path routing. Therefore, this approach does not interplay with WSN routing. Since it requires the length of each walk t=O(n/k) for each packet before routing to the sink, the approach increases the WSN energy consumption because of the additional random walk transmissions. A further study to compute projections is based on analog communications, where CS projections are simultaneously calculated by the superposition of radio waves and communicated directly from the sensor nodes to the sink via the air interface. This approach, however, requires analog communications for WSNs, which is in contrast to today's digital communications commonly used in WSN physical layer, such as IEEE 802.15.4 communication protocol. Still another study involves network link delay estimation by using CS via expander graphs when the routing matrix is predetermined. This approach demonstrated the feasibility of accurate estimation with bounded errors. Other studies have focused on temporal correlations in a sequence of samples taken by each sensor node in WSN. However, no work has been performed so far to validate CS performance in multi-hop WSNs through real experiments on WSN deployments in situ with actual routing protocol in operation.

Systems and methods for compressed sensing in wireless sensor networks


Swimming goggles are provided which have a frame unit, buckle units and a head strap assembled on the buckle units. The frame unit includes a left frame and a right frame respectively around a user's eyes, a connecting member detachably connecting the left frame and the right frame, and lenses assembled on the left frame and the right frame. First connecting portions are provided on sides of the left frame and the right frame. Each buckle unit includes at least a base, and a second connecting portion for engaging to or disengaging from the first connecting portion. The base defines directing holes therein for guiding the head strap. The connecting member, the first connecting portions and the second connecting portions are able to be assembled and disassembled such that the connecting member and the buckle units are assembled to or disassembled from the left frame and the right frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to swimming goggles, and particularly to swimming goggles which have frames and lenses integrated with each other and which have detachable connecting member and buckle unit for facilitating replacement of the frames.
2. Relate Art
In terms of cooperation of frames and lenses, swimming goggles are generally of two types: implanting type and integrating type. As for the implanting type, lenses are implanted into and then integrated with frames when the frames are shaped. The integrating type is made by integrating the frames and the lenses directly. The lenses of the implanting type can not vary according to myopic extent, and otherwise, the lenses of the implanting type may vary according to myopic extent.
The lenses of some conventional implanting type goggles may vary according to myopic extent. However, most of users have two eyes with different myopic degrees, but the conventional implanting type goggles can not suit for the two eyes at the same time. On most occasions, the only choice is that lenses of the swimming goggles are the same, which can not cater for users' need obviously.