Protocol analysis circuitry is provided at a site at which a plurality of private line data circuits are interconnected with one or more trunk lines. The analysis circuitry is wired into each of the data circuits and trunk lines through appropriate jacks on a continuous long-term basis. A programmed personal computer is installed at the site for control of the analysis circuitry and selection of the circuit to be tested. Monitored data and analysis data can be stored in computer memory. Telephone access to the test site permits interaction between the site computer and a distant computer located, for example at a maintenance facility. Selection of the circuit to be tested and definition of network parameters to be measured can, therefore, be done remotely. The on site computer is provided with facsimile format capability so that stored data automatically can be communicated from the test site, through a telephone line, to a facsimile machine at the remote facility.

Large private data line networks which extend over a vast geographic area have become commonplace in environments requiring communication between a host computer located, for example, at the headquarters in one city and a multitude of data circuits concentrated in branch locations in other cities or remote areas. A typical example would be a large bank having branch offices and ATM machines at various remote locations. Other applications would include stock market quotation networks, airline reservation systems, tickets sales systems and large military installations.
Rather than running an individual line to each of the terminal locations, a high speed trunk line, comprising one or more individual lines, is used to serve data between the host computer and the various locations. A packet assembler and disassembler (PAD) is provided at a concentration of data circuits in a remote location. The PAD reroutes data packages from the high speed trunk line to the various local data circuits in accordance with addresses included in the data packets. Various standard interfaces are available including, for example, RS232, V.35 and T1.
Such large data networks require testing in the event of system troubles. Users often provide their own network operations centers and maintenance personnel to perform testing, monitoring and analysis. Circuit continuity checks can be done remotely and remote bit error rate testing provides the ability to loop back an individual circuit to see the error rate at which data that is sent out is received back correctly. While these test procedures determine whether data can be accurately transmitted, they do not enable monitoring and analyzing data actually transmitted during use. The transmission of the data may be performed flawlessly but if improper data is applied to the communication line such defect is not detected.
There is an extensive variety of problems which are not capable of diagnosis in such a testing environment. For example, a polling operation may not be functioning properly because the polled station address is incorrectly stored in the host computer memory or because there is a change or defect in the host software. As another example, communication may not be established because improper input data has been applied in a log in procedure. Another common problem that would not be discerned is the generation of erroneous data from a "streaming terminal." Such generation occurs when a data input key malfunctions or is continuously depressed.
Conventional systems do not have the ability remotely to analyze data link protocols and to perform network analysis, such as defined by the International Standards Organization as OSI model levels 2 and 3. That is, problems such as those just discussed are not diagnosed remotely. If protocol analysis or other diagnostics are to be performed, a technician must be dispatched with a portable protocol analyzer to several points along the circuit.
Use of the portable analyzer involves identification and selection of the line to be accessed, disconnection of the line, followed by reconnection with the analyzer inserted in circuit to perform analysis functions, and again disconnection to remove the analyzer from the circuit. The intrusive nature of this use, as well as the demands on the technician's time, are significant disadvantages of conventional practice. The results of the on site monitoring and collection of data often require more detailed analysis at the maintenance facility. Conveyance of such information to the facility in a timely manner may be costly and inconvenient.
These drawbacks are multiplied when a circuit exhibits a recurring problem that requires extended attention. For example, in a case of network administration, a circuit may be seen to malfunction frequently at the same time of day. A technician would have to personally attend the local site each day at the same time until the problem is diagnosed or, alternatively, remain at the site during the entire time. As an operating technician is required to be at the testing site, cost considerations restrict use to short, noncontinuous periods. Testing is normally done either on a routine basis or after indentification of the existence of a problem whose exact nature is not yet known. Conventional protocol analysis is therefore limited in that it can not practically be used to monitor the data stream of a selected circuit continuously over an extended period of time. Without such use, there is no pragmatic way to detect the occurrence of a predefined condition and to initiate a control function upon recognition of such occurrence.

System and method for remote testing and protocol analysis of communication lines


A watchcase assembly comprising a watchcase for housing a watch mechanism, a generally planar member or a generally ring-shaped member, and a releasable connector for releasably connecting the member to the front of said watchcase, wherein the releasable connector comprises an operable device which is manually actuable or depressible by one or more fingers of the user to disconnect the member from the watchcase.

There are a variety of jewelry or decorative items wearable by users and these items include wristwatches, bracelets and necklaces. At least in the context of watches (or generally in the field of wearable decorative items), users have become increasingly demanding. For example, it is very common that a user into different sports may have different specialty watches to suit different occasions. The user may have one watch specifically for use in diving (in order to measure the depth of his whereabouts) and another watch for use in jogging (in order to monitor his heart beat). It is also common that a user wearing watches mainly for decorative reasons may have different watches for different occasions. For example, the user may have a watch with red gemstones for a particular occasion and another watch with blue gemstones for another occasion.
The present invention seeks to address problems associated with having multiple watches or multiple wearable decorative items, or at least to provide an alternative to the public.


The present invention includes a device for increasing distance traversed by a projectile. The device includes a main body comprising a tubular component wherein the tubular component defines an orifice. The main body also comprises a collar component positionable about the tubular component. The collar component enclosed a second orifice for receipt of a screw. A tab is positioned adjacent to the orifice which is defined by the tubular component. The tab includes an oblique section. A screw is positionable in the collar component and extends through the orifice defined by the tubular component. The screw is in moveable contact with the oblique segment of the tab.

The present invention relates to a device for extending distances of projectiles shot from a gun and to a method for increasing distance traversed by a projectile shot from a gun.
Guns are made in a variety of different sizes utilizing a variety of different propellants. Guns are comprised generally of a main body that includes a barrel closeable at one end by a sliding block, known as a breach block or a screw. The breach block defines a chamber for receipt of a propellant charge such as a bullet or a paint ball charge. Extending from the chamber is a tapered transition region to the barrel.
In one embodiment, the barrel, which includes an inner radial surface, is provided with spiral grooves on the inner radial surface. These spiral grooves are also known as "rifles." The rifles also called "rifling" impart a spinning motion to the projectile. Rifling is typically at a pitch which is expressed as a multiple of a bore diameter defined by the barrel. For instance, the pitch may be forty times the bore, which means that the projectile performs one revolution about its longitudinal axis over a distance equal to forty times the bore diameter of the barrel.
When the gun is loaded, a soft metal driving band at one end of the projectile is pressed into the rifling grooves, thereby centering the projectile in the barrel. When the gun is fired, a firing pin strikes a primer. This action ignites the charge which may be either enclosed in a cartridge, or entirely separate from the projectile. Explosive powder in the charge burns extremely rapidly and develops a very high gas pressure in the chamber, on the order of 45,000 psi. When the gas pressure exceeds the pressure with which the driving band is gripped in the rifling, the projectile is set in motion so that the space behind the projectile increases in volume as the gas expands. After an initial pressure builds up in the chamber, there is a drop in pressure as the projectile travels along the barrel. At the instant the projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun, the gas still has a high pressure which causes the report when the gas escapes into the atmosphere.
Gas pressure developed when the gun is fired produces high stresses, particularly in the interior of the barrel. Because of these high stresses, one piece barrels, called "mono-block" barrels, are used principally for guns of relatively small caliber. Medium and large caliber guns are barrels of a composite construction.
In a firing position, the breach block is locked against the force of any exploding charge. In addition to a mechanism for moving the block, the breach block also includes a firing pin and an extraction system for removing the spent cartridge case when the breach block is opened after the gun has been fired.
Typically in a gun, the expulsion of the projectile is accompanied by a recoil movement of the barrel. Hydraulic breaking cylinders may be used to arrest this movement. A piston rod attached to the barrel pulls the piston back when the barrel recoils so that hydraulic fluid behind the piston is forced through narrow passages into a space in front of the piston, thereby producing a breaking effect.
This general type of gun device has been used to project everything from bullets to paint balls. Several patents are directed specifically to paint ball guns. The Gardner patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,427, describes an improved barrel for a paint ball gun. The barrel includes a number of radial holes drilled in a spiral pattern in order to cause the paint ball to spin around its longitudinal axis in flight. The Gardner patent describes the paint ball as stabilized in flight by imparting angular momentum to the ball about its longitudinal axis. No aerodynamic effect is described.
The Slonaker et al. patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,945, issuing Jun. 24, 1997, describes a paint ball and gun that improve the range and accuracy of paint ball projections. The paint ball includes an external surface contoured to increase frictional interaction with air. The barrel and paint ball gun interact so that a significant back spin is imparted to the ball. The interaction includes a plurality of closed internal recesses and open internal recesses. The open internal recesses are vented to the atmosphere.


A terminal table unit is associated with an output apparatus such as valves and solenoids and an input apparatus such as switches and includes not only a main body with a control device and a memory device but also a cassette with a memory medium that is detachably attached to the main body. The control device receives input data from the input apparatus for controlling the output apparatus and drives the output apparatus according to the received input data. The received input data are temporarily stored in the memory device in specified units. When the input data are found to include abnormal data, the control device causes data stored in the memory device to be transferred to the memory medium of the cassette such that the memory cassette can be removed and the abnormal data stored on the memory medium can be analyzed elsewhere.

This invention relates to a terminal table unit that serves to receive input data from an external input device such as a proximity switch for relaying between a control device such as a controllable programmer (PLC) and an external output device such as a solenoid for monitoring this external output device and further to control the external output device on the basis of such input data and in response to a command from the control device.
There is a demand for reducing the down-time as much as possible when a production line, for example, is stopped due to an abnormal condition. When such an abnormal condition occurs, say, in a production line, the usual routine is for a maintenance manager on the site to investigate the parts considered to be causing the abnormal condition and to replace or to repair components at the parts considered to be in an abnormal condition. If the production line operates correctly after such replacement or repair, the routine is ended as having been completed.
FIG. 12 shows a prior art remote monitoring system 43 described in Japanese Patent Publication Tokkai 2002-73432, adapted to monitor a target apparatus 41 by using a data collecting unit 40 to collect detection signals outputted from the target apparatus 41 and supplying the collected detection signals to a monitoring unit 42 while the monitoring unit 42 is normally functioning. If the monitoring unit 42 is not functioning normally, the collected detection signals are temporarily saved and then supplied to the monitoring unit 42 when the latter returns to the normal condition so as to restart the monitoring of the target apparatus 41. In FIG. 12, numeral 44 indicates a data processor, numeral 45 indicates a CRT monitoring device, numeral 46 indicates a message printer, numeral 47 is a gateway device, numeral 48 indicates an I/O controller and numeral 49 indicates a memory.
If a user repairs or replaces a component believed to have been the cause of an abnormal condition and the production line begins to operate normally thereafter, the work is believed to have been completed but there are situations where the component which has been repaired or replaced was not the major cause of the abnormal condition although the production line happens to start operating seemingly in a normal fashion. In such a situation, since the real cause of the abnormal condition has not been removed, the same trouble is likely to recur shortly thereafter, say, again only a few months later.
From the point of view of safety, it is desirable to be able to recognize a sign or a symptom of an on-coming abnormal condition but it is difficult to bring back a stopped condition due to an abnormality. Since the sequence of events immediately before such an abnormal condition cannot usually be replayed, it is not possible to analyze them to take any appropriate measures.
It may be proposed to form a network system including units for input and output such that data can be exchanged among them but such a method has its own problem that once such a network has been formed, the structure of the network itself as well as its wiring will have to be changed whenever a device is changed and hence the loss may become significantly large.


A modular landscape timber system used generally to construct retaining walls and boxed gardens having a plurality of vertically aligned layers of modular first members having ends with ball and socket joint portions that interfit with one another, a plurality of braces, and a plurality of spikes that are driven through the braces on an incline to fasten the ends of the timber members together with a resulting joint that resists rotational movement. The system further includes a deadman joint that serves to maintain the vertical alignment of the layers of first members.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to systems designed to use treated timber for landscape purposes, and more specifically to systems utilizing modular timber units with interconnecting end portions secured with braces and angled spikes and periodic deadman joints to provide overall support.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While the use of treated timber for landscape purposes such as retaining walls or boxed gardens has been known for a considerable period of time, the most common and popular method for installing such timber has remained relatively unchanged and unimproved. Generally, this method requires the timber to be cut at a specific length and many times at angles of less than 90 degrees. Because these cuts are made at the landscape site, they are usually made with a chain saw, a tool which is both dangerous and difficult to operate for the novice. Next, the timber is drilled so that large spikes, lag bolts or other type fasteners can be driven through one piece and into the next piece immediately below for stability. The ultimate problem with this cumbersome process is that it provides for relatively weak and unstable joints, and over a period of time, pressure exerted on these joints will simply cause them to pull apart.
Retaining wall and planter construction systems using modular components are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,343,301 and 4,869,018. While the devices disclosed in these patents utilize a shoulder and socket system to connect the modular units, both rely upon the earth to rigidly secure such joints along with the relative positioning of each unit. Vertically aligned pins used to connect these joints do not, in and of themselves, prevent rotational movement by the units.
A landscaping system utilizing modular timber units is manufactured by Thompson Industries, Inc. Essentially, these units or timbers interconnect with each other through the use of rabbet-type joints with each unit having a male and female end. Once the units are an interlocking position, a wooden dowel may be passed through holes contained in the ends of the adjoining timbers and thus provide some stability to the interlocking joint. However, as with the systems disclosed in the '301 and '018 patents, this dowel does not prevent rotational movement between the interconnected members. Thus, some other stabilizing element is required, such as the earth that is being retained.


A cellulose resin wherein a hydrogen atom of a hydroxy group of cellulose is substituted with a long-chain component which is a linear saturated aliphatic acyl group having 14 or more carbon atoms and a short-chain component which is an acyl group (propionyl group) having 3 carbon atoms, the degree of substitution with the long-chain component (DSLo) and the degree of substitution with the short-chain component (DSSh) satisfy the following conditional expressions (1) and (2):DSLo+DSSh≥2.1  (1)4≤DSSh/DSLo≤12  (2),the Izod impact strength is 5.0 kJ/m2 or more, and the MFR (melt flow rate at 200° C. and under a load of 5 kg) is 10 g/10 min or more.

Bioplastics made from vegetable law materials can contribute to countermeasures against petroleum depletion and global warming, and has been started being used in jeneral products such as packaging, containers and fibers but also in durable products such as electronic equipment and automobiles.
However, conventional bioplastics, such as polylactic acid, polyhydroxyalkanates, modified starch, are all made of starch-based materials, i.e., edible parts. Therefore, in view of concerns about food shortages in the future, the development of new bioplastics using non-edible parts as raw materials is required.
As a raw material of the non-edible part, cellulose, which is a main component of wood and vegetation, is typical, and various bioplastics using the cellulose have been developed and commercialized.
However, the process of chemically modifying cellulose into a resin suitable for molding is complicated and labor-intensive, and the production energy is high, so that the production cost of cellulose resin is high. Furthermore, the mechanical characteristics of the resins produced are not sufficient.
Cellulose is produced as pulp by chemically separating lignin and hemicellulose from wood or the like, with the help of a chemical agent. Alternatively, since cotton is almost made of cellulose, it can be used as it is. Such a cellulose, which is a polymer formed by polymerization of β-glucose, has a strong intermolecular force due to hydrogen bonds because it has many hydroxy groups. Therefore, it is hard and brittle, does not have thermoplasticity, and is low in solvent solubility except for a special solvent.
Various studies have been conducted to modify such a cellulose.
As a method of modifying cellulose, a method of replacing a hydrogen atom of a hydroxy group of cellulose with a short-chain acyl group such as an acetyl group is known. According to this method, since the number of hydroxy groups can be reduced, the intermolecular force of cellulose can be reduced. Furthermore, it has been investigated to introduce a long-chain organic group having a higher carbon number in addition to a short-chain acyl group such as an acetyl group to produce a cellulose derivative having a good thermoplastic property.
For example, Patent Literature 1 describes a cellulose acylate film produced from a solution obtained by dissolving a cellulose acylate in which the substitution degree of hydroxy groups of the cellulose satisfies predetermined conditions, and a polycarboxylic acid which has 22 or less carbon atoms and a carboxyl group having an acid dissociation index of 4.4 or less, in an organic solvent. The literature describes a case where cellulose triacetate was used as the cellulose acylate. Since such a film can be easily removed from a support after producing by casting and drying, the productivity thereof is excellent.
Additionally, Patent Literature 2 describes a cellulose derivative produced by substituting at least a part of hydrogen atoms of hydroxy groups of a cellulose with a short-chain acyl group (for example, an aliphatic acyl group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms) and a long-chain acyl group (for example, an aliphatic acyl group having 5 to 20 carbon atoms), and that the cellulose derivative has satisfactory thermoplasticity, strength and fracture elongation and is suitable for molding process.
Patent Literature 3 describes a process for producing a cellulose derivative, including the steps of introducing a long-chain organic group having 5 or more carbon atoms and a short-chain organic group having 4 or less carbon atoms to a cellulose by reacting them in a solid-liquid heterogeneous system, and conducting solid-liquid separation to obtain the cellulose derivative.
Patent Literature 4 describes a cellulose derivative having cardanol introduced therein, and that the cellulose derivative was improved in thermoplasticity, and mechanical characteristics.
Patent Literature 5 describes a cellulose derivative having cardanol and abietic acid introduced therein, and that the cellulose derivative was improved in thermoplasticity, and mechanical characteristics.
Patent Literature 6 describes a process for producing a cellulose derivative including a first step of reacting a cellulose with a long-chain reactant for introducing a long-chain organic group having 5 or more carbon atoms in a solid-liquid heterogeneous system to form a cellulose derivative having the long-chain organic group introduced therein and remaining hydroxy groups which are a part of the hydroxy groups of the cellulose, in a swollen state, and performing solid-liquid separation to obtain an intermediate cellulose derivative; and a second step of reacting the intermediate cellulose derivative with a short-chain reactant for introducing a short-chain organic group having 4 or less carbon atoms to form a final cellulose derivative having the short-chain organic group introduced therein.
Patent Document 7 describes a cellulose derivative in which a long-chain organic group having 5 or more carbon atoms and a short-chain organic group having 4 or less carbon atoms are introduced by utilizing a hydroxy group of cellulose, the cellulose derivative has a crystal structure derived from a cellulose derivative portion to which the short-chain organic group is bonded, and the average number of hydroxy groups per glucose unit is 1.0 or less.

Cellulose resin, molding material, molded body, and method for producing cellulose resin


Provided is a retrofocus type optical system including a lens or a layer made of a material satisfying the following conditions of the Abbe constant νd and partial dispersion ratios θgd and θgF,νd<30,θgd<−3.333×10−3·νd+1.40,θgF<−2.615−10−3·νd+0.67.In the case that this layer is disposed on the front side of the aperture stop, the layer is designed to have a positive refractive power, and in the case that the layer is disposed on the rear side of the aperture stop, the layer is designed to have a negative refractive index.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical system in which an optical material with extraordinary partial dispersion is used, or an optical system that is suitable for an image taking optical system of a silver halide film camera, a digital still camera or a video camera, or a projection optical system of a liquid crystal projector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a retrofocus type lens has been known as a type of lens having a short focal length and a long back focus. In the retrofocus type lens, a long back focus can be realized by arranging a lens unit having negative refractive power as a whole in the front side (i.e. the magnification side: the object side in the case of a image taking optical system of camera and or the like, or the screen side in the case of a projection optical system of a projector or the like) of the optical system and arranging a lens unit having a positive refractive power as a whole in the rear side (i.e. the reduction side: the image side in the case of a image taking optical system of a camera or the like, or the original side in the case of a projection optical system of a projector or the like) of the optical system. In order to obtain a long back focus, it is necessary to enhance both the positive refractive power and the negative refractive power, which results in an optical system having an asymmetrical refractive power arrangement. Problems the retrofocus type lens suffers in correcting aberrations are that barrel type distortion is liable to occur, that significant chromatic aberration of magnification (lateral chromatic aberration) is liable to occur, and that secondary spectrum of chromatic aberration of magnification tends to become large.
As a conventional method for improving the chromatic aberration of magnification, a method of using a low dispersion lens made of extraordinary partial dispersion material such as fluorite and a method of using a diffraction optical surface have been proposed.
On the other hand, diffraction optical elements have an Abbe number equivalent value of as small as 3.45 (in the absolute value), and accordingly it is possible to change chromatic aberration greatly while scarcely affecting spherical aberration, coma and astigmatism etc. only by slightly changing the optical power (which is the reciprocal of the focal length) achieved by diffraction. In addition, since diffracted light is used, the optical power changes linearly depending on the wavelength of incident light, and the wavelength characteristics of the chromatic aberration coefficient is completely linear. Therefore, in order to shorten the total length of the system, aberration corrections should be mainly directed to spherical aberration, coma and astigmatism. As to chromatic aberration, since correction thereof is effected using a diffraction optical element, what is required in designing the system is only to optimize the material and optical power of the constituent lenses so as to realize linearity in the wavelength characteristics of the chromatic aberration without taking into consideration the absolute amount of the chromatic aberration that has been deteriorated by the length reduction. Thus, an optical system having excellent performance can be obtained as a consequence.
It has been proposed to use a resin material mixed with inorganic oxide fine particles such as ITO fine particles in a diffraction grating to improve the diffraction efficiency (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-074901 (a counterpart: EP A2 1065531).
Furthermore, a liquid material having relatively high dispersion and showing relatively extraordinary partial dispersion characteristics has been known as a material having a chromatic aberration correction effect similar to diffraction gratings, and an achromatic optical system using the same has been proposed (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,535).
Since the refractive index of a low dispersion lens with extraordinary partial dispersion such as a fluorite lens is low, its position in an optical system is limited when used, or it is sometimes necessary to increase the number of the lenses in the system. In addition, such lenses are very expensive and they cannot be used frequently in view of the cost.
Although diffraction optical elements have sufficient chromatic aberration correction effects, they suffer from the problem that diffracted light of useless diffraction orders different from the designed diffraction order becomes colored flare light that deteriorates imaging performance. Although in some cases, a so-called laminated diffraction optical element composed of a plurality of blazed diffraction gratings stacked along the optical axis direction is used so as to concentrate energy on the designed diffraction order and to reduce useless diffracted light greatly, there still remains the problem that diffracted flare is generated when an object having high luminance is photographed.
In manufacturing a diffraction optical element, a method of molding an ultraviolet curing resin or the like using a metal mold has been known. However, diffraction efficiency of a diffraction optical element is extremely sensitive to the manufacturing accuracy, and a very high degree of precision in the metal mold and in the molding process is required. This leads to high manufacturing costs.
The material disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,535 is liquid, and a structure for sealing it is necessary and manufacturing thereof is not easy. In addition, it suffers from the problem of changes in characteristics, such as refractive index and dispersion characteristics, depending on the temperature, namely, it does not have sufficient environmental tolerance. In addition, that material suffers from the defect that it cannot achieve a sufficient chromatic aberration correction effect due to its relatively large Abbe constant, relatively small extraordinary partial dispersion and absence of interface with the air.


A method of producing a wood type golf club head which comprises molding and curing integrally an outer shell portion of a head main body having a hollow portion thereinside and equipped with a recess on at least one of the toe, back and heel sides thereof facing the hollow portion, from a synthetic resin as a main material, fixing a weight member having an adjustable weight into the at least one recess, packing a core member into the hollow portion, and fitting a sole plate to a sole portion of the club head.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a wood type golf club head and a wood type golf club head produced thereby. More particular, the wood type golf club head of the present invention is capable of stably fitting a weight member and of easily adjusting the weight and the centroid position.
In wood type golf club heads molded from a synthetic resin as a main material in general, a weight member is buried with a core member in the head main body to adjust the weight. The core member and the weight member (particularly the latter) form an important constituent element for controlling impact performance of the wood type golf club by its weight and its centroid. The weight member is made of a metal, such as a lead and brass, and is buried on back and toe sides and/or on the heel side of the head main body.
When the conventional weight member is buried and fixed on the back side of the head main body, for example, the weight member is disposed at a position on the back side of the core member, a molding raw material for forming an outer shell portion of the head main body is wound from above on the weight member, and is molded inside a die. Therefore, the position of the weight member is likely to deviate when it is fitted into the molding die or at the time of heat-pressing after mold clamping, so that a centroid error occurs and molding is extremely difficult. Moreover, an error in the position of the weight member also can occur by the impact at repeated hitting of balls, and there remains the problem that the position of the weight member cannot be made stable.
Japanese patent application Kokai publication No. 64-265980 proposes a method of producing a wood type golf club head by forming protruding support legs on the weight member and fitting the support legs into support holes bored in the core member. This method improves the production of the wood type golf club head described above and stabilizes the fitting of the weight member. According to this method, a raw material for molding the outer shell portion of the head main body is wound first on the core member. Next, after the molding blank material is passed through, the support legs of the weight member are fitted into the support holes of the core member. After the molding blank material is wound on the weight member, a assembly is fitted into the mold and is heat-pressed to form the head main body. According to this method of producing the wood type golf club head, however, a great deal of labor and time are necessary for positioning the weight member and for the molding operation, and design of the centroid and the centroid depth cannot be made so easily.

Method of producing wood type golf club head


A PCI to SCSI host adapter circuit is provided for use with different types of host platforms. The host adapter includes logic and controller circuits, and a memory having multiple drivers and a bank switching instruction set stored therein. During initialization, the first driver is loaded into the host's memory if the host's processor is of a compatible type. Otherwise, the bank switching instruction set is loaded into the host's memory and interpreted by the host's processor. During interpretation, the bank switching instruction set causes the host's processor to signal the logic circuit to request that the controller circuit re-map another driver to the location of the first driver in the memory. After this bank switching has occurred, the selected driver is loaded into the host's memory, provided of course that the host's processor is of a compatible type. This process may be repeated until the appropriate code type is found or the host processor is not supported.

1. Field of the Invention PA1 This invention relates generally to computer systems and, more particularly to methods and apparatuses for use in a host adapter that is capable of supporting a variety of host platforms. PA1 2. Description of the Related Art PA1 Host adapters are used in computer systems to provide an interface between the host processor and one or more peripheral devices, such as, for example, a hard disk, a removable disk, an MO drive, a CD-ROM, a tape, a DAT, a Floptical.RTM. drive, and a scanner. Accordingly, host adapters are well suited to provide an interface between incompatible systems. By way of example, a host adapter can be used to interface a PCI compatible host to a SCSI compatible device, in which case the host adapter would be a PCI-to-SCSI host adapter. Of course other type of adapters are also available for other systems, standards, protocols and buses.
Most host adapters include both hardware and software components which act together to convert or otherwise translate signals passing between the host and the peripheral device. For example, an adapter typically includes an adapter circuit and driver software, such as an extended BIOS image, which are used by the host's processor during initialization and later to access the host adapter. As such, conventional host adapters are configured for use with a specific host processor, or specific types of platforms. For example, a PCI-to-SCSI host adapter can be configured to support the Intel Pentium.RTM. family of microprocessors, or the Motorola PowerPC.RTM. family of microprocessors which are found in many of today's personal computers and workstations.
With this in mind, FIG. 1a is a block diagram illustrating a typical computer system 10 having a host 12, a PCI bus 14, a PCI to SCSI host adapter 16, a SCSI bus 18, and a SCSI device 20. Host 12 represents a host processor, such as an Intel Pentium.RTM. microprocessor, a Motorola 68XXX, a PowerPC.RTM. microprocessor, or other microprocessor and associated support circuitry, such as a system memory and interfacing circuitry. As shown in this example, host 12 is coupled to host adapter 16 by way of PCI bus 14. As such, host adapter 16 is configured to receive PCI compatible data, addressing and control signals from PCI bus 14 and convert them to corresponding SCSI compatible data, addressing and controls signals which are then supplied to SCSI device 20 over SCSI bus 18. Likewise, host adapter 16 is also configured to receive SCSI compatible data, addressing and control signals from SCSI device 20 and convert them into corresponding PCI compatible data, addressing and controls signals which are then be supplied to PCI bus 14.
FIG. 1b is a block diagram illustrating a conventional PCI to SCSI host adapter 16, as in FIG. 1a, having a PCI bus connector 22, a logic circuit 24, a ROM 26, and a SCSI connector 28. PCI bus connector 22 represents a PCI compatible interface and physical connector for use in coupling host adapter 16 to PCI bus 14. Logic circuit 24 represents.sup.- sequential, combinatorial, and/or other logic circuitry that is configured to interface with both the PCI bus and SCSI bus. ROM 26 is a read only memory (ROM) that contains operating instructions that can be read into the system memory within host 12 and executed by the processor within host 12 to access host adapter 16. The operating instructions stored within ROM 26 usually include either a BIOS image or some other type of PCI compatible platform operating system (OS) driver for use with a particular type of processor or processor family. By way of example, ROM 26 can include a PC BIOS image for use with Intel Pentium.RTM. processors. In which case, host adapter 16 would be configured for use with hosts that are Intel Pentium.RTM. based platforms. Another host adapter can, for example, include a PCI compatible platform OS driver for use with a Motorola PowerPC.RTM. based platform, such as those used in the Apple Macintosh.RTM. platforms. Of course additional processors/platforms could be serviced by other host adapters that are similarly configured with the proper driver stored in ROM 26.
One problem with conventional adapters, such as adapter 16 in FIG. 1b, is that these host adapters are platform specific. This tends to increase compatibility burdens for manufacturers and distributors of host adapters. Additionally, users may be burdened if they are unfortunate enough to have purchased and/or installed the wrong host adapter for their platform. All of this can lead to increased costs, customer discontent and decreased efficiency.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a multiple-platform compatible host adapter that is easy for the user to install, and inexpensive for the manufacturers and distributors to make and sell.

Methods and apparatuses for automatic bank switching in a host adapter memory


A method, system, and apparatus are provided for performing a diagnostic test on one or more managed system elements. The system includes a managed system element upon which the diagnostic test may be performed, a diagnostic setting object, and a diagnostics control module. The diagnostic setting object is derived from an industry-standard diagnostic setting object prototype and includes one or more properties specified by the prototype and a device-specific settings property identifying one or more settings for the diagnostic test specific to the managed system element. The diagnostics control module performs the diagnostic test on the managed system element and customizes the test according to the device-specific settings property in the diagnostic setting object. The diagnostic setting object may also include a precedence property that indicates whether the device-specific settings property should be utilized by the diagnostics control module rather than any default properties specified by the industry-standard diagnostic setting object prototype.

Diagnostic application programs, also called "diagnostics," provide functionality for testing components in a computer system. Typical diagnostics include a console application program that allows a user to control the operation of the diagnostics and one or more diagnostics modules that perform the actual diagnostic tests. Diagnostics modules are available that can test virtually all of the components in a computer system. For instance, diagnostic modules exist for testing the operation of central processing units, main memory, mass storage devices, video cards, input/output devices, network devices, and other components of a computer system.
In the past, console applications from one manufacturer were incompatible with diagnostics modules provided by another manufacturer. Over time, however, standard management platforms evolved that allow, among other things, diagnostic modules and console applications provided by different manufacturers to be used interchangeably. For instance, the Common Diagnostic Model ("CDM") defines standard enabling building blocks that allow "plug-in" diagnostics modules to be integrated with console application programs, also called management applications. This allows management applications to control and execute diagnostics modules meant for different devices, and provided by different manufacturers, over a single, uniform, and consistent interface. The CDM architecture is scalable and applicable to many platforms.
Although standard management, or instrumentation, platforms, such as those implementing CDM, allow greater interoperability between diagnostics modules and management applications, these platforms also have their limitations. In particular, one limitation is caused by the fact that standard management platforms do not allow the use of device-specific diagnostic settings. For instance, under the standard implementation of CDM, a specific block size cannot be supplied for a hard disk drive to be tested. Therefore, the hard disk drive diagnostic test cannot be customized based upon the block size utilized by the hard disk to be tested. Without utilizing device-specific diagnostic settings, standard management platforms cannot test each device completely. Therefore, in light of the above, there is a need for a method, system, and apparatus that allows device-specific diagnostic settings to be utilized by diagnostics operating within an industry standard management platform.

Method, system, and apparatus for utilizing device-specific diagnostic settings within a standard management platform


In syllable or vowel or phone boundary detection during speech, an auditory spectrum may be determined for an input window of sound and one or more multi-scale features may be extracted from the auditory spectrum. Each multi-scale feature can be extracted using a separate two-dimensional spectro-temporal receptive filter. One or more feature maps corresponding to the one or more multi-scale features can be generated and an auditory gist vector can be extracted from each of the one or more feature maps. A cumulative gist vector may be obtained through augmentation of each auditory gist vector extracted from the one or more feature maps. One or more syllable or vowel or phone boundaries in the input window of sound can be detected by mapping the cumulative gist vector to one or more syllable or vowel or phone boundary characteristics using a machine learning algorithm.

Speech recognition systems have become a common form of input for computer systems. A typical speech recognition system captures an audible signal and analyzes for recognizable components of human speech. Segmentation of speech into units, such as phonemes, syllables or vowels, provides information about both phonological and rhythmic aspects of speech. Phonemes (sometimes called phones) are generally regarded as the minimal meaningful phonological segment of speech. Phonemes include vowels and consonants. The term syllable is used to describe a segment of speech consisting of vowels alone or of consonants preceding or following. Usually vowels constitute the syllable nucleus. Detection of phone, vowel, and syllable boundary therefore plays an important role in speech recognition and natural language understanding. In many spoken language processing applications it is useful to determine where a syllable begins and ends within a sample speech signal. Since a spoken syllable typically includes a vowel portion as the syllable nucleus and may or may not include a consonant portion an important key to syllable boundary detection is therefore detection of the vowel and/or vowel boundary within a syllable. A phoneme boundary can be detected after the vowel or syllable boundary is detected by using more traditional features, such as energy, voice probability, zero crossing, spectral change rate at different FFT frequency bin, cepstrum, delta cepstrum, and delta-delta cepstrum, frame based phoneme probability, lip movement by analysis video image of the lips, with or without auditory attention cues. Researchers have found supporting arguments indicating that syllables are one of the most important elements in human speech perception. Segmentation of speech into syllabic units provides insights regarding speech rate, rhythm, prosody, and speech recognition and speech synthesis. A syllable contains a central peak of sonority (syllable nucleus), which is usually a vowel, and the consonants that cluster around this central peak. Most of the work in the literature focuses on syllable nucleus detection since it is more reliable and easier to locate compared to precise syllable boundaries. For syllable nucleus detection, most of the existing methods rely on estimating a one-dimensional continuous curve from extracted short-time acoustic features and performing a peak search on the curve to locate syllable nuclei. Some of the acoustic features that are used to locate syllable nuclei include energy in selected critical bands, linear predictive coding spectra, sub band-based correlation, pitch, voicing, etc. Some examples of state-of-the art work in this field include:
"Robust Speech Rate Estimation for Spontaneous Speech", Dagen Wang and Shrikanth S. Narayanan, in IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUDIO, SPEECH, AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING, VOL. 15, NO. 8, NOVEMBER 2007, pp 2190-2201.
"Segmentation of Speech into Syllable-like units" T. Nagarajan et al, EUROSPEECH 2003—GENEVA, pp 2893-2896.
"Speech rhythm guided syllable nuclei detection", Y. Zhang and J. Glass, Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, pp 3797-3800, Taipei, Taiwan April 2009.
Usually these traditional methods require tuning lots of parameters, which is not desirable since it makes it hard to use them for different settings or conditions; i.e. new data, new conditions such as speaking style, noise conditions etc. In addition, the traditional methods usually focus on vague syllable nuclei detection
It is within this context that embodiments of the present invention arise.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Speech syllable/vowel/phone boundary detection using auditory attention cues


A tri-value decoder and method for decoding at least three states of an input signal are provided. An exemplary tri-value decoder and method can facilitate decoding of input signals without the use of threshold values and/or forcing a tri-state input signal to a mid-rail value for tri-state detection, and with less dependence on variations in product, process and temperature. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, an exemplary tri-value decoder circuit comprises a switch circuit, a feedback loop and a sequence detector. An exemplary switch circuit is configured to facilitate sampling of a tri-state input signal through control by the feedback loop, with the sequence detector configured for decoding the tri-state input signal into a two-bit digital signal by detecting at least two samples of the tri-state input signal during a sampling period.

The continued demand for improved digital systems for use in a variety of electronic systems and products has resulted in more stringent requirements for such digital systems. For example, modern digital systems must have increased flexibility and reliability, and are expected to require lower power supply levels and higher noise margins. The number of available terminal pins on a digital chip or device often limits the functionality of digital systems. In typical digital systems, each signal pin represents two logical values, namely a logical "0" value and logical "1" value. For increased functionality, a high-impedance state or tri-state assigned a logical value "Z" is introduced, requiring the use of tri-state decoder circuits for the detection of such "Z" value states.
Existing tri-state decoder circuits generally rely on the use of two threshold values, forcing a tri-state input signal to a mid-rail value, and comparing the tri-state input signal to the two threshold values. For example, with reference to FIG. 1, a prior art tri-state decoder circuit 100 comprises a pair of input buffers BUF2 and BUF1 and a digital conditioning circuit 102. Input buffers BUF2 and BUF1 are configured for receiving a tri-state input signal at input pin SIGNALIN, coupled between a resistor divider circuit and between a positive rail supply VDD and ground GND, and for providing an upper and lower threshold respectively, e.g., 0.7 of VDD and 0.3 of VDD. Digital conditioning circuit 102 is configured to receive output signals N2 and N1 from input buffers BUF2 and BUF1 and for providing output signals OUT2 and OUT1. With reference to FIG. 2, another example of an existing tri-state decoder circuit 200 is illustrated. Decoder circuit 200 is similar to decoder circuit 100 except having input buffers BUF2 and BUF1 being replaced with comparators COMP2 and COMP1, respectively, and further configured with a reference divider circuit comprising resistors R3, R4 and R5. The reference divider circuit is configured for generating the upper and lower threshold values, e.g., 0.7 of VDD and 0.3 of VDD.
In both decoder circuits 100 and 200, the values selected for the mid-rail value (VDD/2), and the two threshold values require high precision for correct functionality. For example, with reference to FIG. 3, a diagram illustrating detection margins for facilitating comparison and detection of a tri-state input signal at input pin SIGNALIN demonstrates that the margin for variation for the mid-rail value VDD/2 (representative of the "Z" state) is relatively small compared to the margins for the upper and lower threshold values, requiring higher precision. The precision is affected by the matching of the various components, as well as process, temperature and power supply variations. For example, resistor mismatch, comparator offset and other like impairments can make high precision difficult to obtain. Further, as the power supply is scaled down for lower power applications, the threshold values and corresponding margins further shrink, requiring even higher precision.


A wireless access point and multiple wireless terminals exchange utilization, status, mobility and reception characteristics. Each wireless terminal generates reception characteristics based on transmissions received from the wireless access point and from other devices in the network. In one operating mode, the characteristics gathered by the wireless devices are forwarded to the wireless access point, and, based on all received characteristics, the wireless access point selects a client device for the relay of communications between itself and another client device. In another mode of operation, the access point selects a relay proxy on a transmission by transmission basis. In response to a request, a servicing client device repeats intercepted transmissions sent by a client device and intended for the access point.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to communication monitoring and relay operations by wireless communication devices within such wireless communication systems.
2. Related Art
Wireless communication systems are known to support wireless communications between wireless communication devices affiliated with the system. Such wireless communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of wireless communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more standards. Such wireless communication standards include, but are not limited to IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), wireless application protocols (WAP), local multi-point distribution services (LMDS), multi-channel multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
An IEEE 802.11 compliant wireless communication system includes a plurality of client devices (e.g., laptops, personal computers, personal digital assistants, etc., coupled to a station) that communicate over a wireless link with one or more access points. The transmitting device (e.g., a client device or access point) transmits at a fixed power level regardless of the distance between the transmitting device and a targeted device (e.g., station or access point). Typically, the closer the transmitting device is to the targeted device, the less error there will be in the reception of the transmitted signal. However, as is generally understood in the art, wireless transmissions may include some error and still provide an accurate transmission. Thus, transmitting at power levels that provide too few errors is energy inefficient. But, transmitting at too high a power may interfere with other access points and/or client devices in the proximate area.
As is also generally understood in the art, many wireless communications systems employ a carrier-sense multiple access (CSMA) protocol that allows multiple communication devices to share the same radio spectrum. Before a wireless communication device transmits, it "listens" to the wireless link to determine if the spectrum is in use by another station to avoid a potential data collision. At lower received power levels, this protocol can lead to a hidden terminal problem when two devices, generally spaced far apart, are both trying to communication with a third device in the middle. While the device in the middle can "hear" the two devices on the periphery, these two devices cannot hear one another—potentially creating data collisions with simultaneous transmissions destined for the middle device.
Additional operational difficulties relate to client devices that operate on the fringe of the coverage area of the access point. During some operations, the access point and client device may adequately communicate but during other operations the same access point client device may not adequately communicate, resulting in loss of service, multiple retransmissions, and other degradation of service quality for not only the inaccessible client device but for other client devices as well.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the present invention.

Cell network selectively applying proxy mode to minimize power


A therefor method of manufacturing tuning circuits for constituting a high frequency channel selecting circuit for a radio receiver. The method can eliminate the complicated coil inductance adjustment for tracking on the circuit board, so that the circuit elements can be arranged freely without any interference between the tuning circuits. The variable capacitance diodes (D1, D2; D3, D4; D5, D6) and fixed capacitances (C1; C4; C7) are classified; a fixed capacitance is selected according to a ranking of capacitance value of the variable capacitance diodes, to obtain a variable capacitance range or a ratio (C.sub.max /C.sub.min) determined for each tuning circuit; and the inductance of a coil (L1; L2; L3) of each tuning circuit is adjusted in such a way that tracking error can be eliminated on the basis of one common tuning voltage, before the tuning circuits are mounted on the circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high frequency channel selecting circuit for a radio receiver and a method of manufacturing three tuning circuits for constituting the selecting circuit. This method is particularly suitable for a radio receiver, because inductance adjustment for tracking effected on a circuit board can be eliminated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a radio receiver of electronic tuning system, a high frequency channel selecting circuit is composed of an antenna tuning circuit, a high frequency tuning circuit and a local oscillation tuning circuit, and each tuning circuit is formed usually by use of a coil, two variable capacitance diodes, and a capacitor.
Therefore, when the channel selecting circuit as described above is formed on a circuit board of a radio receiver by use of discrete circuit elements, the inductance of each coil for forming each tuning circuit is previously adjusted at a central position of the variable range, and further, after the discrete circuit elements have been all mounted on the circuit board, the tracking adjustment is effected again.
In this tracking adjustment, the inductance of an oscillation coil is adjusted in such a way that a lower limit oscillation frequency of the local oscillation tuning circuit can be obtained at the lower limit tuning voltage of the variable capacitance diode and further, after that, the inductances of the antenna tuning circuit and the high frequency tuning circuit are both adjusted in such a way that the audio output can be maximized at a frequency referred to as a tracking point on the low band side of the received frequencies.
Further, there exists such a case that trimmer capacitors of both the antenna tuning circuit and the high frequency tuning circuits are adjusted in such a way that the audio output can be maximized at a high band side tacking point.
When the channel selecting circuit is formed on the circuit board by use of discrete circuit elements as described above, the three coils of the three tuning circuits must be adjusted three times or more at different frequencies respectively, in addition to the coil adjustments effected before the coils are mounted on the circuit board.
Therefore, when the trimmer capacitors are additionally adjusted, since the trimmer capacitors must be adjusted reciprocatingly between the low band side tracking point and the high band side tracking point, the coil inductances must be adjusted on the circuit board as large as seven to nine times.
In order to reduce the number of times of adjustments of the circuit elements on the circuit board, the antenna tuning circuit, the high frequency tuning circuit and the local oscillation tuning circuit are sometimes all assembled as a single block, and the tracking adjustment is effected under the same conditions as being mounted on the circuit board of the radio receiver, in order to eliminate the adjustment on the circuit board.
However, when the entire channel selecting circuit is assembled as a block, since the number of circuit elements to be assembled in the block increases and thereby since the circuit board on which the number of the circuit elements to be connected in the block increases, the cost of the selecting circuit is inevitably costly.
In addition, since the antenna tuning circuit, the high frequency tuning circuit and the local oscillation tuning circuit are all arranged close to each other on the circuit board, when the radio frequency becomes high as with the case of an FM radio receiver, the influence of radiation from the local oscillation tuning circuit becomes serious. Therefore, in order to prevent the mutual interference between the tuning circuits within the block, the circuit must be designed carefully, under due consideration of various restrictions in arrangement of the circuit elements and the wiring pattern.

High frequency channel selecting circuit for radio receiver and method of manufacturing tuning circuits therefor


A network switch provides an in-vehicle network, and includes a switch IC having multiple ports and a microcomputer. The switch IC includes: L2 and L3 receivers; first and second memories for storing MAC address and routing tables, respectively; and L2 and L3 processors. The L2 receiver determines whether a destination MAC address in a frame is a network switch address. The L2 processor determines a port corresponding to the destination MAC address based on the MAC address table when the destination MAC address is not the network switch address. The L3 receiver determines whether a transmission source IP address is registered in the routing table when the destination MAC address is the network switch address. The L3 processor determines an output port and another destination MAC address of a forwarding destination based on the routing table and a destination IP address when the transmission source IP address is registered.

In-vehicle networks require real-time capability. For this reason, Ethernet (registered trademark) capable of higher speed communication than CAN (registered trademark) or LIN is considered as a communication standard. In the case of Ethernet, a network switch is provided between nodes, and Ethernet frames are transferred through the network switch.
Such a network switch includes a switch IC and a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer). Further, the microcomputer executes IP routing operation by software control.


Arrays of distinct chemically reactive materials used for assaying or screening are assembled by arranging premanufactured strips, each having a linear array of chemically reactive materials on its surface, into a frame to be exposed to a substance to be analyzed. The strips provide great flexibility in generating different types of arrays while still permitting efficiencies to be gained by batch processing of each strip type. The arrays further provide for novel read-out and reaction promotion techniques making use of the ability of the strips to direct and received energy to and from particular sites.

The present invention relates to devices for screening attributes of chemical compounds, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for flexibly producing arrays of different chemically active substances for large scale chemical screening and assaying.
The analysis of chemical substances (e.g., nucleotide sequences) may be facilitated by the preparation of an array having many different chemical compounds (sampling compounds) placed at known sites. Each sampling compound selectively bonds with a different substance that may be part of the material to be analyzed. The sampling compounds are arranged in a regular pattern of array elements over the plane of the array.
In the field of genetic research, the sampling compounds may be different oligonucleotides at least one of which is expected to hybridize with portions of a genetic material to be tested. Fluorescent or radioactive markers bonded to the genetic material to be tested, or other well-known techniques, may be used to determine the location of the hybridizations, and from these locations (and a map of known locations of the sample oligonucleotides in the planar array), information about the make-up or other attributes of the genetic material may be determined.
A number of different methods have been used to create such arrays of different sampling compounds. In one sequential method, different sampling compounds are synthesized and placed in different wells of a microtiter place. The sampling compounds are then transferred from a microtiter plate to one or more array substrates by a robotically controlled dipping stick immersed first in a sampling compound then touched to different elements of the array where that sampling compound is to be located. In the case where the sampling compounds are oligonucleotides, the components are nucleic acids generated by using PCR and suitable templates.
A variation on this system, particularly useful in the generation of oligonucleotides, employs an ink jet-type process similar to that used in standard commercial printers to build up the sampling compounds, one component at a time, through layers laid down on particular elements of the array in a spatially controlled manner. For oligonucleotides, the process cycles through each of the four nucleic acids so that arbitrary oligonucleotides may be formed at the different array elements.
An alternative approach that processes many elements in parallel creates a series of masks, for example, using photolithographic techniques, where the masks have openings over specified array elements where a component is to be deposited. After each mask is in place, the desired component is washed over the mask and attaches only to those array elements corresponding to an open mask position. The mask is then removed and a new mask laid in place and this process repeated with a different component, for example, a different nucleic acid.
The laborious process of generating, applying and removing masks may be eliminated through the use photo-activation techniques in which the constituent components to be applied to array elements are suffused at the surface of the array and selective array elements irradiated with light to bond the components only at the illuminated elements. Mirror systems using micro-machined mirrors to direct intense light selectively to different portions in the array provide simultaneous processing of many array elements.
While this last technique eliminates the need for mask generation, constraints in maximum light flux that can be controlled, limit the speed at which arrays may be formed. Generally, mask techniques will be used when large numbers of a given type of array must be produced and sequential or mask-less photo activation techniques will be used for limited productions of different types of arrays.
A tradeoff between the speed of manufacturing the arrays and flexibility in manufacturing arrays of different types is provided by forming the different sampling compounds of an array on small beads. Those beads having a given sampling compound may be manufactured using parallel processing techniques. Later, beads with different sampling compounds are mechanically assembled into arrays using robotic manipulation or the like.
It is in this latter stage of manipulating the beads into usable arrays, that the shortcoming of using beads becomes most pronounced, and that causes, as a practical matter, the use of beads in manufacturing planar arrays, to be limited.

Chemical screening system using strip arrays


The present application is directed to an apparatus and method of managing transport of fluid commodities in a pipeline network. The method includes obtaining operational settings, which include equipment settings and measured parameters, associated with a pipeline network as a fluid commodity is transported through the pipeline network. From the operational settings, a recommendation is generated concurrently with the transport of the fluid commodity through the pipeline network to optimize at least one of the operational settings. The recommendation comprises revised equipment settings associated with equipment disposed along the pipeline network. The equipment settings in the recommendation may be based on empirical data from previous experience with the transport of fluid commodities through the pipeline network and/or based on theoretical data from modeling of the transport of the fluid commodity through the pipeline network.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of the art, which may be associated with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with information to facilitate a better understanding of particular techniques of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
Pipeline networks or fluid transportation assemblies are utilized as an efficient method for transporting fluid commodities from one location to another. These fluid commodities may include liquid commodities, such as hydrocarbons, heavy crude oils, lighter crude oils and/or refined products, such as diesel, gasoline, aviation fuel and kerosene. In addition, the fluid commodities may include gaseous commodities or two-phase commodities, such as ethane, for example. The pipeline networks may include various tubular members or pipeline segments coupled together with equipment in pump stations. The pump stations typically include one or more pumps, sensors (e.g. meters, transmitters or gauges) and/or flow control devices, for example. The pipeline networks provide an efficient mechanism for transporting the fluid commodities from one location to another. For instance, the pipeline network may provide a flow path from an oilfield production tree to a surface facility and/or storage facility. In another example, a pipeline network may transport fluid commodities from a refinery and/or storage facility to distribution locations for customers.
Because of the distances between the commodity staging locations, such as oilfield production trees and distribution locations, the pipeline networks typically span long distances (e.g. Interstate and Intrastate). To manage the pipeline networks efficiently, pipeline networks are typically operated from a central control center manned on a 24-hour basis by operators who monitor various operational settings associated with the transport of fluid commodities through the pipeline network. The operational settings may include equipment settings (e.g. equipment status, etc.) and measured parameters (e.g. pressure, temperature, flow rate, etc.). These operational settings are transmitted from the remote field locations (e.g. pump stations) back to the control center. The operational settings are typically stored and displayed by a computer-based system, such as a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) unit). The operator may issue operational instructions that are converted by the SCADA unit into equipment settings and transmitted to the equipment at the remote field locations. Through the SCADA unit, the operators in the control center are able to monitor and manage the flow of fluid commodities through the pipeline networks.
However, the equipment in the pipeline networks may be set to a variety of different configurations that result in pipeline flow rate regimes for a given set of operational settings or conditions. That is, many different configurations of equipment settings may provide a desired flow rate. Yet, only one of the configurations is more efficient or optimized in comparison to the others. The operation of the pipeline networks is further compounded because operators typically monitor and manage multiple pipeline networks. With operator-to-operator response variations based on experience, training and other operator specific factors, the pipeline networks are generally operated at less than optimal, or, in a non-optimized configuration. As a result, the pipeline networks may experience reduced flow rates, excessive power losses across pipelines' valves, less than optimal variable frequency drive (VFD) settings and over/under-injection of drag-reducing agents (DRAs).
Other techniques have a limited ability to establish and sustain optimum conditions in the pipeline networks. Typically, other techniques, such as hydraulic modeling, model fluid commodities through simulators prior to the transport of the fluid commodities through the pipeline network. These simulations utilize conservation of mass, energy and flow equations to represent the fluid commodities. However, these techniques do not use real-time operational settings, empirical data and/or historical data from previous operational settings to operate the pipeline networks. Further, these other techniques do not provide recommendations concurrently with the transport of fluid commodities through the pipeline network (e.g. an online real-time expert PL control system that is integral to console operations and the SCADA system).
Accordingly, for any desired pipeline flow rate and a given set of operational settings, a mechanism, such as an empirically based expert pipeline control system, for providing the operator with an efficient or optimal configuration is needed. This mechanism may also automatically update certain settings, such as DRA, VFD, draw valves, etc., to maintain efficient operation of the pipeline.
Other related material may be found in at least U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,693; U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,195; U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,444; U.S. Pat. No. 6,961,753; and U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2005/0166961 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,787. In addition, further additional related material may be found in Sybille Handley-Schachler et al., "New Mathematical Techniques for the Optimisation of Oil and Gas Production System," SPE European Petroleum Conference Oct. 24-25, 2000, Paper No. 65161-MA; Nestor Martinez-Romero et al., "Natural Gas Network Optimization and Sensibility Analysis," SPE International Petroleum Conference and Exhibition in Mexico, Feb. 10-12 2002, Paper No. 74384-MS; M. K. Lane et al., Special Session: Energy Bridge LNG Projects: Technology Innovation to Date and Into the Future," OTC 018397, 2006; and Mike Chunn et al. "Case History: New Gas Flow Computer Design Facilities Offshore Measurement in Gulf Coast Project," OTC 008798, 1998.

Method and apparatus for enhancing operation of a fluid transport pipeline

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


Transmitters, receivers, and methods for providing improved transmit diversity orthogonal frequency division multiplexed communication systems is provided.

The present disclosure relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to transmission diversity in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems.
Demand for wireless digital communication and data processing systems is on the rise. Inherent in most digital communication channels are errors introduced when transferring frames, packets or cells containing data over a channel that has some characteristics. Such errors are often caused by interference or thermal noise. The bit error rates of wireless transmission systems pose certain difficulties in designing encoding and decoding schemes for data to be transmitted via such systems. Partly because of its mathematical tractability and partly because of its application to a broad class of physical communication channels, the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) model is often used to characterize the noise in most communication channels.
One type of wireless communication system is an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) system. OFDM is a multi-carrier modulation technique that partitions the overall system bandwidth into multiple (N) orthogonal frequency subcarriers. These subcarriers may also be called tones, bins, and frequency channels. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Up to N modulation symbols may be sent on the N total subcarriers in each OFDM symbol period. These modulation symbols are converted to the time-domain with an N-point inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a transformed symbol that contains N time-domain chips or samples.
To improve transmission diversity, space-time block coding in each of the two transmission paths has been developed, as described in Alamouti, "Space-Time Block Coding, A Simple Transmit Diversity Technique for Wireless Communications", IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Volume 16, pp. 1451-1458, October 1998, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The channel is assumed to be time/frequency invariant (flat) and is further assumed to remain constant over at least two consecutive symbols.
In accordance with the transmission scheme described in Alamouti, the original symbol sequence x(n) is divided into blocks of two consecutive symbols xk(n) and xk+1(n). In Alamouti every pair of symbols is subsequently mapped according to the following:
                                          [                                                                                x                    k                                                                                x                                          k                      +                      1                                                                                ]                    ⇒                      [                                                                                x                    k                                                                                -                                          x                                              k                        +                        1                                                                                x                                          k                      +                      1                                        *                                                                                x                    k                    *                                                                        ]                          =        ℵ                            (        1.1        )            where for simplicity, time-index n is not included in expression (1.1)
Symbols xk and xk+1* are transmitted at time k respectively from the first and second transmit antennas. Symbols −xk+1 and xk* are transmitted at time k+1 respectively from the first and second transmit antennas. The corresponding received signal rk, rk+1 at times k and k+1 are defined by the following expressions:rk=xkh1+xk+1*h2+nk rk+1=−xk+1h1+xk*h2+nk+1  (1.2)where h1 and h2 respectively represent the channels associated with the first and second transmission paths, and are further assumed to be constant over two symbol periods. The received signals rk, rk+1 may be written as follows:
                                                                                r                  k                                                                  •                                                        [                                                                                r                            k                                                                                r                                                          k                              +                              1                                                        *                                                                                ]                                                              =                                                                    [                                                                                h                            1                                                                                -                                                          h                              2                                                                                h                            2                            *                                                                                h                            1                            *                                                                                ]                                                                          [                                                                                x                            k                                                                                x                                                          k                              +                              1                                                                                ]                                                  +                                  [                                                                                n                          k                                                                                n                                                      k                            +                            1                                                    *                                                                                ]                                                                                =                                                H                  ·                                                            x                      ~                                        k                                                  +                                                      n                    ~                                    k                                                                                (        1.3        )
It is understood that the channel matrix H is orthogonal and that an optimum receiver for this transmit diversity scheme multiplies rk by H*, which is the matched filter receiver, to get two decision statistics for xk and xk+1, i.e., to recover the transmitted symbols. Using this method, a diversity order of two is achieved at a receiver with a single receive antenna.
The method described above may be adapted for use in OFDM systems by replacing the time-domain computations with frequency-domain computations. Assume Xn and Xn+1 are two OFDM symbols to be transmitted on sub-carriers n and n+1 in an OFDM system. In addition, for each transmit antenna m assume the channel remains constant over two consecutive sub-carriers. That isHm,n≈Hm,n+1=Hm  (1.4)
By replacing the time-domain computations with frequency-domain computations, the received signal vector corresponding to sub-carriers n and n+1 may be written as:
                                          R            k                                          •                                      [                                                                                R                      k                                                                                R                                              k                        +                        1                                            *                                                                                ]                                      =                                            [                                                                                H                      1                                                                                -                                              H                        2                                                                                H                      2                      *                                                                                H                      1                      *                                                                                ]                                                  [                                                                                X                      k                                                                                X                                              k                        +                        1                                            *                                                                                ]                                +                      [                                                                                V                    k                                                                                V                                          k                      +                      1                                        *                                                                        ]                                              (        1.5        )            thus achieving a diversity of 2.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a portion of an OFDM transmitter 10 described above. Each OFDM symbol of size N is divided into N/2 groups of symbol pairs [Xn Xn+1]. Each such pair of symbols is then encoded by the space-frequency encoder 12 to generate two different pairs of symbols [Xn−Xn+1] and [Xn+1* Xn*]. Symbol pairs [Xn−Xn+1] are grouped into an N—symbol vector that is supplied to an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) 18 block, which in response, generates an associated time-domain vector x1 that is transmitted from antenna 14. Similarly, symbol pairs [Xn+1*, Xn*] are grouped into another N—symbol vector that is supplied to IFFT 20 block, which in response, generates an associated time-domain vector x2 that is transmitted from antenna 16.
As is seen from FIG. 1 and described above, the space-frequency encoding is performed on the input symbols, i.e., in the frequency domain. Accordingly, space-encoder 12 is required to generate two different streams and hence two separate IFFT blocks 18, 20, each associated with a different transmit antenna, are required for every transmitted OFDM symbol.

Space-time block coding in orthogonal frequency division communication systems


A system including wireless tags that transmit information from fixed locations to nearby wireless tag readers possessed by moving persons also includes a wireless tag status inference apparatus to which the wireless tag readers send identifying information received from the wireless tags. The wireless tag status inference apparatus logs the information received from the wireless tag readers, and compares the logged information with a stored list of installed wireless tags to identify suspected inoperable wireless tags. Wireless tags requiring replacement or repair can thereby be identified promptly and inexpensively, without the need to dispatch personnel on periodic inspection tours of all areas in which the wireless tags are installed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for reading wireless tags, and to an apparatus, system, and program for inferring the status of the wireless tags.
2. Description of the Related Art
The technology of placing wireless tags in roadways and other public facilities to provide location-specific information to moving persons has reached the initial stage of deployment. In a system described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-165825 and illustrated in the block diagram in FIG. 1, for example, wireless tags are embedded in guidance blocks provided in paved walkways to aid visually impaired pedestrians. The pedestrian has a wireless tag reader 20 including an electronic cane operable to communicate with the wireless tags 1301 and a data communication device operable to communicate with a guidance information database 1303 disposed at a central site. When the pedestrian's electronic cane reads an identification number from a wireless tag 1301, the data communication device queries the guidance information database 1303 to obtain corresponding information, which is provided to the pedestrian by audible means.
In an intelligent traffic system described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-293348, wireless tags are embedded in roads to assist drivers of motor vehicles. A wireless tag reader mounted in a vehicle reads information stored in the wireless tags as the vehicle speeds past, and advises the driver about road conditions ahead.
Since the wireless tags in these and other such systems are generally installed in heavily trafficked outdoor locations, they are subject to wear and tear and are exposed to the elements. These factors can cause tags to malfunction, denying needed information to the user. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-230109 therefore proposes an inspection system in which a vehicle equipped with wireless tag communication equipment is driven over a course along which wireless tags are installed to determine the operational status of the tags.
The proposed inspection system is labor-intensive, however, as it requires inspection personnel to operate the vehicle and tour all sites where wireless tags are installed. Since labor-intensive inspection tours tend not to be made at frequent intervals, the proposed system is also slow in identifying inoperable tags.

Wireless tag reader and wireless tag status inference apparatus, system, and program


A method of generating a data block for performing a polling procedure in a wireless communication system, a method of transmitting data and a method of performing a polling procedure are disclosed. A protocol layer performs the polling procedure for requesting a receiving side to transmit status report if there are no data to be transmitted to the receiving side in both a transmission buffer and a retransmission buffer. When determining whether there are no data to be transmitted to the receiving side in the retransmission buffer, it is preferable that a data block for which retransmission request information is not received from the receiving side is excluded.

Various types of data retransmission methods can be used to ensure certainty of data transmission to a receiving side in a wireless communication system. Particularly, the need to use a retransmission method increases when the receiving side should necessarily receive non-real time packet data such as signaling data or TCP/IP data.
An example of the data transmission method used in the wireless communication system will be described as follows. The receiving side transmits a status report to a transmitting side to report that at least one or more data blocks transmitted from the transmitting side have been successfully received. The transmitting side retransmits data blocks that the receiving side has failed to receive, to the receiving side using the status report. For application of the retransmission method, data which have been transmitted once should be stored in a buffer for a certain time period without discard. Accordingly, a transmission buffer and a retransmission buffer are required, wherein data which have never been transmitted to the receiving side are stored in the transmission buffer and data which have been transmitted to the receiving side but need to be on standby for retransmission are stored in the retransmission buffer.
The transmitting side can request the receiving side to transmit the status report. This procedure is referred to as a polling procedure. If the status report transmitted from the receiving side is lost during transmission or the receiving side does not transmit the status report to the transmitting side timely, the transmitting side can perform the polling procedure. Alternatively, the transmitting side can perform the polling procedure periodically.

Method of performing polling procedure in a wireless communication system


A semiconductor thin-film and method for producing a semiconductor thin-films comprising a metallic salt, an ionic compound in a non-aqueous solution mixed with a solvent and processing the stacked layer in chalcogen that results in a CZTS/CZTSS thin films that may be deposited on a substrate is disclosed.

Photovoltaic (PV) solar electric technology will be a significant contributor to world energy supplies when reliable, efficient PV power products are manufactured in large volumes at low cost. A promising pathway to reducing PV cost is the use of thin-film technologies in which thin layers of photoactive materials are deposited inexpensively on large-area substrates. The primary chalcogenide semiconductor absorber materials currently used for thin-film PV device applications are Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and CdTe. Despite the promise of these technologies, the toxicity of Cd and supply limitations for In and Te are projected to limit the production capacity of these existing chalcogen-based technologies to less than 100 Global Warming Potential (GWP) per year. This represents a small fraction of the world's growing energy needs, which are expected to double to 27 Terrawat by 2050.
The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tools and methods that are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope. In various embodiments, one or more of the above-described problems have been reduced or eliminated, while other embodiments are directed to other improvements.

Fabrication of ionic liquid electrodeposited Cu—Sn—Zn—S—Se thin films and method of making


An electronic circuit device includes a lower-side substrate formed with a main circuit; an upper-side substrate formed with a drive control circuit that drivingly controls the main circuit; a support body positionally fixed above the lower-side substrate with resin in a hardened state; and a case having a peripheral portion with an outer surface that has at least a portion of an external lead-out terminal of the drive control circuit and the main circuit thereon, and a substrate storage space that accommodates the lower-side substrate on a side inward from the peripheral portion.

The present application relates to an electronic circuit device and a manufacturing method for such an electronic circuit device.
There exists an electronic circuit device that is an inverter module for drivingly controlling an electric motor. In the inverter module, a power circuit mounted with a power semiconductor element serves as the main circuit. A drive control circuit is also provided for the purpose of executing a drive control with respect to the main circuit.
There exists an inverter module that includes the main circuit and the drive control circuit that vertically overlap a substrate formed with the main circuit and a substrate formed with the drive control circuit, thus making the module more compact. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-164500 aims to resolve problems involved in disposing this type of substrate in an overlapping manner. Namely, according to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-164500, by giving a drive control circuit print board on the upper-side substrate a C shape, an inverter module with better ease of assembly and higher reliability can be achieved at a lower cost.
In the inverter module described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-164500, an insulated substrate mounted with a power semiconductor element and a case with at least a portion of an external lead-out terminal on a peripheral portion thereof are positionally fixed on a metal base plate for heat radiation. A drive control substrate is further positionally fixed there above.
A peripheral portion of the power semiconductor is filled with a gel-like substance such as silicon gel. The purpose of this type of gel is mainly to fill the peripheral portion of the lower-side substrate and a clearance between the lower-side substrate and the upper-side substrate.
Meanwhile, the upper-side substrate avoids the lower-side substrate by using a support body on a metal base plate. In the examples disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-164500, a relay terminal block in a first embodiment (FIG. 1 in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-164500), a support block in a second embodiment (FIG. 2(b) in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-164500), and a support block in a third embodiment (FIG. 3(b) in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-164500) are positionally fixed on the upper-side substrate.

Electric circuit device and the manufacturing method

Fuji Electric Device Technology Co., Ltd.