A seismic actuator for initiating various actions and/or changes to a system in response to seismic activity above a predetermined threshold level. In an embodiment of the invention, the actuator comprises a seismic valve for shutting off gas flow through a pipe upon seismic activity above a predetermined threshold level, and for resetting the valve to reestablish gas flow through the pipe. The seismic valve according to embodiments of the present invention may be seated within a pipe in any orientation. The valve includes a stopper capable of alternatively allowing and blocking gas flow, a locking ball capable of restraining the stopper in a position allowing gas flow, and a plunger for securing the locking ball in a location where the ball restrains the stopper in the position allowing gas flow. The valve further includes a pendulum adjacent to the plunger. During seismic activity, the pendulum swings, thereby moving the plunger to a location where the locking ball does not restrain the stopper in the position allowing gas flow. When not restrained by the locking ball, the stopper moves to the position blocking gas flow. Embodiments of the valve further include a system for manually resetting of the valve without opening the valve or pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seismic actuator, and in particular to a device capable of initiating various actions and/or changes to a system in response to seismic activity above a predetermined threshold level.
2. Description of Related Art
A significant source of damage during earthquakes are fires caused by the rapture of natural gas lines due to the seismic activity. Natural gas is widely used in residential homes for heating and cooking due to its convenience, cleanliness and efficiency. However, natural gas is highly flammable and fires resulting from gas escaping a ruptured gas line during an earthquake can often cause more damage than the seismic shockwaves themselves.
In order to prevent fires from ruptured gas lines during an earthquake, several devices have been developed for automatically shutting off the flow of gas within a gas line upon seismic activity above a threshold level. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,147 to Diamond discloses a shock-activated valve including a valve assembly and a pendulum and ball detent assembly. The valve assembly includes a handle biased via a spring from an open position where gas is allowed to flow to a closed position where gas flow is shut off. The handle is held in the open position by engagement with a ball protruding out of the top of the pendulum and ball detent assembly. The ball is held in engagement with the handle by resting on top of an upper portion of a pendulum. During seismic activity, the pendulum swings thereby allowing the ball to drop within the assembly. Once the ball disengages from the handle, the handle is free to swing to the closed position to shut off gas flow.
Another example of a seismic valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,780 to Fisher, which shows a pendulum having a trigger portion with a flat upper surface normally parallel to a lower surface of an activator. During seismic activity, the pendulum swings thereby causing the flat upper surface of the trigger to raise up, contact, and lift the activator. The activator normally holds a control lever in an open position. Upon the activator being raised, the control lever is free to swing closed due to the biasing force of a spring, to thereby shut off gas flow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,124 to Sunde discloses a disk mounted on a stem within a gas flow tube. The disk is biased via a spring into a position over a port which would block gas flow. The disk and stem are held in an open position via a pivoting rod. Upon seismic activity, the pivoting rod pivots, thereby freeing the stem and disk to move downward over the port to shut off gas flow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,074 to Hanson discloses a spool member within a gas flow line. The spool member is biased via a spring into a position blocking gas flow, but is held in an open position via a trigger assembly. Upon seismic activity, a pendulum oscillates such that a flange of the pendulum engages the trigger assembly to move the trigger assembly downward, thus freeing the spool member to move to a position to shut off gas flow.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,993 to MacNeilage discloses a pendulum having an upper end including a recess which engages an arm. The arm is biased into a position which would shut off gas flow, but is held in an open position by the recess in the upper end of the pendulum. Upon seismic activity, the recess disengages from the arm so that the arm swings to the position where gas flow is shut off.
Several other patents disclose gravity-based shut off valves where a ball covers a valve, or otherwise causes a valve to close, upon the ball being unseated from its support position by seismic activity, and falling to a lower potential energy state. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,831 to Pazmany; U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,832 to Plemmons et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,252 to Perle. Still other patents disclose seismic valves including magnetically held objects, which objects fall into a position blocking gas flow upon the object being shaken loose from the magnet due to seismic activity. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,657 to Kovacs and U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,025 to Morris.
Some references further disclose a reset mechanism for resetting the valve after the valve moves to a position blocking gas flow. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,832 to Plemmons et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,252 to Perle; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,505 to Nowell.


One embodiment of a beach umbrella comprises a telescopic shank and a folding radial frame including ribs each including a first segment, a second segment, and a hinge pivotably interconnecting the segments, and spreaders each having one end pivotably connected to the first segment and the other end pivotably connected to a ring on the shank. The segments are substantially parallel in response to folding the hinges. The shank includes an upper support tube, a lower sliding tube adapted to slide in the support tube, and a rotatable locking device fixedly provided on a top of the sliding tube. The sliding tube is adapted to manually raise or lower to a plurality of vertical positions relative to the support tube, and the sliding tube is adapted to be locked in a selected one of the vertical positions.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to beach umbrellas and more particularly to such a beach umbrella having advantages of having a minimum space after folding and being capable of carry out a segment-less length adjustment of shank.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a beach umbrella is simply an enlargement of an umbrella available in the market. The beach umbrella comprises a folding radial frame, a canopy stretched over the frame, and a threadedly connected shank having a pointed end adapted to insert into sand for fastening.
However, the prior beach umbrella suffered from several disadvantages. For example, segments of the shank are detachable. Thus, persons tend to forget to bring one or more shank segments after folding same and leaving beach. Further, segment-less adjustment of length of the shank is not provided. Thus, some people may not satisfy with the length adjustment feature. Furthermore the shank has a large diameter and a thick wall. Thus, a retraction mechanism as implemented in prior umbrella shank with a small diameter and a thin wall is not applicable for the beach umbrella. In addition, no hinge is provided in the rib. Thus, storage reduction of the beach umbrella is limited after folding.
Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. 110,544 (publication No. 270295) discloses a beach umbrella frame comprising a cylindrical shank having a bottom extension, a plurality of ribs each including three segments, a plurality of spreaders each including two segments, a first hinge pivotably interconnecting first and second rib segments, and a second hinge pivotably interconnecting second and third segments. The storage reduction of the folded beach umbrella is somewhat improved and it is easy to carry after folding.
Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. 98,904 (publication No. 241469) discloses a fastening mechanism for beach umbrella. It is characterized in that the shank segments are threadedly secured together, and each rib including a first segment, a second segment, and a hinge pivotably interconnecting first and second segments. In a fully stretched position of the umbrella, the ribs are fastened by the hinges.
However, both patents still have the problems of people tending to forget to bring one or more shank segments after folding same and leaving beach, the length adjustment feature of the shank being unsatisfactory, and limited storage reduction after folding. As mentioned above, both of their rib and hinge between each two interconnecting segments are made of metal. The hinge between two segments of rib is secured by rivet. The rivet fastening is a time consuming and a low yield process, the quality of the joint is not reliable, for example caused by rust, will cause jam of an umbrella. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.


An implantable cochlear electrode array includes an electrode carrier, a groove within the electrode carrier, and a flexible element located in the groove. After the electrode array is implanted, the flexible element may be held in place while the electrode carrier may be partially withdrawn so that the electrode carrier pulls away from the flexible element which emerges from the groove through the surface of the electrode carrier, except where the electrode carrier and the flexible element are attached, so that the electrode carrier wraps around an inner scala tympani wall. A portion of the apical end of the electrode carrier may extend beyond the ends of the groove and the flexible element so that the apical end of the electrode carrier does not wrap around the inner scala tympani wall when the electrode carrier is partially withdrawn after insertion in the cochlea. The electrode carrier may include a perimodiolar section to be positioned next to an inner scala tympani wall of the cochlea, and an outer wall section to be positioned next to an outer scala tympani wall of the cochlea. The perimodiolar section may be shorter than the outer wall section to accommodate the real length difference between the inner and outer walls of the scala tympani of a cochlea. Preferred embodiments are also directed to a method of fabricating a such a cochlear electrode array by negative casting, and to a method of implanting such a cochlear electrode array.

Sounds are transmitted through the outer ear to the eardrum which moves the bones of the middle ear and excites the cochlea. The cochlea is a long narrow duct wound spirally about its axis for approximately two and a half turns. The fluid filled cochlea transmits mechanical sound waves in response to received sounds and in cooperation with the cochlear duct, functions as a transducer to generate electric impulses which are transmitted to the cochlear nerves and thence to the brain.
Profoundly deaf patients have lost the ability to transduce the outer mechanical sound wave into meaningful action potentials along the neural substrate of the cochlea. In persons with total sensorineural hearing loss, therefore, the cochlea does not respond to sound waves to generate electrical signals for transmission to the cochlear nerves. An auditory prosthesis for the deaf requires a suitable stimulation electrode capable of stimulating the auditory nerves. A cochlear implant is a neural prosthesis designed to permanently restore the sensation of sound in profoundly and severely deaf patients, including children.
The interface between the prosthesis and the auditory nerve consists of an electrode carrier inserted into the fluid filled scala tympani region of the cochlea. The scala tympani fluid is highly conductive to electrical current. The anatomy of the scala tympani is that of an upright spiraling cone with an inner wall and an outer wall. The center of the spiral is called the modiolar. The modiolar is where the spiral ganglion cells reside. Cochlear prostheses attempt to stimulate the spiral ganglion cells directly with small currents delivered by a multitude of electrodes regularly distributed along the carrier. The stimulating current is synchronized with the environmental sound via complex input output functions and digital signal processing.
The distance between the excitable spiral ganglion cells and their axons, and the electrode carrier is relatively large, up to 2 mm at the basal end of the cochlea. This distance becomes significant as it causes the threshold and maximum currents responsible for the stimulation to be relatively high. Furthermore, with increasing distance, the potential field generated by adjacent electrodes may stimulate an overlapping population of nerve cells, particularly at higher currents. The spatial selectivity of each electrode is reduced. The dynamic range is also lower. The power consumption of the implanted prosthesis is higher.
Fundamental features of a cochlear implant electrode array carrier must include attributes that allow the carrier to be easily implantable, explantable, reimplantable, and biocompatible. In addition, as very delicate tissues line the scala tympani, the insertion process must prove to be as atraumatic as possible. Finally, a last requisite for a perimodiolar electrode involves the device's ability to hug the modiolus whether the array is fully inserted or not despite the unique geometry of the individuals inner ear canal.
Several methods have been proposed to attempt a displacement or an initial positioning of the cochlear implants proximal to the auditory nerve cells. One manufacturer has routinely implanted a space filling, pre-curved electrode introduced with an insertion tool has been routinely implanted by one manufacturer. Unfortunately, the results of this placement have failed to provide a viable option as the electrode, positioned somewhat between the inner and outer wall of the scala tympani, does not establish adequate contact. Theoretical or experimental devices have been proposed based on 1) a bilaminar array with half of the carrier made of a material which can absorb liquid and increases in length (differential expansion may cause the array to curve in an unpredictable manner), 2) an array with an external and parallel polymer forward positioning, 3) an array with a shape memory nitinol core, 4) a preshaped array made straight with bioresorbable material, and 5) an array with active positioning through the passage of current into a nitinol wire. In vitro and in vivo data concerning the placement of the electrode array in such proposed devices is sketchy or absent. In some cases, the insertion and displacement trauma is estimated unacceptable.
The arduous task of displacing a non-space-filling electrode array from the lateral to medial wall of the scala tympani is compounded by the fact that the inner and outer wall of the scala tympani are respectively 40 and 18 mm long. If the array is fully inserted along the outer wall (about 31 mm for a 0.5 mm diameter electrode), then the process of the array hugging the modiolus, is not a simple radial translation from the lateral wall to the medial wall. Movement of the array from the outer wall to the inner wall principally involves a longitudinal displacement of all points on the array in the axial direction of the scala tympani, and from the apical to basal end. A significant length of the electrode array has to be forced out of the scala tympani. If the array is partially inserted along the outer wall, then the process of the array hugging the modiolus may be either a forward or backward displacement of the array. In the case of a forward displacement, because of the spiraling shape of the cochlea, the necessary longitudinal displacement of points on the array to go from the outer wall to the inner wall increases with distance down the scala tympani.
For example, a point located against the lateral wall 12 mm into the scala tympani has to travel up to a point radially facing the 23 mm outer wall mark to embrace the inner wall of the cochlea. The amount of forward displacement increases linearly from base to apex. Furthermore, points located on the first turn past the 12 mm mark on the outer wall, have to move around the narrowing corner to the second turn of the cochlea to hug the inner wall.

Apparatus and method for perimodiolar cochlear implant with retro-positioning

Med-El- Elektromedizinische Gerate G.m.b.H.


A data processing system including a data generating device and a data outputting device. The data generating device includes: a generation program updating section for updating the version of the generation program, which causing a computer to generate data, from a current version to a next version. The data outputting device includes: a receiving section for receiving data from the data generating devices, a data accumulating section for accumulating data received at the receiving section; an outputting section for processing and outputting data in the data accumulating section in accordance with the output program executed by the computer; an output program updating section for updating the version of the output program from a current version to a next version; a compatibility determining section for determining the compatibility between the next-version output program and data in the data accumulating section before the output program is updated; and a controlling section for determining an operation to perform on data in the data accumulating section based on the result of the determination by the compatibility determining section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processing system including a data generating device for generating data and a data outputting device connected to the aforementioned device through a transferring section for outputting data, a data generating device and a data outputting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are devices and systems which generate, process and output data, wherein plural processes for generating data to outputting data are executed through a plurality of data processing sections or a plurality of devices. Further, some of these devices or systems are configured such that at least sections of the respective processes are executed by computers, programs enabling the computers to execute the processes are distributed among the plurality of data processing sections or devices and stored in their respective storage devices, and these programs are individually updated (version-updated). An example of such a data processing system is a print-data processing system constituted by a printer driver and a printer. The purposes of version updating are addition of new functions after the releases of programs, enhancement of functions, enhancement of performance, repairs of malfunctions found after release.
A first point to be noted in updating the versions is that, when updating of the versions involves changes in the functions supported by the respective data processing sections, the supported functions must be compatible throughout the processes for generating data to for outputting data. If functions required for data processing are not supported at some processes or the version compatibility is lost due to updating of the versions, this may make it impossible to normally output data. Regarding this, there is known a method in which a printer driver acquires the version of a control program for a printer device which outputs data, and only functions supported by both the printer driver and the printer control program are displayed on a user interface of the printer driver while functions which are not supported by them are not displayed on the user interface (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2003-216375).
Further, there is known a method in which a printer driver and a printer include a common color module and they are brought into synchronization with each other such that the versions of their programs are compatible (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2004-126965).
When programs are version-updated in the aforementioned data processing system, in the case where the respective processes for generating, processing and outputting data are to be successively executed in the system, the version updating may be performed after all the data processing in the system has been completed. Thereafter, data is generated and processed by the version-updated programs with maintained compatibility. However, there are aspects where data is accumulated once in the system and the accumulated data is output when necessary, depending on the system or data.
For example, in an aspect, in the case where the data processing system is constituted by the aforementioned printer driver and the printer, print data is accumulated in the printer and the accumulated data is output when a command is newly generated.
In such a system, if the programs are version-updated when data is still accumulated, the programs are version-updated halfway through the processes for generating to outputting the aforementioned data and therefore the version compatibility among the programs for processing data can not be maintained, thus preventing data from being normally output. Conventionally, such inconvenience has been avoided by human care. Namely, operational contrivances have been utilized as follows. For example, a person in charge of program-version-updating (for example, a field engineer or a system administrator) provides a notification to a user of the system in a suitable spare moment, then the user who received the notification outputs accumulated data during this moment and then the person in charge of version-updating conducts version-updating after the accumulated data in the system is removed. However, if the number of devices connected to a network increases with advancing popularization of the network, this will increase the difficulty of concurrently updating the versions and also increase the frequency of version updating, thus increasing the burden of the administration. There is a need for systems capable of treating data such that inconvenience caused by version updating can be avoided, by taking account of accumulated data.

Data processing system, data generating device and data outputting device


Disclosed is an electric power steering apparatus for a vehicle. The electric power steering apparatus for the vehicle has a structure in which a motor shaft, an input shaft, a pinion shaft, and the like are coaxially disposed to improve a structure of a conventional art in which an electric motor is essentially exposed, so as to prevent interference with other structures, thereby forming a layout of the steering apparatus to be compact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric power steering apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly to an electric power steering apparatus for a vehicle, which has a structure in that a motor shaft, an input shaft, a pinion shaft, and the like, are coaxially disposed to improve a structure of a conventional electric power steering in which an electric motor is essentially exposed, so as to prevent interference with the other structures, thereby forming a layout of the electric power steering apparatus to be compact, and in which, although a first ring gear and a second ring gear have different number of gear teeth, identical planetary gears are tooth-engaged with the first and second ring gears, thereby improving convenience for assembling of the planetary gear assembly and obtaining a large gear reduction ratio.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a structure of a conventional electric power steering apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional electric power steering apparatus 100 for the vehicle includes a steering system extending from a steering wheel 101 to both wheels 108, and an auxiliary power mechanism 120 for supplying an auxiliary steering force to the steering system.
The steering system includes a steering shaft 102, which has one end thereof connected to the steering wheel 101 and the other end thereof connected to a driving shaft by means of a universal joint 103.
The driving shaft includes an input shaft 104 connected to the steering shaft 102, and a pinion shaft 106 connected to the input shaft 104 by means of a torsion bar (not shown), and having a pinion gear 111 mounted on a lower end thereof.
The pinion gear 111 mounted on the pinion shaft 106 is tooth-engaged with a rack gear 112 formed on an outer peripheral surface of a rack bar 109, and the rack bar 109 has both ends connected to wheels 108 of the vehicle through tie rods 151 and knuckle arms 153, respectively.
The auxiliary power mechanism 120 includes a torque sensor 125 for detecting a torque generated at the input shaft 104 as a driver rotates the steering wheel 101 and outputting an electric signal proportional to the detected torque, an electric control unit (ECU) 123 for generating a control signal based on an electric signal transmitted from the torque sensor 125, an electric motor 130 for generating an auxiliary power based on a control signal transferred from the electric control unit 123, and worm 141 and worm wheel 143 for transferring an auxiliary power from the electric motor 130 to the pinion shaft 106.
However, in the conventional electric power steering apparatus for the vehicle, the electric motor, the worm, the worm wheel, and the like, are used to construct a reducer of the auxiliary power mechanism. In this structure, the electric motor is essentially exposed when they are mounted on the vehicle, and causes interference with other structures. Accordingly, there is a disadvantageous in the layout.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electric power steering apparatus for vehicle


A communication device operating in time division duplex (TDD) mode using multiple antennas is provided herein. The communication device uses receive channel estimation measurements to perform transmit beamforming and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission, based on self-calibration of the various up/down paths via a method of transmission and reception between its own antennas, thus achieving reciprocity mapping between up and down links. Either user equipment (UE) or a base station may routinely perform this self-calibration to obtain the most current correction factor for the channel reciprocity to reflect the most current operating conditions present during TDD MIMO operation.

Prior to setting forth a short discussion of the related art, it may be helpful to set forth definitions of certain terms that will be used hereinafter.
The term "MIMO" as used herein, is defined as the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to improve communication performance. MIMO offers significant increases in data throughput and link range without additional bandwidth or increased transmit power. It achieves this goal by spreading the transmit power over the antennas to achieve spatial multiplexing that improves the spectral efficiency (more bits per second per Hz of bandwidth) or to achieve a diversity gain that improves the link reliability (reduced fading), or increased antenna directivity.
The term "TDD" (Time Division Duplex) as used herein, is defined as the use of the same or a single channel (e.g., the same or overlapping frequency spectrum) for both downlink and uplink transmissions. For example, TDD communication, e.g., between a mobile device and a base station, may periodically alternate between uplink transmissions (e.g. from the mobile device to a base station for a predetermined uplink interval or period, such as, 5 milliseconds (ms)) and downlink transmissions (e.g. from a base station to a mobile device or UE for a predetermined downlink period, such as, 5 ms). The base station typically coordinates the alternating timing between uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) transmissions.
The term "beamforming" sometimes referred to as "spatial filtering" as used herein, is a signal processing technique used in antenna arrays for directional signal transmission or reception. This is achieved by combining elements in the array in such a way that signals at particular angles experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. Beamforming can be used at both the transmitting and receiving ends in order to achieve spatial selectivity.
The term "beamformer" as used herein refers to RF circuitry that implements beamforming and usually includes a combiner and may further include switches, controllable phase shifters, and in some cases amplifiers and/or attenuators.
A transmitter in a MIMO system requires channel state information (CSI) so that a set of precoded weights can be set to the multiple data streams of the transmitter, in order to exploit the channels for the multiple spatial channel transmission. Typically, the receiver can feed the CSI or even the preferred pre-coding matrix (index) back to the transmitter. These feedbacks can consume some available bandwidth of the transmission in the opposite direction and reduce the data throughput. If transmission in both directions operate in the same spectrum, like in the case of time division duplex (TDD) systems, the channels through the air are reversible and the channel information can be estimated by the receive device and then applied to the transmit device.
However, a complete transmission channel should be from the transmitter baseband to the receiver baseband, which includes various components inside the transmitter (e.g., DAC, up converter, power amplifier, filter) and receiver (e.g., duplexer, LNA, down converter, filter, ADC). The transmission path and receive path may thus experience very different gain/loss and delays behavior, due to the different components used in both paths. Channel reciprocity without considering the different delay and gain/loss factors between the transmit/receive paths are therefore not valid and may not be accurate enough for the use by devices in TDD MIMO systems. These parameters can also be factory calibrated. One important element that jeopardizes reciprocity is antennas, which project slightly different radiation patterns at Up and Down Links, due to differences in the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) in both directions. Antenna VSWR cannot be practically calibrated in the factory, due to the cost of such procedures.
In beamforming applications there are benefits in using uplink signals' channel estimation for downlink beamforming, i.e. for establishment of calculated reciprocity A method and apparatus for self-calibration of the transmitter and receiver paths is disclosed herein (between base band and transmit/receive antennas) of a MIMO device to obtain the precise channel reciprocity information necessary for improving the (TDD) MIMO systems.

Transmitter and receiver calibration for obtaining the channel reciprocity for time division duplex MIMO systems


A process for producing an amorphous alloy material characterized by imparting ductility to an amorphous alloy having a supercooled liquid region by giving a prescribed amount of strain at a prescribed strain rate to the alloy in the glass transition temperature region of the alloy. The amorphous alloy may be in the form of spherical or irregular-shaped powders or thin ribbons or in the form of primary consolidated shapes thereof or an amorphous alloy casting. The amount of strain and strain rate are preferably 50% or greater and 2.times.10.sup.-2 /sec or higher, respectively, and the worked amorphous alloy material is preferably allowed to cool in a furnace or spontaneously. Suitable examples of the amorphous alloy to be employed include Al-TM-Ln, Mg-TM-Ln, Zr-TM-Al and Hf-TM-Al alloys, wherein TM is a transition metal element and Ln is a rare earth metal element. The thus obtained amorphous alloy is greatly improved in the prevention of embrittlement in hot working peculiar to the alloy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing an amorphous alloy material which is improved in the prevention of embrittlement peculiar to an amorphous alloy when the amorphous alloy material is subjected to a prolonged thermal history in a high-temperature working.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present inventors invented an Al-TM-Ln alloy and Mg-TM-Ln alloy (wherein TM is a transition metal element or the like and Ln is a rare earth metal element or the like) as light-weight high-strength amorphous alloys and applied for a patent as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 275732/1989 and 10041/1991, respectively. In addition, they also invented an Al-TM-Ln alloy and a Zr-TM-Al alloy as high-strength amorphous alloys having excellent workability and applied for a patent as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 36243/1991 and 158446/1991, respectively.
Having high strength and high corrosion resistance, each of the above alloys shows glass transition behavior and possesses a supercooled liquid region, and therefore exhibits favorable workability at a temperature within or around the above region. Moreover, the above alloys that are obtained as powder or thin ribbon can be easily subjected to consolidation forming, and further made into amorphous bulk materials by casting, and are also excellent alloys exhibiting favorable workability at a temperature within or around the supercooled liquid region.
However, when the amorphous alloy is held in the above-mentioned supercooled liquid region for a long time, it begins to be transformed to its crystalline form, thus restricting the time for working such as consolidation forming and work forming. As the countermeasure against the restriction, there is available a method in which consolidation forming and work forming are carried out at the glass transition temperature or lower. As is the case with the general amorphous alloys, the aforestated alloy, when heated to a temperature immediately below the glass transition temperature, suddenly loses the ductility peculiar to the amorphous alloys and is inevitably embrittled. Accordingly, the amorphous alloy subjected to consolidation forming or rework forming at a high temperature still involves the problem of failure to sufficiently exhibit the inherent characteristics thereof.
The present inventors have found that the ductility of the alloy is restored by a two-step treatment which comprises holding the alloy in the supercooled liquid region (glass transition temperature region) after working immediately below the glass transition temperature and subsequently quenching the alloy for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problem, and applied for a patent on the basis of the aforesaid finding. Thereafter, they have further found out a method which can dispense with the quenching after the second stage heat treatment. The present invention has been accomplished on the basis of the above finding.
It has already been known that in general an amorphous alloy is embrittled when heated to a high temperature around the glass transition temperature thereof even if the temperature is lower than the crystallization temperature thereof.
The above phenomenon is attributable to the structural change into a more stable atomic arrangement in spite of its amorphousness and generally relates to structural relaxation. In the above structural relaxation a reversible reaction and an irreversible reaction are mixed with each other, of which the reversible reaction is cancelled by rapid heating to a high temperature. However, the abovementioned phenomenon takes place in an extremely short time and successively brings about further structural relaxation at another temperature. Consequently it is impossible to prevent the structural relaxation of an amorphous alloy by reheating alone, thus making it difficult to avoid such structural relaxation.

Process for producing amorphous alloy material

11-806, Kawauchijutaku, Mubanchi, Kawauchi


An elevatable conveyor section having a base, a conveying element for supporting articles to be conveyed and scissors-linkage. The scissors-linkage has first ends connected with respect to first ends of the base and conveying element and second ends connected with respect to second ends of the base and conveying element. A lift has a linearly moving component connected to a perimeter of the conveying element. The lift is operated to selectively move the moving component and the attached conveying element up and down.

Ongoing efforts to increase the efficiency and output of production operations have resulted in a continuing focus on how materials are moved with respect to the operations being performed. Often materials are moved on conveyors between operating stations. While conveyors are very useful in facilitating the automation of a manufacturing facility, conveyors do have a disadvantage of consuming significant floor space. Further, conveying materials up and down to different elevations requires even more floor space. For example, inclined conveyors are used to move material to different elevations. Inclined conveyors can take the form of linear or spiral conveyors, and both devices consume significant floor space area. Therefore, the floor space requirements of current conveyor devices limit potential benefits and economies in a production facility design. For example, they limit how existing conveyors at different elevations are to be interconnected. Further, they limit the potential benefit of attempting to stack conveyors at different elevations to provide more floor space for processing equipment.
As an alternative to the above, it is known to mount a roller conveyor top onto a stationary lift table. While such lift tables have an advantage of reducing the floor space consumed in order to move a conveyor section between elevations, there are limitations to their application. For example, known lift tables have the lifting device, for example, a cylinder located beneath the lift table and connected to the scissors-linkage. Such a construction often limits the minimum height of the assembly comprised of the lift table and the roller conveyor top.
Consequently, there is a need for a material handling system that does not have the limitations and disadvantages of known inclined conveyor devices for moving materials between different elevations.


A high-efficiency blade for a lawn maintenance tool includes a central axis and a mounting portion located on the central axis. The high-efficiency blade includes a cutting blade and a cutting blade sharpened leading edge. A cleaning blade is vertically offset from the cutting blade and is configured to mulch the associated clippings from vegetation and reduce an associated accumulation of clippings on an underside of an associated mower deck. The lawn maintenance tool can also include a deck having a separation distance between the cleaning blade and an underside of the deck. The deck can include an elevation change to vary the separation distance. The deck and high-efficiency blade can also include a forward or rearward tilt.

Typical walk-behind lawn mowers and riding mowers utilize an engine or other power supply to rotate one or more mower blades. The mower blades are typically formed by stamping a thick metal sheet in order to form an elongated metal blade. These thick, heavy blades rotate at high speeds, which requires significant torque to maintain such high rotational speeds of the blade(s). As a result, large engines—typically in the form of a combustion engine—are attached to a mower deck or a mower frame, and these large engines are needed to produce the high torque requirements for rotating the heavy blades. Thus, improvements are desired to reduce the noise level of lawn mower power sources and provide relatively high-efficiency blades to reduce the amount of energy needed to rotate the blade.

High-efficiency lawn maintenance tool and high-efficiency cutting blade


A system for mounting a covering for an architectural opening in the architectural opening includes a bracket in which an edge of the headrail for the covering can be inserted and a releasable locking system operative with a slide member to securely lock the headrail to the bracket in one position and allow the headrail to be easily removed from the bracket in a different position of the slide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coverings for architectural openings such as window shades, window blinds and the like, and more particularly to a system for mounting the headrail of such a covering in the frame of an architectural opening.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Coverings for architectural openings include products such as venetian blinds, retractable roller shades, collapsible shades, and the like. Such coverings typically include a headrail in which the remainder of the covering can be confined in a retracted position of the covering. The headrail is typically mounted to the framework of an architectural opening such as a window, door, archway, or the like and brackets are typically secured to the framework which are releasably connectable to the headrail to facilitate mounting and removal of the headrail. Systems are normally employed for releasably attaching the headrail to the brackets so that the headrail is not inadvertently released from the brackets, but so the headrail can be relatively easily removed from the brackets for cleaning purposes or the like.
Considerable thought is given to such systems for mounting coverings for architectural openings and it is to further the development of that art that the present invention has been made.


Acetylenes and dienes in a stream containing hydrogen, methane, C2-C6 olefins and paraffins, C2-C6 acetylenes and dienes, benzene, toluene, xylenes, and other C6+ components are hydrogenated in a downflow boiling point reactor wherein the heat of reaction is absorbed by the liquid in the reactor which produces a vapor. Besides the feed to the reactor there is a recirculating stream which is fed at a rate sufficient to ensure that the catalyst particles within the reactor are wetted. A third stream, which is provided from a second downstream liquid/vapor separator from partially condensed vapor from the first downstream liquid/vapor separator corresponding to the mass evaporated in the reactor, is fed to the reactor. The composition of the third stream controls the steady state composition of the liquid flowing through the reactor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved process for selectively hydrogenating acetylenes and dienes in a hydrocarbon stream in a downflow boiling point reactor.
2. Related Information
The vapor product stream from the quench system of a hydrocarbon steam cracker typically consists mainly of hydrogen, methane, C2-C6 olefins and paraffins, C2-C6 acetylenes and dienes, benzene, toluene, xylenes, and other C6+ components. Separation and recovery of the products according to carbon number is generally accomplished in a sequential distillation system after the first separation of hydrogen from the methane in a high pressure cold box system. The design of the distillation system is complicated by the fact that the differences in relative volatility of the olefins, acetylenes, and dienes of the same carbon number are small making it difficult to produce the pure olefin products. One method of circumventing this problem is to first separate the carbon number fractions and then to selectively hydrotreat each fraction to convert the acetylene and/or diene to its corresponding olefin or paraffin. This so called "back end" approach requires a separate hydrotreating system for each carbon number fraction as well as the addition of a requisite amount of hydrogen to each system. An alternative method is to hydrotreat the feed stream before separation using the contained hydrogen as the source of hydrogen for the conversion. This so-called "front end" approach has the advantage of removing a significant portion of the hydrogen from the feed stream to the cold box thereby reducing the size and refrigeration requirements of the cold box.
U.S. Patent Publication 2003-0233017-A1 (Dec. 18, 2003) discloses a method to maintain mixed phase flow and temperature control through the downflow boiling point reactor by removing a relative large liquid stream enriched in C6+ components from a C5/C6 splitter and feeding it to the reactor together with the net vapor feed and reactor liquid recycle stream whereby the C6+ components are returned to the splitter in the vapor fraction from the reactor vapor/liquid separation drum.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the withdrawal and return of the C6+ components from the C5/C6 splitter is eliminated. It is a further advantage that a smaller C5/C6 splitter and associated reboilers and condensers are required.

Method of operating downflow boiling point reactors in the selective hydrogenation of acetylenes and dienes


Adsorbent compositions for vapor-phase adsorption processes, which are selective for para-xylene. Such compositions can be used in gas-phase adsorption processes for the separation of para-xylene or the separation of para-xylene and ethylbenzene from mixed xylenes or a C8 aromatic mixture, respectively. The adsorbent compositions generally comprise materials of a molecular sieve material and a binder, wherein the adsorbent composition has a macropore volume of at least about 0.20 cc/g and a mesopore volume of less than about 0.20 cc/g.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to adsorbent compositions, and in particular to adsorbent compositions which are selective for para-xylene and are useful for vapor-phase adsorption processes.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
Hydrocarbon mixtures or fractions containing C8+ aromatics are often by-products of certain oil refinery processes including, but not limited to, catalytic reforming processes. These hydrocarbon mixtures typically contain up to about 30 weight percent (wt. %) C9+ aromatics, up to about 10 wt. % non-aromatics, up to about 50 wt. % ethylbenzene, with the balance (e.g., up to about 100 wt. %) being a mixture of xylene isomers. Most commonly present among the C8 aromatics are ethylbenzene ("EB"), and xylene isomers, including meta-xylene ("mX"), ortho-xylene ("oX"), and para-xylene ("pX"). Typically, when present among the C8 aromatics, ethylbenzene is present in a concentration of up to about 20 wt. % based on the total weight of the C8 aromatics. The three xylene isomers typically comprise the remainder of the C8 aromatics, and are typically present at an equilibrium weight ratio of about 1:2:1 (oX:mX:pX, respectively). Thus, as used herein, the term "equilibrated mixture of xylene isomers" refers to a mixture containing the isomers in the weight ratio of about 1:2:1 (oX:mX:pX).
Efficient separation of the C8 aromatics fraction into its individual constituents is of interest because the individual, isolated C8 aromatic constituents are useful commodity chemicals. For example, ethylbenzene is useful in making styrenes; meta-xylene is useful in making isophthalic acids; ortho-xylene is useful in making phthalic anhydrides; and, para-xylene is useful for making terephthalic acids, which are useful for the synthesis of many commercially important resins, including polyesters such as polybutene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene terephthalate.
However, simply separating the C8 aromatics made available from a particular source may not provide sufficient quantities of a desired C8 aromatic constituent to meet market requirements. For example, it is generally desirable to increase or maximize para-xylene production from a particular C8 aromatic mixture because there is generally a higher demand for para-xylene when compared with the other C8 aromatic constituents. Thus, separation of para-xylene is often coupled with isomerization of the remaining stream containing the meta- and ortho-xylene isomers to convert a portion of the meta- and ortho-xylene isomers to the desired para-xylene by reestablishing the equilibrium between the xylene isomers. Conventional C8 aromatic separation methods may further include a method for the conversion of ethylbenzene into benzene, which can be more easily separated from the xylene isomers by distillation.
Typically, such a hydrocarbon mixture is passed through a separation or fractionation column to remove higher boiling C9+ hydrocarbons. A second, lower-boiling fraction can be, removed from a preceding or subsequent column so that the remaining fraction is predominantly a C8 aromatic hydrocarbon mixture.
In general, para-xylene is recovered by subjecting the C8 aromatic mixture to one or more separation steps. Performing fractional distillation on the C8 aromatic mixture is impractical because ethylbenzene, meta-xylene, ortho-xylene, and para-xylene have similar boiling points (falling between about 136° C. and about 144° C.). Thus, separation of para-xylene is generally done by crystallization and/or liquid-phase adsorption chromatography.
Crystallization processes exploit the differences in freezing or crystallization temperatures of the various xylenes—para-xylene crystallizes at about 13.3° C. while ortho-xylene and meta-xylene crystallize at about −25.2° C. and about −47.9° C., respectively. In the physical system of the three xylene isomers, there are two binary eutectics of importance: the para-xylene/meta-xylene binary eutectic and the para-xylene/ortho-xylene binary eutectic. As para-xylene crystallizes from the mixture, the remaining mixture approaches one of these binary eutectics, depending upon the starting composition of the mixture. Therefore, in commercial-scale processes, para-xylene is crystallized such that the binary eutectics are approached—but not reached—to avoid co-crystallization of the other xylene isomers, which would lower the purity of the obtained para-xylene. Because of these binary eutectics, the amount of para-xylene recoverable per pass through a crystallization process is generally no greater than about 65% of the amount of para-xylene present in the stream fed to the crystallization unit. Furthermore, crystallization can be very expensive because the various xylene isomers crystallize at very low temperatures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,060 to Swift (Jul. 12, 1994) discloses increasing recovery of para-xylene by separating the xylene isomers in an adsorption step prior to crystallization. Swift discloses that liquid phase adsorption is preferred because of the reduced temperature requirements and decreased opportunities for side reaction. In the adsorption step, a crystalline zeolitic aluminosilicate adsorbent having a silicon to aluminum ratio between about two and about six selectively adsorbs meta-xylene and ortho-xylene (or alternatively para-xylene) to provide a para-xylene-enriched stream, which is subsequently directed to a crystallization apparatus. The para-xylene lean stream is generally pressurized and reacted in the presence of an isomerization catalyst to obtain an equilibrated mixture of xylene isomers, which can then be recycled to the liquid adsorber.
Liquid-phase adsorption chromatography refers to chromatographic processes in which a mixture comes into contact with a stationary phase and a liquid mobile phase. Separation of the mixture components occurs because of the differences in affinity of the components for the stationary and mobile phases of the chromatographic system. Liquid-phase adsorption chromatographic separations are typically batch processes. Simulated moving bed adsorption chromatography (SiMBAC) is a continuous operation that utilizes the same principles to achieve separation. SiMBAC, however, has its limits and is expensive to operate because it requires an internal recycle of large volume(s) of various hydrocarbon desorbent material(s). Additionally, the effluent streams from the adsorption step must be separated from the desirable products in downstream distillation steps. Thus, conventional liquid-phase adsorption chromatographic processes are disadvantageous because of significant capital and energy costs.
It has been found that the foregoing crystallization and SiMBAC steps can be made more attractive if the feedstock(s) for those steps were reformulated to contain a higher-than-equilibrium concentration of para-xylene. Higher-than-equilibrium concentrations of para-xylene may be obtained by selective toluene disproportionation as described in, for example, International (PCT) Publication Nos. WO 00/69796 (Nov. 23, 2000) and WO 93/17987 (Sep. 16, 1993).
Additionally, crystallization and SiMBAC steps can be designed and operated to concentrate para-xylene streams for subsequent purification steps. However, such concentration steps typically suffer from many (or all) of the disadvantages previously discussed with respect to crystallization and SiMBAC processes.
Feedstocks with higher-than-equilibrium para-xylene concentrations may also be produced by vapor-phase adsorption processes, including pressure swing adsorption ("PSA") processes. PSA processes have been widely practiced for the separation of gases, such as, air into nitrogen and oxygen, removal of water from air, and hydrogen purification, and are generally described in Ralph T. Yang, "Gas Separation by Adsorption Processes," pp. 237–274 (Butterworth Publishers, Boston, 1987) (TP242.Y36). PSA processes generally use a solid adsorbent that preferentially adsorbs some components from a mixture over other components in the mixture. Typically, the total pressure of the system is reduced to recover the adsorbate. In contrast, partial pressure swing adsorption (PPSA) operates at a substantially non-decreasing pressure and uses an inert gas, such as hydrogen or nitrogen, to purge or sweep the adsorbate from the adsorbent. Thus, PPSA processes are based on swings in "partial" pressure, rather than lowering the total unit pressure, as is traditionally practiced with PSA processes. Thermal swing adsorption (TSA) processes are gas-phase adsorption processes, wherein the adsorbate is recovered by raising the temperature of the adsorbent bed. Typically, adsorbate recovery is accomplished by purging the bed with a preheated gas.
Chinese Patent Publication No. 1,136,549 A (Nov. 27, 1996) to Long et al. discloses a method of producing para-xylene by passing a gaseous C8 hydrocarbon mixture through an adsorption bed containing an adsorbent that is selective for para-xylene and ethylbenzene to obtain, after suitable desorption, a stream containing meta-and ortho-xylenes and a stream containing para-xylene and ethylbenzene. The adsorption is carried out at a temperature between 140° C. and 370° C., a pressure between atmospheric pressure and 300 kilopascals (kPa), and using a Mobil-5 (MFI) type molecular sieve adsorbent, including ZSM-5 (available from ExxonMobil Chemicals), ferrierite, and silicalite-1 zeolite molecular sieves, and in particular, binder-free silicalite-1 zeolite molecular sieves. The desorption of the para-xylene and ethylbenzene can be carried out with an aqueous vapor desorbent at a temperature within the same range of the adsorption, and at a pressure between atmospheric and 1000 kPa. Alternatively, the desorption can be carried out without a desorbent, and accomplished by mere decompression at a pressure between 1 kPa and 4 kPa.

Para-xylene selective adsorbent compositions and methods


A multilevel phase change memory element and operating method and electrodes, which are configured in a parallel structure to form a memory cell. A voltage-drive mode is employed to control and drive the memory element such that multilevel memory states may be achieved by imposing different voltage levels. The provided multilevel phase-change memory element has more bits and higher capacity than that of a memory element with a single phase-change layer.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory element with a multi-level memory state.
2. Related Art
Memory is widely used in general electric devices. Most are DRAM, SRAM, or Flash memory. Application and architecture of electric devices determine the usage of the memory and the required capacity. Development of memory technology, such as FeRAM, MRAM and phase change memory technology, is ongoing.
A phase change semiconductor memory element stores data through resistance variation caused by phase change of materials. Regarding the phase materials, in the 1960s, S. R. Ovshinsky of the U.S. company ECD discovered that crystallization and amorphization of chalcogenide has a distinct difference in optics and electrical conductivity. It is capable of fast reversible transformation and has switching/memory application.
A phase change memory element is called a semiconductor memory because chalcogenide belongs to the VIA group in the Periodic Table Of Elements, and is a semiconductive material between metals and nonmetals. Adding some elements is required for specific purposes in practical use, for example, increasing amorphization/crystallization speed, or crystallization characteristics.
Phase change memories meet the need for large and fast storage operations and long storage time. It has the advantages of small volume, more storage data, and fast operation speed, and may store data more than ten years under 130° C. Therefore, a phase change memory element is a non-volatile memory element with great potential, having high read/write speed, high integrity, long endurance, low power consumption, and radiation hardness. Main technology trends focuses on higher record density and low power consumption through reducing memory cells.
However, besides increasing the memory density by reducing the area, multi-level/multi-state memory is another consideration. Thus, a single memory cell may have more than two memory states in the condition of not changing the component size.
In the related art, Tyler Lowrey (Ovonyx Inc.) provides a multi-state structure in a published company technology document. A memory cell with a single phase change layer is employed to obtain multi levels with different resistant values by controlling the reset current. However, the solution may have the problem of small current separation such that writing error occurs due to the current offset.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,635,914 discloses a four level memory cell that belongs to the category of Programmable Metallization Cell Memory (PMCm). The cell is composed of a solid electrolyte layer and two electrodes. The conductivity of the solid electrolyte layer is changed by delivering an electrical field by the electrodes.
Phase change memory, MRAM, and FRAM are the main memory technology trends, which have the advantages of being non-volatile, high speed (close to the operation speed of DRAM and SRAM), large capacity, high integrity, high environment endurance, long storage time, etc. Furthermore, operation voltage is decreasing gradually. These memories may substitute Flash memory in the near future. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a new phase change memory element structure.

Multilevel phase-change memory element and operating method


Layer-3 communication, within a sub-network using a common forwarding agent's sub-network interface and without layer-2 communication, is enabled by a network device configured with the MAC address of the forwarding agent. The network device intercepts an ARP request from a sending device intended for a receiving device. The network device sends an ARP reply containing the MAC address of the forwarding agent to the sending device. The forwarding agent receives the ARP reply and forwards data-packets received from the sending device to the receiving device through layer-3.

Conventional communication systems connect thousands of personal computers (PCs) and other network devices adapted to communicate using the open system interconnection (OSI) model. Often, a smaller number of computers are linked to form a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN). LANs, WANs, and other networks are generally referred to as sub-networks. One larger communication network is the Internet, which interconnects millions of computers, LANs, WANs and other sub-networks.
To communicate between devices within a sub-network, a sending device (e.g., computer) may send an address resolution protocol (ARP) request to the sub-network to find a destination device (e.g., computer). ARP is the process of mapping a network address to a media access control (MAC) address. The ARP request is broadcast to the sub-network. The ARP request is received and processed by all sub-network devices; but only the intended destination device replies. In response to the ARP request from the sending device, the destination device sends an ARP reply to the sending device. The ARP reply from the destination device contains the MAC address of the destination device and Internet protocol (IP) network address. The sending device receives the ARP reply containing the destination device MAC address. Through network protocols, the sending device parses the ARP reply and determines the destination MAC and IP address. With knowledge of the destinations MAC and IP addresses, the sending device transmits data-packets of information directly to the destination device.
As members of a sub-network communicate, network protocols enable MAC addresses of other members on the same sub-network to become known. Unfortunately, knowledge of MAC addresses enables "looking" into, or manipulating, another member computer, or computer files. For example, a sub-network member can be disguised as another member in order to intercept data-packets (i.e., "spoofing"). Therefore, the current OSI model and use of ARP allows for direct communication between members of a sub-network at the expense of sub-network privacy. Accordingly, it is desirable for sub-network members to communicate while enabling sub-network privacy.

Method and apparatus for sub-network devices without direct layer-2 communication and coupled to a common forwarding agent interface to communicate through layer-3


A system that supports multi-stage transactions through the use of biometric tokens, such as fingerprint images or iris scans. A user pre-stages a transaction by providing transaction details that can be used a later time to complete the transaction, and the system stores the transaction details in a transaction record that is identified by a biometric token captured from the user. In some systems, the biometric token is captured as part of the pre-staging process. In other systems, the biometric token is retrieved from a data store after the user has provided authentication information, such as a bank card or user-identification code coupled with a secret PIN code. When the user is ready to complete the pre-staged transaction, the system captures a second biometric token from the user and matches the second token to the one identifying the user's transaction record. The transaction details contained in that transaction record are then used to complete the user's transaction.

The self-service industry is constantly seeking ways to increase and improve self-service offerings and to improve customer adoption of self-service products. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/316,037, filed on behalf of NCR Corporation, describes an assisted self-service environment in which customers of a service organization, such as a banking establishment, initiate transactions on self-service terminals and then complete the transactions with teller assistance on teller terminals. This sort of assisted self-service model in the bank branch is one example of situations in which a service establishment and its customers carry out transactions in multiple stages—in this case staging the transaction at one terminal and completing the transaction at another with teller assistance.
These sorts of multi-stage transactions become particularly difficult when tight security is needed to protect valuable information or valuable items, such as in a banking environment where access to the customer's financial accounts is at stake. Conducting these multi-stage transactions typically requires authentication of the customer at each stage of the transaction, or else it requires transferal of authentication from one stage to the next by an authorized employee of the service establishment, to ensure that the proper customer—and only that customer—is granted access to the valuable information. Requiring the customer to present authentication information (such as a bank card and PIN code) at each transaction stage, however, is often frustrating to the customer, and requiring service-establishment employees to verify and transfer each customer's authentication is inefficient and costly.

Using biometric tokens to pre-stage and complete transactions


The present disclosure relates to creating videos. A mobile device creates a graphic user interface to capture by the camera of the device multiple photographic facial images of a user for respective multiple facial expressions of a character in the video. Using the multiple photographic facial images, the device modifies stored character images by matching facial features of the character to facial features of the user for the multiple facial expressions of the character in the video and creates the video based on the modified character images. The facial expression of the user is used to influence the facial expression of the character. This method enables replacement of certain visual style elements with a given user's own style elements.

A video document is often used to present content in relation to a "story". The content typically consists of audio and/or visual content, or both visual and audio content, for example, the video documents available at Youtube. The content presented in the video document often involves at least one character and a storyline associated with the character. The storyline is used to represent how the story develops with respect to the character over time, including what the character does and the interactions of the character with other characters in the story.
Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present disclosure is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.


Common circuitry supporting both bit node and check node processing in LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) decoder. A novel approach is presented by which a decoder may use the same circuitry to perform updating of edge messages with respect to bit nodes as well as updating of edge messages with respect to check nodes in the context of decoding LDPC coded signals. In addition, several very efficient architectures are presented to performing check node processing that involves the updating of edge messages with respect to check nodes. One embodiment performs check node processing using min** (min-double-star) processing in conjunction with min**− (min-double-star-minus) processing. Another embodiment performs check node processing using min†† (min-double-dagger) processing in conjunction with min†− (min-dagger-minus) processing. In addition, a single FIFO may be implemented to service a number of macro blocks in a parallel decoding implementation.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to communication systems; and, more particularly, it relates to decoding of signals within such communication systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Data communication systems have been under continual development for many years. One such type of communication system that has been of significant interest lately is a communication system that employs turbo codes. Another type of communication system that has also received interest is a communication system that employs LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code. Each of these different types of communication systems is able to achieve relatively low BERs (Bit Error Rates).
A continual and primary directive in this area of development has been to try continually to lower the error floor within a communication system. The ideal goal has been to try to reach Shannon's limit in a communication channel. Shannon's limit may be viewed as being the data rate to be used in a communication channel, having a particular SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), that achieves error free transmission through the communication channel. In other words, the Shannon limit is the theoretical bound for channel capacity for a given modulation and code rate.
LDPC codes are oftentimes referred to in a variety of ways. For example, iterative soft decoding of LDPC codes may be implemented in a number of ways including based on the BP (Belief Propagation) algorithm, the SP (Sum-Product) algorithm, and/or the MP (Message-Passing) algorithm; the MP algorithm is sometimes referred to as a Sum Product/Belief Propagation combined algorithm. While there has been a significant amount of interest and effort directed towards these types of LDPC codes, regardless of which particular manner of iterative decoding algorithm is being employed in the specific case (3 of which are enumerated above: BP, SP, and MP), there still is ample room for improvement in the implementation and processing to be performed within a communication device to complete such decoding. For example, there are a variety of relatively complex and numerically burdensome calculations, data management and processing that must be performed to effectuate the accurate decoding of an LDPC coded signal.
LDPC code has been shown to provide for excellent decoding performance that can approach the Shannon limit in some cases. For example, some LDPC decoders have been shown to come within 0.3 dB (decibels) from the theoretical Shannon limit. While this example was achieved using an irregular LDPC code of a length of one million, it nevertheless demonstrates the very promising application of LDPC codes within communication systems.
In performing calculations when decoding a received signal, it is common for decoders to operate in the natural log (ln) domain (i.e., the logarithm domain having base e); this is sometimes referred to as simply the "log domain." LDPC decoders also fall in to this category. By operating within the log domain, this converts all multiplications to additions, divisions to subtractions, and eliminates exponentials entirely, without affecting BER performance.
One somewhat difficult calculation is the natural log (ln) domain includes calculating the sum of exponentials as shown below:ln(ea+eb+ec+ . . . )
This calculation can be significantly reduced in complexity using the Jacobian formula shown below:max*(a, b)=ln(ea+eb)=max(a, b)+ln(1+e−|a−b|)
This calculation is oftentimes referred to as being a max* calculation or max* operation. It is noted that the Jacobian formula simplification of the equation shown above presents the max* operation of only two variables, a and b. This calculation may be repeated over and over when trying to calculate a longer sum of exponentials. For example, to calculate ln(ea+eb+ec), the following two max* operations may be performed:max*(a, b)=ln(ea+eb)=max(a, b)+ln(1+e−|a−b|)=x max*(a, b, c)=max*(x, c)=ln(ex+ec)=max(x, c)+ln(1+e−|x−c|)
While there has a been a great deal of development within the context of LDPC code, the extensive processing and computations required to perform decoding therein can be extremely burdensome. This one example provided above, of the calculating the sum of exponentials, illustrates the potentially complex and burdensome calculations needed when performing decoding of such signals. Sometimes the processing requirements are so burdensome that they simply prohibit their implementation within systems having very tight design budgets.
There have been some non-optimal approaches to deal with the burdensome calculations required to do such burdensome calculations. For example, in performing this basic max* operation, some decoders simply exclude the logarithmic correction factor of ln(1+e−|a−b|) altogether and use only the max(a, b) result which may be implemented within a single instruction within a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). However, this will inherently introduce some degradation in decoder performance given this lack of precision in the calculations. Most of the common approaches that seek to provide some computational improvements either cut corners in terms of computational accuracy, or they do not provide a sufficient reduction in computational complexity to justify their integration. One of the prohibiting factors concerning the implementation of many LDPC codes is oftentimes the inherent computational complexity coupled with the significant amount of memory required therein.
There still exists a need in the art to provide for more efficient solutions when making calculations, such as max*, within decoders that operate within the logarithmic domain.
The use of LDPC coded signals continues to be explored within many newer application areas. One such application area is that digital video broadcasting. The Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB) is an industry-led consortium of over 260 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers, regulatory bodies and others in over 35 countries committed to designing global standards for the global delivery of digital television and data services. Publicly available information concerning the DVB is available at the following. Internet address:
"http://www.dvb.org/"
The DVB-S2 (i.e., DVB-Satellite Version 2) draft standard is also publicly available via this Internet address, and the DVB-S2 draft standard may be downloaded in Adobe PDF format at the following Internet address:
"http://www.dvb.org/documents//en302307.v1.1.1.draft.pdf"
The entire contents of this DVB-S2 draft standard, "Draft ETSI EN 302 307 V1.1.1 (2004-06), Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Second generation framing structure, channel coding and modulation systems for Broadcasting, Interactive Services, News Gathering and other broadband satellite applications" is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and made part of the present disclosure for all purposes.
In addition, the standard "ETSI EN 302 307 V1.1.1 (2005-03), Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Second generation framing structure, channel coding and modulation systems for Broadcasting, Interactive Services, News Gathering and other broadband satellite applications" was formally ratified by the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) in March 2005. The entire contents of this standard is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and made part of the present disclosure for all purposes.
Greater detail regarding the types of signals employed within such DVB-S2 compliant systems is included within this DVB-S2 standard. The DVB-S2 standard focuses primarily on the transmission system description and the subsystems therein including mode adaptation, stream adaptation, FEC encoding (including both BCH outer encoding and LDPC inner encoding), bit mapping into constellation, physical layer framing, and baseband shaping and quadrature modulation.
The DVB-S2 is an advanced version of DVB-S (the first standard produced by the Digital Video Broadcasting Project). DVB-S2 seeks to provide for greater efficiency than DVB-S. DVB-S2 plans to implement 4 different modulation types: QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Key), 8 PSK (Phase Shift Key), 16 APSK (Asymmetric Phase Shift Keying), and 32 APSK. Generally speaking, the QPSK and 8 PSK modulation types are intended for broadcast applications through non-linear satellite transponders driven near to saturation; the 16 APSK and 32 APSK modulation types are geared more primarily towards professional applications requiring semi-linear transponders. The 16 APSK and 32 APSK modulation types operate by trading off power efficiency for greater throughput.
In addition, DVB-S2 uses a powerful FEC (Forward Error Correction) system based on concatenation of BCH (Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem) outer coding with LDPC inner coding. The result is performance which is at times only 0.7 dB from the Shannon limit. The choice of FEC parameters depends on the system requirements. With VCM (Variable Coding and Modulation) and ACM (Adaptive Coding and Modulation), the code rates can be changed dynamically, on a frame by frame basis.
The multiple operational parameters to which a receiving device, that includes a decoder, must operate to be DVB-S2 compliant is very clearly laid out by the operational parameters of the transmission system description. However, as long as a receiving device, that includes a decoder, complies with these operational parameters specified within the DVB-S2 standard, great latitude in the means of implementation is permissible. The generation of signals on the transmission end of a communication channel is clearly laid out within the DVB-S2 standard, and the means by which the receive processing of such signal (at the receiving end of a communication channel) may be performed is widely open to the designer. Clearly, a key design constrain of such receiving devices is to provide for the accommodation of such DVB-S2 signals while providing for very high performance while occupying a relatively small amount of area and having a relatively lower level of complexity.
Another application area in which the use of LDPC coded signals continues to be explored is in various communication system embodiments and application areas whose operation is specified and governed by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers). For example, the use of LDPC coded signals has been of significant concern within the IEEE P802.3an (10GBASE-T) Task Force. This IEEE P802.3an (10GBASE-T) Task Force has been created by the IEEE to develop and standardize a copper 10 Giga-bit Ethernet standard that operates over twisted pair cabling according the IEEE 802.3 CSMA/CD Ethernet protocols. Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detect (CSMA/CD) is the protocol for carrier transmission access in Ethernet networks. IEEE 802.3an (10GBASE-T) is an emerging standard for 10 Gbps Ethernet operation over 4 wire twisted pair cables. More public information is available concerning the IEEE P802.3an (10GBASE-T) Task Force at the following Internet address:
"http://www.ieee802.org/3/an/".
This high data rate provided in such applications is relatively close to the theoretical maximum rate possible over the worst case 100 meter cable. Near-capacity achieving error correction codes are required to enable 10 Gbps operation. The latency constraints, which would be involved by using traditional concatenated codes, simply preclude their use in such applications.
Typical encoding and modulation of LDPC coded signals is performed by generating a signal that includes symbols each having a common code rate and being mapped to a singular modulation (e.g., a singular constellation shape having a singular mapping of the constellation points included therein). That is to say, all of the symbols of such an LDPC coded modulation signal have the same code rate and the same modulation (the same constellation shape whose constellation points have the singular mapping). Oftentimes, such prior art designs are implemented as to maximize the hardware and processing efficiencies of the particular design employed to generate the LDPC coded signal having the single code rate and single modulation for all of the symbols generated therein.
However, in some more recent prior art LDPC communication systems, the design of LDPC encoders has sought to provide for capabilities to generate multiple types of LDPC coded signals. Within these communication systems, the code rate and modulation type for all of the symbols within any given LDPC block is the same. That is to say, the entire block has a particular code rate and modulation type associated with it. Nevertheless, the encoder is operable to generate different LDPC blocks such that a first LDPC block has a first code rate and first modulation type associated with it, and a second LDPC block has a second code rate and second modulation type associated with it.
A decoder that operates to decode such signals must be able to accommodate the various LDPC block types that it may receive. Currently, the LDPC decoder designs being discussed in the art require a relatively large amount of area and are of a relatively high complexity. There is a need in the art to provide for an LDPC decoder that can accommodate such signals while providing for very high performance, less area, and less complexity.
As mentioned above, the calculations required to decode such signals can be very difficult to implement within an actual physical decoding device. In addition, when performing decoding processing on signals that have relatively large LDPC bipartite graphs, then the numbers of calculations required when performing both bit node processing and check node processing can be very large. Oftentimes, designers take a brute force approach in cascading the necessary number of calculation functional blocks within such decoding devices to be able to accommodate the necessary amount of calculations required in such decoding processing. As an example, when performing max* processing on 10 inputs during check node processing as described above, a prior art approach is to implement 10 individual max* processing functional blocks to accommodate all of the 10 inputs. This can be extremely consumptive in terms of real estate on an actual device (e.g., an integrated circuit) as well as extremely costly given the increased size of the device. An alternative approach sometimes taken in the prior art is to employ a singular max* processing functional block and a significantly large amount of memory management that requires storing a large amount of intermediate values. This prior art approach can take a large number of clock cycles to complete. This prior art approach also can be extremely consumptive in terms of real estate and cost of a device, in that, a significant amount of memory management hardware is required to accommodate all of the intermediate values. As such, there is a need in the art to provide for some means of performing decoding processing of such LDPC coded signals in an actual device that requires a smaller number of processing functional blocks, that consumes less real estate within an actual decoding device, as well as hopefully cost less than prior art devices.


A data transfer system in an information processing system includes a plurality of storage devices and a plurality of information processing portions connected to the storage devices. The information processing portion includes a divided instruction issuing portion for dividing an instruction, for reading out a plurality of element data from the storage device into a plurality of read out demands per respective element data and issuing the read out demands to the storage device with adding an additional information of data identifying an original instruction and data indicative of issuance order. The storage device including a read out data returns portion returning the read out element data to one of the information processing portion which issued the element read out demand by adding the additional information to the data read out according to each of the element read out demands.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a data transfer system in an information processing system, such as a multi-processor system and so forth. More specifically, the invention relates to a data transfer system for transferring a set of data between a main internal memory according to a vector instruction, such as vector load, vector store and so forth, in an information processing system having the main internal memory constituted of a plurality of storage devices to be accessed by a plurality of information processing portions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when instructions for reading out a set of data from the main internal memory, such as a vector load instruction of a vector instruction in a multi-processor system including a main internal memory constituted of a plurality of storage devices and a plurality of information processing portions accessing the main internal memory, are issued from the information processing portions to the main internal memory without any constraint, it is possible to cause overlapping of addresses of data to be read out from the main internal memory at a certain vector length (number of element data) or element distance (an interval of element data to be loaded) designated by the vector instructions issued from respective information processing portions. In such case, a plurality of vector load instructions, issued from respective information processing portions, access the same storage device in the main internal memory and cause conflict.
Upon occurrence of conflict in accessing of the same storage device, since it is not possible to perform a read operation from the same storage device by two or more vector load instructions, a later vector load instruction cannot be executed until completion of the reading process by the preceding vector load instruction. This is one of the causes of prolongation of reading data to be transferred to the information processing portions from the storage device.
On the other hand, the read out data from the storage device, on which no conflict is caused, may return to the information processing portion at an earlier timing than the data should have been read out by the vector load instruction which is situated in waiting due to occurrence of conflict. Therefore, when the leading vector load instruction causes conflict and the trailing vector load instruction does not cause conflict, reversal of order of the read out data returned to the information processing portion from the order issuing the load command.
Therefore, in the prior art, in order to ascertain orderliness and sequentiality of the read out data, it is typical to take a measure to provide a data control device for concentrically controlling read out demand from respective information processing portions as shown in FIG. 10, or to provide an issuance control portion to enable to mutually notify the load demand issuance timing and read out completion timing between respective information processing portions and thus to control issuance of the vector load instructions so that two or more information processing portions will never access the same storage device simultaneously, as shown FIG. 11.
In FIG. 10. the vector load instructions from respective information processing portions 700a to 700n are issued to a data control portion 800 at any time as required. The data control portion 800 which received the vector load instruction includes a priority circuit for determining a priority order for the information processing portions for preferentially handling the vector load instructions according to the priority order. According to the determined priority order, the element data from memories of respective storage devices 600a to 600n of the main internal memory 500 are read out. The data control device 800 verifies that the data sequence read out from respective storage devices 600a to 600n is in correct order. Also, upon verification that all element data is obtained, the read out data is sequentially transferred to the information processing portion which issued the vector load instruction.
In the data transfer system illustrated in FIG. 10, when access to the main internal memory according to the vector load instruction from the information processing portion is initiated, access to the main internal memory according to the vector load instruction from other information processing portion will never be executed until the reading out process according to the currently executed instruction is completed.
A timing chart in FIG. 12 shows an operation when the vector load instructions are issued simultaneously to the data control portion 800 from four information processing portions A, B, C and D, as one example of operation of the system of FIG. 10. Assuming that priority order is given by the priority circuit in the data control portion 800 for reading out in the order of A, B, C, D, reading according to the vector load instruction from the information processing portion B is initiated after completion of reading according to the vector load instruction from the information processing portion A. Similarly, reading according to the vector load instruction from the information processing portion C is initiated after completion of reading according to the vector load instruction from the information processing portion B, and reading according to the vector load instruction from the information processing portion D is initiated after completion of reading according to the vector load instruction from the information processing portion C.
On the other hand, in place of the data control device 800 shown in FIG. 10, a reading out demand issuance control portion 900 is provided for each information processing portion in FIG. 11 so that the vector load instruction issuing timing and reading out completion timing are mutually notified between the information processing portions and access is controlled for avoiding simultaneous access to the main internal memory from two or more information processing portions. Each reading out demand issuance control portion 900 of each of the information processing portions 700a to 700n has a priority circuit determining the priority order for respective information processing portions for preferentially handling the vector load instructions according to the priority order. According to the determined priority order, the element data is read out from the main internal memory. At first, to all of the information processing portions 700a to 700n, vector load instruction issuance timing is notified. Each information processing portion obtaining priority right, by checking its own priority order, initiates access to the main internal memory 500. Then, a timing, at which all of the read out data is stored in each information processing portion is predicted, and the read out completion timing is notified to the respective information processing portions.
In the read out demand issuance control portion 900 in each information processing portion, subsequent reading out is managed so that subsequent reading is performed sequentially. Even in this data transfer system, similarly to the data transfer system of FIG. 10, when access to the main internal memory according to the read out demand from certain information processing portion is initiated, access to the main internal memory according to the read out demand from other information processing portions is never executed until the on-going reading out process is completed.
A timing chart of FIG. 13 shows an operation when the vector load instructions are issued simultaneously to the read out demand issuance control portion 900 from four information processing portions A, B, C and D, as one example of operation of the system of FIG. 11. At first, the read out demand issuance timing and own information processing portion number are notified from the information processing portion A to remaining, information processing portions B, C, D. Similarly, the read out demand issuance timing and own information processing portion number are notified from the information processing portion B to remaining information processing portions A, C, D, the read out demand issuance timing and own information processing portion number are notified from the information processing portion C to remaining information processing portions A, B, D, and the read out demand issuance timing and own information processing portion number are notified from the information processing portion D to remaining information processing portions A, B, C.
It is assumed that the information processing portions receiving the read out demand issuance timing perform reading in the order of A, B, C, D according to the priority order determined by the priority circuit in the read out demand issuance control portion 900. Thereafter the reading out process according to the reading out demand from the information processing portion A is initiated. At the timing of completion of reading out process, the information processing portion A issues notification to other information processing portions. The information processing portion B is responsive to the read out completion timing signal from the information processing portion A to manage issuance of the read out demand by the read out demand issuance control portion 900 so that reading out from the main internal memory is performed sequentially. Simultaneously with completion of reading out of the information processing portion A, reading out according to the read out demand from the information processing portion B is initiated. Similarly, reading out is performed sequentially in the B, C, D in order.
Such conventional data transfer system, the possibility to be kept in waiting is increased in proportion to number of the information processing portions. Also, even when the main internal memory is divided into a plurality of storage devices according to the addresses, it is still not possible to read out data from the same storage device simultaneously in parallel by a plurality of information processing portions, in practical operation. In other words, the storage device which is utilized by one information processing portion cannot be accessed by other information processing portion. Therefore, merit of the multi-processor construction cannot be completely utilized.
It should be noted that the conventional data transfer system has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,006.

Data transfer system and method for dividing an original data read instruction into individual read demands for each data element