The present invention compact creel using the OETO method that accommodates an increased number of packages in a relatively small footprint while providing a straight in-line delivery path in which fiber bends and changes in direction are minimized. In addition, the present invention is a system, apparatus and method for tension control in a fiber feeding system that provides a fast and reliable method for feeding high tack elastomeric thread or fiber from a package to a manufacturing process. Furthermore, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for changing packages on a creel without interrupting the manufacturing process. In particular, the compact creel of the present invention provides for continuous operation of unwinding and fiber delivery by allowing a standby package to be loaded on the same mandrel as an active package that is presently being unwound.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thread delivery system or fiber unwinding device, and more specifically to a compact creel system or device for continuous delivery of threads or fibers to a downstream fiber manufacturing process or device.
2. Description of Background Art
Creels are well known in the background art and support packages upon which thread, fiber or yarn is wound for delivery to an associated manufacturing device such as a loom or a diaper machine (note: the terms "thread," "fiber" and "yarn" are used interchangeably throughout this document). The most common method of unwinding yarn from a cylindrical mandrel (i.e., a "package") on a creel in manufacturing processes is referred to as "rolling take-off" (RTO) method. In the RTO method, when an active package is exhausted the empty cylindrical mandrel must be removed and a new or standby package is installed. The step of removing the empty mandrel in the RTO method typically requires shutting down the manufacturing process. This shut down of the manufacturing process in the problem of unproductive downtime on a manufacturing line using the RTO method.
In contrast to the RTO method discussed above, an over end take-off (OETO) method allows continuous operation of a manufacturing process. In the OETO method, the terminating end of the fiber wound on the active package is attached to the leading end of the fiber wound on the standby package. Once the active package is completely exhausted, the standby package becomes the new active package without any interruption in the manufacturing process. In this manner, a rather continuous feed of fiber to the manufacturing process is provided.
Background art creels have been provided with various horizontal and vertical arrangements of packages to take advantage of the OETO method. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,693,904 and 4,450,876 disclose horizontal arrangements of yarn packages configured in pairs for supplying an associated manufacturing process. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,236,265; 4,358,068; and 4,648,564 disclose vertical arrangements of yarn packages configured in pairs for feeding associated manufacturing process machinery such as looms or diaper machines.
However, with the advent of higher speed manufacturing processes, a configuration of two yarn packages tied together has become increasingly insufficient to supply the associated machinery, and creels with arrangements of four yarn packages tied together have been provided. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,547 discloses a creel commonly known as a "carousel creel" which includes four yarn packages are configured horizontally and tied together. Moreover, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,613,643 and 6,634,585 disclose creels using a large number of packages to continuously feed a high speed manufacturing process. However, a problem with carousel and other creels that handle a large number of packages is that the fibers must undergo several changes in direction as it is fed from the packages to other associated machinery. Each time the fiber changes direction, particularly sharply, the chances of a fiber break are greatly increased because of the increased tension resulting from the changes in direction. Fiber breaks with such creels also cause interruptions in the manufacturing process and lead to the problem of unproductive downtime discussed above.
An additional problem with creels using multiple packages is related to the size of the yarn packages which can be provided and supported on a creel. That is, the amount of yarn is limited due to practicalities such as weight and space occupied by the package. For example, typical yarn packages of up to 12″ in diameter are utilized to provide a large amount of yarn to a high speed manufacturing process such as a diaper machine. However, a large number of packages of this size package can take up a lot of valuable manufacturing floor space when used with creel configurations of the background art.
To handle the problem due to the size of the multiple packages needed, background art creels for the OETO method are typically configured with the active package and standby package positioned at acute angles (i.e., less than 90°) relative to one another. However, as noted above, a problem with OETO creels with this type of configuration is the valuable floor space they take up in the manufacturing environment. In addition, unacceptable variations in threadline tension are common with these background art creels when using the OETO method.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,574 discloses a method for feeding fiber to a textile machine by utilizing a braking member and actuator to adjust the tension and feed rate of the thread or fiber in an attempt to address the tension problems discussed above. However, the '574 patent does not disclose the concept of utilizing a variable speed electrical motor for a driven roll, where the speed of the motor is determined based on a range of desired thread tensions and could improve the performance of the manufacturing process.
Further, manufacturing processes using an elastomeric thread or fiber like Spandex, which has a unique inherent finish texture that differs from threads or fibers used in the textile industry, requires an electrical motor feeding device that allows the Spandex to remain in contact with the driven feed roll attached to the motor. Furthermore, Spandex has a higher tensile strength specification and other characteristics that differ from fibers used in the textile industry. For example, threads or fibers typically used in the textile industry are specified in the range of 50-100 decitex (decigrams per kilometer) and tend to operate at lower rotation speeds of 1-50 feet/minute when being unwound from a package as compared to those used for elastomeric threads which typically are specified in the range of 600-1500 decitex and with higher rotation speeds of 300-400 feet/minute. Moreover, the '574 patent is not directed to operate with or feed systems that require high tack, elastomeric threads such as Spandex.
The aforementioned problems make the continuous processing of high tack, elastomeric fibers particularly problematic. Fiber tack and its associated problems have been addressed by using topical fiber additives (e.g., prior to winding) or by unwinding the package and re-winding it on a new mandrel. However, both approaches add additional expense to the manufacturing process. Furthermore some applications (e.g., manufacturing of diapers and other personal care products) require the use of as-spun thread or fiber that is substantially finish-free and, consequently, exhibits high tack.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for creels that: (1) allow packages to be changed without interrupting the manufacturing process; (2) hold a large number of packages for feeding fiber to high speed manufacturing processes in a relatively compact footprint; (3) minimize the changes in direction of the fiber during delivery to eliminate breaks and minimize tension; (4) provide a fast, reliable and continuous method of unwinding, feeding and delivering high tack elastomeric fibers from a package to a high speed manufacturing process.

Compact single mandrel creel for over end take-off thread delivery


The invention relates to the oil refining and petrochemical industry and concerns, in particular, techniques for determining the knock rating of motor fuels. The proposed method of determining the knock rating of motor fuels involves thermostatic control of a reaction vessel of constant volume, feeding the fuel-air mixture into the vessel, atomization of the mixture under excess pressure and ignition of the mixture. The knock rating is calculated by the knocking intensity which is determined by the value of the signal from a knock sensor installed in the reaction vessel. The proposed apparatus for determining the knock rating of motor fuels comprises a reaction vessel with inlet and outlet valves and a thermostatic controller. A spark plug is installed in the reaction vessel and a knock sensor is arranged opposite the spark plug.

There are known an engine method (Fuel for engines. An engine method for determining of octane rating. The USSR State Standard 511-82, ASTM D 2700, DIN 51756) and an analyze method (Fuel for engines. An analyze method for determining of octane rating. The USSR State Standard 8226-82, ASTM D 2699, DIN 51756) for determining of the knock rating of fuels including feeding the fuel into a reaction vessel with variable degree of compression, atomization and ignition of a mixture, determining the knock rating. The method is performed on a one-cylinder engine having variable degree of compression, and the knock rating is expressed by octane rating numerically equal to percentage of isooctane in such a mixture with normal heptane, knock intensity of which in a one-cylinder engine having variable degree of compression in standard conditions of testing is equivalent to knock intensity of the tested fuel.
The methods based on engine tests correctly, in general, characterize fuels, but exhibit significant drawbacks. Those drawbacks include considerable duration of testing and large consumption of tested fuel. So, testing of one sample of fuel using the engine or research methods lasts for 20 minutes and consumes a tested sample of 300 ml. Intense exhaust into atmosphere of harmful products of combustion is one of negative consequences of the large fuel consumption. Because of large consumption of the sample, these methods practically cannot be used for testing of products, obtained on micro-pilot plants.
Besides, it is very difficult to include these methods into a technological scheme for on-stream testing of the products or to use them in a system of automatic control. Furthermore, engines used in the mentioned methods are quite expensive and cumbersome.
The closest on technical essence and achieved result is a method based on initiation of low temperature reaction of gaseous phase oxidation of fuel. The method provides thermostatic control of the reaction vessel of constant volume up to temperatures 250-350.degree. C., feeding of a portion of tested fuel, mixing it with air contained in the vessel at atmospheric pressure, cool flame oxidation of the formed combustible mixture. Temperature in the reaction vessel increases. The knock rating of motor fuel is characterized by temperature gain and time of achieving of maximal temperature. With deterioration of the knock rating of a sample, the temperature is increased, and the time of achieving of maximal temperature is reduced (U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,810, G01L 23/22, 1973).
Methods and devices based on studying of cool flame processes have number of advantages: they are rather inexpensive, application thereof requires insignificant amount of a sample, they could be easily included into a technological system for on-stream testing of products, and they could also be used in a system of automatic control. They possess, however, one quite essential drawback; testing of fuel is performed in conditions rather far from engine operational conditions. Knocking occurs in an engine during combustion of fuel, but in the considered method combustion does not occur at all. Using this method there could be studied phenomena occurring to fuel during preparation for combustion, pre-combustion processes. The distinction between conditions of fuel combustion in an engine and its testing in conditions of cool flame oxidation limits possibilities of the given testing method. The mentioned method gives satisfactory results at testing of homogeneous fuels samples of known composition with insignificant changes, for example, at the output of the technological system. If fuel composition is unknown, the results of testing may be unreliable. Besides, employing of this method, it is practically impossible to estimate efficiency of antiknock additions, since the mechanism of their action is absolutely different, and it is impossible to judge their efficiency using cool flame processes. Therefore, the given method is recommended to use for the control of mixing processes, in which there are not applied antiknock additions, in particular, tetraethyl lead (Clinton R. M., Puzniak T. J. Gulf Research develops continuous-process octane analyzer. Oil and Gas Journal, 1975, 73, No. 16, 77-82).

Method and device for determining the knock rating of motor fuels

Aktsionernoe Obschestvo Zakrytogo Tipa Biotekhinvest


A secure data communications system with an enhanced function of preventing information leakage. The system includes a user terminal and a router. The router has a security condition definition unit and a storage unit to receive and store a set of security conditions. A packet parser identifies and parses a packet produced by a file transfer application protocol and extracts from that packet a destination address and a security condition ID that the sending user has specified for a file in the packet. The packet parser discards the packet to prevent information leakage if the extracted destination address does not satisfy the security condition corresponding to the user-specified security condition ID. The user terminal has a security condition user interface that requests the router to provide information about security conditions and gives a security condition ID to each file to indicate which security condition the sending user has specified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communications systems, and more particularly to a communications system that transfers packets containing business-related files over an enterprise network or other network using the Internet Protocol (IP).
2. Description of the Related Art
Users of an enterprise local-area network (LAN) or a similar IP network often encounter a situation where they need to send files to one or more colleagues of theirs for the purpose of business activities. To achieve this, they use email attachment encoded in the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) format. Other typical applications and protocols used for file transfer purposes are: the Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) function of Internet Relay Chat (IRC), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
Document and data files transferred over an enterprise network often contain company-confidential information, which must be protected from being viewed by third parties, or even by other staffs in the same company, to prevent the information from leaking out. The network manager of the company is responsible for establishing a system for controlling access to such confidential files.
A typical method to implement restricted file access is to use an authentication mechanism of file servers. Specifically, a password is set in a server accommodating uploaded files. This password is only known by a concerned party, thus protecting those files from unauthorized access.
The above protection method using an authentication mechanism, however, cannot avoid a possibility that the sender of a file mistakenly sends that file as an email attachment directly to a wrong destination. Another possibility that cannot be avoided by the conventional method is that the sender accidentally uploads files to a wrong file server where the destination file directory is not password protected. Those possible human errors would lead to an information leakage problem.
Firewall servers may be used to avoid a wrong file transfer. This firewall server solution enables or disables file transfer operations in a comprehensive manner, rather than fine tunes the control of file delivery on an individual sender basis, for example. That is, while a firewall server effectively prevents files from being delivered to a party outside of the company, it is not possible to configure the server to restrict file transfers between, for example, particular departments within the same company.
Yet another example of an existing file protection technique is to use a gateway server with a mechanism of checking labels attached to the files to be transmitted to represent their respective confidentiality levels. See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-173284, paragraphs Nos. 0014 to 0017 and FIG. 1. The technique disclosed in this publication, however, is not always effective since it does not consider applications where the checking has to act on an individual network segment basis.

Communications system with security checking functions for file transfer operation


A semiconductor device fabrication method is provided which comprises the steps of: (i) forming a plurality of high concentration diffusion layers of a second conductivity in a semiconductor substrate; (ii) forming a plurality of first gate electrodes extending perpendicularly to the high concentration diffusion layers of the second conductivity on the semiconductor substrate with a first gate insulating film interposed therebetween; (iii) implanting ions of a first conductivity into surface portions of the semiconductor substrate for device isolation by using the first gate electrodes as a mask; (iv) forming side wall spacers on side walls of the first gate electrodes; (v-i) implanting ions of the second conductivity into surface portions of the semiconductor substrate for formation of channel regions by using the first gate electrodes and the side wall spacers as a mask; (vi-i) forming a plurality of second gate electrodes on the ion-implanted channel regions between the first gate electrodes; and (vii) implanting ions of the first conductivity again into surface portions of the semiconductor substrate by using the first gate electrodes and the second gate electrodes as a mask for device isolation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a fabrication method therefor and, more particularly, to a semiconductor device having a highly dense mask programmable ROM portion of a dual poly-gate structure and a fabrication method therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Exemplary mask ROM memory cells include a NAND ROM in which ROM data writing is achieved by selectively forming enhancement type cell transistors and depression type cell transistors to be connected in series, and a NOR ROM in which ROM data writing is achieved by selectively setting the threshold voltages of cell transistors connected in parallel at a level higher than a source voltage. In general, the NAND ROM is superior in integration density and inferior in operation speed, whereas the NOR ROM is superior in operation speed and inferior in integration density.
In view of this, a high density NOR ROM memory cell has been proposed which features both a high integration density and a high operation speed.
As shown in FIG. 17(a), the NOR ROM memory cell has a plurality of high concentration diffusion regions 55 provided in a parallel relation within a memory cell region having no device isolation film on a semiconductor substrate 51 and-serving as source/drain regions for cell transistors a, b and c and as bit line interconnections. The cell further has a plurality of gate electrodes (word lines) 53 formed on the semiconductor substrate 51 with intervention of a gate insulating film 52 and extending parallel to each other and perpendicularly to the high concentration diffusion regions 55. Device isolation regions 57 formed by implanting impurity ions of a conductivity different from that of the source/drain regions are provided in areas formed with neither the gate electrodes 53 nor the high concentration diffusion regions 55.
With this arrangement, the integration density in the memory cell region can be increased by reducing pitches of the high concentration diffusion regions 55 and the gate electrodes 53 to a level smaller than a conventional processibility limit, because the cell is free from steps which may otherwise be formed by the provision of a device isolation film. The device isolation is not achieved by the provision of the device isolation film but by self-aligned ion implantation after the formation of the gate electrodes 53. This also contributes to a higher integration density.
Further, a high density NOR ROM and NAND ROM have been proposed in which the integration density of memory cells is increased by employing a multi-gate structure which has a plurality of types of gate electrodes. For example, memory cells employing the multi-gate structure for a NAND ROM and for a highly dense NOR ROM are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. Sho 53(1978)-41188 and No. Sho 63(1988)-131568, respectively.
However, the high density NOR ROM memory cells employing the multi-gate structure have a difficulty in isolating the memory cells from each other.
In the case of conventional memory cells employing single-gate structure, the device isolation is achieved by implanting ions having the same conductivity as that of the substrate into areas where no gate electrode is formed after formation of the gate electrodes to increase the impurity concentration in the areas. In the case of memory cells employing dual-gate structure, however, the device isolation cannot properly be accomplished in the same manner as in the case of the memory cells of the single-gate structure, because ions cannot be implanted into an area where first gate electrodes and second gate electrodes are overlapped. As a result, a leak current between the memory cells is increased thereby to cause an operation failure.
To cope with this problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. Hei 2(1990)-296339 and No. Hei 2(1990)-296366 propose methods of forming a device isolation region in an area where a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode are overlapped.
In accordance with Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 2(1990)-296339, source/drain regions 63 are formed in a semiconductor substrate 61 with the use of a resist mask 62 (FIG. 18(a)), and then first gate electrodes 65 each extending perpendicularly to the source/drain regions 63 are formed on the substrate 61 with a gate insulating film 64 interposed therebetween (FIG. 18(b)). Thereafter, ions 66 are implanted over the resulting substrate 61 with the use of the first gate electrodes 65 as a mask, and then side wall spacers 67 are formed on side walls of the first gate electrodes 65 (FIG. 18(c)). In turn, ion-implanted surface portions of the substrate 61 masked with the first gate electrodes 65 and the side wall spacers 67 are etched away (FIG. 18(d)), and then gate insulating films 68, second gate electrodes 69 and an interlayer insulating film 70 are formed on the resulting substrate (FIG. 18(e)).
In this method, however, the etching of the substrate 61 for the formation of the second gate electrodes 69 result in greater steps, thereby making it difficult to properly perform the subsequent processing. Further, surface portions of the substrate later serving as channel regions below the second gate electrodes 69 are subjected to the etching, resulting in deterioration of the gate insulating films 68 due to an etching damage and in variations in the impurity concentration in the channel regions due to variations in the etching degree. This increases variations in the transistor characteristics thereby to adversely influence the device operation.
In accordance with Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 2(1990)-296366, source/drain regions 73 are formed in a semiconductor substrate 71 with the use of a resist mask 72 (FIG. 19(a)). In turn, first gate electrodes 75 each extending perpendicularly to the source/drain regions 73 are formed on the substrate 71 with a gate insulating film 74 interposed therebetween, and then side wall spacers 76 and second gate insulating film 77 are formed (FIG. 19(b)). Thereafter, a second gate electrode material is deposited over the resulting substrate 71, and etched back to form second gate electrodes 78 between the first gate electrodes 75 (FIG. 19(c)). Subsequently, the side wall spacers 76 are removed by way of wet etching, and ions 79 are implanted into surface portions of the substrate 71 between the first gate electrodes 75 and the second gate electrodes 78 in a self-aligned manner for device isolation (FIG. 19(d)). Then, an interlayer insulating film 80 is formed on the resulting substrate (FIG. 19(e)).
In this method, however, it is difficult to control the wet etching of the side wall spacers 76 between the first gate electrodes 75 and the second gate electrodes 78. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the gate insulating films 74 an 77 are also etched, thereby presenting a problem associated with a gate breakdown voltage. Further, portions of the side wall spacers 76 remaining between the first gate electrodes 75 and the second gate electrodes 78 after the etching have thickness variations. This leads to variations in the concentration of the ions implanted into the substrate for the device isolation, thereby making the device isolation characteristics unstable.
As apparent from the foregoing, semiconductor devices and fabrication methods therefor which ensure both a higher integration density of memory cells and the reliable device isolation have not been realized yet.


A processor and method for speculatively executing a branch instruction are disclosed. The processor includes a branch prediction unit for predicting a resolution of a speculative branch instruction, which is selectively configurable such that resolution of the speculative branch instruction is predicted in response to only an address of the speculative branch instruction or in response to branch history of at least one previously executed branch instruction. The processor also includes an address calculation unit for determining a target address in response to the predicted resolution of the speculative branch instruction. In one embodiment, the processor further includes configuration logic for dynamically configuring the branch prediction logic.

1. Technical Field
The present specification relates in general to a method and system for data processing and, in particular, to a processor and method for speculatively executing a branch instruction. Still more particularly, the present specification relates to a processor and method for speculatively executing a branch instruction, wherein the processor includes a selectively configurable branch prediction unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A state-of-the-art superscalar processor can comprise, for example, an instruction cache for storing instructions, an instruction buffer for temporarily storing instructions fetched from the instruction cache for execution, one or more execution units for executing sequential instructions, a branch processing unit (BPU) for executing branch instructions, a dispatch unit for dispatching sequential instructions from the instruction buffer to particular execution units, and a completion buffer for temporarily storing sequential instructions that have finished execution, but have not completed.
Branch instructions executed by the branch processing unit (BPU) of the superscalar processor can be classified as either conditional or unconditional branch instructions. Unconditional branch instructions are branch instructions that change the flow of program execution from a sequential execution path to a specified target execution path and which do not depend upon a condition supplied by the occurence of an event. Thus, the branch specified by an unconditional branch instruction is always taken. In contrast, conditional branch instructions are branch instructions for which the indicated branch in program flow may be taken or not taken depending upon a condition within the processor, for example, the state of specified condition register bits or the value of a counter. Conditional branch instructions can be further classified as either resolved or unresolved, based upon whether or not the condition upon which the branch depends is available when the conditional branch instruction is evaluated by the branch processing unit (BPU). Because the condition upon which a resolved conditional branch instruction depends is known prior to execution, resolved conditional branch instructions can typically be executed and instructions within the target execution path fetched with little or no delay in the execution of sequential instructions. Unresolved conditional branches, on the other hand, can create significant performance penalties if fetching of sequential instructions is delayed until the condition upon which the branch depends becomes available and the branch is resolved.
Therefore, in order to minimize execution stalls, some processors speculatively execute unresolved branch instructions by predicting whether or not the indicated branch will be taken. Utilizing the result of the prediction, the fetcher is then able to fetch instructions within the speculative execution path prior to the resolution of the branch, thereby avoiding a stall in the execution pipeline in cases in which the branch is subsequently resolved as correctly predicted. Conventionally, prediction of unresolved conditional branch instructions has been accomplished utilizing static branch prediction, which predicts resolutions of branch instructions based upon criteria determined prior to program execution, or dynamic branch prediction, which predicts resolutions of branch instructions by reference to branch history accumulated on a per-address basis within a branch history table. While conventional static and dynamic branch prediction methodologies have reasonable prediction accuracies for some performance benchmarks, the severity of the performance penalty incurred upon misprediction in state-of-the-art processors having deep pipelines and high dispatch rates necessitates increased prediction accuracy.
In response to the need for improved prediction accuracy, several two-level branch prediction methodologies have been proposed. For example, in one two-level dynamic branch prediction scheme, the first level of branch history comprises the execution history of the last K branch instructions and the second level of branch history comprises the branch behavior of the last L occurrences of the specific pattern of the last K branch instructions. Utilizing such two-level branch prediction schemes can result in prediction accuracies as high as 98% for selected performance benchmarks if the amount of branch history maintained at the first and second levels is optimized for the selected performance benchmarks. However, predetermining the amount of branch history maintained at each level based upon the prediction accuracy achieved for particular performance benchmarks does not necessarily ensure adequate prediction accuracy for multiple programs exhibiting diverse branch behaviors. Furthermore, the storage cost of the theoretically optimal amount of branch history may be prohibitive.
Therefore, in order to achieve adequate branch prediction accuracy at a reasonable cost for programs exhibiting a variety of diverse branch behaviors, a configurable two-level branch prediction mechanism is needed. In particular, a two-level branch prediction mechanism is needed that is dynamically configurable.

Processor having a selectively configurable branch prediction unit that can access a branch prediction utilizing bits derived from a plurality of sources

International Business Machines Corporation


The process as described herein produces a moderately aromatic isoparaffinic base oil from a distillate range product. This process comprises: (a) providing a distillate range paraffin feed comprising paraffins and cycloparaffins; (b) mildly reforming the distillate range paraffin feed to convert at least a portion of the cycloparaffins to alkylaromatics and provide a mildly reformed distillate range stream; (c) treating a stream comprising the mildly reformed distillate range stream in a molecular redistribution reactor to provide a distributed stream; (d) dewaxing at least a portion of the distributed stream to provide a dewaxed stream; (e) combining at least a portion of the dewaxed stream with the stream to be processed in the molecular redistribution reactor to provide the distributed stream; and (f) isolating a moderately aromatic isoparaffinic base oil from the dewaxed stream. According to another aspect, the process generates low ring content isoparaffinic base oil by hydrotreating the moderately aromatic isoparaffinic base oil.

Isoparaffinic base oils are useful as engine and industrial oils. There is a significant demand for them because they are superior to conventional base oils due to their better viscosity index, oxidation stability, evaporation losses, low temperature viscosity, metal staining, etc.
Low ring content isoparaffinic base oils are especially desirable because they contain only minor amounts of saturated ring carbon. Saturated ring carbon present in the base oils is detrimental as it lowers viscosity index and alters other characteristics of the base oils so that they are not as useful.
One type of isoparaffinic base oils are PolyAlphaOlefins (PAOs), which are made from the trimerization of 1-decene followed by hydrogenation. However, PAOs are expensive to manufacture because ethylene is used to produce the starting reagent, 1-decene. While PAOs are essentially free of saturated ring carbon as measured by the n-d-M method, PAOs are limited in application due to their cost. Any saturated ring carbon present is primarily naphthenic.
As an alternative route, petroleum-derived wax may be hydroisomerized to produce isoparaffinic base oils. But this process is not ideal because the starting petroleum-derived wax is often more valuable than the resulting isoparaffinic base oil. Furthermore, isoparaffinic base oils produced from petroleum-derived wax contain considerable amounts of saturated ring carbon unless the petroleum-derived wax is first subjected to deoiling, an expensive purification process.
More recently, it has been discovered that Fischer-Tropsch wax can be hydroisomerized to produce isoparaffinic base oils having low ring carbon content. Exploiting the Fischer-Tropsch process is beneficial because various hydrocarbonaceous assets are starting materials for the Fischer-Tropsch process and large quantities of Fischer-Tropsch wax are expected to be available, for example due to (1) conversion of remote natural gas into salable liquid products, (2) conversion of coal into liquid products, and (3) conversion of biomass into liquid products. However, this path to isoparaffinic base oils suffers from certain shortcomings. First, the percentage of wax in Fischer-Tropsch products rarely exceeds 50%; usually the percentage of wax is about 30%. Second, it produces low ring content isoparaffinic base oils with more low molecular weight, low viscosity isoparaffins than high molecular weight, high viscosity isoparaffins. This is due to the molecular weight distribution in Fischer-Tropsch wax, commonly referred to as the Schultz-Flory distribution. According to the Schultz-Flory distribution, the amount of Fischer-Tropsch product with a given carbon number decreases with increasing carbon number (e.g. there are always fewer C10 products than C9 products). Third, hydroisomerization of Fischer-Tropsch wax is not 100% selective and results in a distillate range paraffin by-product. Fourth, the number of Fischer-Tropsch processes might not be able to meet future demand for wax. Fifth, gaining a foothold in the lubricant market with a new base oil composition, such as one produced from Fischer-Tropsch wax, is extremely difficult.
The fit of low ring content isoparaffinic base oils with current products is also problematic. Isoparaffins necessarily impart certain desirable properties to the base oils, for example, high viscosity index and good oxidation stability. However, they can also impart unfavorable characteristics including inadequate additive solubility, inadequate engine deposit solubility, and improper seal shrink/hardening behavior.
Thus, an improved process of producing isoparaffinic base oils is needed. In such an improved process, first, it will be possible to adjust the molecular weight distribution of the isoparaffinic base oil in order to produce both low viscosity and high viscosity base oils. Second, there will be higher (ideally 100%) selectivity for low ring content isoparaffinic base oils rather than by-products, such as distillate range paraffins useful as components in jet and diesel fuel, because the base oils are generally more valuable than the by-products. Third, the starting material for the process will be available in sufficient amounts. Finally, the base oil composition produced by such an improved process will have the desired physical properties and be a composition already sold and well-known on the lubricant market.

Integration of molecular redistribution and hydroisomerization processes for the production of paraffinic base oil


An implantable medical device (“IMD”) as described herein is configured to support concurrent multichannel data communication with one or more other devices within a body area network corresponding to a patient. The IMD, and possibly other devices within the body area network, can support the multichannel communication with any number of additional IMDs implanted within the body of the same patient. Moreover, one or more of the concurrent data communication channels may be a full-duplex channel. Example embodiments can be flexibly configured to support different data communication protocols and/or different modulation schemes as needed to suit the particular application or operating environment.

Implantable medical devices ("IMDs") are used to provide therapies to patients suffering from a variety of conditions. Examples of IMDs involving cardiac devices are implantable pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators ("ICDs"). Such electronic medical devices generally monitor the electrical activity of the heart and provide electrical stimulation to one or more of the heart chambers as needed. For example, pacemakers are designed to sense arrhythmias, i.e., disturbances in heart rhythm, and, in turn, provide appropriate electrical stimulation pulses at a controlled rate to selected chambers of the heart in order to correct the arrhythmias and restore the proper heart rhythm. The types of arrhythmias that may be detected and corrected by IMDs include bradycardias (unusually slow heart rates) and certain tachycardias (unusually fast heart rates).
ICDs also detect arrhythmias and provide appropriate electrical stimulation pulses to selected chambers of the heart to correct abnormal heart rate. In contrast to pacemakers, however, an ICD can also provide pulses that are much stronger and less frequent, where such pulses are generally designed to correct fibrillation, which is a rapid, unsynchronized quivering of one or more heart chambers, and severe tachycardias, during which the heartbeats are very fast but coordinated. To correct such arrhythmias, ICDs deliver low, moderate, or high-energy therapy pulses to the heart.
Generally, IMDs are equipped with on-board memory in which telemetered signals can be stored for later retrieval and analysis. Typically, the telemetered signals can provide patient physiologic and cardiac information. This information is generally recorded on a per heartbeat, binned average basis, or derived basis, and involve, for example, atrial electrical activity, ventricular electrical activity, minute ventilation, patient activity score, cardiac output score, mixed venous oxygen score, cardiovascular pressure measures, time of day, and any interventions and the relative success of such interventions. Telemetered signals can also be stored in a broader class of monitors and therapeutic devices for other areas of medicine, including metabolism, endocrinology, hematology, neurology, muscular disorders, gastroenterology, urology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, orthopedics, and similar medical subspecialties.
Generally, upon detecting arrhythmias and, when necessary, providing corresponding therapies to correct such arrhythmias, IMDs store the telemetered signals over a set period of time (usually before, during, and after the occurrence of such arrhythmic event). Current practice in the art involves the use of an external communication unit, e.g., an external programmer, for non-invasive communication with IMDs via uplink and downlink communication channels associated with the communication device. In accordance with conventional medical device programming systems, a programming head can be used for facilitating two-way half duplex communication between IMDs and the external communication device. In many known IMD systems, the programming head can be positioned on the patient's body over the IMD such that the programming head can send wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the IMD in accordance with common practice in the art.
Implementation and operation of most, if not all, RF communication systems for IMDs and external communication devices involves a balancing or compromising of certain countervailing considerations, relating to such interrelated operational parameters as data transmission rate and transmission range, among numerous others. Such operational parameters are often interrelated in the sense that the adjustment of one operating parameter may permit or require the adjustment of one or more other operating parameters even while predetermined system performance goals and/or requirements continue to be met and predetermined limitations imposed upon operational parameter adjustment are adhered to. For example, conventional IMD systems are limited in that they typically employ half-duplex data communication techniques over a single communication channel. Although some existing IMDs can communicate with multiple external devices, such IMDs communicate with only one external device at any given time. Moreover, the use of single communication channels in this manner is not an efficient allocation of available bandwidth.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have an IMD system that supports simultaneous multichannel data communication. In addition, it is desirable to have an IMD system that supports full duplex data communication. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Multichannel communication for implantable medical device applications


Provided are a method for controlling fingerprint processing resources, a terminal, and a computer readable storage medium. The method includes the following. A terminal adds, in a predetermined order, N access requests for the fingerprint processing resources initiated concurrently by N applications of the terminal to a predetermined access queue upon detecting the N access requests, where, in the predetermined access queue, an access request first added is first processed, and N is an integer greater than one. The terminal allocates the fingerprint processing resources to an application corresponding to an access request currently processed in the predetermined access queue, and updates the access request currently processed in the predetermined access queue according to a duration in which the application occupies the fingerprint processing resources.

With wide popularity of smart phones, the smart phone can support an increasing number of applications and are becoming more powerful. The smart phone is also becoming diversified and personalized and has already been an indispensable electronic device in users' life.
For most terminals with the Android system, functions related to fingerprints are achieved based on fingerprint architecture of the Android M. The functions related to fingerprints include a fingerprint verification service which can be applied to multiple applications such as a lock screen application, a payment application (such as Alipay® and the like), a fingerprint registration application, or the like. During use of the fingerprint verification service, multiple applications may all need to use a fingerprint verification resource of the fingerprint verification service. If Application A and Application B access concurrently the fingerprint verification service, since the fingerprint verification service has only one fingerprint verification resource, allocation of the fingerprint verification resource will be in a mess. For example, when a fingerprint payment function of a payment application of the mobile phone is performing fingerprint verification, the mobile phone enters a lock screen state. In this situation, when a user attempts to unlock the mobile phone with a fingerprint, since the fingerprint verification resource is occupied by the payment application, the mobile phone will not be unlocked after the fingerprint is matched. Instead, the mobile phone will make payment through the payment application in the background, which affects operational stability and payment security of the mobile phone.

Method for controlling fingerprint processing resources, terminal, and computer-readable storage medium

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A system and method for use with a vehicle to provide a vehicle launch assist (VLA) function that reduces wheel slip at lower speeds and to provide a fraction control (TC) function that reduces wheel slip at higher speeds. Each function affects operation of one or more vehicle subsystems that control at least one powertrain parameter. The VLA and TC functions operate in response to a driver accelerator request to generate a drive signal that controls torque delivered to at least one driven vehicle wheel. The VLA function generates the drive signal at a first value that limits the torque to below a requested torque value representing the driver accelerator request. The TC function generates the drive signal at a second value that limits the torque to below the requested torque value. And the control system outputs a powertrain drive signal based on the lesser of first and second values.

Powertrain systems on vehicles provide power to one or more of the vehicle wheels in response to a driver accelerator request such as is received typically in the form of an accelerator pedal input. Vehicle launch assist (VLA) and traction control (TC) functions may be used by the powertrain control system to limit the power (torque) applied in response to the driver input so as to reduce wheel slip between the driven wheel(s) and ground surface over which the vehicle is traveling. A powertrain control system may use a VLA function for low speed operation and sometimes for particular surface terrain conditions, such as when driving on sand. The TC function may then be used for more typical driving speeds and conditions.
In a known TC function, the driver accelerator input is used to generate a filtered torque demand representing the maximum torque to be supplied to the vehicle wheel(s). At lower speeds (e.g., under 5 km/h) and in at least some terrain conditions such as sand, the VLA function is used in lieu of the TC function to limit the maximum torque applied to the wheel(s) to something less than that provided by the TC function under those same conditions. Then, as vehicle speed increases (e.g., past 5 km/h), the VLA function is exited and the powertrain control system switches to TC function. The torque limit used then switches from the maximum allowed by the VLA function to typically a much large value that which would have been available at that point in time from the TC function had it been utilized. This jump is done by factoring out the VLA function influence as it switches to the TC function, which may involve an high rate of torque increase that is undesirable.
In particular, handing over torque control from the VLA function to TC function in this way may result in increasing torque at a rate that exceeds the TC function torque profile for those same conditions. And, where driver torque demand (the driver accelerator request) has gone away by the time the VLA function is being exited, this approach may result in an increasing torque occurring during this transition period even though the drive torque demand has ended.

Vehicle control system and method for switching between powertrain control functions


A vacuum rotor system is provided comprising a hollow rotor with a rotor jacket that is open at both ends perpendicular to the axis of rotation and with at least two hubs that are connected to the inside of the rotor jacket and that are suitably mounted in appropriate bearings so that the rotor can rotate. A machine housing that encloses the rotor and that has at least one gas outlet opening to discharge gases from the machine housing. A vacuum system that is connected to the gas outlet opening and that has at least one forepump for generating a fore-vacuum pressure in the machine housing. At least one first gas removal device with a gas pick-up opening is arranged in the machine housing between the hub and the appertaining open end of the rotor jacket.

Rotors are turning (rotating) parts of a machine or aggregate. Rotors are often used as so-called flywheels for the storage of kinetic energy (rotational energy and inertia) in that their rotational movement (rotation) is stored with the least possible friction loss so that it can be used on an as-needed basis. Moreover, flywheels are also used to stabilize satellites or airplanes.
In the case of flywheels for the storage of energy (flywheel energy storage units), electric energy in the form of rotational energy can be stored in the rotating flywheels and, when needed, this energy can be converted back into electric energy and can be released to a consumer. For the most part, such flywheel energy storage units have a hollow cylinder as the rotor which, depending on its rotational speed and mass, stores a certain amount of energy. The storage capacity of such an energy storage unit is limited by its maximum rotational speed. The formula for calculating the energy content of a rotational body (rotor) shows that a rotational body (rotor) having a high energy content should preferentially be configured to have a high rotational speed rather than a high mass. Rotors of flywheel energy storage units, depending on the load state, can rotate at a speed of, for example, 50,000 revolutions per minute. A typical speed range is between 15,000 rpm and the maximum rotational speed. In order for the rotors of the flywheel storage units to rotate with as little loss as possible so that they can store the energy with as little loss as possible, they are enclosed in a machine housing, whereby, during operation of the flywheel, a pressure that is as low as possible is generated in the individual rotor housings. The lower the pressure and the density of the gas in the rotor housing, the lower the friction losses of the rotor vis-à-vis the filling gas of the machine housing. For this reason, the housing is normally evacuated. In order for the minimum vacuum needed for an efficient low-loss operation of the flywheels to be generated in the appertaining flywheel energy storage units, a pump system that delivers operating pressures of 10−3 mbar or less and that consists of a forepump (e.g. a rotary vane pump) and a main pump (e.g. a turbomolecular pump) is used for each flywheel. Even though an individual forepump can generate the fore-vacuum pressure for all of the flywheels by means of a suitably configured pipe system to which all of the flywheel energy storage units of an energy storage system having several flywheels are connected, individual main pumps each have to be connected directly to the machine housings in order to generate the requisite operating vacuum in the machine housings for each flywheel (rotor). For this purpose, turbomolecular pumps are generally used as the main pumps. Turbomolecular pumps are expensive components whose maintenance requires a lot of work. In the case of an energy storage unit having a plurality of flywheels operated in parallel, for instance, 32 flywheels in such a storage unit, it is also necessary to employ a corresponding number of turbomolecular pumps, thereby markedly increasing the price tag of the installation. Moreover, when such energy storage units are operated, it is to be expected that dirt and particles will become detached from the rotors. Turbomolecular pumps, however, are very sensitive to dirt and particles, which increases the tendency of such installations to fail. Moreover, when turbomolecular pumps are used, there is a need for large suction cross sections. Large openings, which are even installed in awkward places, pose a considerably greater risk that gas or dust might escape if a so-called rotor crash occurs.
In the market of energy storage units, flywheel energy storage units are competing with other energy storage technologies such as, for example, battery storage devices. For this reason, there is a need for a flywheel energy storage unit which can be manufactured as inexpensively as possible but which can nevertheless be operated efficiently, with low losses, reliably and with little maintenance work.


A locking device that connects to a grooved end of a dragline pin includes a lock block and a lock pin. The lock block has a through opening sized to receive the end of the pin. There is a bore formed in the lock block and transversely intersecting the through opening which is dimensioned to receive the lock pin. The lock pin is configured to pass through a portion of the grooved end of a received dragline pin received in the through opening to lock the dragline pin and any attached dragline component.

This application relates to dragline equipment, and in particular, to a locking device used to secure a pin connection of a dragline.
Dragline rigging, i.e., the system of wire ropes, chains and links that suspend and guide a dragline bucket during use, includes a number of pivot connections that each has a pin. These pivot connections are subjected to heavy loads and harsh working environments, so ultimately they wear and require replacement.
Typically, such pins have been retained or "locked" in place by passing the pin through an opening or a pair of aligned openings in a link or other component and then a plate or washer, and then welding a bead of material around the protruding end of pin. The bead makes the end of the pin larger than the opening(s), so the pin is retained in place. Welded connections take time and skill to complete, and the quality of the weld can be difficult to assess.
Some efforts at mechanical retaining pins have been made, but these have other drawbacks. For example, two-piece "clamshell" collars shaped to fit grooves at the end of pins and secured by one bolt at either side are quicker and easier to install. In some environments, however, the exposed bolted connections are subjected to wear and tear during use that no longer allows for easy disassembly.
It would be advantageous to provide a dragline pin connection locking device that is quick and easy to install, secure and has a long useful life.


A new speakerphone wherein a loudspeaker is oriented to face the listeners of an audio conference. New speakerphones which have a bass loudspeaker and at least one tweeter loudspeaker wherein the tweeter loudspeaker is oriented towards listeners of an audio conference are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a speakerphone, more specifically to novel way of placing loudspeakers in a speakerphone to improve the intelligibility of speech of conference talker.
2. Description of the Related Art
Teleconferencing has long been an essential tool for communication in business, government and educational institutions. There are many types of teleconferencing equipment based on many characterizations. One type of teleconferencing unit is a video conference unit 100 as shown in FIG. 1, which transmits real-time video images as well as real-time audio signals. A video conferencing unit 100 typically comprises a video processing component and an audio processing component. The video processing component may include a camera 102 to pick up live images of conference participants and a video display 130 for showing real-time video images of conference participants or images of documents. The audio portion of the video conferencing unit 100 typically includes one or more microphones 145 and 155 connected to a processor 110 through wires 156 and 157 to pick up voice signals of conference participants, and loudspeakers 122 and 124 to reproduce voices of the participants at the far end. The processor 110 is connected to the far side of the conference through a cable 150. The processor 110 may control the operation of the video conference unit 100 and perform any the data processing necessary during operation.
Another type of teleconference unit is an audio conference unit, which is typically a speakerphone or a simple telephone that includes at least a loudspeaker and a microphone. FIGS. 2a-2c. illustrate a few examples of speakerphones. A speakerphone can be viewed as essentially a video conference unit without the video capability and the video-related hardware and network supporting infrastructure. To make an audio-only conference call using a speakerphone is much simpler and easier than using a videoconference unit. A speakerphone is typically much cheaper than a videoconference unit. An analog telephone is typically the cheapest, simplest and easiest to use teleconference unit.
FIG. 2a shows a typical speakerphone 200, for example, a Polycom VTX-1000 speakerphone which is commercially available from the assignee of the current patent application. The speakerphone 200 has several microphones 242, 244 and 246, a loudspeaker 222 and a control module 260. The control module 260 has a controller (not shown) that is coupled to the loudspeakers, microphones and network interface (not shown). The control module also has two keyboards 270 and 272 and a display screen 262. A cable 250 coupled to the network interface (not shown) provides power and network connections. FIGS. 2b and 2c show a slightly different speakerphone 210, which has similar components including microphones 212, 214 and 216, loudspeaker 222 and a control module 220. In speakerphone 210, the components are arranged in a slightly different physical configuration compared to the speakerphone 200. FIG. 2b shows a top view and FIG. 2c shows a side view of the speakerphone 210.
The low cost of a speakerphone is often associated with the low audio quality of the speakerphone. It is common that when several people participate in a conference call, it may be difficult to understand what a talker on the far end is talking about even if the volume of the speakerphone is turned on high. The conference call participants at the near end may have to sit very close to the speakerphone to be able to hear and understand the far end talker. This makes the participants to crowd over the speakerphone, even though there is plenty of space in the conference room. This makes the conference very uncomfortable and inconvenient.
The problem associated with the difficulty of understanding the talkers at a far end site when there are several people on both conference sites does not appear to be solved by turning up the volume on the speakerphone. Such problem does not appear to be present in many video conference units, which are substantially more expensive.
It is desirable to have a method and a speakerphone with improved sound quality without incurring the substantial cost of a videoconference unit.

Speakerphone with a novel loudspeaker placement


The invention concerns a compounds and methods for treating infection with Respiratory Syncytial Virus. The compounds comprise an antisense portion, which is complementary to a normally single stranded portion of the RSV antigenomic strand (the mRNA strand), a linker and a oligonucleotide activator of RNase L, a ubiquitous non-specific RNase. The method comprised forming a complex of an activated RNase L and the antisense molecule. The application teaches methods of determining which portions of the RSV antigenomic strand are normally single-stranded. The application teaches that an antisense oligonucleotide having the sequence of residues 8281-8299 of the RSV genome is particularly useful to practice the invention and provides in vitro results superior to those obtainable with the conventional drug of choice, ribavirin.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a non-segmented, negative-strand RNA virus in the pneumovirus subfamily of Paramyxoviridae, is a widespread human pathogen accounting for over 1 million deaths per year worldwide (McIntosh and Chanock 1990). While the majority of serious cases are children from developing countries, there are estimated to be 300,000 hospitalized cases per year in the United States (Zisson, 1993). It is also believed that of childhood deaths from pneumonia caused by respiratory viral infections, 62% are due to RSV (Heilman, 1994). The only approved treatment for RSV is aerosolized ribavirin (1-b-D-ribofuranosyl-1,2,3-triazole-3-carboxamide). Ribavirin is administered as an aerosol which is inhaled. Ribavirin therapy has several limitations including minimal efficacy in clinical use, the requirement of a tent around the patient, the potential to clog ventilating units, and the observation of some teratogenicity in animal models (Froelich, 1994), significant side effects and high cost.
RSV replicates in several alveolar cell types including macrophage and epithelial lineages (Panuska et al., 1992, Midulla et al., 1993). Accordingly, ribavirin is administered to RSV infected individuals by inhalation of an aerosol. Taber et al., 1983, Pediatrics 72:613-18; Hall et al., 1983, N. Eng. J. Med. 308:1443-7; Englund et al., 1994, J. Pediatrics 125:635-41.
Activator-antisense complexes (termed therein "2-5A:AS") have been described previously (Torrence et al., 1993, WO 94/09129 by Torrence et al.). Although antisense oligonucleotides have been used as antiviral agents, e.g.: to inhibit HIV replication, see Zamecnik et al, 1986; Goodchild et al., 1988; Letsinger et al., 1989; Balotta et al., 1993; to inhibit RSV infection, WO95/22553 by Kilkuskie et al., no examples of the successful use of activator-antisense complexes as an antiviral therapy have been reported.
The mechanism of action of activator-antisense complexes is different than the mechanism of action of other antisense oligonucleotides. The activator portion of the activator-antisense complexes activates RNase L and the antisense domain serves as a specific, high affinity binding site for the target RNA. The result is the selective cleavage of the target RNA by RNase L.
Physiologically, RNase L functions as part of the interferon system in restricting virus replication in cells of higher vertebrates (reviewed in Silverman, 1994). Interferon treatment of cells activates genes encoding 2-5A synthetases, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-dependent enzymes that produce 5'-triphosphorylated, 2',5'-linked oligoadenylates (2',5'A) from ATP. Viral dsRNAs are potential activators of these enzymes (Gribaudo et al., 1991). The 2',5'A binds to and activates RNase L resulting in the general cleavage of cellular and viral RNA; thus restricting the replication of some picornaviruses (Chebath et al., 1987; Rysiecki et al., 1989; and Hassel et al., 1994).
RNase L is not specific for cleaving viral RNA. For instance, in interferon-treated, encephalomyocarditis virus infected cells, RNase L causes degradation of ribosomal RNA (Wreschner et al., 1981). Through the activator-antisense approach, RNase L is converted from a non-specific nuclease to a highly specific endoribonuclease that selectively cleaves mRNA targets. This has been demonstrated in a cell-free system from Daudi cells, a human lymphoblastoid cell line, in which a modified HIV-1 vif mRNA was targeted for cleavage by an activator-antisense complex (Torrence et al., 1993). Subsequently, purified RNase L has been directed by an activator-antisense complex to cleave selectively an mRNA target encoding the protein kinase PKR in the presence of a nontargeted mRNA (Maran et al., 1994). Furthermore, in HeLa cells, the use of activator-antisense complexes, which were directed to a sequence in PKR mRNA, resulted in the ablation of PKR mRNA and enzyme activity (Maran et al., 1994) such that the dsRNA-mediated activation of transcription factor, NF-kB was ablated. More recently, it was shown that the activation of RNase L by an activator-antisense complex results in the catalytic degradation of PKR mRNA (k.sub.cat, of about 7 sec.sup.-1) (Maitra et al., 1995).

RNase L activators and antisense oligonucleotides effective to treat RSV infections

The Cleveland Clinic Fouindation and Government


Radio systems for supplying hearing apparatus in events rooms are of a more convenient design. To this end a radio transmission apparatus is provided for transmission of speech signals in an events room. It possesses a receive device for receiving at least one control signal and a switching device for switching the radio transmission apparatus on and/or off depending on the received control signal. In addition a control apparatus is provided for controlling the radio transmission device, with which speech signals are transmitted in an events room. This control apparatus possesses a detection device to detect a presence or a movement of the radio transmission device in the events room and a transmit device for transmitting a control signal to the radio transmission device depending on the detection result of the detection device. This allows a transmit device of a teacher to be switched off when they leave the classroom.

FM (Frequency Modulation) systems are used, especially in classrooms, to improve the signal-to-noise ratio during the transmission of signals to hearing devices. In such cases the teacher generally wears a microphone with a transmitter and the students wear a receiver, with a connection to a hearing device where appropriate. If the teacher leaves the room and forgets to switch off the microphone, the students can listen in to conversations, taking place in the staff room for example. The teacher must thus attempt to avoid not switching off the microphone manually at the right time.
An FM multifrequency system for schools made by Phonak is known. In this system the receivers in a classroom are set automatically to a configured radio frequency. A change of classroom automatically changes the frequency at the receiver.

Radio transmission apparatus and control apparatus for events rooms as well as corresponding method


Disclosed herein is a system for automating the causality detection process when upgrades are deployed to different resources that provide a service. The resources can include physical and/or virtual resources (e.g., processing, storage, and/or networking resources) that are divided into different, geographically dispersed, resource units. To determine whether a root cause of a problem is associated with an upgrade event that has recently been deployed, a system is configured to use telemetry data to compute an upgrade-to-upgrade score that represents differences between two different upgrade events that are deployed to the same resource unit. The system is further configured to use telemetry data to compute an upgrade unit-to-unit score that represents differences between the same upgrade event being deployed to two different resource units. The scores can be used to output an alert, for an analyst, that signals whether a recently deployed upgrade event is the cause of a problem.

Providing an optimal user experience is an important aspect for cloud-based platforms that offer network services. As cloud computing gains popularity, more and more data and/or services are stored and/or provided online via network connections. In many scenarios, a cloud-based platform may provide a service to thousands or millions of users (e.g., customers, clients, etc.) geographically dispersed around a country, or even the world. In order to provide this service, a cloud-based platform often includes different resources, such as server farms, hosted in various datacenters.
In order to continue to improve the user experience and/or provide an optimal user experience, an entity providing the service may deploy upgrades to the different resources. The upgrades may include updated code and/or other mechanisms configured to maintain, correct, add, and/or remove functionality associated with the service provided. In many instances, upgrades may be deployed in accordance with a predefined schedule (e.g., each week, every two weeks, each month, etc.).
Unfortunately, these frequently deployed upgrades increase a likelihood of introducing or causing regressions, which may be referred to herein as problems, that can result in functionality loss and/or sub-optimal experiences for the users being served by the resources executing the updated code. Typically, an entity providing the service uses an engineering team to manually monitor telemetry data associated with the health of the resources in order to identify an anomaly that signals a problem, and to determine a root cause of the problem. More specifically, the engineering team includes analysts that investigate problems with the updated code being executed on the resources in order to determine whether mitigation actions need to be taken to resolve the problems.
However, determining whether a problem is caused by upgrades deployed to a number of resources, rather than some other disruptive event that may be localized to a particular resource, has proven to be exceedingly difficult. This is because there is a large number of different metrics of the service that need to be monitored. For instance, an analyst on the engineering team is typically required to diagnose the root cause of a problem by reviewing and interpreting endless logs of telemetry data that show variations and/or deviations for a large number of metrics associated with the resources. This manual review and interpretation is time consuming and largely ineffective particularly because many cloud-based platforms are growing rapidly (e.g., server farms increase in size and/or are continually added to expand the service being provided). Consequently, this growth often outpaces the manual monitoring capacity required to identify and to take action to mitigate a problem in an efficient manner.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Causality determination of upgrade regressions via comparisons of telemetry data


A print job control system which processes print requests to set an order of priority for printing print jobs. A print job manager checks the print request and determines what print option is selected and manipulates the queue identifiers associated with respective print jobs and enters them into a print queue table. One feature allows changing the print order thereby overriding the designated print option. Another feature allows for increasing the priority of low priority jobs regardless of the designated print option assuring that the low priority jobs will be printed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a print job control system that is linked to a local area network (LAN) or other communications information networks for efficient processing of print requests generated from a plurality of workstations.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
LANs and other communications information networks (hereinafter referred to simply as "networks") generally have a plurality of workstations, file servers, terminals, facsimile machines and various servers linked thereto, as well as a print server which controls the print job using a processor in the execution of various print jobs (the print server is hereinafter referred to as a "printer").
The essential part of a network of the type contemplated by the present invention is shown schematically in FIG. 9, in which the network generally indicated by 10 has linked thereto various servers including a plurality of workstations 11 (11-1, 11-2, . . . 11-n), a printer 12, a facsimile 13 and a file server 14.
While many workstations generating print jobs are usually linked to the network, a smaller number of printers 12 are used and, in a typical case, a single printer is used with several workstations. In order to execute print jobs generated from a plurality of workstations 11 in a predetermined order, the print job control processor builds a print queue table containing all queue identifiers necessary to identify the print jobs to be executed, and the specific printing of jobs is performed in accordance with the print queue table.
Prior print job control systems have the capability of automatically changing the order of queue identifiers in the print queue table in accordance with the specific sort option designated by the operator. When this system receives a new print job, the queue identifier of the print job is inserted into the print queue at an appropriate position in accordance with the sort option designated by the operator. The system is so designed that in the absence of a designated sort option, the operator is free to rearrange certain queue identifiers in the print queue table. If a particular sort option is designated by the operator, the system will disregard the position of the queue identifier for the operator-designated print job in the print queue table and rearrange queue identifiers in the order that complies with the particular designated sort option.
In typical prior art systems the following four sort options (1)-(4) may be designated by the operator:
(1) print requests are sorted according to the time they are entered (First-in First-out, or FIFO);
(2) the queue identifier for the print job that requires binding is inserted at the top of the print queue table (Binder First);
(3) print requests are sorted according to the requested time of printing (Short Job First); and
(4) the media (printing media ) required in a particular print job are compared with the media loaded in the printer and the queue identifier of a print Job which is such that all the media it requires are loaded (e.g., a print job that uses a plurality of media to print graphs on OHP sheets and sentences on sheets of plain paper to create a report containing the graphs) and is inserted at the top of the print queue table (Stack Match).
While the prior art of the kind outlined above is described in many books, "Local Area Networks" ed. by Akihiro Kamiya and published by Maruzen, pp. 229-256 is cited as a typical reference.
In the prior art outlined above, the operator can change the order of queue identifiers on the print queue table only when he has not designated a sort option. If he wants to execute an urgent print job, he must first cancel the currently operating sort option before changing the order of queue identifiers on the print queue table (by inserting the queue identifier of the urgent print .job at the head of the print queue table). These procedures are unsuitable for rapidly processing documents that must be urgently printed out.
A further problem with the prior art occurs with the four sort options described above, since a print job that is located toward the end of the print queue table will never be executed as long as a higher-priority print request is accepted.


Processing data which belong to different classes and label data indicating the classes to which the processing data belong are input (S20). A distance relationship between the processing data is calculated (S22). An interclass separation degree between the classes is set (S23). The distance relationship is updated based on the label data and the interclass separation degree (S24). A data mapping relationship which approximates the updated distance relationship is calculated (S25).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-efficiency expression technique of data by reducing redundancy, and a processing technique using this data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, non-linear dimension compression methods represented by "Isomap" of article 1 and "Locally Linear Embedding (LLE)" of article 2 have been proposed. Each of these methods provides a method of mapping data, which are considered to be present on a lower-dimensional manifold, onto a new low-dimensional space, which preserves the surface shape unique to the manifold to have an allowable level, on a high-dimensional space.
Such method is successful in highly efficient pattern expression in terms of expressing data by a lower-dimensional space. However, the method does not use information indicating classes to which data belong, and is not optimal to efficiently express data classifications.
By contrast, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2005-535017 provides a method of expressing images for pattern classifications by extending the conventional Isomap method using a Kernel Fisher linear discriminant function or Fisher linear discriminant function.
Article 3 proposes, as the modification of the conventional Isomap method, a method of building a mapping relationship that enhances the separation degree by forcibly increasing the geodesic distance between data which belong to different classes.
In this way, a method which can preserve the surface shape unique to the manifold to have an allowable level, and can express data for pattern classifications is demanded.    [Article 1] Joshua B. Tenenbaum, Vin de Silva, John C. Langford, "A Global Geometric Framework for Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction", Science, Vol. 290, pp. 2319-2323, 2000    [Article 2] Sam T. Roweis, Lawrence K. Saul, "Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction by Locally Linear Embedding", Science, Vol. 290, pp. 2323-2326, 2000    [Article 3] Bisser Raytchev, Ikushi Yoda, Katsuhiko Sakaue, "Multi-View Face Recognition By Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction And Generalized Linear Models", Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Automatic Face Gesture Recognition, pp. 625-630, 2006

Information processing method and information processing apparatus


A developer cartridge is constituted to be mounted attachably and detachably in a directional orthogonal to a rotating shaft of a developing unit main body and the developer cartridge has a developer containing portion and a developer recovery portion for recovering used developer from the developing unit. A supply port opens to supply the developer from the developer containing portion and a recovery port opens in the developer recovery portion to recover used and recovered developer. A supplying opening portion is formed in a shutter member at a position corresponding to the supply port and a recovering portion is formed in the shutter member at a position corresponding to the recovery port. The shutter member opens and closes both the supply port and the recovery port. A handle for operating the shutter member is configured so that it is contained in the rotating outer peripheral surface of the developing unit main body when the supply port and the recovery port are opened and so that it projects toward the outside of the rotating outer peripheral surface of the developing unit main body when the supply port and the recovery port are closed. The handle is also used to mount the developer cartridge on the developer unit main body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus of a copier, a printer, a facsimile or a composite machine thereof in full color applied with an electrophotography system. In particular, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of preventing a developer cartridge used in the image forming apparatus from being mistakenly installed or removed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus of this kind of a copier, a printer, a facsimile or a composite machine thereof or the like in full color applied with an electrophotography system, there is an image forming apparatus of so-called tandem type constituted such that a plurality of image forming portions in correspondence with respective colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, black and the like are arranged in parallel, and toner images of respective colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, black and the like formed at the respective image forming portions are directly transferred onto a record sheet, or secondarily transferred onto a record sheet via an intermediate transferring belt or similar means to thereby form an image in full color.
Further, in an image forming apparatus of a copier, a printer or the like in full color, mentioned above, there is an image forming apparatus of so-to-speak 4 cycle type constituted such that a plurality of developing units with respective colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, black and the like are arranged along the periphery of a developing unit main body contiguously to a single photosensitive drum, the developing units of the respective colors are moved to a developing position opposed to the photosensitive drum by rotating the developing unit main body, and rotating the photosensitive drum by a predetermined number of times to thereby form toner images of the respective colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black on the photosensitive drum, and the toner images of the respective colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black formed on the photosensitive drum are directly transferred onto a record sheet or secondarily transferred onto a record sheet via an intermediate transferring belt or similar means to thereby form an image in full color.
In the image forming apparatus of the tandem type and the 4 cycle type, the image forming apparatus of the 4 cycle type is characterized in being able to be downsized since only the single photosensitive drum is used.
There have already been proposed technologies with regard to the 4 cycle image forming apparatus disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2001-83765 and JP-A-2001-83766.
A color image recording apparatus according to JP-A-2001-83765, mentioned above, includes a rotating member arranged to assemble with a plurality of developing units including toner containing portions and developing rollers substantially in a circular ring shape in a state of disposing the developing rollers always on an outer peripheral side and rotating to move the developing units to an image forming position, and a photosensitive member containing unit integrally including a photosensitive member, a charging roller for charging the photosensitive member, and a cleaner portion for cleaning to recover a toner remaining on the photosensitive member for transferring an image developed on the photosensitive member by the developing roller to a record sheet via an intermediate transferring member. Whereas the developing unit is inserted into the apparatus from a lid portion of an upper face of the apparatus in the vicinity of the developing roller on the upper side of the rotating member from a direction orthogonal to an axis of the rotating member, the photosensitive member containing unit is inserted into the apparatus from an opening and closing position on a front side of the apparatus and guided to the image forming apparatus from a direction orthogonal to the developing roller, and constituted to carry out two kinds of rotation controls for rotating the rotating member by 90° at respective steps of forming images of the respective colors and rotating the rotating member to dispose the developing unit at the interchanging position when there is not the toner of any of the developing units.
Further, a color image recording apparatus according to JP-A-2001-83766, mentioned above, is a color image recording apparatus including a rotating member arranged to assemble a plurality of developing units having toner containing portions and developing rollers substantially in a circular ring shape in a state of disposing the developing rollers always on an outer peripheral side and rotating to move the developing units successively to an image forming position, and a photosensitive member containing unit constituted by integrally including a photosensitive member, a charging roller for charging the photosensitive member, a cleaner portion for cleaning to recover toner remaining on the photosensitive member for transferring an image developed on the photosensitive member by the developing rollers to a record sheet via an intermediate transferring member. Whereas the developing unit is inserted into the apparatus from a lid portion at an upper face of the apparatus to be mounted to the rotating member from a direction orthogonal to an axis of the rotating member, the photosensitive member containing unit is constituted to be inserted into the apparatus from an opening and closing portion on a front side of the apparatus to be guided to the image forming position from a direction orthogonal to the developing roller and constituted to be able to be able to simultaneously contain the toner remaining on the intermediate transferring member to the cleaner portion.
In the case of the color image recording apparatus according to JP-A-2001-83765 and JP-A-2001-83766, mentioned above, as shown in FIG. 27, the apparatus are constituted such that when any of developing units 100 runs out of toner, a rotating member 101 arranged with the four developing units 100 is rotated to move the developing unit 100 in which the toner is not present is moved to an interchanging position and the developing unit 100 is interchanged by opening a lid portion 102 at an upper face of the apparatus.
A developer cartridge is configured to supply a toner-containing developer, and for removable mounting in one of a plurality of a developing units that are disposed along a rotating outer peripheral surface of a developing unit main body. The developer cartridge includes a developer containing portion that contains the developer supplied to a developing unit; a developer recovery portion disposed at one end of the developer containing portion in a longitudinal direction, that recovers used developer from the developing unit; a supply port that opens to supply the developer from the developer containing portion to the developing unit; a recovery port that opens in the developer recovery portion to recover the used and recovered developer from the developing unit; a shutter member in which a supplying opening portion is formed at a position corresponding to the recovery port, the shutter member opening the supply port and the recovery port, and the shutter member closing the supply port and the recovery port; and a handle that operates the shutter member, the handle configured so that it is contained in the rotating outer peripheral surface of the developing unit main body when the supply port and the recovery port are opened, the handle configured so that it projects toward the outside of the rotating outer peripheral surface of the developing unit main body when the supply port and the recovery port are closed; and the handle further used to mount the developer cartridge on the developer unit main body.
Another aspect of the invention provides a developer cartridge wherein the shutter member is formed in a cylindrical shape that is rotatably fitted to an outer periphery of the developer containing portion and a developer recovery portion.
Further, the handle may be configured to project outwardly in a radial direction from an outer peripheral surface of the shutter member.
Further, the handle may be integrated with the shutter member.
Further, developer recovery portion may be continuously provided to the end of the developer containing portion and the developer recovery portion and the developer containing portion may be partitioned with a partitioning cap.
Further, the developer cartridge may be removably mounted on one of the plurality of developing units in a direction vertical to a rotating axis of the developing unit main body.
Further, outer member may open the supply port and the recovery port simultaneously.
Further, the shutter member may close the supply port and the recovery port simultaneously.

Developer cartridge of an image forming apparatus for removably mounting


A valve drive device which can prevent a locknut fixing a stem nut to a drive sleeve from getting loosened. The valve drive device comprises: the stem nut for screwing a valve stem thereinto; the drive sleeve engaging with a male spline formed on a peripheral outer surface of said stem nut, said drive sleeve including a worm gear on a peripheral outer surface thereof; a worm in meshing engagement with said worm gear; and a housing that supports said drive sleeve by bearings. The valve drive device further comprises: a stem nut fastening member having a first male screw that engages with a female screw provided on a peripheral inner surface of said drive sleeve; and a locknut that engages with a second male screw provided on a reduced diameter portion of said stem nut fastening member, said second male screw having a reverse screw thread relative to said first male screw, so that no slack may arise between said stem nut fastening member and said drive sleeve.

A nuclear power plant generally has numerous valves installed therein, and, in many cases, an electric motor-operated valve drive is used for the drive of those valves. Besides such electric motor-operated drive system, valve drive systems include a hand-operated one, an air motor-operated one, hydraulic motor-operated one, etc. FIG. 3 shows a representative example of those valve drives, illustrating a section of a principal part of a certain valve drive device with an electric motor-operated valve drive attached to a slice valve thereof. The electric motor-operated valve system is configured such that a housing is fixed to a flange at a distal end of a yoke part of the slice valve so that the valve may be opened and closed by the reciprocal movement of a valve stem, by rotation of a motor.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the principal part of the electric motor-operated valve drive device of FIG. 3. A worm is rotated by a motor attached to the housing. Rotation of this worm is transmitted to a worm gear, thus rotating the whole drive sleeve to which the worm gear is fixed.
Once the drive sleeve is rotated, the stem nut also rotates together with the drive sleeve due to a female spline formed in the peripheral inner surface of the drive sleeve engaging with a male spline formed in the peripheral outer surface of the stem nut. When the stem nut rotates, the valve stem is reciprocally moved due to rotation of a valve stem screwed into the stem nut being regulated, thus performing the opening and closing action of the valve.
The stem nut is made from a copper alloy material which is excellent in sliding properties with respect to the valve stem. Moreover, the stem nut is designed so as to be able to be replaced independently without disassembling the electric motor-operated valve drive device as a whole.
A rotary torque from the drive sleeve is transmitted to the stem nut through the spline engagement. On the other hand, thrust from the valve stem is transmitted to the drive sleeve by fixing the stem nut in the axial direction inside the drive sleeve, and is transmitted to the housing through a bearing.
Accordingly, it is necessary to firmly fix the stem nut in the axial direction inside the drive sleeve (for example, see Japanese Un-examined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-193861). More specifically, it is fixed by a stem nut fastening screw abutting to the upper end surface of the stem nut, having a male screw on the outer peripheral surface thereof to be screwed into a female screw provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drive sleeve. The stem nut fastening screw, as illustrated in the drawing, is formed in a two-step structure, in order to prevent loosening.


An apparatus and method for automatically controlling the flow of oxygen from a gas source is provided and includes the step of installing a gas concentrator device on an outlet port associated with the gas source. The gas concentrator device is configured to sealingly mate with a conduit connector for delivering a gas from the gas source to a conduit that is associated with the conduit connector. The method also includes the step of automatically providing gas flow from the gas source to the conduit by sealingly coupling the conduit connector to the gas concentrator device and whereupon removal of the conduit connector from the gas concentrator device causes the gas flow to automatically cease.

Individuals undergoing treatment at hospitals sometimes have difficulty breathing based on the nature of the ailment. Moreover, some patients may have a failed lung to an accident. Such disabilities or conditions require external assistance for inspiration and expiration of breathing gases. Conventionally, medical ventilator systems assist individuals or patients in inspiring oxygen and expiring carbon dioxide. Typically, oxygen is supplied from oxygen tanks to the ventilator via flow meters. Flow meters enable the practitioner or nurse to regulate the proportion of the oxygen supplied to the patient. If there is a decrease in the percentage of oxygen supplies to the patient, the flow meter is adjusted to supply more oxygen. Alternatively, if the supplied air contains high proportion of oxygen, the supply from the oxygen tank is stopped. Sometimes, while using the flow meters, operators tend to leave the flow meters open even when the requirement has been met. This forces oxygen to flow out at high velocity and empty the oxygen cylinders resulting in waste. Moreover, when transporting patients who are supplied oxygen by the oxygen tanks, negligence in the closing of the flow meters leads to unnecessary waste or emptying of the oxygen tanks. Hence, there is a long felt but unresolved need for an apparatus, which prevents the loss of oxygen when supply of oxygen via flow meters is left open due to operator negligence.

Gas concentrator apparatus and method of use thereof


An electrical connector (100) comprises an insulative housing (1), a plurality of contacts (2) assembled to the insulative housing (1), and a shell (3) having at least a spring piece (31) with at least a protrusion projected outward. With the set of the protrusion, the electrical connection between the electrical connector (100) and a chassis panel may be improved and reliable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a single lane external serial ATA data interface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There exists in the art an electrical connector known as External Serial ATA connector which is generally used for transmitting high speed signals between storage devices and a motherboard. Because of many advantages superior to Parallel ATA, Serial ATA replaces Parallel ATA gradually and becomes the next transmitting generation.
A serial ATA right angle plug is disclosed in FIG. 11, which comprises a shell 10 having a top and bottom plates 11, 12. A pair of spring piece 13, 14 vertically extend from front edges of the top and bottom plates 11, 12, respectively. There are provided a pair of elastic tabs 131, 141 at distal ends of each spring piece 13, 14 to press against a chassis panel. The electrical connection between the electrical connector and the chassis panel depends on press points, and only two pairs of press points are formed in this connector, therefore, the electrical connection there between may not be reliable.

Electrical connector with improved shell