A system and method for secure payment transactions is provided. The system may include an adaptive payment server including one or more processors configured to receive a first communication including first identification information from a first communication device on a first communication channel. The adaptive payment server may identify a second communication device based on the first identification information and initiate a second communication to the second communication device on a second communication channel, which may be discrete from the first communication channel. The adaptive payment server may receive second identification information from the second communication device on the second communication channel and authenticate the payment transaction using the first identification information and the second identification information.

Electronic payment systems generally include methods to reduce security risks for individuals and entities conducting automatic payments from a checking or savings account and/or other financial transactions including paying with payment cards over the Internet and in traditional brick-and-mortar establishments. However, retailers and recurring billers According to various implementations of the invention, who maintain personal details, bank account information and other payment information, are vulnerable to hacking or other security breaches which cause the unlawful distribution of identify and financial information to the detriment of consumers, retailers and financial institutions causing financial harm to these entities and undermining trust in the payment system. Existing systems have employed various security measures such as signature verification for brick-and-mortar stores, PIN pads for the entry of debit cards PIN in brick-and-mortar stores and security codes printed on credit card for online transactions. However, these systems are not applicable for Internet purchases or recurring bill payments by payment card and fail to adequately secure payment transactions. Signature verification relies on the retailer or other recipient to verify the cardholder's signature while an identity thief having possession of the credit card may circumvent the security code measures.
One effective approach to secure payment transactions is use of a predefined secret such as a Personal Identification Number (PIN). Such PIN-based authentication may require input of the PIN by the cardholder, typically via a PIN pad in brick-and-mortar location. An identity thief having possession of a card or card number authenticated using a PIN is thereby prevented from using the card without knowledge of the PIN.
In the United States, PIN-based authentication systems are widely deployed for debit payment transactions. Abroad, such as in Europe, credit cards may include a smart chip that stores PIN information for use with PIN-based authentication through a point-of-sale terminal or PIN pad in retail locations.
However, even though existing PIN-based authentication systems provides enhanced security as compared to signature or other existing authentication systems, PIN-based authentication systems have disadvantages. For instance, use of a PIN pad for input requires retailers, including brick-and-mortar retailers, to purchase such hardware. Furthermore, online electronic retailers (Etailers) may not take advantage of PIN-based authentication because of the security risk associated with malware or spyware on the consumer's personal computer that may capture the PIN and/or the risk of transmitting a PIN over the Internet. Moreover, purchases made over the phone may not be desirable because a cardholder may not wish disclose a PIN to an operator, for example.
Furthermore, recurring payment transactions present security risks because bank account information and personal details entered online may be captured by spyware/malware and these details stored on biller computers may not be secured and could be compromised. For example, giving a biller account information so that the biller may charge or otherwise regularly process payments may be risky. Another problem is that a payor often forgets about their recurring bills or doesn't proactively confirm amounts to be billed and can experience overdraft charges from their bank or refused payments, or otherwise loses control of recurring payment transactions.
Existing systems suffer from these and other problems.

System and method of secure payment transactions


The present invention provides a common framework to determine if machines are patched and automatically applies patches as required. It provides an automated tool to assess patch levels and apply patches on several different UNIX machine types. Further, it provides a centralized, consistent method of providing patches to multiple roles within an organization while automatically managing large quantities of machines. It can manage multiple security standards, machine classifications, and patch security levels and be customized to interface with existing asset management tools. It evaluates the most suitable patch to satisfy the minimal patch requirements and is an early warning system that will tell a user when the user's machine will go out of compliance. The tool is composed of two parts: a server component and client component. The server collects data reported by client machines and stores it in a database; collects patch, machine and owner data from other databases, including internal databases and vendor web sites; downloads vendor patches to a depot area; and evaluates compliance and generates a list of patches that are missing, applied late, and patches that are satisfied. An overall compliance verdict is calculated for each machine. The server sends the client a list of patches to be installed as needed. The server receives installation status from the client, reports it onto the web, and sends the user email. The client gathers machine data and sends it to server; queries the server to see if patches are needed, and receives a patch list. The client downloads patches from APAR depot; and installs patches and reports status back to the server.

In computing, a patch is a small piece of software designed to update or fix problems with a computer program. This includes fixing bugs, replacing graphics and improving the usability or performance. Though meant to fix problems, poorly designed patches can sometimes introduce new problems (aka. software regressions).
Patch management is the process of using a strategy and plan of what patches should be applied to which systems at a specified time.
However, there is no common way to determine if many UNIX machines are patched to meet compliance standards. There is no common set of commands and tools to patch multiple UNIX machines automatically. Each UNIX Operating System type (Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, RedHat Linux, SuSE Linux) has a different way to evaluate patch information, patch history and a different way to install the patch. This makes maintaining compliance with security standards a complex and labor-intensive task and requires experts for each machine type.
With current technology, the patching of UNIX systems is inconsistent and a potentially error prone manual process. FIG. 1 illustrates the current manual process used. At 102, a new APAR is released. (APAR (Authorized Program Analysis Report)) is a request for correction of a defect. In the present application, an APAR is a patch. At 104, a determination is made as to whether the APAR is applicable to the system. If not, at 106, the APAR is closed. If so, at 108, the APAR is searched and downloaded and, at 110, the APAR is installed and, at 106, the APAR is closed. This is a time consuming process to monitor and manage patching.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists to overcome these problems by providing a system and method for monitoring and managing the patch process.

Patch management automation tool for UNIX, APARXML

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to a method for producing thermotropic casting resin systems that comprise at least one matrix polymer including at least one thermotropic monomer compound which cannot be mixed with the matrix polymer, whereby the matrix polymer an the thermotropic monomer compound are selected in such a way that their refraction indices are almost the same in a temperatrue range that is below the temperature required for structural change and that reaches the temperature of structural change of the thermotropic monomer compound, the casting resin system being translucent or transparent in this termperature range. After dissolving the monomer thermotropic compund in a matrix solution containing a photohardening oligomer, reactive diluents and photoinitiators and a liquid, photohardenable system is obtained, photoradiation with exclusion of oxygen is carried out for hardening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing thermotropic resin systems that comprise at least one matrix polymer including at least one (thermotropic) monomer compound which cannot be mixed with the matrix polymer, and the structure of which cannot be affected by temperature changes, whereby the matrix polymer and the thermotropic monomer compound are selected in such a way that their refraction indices are almost the same in a temperature range that is below the temperature required for structural change and that reaches the temperature of structural change of the thermotropic monomer compound, the casting resin system being therefore translucent or transparent in this temperature range, as well as the utilization of such thermotropic cast resin systems.
There are already several known thermotropic systems, especially in connection with the shading of glass surfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
From the generic DE 44 33 090 A1 a thermo-optical polymer material is known, which consists of at least one matrix polymer compound and one monomer compound, whereby the matrix polymer and the monomer compound are chosen in such a way that their refraction indices in the temperature range below the temperature required for structural change up to the temperature for structural change of the monomer compound are almost equal, and the polymer material is thus translucent and transparent in this temperature range. In this case, the polyesters are suggested as the matrix polymers, and as the monomer compounds, alkanes with C10 to C25 are preferably proposed.
From the German patent application DE 196 42 886.6 it is known that on the basis of completely dissociated polymers, thermotropic systems can be formulated which are utilized for the production of thermotropic coatings. In this case, at first a coating solution is produced (for example with xylol as a solvent). The application of the coating solution is carried out with known paint-technological coating processes, such as, for example, blade-coating, spraying or flow-coating. After the coating solution is applied the solvent is vaporized and subsequently the cross linkage is thermally induced. After cooling and intermediate storage the application of the cover coat is preferably made. The disadvantage of this process consists in that during the vaporization of the solvent poisonous vapors can be generated. This can lead to environmental contamination as well as require higher investment costs for work safety. Furthermore, because of the costly drying process the manufacturing process it is only usable for exposed surfaces or for coatings with a limited film thickness, so that the possibility of applying it for large industries is limited.
A further development is based on a thermotropic gel which consists primarily of colloidal parts of a polyether-water mixture, which is enclosed in a gel-like layer of a vinyl-carboxyl-water mixture. In this case a tenside surface serves as the solubilizer. When a critical temperature is exceeded, on the one hand the water linked to the macromolecule will be split off to the outer solvent. At the same time a temperature-dependent felting of the macromolecules takes place. In addition to this partial growth the relative refractive index of the particles is increased by the water separation (See also European patent 86 904 133). These thermotropic gels can, for example, be filled into the intermediate space between window panes in order to produce thermo-optical glazing. The disadvantage of this development, however, consists in that the generally highly viscous systems can only be used for filling at a high expenditure, and that the edge seals must be made in such a way that they seal against water vapor diffusion as well being resistant to chemicals, in order to prevent them from drying out. In addition to high production costs the long term stability of such a glazing is generally strongly limited.
On the basis of the DE 44 33 090 A1 the present invention is based on the objective of creating a process for the production of thermotropic resin casting systems, which makes it possible to produce thermotropic casting resin systems of long-term durability and of any desired shape and size, and to do so rapidly, cost-effectively, and in a way which is safe for the environment.
This task is achieved by a production process according to claim 1, and as far as the utilization is concerned by the characteristics of claim 2.
Due to the fact that the thermotropic casting resin systems (T-OPAL) are kept for hardening by dissolving the monomer compound in a matrix solution, which contains photo-hardening oligomers, reactive thinners as well as photo initiators, into a photo hardenable system and subsequent photo radiation under the exclusion of oxygen, a solvent to be evaporated can be completely dispensed with. Thus no (often toxic) solvent emissions are generated, and therefore the contamination of the work place is small without the costly use of additional safety measures. By means of the elimination of the drying process, which in the case of solvent-containing coating solution is very time-consuming or only makes coating of low thickness possible, the processing times can be greatly reduced. By a corresponding of the parameters (for example an increased addition of photo initiators) very short hardening times can be achieved. The process further distinguishes itself by the very simple processing methods as well as a low apparatus cost, and, furthermore, the hardened casting resin system has, in particular in contrast to thermotropic gels according to the state of the art, a clearly improved long-term stability.
During the hardening process, which takes place under the effect of photo radiation, in the present production process the reactive thinner becomes part of the hardening reaction (depending on the intensity of the radiation, the addition of corresponding photo initiators as well as the fill form of the casting resin system a duration of photo radiation of from 1 to 20 minutes is required). In this case the thermotropic compound or component turns out to be very finely distributed and is, therefore, added to the matrix in the crystalline state, as it generates itself. In order to make the desired precipitation possible, the matrix solution must display a corresponding solubility for the thermotropic component. In order to make possible the desired precipitation, the matrix solution must have a corresponding solubility for the thermotropic component. The solvent power of the matrix in combination with the cross-linking speed determines the grain size distribution as well as the number of separation zones, which in turn have a significant effect upon the radiation technological properties of the layers. Thus the temperature dependent as reduction of the degree of radiation transmission as well as the dependence of the wave length of the transmission can be varied purposefully by means of these parameters.
In any case, however, one has to see to it that the optical density of the matrix being generated is adjusted to the thermotropic component, i.e. that the index of refraction of the matrix corresponds to that of the thermotropic component below the temperature determining the structural change of the thermotropic component (for example, the index of refraction of the matrix is preferably 1.5 less than nD20 less than 1.58) when paraffins are used. In this context it is advantageous or required that the index of refraction of the matrix is across a wide temperature range (for example between 10 and 40 EC).
Because in order to harden the matrix solution no thermal treatment is necessary, the entire production process, which means the solution of the thermotropic monomer compound in the matrix solution as well as the subsequent photoradiation, can take place at room temperature. Because of reasons of processing technology an ambient temperature range of from 10 to 30 EC must be maintained, preferably 20 EC.
In this way, the photoradiation can be undertaken with light of various wave lengths, however, it is especially advantageous to carry out the irradiation with UV light in the wave lengths from 200 to 500 nm.
The matrix solution can have been put together in many different ways. For the photo hardening resins acrylic-modified, saturated, aliphatic systems, such as, for example, polyesters, urethanes or polyethers are to be used, where it is advantageous to apply 20 to 80 parts in the formulation. As reactive thinners, for example, acrylic acid, ethyl acrylate, s-buthylacrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl-acrylate, ethoxy-ethoxy-ethyl acrylate, tetrahydrofurfurylacrylate or methylmethacrylate are used. Preferably 80 to 20 parts of reactive thinner are added to the formulation. Furthermore, commercially available photo initiators, such as, for example, phosphine oxides and ketones, are to be used. It is advantageous to select an initiator content of from 0.5 to 1 part.
As thermotropic components, for the production process according to the invention commercially available thermotropic compounds should be considered. These are preferably aliphatic compounds, especially alkanes of the general formula Cn H2n+2 with n=10 to n=25. Depending on the selection of the thermotropic monomer compounds, the temperature determining the structural change and thus the changed optical properties are in the range of from 10 to 50 EC, preferably in the range from 20 to 40 EC.
The filling process of the mixed, liquid casting resin system, which already contains the thermotropic component, can take place in different ways. In addition to feeding it into any type of transparent body to be filled, it is possible, for example, to feed the liquid system prior to the photo radiation process into an intervening space located between two transparent glass or plastic panes, which is sealed all around the edge. In this way the discharge of the oxygen during the hardening of the casting resin system is ensured in an especially simple manner. In the use of organic grouser plates, the hollow chambers of which are filled, a separate sealing of the edges can be dispensed with. In each case one can resort to techniques, which are already established in the glazing industry, because, for example, the filling of the spaces between panes for the purpose of sound insulation is already part of the state of the art.
After the hardening process induced by photo radiation, the panes surrounding the filled space can remain in place or be removed. In the case where the surrounding panes remain in place, the adhesion between the fill material and the panes can preferably be further improved commercially available adhesive agents, perhaps silanes, and this increases at the same time the strength of the overall arrangement. This can take place, for example, by the deposition of suitable adhesive agents upon the appropriate interior surfaces of the surrounding panes. Because the surrounding panes remain in place this has the advantage that the thermotropic layer is protected against a mechanical, chemical or radiation-related attack, and furthermore a continuously high surface quality is ensured.
However, it is of course also possible to use the hardened casting resin system as an independent pane after removal of the surrounding panes.
A further possibility consists in that the liquid system is applied openly to a substrate prior the photo radiation. This can take place by means of a process typical in the paint industry, such as spraying, flow coating or blade coating. In each case it is, however, important to see to it that the photo radiation takes place in a room where the oxygen has been cut off or that outside such a room a gastight foil is placed directly upon the applied layer during the photo radiation.
Regardless of whether the liquid system is poured into a closed form or upon an open surface during the photo radiation, film thicknesses can be obtained within a very wide range of magnitudes. Thus it is possible without any difficulty to obtain film thicknesses in the range of from 0.1 mm to 10 mm. Corresponding fillings or coatings can be applied in all the areas of technology, especially in the case of structures and vehicles which are exposed to the sun. By means of the coating or filling process according to the invention of transparent structural components, for example, of glass or plastic, a sight protection or shading can thus be generated, which becomes less transparent to light at high temperatures and thus makes the use of energy-intensive air-conditioning units unnecessary or makes it possible to use smaller units. Because of the lower raw material costs, the cost of the fillings or coatings according to the invention are thus relatively small.
The invention will be explained below in more detail on the basis of two performance examples:
To 80.9 parts of an acrylic-modified saturated polyester (Viaktin, resins of the Vianova Company) are added 16.2 parts of methacrylic acid methyl ester (Merck Company) and in this mixture 1.9 parts of n-octadecan (Merck Company) are dissolved. To the solution obtained in this manner 1.0 parts of UV-initiator IRGACURE (Ciba-Spezialitxc3xa4tenchemie Company) is added. The edge of two float glass panes is closed off with the exception of a small fill opening with the help of a double-sided adhesive tape, which serves at the same time as a spacer. Into the space between the panes generated, the above-described low viscosity liquid is poured. Subsequently this composite pane is illuminated with UV-radiation (Vitalux, Osram Company) at a temperature of about 20 EC for 5 minutes.
80.9 parts of an acrylic-modified saturated polyester (Viaktin, resins of the Vianova Company) are added to 16.2 parts of divinyl benzol (Merck Company) and in this mixture 1.9 parts of n-eicosane (Merck Company) are dissolved. To the solution obtained in this manner 1.0 parts of UV-initiator IRGACURE (Ciba-Spezialitxc3xa4tenchemie Company) is added. The edge of two float-glass panes is closed off with the exception of a small fill opening with the help of a double-sided adhesive tape, which serves at the same time as a spacer. Into the space between the panes generated, the above-described low viscosity liquid is poured. Subsequently this composite pane is illuminated with UV-radiation (Vitalux, Osram Company) at a temperature of about 30 EC for 5 minutes.
To 48.8 parts of an aliphatic urathaneacrylate (Rahn Chemie) are added 4.8 parts of acrylic acid (Fluka), 24.2 parts of acrylic acid methyl ester (Fluka) and 19.4 parts of acrylic-acid-tetrahydrofurfuryl-acrylate (Cray Valley) and in this mixture 2.4 parts of n-octadecane (Fluka) are dissolved. To the solution obtained in this manner 0.8 parts of UV-initiator IRGACURE (Ciba-Spezialitxc3xa4tenchemie Company) are added. The edge of two float-glass panes is closed off with the exception of a small fill opening with the help of a double-sided adhesive tape, which serves at the same time as a spacer. Into the space between the panes generated, the above-described low viscosity liquid is poured. Subsequently this composite pane is illuminated with UV-radiation (UVA Black, Radium) at a temperature of about 25 EC for 10 minutes.
To 19.5 parts of a polyethylene-glycol-diacrylate (Fluka) are added 14.6 parts of acrylic acid (Fluka), 14.6 parts of dianoldiacrylate (Akcros) and 48.8 parts of acrylic-acid-tetrahydrofurfuryl-acrylate (Cray Valley) and in this mixture 2 parts of n-octadecane (Fluka) are dissolved. To the solution obtained in this manner 0.5 parts of UV-initiator IRGACURE (Ciba-Spezialitxc3xa4tenchemie Company) are added. The edge of two float-glass panes is closed off with the exception of a small fill opening with the help of a double-sided adhesive tape, which serves at the same time as a spacer. Into the space between the panes generated, the above-described low viscosity liquid is poured. Subsequently this composite pane is illuminated with UV-radiation (UVA Black, Radium) at a temperature of about 25 EC for 10 minutes.

Method for producing thermotropic casting resin systems and utilization thereof

Fraunhoger-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.


The present invention is: a curable composition for forming a primer layer of a gas barrier laminated film, comprising at least a polar group-containing polyolefin polymer and a polyfunctional acrylate compound; a gas barrier laminated film having a primer layer made of a cured product of the curable composition; and a gas barrier laminate including an organic compound-containing layer laminated on the surface of the gas barrier laminated film. The present invention provides: a curable composition that is for forming a primer layer suitably used in manufacturing a gas barrier laminate excellent in interlayer adhesion, a gas barrier laminated film having a primer layer made of the cured product of the curable composition, and a gas barrier laminate comprising an organic compound-containing layer laminated on the surface of the gas barrier laminated film.

In recent years, a film having gas barrier properties (hereinafter, referred to as "gas barrier film" in some cases) has been used as a substrate having an electrode instead of a glass plate so as to achieve thinning, weight saving and flexibility in a display such as a liquid crystal display and an electroluminescence (EL) display. Further, by laminating another layer on the gas barrier film, a film having a new function has been developed.
For example, an adhesive sheet including an adhesive layer formed on the gas barrier layer surface of a substrate having a gas barrier layer (gas barrier film) is described in Patent Literature 1. By using the adhesive sheet, an organic EL element and the like can be efficiently sealed.

Curable composition for forming primer layer, gas barrier laminated film, and gas barrier laminate


A system includes multiple blades coupled to a rotor, a stationary shroud disposed about the multiple blades, and a clearance between the stationary shroud and each blade end of the multiple blades, wherein the clearance is configured to enable over tip leakage flow. The system also includes a diffuser section that includes an outer wall defining an expanding flow path downstream from the multiple blades. The outer wall includes a first wall portion having a first angle relative to a rotational axis of the multiple blades, and the clearance is configured to enable an increase in the first angle by maintaining the boundary layer along the outer wall with the over tip leakage flow.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to exhaust diffusion for turbine systems.
A gas turbine system may include an exhaust diffuser coupled to a gas turbine engine. The gas turbine engine combusts a fuel to generate hot combustion gases, which flow through a turbine to drive a load and/or compressor. The exhaust diffuser receives the exhaust from the turbine, and gradually reduces the pressure and velocity. Unfortunately, exhaust diffusers often consume a considerable amount of space. For instance, the exhaust diffuser may be as long as the gas turbine engine. Therefore, it may prove beneficial to implement design strategies for reducing the footprint of the exhaust diffuser, and, thus, the overall footprint of the gas turbine system.

Turbine exhaust diffusion system and method


Embodiments are provided of an assembly having a prosthetic valve, the prosthetic valve having a radially expandable and compressible annular frame, and a crimping accessory device, and methods for using the assembly in compressing the prosthetic valve. The frame includes an outer surface and an inner surface. A leaflet assembly is supported inside the annular frame. The leaflet assembly includes a plurality of leaflets, each having an inner surface and an outer surface. The crimping accessory device has a plurality of axially-extending fingers. At least a first finger of the plurality of fingers is disposed between the outer surface of a first leaflet of the plurality of leaflets, and at least a second finger of the plurality of fingers is disposed radially-inwardly of the inner surface of the first leaflet.

In recent years, a variety of prosthetic valves have been developed wherein a valve structure (e.g., tissue leaflets) is mounted on a metal stent and then delivered to a treatment site via a catheterization technique. Such transcatheter prosthetic valves may be self-expandable or balloon-expandable. Balloon-expandable prosthetic valves are typically crimped from an initial large diameter to a smaller diameter prior to advancement to a treatment site in the body. Before crimping, a balloon-expandable prosthetic valve is typically placed over an inflatable balloon on a catheter shaft. Once delivered to the implantation site, the balloon can be inflated to expand the prosthetic valve to its fully functional size. Self-expanding prosthetic valves are typically also crimped to a smaller diameter, and are then inserted into a sheath. After placement in the body, the sheath is withdrawn, and the prosthetic valve expands inside the body.
A known type of crimping apparatus for crimping a prosthetic valve includes a plurality of circumferentially arranged moveable segments that define a variable diameter crimping aperture. When a prosthetic valve is placed in the crimping aperture, the moveable segments are moved radially inwardly to decrease the diameter of the crimping aperture, thereby radially compressing the prosthetic valve. In some cases, during the crimping process, the leaflets can become damaged by contacting the metal stent, or components of the prosthetic valve can be deformed.

Crimping accessory device for a prosthetic valve


A programmable dancing figurine visually representative of a religious or biblical figure, and a method of conducting a dance routine with the programmable dancing figurine are presented herein. The method includes selecting a song or biblical verse and defining a dance portion of the song, which may begin on the first lyric and end on the last lyric of the song. Utilizing a remote control disposed in a communicative relation with the figurine, the user will pre-program one or more dance routes by consecutively selecting a particular button mode and a button corresponding to a dance maneuver. During the performance, the user must synchronize or time the execution of the dance routine with the dance portion of the song, wherein the collective time it takes to perform the pre-programmed dance routine(s) must be substantially equal to the time of the dance portion of the song.

Teaching coordination, timing, and other skills in children and adults may be accomplished by way of choreographing dance routines to music, songs, and biblical verses. There is a need for a biblical figurine that can be programmed by a user to execute successive dance moves or other movements to synchronized music. In order to do so, the user would have to listen to a particular song or biblical verse, generally a number of times, and coordinate the movement of the figurine to the song or biblical verse. Such a method and figurine may be used to not only teach and develop coordination and other skills, but can be used to teach the importance of religion via the various song or biblical verses used.

Programmable dancing figurine and method of conducting a performance using the same


An LED lamp includes a housing, a heat sink received in the housing, a plurality of LED modules thermally attached to the heat sink and a plurality of wire clips spanning over the heat sink and securing the heat sink on the housing. The heat sink includes a base and a plurality of fins extending from the base. Each of the clips includes a pivoting portion pivotally mounted on the housing, two locking portions located opposite to the pivoting portion and detachably engaging with the housing, and two pressing portions respectively interconnecting the pivoting portion with the two locking portions and abutting against the base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED lamp, and particularly to an LED lamp having a heat sink and a plurality of clips for readily securing the heat sink mounted with LED modules to the LED lamp.
2. Description of Related Art
An LED lamp is a type of solid-state lighting device that utilizes light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a source of illumination. The LED has an advantage that it is resistant to shock, and has an almost eternal lifetime under a specific condition; thus, the LED lamp is intended to be a cost-effective yet high quality replacement for incandescent and fluorescent lamps. Conventionally, the LED lamp has a heat sink. LED modules are intimately mounted on the heat sink so heat generated by the LED modules can be dissipated by the heat sink. For a removal or reinstallment of the heat sink, multiple screws need to be loosened or fastened which makes operation of the removal or the reinstallment complicated and tedious. The problem is more serious when the assembly and disassembly of the heat sink of the LED lamp are operated outdoors and at a high level, since the screws may drop from the LED lamp during the operation, which is occurred when the LED lamp is used as, for example, a highway lamp.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved LED lamp which can overcome the described disadvantages.

Fu Zhun Precision Industry (Shen Zhen) Co., Ltd.


A rapid thermal processing (RTP) chamber is disclosed, wherein a transparent plate and a body are sealed with a gas tight seal, and wherein the gas tight seal is activated by inflating an inflatable element.

Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) is a versatile optical heating method which can be used for semiconductor processing as well as a general, well controlled, method for heating objects or wafers which are in the form of thin sheets, slabs, or disks. The objects are generally inserted one at a time into a chamber which has at least some portions of the chamber walls transparent to transmit radiation from powerful heating lamps. The transparent portion of the walls is generally quartz, which will transmit radiation up to a wavelength of 3 to 4 microns. These lamps are generally tungsten-halogen lamps, but arc lamps or any other source of visible and/or near infrared radiation may be used. The radiation from the lamps is directed through the transparent portions of the walls on to the surface of the object to be heated. As long as the objects absorb light in the near infrared or visible spectral region transmitted by the transparent portion of the walls, RTP techniques allow fast changes in the temperature and process gas for the different material processes and conditions. RTP allows the "thermal budgets" of the various semiconductor processing to be reduced, as well as allows the production of various metastable states which can be "frozen in" when the material is cooled rapidly.
RTP systems are relatively new. In the last 10 or 15 years, such systems were used only in research and development. The thrust of the work was increasing the temperature uniformity, and developing heating cycles and processes which decreased the thermal budget. Prior art RTP machines can heat unstructured, homogeneous materials in the form of a flat plate or disk, and produce temperature uniformities across the plate adequate for semiconductor processing processes.
The temperature control in current RTP systems is mostly performed by monochromatic (or narrow wavelength band) pyrometry measuring temperature of the relatively unstructured and featureless backside of semiconductor wafers. The results of the temperature measurement are generally used in a feedback control to control the heating lamp power. Backside coated wafers with varying emissivity can not be used in this way, however, and the backside layers are normally etched away or the temperature is measured using contact thermocouples.
A newer method of temperature control is the power controlled open loop heating described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,693, which patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
German patent DE42 23 133 C2, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a method of producing relatively defect free material in RTP machines. Apparatus induced thermal inhomogeneities have been reduced in the last few years because of the demand for more uniform processing. Among the techniques used have been control of the individual lamp power, use of circular lamps, and rotation of the semiconductor wafers with independent power control.
Most RTP machines have a thin rectangular quartz reaction chamber having one end open. The reaction chamber is made from a set of flat quarts plates joined together ("welded") in a manner known in the art. Chambers meant for vacuum use often have a flattened oval cross section. Chambers could even be made in the form of a flat cylindrical pancake. In general, the chambers are used so that the thin objects to be heated are held horizontally, but they could also be held vertical or in any convenient orientation. The reactor chamber is usually thin to bring the lamps close to the object to be heated. The reactor chamber is opened and closed at one end with a pneumatically operated door when the wafer handling system is in operation. The door is usually made of stainless steel, and may have a quartz plate attached to the inside. The process gas is introduced into the chamber on the side opposite the door and exhausted on the door side. The process gas flow is controlled by computer controlled valves connected to various manifolds in a manner well known in the art.
As wafer sizes increase to 300 mm diameter, the quartz "boxes" are increasingly expensive to produce and to use. The amount and size of ancillary equipment inside the RTP chamber is increasing at the same rate. RTP chambers made from different materials, however, have difficulties in that the hot wafers radiate long wavelength infrared radiation, which heats the quartz walls of the RTP systems which are transparent only to visible and near infra-red light. It is thus difficult to seal the transparent walls of the system to the differing material of the non transparent walls, because the differential expansion of the different materials leads to relative motion of the various parts of the RTP chamber. The differential expansion leads to very non uniform forces at different portions of the quartz plates, and such forces can crack the very expensive plates.
Relative motion between the quartz plates and the other parts of the RTP chamber can "scrub" the sealing material and cause contamination of chamber. This contamination is particularly bad for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of silicon-germanium, where the system must be extraordinarily clean and where the entire system must be "baked" to remove all traces of water vapor from the walls of the system, and where normal sealing materials outgas sufficient material to prevent good CVD growth. Metal gaskets must be used and must be compressed with high pressures, and upon non uniform heating of the quartz plates, the plates may crack.

Inflatable elastomeric element for rapid thermal processing (RTP) system


An information recording and reproducing apparatus including: a reproducing unit which generates a digital signal from an analog signal; a recording compensation unit which generates an expectation signal from the digital signal, detects a signal difference between the digital signal and the expectation signal, and adjusts a recording condition for recording the information; and a recording unit configured to record the information based on the recording condition. First recording compensation is performed for adjusting the recording condition using first recording where lengths of a preceding space and a succeeding space of a first recording mark and lengths of a preceding space and a succeeding space of a second recording mark are not in intersymbol interference; and second recording compensation is performed for adjusting the recording condition for the first recording mark using second recording data for changing a length of the second recording mark.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an information recording and reproducing apparatus and an information recording and reproducing method, both capable of performing recording compensation more accurately to an information recording medium having an information recording surface to which information is optically recordable, the recording compensation being performed for realizing high density recording more stably.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, information recording media such as DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs) and BDs (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Discs) are used as recording media aimed at general users for storing video or data. In recent years, BDs have come to be used in data archivers for storing important data for an extended period of time with a highly reliable system. Data archivers are a product that is mainly available for business use, and are required to have higher density in order to allow more data to be stored.
In such an information recording medium, information is recorded by forming a recording mark and a space over a recording layer of the information recording medium.
When the information in the information recording medium is reproduced, the recording mark and the space formed over the recording layer are irradiated with laser light of low output power, and a reproduced signal is obtained based on a difference between optical characteristics, e.g., reflectance ratios, of the recording mark and the space. By performing signal processing on the reproduced signal, the recorded information is reproduced.
When information is recorded to the information recording medium, based on information to be recorded, the recording layer is irradiated with a recording pulse obtained by intensity modulation to laser light and a recording mark is recorded.
An information recording and reproducing apparatus that performs recording and reproducing on the information recording medium performs recording compensation of adjusting a leading edge position and a trailing edge position of the recording mark such that errors in reproduced signals obtained by reproducing the recorded recording mark are reduced.
The recording compensation is particularly required in a recording density in which a length of a space between recording marks is short. In the recording density in which the length of a space between recording marks is short, heat generated when a recording mark is formed is not sufficiently reduced at a space section, and affects a temperature rise at a leading edge of a succeeding recording mark. Adversely, the heat at the leading end of the succeeding recording mark affects the cooling of the heat at a trailing edge of the preceding recording mark. Such an influence is referred to as thermal interference, which depends on a length of the space. In the recording compensation, a shape of a pulse of recording laser is finely adjusted depending on the length of the space in order to compensate positions of the edges of the recording marks that change depending on the thermal interference.
Further, as lengths of the recording mark and the space are reduced, amplitude of a reproduced signal is also reduced, and a difference is produced between reproduced signals according to a combination of the recording mark and the space due to an influence of symbol interference. For example, even if the length of the recording marks is the same, depending on a difference between lengths of spaces before and after the recording marks, reproduced signals in particular at the edge portions of the recording marks are detected differently. Therefore, it is considered to be effective to employ a method such as PRML (Partial Response Maximum Likelihood) as a method of reproduced signal processing. By performing waveform equalization of the reproduced signals by the PRML method to reduce the influence of the intersymbol interference, it is possible to perform recording compensation more accurately.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-23069, for example, discloses one example of a method of detecting an edge shift which is displacement between edge positions of recording marks in order to perform waveform equalization of reproduced signals by the PRML method to perform recording compensation.
In Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-23069, focusing on edges of a recording mark in a maximum likelihood bit stream that is a reproduced signals decoded by the PRML method, an error bit stream is generated, which is a bit stream that is most susceptible to error in which a bit of a maximum likelihood bit stream at the edge portion or a bit of a maximum likelihood bit stream in an entire recording marks including edge portions shifts, and the edge shift is evaluated based on an Euclidean distance difference between a reproduced signal and target signals respectively corresponding to the maximum likelihood bit stream and the error bit stream.
With this, in recording compensation in recording density of about 31 GB in the case of a BD, it is possible to directly detect an edge shift of an edge portion using either of a reproduced signal at an edge portion of a recording mark as a target of recording compensation, or a reproduced signal in a range of the length of a space that is adjacent to this recording mark.

Information recording and reproducing apparatus and information recording and reproducing method

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


Methods, systems and computer readable mediums storing computer executable programs for managing security in a network are disclosed. A plurality of security policies associated with a plurality of network data anomalies are provided at a network management system. Each one of the plurality of security policies defines a network data anomaly specific mitigation response for each one of the plurality of network data anomalies. A first network data anomaly is detected at the network management system. A determination is made at the network management system regarding whether a first one of the plurality of security policies defines a first network data anomaly specific mitigation response to the first network data anomaly. A first mitigation command is issued from the network management system to at least one network system to implement the first network data anomaly specific mitigation response for a pre-defined period of time in accordance with the first security policy based on the determination.

Technological advances have led to the use of increasingly larger and complex networks with an ever increasing number of network systems as an integral part of organizational operations. Many network systems routinely receive, process and/or store data of a sensitive and/or confidential nature. Users are often provided with access to a network via external network access points to retrieve and/or exchange data with network systems within the network. The increased use of such external network access points has in many cases rendered networks increasingly vulnerable to attacks by malicious users.
Attacks on networks are growing in frequency and sophistication. The sensitive nature of data that is routinely stored in such networks often attracts malicious users or hackers that seek to gain access to the sensitive data and/or confidential data. In some cases, malicious users seek access to networks and network systems with the intention of corrupting the network and/or network systems. Examples of mechanisms that are often used by malicious users to inflict damage on a network include, but are not limited to, viruses, worms, spiders, crawlers and Trojans.
The increasing frequency of attacks on networks has often led to an increase on the demands made on network administrators to detect, assess and respond to detected network data anomalies in a timely manner.

Methods and systems for managing security in a network

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.


A writing pad for use with a computer includes a number of sheets each having a flexure sensor affixed thereto. Circuitry connected to the sensors determines whether the sheets are lifted and removed from the pad, whereby the particular sheet currently in use may be identified. The flexure sensor system can be used in various configurations such as: a one or multiple-part checkbook systems with recognition of check writing environment, as a children""s book to add sound to identified pages, as an answer sheet for testing or voting, in a clipboard configuration or to assist a speaker during a slide-show presentation. The flexure sensors include resistive structures such as carbon based goo, transducers, conductive inks, strain gauges, patterned dissolved graphite, embossed sensors or other pressure/flexure sensors or equivalents thereof.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic writing tablets. More specifically, the present invention is related to a writing pad with flexure sensors retained therein.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
When a computer is associated with written pages, a method for relating the pages to data in the computer is needed. Information such as where on a page, what number page, how many pages have been removed or turned is needed to correlate the physical pages to the data in the computer. At the present time, the prior art has failed to teach a system which accurately electronically identifies turned or removed pages from a writing tablet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,881, to Brefka et al., describes a talking book with a left and right infrared detectors used to detect page turning. However, Brefka provide a limited means of detectionxe2x80x94only detecting a left to right transfer of pages.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,868, to Leung, describes a sound generating book including a plurality of sensors, including transmitters and receivers, positioned at various places in the book. The sensors enable capacitive measurement and correlation with position thereof.
The available prior art described hereafter is limited to descriptions of pressure detection demarcations and use of conductive inks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,221 to Willard (assigned to Willard Technologies) describes an electronic data collection system wherein a flexible data entry sheet covers a matrix of sensors. A user marks the sheet in a specified area and the detectors associate the mark position with a response to a question. Willard, however, fails to detect removed or turned pages and associate these actions with event driven actions. The article xe2x80x9cThe Paper Computerxe2x80x9d, http://www.papercomputer.com/PpC-folder/ppc-home.htm, describes an apparent product version of the above patent.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,719,261; 3,834,301; 3,995,729; 4,369,269, and 5,829,904 each describe the use of conductive inks in printing, but fail to include sensors or contacts included with pages to detect changes in resistance of the pages associated with turning or removal thereof.
Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieve or fulfills the purposes of the present invention. The present invention enables electronic detection of turned or removed pages from a writing tablet. These and other objects are achieved by the detailed description that follows.
A writing pad for use with a computer includes a number of sheets each having a flexure sensor affixed thereto. Circuitry connected to the sensors determines whether the sheets are lifted and removed from the pad, whereby the particular sheet currently in use may be identified. Alternative embodiments include using the elements of the invention in various configurations such as: a one or multiple-part checkbook systems with recognition of check writing environment, as a children""s book to add sound to identified pages, as an answer sheet for testing or voting, in a clipboard configuration or to assist a speaker during a slide-show presentation. The flexure sensors include resistive structures such as carbon based goo, transducers, conductive inks, strain gauges, patterned dissolved graphite, embossed sensors or other pressure/flexure sensors or equivalents thereof.

Resistive page counting for paper tablets

International Business Machines Corporation


A device for sensing a phenomenon using a dynamic measurement range includes: a sensing element configured to measure the phenomenon using a first measurement range and to provide an analog indication of a value of the phenomenon; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the sensing element and configured to convert the analog indication to a digital indication; and a processor coupled to the ADC and the sensing element and configured to analyze the digital indication to determine a second measurement range for the sensing element and to cause the sensing element to change from the first measurement range to the second measurement range for measurement of the phenomenon, the first measurement range being different than the second measurement range.

Sensors exist for detecting a variety of quantities, such as speed, acceleration, temperature, pressure, light, motion, magnetic field, etc. Some existing sensors such as the Bosch SMB380 accelerometer allow their measurement ranges to be set by a user who performs an adjustment operation to set a relatively static range. Once set, the sensor uses the range to detect a phenomenon/circumstance specific to the sensor.
Numerous mechanical and electrical devices, from automobiles to cellular phones, use some kind of sensor or sensors. Depending on the application, different sensor measurement ranges and offsets may be of interest. For example, a movement detection application may care about sensor readings around some threshold of interest. Values significantly below or above the threshold may be irrelevant to the application, but readings in the immediate vicinity of the threshold may need to be known precisely.
With today's sensors, measurement precision is typically determined by the sensor output bitwidth (which is a function of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in digital sensors) and the measurement range that the sensor is programmed to cover. For example, typical ranges for an accelerometer are between −2 g and +2, between −4 g and +4 g and between −8 g and +8 g. Movement detection application sensors may have measurement precision on the order of mg. With today's sensor designs, however, assuming a 6-bit output and a range of +/−2 g, the measurement precision becomes 4 g/64=g/16 or on the order of tens to a hundred mg, thus a lot less accurate than desired.
Sensor parameters are typically trimmed during production according to customer needs. In other cases, the sensor parameters could be customized by the user by choosing nominal values of certain electronic components (e.g., capacitors and/or resistors) external to the sensor's hardware. The sensor parameters remained constant through the operation cycle, or even through the lifetime of the device.
Sensors are now featuring customizable "on the fly" parameters that the user may change when needed, by sending a re-configuration command to the sensor. For example, magnetic compasses commonly have measurement range around 0.7 Gauss, which is the maximum Earth Magnetic field. Single-range compasses are designed with a wider range (typically 2-6 Gauss) to accommodate for the possible compass proximity to metal objects, inside the device or outside of it. Many state of the art compasses are featuring user-selectable measurement ranges. As further examples, to accommodate different motion modes, accelerometers are often designed with user-selectable ranges, such as 2 g, 4 g, 8 g, and gyroscopes are often designed with user-selectable ranges of 100 degrees per second and 300 degrees per second.
For sensors featuring configurable measurement ranges, the ranges are normally set by the application to as narrow as possible for the given mode. This is because the sensor error (noise, offset, drift, quantization error for digital sensors) does not typically depend on the measured parameter value, but rather on the sensor measurement range. Sometimes the error is directly proportional to the measurement range, or even if it is not, the error will be higher at a wider measurement range. Thus reducing the range will usually result in the reduction of the measurement error. The ranges, however, are set to the widest range for the given mode, and for multiple modes if the mode of use is not known in advance.


A mobile data apparatus equipped with a display is improved in both operability and mobility.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for displaying an image of view point information produced with a remote-controlled camera.
2. Description of Related Art
As a wide range of Internet services have overwhelmingly been provided, their displaying data include not only texts, still images, and sounds but also motion images and 3-D dynamic model spaces. For developing such 3-D dynamic model spaces, the VRML (virtual reality modeling language) is standardized in August, 1996 and used commonly as a today""s standard technology. This technology allows a variety of 3-D model spaces of one format, which may simulate museums an theaters for example, to be constructed as information to the Internet and accessed by any user who operates its computer connected to the Internet to enjoy as if he or she walks around in a museum or a theater in virtual sense. For the purpose, an image displayed on a display unit of the computer is based on the view of a virtual camera installed virtually in the 3-D model spaces. Upon receiving a command from the user requesting for walking about in a 3-D model space, the computer controls the virtual camera for desired positioning and orientation. As the result, an image is displayed on the display of the computer showing as if the user walks about in the 3-D model space.
The command to the computer may be given by the user operating with its hand or fingers a pointing device, such as a mouse or a joystick, or a touch display in all upward, downward, leftward, and rightward directions.
The commanding of the computer with the use of a hand or fingers operating the pointing device, such as a mouse or a joystick, or the touch display in all upward, downward, leftward, and rightward directions is substantially suited for providing a modification or a command on the screen displaying a relatively less motion image such as a text or a still image. It is however unfavorable to control quick movements of a view point or the view of the virtual camera in 3-D mode spaces. It is routine that when a person changes its view point in daily life, its eyes or head is shifted to a desired location but rarely moves and orients the object to be viewed.
This drawback may not be critical with a desk-top type of the computer where the view of the user is fixed to its display screen at a stationary location while controlling an indicator or pointer on the screen by manipulating the control with the hand or fingers.
However, when a specific type or namely, a head-mounting type of the display is used, it is hung on the front of the eyes of the user and moves together with the head. When a hand-held type of the display is used, it is held by the hand of the user and turned to any of upward, downward, leftward, and rightward directions in response to the movement of the head so that it can stay at the front of the user""s eyes.
In a system equipped with a mobile type of the display which can be held in the front of the eyes of a user, it is disadvantageous for dynamically shifting through a computer the view point of a virtual camera in a 3-D model space to use a pointing device, such as a mouse or a joystick, or a touch device which can be controlled by the hand or fingers in upward, downward, leftward, and rightward directions.
It is also known in a virtual reality technology or a tele-existence technology for controlling the dynamic movement of a view point with a computer that the view point of a user is normally measured by a measuring device, such as an eye-tracking device or a heat-position tracing device, which can be fitted to a body of the user. The fitting of the device to the body will add another inconvenience to the user, impairing the operability and the mobility.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for displaying an image where the view point of a virtual camera can dynamically be shifted in response to the movement of a mobile set equipped with a display.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for displaying an image where its mobile set equipped with a display is improved in both the operability and the mobility.
An image displaying apparatus according to the present invention includes a controller which processes input image data produced by an image input unit which pictures the background of an image display unit in order to detect a movement of the image display unit, and an image data generator which generates data indicative of the view of a camera remote controlled in response to the detected movement, whereby the image data can be displayed on the image display unit.
An image displaying method according to the present invention comprises the steps of picturing the background of an image display unit, processing pictured data to detect a movement of the image display unit, generating image data of the view of a camera remote controlled in response to the detected movement, and displaying it on the image display unit.

Abstract: A frame difference detector 4 is provided for detecting a change in image between two consecutive frames transferred from a pair of frame buffers 2 and 3. The change in image is used in a barycenter calculator 5 for calculating the barycenter of each image. The barycenter is saved in a barycenter coordinates memory 6. A camera movement calculator 6 calculates a difference between the barycenter saved in the barycenter coordinates memory 6 and a reference barycenter saved in a barycenter coordinates memory 7 to determine a horizontal pixel shift DPx and a vertical pixel shift DPy of a camera. In response to those shifts, a horizontal angle-of-rotation controller 9 and a vertical angle-of-rotation controller 10 determine angles of rotation along the horizontal and vertical directions hx and hy for a virtual camera 11. Accordingly, the view of the virtual camera 11 can duly be controlled.


A spacer having bending portions in the vicinity of end portions is used, and grip portions provided between the end portions and the bending portions are held by holding units. Tension is applied to the spacer in a longitudinal direction, and the grip portions are rotated to release a rotational moment applied to a longitudinal portion of the spacer. In this state, the spacer is attached to a rear plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an image display apparatus in which two substrates face each other with plate-like spacers interposed therebetween, and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing an image display apparatus including a process of attaching spacers to one substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in an image display apparatus including two substrates that are arranged so as to face each other, as members resistant to atmospheric pressure, spacers are interposed between two substrates. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-152602 discloses a method which accurately attaches linear spacers to a rear plate on which electron emitting devices are arranged at a small pitch, in order to reduce the size of a device. Specifically, in the method, when the spacers are attached to the plate, tension is applied in the longitudinal direction of the spacer, and a region in which the spacer is fixed to the rear plate is disposed inside the point where the tension is applied, in order to maintain the linearity of the spacer by the tension. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-31972 discloses long spacers that are provided between a pair of panels facing each other, in order to reduce manufacturing costs. At least one end portion of the spacer is bent at a predetermined angle, as viewed from the panel.

Method for manufacturing image display apparatus


Safety against error setting of a primary battery in a dedicated battery charger for secondary batteries can be assured even when the battery charger is of a timer type advantageous for cost reduction. A switching circuit (2) is connected between terminals (13, 15), and terminals (14, 16) are connected. Terminals (15, 17) are connected, and terminals (16, 18) are connected. The positive pole of a battery (3) set in position is connected to the terminal (17), and the negative pole is connected to the terminal (18). A battery discriminating circuit (4) connects to the positive pole and the negative pole of the battery (3) set in position; and judges whether the battery (3) is a primary battery or a secondary battery. Depending upon the result of the discrimination, the battery discriminating circuit (4) supplies a switching signal to the switching circuit (5) to turn it on or off. A capacitor (6) and a resistor 7 are connected in parallel between a timer circuit (9) and a ground potential. The switching circuit (5) and a resistor (8) are connected in series between the timer circuit (9) and the ground potential. Once the switching circuit (2) turns on, a constant voltage source circuit 1 supplies a charging direct current to the secondary battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery charger and a charge control method capable of discriminating whether the battery to be charged and set in the battery charger is a primary battery or a secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nonaqueous secondary batteries like nickel hydride secondary batteries and lithium ion secondary batteries can be restored to the pre-discharged state by charging, and their running cost is lower and more economical than primary batteries such as alkaline cells even when a battery charger and the power consumption upon charging are taken into account.
Until recently, versatile primary batteries have been the main current of power sources of portable electronic devices such as digital cameras having been popularized quickly. However, the main stream is moving to secondary batteries that have been improved in capacity and lifetime in addition to their economical advantage.
Furthermore, since secondary batteries are produced in the same shaped and sizes as primary batteries, electronic devices using them as their power sources need not be changed in battery-accommodating structure too accommodate the secondary batteries, and end-users can freely select and use either primary batteries or secondary batteries.
On the other hand, regarding dedicated battery chargers for secondary batteries, it is presumed that end-users set and charge primary batteries of the same shapes and sizes by mistake, and a design for preventing such accidents has come to be needed.
There various reports on methods of discriminating primary batteries from secondary batteries and methods of stopping the charging when primary batteries are set. Until now, it is the main stream to mount a microcomputer in the battery charger to turn the charging switch on and off.
For example, one of them proposes applying a reference voltage from a battery pack 22 to a monitor resistor 2 via a standard-discriminating resistor 224. In the monitor resistor 214, a monitor voltage determined by the standard of the connected battery 221 is generated. The monitor voltage is converted to a digital value by an A/D (Analog to Digital) converter 215 and sent to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 212 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication JP-H07-065864).
However, microcomputers are expensive. Therefore, the method using microcomputers involves the problem of increasing the cost of battery chargers.
Additionally, various battery chargers characterized in low costs are commercially available. However, almost all of them are of a timer charging system that completes the charging after a predetermined length of time. Since they are controlled simply by turning the charging switches on or off, the cost can be very low. However, since they do not have the function of interrupting the charging when a primary battery is set by mistake, they involve the problem of disregarding the safety against error setting of a primary battery.

Battery charger and charge control method


A method for preventing cloning of a genuine security element is described. The method includes associating a random number generator (RNG) in the security element with a portion of a non-volatile memory (NVM) in the security element, and activating the RNG to automatically write, during a normal operation mode of the security element, a new random number into the portion of the NVM whenever an attempt is made to write into the portion of the NVM. Any unit other than the RNG is preferably prevented from writing data into the portion of the NVM during the normal operation mode of the security element. Related apparatus and method are also described.

Security elements, in particular removable security elements such as smart cards, are widely used in secure communication systems to provide conditional access to services such as banking services and television transmission services. A major concern associated with conditional access in which embedded or removable security elements are used is cloning of genuine security elements through which unauthorized users may gain access to services provided to authorized users. Finding ways to prevent such cloning of genuine security elements is therefore considered as highly desired.
Some aspects of technologies and related art that may be useful in understanding the present invention are described in Chapter 5 of Handbook of Applied Cryptography, by Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot and Scott A. Vanstone, CRC Press LLC, 1997, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Method and apparatus for preventing cloning of security elements


A portable radio communication apparatus includes a main body including an first housing, a second housing and a hinge foldably coupling the first and second housings, a first circuit board provided in the first housing, a second circuit board provided in the second housing, an electric part provided in the second housing independent from the second circuit board, and a connection member extending through the hinge and connected between the first and second circuit boards and having a branched portion connected at least one of the first and second circuit boards to the electric part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable radio communication apparatus formed of two housings foldably connected to each other via a hinge, and to a connection member for use in connecting the two housings.
2. Description of the Related Art
A foldable type apparatus has been the mainstream of portable radio communication apparatuses. In this type, two housings (hereinafter referred to as an upper housing and a lower housing) are foldably connected or coupled to each other via a hinge. Each of the two housings contains a main circuit board (hereinafter referred to as an upper main circuit board or a lower main circuit board). The upper and lower main circuit boards are connected to each other via a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as an FPC), which is passed through the hinge.
In addition to the upper and lower main circuit boards, another circuit board (hereinafter referred as a sub circuit board) may be contained in the upper or lower housing. In this case, the sub circuit board is connected to the upper or lower main circuit board via an FPC other than the aforementioned FPC or a cable. Therefore, one of the upper and lower main circuit boards needs to contain a connector for the FPC to be connected to the other main circuit board and a connector for the FPC or a cable to be connected to the sub circuit board.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-267696 discloses a flexible printed circuit board, one end of which is branched; that is, the FPC is Y shaped. The one end of the FPC is branched for the purpose of projecting two ends when the FPC is rolled. The two ends of the branched portions are connected to the same main circuit board.
Under the situations as described above, there is a demand for simply connecting two circuit boards respectively contained in the two housings and electric parts contained in either housing.

Portable radio communication apparatus and connection member


An apparatus and method for handling interrupt requests from any of a plurality of interrupters to any of a plurality of interrupt handlers. Each interrupt handler includes an interrupt input request queue for holding a plurality of incoming interrupt requests. A system controller is connected to the interrupters and the interrupt handlers, and includes an input queue coupled to each interrupter for receiving a plurality of interrupt requests. The system controller includes a processor and a memory storing instructions for controlling its operation. The system controller also includes an output queue coupled to each interrupt handler (which in many cases will also be interrupters), and a counter for monitoring the current number, at any given time, of interrupt requests pending in each of the interrupt input queues in the interrupt handlers. When an interrupt request is sent from an interrupter, the system controller determines a target for the request, which may be by a target ID in the request or may be based upon a predetermined method to ensure even distribution of interrupt requests among all or a subset of the interrupt handlers. The system controller determines whether the target interrupt handler's input queue is full, and if not then it passes on the interrupt request and sends a positive acknowledgment to the interrupter. If the queue is full, then a negative acknowledgment is sent, and the interrupter then waits a random period of time and sends the interrupt request again. The target interrupt handler may thus accept multiple interrupt requests and process them in order without negative acknowledgments.

This invention describes a method and apparatus for communicating asynchronous interrupt events as from interrupting sources to interrupt handler targets across a packet-switched interconnection network in a uniprocessor or multiprocessor computer system. The interrupt events are executed as low-latency, deadlock-free, non-blocking interrupt transactions from interrupting sources such as an I/O device or a processor, to interrupt handler targets such as another processor.
Typically, I/O devices have dedicated and persistent circuit-switched interrupt signals, and it can be quite complicated to communicate them in packet-switched interconnects. In a conventional memory subsystem, for example, interrupt capability is achieved by hardwiring interrupt wires between the interrupting devices and the interruptees (the devices being interrupted). Each of these wires is unique and unchangeable, once the system is built.
Typically, the sender of the interrupt in a packet-switched interconnect needs to know the sizes of receive queues in the respective interrupt handlers (and in conventional systems, such queues have a depth of only one, meaning that an interrupt handler can accept only one interrupt request at a time). This requires advance set-up of the system and inhibits flexibility in the design once the system is implemented, particularly with the use of hardwired interrupt connections.
Conventional interrupt transactions typically take considerably more clock cycles to execute than do data transactions, because the software code path of the interrupt handler must be involved in the interrupt transactions. Hence, packet-switched interrupt transactions that cannot be delivered in a lossless interconnect (e.g., because the destinations are busy handling other interrupts) can end up remaining in a queue in the interconnect for a long time and block all transactions behind them (the Head Of Line (HOL) effect). Solving this problem is a challenge to present-day systems, because there is also a potential for deadlock when interrupt completion is communicated with a transaction that is (or might be) blocked behind other transactions
In order to solve this problem, many mechanisms can be employed, each of them being quite complex. For instance, the interconnect can allow other transactions to bypass a blocking interrupt transaction; however, this can cause the system to come to a halt (a situation known as "live lock"), since there is nothing quenching the source of the interrupts.
Alternately, the source can be told how many total interrupt transactions it is allowed to send, and it can flow control the interrupt transaction as a special case. This requires the interrupter to have knowledge of the interrupt handler's queue sizes, and further requires some form of dynamic feedback when the destination queues are full, all of which adds to complexity
Typically, when an I/O device interrupts with its persistent single-wire interrupt, only a single bit of information is carried to the interrupt handler, namely the interrupt level. The interrupt handler then has to poll all the possible I/O devices to see which one interrupted. This increases the latency of handling an interrupt, to as high as many microseconds. It would be preferable to provide a system where the interruptee is immediately informed of which device has interrupted, to decrease the turnaround time of the interrupt operation.
Interrupt mechanisms utilizing hardwired interrupt lines suffer from inflexibility in a number of ways. They cannot be modified to redirect the interrupts to different slaves without a hardware redesign. In such systems, the relative priority between interrupts when multiple interrupters are present is for the same reason not easily altered, and as a result there is the decided disadvantage that the designer must try to imagine all possible priority conflicts in advance, and then design those decisions into the hardware. For instance, an engineer might have to decide to take all Ethernet interrupts before any disk interrupts, when in some cases this may be desirable. As more interrupt devices are available, the priority problem becomes quite difficult, tending to suppress the number of cases that can be handled with any degree of reliable predictability and inhibiting any modifications or scalability of the system.
Another problem with hardwire interrupt mechanisms is that they do not accommodate different types of subsystems. For instance, one subsystem might have the capability of generating more than one outstanding interrupt, i.e. generate a second interrupt before the first one has been acknowledged, while others can send only one. Similarly, some slave devices are able to accept only one interrupt, and others can accept many. In current systems, these different characteristics need to be known in advance and accommodated in the design. For devices that can handle only one interrupt, for example, a queue can be established; but its size must be determined in advance, and the interrupting devices would have to have knowledge of it.
A further difficulty presented by conventional interrupt mechanisms is that simultaneous interrupts between two devices, or an interrupt sent to a device that already has a pending slave request, can result in deadlocks. For instance, device A might send an interrupt to device B, and vice versa, at virtually the same time. In prior systems, device B will cease execution of its other operations and wait until its interrupt from A is cleared, and vice versa; but if neither A nor B can clear the interrupt coming from the other, a live-lock (or deadlock) occurs. A system is needed for resolving this type of deadlock, particularly in light of the increasing of numbers of potential interrupt devices in today's systems.
Systems using hardwired interrupt mechanisms further suffer from performance due to the requirement that an interrupt destined for a particular device must go to that device and to no other, regardless of how busy that device may be. This is a bottleneck that can seriously inhibit performance of the entire system, particularly where the interrupter and interruptee being bogged down are important devices, such as a processor and a disk drive upon which other operations must wait. A mechanism for rerouting interrupts to other devices would be extremely useful in such situations.
A new system is therefore needed that provides flexible interrupt capability with the ability to assign relative interrupt priorities in software, and that accommodates different types and characteristics of interrupting devices and interruptees. Also needed are mechanisms for avoiding and/or resolving deadlocking, and for decreasing latency of interrupts.

Method and apparatus for interrupt communication in packet-switched microprocessor-based computer system


An electronic product, such as a personal computer or electronic organizer with an open-surfaced receptacle or slot is described. An electronic product incorporating such a receptacle is able to accommodate an insertable electronic module, such as a PCMCIA card, that is thicker than could be incorporated in the receptacle if a portion of the inserted module were not permitted to protrude through the receptacle along the open surface. One embodiment of the invention includes a display, a platform, circuitry, a keyboard, the receptacle, an electrical connector in the receptacle, protective sliding shutters and a door. The platform includes at least two opposing surfaces and at least one side. The inserted card is connected to the circuitry in the platform via the electrical connector located in the receptacle. The keyboard is connected to one of the opposing surfaces and is also coupled to the circuitry. The receptacle has a length, a width and a height and extends into the platform from the side to define an opening in one of the opposing surfaces which extends into the platform along substantially the length and width of the receptacle.

There is a growing demand for the incorporation of receptacles or slots to receive removable electronic modules, such as PCMCIA cards, in applications such as palmtop computers, notebook computers, sub-notebook computers and digital organizers. The receptacles or slots in these applications need to be able to accommodate modules, such as PCMCIA Type I, Type II and Type III cards. In the PCMCIA technical standard, the "Type" designates progressively thicker cards, with Type I being 3.3 mm, Type II 5.5 mm, Type III 10.5 mm. All of these cards share the same nominal length and width dimensions of 86.5 mm.times.54.0 mm along the base. The cards are designed such that all cards equal to or thinner than the capacity of the slot can be accommodated, e.g. a Type II slot can accommodate a Type I or Type II card, while a Type III slot accommodates a type I, II or III card. Accordingly, the receptacles or slots typically need a height or depth which is at least equal to the size of the largest size electronic card to be accommodated, and these dimensions must be accommodated within the overall size of the electronic device or personal computer.
There is a growing demand to minimize the overall size and cubic volume of many of these devices which accommodate removable modules such as PCMCIA cards, during storage or transport. One technique to accomplish this goal has been to modify the keyboards to have one or more sections which can be folded on to each other to further reduce the overall size of the product during storage and/or transport as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,758 to Margolin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,644 to Crisan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,779 to Conway et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,453 to Chiu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,569 to Sellers, U.S. Design Pat. No. 254,554 to Genaro et al., U.S. Design Pat. No. 299,030 to Menn, U.S. Design Pat. No. 322,246 to Izaki, and U.S. Design Pat. No. 324,035 to Izaki which are all herein incorporated by reference. Similar attempts to reduce the overall size of the product by modifying the receptacle or slot have met with limited success.
One prior technique for reducing the overall size of the product is simply to eliminate the receptacle or slot from these applications. However, in view of the growing demand for these receptacles or slots, this is not a desirable solution. Another prior technique, which is widely used, and familiar to those skilled in the art, is to incorporate a "stacked" connector configuration, which can accommodate a single Type III card, or two Type II or Type I cards one on top of the other. The disadvantages to this approach are first, that the volume of the Type III card is always consumed in the product, whether any type III cards are being used or not, and second, that when a Type III card is inserted, it is the only card that can be used because it blocks access to the second slot.
Another solution has been to locate the receptacle or slot in an accessory which is coupled to the product via a connecting cable. With this solution, the overall size of the product is reduced, however the operator of the product must still carry the accessory with the receptacle or slot which can accommodate the largest size electronic card that the user might require, whenever the user wants to use an electronic card. Accordingly, this also is not a desirable solution.

Open-surfaced receptacle in an electronic product for a removable electronic module


Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for utilizing a backup catalog to perform synchronized backup and recovery of heterogeneous database systems. An embodiment operates by performing a global data backup of a heterogeneous database system comprising a first database management system (DBMS) at a first server and a second DBMS at a second server and recording a global data backup entry identifying the global data backup into a backup catalog. Upon receiving log backup notifications regarding asynchronous log backups on the first server and the second server, log backup entries identifying the asynchronous log backups are recorded into the backup catalog. To successfully perform a point-in-time recovery, the embodiment operates by using the backup catalog to identify data and log backups required for the recovery of the first and second servers to a recovery timestamp associated with the point-in-time recovery.

Many commercial database management systems (DBMs) currently exist on the market. Each database system has advantages and disadvantages associated with its particular implementation and architecture. For example, one database system may use in-memory databases, that may have better performance times compared to other database systems implemented using a disk storage design. However, in-memory databases generally may have a smaller memory storage compared to that of disk storage databases due to higher costs and associated technological constraints. In order to enhance overall database system capabilities, users may prefer to utilize a heterogeneous database system, composed of, for example, a hybrid of an in-memory database and a disk storage database. Backup and recovery are often needed to maintain and operate reliable and flexible database systems. Each particular database system may typically contain implementation and design specific backup and recovery strategies.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical or similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

Synchronized backup and recovery of database systems


The present invention relates to the use as perfuming ingredient of a decaline derivative of formula

The compounds of formula (I) are generally known from the prior art, where they are described, in general, in the context of chemical synthesis.
However, the prior art documents disclosing said compounds do not report or suggest any organoleptic properties of the compounds of formula (I), or any use of said compound in the field of perfumery.

Abstract: wherein R1 is a lower alkyl, the R2 to R5 are hydrogen atoms or lower alkyls and at least one dotted line is a double bond,which is a useful perfuming ingredient of the woody or woody-citrus type.


A target simulation system is used to simulate a target, such as a submarine, for testing of homing projectiles, such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) torpedoes. The target simulation system includes a target portion having an impact structure and a plurality of acoustic reflectors spaced at a distance that simulates the spatial extent and acoustic highlights of the desired target. The target simulation portion is suspended at a predetermined depth within an underwater environment using one or more suspension assemblies. The suspension assemblies include one or more support floats that float on the surface of the water and suspension lines that extend from the respective support floats to the target portion. A reflector sail is coupled to a support float at one end of the target simulation system and captures the surface wind to apply a force to the target simulation portion. A drogue is coupled to the target simulation portion at an opposite end of the target simulation system and applies a drag force in an opposite direction to arrange the reflectors in a line.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to target simulation systems and in particular, to a target simulation system for testing a homing projectile in an underwater environment.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
A typical self-propelled anti-submarine warfare (ASW) torpedo is equipped with electronic homing equipment for enabling the torpedo to seek out its target, such as a submarine. The ASW torpedo can be equipped with a sensitive passive acoustic receiver for detecting sound waves emitted by a target vessel. The received sound waves control the navigation and guidance equipment of the torpedo to direct the torpedo toward the target. The ASW torpedo can also be equipped with an active homing system wherein the torpedo itself generates and transmits an acoustic signal and is guided by the reflection of the acoustic signal off of the target.
The ability of ASW torpedoes to properly home in on and detonate on a target must be tested periodically using exercises known as xe2x80x9cwarshotxe2x80x9d exercises. One type of target currently used for warshot exercises is known as the Mk28, which consists of an acoustic noise maker and a small panel section against which the torpedo detonates. This type of target, however, is an acoustic point source, and most modern ASW torpedoes have sophisticated homing circuitry that does not recognize the Mk28 as a valid target. To accurately test the capability of these modern torpedoes, the torpedoes need to measure the spatial extent of the target and determine the acoustic highlights indicative of the length and construction of the vessel being simulated by the target, such as a submarine. Thus, to test these modern torpedoes with the existing Mk28 target, artificial constraints are placed on the torpedoes being tested, thereby affecting the validity of the testing.
Other types of targets used for testing torpedoes or other homing projectiles are large heavy structures designed to simulate the size and shape of the target vessel. These large and unwieldy targets are difficult to transport and deploy for use during warshot exercises.
One object of the present invention is to effectively simulate a target, such as an underwater vessel, for testing the ability of a torpedo or other homing projectile to home in on and detonate on the target.
Another object of the present invention is a target simulation system that can test the homing and detonation requirements of torpedoes without requiring substantial modification of the torpedo, artificial constraints on the torpedo settings, or other restrictions on the warshot exercise.
A further object of the present invention is a target simulation system having low cost and light weight such that the system can easily be transported and deployed.
The present invention features a target simulation system for testing a homing projectile in an underwater environment. The target simulation system comprises a target simulation portion and one or more suspension assemblies extending from the target simulation portion to a surface of the underwater environment for suspending and supporting the target simulation portion at a predetermined depth within the underwater environment. The target simulation portion includes an impact structure for detonating the homing projectile, and a plurality of reflectors spaced at a distance from the impact structure for reflecting signals transmitted by the homing projectile in a manner that simulates the desired target.
The target simulation portion preferably includes at least first and second boom assemblies extending from the impact structure. The reflectors are disposed in a spaced relationship on one or more booms in the first and second boom assemblies. The first and second boom assemblies preferably include a plurality of booms coupled with flexible couplings.
In one example, the reflectors include passive acoustic reflectors that reflect acoustic signals transmitted by the homing projectile. The target simulation system preferably includes an acoustic noise source disposed on the impact structure for providing a noise simulating the desired target.
The one or more suspension assemblies preferably include first and second boom suspension assemblies, extending from respective ends of the first and second boom assemblies, for suspending the first and the second boom assemblies in the underwater environment. The boom suspension assemblies include a boom support float floating on a surface of the underwater environment, and a boom suspension line extending from the boom support float to a respective one of the boom assemblies.
The target simulation system further includes a reflector sail coupled to the first boom suspension assembly. The reflector sail extends above the surface of the underwater environment and captures surface wind to apply a force that maintains the boom assemblies and the reflectors substantially in line. A drogue is preferably coupled to an end of the second boom assembly for providing a drag force to the target simulation portion such that the reflector sail and drogue apply forces in substantially opposite directions. An additional reflector can be coupled to a float at an end opposite the reflector sail and extend above the surface to reflect radar.
The suspension assemblies further include one or more impact structure suspension assemblies. Each impact structure suspension assembly preferably includes an impact structure support float for floating on a surface of the underwater environment and an impact structure suspension line extending from the impact structure support float to the impact structure.

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