A disc cartridge of high reliability for protecting an optical disc from a shock generated such as during transport. On the facing inner surfaces of an upper cartridge half 5 and a lower cartridge half 6 is formed an arcuate disc housing wall section 8 in association with the outer periphery of an optical disc 2 for constituting a disc housing section 9. The disc housing wall section 8 is interrupted at four positions 28 on each of which a boss 28 is set upright. A stationary guide having a substantially columnar guide portion and a flange protruded outwardly from upper and lower sides of the guide portion is fitted on the boss to complete a disc guide member. Four such disc guide members 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d are provided for supporting the disc cartridge 1.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc cartridge rotatably housing therein a disc-shaped recording medium for recording information signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a disc cartridge has been proposed which has a large-sized disc with a diameter of 30 cm housed therein for achieving a higher recording capacity for the recording information signals. This disc cartridge is used under hostile using conditions in which it is automatically loaded on a recording/reproducing apparatus using an automatic loading device from a housing section housing plural disc cartridges. To this end, the disc cartridge has mounted therein a disc supporting member constituted by a resilient material for being thereby protected against shock during loading or transport.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional disc cartridge 201 is made up of a main cartridge body portion 203, for rotatably housing an optical disc 202, and a shutter member 204 slidably mounted on this main cartridge body portion 203.
The main cartridge body portion 203 is made up of an upper cartridge half 205 and a lower cartridge half 206 abutted to each other and coupled to each other by plural set screws 207. The upper and lower cartridge halves 205, 206 are each substantially in the shape of a saucer of shallow depth so that the main cartridge body portion 203 is in the shape of a planar box. The facing inner sides of the upper and lower cartridge halves 205, 206 delimit an arcuately-shaped disc housing wall section 208 in meeting with the outer rim of the optical disc 202 for constituting a disc housing section 209.
In view of possible thermal expansion and dimensional accuracy of the optical disc 202 and the upper and lower cartridge halves 205, 206, the disc housing section 209 is formed to be larger than the outer diameter of the optical disc 202 for preventing the risk that the disc housing section be smaller than the disc diameter or preventing the optical disc 202 from being contacted with the disc housing wall section 208 during disc rotation.
At a mid portion of the main cartridge body portion 203 is formed a disc table entrance aperture 210 which is in effect an upper circular aperture and a lower circular aperture. In proximity to this disc table entrance aperture 210 is formed a recording/reproducing aperture 211 which is in effect an upper rectangular aperture and a lower rectangular aperture. On the disc table entrance aperture 210 is slidably mounted a shutter member 204 for sliding along the front side of the main cartridge body portion 203 for closing the recording/reproducing aperture 211.
The shutter member 204 is formed by warping a metallic plate, such as a thin stainless steel sheet, into a U-shape in cross-section, and is of a length sufficient to close the recording/reproducing aperture 211. The shutter member 204 is provided with a shutter guide member 213 fixedly mounted thereon. The shutter member 204 is secured to the shutter guide member 213 by set screws 214, while the shutter guide member 213 is engaged in a guide groove 212 formed along the front side edge of the main cartridge body portion 203.
On the shutter member 204 is rotatably mounted an arm 215a via a pinion gear 215b meshing with a rack gear 215c. The arm 215a has its other end mounted on a gear 216 rotatably mounted at a corner of the main cartridge body portion 203. The gear 216 is engaged with an engagement portion 217 provided on a lateral side edge adjacent to the lateral side edge of the main cartridge body portion 203 provided with the guide groove 212.
In the non-use state, the above-described shutter mechanism locks the recording/reproducing aperture 211 in the close state, with the the shutter guide member 213 being then urged by a spring 218 in the direction shown by arrow A.
When the disc cartridge 201 is loaded on the recording/reproducing apparatus, the shutter guide member 213 is moved in a direction indicated by arrow B by an opening member configured for opening the shutter guide member 213 provided on the recording/reproducing apparatus. Thus, the shutter guide member 213 is moved in a direction indicated by arrow B against the force of the spring 218, at the same time as the engagement portion 217 is slid via arm 215a and gear 216 in a direction indicated by arrow C for unlocking the shutter mechanism for opening the recording/reproducing aperture 217.
The optical disc 202, rotatably housed within the above-described main cartridge body portion 203, is made up of an inner rim side non-recording area 202b, formed with a center aperture 202a, an information signal recording area 202c formed radially outwardly of the non-recording area 202b and an outer rim side non-recording area 202d formed radially outwardly of the information signal recording area 202c.
The above-described optical disc 202 is fitted with a hub 219 having a center aperture in which is engaged a center spindle provided on the recording/reproducing apparatus for closing the center aperture 202a. This hub 219 is made up of a ring member formed of a synthetic resin material and a magnetically attracting metal plate mounted on both ends on one surface of the ring member. The hub 219 is exposed to outside by the disc table entrance aperture 210 of the disc cartridge 201.
When loaded on the recording/reproducing apparatus, the disc cartridge 201 is loaded in position on the disc table, with the center spindle engaging in the center aperture of the hub 219 and with the optical disc 202 being magnetically chucked by a magnet for being enabled to rotate in unison with the disc table.
On the facing inner sides of the upper and lower cartridge halves 205, 206 towards the inner rim of the disc housing wall section 208 and on the outer rim of the disc table entrance aperture 210, there are arranged plural disc supporting members 220 configured for softening the shock applied to the optical disc 202 loaded on the recording/reproducing apparatus.
The disc supporting member 220a is made up of a circular shock absorbing member 221a, formed of an elastic material, and a mounting plate 222a formed by a metal plate of high toughness and which is used for mounting the shock absorbing member 221a to the upper and lower cartridge halves 205, 206, as shown in FIG. 2. The shock absorbing member 221a is insert-molded at a mid portion of the mounting plate 222a.
On the other hand, since the disc supporting member 220b is provided between the disc table entrance aperture 210 and the recording/reproducing aperture 211, a band-shaped shock absorbing member 221b is insert-molded at a mid portion of the mounting piece 222b.
The disc supporting member 220, thus constructed, is mounted at a pre-set position on facing surfaces of the upper and lower cartridge halves 205, 206 by inserting and caulking a caulking pin, not shown, in a mounting hole 223 formed at each end of the mounting piece 222.
The disc cartridge 201, constructed as described above, houses the optical disc 202 of a larger diameter 30 cm and large mass. Therefore, the risk is high that, during transport or movement of the disc cartridge 201, the optical disc 202 be contacted with the disc housing wall section 208 to cause wear to the wall section 208, with the powder debris produced by wear being apt to be deposited on the upper disc surface to damage the optical disc 202.
In particular, the present disc cartridge 201 is automatically loaded to the recording/reproducing apparatus mechanically by the automatic loading device from the disc housing unit housing plural disc cartridges for recording and/or reproducing the optical disc 202. Since the disc cartridge 201 is transported or loaded/unloaded to the continuous recording and/or reproducing apparatus at an extremely high speed, the optical disc 202 housed within the disc cartridge 201 is vibrated severely and brought into abrupt contact with the disc housing wall section 208 to cause wear to the wall section 208. In such case, the powder debris produced by wear tends to be deposited in large quantities on the upper disc surface to obstruct recording and/or reproduction of information signals.
In addition, the optical disc 202 tends have a higher weight due to increased recording capacity. Thus the force of impact produced on collision of the disc surface with the disc housing wall section 208 is increased for further accelerating the wear.
Moreover, with the optical disc 202, the disc supporting member 220 is mounted for protecting the optical disc 202 from the shock produced on loading. The shock absorbing member 221 of an elastic material, used as the disc supporting member 220, is costly and cumbersome to attach to the optical disc such that it has not been possible to improve the production efficiency of the disc cartridge 201.

Position controlling mechanism for a disc cartridge


Techniques for time-series analysis for forecasting computational workloads are disclosed. A resource management system monitors a computing system and obtains metrics data from the computing system. The metrics data is stored as a set of historical data points of a data set. A first portion of the set of historical data points comprise an outlier that does not correspond to a seasonality pattern associated with a second portion of the set of historical data points. The resource management system tests a first time-series model that incorporates a first exogenous variable corresponding to a first exogeneous factor to determine that the first time-series model fits both the first portion of the set of historical data points and the second portion of the set of historical data points within an error threshold. Then, the resource management system selects the first time-series model to predict future data points of the data set.

Applications and data are increasingly migrating from on-premise systems to cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems. Within such cloud-based systems, computational resources such as processor, memory, storage, network, and/or disk input/output (I/O) may be consumed by entities and/or components such as physical machines, virtual machines, applications, application servers, databases, database servers, services, and/or transactions.
On the other hand, cloud service providers must ensure that the cloud-based systems have enough resources to satisfy customer demand and requirements. For example, the cloud service providers may perform capacity planning that involves estimating resources required to run the customers' applications, databases, services, and/or servers. The cloud service providers may also monitor the execution of the customers' systems for performance degradation, errors, and/or other issues. However, because such monitoring techniques are reactive, errors, failures, and/or outages on the systems can occur before remedial action is taken to correct or mitigate the issues.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Time-series analysis for forecasting computational workloads


A collapsible garment hanger including a hook element attached to a fixed arm, a sliding arm with a longitudinally oriented slot, a crosspiece extending through the slot, attaching the sliding arm slidably to the fixed arm. When the distal end of the fixed arm tilts upward, gravity will cause the sliding arm to slide away from the distal end of the fixed arm. Whenever the distal end of the fixed arm tilts downward, gravity will cause the sliding arm to slide towards the distal end of the fixed arm. The collapsible garment hanger can also manually slide away from or towards the distal end of the fixed arm. An offset spacing between the outer tip of the sliding arm when it is in the collapsed position and the opposing offset portion of the hanger determines the size of neck of garment through which the hanger will fit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is generally related to the field of garment hangers, and specifically to a two-piece slidably collapsible garment hanger.
2. Background Art
Garments are sometimes overly stretched and/or damaged when being removed from or placed on rigid hangers in the conventional manner. In addition, the convenience of removing the hanger is impeded by its rigidity.
The stretching of a garment usually occurs because the distance between the hanger arms is greater than the opening of the neck of the garment. To prevent damage to some types of clothing, hangers have to be removed from the garment by manipulating the hanger down through the bottom of the garment. This is not only a cumbersome operation that must be done more by feel than sight, but the hook element may damage the garment during this process. Furthermore, if the garment is a button type, the necessary number of buttons must be undone before removal.
Because of the small necks of some garments, garment hanger manufacturers have attempted to compensate for this problem by making collapsible garment hangers that remedy some of the deficiencies of rigid hangers. In one such class of devices, a central hook element attaches to two sliding arms. These designs allows the two arms to collapse toward the hook element for easier insertion into the neck of a hanger, and, once inserted, the arms slide out to their fully extensible position to hold the garment in place. However, these types of designs do not address adequately the main problem they seek to resolve, as they are often still to large to fit directly into small-necked garments even in their collapsed position. This problem is a function of the need for a sizable central element that is capable of holding both of the sliding arms in place while extended.
In another class of collapsible garment hanger devices, the hangers have two arms that fold downward after releasing a locking member. However, these variants often have manually activated locking devices that require a second hand to release. These designs also often use spring-loaded locking mechanisms and as such suffer from the difficulty of matching the proper spring force to variable garment weights in order to maintain a proper hanging or shoulder angle. Much like the previously described hanger class, these designs also often fail to collapse enough to fit in small-necked garments. This is the result of the fact that in their collapsed position their minimum width is a function of not only the horizontal width of the central element but the width of the folded hanger arms.
In another existing class of collapsible garment hanger devices, the hangers have molded hinges and a device for locking the movable arms in an up position. However, as in the previous mentioned folding designs, this type of hanger often does not collapse enough to fit small-necked garments easily, such as turtlenecks.
Yet another existing collapsible hanger device uses a swinging arm design. This variant consists of two arms that are attached to the hook element in such a manner that they collapse by swinging together to form one arm with an asymmetrically located hook. This design allows for easy insertion of the hanger into the neck of even the smallest necked garment. However, as this device too uses a spring-loaded swinging mechanism, it suffers from the varying garment weight problem that similar other spring-loaded devices have. However, rather than matching the proper spring force to hold up the garment once inserted, the device must match the spring force with that needed to push out and collapse the arms after insertion and before removal.

Gravity actuated collapsible garment hanger


An intermediate bearing assembly that is mountable on a pedestal of a marine vessel that incorporates an integrated alignment system. In particular, the bearing assembly includes a housing for receiving a portion of a shaft; and a lifting and lowering system attached between the housing and the pedestal for providing a concentrated applied force at approximately the center vertical axis of the housing. The lifting and lowering system includes four hydraulic jacks located equidistant from the center vertical axis of the housing. Hydraulic pressure is related through the area of the jack cylinders to radial force. As a result, when a predetermined jacking force is achieved, the correct radial force loading on the bearing is attained. Each of the jacks is free to seek a position of extension independent of the others. The jacks are then locked into a secure hold position to maintain the shaft in alignment. If at any time during the vessels duty the shaft becomes misaligned the jacks are unlocked and hydraulic pressure is either reduced or increased to level the shaft and the jacks are then locked into the new holding position. This operation can be repeated as many times as required during the vessel's life without the cost of expensive traditional chocking procedures.

Main propulsion shafting in marine vessels is supported by bearings that maintain the shafting in proper alignment. Bearings located inside the ship's water tight boundary are called line shaft or intermediate bearings. Typically, these bearings are of a steel construction (i.e. steel castings or fabricated of steel plates welded together), conservatively designed, babbitt lined and oil lubricated. Reliability is heavily emphasized in the design of the bearings because there is no redundancy for bearings and a single bearing failure can incapacitate the entire propulsion system.
Traditional intermediate bearings are constructed from a white metal bearing surface centrifugally cast to a steel or iron substrate. They are typically split along the horizontal centre line and are lubricated with oil contained in a sump integral with the base casting. The lubricant is raised from the sump by various means to such a position that the oil can lubricate and cool the bearing. To assist in cooling, the sump volume is often fitted with a cooling coil through which cold water is circulated. In some bearing designs forced lubrication is provided to insure that the bearing will never be starved for oil.
Conventional intermediate bearings are lubricated by a hydrodynamic film of oil and early establishment of this film is essential to avoid boundary operating conditions. For example, very slow speed running with a turning gear, for example, is a very risky operating mode for oil/white metal bearings. Seals are often provided at the ends of the bearings to contain the oil within the bearing housing.
These seals are prone to failure allowing bearing oil to drain into the bilge producing the potential for pollution if no oily bilge separator is fitted to the vessel. More importantly, a bearing with an undetected leak can lose its supply of oil and fail with catastrophic results. In an attempt to avoid this type of problem prior art bearings have been fitted with a sight glass to view the oil level or with thermocouples to measure and transmit bearing temperature to a control room for monitoring.
Intermediate bearings must be properly aligned and raised to such a position that they carry the proper loading. This operation is commonly accomplished by hydraulic jacking of the shaft to the required level and then machining and fitting cast iron chocking pieces between the pedestal and the bearing base. Simplified, bearing chocking procedures have been proposed in the prior art that use a castable epoxy resin poured into the chocking spaces and allowed to harden. Damming is used to contain the chocking compound while the resin is in the liquid state.
In particular, in the prior art hydraulic jack method, a calibrated hydraulic jack is used to determine the actual load supported by a bearing and this actual load is then compared with the desired load. The actual bearing load is determined by placing a hydraulic jack as close to the bearing housing as possible. A dial indicator is located immediately above the jack so as to measure vertical movement of the shaft. The shaft is then raised and lowered in increments, noting the jack load corresponding to each increment of shaft rise.
The hydraulic jack method generates load and influence number errors due to inaccuracies that are inherent in the jacking procedure. In particular, since the jack is not located at the bearing center, the load center in adjacent bearings shift as the shaft is raised, causing hysteresis errors.
Provided traditional bearings are maintained in perfect alignment, they can provide general trouble-free operation. However, the flexible nature of a ship's hull allows settling, twisting and bending such that bearing alignment can change. Additions to the ship's structure, modifications to the moment of inertia of the hull, and different loading conditions can influence the alignment of the shaft supported by bearings. This requires that the bearings be repeatedly re-jacked to ensure shaft alignment. This is a very time consuming and costly process.
The alignment of the intermediate shaft is very important because a metal bearing tends to be very sensitive to edge loading produced as a result of pedestal shifting. Even minor alignment deviations are sufficient to cause an increase in bearing temperature at the edge that can lead to wiping. In the most serious form a wiped bearing can cause shaft seizure, resulting in considerable repair time. These events can occur at inopportune occasions, as severe weather is often responsible for inducing bearing problems.
To deal with the shaft alignment problem, complex pedestal bearings have been produced with the bearing elements mounted in a spherical envelope to permit alignment being taken from the shaft line rather than the pedestal. In particular, the bearing shell is made with a self-aligning feature by providing a spherical or crowned seat at the interface between the bearing shell and the housing. This allows the axis of the bearing shell to align with that of the shaft. The main problem with the spherical type bearing is that any correction in alignment gives rise to displacement of the shaft axis at the ends of the housing where the seals are located. Unless the compensation is very slight the seals are unable to accommodate this eccentricity and will leak. These designs are also costly to produce due to the elaborate additional machining steps involved.
Consequently, there is a need for an intermediate bearing that incorporates an alignment system to enable simple and inexpensive alignment and realignment of the shaft at any time. In addition, there is a need for an intermediate bearing that is essentially selflubricating and capable of operation in oil, water or biodegradable lubricants.

Intermediate marine bearing with itegrated alignment system


An encoder for encoding images. The encoder includes processor. The processor is configured to: receive, from display apparatus, information indicative of at least one of: head pose of user, gaze direction of user; identify gaze location in input image, based on the at least one of: head pose, gaze direction; divide input image into first input portion and second input portion, wherein first input portion includes and surrounds gaze location; and encode first input portion and second input portion at first compression ratio and at least one second compression ratio to generate first encoded portion and second encoded portion, respectively, wherein at least one second compression ratio is larger than first compression ratio.

An extended-reality (XR) device requires a sequence of XR images, to be able to present an XR environment to a user of the XR device. Typically, the sequence of XR images are obtained by the XR device from an image source (such as a computing device or a rendering server). The XR device and the image source are communicably coupled to each other via a data communication network.
Typically, image encoders are employed at the image source to compress the sequence of XR images prior to sending to the XR device. This compression is performed to manage data transmission requirements between the image source and the XR device, given the transmission resources of the data communication network. Then, at the XR device, the obtained sequence of XR images (that are in the compressed form) are decompressed and the decompressed sequence of XR images are displayed at light source(s) of the XR device.
However, conventional image encoders have certain limitations associated therewith. The image encoders typically employ compression techniques wherein an entirety of an XR image is compressed at a same compression ratio. Higher the compression ratio, lower is an amount of data to be transmitted over the data communication network. Consequently, lesser transmission resources are required for transmitting the highly-compressed XR image. However, the conventional image encoders sacrifice the image quality of the XR image to increase the compression ratio. Visual detail of the XR image is lost while compressing, thereby lowering the image quality of the XR image. The lowered image quality of the XR image is perceivable when the XR image (that is compressed at a high compression ratio) is decompressed and displayed at the light source(s). This adversely impacts realism and immersiveness of the user within the XR environment, which is undesirable for XR applications. The existing image encoders are unable to achieve a reasonable trade-off between reducing the amount of data to be transmitted over the data communication network and providing an acceptable level of image quality of the XR image.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with conventional image encoders.

Encoders, methods and display apparatuses incorporating gaze-directed compression ratios


A digital camera has both image capture and audio capture modes. The digital camera has: a control member moveable from an initial position to a first position for effecting audio capture and to a second position for effecting image capture. A releasable latch means latches the camera in the audio capture mode upon entry of the control member into the first position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to capture controls in digital cameras which have audio as well as image capture capabilities.
2. Description of Related Art
The term "image capture button" may sometimes be referred to as the "shutter button" or "shutter release button", even though it will be appreciated that digital cameras generally do not have a shutter mechanism.
Many cameras, both digital and conventional film-based, have a shutter button which has an intermediate 'focus lock' position. The position of the shutter button when fully released is often referred to as the S0 position, whilst the focus lock position is known as the S1 position. The position at which the button effects the capture of an image (i.e. when fully depressed) is referred to as the S2 position.
If audio is also to be captured, an appropriate mechanism is needed.

Controls for digital cameras for capturing images and sound

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An improved method for imparting water and oil repellent surface properties to fabrics or paper includes pretreatment in a low pressure oxygen plasma in the presence of water vapor followed by plasma polymerization of methane in a high frequency glow discharge carried out in the same treatment chamber. The resultant polymer film formed on the material surface resists separation from the treated material even after prolonged immersion in water. The method is characterized by use of low cost and readily available starting monomer, by use of a single treatment unit for all stages of the process, reduced energy requirements and treatment time, and improved results over conventional processes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to surface treatments for textiles and paper products for imparting resistance to impregnation by liquid to the treated materials, and in particular is directed to gas plasma treatments for that purpose.
2. State of the Prior Art
The production of high quality textiles or paper calls for efficient methods for imparting soil-resistance to the textile or paper materials. Polymer surface coatings have been used to this end. Currently practiced methods of coating a paper surface with such a film involve at least seven distinct stages:
synthesis of a monomer; PA1 polymerization of the monomer with formation of intermediate or end polymer; PA1 preparation of a film forming solution; PA1 cleaning of the surface or application of a bonding agent to the surface; PA1 application of the coating; PA1 drying of the coating; PA1 solidification of the coating.
The basic disadvantages of these methods include the large number of stages involved in the process as well as unevenness and excessive thickness of the resultant coating, which leads to a change in the appearance of the treated material.
Japanese patent 63-75002 describes treatment in an impulse or pulsed discharge in an atmosphere comprising the gases CH.sub.4, C.sub.2 H.sub.6 or C.sub.4 H.sub.10 for increasing the durability and thermal stability of ferromagnetic layers of magnetic tapes. This method cannot be applied to fabrics because the film formed during the process changes the appearance of the treated surface.
Another prior method of achieving film plasma polymerization, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,426, includes treatment in a glow discharge of per-fluoro-cyclo-butane or hexafluoroethane to reduce the friction coefficient and to improve the surface hydrophobia of organic and inorganic substrates (e.g. polyethylene films, metals). This method also cannot be applied to fabrics because the film formed during the process changes the appearance of the treated surface. In addition, the use of fluoro containing monomers is contraindicated by ecological considerations.
A known method of water and oil repellent finishing of textiles, described in USSR Patent 1,158,634, includes plasma treatment in a glow discharge in an atmosphere of inorganic gases, followed by treatment with a fluoro containing acrylic monomer in gas phase. The first stage of the process can cause additional destruction of archival documents when the documents interact with the gas that creates the plasma. The second stage forms too rough a film.
Another prior method of plasma formation of a thin film on the surface of polymer material, described in Japanese Patent 62-132940, includes:
1. plasma treatment in a glow discharge in an atmosphere of H.sub.2,CO,N.sub.2,O.sub.2 gases;
2. plasma polymerization; and
3. treatment in hydrogen plasma.
The first stage is used to improve adhesion of the film surface for the subsequent polymerization stage. This first stage lasts from 20 sec to 30 minutes of time and can cause additional destruction of archive documents when the documents interact with the gas that creates the plasma.
A prior method described in USSR patent 642550 for treatment of rubber articles includes, treatment in a glow discharge; immersion in an emulsion of polytetra-fluoro-ethylene; and treatment by glow discharge. The application of fluoro-containing monomers is an ecologically detrimental feature of this method.
Japan patent 62-260836 describes a surface plasma polymerization treatment of glass or synthetic sponges, including treatment in a glow discharge in an atmosphere of nitroethane or nitropropane. This method cannot be applied fabrics or paper because the film formed by the process changes the appearance of the treated surface. Also, use of nitro-compounds is ecologically undesirable.
Patents of Japan 62-132940; EPW--Japan, 0177364; Japan, 61-221236; Japan; and USSR 1158634 describe pretreatment of materials in a plasma of inorganic gas for 40 sec. to 20 minutes to purify and activate surfaces for subsequent processing. As a result, polymer films deposited by a subsequent polymerization stage adhere better to the treated material surfaces. However, in some instances satisfactory treatment results require discharge power levels which are harmful or destructive to the material being treated.
A prior method of depositing a thin surface film by a plasma polymerization process (Japanese patent 62-132940) includes treatment in a glow discharge of H.sub.2, CO, N.sub.2 or O.sub.2 at p=0.05-5 Torr, t=30 sec--20 min, power 5-50 KWt; then a plasma polymerization stage, followed by plasma treatment in hydrogen. The film obtained by this method is characterized by improved durability, but changes the appearance of the treated surface and physico-mechanical properties of materials.
Japanese patent 61-22136 discloses a method of surface preparation before coating of polyolefine articles which includes the steps of treatment by a fluoro-organic solvent, staining in a glow discharge of oxygen, and coating. The film obtained by this method is characterized by improved strength to peeling and water resistance. Use of fluoro-containing solvent however is an ecologically undesirable feature of this method.
What is needed is a method for imparting liquid resistant surface properties to fabrics and paper products which do not alter the appearance nor physically damage the treated material, which involves a minimum of processing of the item, which can be safely used on various materials, which is not ecologically damaging, and which is simple and dependable.

Gas plasma treatment for water and oil proofing of fabrics and paper


A method for enhancing read performance in a multi-reader two-dimensional magnetic recording system comprising first and second readers includes: receiving first and second analog read signals from the first and second readers, respectively; sampling the first and second analog read signals to generate first and second sampled signals, respectively, each of the first and second sampled signals comprising an integer component, indicative of a value of a corresponding one of the first and second analog read signals, respectively, at an integer multiple of a corresponding sampling period associated therewith, and/or a fractional component, indicative of a value of the corresponding one of the first and second analog read signals, respectively, at an arbitrary point in time between integer multiples of the corresponding sampling period; and combining the integer and/or fractional components of the respective first and second sampled signals to thereby generate a reader offset estimation signal.

Two-dimensional magnetic recording (TDMR) is a recording architecture intended to support storage densities beyond those of conventional recording systems. TDMR reads from one or more adjacent tracks to decode the signal from a target track. The gains achieved from TDMR come primarily from joint processing of multiple readback signals using powerful coding and signal processing algorithms which allow data bits to be stored more densely on a magnetic storage medium (e.g., disk). In a traditional disk architecture with a single read head, collection of multiple readback signals to facilitate the joint processing would require additional disk rotations. To circumvent this problem, TDMR disk drives may use multiple readers assembled on the same support arm, typically referred to as a slider, thus restoring traditional read service times.
Densely packed disks utilize narrower tracks. To achieve narrower tracks, one may use shingled writing, where each sweep of the write head overlaps a certain percentage of the previous track. Shingled writing may be used without two-dimensional readback at lower densities. However, as the shingling gets more aggressive, one-dimensional codes and detectors will eventually no longer be able to handle intertrack interference (ITI) coming from adjoining tracks. In one-dimensional channels, ITI leads to a performance loss. With two-dimensional channels, ITI assists in making a data decoding decision (i.e., logical assignment) for a given bit.
One disadvantage of using a multi-reader approach is that there is an inherent offset (i.e., delay) between read signals obtained from the respective readers due, at least in part, to the physical distance—down-track and/or cross-track—separating the readers. The physical distance between readers causes the offset between read signals, which needs to be compensated for efficient TDMR signal processing. Although manufacturers may provide the physical distances between the multiple readers, actual offset between read signals obtained from the respective readers can vary based on many factors, including, but not limited to, temperature, fly-height variation, read head misalignment, physical damage, physical vibration, skew angle, etc. Because of these various factors, estimating the actual offset between readers can be challenging.

Two-dimensional magnetic recording reader offset estimation

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A method in a Broadcast Multicast Service Center, BM-SC, comprising at least two file repair servers is arranged for performing a file repair session following a broadcast transmission of a data file to a User Equipment, UE, in a radio communication system. After having determined whether a first of the file repair servers is experiencing, or is predicted to experience, an overload condition, an information message, indicating the existing or predicted overload experience of the first file repair server and capable of indicating a time interval, T, which shall have elapsed before the UE is allowed to transmit a file repair request to the first file repair server, is transmitted to the UE in case it is determined that the first file repair server is experiencing, or is predicted to experience, an overload condition.

Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services, MBMS, is a broadcasting service offered via cellular networks. Enhanced MBMS (eMBMS) is used to denominate MBMS service in Evolved Packet Systems including Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network, E-UTRAN, for Long Term Evolution (LTE), cellular networks and UTRAN for e.g. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) cellular networks. One example of an eMBMS over LTE solution architecture is illustrated in FIG. 1. The architecture 100 of FIG. 1 comprises at least one Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 110, which is capable of distributing content provided from one or more content service providers 120, where a content service provider 120 typically comprise a content store (not shown) and a live encoder (not shown) capable of providing content feeds e.g. in the form of satellite feeds, live feeds and/or Content Delivery Network (CDN) feeds, to the BM-SC 110 under supervision of a Broadcast operations function 130, which is typically capable of interacting with the BM-SC 110. The BM-SC 110 is connected to an access network, typically comprising a plurality of access nodes, but for simplicity here represented by one single access node, eNB 140, via a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services Gateway (MBMS-GW) 150, where the eNB 140 is capable of distributing the provided content feeds to User Equipments (UE) located within range of the access network, via unicast or multicast. Here such UEs are represented by one single UE, UE 160.
In order to be able to remedy failure to receive the content feeds correctly at at least one of the UEs, the architecture is typically also provided with functionality, enabling the BM-SC 110 to re-transmit parts of the content feeds to those UEs 160 reporting failure to receive at least parts of the content feeds. Such a feature is typically referred to as File repair, or more specifically HTTP Unicast File repair. For enabling file repair, the BM-SC 110 is therefore normally provided with at least one, but typically with a plurality of file repair servers (not shown), capable of providing lost or corrupted file fragments of the content feeds to requesting UEs, by way of re-transmission.
The purpose of a file repair procedure is to repair lost or corrupted file fragments, packets or symbols from the MBMS download data file broadcast transmission. When in multicast/broadcast environment, scalability becomes an important issue as the number of UEs, grows. From hereinafter UEs may also be referred to as MBMS clients, since the mentioned UEs are restricted to UEs capable of handling MBMS and/or EMBMS. Three problems should generally be avoided when applying file repair:                Feedback implosion due to a large number of UEs requesting simultaneous file repairs. This would congest the uplink network channel.        Downlink network channel congestion to transport the repair data, as a consequence of the simultaneous MBMS clients' requests.        File repair server overload, caused again by the incoming and outgoing traffic due to the clients' requests arriving at the server, and the server responses to serve these repair requests.
In order to avoid file repair server overload, 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP TS 26.346 proposes two methods:                Spread the file repair request load in time. The MBMS client calculates a random back-off time. The sending of the file repair request message from the UE to a file repair server shall start at Back-off Time=offset-time+Random Time. The UE shall calculate a uniformly distributed Random Time out of the interval between 0 and Random Time Period. The random time period is indicated by a randomTimePeriod parameter in an Associated Delivery Procedure Description, (ADPD) sent from BM-SC to UEs        Spread the file repair request across multiple file repair servers. A list of file repair service URIs is provided as elements of the Associated Delivery procedure fragment's postFileRepair element. The MBMS client randomly selects one of the service URIs from the list, with uniform distribution.
A typical lifecycle of one file repair procedure is illustrated in FIG. 2. When one file repair procedure is triggered, UEs may send file repair (FR) requests in a time slot decided by randomTimePeriod 210, following an offset time 200.
When a UE creates a HTTP connection and sends a file repair request to a file repair server via this connection which may arrive during time interval 220, the connection will be kept for some time, defining the complete file repair procedure 230, allowing the UEs to download symbols, or repair symbols, from the file repair server.
Consequently, after the randomTimePeriod 210, no UE will send FR requests but some FR connections will be kept until the UEs have downloaded all the repair symbols they need.
3GPP TS 26.346 V9.5.0: MBMS Protocols and codecs and 3GPP TS 23.246 V9.5.0: MBMS Architecture and functional description have both proposed how to spread the traffic of single file repair procedure in time and across multiple servers. But the file repair servers still may be overloaded because of extreme bad LTE network situation and file repair burst traffic caused by multiple file repair procedures which have time overlap.
In FIG. 3, there are two file repair procedures 300 and 310 illustrated for two different data file download sessions which have part time overlap. As a UE calculates a uniformly distributed random time to send file a repair request for a file repair procedure, the resulting traffic 320 (file repair requests per second) of file repair procedure 300 or 310 should be uniformly distributed in time. But the total traffic increases twice in the overlapped time slot, i.e., the burst traffic happens in the time slot when the two file repair procedures are time overlapped, as is illustrated with resulting traffic 320.
The more file download sessions that are being delivered, the more file repair procedures may have this type of time overlap and the more extreme burst traffic may happen. There are some ways for operators to handle burst traffic. One way is to schedule the file repair procedures for each file download carefully to avoid time overlap. This way has two obvious shortcomings: a) increase the difficulty of scheduling (sometime it is even impossible if there are too many concurrent file downloads and file repair procedure is quite long); b) file repair server resource waste because the ratio of MBMS clients which need file repair and the ratio of symbol loss may vary quite differently. Another way is to deploy enough file repair servers to service extreme burst traffic. Obviously this way will, however, bring high file repair server resource waste.
When file repair servers are overloaded, they will respond to a FR request by sending an HTTP 503 response, also referred to as service unavailable or service not available, to the UEs. Unfortunately other UEs do not know that the file repair servers are overloaded and keep sending FR requests.
The UEs who receive the HTTP 503 response may retry sending a FR request after some time but they don't know how long time they should wait. If they retry according to a configured time, they may receive a HTTP 503 response again because the file repair servers may still be overloaded.
As mentioned above, there are a plurality of problems that may arise due to UEs sending file repair requests.

Broadcasting of data files and file repair procedure with regards to the broadcasted data files


There is disclosed a method of manufacturing a polyester-series photographic support, comprising the steps of: incorporating at least one anthraquinone-series dye into a polyester, which polyester is produced by a condensation polymerization reaction of a dicarboxylic acid component that comprises a dialkyl ester of naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid as a main component, with a diol component that comprises ethylene glycol as a main component, the polyester being produced by allowing manganese, magnesium, antimony, and phosphorus to be incorporated in specific amounts, whereby the polyester has melt electric resistance in terms of common logarithm (log R) in the melt state at 300.degree. C. in the range of from 7.0 to 9.5, and intrinsic viscosity, measured in a mixture solution of phenol/tetrachloroethane (6/4, weight ratio) at 25.degree. C., in the range of from 0.49 to 0.65; processing the polyester to a film according to the electrostatic impression method; and subjecting the film to biaxially stretching, to form a transparent polyester film. According to the method, a polyester-series photographic support that has a good transparency, that is excellent in core-set curl resistance, and that is suitable for not only sheet-like photographic articles but also roll-like photographic articles, can be provided.

Generally, a photographic light-sensitive material is manufactured by coating at least one photographic light-sensitive layer onto one surface of a plastic film support, and further optionally by coating a magnetic recording layer, or a backing layer, onto the other surface of the support. Up to now, fiber-series polymers, represented by triacetylcellulose (hereinafter referred to as "TAC"), and polyester-series polymers, represented by polyethylene terephthalate (hereinafter referred to as "PET"), have been used for the plastic film support.
The TAC film has a problem that needs to be solved from the viewpoint of the environment, because an organic solvent is used in the course of producing the film. The TAC film also has a weak point of mechanical strength. The PET film has been widely used for sheet-like-shaped articles, such as an X-ray film, lith film, and cut film. However, when the PET film is used for a photographic support that is encased into a patrone (a magazine) in the form of a roll and in the size (width) of 35 mm or less, the same has a strong core-set curl. Therefore the PET film is not always satisfactory, because such problems as out-of-focus arise in the step of printing to a photographic printing paper. Further, with respect to a base film for a magnetic recording medium, JP-A ("JP-A" means unexamined published Japanese patent application) No. 113529/1987 discloses a proposed method for improving both the flatness of the film and the workability of handling of the film. In the method, a film is made of polyethylene naphthalate (a raw material) whose specific resistance when it is melted is in a specific range, according to an electrostatic-applied cooling process, and further the thus-obtained film is modified so that a specific formula can be satisfied by the relation between the surface roughness of the film and the thickness of the film.
In particular, recently usages of photographic light-sensitive material have expanded, and further high-speed conveyance of film at photographing and miniaturization of photographic devices have progressed. Accordingly, there is a demand for a photographic support having not only core-set curl resistance, but also mechanical strength and dimensional stability that are satisfactory for a thin film. However, this demand cannot be adequately met by the conventional TAC films and PET films. So, there is need for development of a photographic support that can meet this demand.

Method of manufacturing a polyester-series photographic support


According to one embodiment of the invention, a computer implemented method for computing a data integrity algorithm on a data stream comprises the acts of initializing a plurality of threads, partitioning the data stream into a plurality of data stream segments, calculating a number of data integrity values from the plurality of data stream segments, and verifying the integrity of the data stream using the data integrity values. The plurality of threads are executed at generally the same time. Each of the data integrity values are derived from an associated data stream segment.

The digital transmission of data from one computing system to another has become an important facet of today's distributed computer architectures. To verify the reliability of this data following transit, a number of data integrity algorithms have been developed. These data integrity algorithms serve to ensure that data remains unaltered following transmission from one computing system to another. To accomplish this, a data integrity value may be calculated from the data integrity algorithm at the transmitting computing system and subsequently transmitted to the receiving computing system along with the data. Following receipt of the data, another data integrity value may be calculated and compared with the transmitted data integrity value. In this manner, a relatively high level of reliability of the data may be accomplished as it is transmitted from one computing system to another.

System and method for parallel processing of data integrity algorithms


A nuclear reactor reflector is disclosed that comprises a stack of reflector blocks with vertical water flow passages to cool the reflector. The interface between blocks is opposite support points for reactor fuel rods. Water flows between the reflector and the reactor barrel from passages in a bottom block. The top block contains a flange to limit this flow and the flange has a slot to receive an alignment pin that is welded to the barrel. The pin is held in the slot by two removable shims. Alignment bars extend the length of the stack in slots machined in each block when the stack is assembled.

In a typical nuclear reactor, the reactor fuel core, comprising rods mounted in modular elongated fuel assemblies located in a cylindrical core barrel that is inside a pressure vessel. In a steam generation system using one of these reactors, water is supplied to the pressure vessel, flows down an annular space between the core barrel and the pressure vessel, reverses direction, and flows upward through openings in the lower core support leading to the reactor core. Filling the space between the reactor core and the barrel, a neutron reflector is supplied with some of this water to cool it. U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,162 shows a reflector design, where a plurality of vertically standing rods extend the length of the core tightly packed together, the space between the rods, providing a uniform water passage through the reflector. The diameter of the rods are selected to provide a specific area passage in order to achieve a specific heat transfer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,299 discusses a modular lining around the core, and there a lining consists of assemblies of prismatic shape arranged side by side inside the barrel. The resultant liner consists of modular metal elements "juxtaposed" so that the modular lining occupies virtually all the volume of the annulus around the core.
Each of these techniques relies on a heavy, costly and complex reflector having a considerable number of parts, especially fasteners holding the reflector in the barrel.


A method of generating a population of corneal epithelial cells is disclosed. The method comprises culturing human pluripotent stem cells in corneal fibroblast-conditioned medium on a solid surface comprising an extracellular matrix component thereby generating the population of corneal epithelial cells. Isolated cell populations and corneal tissues are also disclosed, as well as uses thereof.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to methods of generating corneal cells from pluripotent stem cells and cell populations comprising same.
The cornea is a unique, transparent structure that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber, providing most of the eye's optical power. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light and, as a result, aids in focusing. The cornea contributes more to the total refraction than the lens does, but, whereas the curvature of the lens can be adjusted to "tune" focus, the curvature of the cornea is fixed. The cornea has no blood vessels, its nourishment is obtained via diffusion from the tear fluid, the aqueous humor, and neurotrophins supplied by nerve fibers that innervate it. Thus, for example, disturbances in circulation of these fluids or inflammatory processes play a large role in the pathogenesis of corneal abnormalities.
The cornea is composed mostly of dense connective tissue. However, the collagen fibers are arranged in a parallel pattern, allowing light waves to constructively interfere, thus letting light pass through relatively uninhibited.
The corneal tissue is arranged in five basic layers: epithelium, Bowman's layer, stroma, Descemet's membrane and endothelium, each having a separate function. The epithelium is the outermost layer of the cornea, comprising about 10% of the tissue's thickness. The epithelium functions primarily to: (1) block passage of foreign materials, such as dust, water, and bacteria, into the eye and other layers of the cornea; and (2) provide a smooth surface that absorbs oxygen and cell nutrients from tears, then distributes these nutrients to the rest of the cornea. The corneal epithelium is maintained by stem cells (SCs) located at the periphery of the cornea, in a region known as the limbus. The corneal epithelium itself is devoid of its own stem cells. Limbal fibroblasts form the major cellular component of the limbal stroma upon which the LSCs reside, and they produce specific cytokines that promote corneal epithelial wound healing by the LSCs.
The changes associated with aging of the cornea include increased opacity, increased anterior surface curvatures, and possibly changes in refractive index distribution. Various refractive eye surgery techniques change the shape of the cornea in order to reduce the need for corrective lenses or otherwise improve the refractive state of the eye. In many techniques, reshaping of the cornea is performed by photoablation using an eximer laser.
If the corneal stroma develops visually significant opacity, irregularity, or edema, a cadaveric donor cornea can be transplanted.
Limbal auto-grafts have been applied to patients with a relatively high degree of success. In severe cases such as total limbal stem cell deficiency, allo-grafts may be obtained from patient's relatives or from post mortem donors. However, limbal tissue is highly immunogenic and the rate of graft rejection exceeds 35%, 5 years post transplantation. This method is further limited due to a shortage of donors. Further, living donors are at risk of developing limbal stem cell deficiency. To reduce this risk, a smaller limbal tissue may be grafted from donor and expanded ex vivo prior to transplantation. This technology does not allow treating patient immediately following injury, since it requires the cultivation of the cells for several weeks prior to grafting. Moreover, allogenic limbal stem cell transplantations to a patient are eventually rejected.
Synthetic corneas also exist (keratoprotheses), however, these are typically plastic inserts or may be composed of biocompatible synthetic materials that encourage tissue in-growth into the synthetic cornea, thereby promoting biointegration. Alternatively, orthokeratology offers the use of specialized hard or rigid gas-permeable contact lenses to transiently reshape the cornea in order to improve the refractive state of the eye or reduce the need for eyeglasses and contact lenses.
Homma et al. [Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2004 December; 45(12):4320-6] teach corneal epithelial differentiation of murine embryonic bodies on collagen IV-coated dishes.
Sajjad et al. [Stem Cells. 2007 May; 25(5):1145-55] teach generation of corneal epithelial-like cells by seeding human embryonic stem cells on collagen IV-coated dishes in the presence of medium that was conditioned by limbal fibroblasts. The resulting corneal epithelial cells were contaminated with skin cells.

Methods of generating corneal cells and cell populations comprising same

TECHNION RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION LTD.

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE


A clothes washing machine includes a water tub, a spin basket, and a clothes agitator. A vertical dehydrating shaft is fixed to the spin basket, and a laundering shaft extends coaxially within the dehydrating shaft. Upper and lower ends of the laundering shaft are connected to the agitator and a motor respectively, whereby rotation of the motor is always transmitted to the agitator. In order to selectively connect the dehydrating shaft to the laundering shaft (e.g., during a spin-drying operation), a connecting gear is mounted on the dehydrating shaft for rotation therewith and for vertical movement relative thereto. A power-driven actuator is provided for selectively moving the connecting gear up or down. When the connecting gear moves down, lower teeth thereon become operably connected to the motor so that the dehydrating shaft and laundering shaft rotate together. During a washing or rinsing operation, the connecting gear is moved up, whereby upper teeth thereon become connected to a fixed element, whereby the dehydrating shaft is fixed against rotation. One of the upper teeth, and one of the lower teeth, of the connecting gear are longer than the other teeth to guide the connecting gear into meshing relationship with other sets of teeth when the connecting gear is moved up and down.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power system of a washing machine and, more particularly, to a power system of a washing machine which can suppress rotation of the spin basket during a laundering operation and allow the same to rotate at high speeds during a spin drying operation.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Generally, a washing machine includes a main body defining an outer configuration thereof, a water reserving drum or water tub installed within the body, a rotating drum or spin basket, and an agitator blade mounted within the water reserving drum. A power system for driving the rotating drum and blade is mounted under the water reserving drum.
The power system conventionally comprises a motor, a power transmission system, and a belt for connecting the motor to the power transmission system. This will be described hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 6.
As shown in drawing, a conventional power transmission system 100 has a hollow dehydrating shaft 11 and a hollow laundering shaft 102 inserted into the hollow portion of the hollow dehydrating shaft 101. The laundering shaft 102 is divided into upper and lower portions, with a planetary gear unit 103 being disposed therebetween. The planetary gear unit 103 changes a rotating speed of the power transmission system 100. A brake band 14 and a brake lever 105 are disposed beside the dehydrating shaft 101 to brake the rotation of the dehydrating shaft 101. A one-way bearing 106, for suppressing an idling of a rotating drum (spin basket) 110 by cooperating with the brake band 104 and permitting the dehydrating shaft 101 to rotate in only one direction, is mounted on an outer circumference of the dehydrating shaft 101. In addition, a clutch spring 107 and a clutch lever 108 for transmitting/interrupting power from the motor to both the dehydrating shaft 101 and the laundering shaft 102 are mounted under the one-way bearing 106. A pulley 109 on which a belt (not shown) is engaged is mounted on a lower end of the laundering shaft 102.
In this conventional power transmission system 100, torque of the motor is selectively transmitted to a rotating blade 111 or the rotating drum 110 through the clutch spring 107, thereby performing the washing and dehydrating (spin drying) operations. To achieve this, it is necessary that the clutch spring 107 has a high degree of tensile strength to enable the transmission or interruption of torque from the motor to the dehydrating shaft 101 and the laundering shaft 102, both of which are rotated at a high speed. However, the manufacturing process for such a spring having high tensile strength is complicated, and, as a result, manufacturing costs are increased.
In addition, the brake band 104 for preventing the rotating drum 110 from idling during the washing operation is, when it brakes the rotating drum 110 in one direction, subjected to high resistance by a force generated when the rotating drum 110 is being urged to rotate by a water current created within the water reserving drum. The above described one-way bearing 106 must thus be used, making the structure complicated and increasing manufacturing costs. Finally, an unpleasant noise is generated during the braking operation of the brake band.
As described above, the conventional power system of a washing machine is complicated with regard to the arrangement of parts for performing the washing, dehydrating and braking operations, making it difficult to manufacture the same and increasing manufacturing costs. In addition, because of the large number of parts needed for this complicated arrangement, much space is required which, in turn, acts to increase the overall size of the washer.


A method of pattern generation for a screen using a wipe solid generator and a recursive memory includes generating from operator inputs a wipe solid. An extent of the generated wipe solid is measured to produce maximum and minimum values. These maximum and minimum values are extended to encompass a desired border size and softness. A lever-arm scaling function is selected based upon whether a change in operator input causes a reversal in pattern and/or causes the pattern to "breathe." The selected lever-arm scaling function uses prior values from the recursive memory to generate new values that are stored in the recursive memory. From the stored values clip levels are determined such that completion of lever-arm movement to a limit position coincides with completion of the pattern without distortion of the size of the pattern.

The present invention relates to digital video signal processing, and more particularly to pattern generation using a wipe solid generator to provide scaling of a switcher lever arm during wipes between video images that always results in the pattern transition ending or beginning just as the lever arm reaches its limit.
Video switchers or mixers typically include pattern generators as a standard resource. These generators allow wipes from one video signal to another via a changing geometric shape, allow present pattern effects such as spotlights, darkened anonymous faces and split screens, and allow masking effects so that a key is active only within a certain region of a display screen. These pattern generators typically provide a variety of shapes, such as circle, square, diamond, heart, etc., and also include pattern modification controls for position, aspect, rotation, modulation, replication, edge softness and border width.
The wipe patterns are traditionally generated using a wipe solid approach as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,022 issued Feb. 14, 1989 to John Abt entitled "Digital Wipe Generator." To visualize this method, picture an inverted cone, pointing down. By applying a clip and gain function to this three-dimensional shape, a circle is generated. As the clip point moves from the bottom (point of the cone) to the top (base of the cone) of the inverted cone, the circle grows. This is how a circle wipe transition is formed. Many modifiers affect the wipe solid itself. By changing the location of the cone's point on the video screen, the wipe position is modified. By changing the symmetry of the cone, the aspect is changed. Rotation is accomplished by mixing the x and y coordinates of the cone via sine and cosine functions. Modulation is accomplished by varying the position of the cone with various waveforms. Multiple circles are generated by creating a wipe solid consisting of numerous cones. Other modifiers affect the clip and gains. A border is generated by using two clip and gain functions, each with a different clip. The clip separation defines the border width. A low gain produces a soft pattern. By inverting the gain and changing the direction of the clip, the pattern is reversed.
Several problems have traditionally plagued a wipe system. These problems include lever-arm scaling, constant position and consistent sizing.
1. Lever-arm scaling. Each modifier may potentially change the clip values at which the pattern first appears on the screen and vanishes from the screen. This causes difficulty in setting the clip range. Ideally the switcher's lever-arm which controls the clip values causes the pattern to start immediately after it is moved from its end stop, and the pattern vanishes just as the lever-arm travel is complete. Many current switchers lack dynamic lever-arm scaling. Wipes start and end partway through the lever-arm travel, and at extreme pattern positions the wipes "snap" to completion at the end of lever-arm travel.
2. Constant position. One solution to the lever-arm scaling problem is to center the pattern position as the wipe grows. This artifact is often undesirable. It also precludes numerous clip and gain resources from using the same wipe solid since the position of pattern 2 may be modified by the size, i.e., lever-arm position, of pattern 1.
3. Consistent sizing. Some generators provide lever-arm scaling to the detriment of pattern size consistency. A circle in the center of the screen must traverse one-half screen for the pattern to finish the transition. A circle starting from the screen's corner must traverse the entire screen to finish the transition. Therefore, a pattern at fifty percent (50%) lever-arm travel is twice as big if it originates from a corner than if it originates from the screen center. This operation is correct for static pattern position, but the pattern "breathes", i.e., grows or shrinks, as the pattern position is changed to traverse the screen while the lever-arm is not at an end stop. Further a normal wipe features a growing pattern which reveals the new video, while a reversed wipe features a shrinking pattern which conceals the old video. At ten percent (10%) into a circle wipe a small circle is exposed with the new video in the center. For a reversed circle wipe a ten percent transition reveals a large circle with the old video in the center. Pressing the reverse button in the middle of a transition causes the pattern to jump from large to small or vice-versa. What is desired is consistent size regardless of whether the new and old videos are swapped or the direction of movement changes.

Pattern generation using wipe solid generator


Embodiments of a method and system for saving system context after a power outage are disclosed herein. A power agent operates to reduce the possibility of data corruption due to partially written data during an unexpected power outage. The power agent can determine an amount of time remaining before a power store is depleted. Based on the amount of time, the power agent can store system context information. Correspondingly, the power agent can operate to save complete system context, partial system context, or flush (I/O) buffers. Once power is restored, the power agent can restore the system context based on the nature of the save. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Unplanned power outages and interruptions can be disastrous to computer users. Frequent power disruptions can lead to equipment damage, such as hard disk corruptions, which can result in significant down time for a computer user. Significant down time in turn can lead to lost revenue and opportunity. Furthermore, power outages and interruptions can result in a loss of vital data associated with a computer. For example, unexpected power outages can result in data corruption due to data being partially written before the outage. Power outages can be particularly devastating for computer users in emerging markets in which power may be intermittent at best. Brown-outs continue to be problematic in India and China. Some business environments counter power outage issues by employing an uninterrupted power supply across a network. However, this option is not cost viable for many computer users.

Saving system context in the event of power loss


A method for session method, a terminal device and a network device are provided. The method includes: sending, by a terminal device, first information to a first network device, wherein the first indication is used for requesting for establishing a packet data network (PDN) connection; receiving, by the terminal device, second information from the network device, wherein the second information indicates that the request, initiated by the terminal device, for establishing the PDN connection is accepted, the second information includes first indication information for indicating whether a protocol data unit (PDU) session corresponding to the PDN connection supports multi-access (MA) after the terminal devices moves from a 4th-generation (4G) network to a 5th-generation (5G) network, and the PDU session, if supporting the MA, is able to implement data transmission with a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) network and a non-3GPP network simultaneously.

In a 5th-generation (5G) network, data may be transmitted by a multi-access (MA) technique in a protocol data unit (PDU) session. That is, a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) access technique (for example, Long Term Evolution (LTE) and New Radio (NR)) and a non-3GPP (a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)) access technique can be used at the same time. However, a 4th-generation (4G) network does not support the MA technique. When a terminal device moves from the 4G network to the 5G network, the terminal device, even though supporting the MA technique, will not use the MA technique. Therefore, how to enable a terminal device to use the MA technique when moving from the 4G network to the 5G network is a problem urgent to be solved.

Session management method, terminal device and network device

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A compact treatment apparatus and methodology is provided for scavenging at least H2S from an acid gas stream. The vessel is charged with a batch of an aqueous solution of H2S scavenging treatment liquid. Acid gas is discharged from a sparge bar fit with graduated openings, either graduated from small to large or from a few to many and spaced therealong, for distributed discharge into the treatment liquid. The acid gas percolates up through the liquid and into a vessel headspace, the gas being scrubbed of H2S for producing a treated discharge gas. The treatment solution can be an aqueous solution of incorporating one of several active H2S scavenger ingredients including amine-aldehyde compositions or triazines.

In response to an inefficient and environmentally damaging practice of flaring sour emissions, scrubbers have been developed for removing the problematic components for reducing or eliminating the need to store and transfer corrosive and toxic sour material. Scavengers or scrubbers are known for removing components within acid gases including hydrogen sulphide and volatile organic carbons (VOC's). In particular, scrubbers are used in the treatment of gas streams emanating from produced or stored petroleum, or from produced natural gas stream or from other sources.
Current processes include amine processes, a variety of towers and various ammonia and iron-related chemical reactions. Applicant has found reluctance in the industry to adopt such process and equipment either due to the high capital cost and poor economics when applied at low gas rates or their unwieldy and inefficient nature, reducing the applicability to marginal gas wells.
There is a continued need for an apparatus be developed that is both compact and portable allowing effective installation and operation at the source of the sour gas venting or production. Such a method may allow the production of low volume gas wells previously deemed uneconomical.

Method and apparatus for hydrogen sulphide removal


A method for inline data plane monitor placement and operation for network function virtualization involves receiving, at one or more control modules of a network, a logical monitoring specification. The logical monitoring specification includes a monitoring regime abstracted from a physical topology of the network. The one or more control modules perform one or more of instantiating or identifying one or more monitor instances of the network based on the logical monitoring specification, the one or more monitor instances being or having been instantiated within one or more data plane components of the network. The one or more control modules configure the one or more monitor instances based on the logical monitoring specification.

Software network functions (NFs) are software applications that implement advanced traffic processing functions; i.e., inspecting, modifying, or otherwise processing the packets in a network traffic stream. Examples of NFs include network intrusion detection systems (IDS), protocol or WAN optimizers, firewalls, Network Address Translators (NATs), and so forth. Within a network, different traffic streams may be processed by different network function virtualization (NFV) services. An NFV service can include a single NF or a chained sequence of NFs. In a conventional scenario, a network operator will define how different traffic streams should be processed by an NFV service within a data center using a high-level abstraction—e.g., using an abstract modeling language such as TOSCA (Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications) or a graphical user interface (GUI). This high-level specification, referred to as a network function virtualization (NFV) policy graph, is an NFV policy specification which defines how traffic should be processed by different NFs of an NFV service and may be applied to all traffic to/from a particular customer or tenant of a network within the data center. Additionally, the NFV policy specification may optionally include constraints such as target performance levels (min and/or max) of the NFs or other components of the network.
In such data center operations, there is often a continual measurement of key operational metrics to ensure optimal performance of data center systems. These metrics include CPU utilization, memory utilization, latency, and throughput, among others. When one or more of these metrics reach a respective critical threshold, system alerts are issued, and actions are triggered. Actions can include further alerts, automated corrective actions and/or logging of key information for future use.
In addition, there is often a continual stream of change management procedures that are needed to maintain the data center systems in optimal condition. These often include upgrades for multiple pieces of software and hardware in a system, which could include several dozen different schedules, or changes requested by customers such as adding new features to their services. Changes can also be triggered by the metrics mentioned above. Additionally, NF vendors often receive payment from the operators through different metering schemes, many of which conventionally rely on indirect measurements of usage, such as per core used, or per server used.

Inline data plane monitor placement and operation for network function virtualization


A sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop has faster lock time with increased charge pump current and decreased loop filter resistance in the unlock state. On the other hand, the sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop has lower noise susceptibility and lower frequency error with gradual decrease in charge pump current and gradual increase in loop filter resistance, in the lock state.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 2006-04958, filed on Jan. 17, 2006 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loops, and more particularly, to reducing lock time and frequency error in a sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop by gradual change of resistance within a loop filter.
2. Background of the Invention
A phase locked loop is used to maintain a stable frequency or to precisely change a frequency of a signal from a signal generator. Generally, the phase locked loop comprises a phase comparator, a charge pump, a loop filter, a voltage controlled oscillator, and a frequency divider.
The phase comparator generates control signals by comparing a reference signal and a feedback signal to determine phase difference. The charge pump generates a current (or charge) in response to such control signals and supplies the generated current to the loop filter. The loop filter filters such a current from the charge pump to generate a filtered voltage to the voltage controlled oscillator.
The voltage controlled oscillator generates an output signal having a frequency proportional to the filtered voltage from the loop filter. The frequency divider performs frequency division on the output signal of the voltage controlled oscillator by a predetermined factor to generate the feedback signal.
Recently, a phase locked loop that reaches the lock state quickly is especially desired from rapid development of wireless communications. Since lock time is inversely proportional to loop bandwidth of the phase locked loop, the loop bandwidth of the phase locked loop is increased for reducing lock time. However, the phase locked loop is more susceptible to noise at higher loop bandwidth.
For reducing the effect of such noise, when the phase locked loop is in the unlock state, the lock time is reduced by increasing the current of the charge pump circuit and reducing the resistance of the loop filter to increase the loop bandwidth. On the other hand, in the lock state, the lock time is increased by increasing the resistance of the loop filter and reducing the current of the charge pump circuit to reduce the loop bandwidth. However, reducing such loop bandwidth diminishes the susceptibility of the loop filter to noise.
FIG. 1 shows a charge pump 200 and a loop filter 300 of the above-described phase locked loop for reducing lock time in the unlock state and for improving noise immunity in the lock state. A controller 700 supplies a current control signal CCS and a phase margin control signal CRS to the charge pump 200 and the loop filter 300, respectively.
The loop filter 300 is connected between a ground node and a first node N1 that is an output terminal of the charge pump 200. The charge pump 200 generates a charge pump current with a controlled level thereby determining loop gain, in response to an up-control signal up and a down-control signal dn, from a phase comparator.
The loop filter 300 has a resistance therein that is adjusted in response to the phase margin control signal CRS. When the phase locked loop is in the unlock state, a third switch SW3 and a sixth switch SW6 are closed in response to the control signals CCS and CRS. When the up-control signal up is also activated (with the down-control signal dn being deactivated) to close switches SW1 and SW4, the closed switch SW3 increases the charging current of the charge pump 200 to be from the current sources CS1 and CS3.
Alternatively, when the down-control signal dn is also activated (with the up-control signal up being deactivated) to close switches SW2 and SW5, the closed switch SW3 increases the discharging current of the charge pump 200 to be from the current sources CS2 and CS4. In either case of increased charging current and increased discharging current, the loop bandwidth of the phase locked loop is increased in the unlock state.
When the sixth switch SW6 is closed, a resistor R1 is connected in parallel with another resistor R2 between a third node N3 and the ground node. Thus, the effective resistance of the loop filter 300 is reduced, and the bandwidth of the phase locked loop is increased in the unlock state. Such increased loop bandwidth of the phase locked loop reduces lock time of the phase locked loop.
When the phase locked loop reaches the lock state, the switches SW3 and SW6 are opened. Thus, the current level of the charge pump 200 is reduced, and the resistance of the loop filter 300 is increased. As a result, the loop bandwidth of the phase locked loop is reduced for in turn reducing noise susceptibility.
As compared to the phase locked loop, a fractional-N phase locked loop generates a signal with a frequency resolution less than a reference frequency. However, the fractional-N phase locked loop defectively includes an in-band spur as a noise component in the loop bandwidth. Therefore, a sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop is used with a shift of such a spur to a higher frequency.
FIG. 2A illustrates the change in bandwidth of the sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop by operation of the charge pump 200 and the loop filter 300 of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2A, the loop bandwidth of the phase locked loop is increased for faster lock in the unlock state. Alternatively, the loop bandwidth is reduced for reduced susceptibility to noise in the lock state.
FIG. 2B illustrates in-band noise in the loop bandwidth of sigma-delta modulation noise (hereinafter referred to as "SDM noise") when the loop bandwidth of the sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop is increased for faster lock in the unlock state. Referring to FIG. 2B, even after the noise spur generated by fractional-N division is sigma-delta modulated, the in-band noise is still widely present in the loop bandwidth (as illustrated by the shaded area in FIG. 2B).
FIG. 2C illustrates in-band noise of SDM noise when the loop bandwidth of the sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop is reduced in the lock state. Referring to FIGS. 2B and 2C, the in-band noise is reduced when the loop bandwidth is reduced (as illustrated by the shaded area in FIG. 2C).
FIG. 3A shows a simulation for frequency error of an output signal of the phase locked loop when the loop bandwidth of the sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop is increased to a wide bandwidth (20kHz) for faster lock in the unlock state and then reduced to a narrow bandwidth (2kHz) in the lock state. FIG. 3B shows an enlarged view of a dotted portion of the frequency error shown in FIG. 3A. Referring to FIG. 3B, the frequency error is larger for the wide bandwidth. The frequency error is reduced in the narrow bandwidth but lasts for a relatively long time after the lock state.
FIG. 4A illustrates a method for switching the loop bandwidth of the conventional sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop from a wide bandwidth to a narrow bandwidth. Referring to FIG. 4A, the loop bandwidth is reduced from 20 Khz to 2 Khz at once at time t1 by reducing the charge pump current from 32 mA to 2 mA and by increasing the resistance of the loop filter.
FIG. 4B shows the frequency error of the output signal of the phase locked loop when the loop bandwidth of the conventional sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop is switched from a wide bandwidth to a narrow bandwidth as illustrated in FIG. 4A. Referring to FIG. 4B, the frequency error lasts after the loop bandwidth is reduced, and the maximum frequency error after the reduction of the bandwidth occurs at time 851.7 usec with a frequency error of −4.947 Khz.
As the difference between the switched bandwidths becomes greater, the time needed for the frequency error to reach below a desired error range is extended. Thus, a sigma-delta fractional-N phase locked loop with reduction of such frequency error is desired.

Sigma-delta fractional-N PLL with reduced frequency error