The invention provides a novel class of compounds, pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds and methods of using such compounds to treat or prevent diseases and disorders associated with kinase activity, particularly diseases associated with the activity of CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDK5, GSK3β, Bcr-abl, Flt-3, c-Kit, PDGFRβ, Src, Mek1 and CK1.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention provides a novel class of compounds, pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds and methods of using such compounds to treat or prevent diseases and disorders associated with kinase activity, particularly diseases associated with the activity of CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDK5, GSK3β, Bcr-abl, Flt-3, c-Kit, PDGFRβ, Mek1, CK1, c-Abl, KDR, IGF-1R, Flt-1, Tek, c-src, FGFR-1 and c-Met kinases.
2. Background
Kinases are involved in many aspects of cellular metabolism, proliferation, differentiation and development. A partial, non-limiting list of kinases include CDK1, CD 2, CDK4, CDK5, GSK3β, Bcr-abl, Flt-3, c-Kit, PDGFRβ, Mek1, CK1, c-Abl, KDR, IGF-1R, Flt-1, Tek, c-src, FGFR-1 and c-Met kinases. Many diseases are associated with abnormal cellular responses triggered by protein kinase-mediated events. Disease areas include autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, allergies and hormone-related diseases. In particular, kinases have been implicated in various diseases including: diabetes; Alzheimer's disease and mood disorders such as bipolar disorder; CNS disorders such as manic-depressive disorder and neurodegenerative diseases; cardiomyocyte hypertrophy; and development and regulation of sperm motility. Further, kinases been implicated in hair loss, schizophrenia and neurotrauma, for example, stroke, traumatic brain surgery and spinal cord trauma. These diseases may be caused by, or result in, the abnormal operation of certain cell signaling pathways, for example, those signaling pathways in which CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDK5, GSK3β, Bcr-abl, Flt-3, c-Kit, PDGFRβ, Mek1, CK1, c-Abl, KDR, IGF-1R, Flt-1, Tek, c-src, FGFR-1 and c-Met kinases play a role. Accordingly, molecules that modulate the activity of kinase-mediated signaling are useful as therapeutic agents in the treatment of such diseases.

Compounds and compositions as protein kinase inhibitors


A computer device and a method for dissipating heat from a discrete graphics processing unit therein are provided. The method thereof includes determining whether the discrete graphics processing is in an operating state. If the discrete graphics processing unit is in an operating state, a determination is made as to whether a current temperature of the discrete graphics processing unit can be obtained. If the current temperature of the discrete graphics processing unit cannot be obtained, the discrete graphics processing unit is cooled so as to lower the current temperature thereof.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for dissipating heat from a computer device, and more particularly to a method for dissipating heat from a graphics processing unit of the computer device.
2. Description of Related Art
Since an ever-increasing amount of heat is generated from each of the electronic components of a computer device (e.g., a discrete graphics processing unit, central process unit, etc. thereof), if the heat cannot be removed in a timely manner, the inside temperature of the computer device might increase rapidly so that the electronic component operates abnormally or stops operating altogether. In some instances, the electronic component might be damaged permanently.
Consequently, the electronic component is normally installed with a heat-dissipating fan to dissipate the heat therefrom. Thus, by airflows created by operation of the heat-dissipating fan, the heat from the electronic component can be removed quickly so as to decrease the inside temperature of the electronic component.
Commercially available computers include those that individually use a graphical module that provides a low graphical performance effect, that is, an integrated graphics processor (IGP) which is integrated into a chipset of a computer device; individually use a graphical module that provides a high graphical performance effect, that is, a discrete graphics processing unit (DGPU); or use both the foregoing graphical modules (i.e., an IGP and a DGPU) in combination. When a user of a computer installed with both an IGP and a DGPU is executing a software program requiring a high graphical performance effect, such as graphics software, image processing software, 3D game software, etc., the computer switches to operate the DGPU as the active graphical module. On the other hand, when the user is executing another software program requiring a low graphical performance effect, such as a word processing software program or an Internet browser, the computer switches to operate the IGP for the active graphical module. Hence, the sources of the computer are used in an advantageous manner.
The current operating temperature of a DGPU of a computer installed with both an IGP and a DGPU can be obtained using a temperature detection circuit which is independently installed in the computer, so that a heat-dissipating fan can be controlled to provide a certain volume of cool air depending on the operating temperature of the DGPU to thereby cool the DGPU.
Some manufacturers in the computer industry consider omitting the temperature detection circuit which is independently installed in the computer and associated with the DGPU, so as to reduce manufacturing costs, reduce power consumption, and minimize the amount of internal space utilized by circuitry in the computer. However, as a result, the computer cannot be instantly aware of the temperature changes of the DGPU, and thus, it is not possible to determine whether the DGPU has stopped operating due to overheating or due to the fact that switching has been performed to operate the IGP instead. Moreover, appropriate cooling of the DGPU cannot be immediately performed, so as to possibly result in damage to the DGPU.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a method for dissipating heat from a graphics processing unit of a computer device in order to effectively solve the aforementioned problems.

Computer device and method for dissipating heat from a discrete graphics processing unit in the same


A system and method for compensating phase differences between multiple local oscillators and group delay differences between multiple transceivers. The system may include; an antenna array; a plurality of transceivers connected to said antennas and operatively associated each with a local oscillator (LO), wherein at least some of the transceivers do not share a common LO, and wherein at least some of the LOs are using a common reference oscillator; a common digital beamformer circuit connected to the transceivers; a baseband processor configured to operate the system at a specified communication scheme; and a calibration circuit and software modules configured to eliminate or reduce mismatches and phase deviations between the different transceivers, wherein the calibration circuit and software modules are incorporated in system such that the elimination or reduction of mismatches and phase deviations is non-interrupting with a continuous operation of the system at the specified communication scheme.

Implementations of a multiple-antenna beamformer may require the use of multiple radio circuits that feed these antennas. Some implementations are based on an array of discrete mixers controlled by a common LO (Local Oscillator) where the number of radio circuits is unlimited, but cost, power consumption, real estate and reliability are not optimal. Some other implementations offer an integrated RFIC (Radio-Frequency-Integrated-Circuit) controlled by a common integrated LO, yet, the number of radios is typically to few limited combinations e.g. 2 or 4 or 8 integrated radio circuits in a commercially available RFICs. Hence when a larger number of radio circuits is required, staking an array of RFICs together may be a preferable approach, provided the LOs in each of the RFICs can be locked to each other via external circuitry and procedures.
Such an array of RFICs may maintain frequency lock when all LOs are using a common crystal reference, yet in some cases phase lock mechanism must be implemented each time the radios are retuned, as well on a periodic basis that will counter the effect of phase drift.
FIG. 1 depicts a beamforming TD-LTE base station according to the prior art which includes multiple radio circuits 120-1, 120-2, up to 120-M, that feed or provide input to an antenna array of M elements 110-1, 110-2, up to 110-M, where the multiple radio circuits and antennas are used for beamforming FIG. 1 further illustrates an example where the aforementioned beamforming capability may be used for the implementation of Multi-User MIMO, where up to N data streams are simultaneously served (e.g. in data communication with) by N baseband entities 140-1, 140-2, up to 140-N, where N<M. FIG. 1 further depicts an example implementation using a common local oscillator 150 configured to feed or provide input to the multiple radio circuits, so that digital beamformer 130 weights applied to baseband signals, are routed through the multiple radio frequency (RF) chains with a wells controlled resultant phases.
FIG. 2 depicts another possible block diagram similar to the one in FIG. 1, also in accordance with the prior art, where the radio circuits used are integrated Radio-Frequency-Integrated-Circuits (RFICs) 220-1, 220-2, up to 220-M, and where the LO are implemented inside and fed by a common reference clock 250; however, such a solution guarantees frequency lock but does not provide phase lock across the array, which makes it unfit for beamforming. The problem stems from the fact that while LOs are frequency locked, their relative phases may drift. Therefore, for beam forming purposes, the architecture shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will not work properly.

Method and system for calibrating a transceiver array


A laminated product is provided which has no problems concerning hygienic safety or environment accompanying the use of solvent-based adhesives and which has been tenaciously bonded in a degree equal or superior to that attainable with conventional CR solvent-based adhesives. The laminated product is obtained by bonding a porous organic material and a cloth with an adhesive comprising, as major ingredients, a polychloroprene latex which is obtained by polymerizing 100 parts by mass of chloroprene with more than 0 part by mass and less than 2 parts by mass of an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid in the presence of from 0.5 to 4 parts by mass of a polyvinyl alcohol and then adding a pH adjustor and a radical scavenger and which has a gel content in the chloroprene polymer of from 10 to 60 mass % and a pH of from 6 to 10, a tackifier resin and a metal oxide.

Heretofore, polychloroprene (hereinafter referred to as CR) solvent-based adhesives have been used to prepare laminated products for e.g. shoe soles or inner soles of e.g. sports shoes or walking shoes.
However, in such CR solvent-based adhesives, an organic solvent such as toluene, ethyl acetate or methyl ethyl ketone is used, and such an organic solvent will evaporate at the work area during the coating operation of the adhesive, such being undesirable from the viewpoint of hygienic safety of workers or environment. Accordingly, it has been desired to reduce the organic solvent.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a laminated product which has no problems concerning hygienic safety or environment accompanying the use of the conventional CR solvent-based adhesives and which has been tenaciously bonded in a degree equal or superior to that attainable by the conventional CR solvent-based adhesives.


Disclosed herein are polypeptide multilayer films comprising a hybrid polypeptide comprising a first polypeptide segment and a second segment, the two segments being covalently joined by one or more non-peptidic linkages. The first segment comprises a polypeptide having a magnitude of net charge per residue of greater than or equal to 0.4, and a length of greater than or equal to about 12 amino acid residues. The second segment comprises a polypeptide or another polyelectrolyte.

Polyelectrolyte multilayer films are thin films (e.g., a few nanometers to millimeters thick) composed of alternating layers of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. Such films can be formed by layer-by-layer assembly on a suitable substrate. In electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly ("ELBL"), the physical basis of association of polyelectrolytes is electrostatics. Film buildup is possible because the sign of the surface charge density of the film reverses on deposition of successive layers. The general principle of ELBL deposition of oppositely charged polyions is illustrated in FIG. 1. The generality and relative simplicity of the ELBL film process permits the deposition of many different types of polyelectrolytes onto many different types of surfaces. Polypeptide multilayer films are a subset of polyelectrolyte multilayer films, comprising at least one layer comprising a charged polypeptide. A key advantage of polypeptide multilayer films is environmental benignity. ELBL films can also be used for encapsulation. Applications of polypeptide films and microcapsules include, for example, nano-reactors, biosensors, artificial cells, and drug delivery vehicles.
The design principles for incorporation of polypeptides into multilayer films were first elucidated in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0069950. In brief, the suitability of a polypeptide for ELBL is related to the net charge on the polypeptide and the length of the polypeptide. A polypeptide suitable for ELBL preferably comprises one or more amino acid sequence motifs, that is, contiguous amino acid sequences having a length of about 5 to about 15 amino acid residues and having a suitable linear charge density for electrostatic deposition. A polypeptide for ELBL can be designed in different ways, for example, by joining a plurality of amino acid sequence motifs to each other, either directly, or by a linker. Polypeptides having the appropriate length and charge properties can readily be deposited to form one or more layers of a polypeptide multilayer film.
Although the basic design principles for polypeptide multilayer films have been elucidated, there nonetheless remains a need for design of polypeptide multilayer films having a desired functionality, particularly biological functionality.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for automatically provisioning a virtual computing environment comprising a plurality of virtual computing nodes includes provisioning a virtual base node using base configuration information that includes a base endpoint that identifies interconnectivity parameters required to communicate with the virtual base node, and storing the base endpoint in an endpoint registry. The method further includes determining that a virtual first node depends on the virtual base node, and receiving the base endpoint from the endpoint registry. Thereafter, the virtual first node is provisioned using the received base endpoint and first configuration information for the virtual first node.

An enterprise computing environment typically includes a plurality of interconnected computing nodes, which can be physical and/or virtual nodes. Physical computing nodes, i.e., physical machines, can be clustered and/or distributed, that is, they can physically reside in a single location or be distributed in several locations, communicatively coupled to one another by a network, e.g., the Internet or a private network. Virtual computing nodes, on the other hand, represent physical machines, and many virtual nodes can typically be hosted by one physical machine. By virtualizing its computing environment, an enterprise can more efficiently manage its physical computing resources. In addition, an enterprise that owns physical machines can optimize its investment by "renting" its excess computing capacity to another enterprise which does not own physical machines.
While the virtualization of a computing environment offers numerous advantages, provisioning such an environment can present serious challenges. For instance, many enterprises require services and applications that rely on other services/applications, which, in a physical or virtual world, reside in different physical/virtual computing nodes, such as servers. Each node must be configured to support its service/application. For example, when a node hosts a web application, the node must be configured as an application server; and when a node hosts a database service, the node must be configured as a database server. Accordingly, depending on the hosted service/application, each node must be provisioned with specific parameters that support the hosted service/application.
Moreover, in most cases, the interconnectivity and dependencies between applications and services, and therefore, between different nodes, can be very complex. For example, when an application depends on a database service, the application server must be able to connect to and/or communicate with the database server. Accordingly, when provisioning such an environment, physical or virtual, each node that hosts a service that depends on another service must be configured with the correct connectivity information so that the node can communicate with the other node(s) hosting the other service.
Due to the variety of server specific configurations, and to the complexity of deployment topologies, provisioning and/or modifying such an environment, on demand or at runtime, is a very difficult and error prone task.

Provision a virtual environment based on topology of virtual nodes, node dependencies and base node configuration information


An IC socket is provided with a core block and a plurality of floating members or separating members for forming a plurality of rows each including a multitude of contact pins. For example, base sections of a plurality of first contact pins are fitted between a plurality of ribs formed on an upper surface of the core block, and base sections of a plurality of second contact pins are fitted between a plurality of ribs formed on a lower surface of the core block.. A first floating member and a second floating member are integrally displaceable in horizontal directions, and contact portions of the first contact pins and contact portions of the second contact pins are fitted respectively between a plurality of ribs formed on the first floating member and between a plurality of ribs formed on the second floating member. The IC socket is suitable for testing of IC devices having multitude of lead terminals arranged at fine pitch.

A) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an IC socket used for inspection of IC devices, such as IC packages, and specifically to an IC socket usable for inspection of IC packages having a plurality of lead terminals arranged at a fine pitch.
B) Description of Prior Art
An IC socket has a number of contact members, known as contact pins, arranged at the same pitch as that of a lead terminal array of an IC device to be tested. Each contact pin is formed to be brought into contact, at one end thereof, with a lead terminal of an IC device, while the other end of the contact pin is made to be electrically connected with a printed circuit board on which the IC socket is to be mounted. In order to assure steady contact of the IC device end of a contact pin with a lead terminal of the IC device loaded in the IC socket, there is formed a spring section between the IC-device end and the circuit-board end of the contact pin to allow the IC-device end to be movable. The contact pin usually is made to have a thickness of more than 0.1 mm, because a thinner contact pin would have difficulty in creating sufficient elastic force in the spring section. Usually, a thin division wall (hereinafter referred to as a rib) is provided near the IC-device end of each contact pin so that adjacent contact pins do not contact one another. In some cases, these ribs are integrally formed with the IC socket body out of synthetic resin. In recent years, however, a separate assembly of synthetic resin, in which a plurality of ribs are arranged, is joined to the IC socket body. Such an assembly is called a floating member, for it is reciprocated in a direction of insertion/removal of IC devices each time one IC device is replaced by another. When ribs having approximately 3 mm height are to be formed in one row, 0.2-0.3 mm is usually considered as a lower limit thickness of the ribs. There are, however, many problems to be solved in manufacturing ribs having thickness and inter-rib size less than this limit value and thus prior attempts to provide an inexpensive IC socket have been unsuccessful.
On the other hand, IC devices have been developed so as to be further integrated and further reduced in size, thus rapidly making their lead terminals arranged at more and more fine pitch. At the present stage, development of IC sockets cannot keep pace with the rapid compact-sizing of IC devices as to provide practical and inexpensive IC sockets for inspecting the IC devices. Therefore, in order to ease adaptation of an IC socket solutions have been proposed in which lead terminals, specifically those of TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) packages are extended to have otherwise unnecessary length and an arranged zigzag in two rows around four sides of the IC chip, as disclosed by Japanese Patent Preliminary Publication No. Hei 6-188339, thereby making interterminal pitch per row less fine. Such an arrangement, however, does not provide a satisfactory solution, thus TAB packages in which lead terminals are an arranged zigzag in three or four rows are under consideration.
A primary cause which prevents development of a practical and inexpensive IC socket for inspection is that it is difficult to form practical ribs to be used as mentioned above out of synthetic resin. Recent IC devices may have, at finest, the interterminal pitch of 0.2-0.25 mm, with lead terminals of 0.1-0.15 mm width, which size substantially coincides with the thickness of the contact pins of the IC socket above-mentioned. Accordingly, the airspace between adjacent lead terminals becomes 0.1-0.15 mm. Therefore, it is physically impossible to form the ribs having the above mentioned thickness so that they are accommodated in these airspaces.
To enable an IC socket to cope with the fine interterminal pitch of IC devices, two typical methods are conventionally known. According to one method, contact pins themselves are processed so that an insulating film is locally formed on one side or both sides thereof, while no member intervenes between the contact pins. According to another method, a thin metal plate of 0.6 mm thickness having a polyamide film glued on one or both surfaces thereof, is arranged between contact pins.
To apply the former method, in the first process, pieces shaped as contact pins are stamped by a press machine out of a hoop material on which an insulating film is locally formed in such a manner that the pieces are not completely cut away off the hoop material. Then a plated layer is formed without break over a predetermined portion of the pieces as contact pins by plating. In the last process, the pieces are completely cut away off the hoop material to form individual unit devices. As described above, this method involves a considerable number of manufacturing processes. Moreover, process control of this method for assuring uniform thickness over an entire contact pin is very difficult, because the insulating film is liable to bend off. On the other hand, since the latter method requires the thin minute metal plates to be fixed one by one manually, assembly costs can increase dramatically.


An RF coil assembly for an MRI system includes a resonator formed by a cylindrical shield and pairs of opposing conductive legs disposed symmetrically around a central axis and extending the axial length of the shield. Drive circuitry for each pair of opposing conductive legs includes a current balun that maintains substantially equal and opposite currents in the two conductive legs. Terminal susceptance elements are used to maintain maximum currents and minimum voltage at the midpoints of the conductive legs. Multinuclear measurements can be made simultaneously at different Larmor frequencies.

When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0) applied along the z axis of a Cartesian coordinate system, the individual magnetic moments of the spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1) which is in the x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, Mz, may be rotated, or "tipped", into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt. A NMR signal is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation signal B1 is terminated, this signal may be received and processed to form an image or produce a spectrum.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx, Gy and Gz) are employed. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received NMR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
Radio frequency antennas, or coils are used to produce the excitation field B1 and other RF magnetic fields in the subject being examined. Such coils are also used to receive the very weak NMR signals that are produced in the subject. Such coils may be so-called "whole body" coils that are large enough to produce a uniform magnetic field for a human subject or, they can be much smaller "local" coils that are designed for specific clinical applications such as head imaging, knee imaging, wrist imaging, etc. Local coils may be either volume coils or surface coils.
The most common whole body coil found in commercial MRI systems is the so-called "birdcage" coil first disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,692,705; 4,694,255; and 4,680,548. A birdcage coil has a pair of circular end rings which are bridged by a plurality (typically 8 to 24) of equi-spaced longitudinal straight segments. In a primary mode, currents in the straight segments are sinusoidally distributed which results in good B1 field uniformity across the axis of the coil. Birdcage coils are the structure of choice in horizontal field MRI systems because they produce a homogeneous magnetic B1 field in the bore of the magnet. When properly designed and constructed, they have a high SNR which enables them to pick up the small NMR signals emanating from the subject under examination.
The birdcage coil is tuned by proper selection of capacitors which are distributed along the lengths of the straight segments, distributed around each end ring or both. Matching and tuning are commonly achieved by connecting variable capacitors in an "L" configuration at the drive ports. Birdcage coils are typically driven at one, two, or more recently, four ports. Multi-port drive, where each drive source is appropriately phased, ensures uniform, circularly polarized B1 fields in the imaging volume at B0 field strengths of 1.5 T or less. Efforts to improve the tunability of birdcage coils either provide fewer capacitor adjustments that distort the homogeneity of the B1 field or provide expensive and complex tuning structures such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,271 and 6,236,206.
High field MRI, with B0 field strength of 3 T or higher, is rapidly winning acceptance in both clinical and research programs. High field MRI offers many benefits, while simultaneously presenting many research and design problems. The main benefit of high field MRI is increased signal to noise ratio (SNR). SNR increases linearly with static field strength. This increase provides significant advantages in terms of spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution. Functional MRI (fMRI) is an application of MRI that is used to analyze brain function using blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast to detect the brain's response to a specific stimulus. For accurate analysis, fMRI demands both high spatial and high temporal imaging resolution. Several studies have demonstrated the benefit of high static field strength for fMRI applications. Proton MR Spectroscopy (MRS) is used for metabolic characterization of tumors, and for monitoring treatment of epilepsy, stroke, infections, and multiple sclerosis, though this list is by no means exhaustive. Since a higher static magnetic field provides a greater absolute chemical shift, the resolution of metabolite peaks improves, leading to greater accuracy in the identification and quantification of metabolites. These benefits also apply to imaging and spectroscopy with carbon-13, whether thermal or hyperpolarized. MR microscopy is used for imaging at sub-millimeter resolution. This technique also benefits from a higher B0.
The main problem with high field imaging is B1 (RF) field inhomogeneity induced by the sample under examination. The dielectric properties of the sample are largely responsible for these effects. This phenomenon may be seen in a high dielectric phantom imaged at high field; a characteristic bright spot is seen, surrounded by dark bands. Human tissues generally have a relative permittivity ranging between 50 and 80 at 128 MHz (3 T field, proton frequency). This is compounded by the fact that the human body is inhomogeneous, unlike a typical MRI phantom. Thus, the wavelength of RF in the body at 128 MHz ranges from around 26 cm to 34 cm. These wavelengths are comparable to the dimensions of the human body; hence phase shifts occur in the body. Due to the multiple sources of B1 field in a coil (multiple conductors), these phase shifts result in interference patterns inside the body. These patterns manifest themselves on MR images. As one increases the static magnetic field above and beyond 3 T, this problem worsens. One solution to this problem is to "pre-distort" the RF B1 field in such a way as to compensate for the effects of an inhomogeneous dielectric. It is therefore desirable to design RF coils with provision for phase and amplitude control for each conductive element.
The sample under examination has conductive properties along with the dielectric properties mentioned above. As a result, stray or "parasitic" capacitance is created between the load and the conductive elements of the RF coil. For coils designed to operate at static fields of 1.5 T and below, the lumped capacitive elements used to resonate the coil at the desired Larmor frequency are fairly large compared to the stray capacitances introduced by the specimen or load. At higher B0 fields, parasitic capacitances become comparable in size to coil component capacitors. It follows that an asymmetric load placed in the coil would lead to unequal frequency shifts in the resonant loops of the coil, thereby perturbing the ideal sinusoidal current distribution and eliminating the desired "neutral point" in the center of the coil, leading to poor B1 field homogeneity. In addition, local E field "hot spots" may occur, which may cause excessive RF heating above the specific limits on specific absorption rates (SAR) for human tissue set by the FDA. This problem can be ameliorated somewhat by using coils designed around transmission line elements, which have capacitance distributed along their length, in contrast with the lumped capacitance elements used in the birdcage coil designs.
Examples of distributed capacitance coils include the original transverse electromagnetic (TEM) resonator described by Roschmann in U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,866, and the TEM volume resonator described by Vaughan in U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,247. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,247, an array of transmission line elements with adjustable, re-entrant center conductor elements are arranged on a circular perimeter so as to form a multi-mode resonant cavity structure. In practice, the device is tuned and matched such that a specific mode coincides with the Larmor frequency. Circular polarized versions of this coil are driven at two ports 90 degrees out of phase with one another, with the remaining conductive elements couple to one another by induction. The phase increment between adjacent elements is N/360 degrees, where N is the number of elements. For proper operation of the coil, all elements must be of the same impedance. In practice, it is often necessary to adjust the re-entrant center conductors of each element in order to achieve this condition.
There are a number of clinical applications where MR images are acquired at different Larmor frequencies. Hydrogen (H1) is the spin species of choice for most MR imaging applications, but other paramagnetic spin species such as phosphorus (31P), fluorine (19F), carbon (13C), sodium (23Na), helium (3He) and xenon (129Xe) are also employed. Most of these alternative spin species are of interest in MR spectroscopy, but the use of helium for imaging the lung, for example, has significant clinical potential. As indicated above, the birdcage coil is difficult to tune at more than one Larmor frequency and the substantial change in Larmor frequency required to examine these alternative spin species is not practical.
Multinuclear excitation and reception coils have been proposed. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,016 for example, two birdcage coils are formed on one cylindrical substrate, with one coil tuned to hydrogen (1H) and the other tuned to phosphorus (13P). To reduce interaction between the coils, the fields they produce are offset 90° in phase. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,681 an RF coil is described which has an adjustment end ring provided on the end of a birdcage coil, wherein the ring can be rotated to change its Larmor frequency. An important limitation of prior multinuclear coils is that they consist of multi-modal resonant structures such as birdcage or TEM volume resonators. If one of the resonant modes corresponding to the Larmor frequency of the first nucleus coincides with the fundamental resonant mode corresponding to the Larmor frequency of the second nucleus, the isolation between the two components of the multi-nuclear coil degrades, and the two components of the coil cannot be operated simultaneously. In addition, poor isolation tends to degrade efficiency for each component of the coil in question. In practice, this means that when an image of a subject is acquired at the Larmor frequency of one nucleus, a subsequent scan must be performed if an image is to be obtained at the Larmor frequency of the second nucleus. During the time interval between scans, subject motion may occur, making the co-registration of the two scans difficult. It is therefore desirable to design multi-nuclear coils wherein the component coils are not multi-modal in nature, and the component coils have good electrical isolation and nearly identical spatial profiles.

RF coil assembly for magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy systems


A hologram recording medium in which data is recorded at a high density, the input of a reference beam to an area to which data is not to be recorded of a recording layer is prevented when recording data to the hologram recording medium, and an amount of noise when reproducing the data from the hologram recording medium is reduced. The hologram recording medium includes a light velocity restriction member restricting an incidence area of a hologram recording layer, thus restricting the incidence of a reference beam onto the hologram recording layer, preventing the incidence of the reference beam onto an area to which data is not to be recorded of the hologram recording layer when recording data and reproducing the amount of noise when reproducing data.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a recording medium, and more particularly, to a hologram recording medium on which data is recorded using interference fringes of an object beam and a reference beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, rewritable optical disks including phase change optical disks and conventional optical disks have become widely used as information recording media. In order to increase the recording density of such a rewritable optical disk, the diameter of a beam spot and the distance between adjacent tracks or adjacent bits must be reduced.
Although the recording density of rewritable optical disks has increased, the recording density of an optical disk is physically limited by a diffraction limit of a beam for recording data on a surface. Accordingly, the optical disk using a three dimensional recording in which the depth direction of the disk is used has been developed to increase recording density. Such an optical disk is called a hologram recording medium.
A hologram recording medium has a large capacity due to the three dimensional recording region and can be used at high speed due to a two dimensional recording/reproducing method, and has attracted public attention as a next generation computer recording medium. The holographic recording medium uses photosensitive material, such as a photopolymer or photorefractive crystal, to record interference patterns caused by the object beam and the reference beam. For example, a hologram recording medium may be formed by inserting a recording layer formed of a photopolymer, between two sheets of glass. In order to record data on such a hologram recording medium, an object beam and a reference beam corresponding to data to be recorded are irradiated on to the hologram recording medium to form interference fringes in the photopolymer. The object beam includes data or other information. In order to reproduce data from the hologram recording medium, a reference beam is irradiated onto the interference fringes to extract optical data corresponding to the recorded data.
In addition, cube shaped and card-shaped hologram recording media have been developed. In the case of a card-shaped hologram recording medium, a recording capacity is increased by increasing the number of recording layers on which a waveguide is formed. Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 2000-4434 discloses a method of recording data on a hologram recording medium.
In a conventional method of recording data on a hologram recording medium in multiple angles by using an object beam and a reference beam, the reference beam should be incident on a recording layer of the hologram recording medium at a precise incidence angle when recording/reproducing data. Thus, an optical device, such as a mirror, should be precisely controlled, resulting in an increase in size and cost of the optical device. Accordingly, a method of recording data on a hologram recording medium by focusing an object beam on at least one small area of a recording layer and focusing a reference beam on the small area is required. In this case, the hologram recording medium includes at least one core layer, which is interposed at a portion of the recording layer having a low refractive index to waveguide a beam, an optical waveguide which has at least one diffraction grating layer disposed at an interface between the core layer and the portion of the recording layer having a low refractive index or in the core layer, and at least one recording layer disposed outside of the optical waveguide to transmit a reference beam to the optical waveguide.
However, when a diffraction beam from the core layer is used as a reference beam, the reference beam is irradiated onto an entire surface of the recording layer of the hologram recording medium. Thus, the reference beam is incident on an area of the recording layer to which data is not to be recorded and the area to which data is not to be recorded is exposed to light not used to record data thereon. In spite of the exposition to light, data may be recorded on the recording layer. But, in this case, the quality of the recorded data may deteriorate. In addition, the reference beam may be input to an optical detector, which detects a reproduction beam, and the reference beam acts as noise, thus the data cannot be precisely reproduced. In a conventional method of recording data on a hologram recording medium, a diffraction grating layer and a recording layer cannot be separated, resulting in an increase in manufacturing costs and resulting in a security problem due to the easiness reproduction of data by a third person.

Hologram recording medium, recording/reproducing apparatus and method therefor


An envelope for retreading tires includes a valve which does not require the use of wicking material or other additions between the valve and the tire tread. This is accomplished by providing grooves in the bottom surface of the base of the valve, providing a flat ring surrounding the central hole on the bottom surface of the base of the valve, and providing internal passages from the grooves to the central hole. The valve base and stem are preferably made from two pieces which are joined together.

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application 60/032,566, filed Oct. 31, 1996. The present invention relates to retreading tires, and, in particular, to an improved envelope and valve for retreading tires.
The art for retreading tires is well known. Generally, a tire carcass is provided; a vulcanizable, rubber-like material is placed on the outside of the tire carcass; and the new tread is placed on the outside of the rubber-like material. Then, wicking material is placed outside the tread; an envelope is placed surrounding the entire tire assembly; a vacuum is drawn on a valve on the envelope; and the assembly is placed inside a curing oven, where pressure and heat are applied. Then, the envelope is removed, and what remains is the retreaded tire.
There are several problems with this method. The use of wicking cloths requires the purchase of materials and requires labor to install the wicking cloths. Also, the wicking cloths often make an imprint on the tire during the curing process, resulting in the tire looking imperfect. Finally, staples and other retaining mechanisms used to hold the wicking cloths in place tend to pierce the envelope, reducing the life of the envelope and resulting in failed retreads if the hole in the envelope is not discovered before the retreading process occurs. This wastes a considerable amount of labor and materials.

Vacuum connector apparatus for retreading tires


An inkjet recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium, including a recording head, a drive circuit and a control device. The head includes an ink passage, a nozzle communicated with the passage, an actuator applying energy to ink in the passage to eject a droplet of the ink from the nozzle onto the medium. The drive circuit outputs a signal for driving the actuator to eject the ink droplet such that at least three ink droplets are ejected for printing one dot. The control device controls operation of the circuit and includes a high-temperature control portion and a low-temperature control portion. The former portion operates, in a first case where an environmental temperature is higher than a threshold, to control the circuit to output a first kind of the signal according to which a dot is formed by a number of ink droplets ejected in series and landing on the medium sequentially in the order of ejection. The latter portion operates, in a second case where the environmental temperature is not higher than the threshold, to control the circuit to output a second kind of the signal according to which a dot is formed by the same number of ink droplets as in the first case. A total ink volume of the droplets ejected according to the second kind signal is smaller than that according to the first kind signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus which includes an actuator and a nozzle, and performs recording on a recording medium by driving the actuator to eject a droplet of ink from the nozzle onto the recording medium.
2. Description of Related Art
As an inkjet recording apparatus of this kind, there is known an apparatus capable of recording a barcode. Related to such an inkjet recording apparatus, there has been proposed to reduce a size of a dot on an outline of a black area (i.e., black bar or cell) constituting a part of a barcode, compared to that of the other dots on the inner side of the outline, in order to reduce spreading of the ink forming the dot on the outline, into a white area (or white bar or cell) adjacent to the black area, in other words, in order to reduce growth of the dot into the white bar or cell. The proposed technique can be found in the following publications 1-4.
Publication 1: JP-A-2003-237059
Publication 2: JP-A-2002-292848
Publication 3: JP-A-2000-103042
Publication 4: JP-A-2003-285453
Each of the publications 1-3 teaches to print one dot on a recording medium by ejecting one ink droplet from a nozzle. More specifically, when a dot on an outline of a black area is to be printed, an ink droplet of a volume smaller than that of an ink droplet ejected in the case of printing a dot not on the outline, is ejected. According to this method, a size of one dot depends on a volume of one ink droplet. Hence, a variation in the volume of ink droplets greatly affects the shape, size and density of the dots, inviting degradation in the print quality at the outline of the black area. When the volume of an ink droplet is insufficient, the print density at the outline of the black area may become accordingly too low.
Meanwhile, the publication 4 teaches to print one dot with one ink droplet at an outline of an image, and with two or three ink droplets at the other part of the image. According to this method, the print density of the image may become insufficient at the outline.
Thus, all of the publications 1-4 set forth above fail to eliminate the possibility of degradation in the print quality at the outline of the black area.


The invention relates to methods of forming an alane-etherate complex and α-alane from the alane-etherate complex. The methods include reacting an alkyl halide with a metal alanate in a solvent including an ether. A tertiary amine may also be added to the reaction. The alane is collected after removal of the solvent and/or the tertiary amine. An electrospraying process can be used to remove the solvent.

A key limiting factor in the widespread adoption of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) based power systems is hydrogen fuel storage. The development of a viable hydrogen storage solution will have a profound impact on how consumers will power portable devices, since batteries simply cannot match demands for runtime, energy density and reliability.
Because hydrogen has poor energy content per volume (0.01 kJ/L at STP and 8.4 MJ/L for liquid hydrogen vs. 32 MJ/L for petroleum), physical transport and storage as a gas or liquid is impractical. Additionally, the compression process to achieve the pressures necessary to reach a high density is energy-intensive and doesn't solve the hazard issue. Also, the densities of compressed H2 or liquefied H2 are still below those required to reach practical fuel storage goals.
Physical means to store hydrogen include sorbents such as carbon nanotubes and foams, zeolites, metal-organic frameworks; and intermetallics such as titanium-manganese alloy 5800, complex hydrides such as metal alanates, amides, and borohydrides, and chemical hydrides such as sodium borohydride/water and ammonia borane (AB). Despite intensive and elegant work on sorbents and complex hydrides, practical systems that can store and release ≧6 wt % hydrogen at moderate temperatures are still far from realization.
Alane is an attractive candidate for solid hydrogen storage and release because it has a density of 1.48 g/cm3 and releases up to 10 weight percent hydrogen and aluminum in a single step upon heating to ≧200° C. Alane's formula is sometimes represented with the formula (AlH3)n because it is a polymeric network solid. Alane is formed as numerous polymorphs: the alpha (α), alpha prime (α′), beta (β), delta (δ), epsilon (ε), zeta (ζ), or gamma (γ) polymorphs. Each of the polymorphs has different physical properties and varying stability. The most thermally stable polymorph is α-alane, featuring aluminum atoms surrounded by six hydrogen atoms that bridge to six other aluminum atoms. The Al—H distances are all equivalent and the Al—H—Al angle is approximately 141°. While α-alane's crystals have a cubic or hexagonal morphology, α′-alane forms needlelike crystals and γ-alane forms a bundle of fused needles. Typically, the lightweight, unstable γ-alane is produced first, converting under certain conditions to the more stable rhombohedral β-alane polymorph first, then to α-alane. When trace amounts of water are present during crystallization the δ-alane and ε-alane can be formed. The ζ-alane polymorph is prepared by crystallization from di-n-propyl ether. The α′, δ, ε, and ζ polymorphs do not convert to α-alane upon heating and are less thermally stable than α-alane.
Crystalline alane has many uses including: hydrogen storage, inorganic and organic synthesis, as an ingredient in propellants and pyrotechnics, as a polymerization catalyst, and as a precursor to aluminum films and coatings. Consequently there has been considerable research carried out on the preparation of alane, since the first report of its preparation in 1942 (Stecher and Wiberg, Ber. 1942, 75, 2003). Finholt, Bond, and Schlesinger reported an improved method of synthesis of alane-diethyl etherate in 1947 which has formed the foundation for most of the reported methods for the synthesis of non-solvated crystalline alane (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1947, 69, 1199). The reaction is shown below, and the amount of ether complexed to the alane product depended on the length and temperature of the drying step of the reaction.3LiAlH4+AlCl3→4AlH3+3LiCl
Reports describing the preparation and stabilization of non-solvated crystalline alane began to appear in the patent literature in 1974 (Scruggs, U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,657, Roberts et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,082, King, U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,974, Matzek et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,819, Daniels et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,335, Roberts, U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,044, Brower et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,226, Schmidt et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,654, and Self et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,854). Removal of the residual diethyl ether ("desolvation") was effected by using higher than stoichiometric ratios of complex aluminum hydride to aluminum chloride, as well as inclusion of lithium borohydride as a "seeding" or "crystallization" agent. Several patents describe the use of sodium aluminum hydride instead of lithium aluminum hydride (Ashby et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,829,390, and Kraus et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,930). As disclosed in these patents and Brower et al. ("Brower"), "Preparation and Properties of Aluminum Hydride," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1976, 98, 2450, alane is usually synthesized by reacting aluminum trichloride (AlCl3) and metal aluminum hydride (MAlH4) in diethyl ether or diethyl ether-hydrocarbon solvent mixtures. The aluminum trichloride was dissolved in diethyl ether at −10° C. A minimum of three mole equivalents of MAlH4 was added to the aluminum trichloride solution to produce a solvated alane-ether complex and a precipitate of metal chloride (MCl, e.g. LiCl or NaCl). In order to desolvate the alane-ether complex, 0.5 to 4.0 mole equivalents of a borohydride salt, such as lithium borohydride or sodium borohydride, was mixed with the solution including the alane-ether complex. The mixture was filtered and the filtrate was diluted with toluene or benzene to provide an ether to toluene or benzene ratio of 15:85. The mixture was heated to 85° C. to 95° C. to desolvate the alane-ether complex and the diethyl ether was subsequently removed by distillation. The precipitated alane was recovered by aqueous acid quenching, filtration, and washing. Brower also discloses that the reaction is conducted in the absence of water, oxygen, and other reactive species because if water is present, the δ and ε polymorphs are undesirably formed.
The methods reported for stabilization of the reactive alane product during this time included in situ or subsequent treatment of alane with an alkyl or aryl silicol, coating the alane surface with an organic compound containing at least one phenyl group or a condensed ring structure, and washing the alane product (often with some amount of magnesium included in the preparation step) with an aqueous solution buffered at from about pH 6 to 8.
However, the large volumes of solvent required as well as the excess aluminohydride and borohydride salts used to desolvate the alane-ether complex make these syntheses of α-alane expensive. The borohydride salts also generate byproducts that require disposal. Furthermore, the alane produced by the method of Brower is typically contaminated with undesirable polymorphs and is prone to decomposition during desolvation.
Current methods for the preparation of alane are expensive because of, among other things, the high cost of the large amounts of solvent needed to prepare the stable α-alane crystalline phase. It would be desirable to reproducibly produce a high yield of α-alane using a low-cost method.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved low-cost method for the preparation of α-alane suitable for use as a solid hydrogen storage and release material. In addition, alane-etherate can be used as a reducing agent in organic synthesis and as an initiator in polymerization reactions.

Method for preparation of an alane-etherate complex and alane


A closing mechanism of a vehicle door lock apparatus includes a drive, a pivoting body, a close lever, a transmitting member, and a cancel lever. The pivoting body is driven by the drive to pivot when a fork is disposed in a half latched position. The transmitting member is displaceable between an engaging position, where the transmitting member regulates relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body, and a releasing position where the transmitting member allows relative displacement. The cancel lever pivots independently of an open lever and displaces the transmitting member to the releasing position. The close lever displaces the fork to a latched position through the pivoting of the pivoting body when the transmitting member is in the engaging position. The close lever does not contact the fork irrespective of the pivoting of the pivoting body when the transmitting member is in the releasing position.

Japanese Patent No. 5107170 discloses a known vehicle door lock apparatus that includes a base member, a fork, a pawl, an open lever, and a closing mechanism.
The base member is provided in a door and includes an entry opening configured to receive a striker fixed to a vehicle body. The fork is provided in the base member. The fork is displaceable to a latched position, where the fork locks the striker on the depth side of the entry opening, to a half latched position, where the fork locks the striker halfway in the entry opening, and to an unlatched position where the fork does not lock the striker in the entry opening. The pawl is provided in the base member. The pawl is capable of fixing or allowing the displacement of the fork. The open lever is pivotably supported about a first axis by the base member. The open lever acts on the pawl in connection with an opening operation of a door handle and allows the displacement of the fork. The closing mechanism acts on the fork when the fork is disposed in the half latched position and displaces the fork to the latched position.
More specifically, the locking mechanism includes a driving source, a pivoting body, a close lever, a transmitting member, and a cancel lever. The driving source generates a driving force. The pivoting body is pivotably supported by the base member about a second axis parallel to the first axis. When the fork is disposed in the half latched position, the pivoting body is driven by the driving source to pivot. The close lever is pivotably supported by the pivoting body about a third axis that is coaxial with the second axis. The transmitting member is provided in the pivoting body. The transmitting member is displaceable between an engaging position, where the transmitting member engages with the close lever and regulates relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body, and a releasing position where the close lever stops engaging with the close lever and allows the relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body. The cancel lever and the open lever are one (integral) member. The cancel lever pivots integrally with the open lever in connection with the opening operation of the door handle and displaces the transmitting member from the engaging position to the releasing position.
In this known vehicle door lock apparatus, when the fork is displaced from the unlatched position to the half latched position while the door is closed, the closing mechanism operates and the pivoting body is driven by the driving source to pivot. At that point, if the opening operation for the door handle is not performed, the cancel lever does not pivot and the transmitting member is disposed in the engaging position. Therefore, since the transmitting member regulates the relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body, the close lever comes into contact with the fork disposed in the half latched position through the pivoting of the pivoting body and displaces the fork to the latched position. In this way, it is possible to automatically close the door by using the known vehicle door lock apparatus.
On the other hand, when the opening operation for the door handle is performed while the closing mechanism operates to close the door and displaces the fork from the half latched position to the latched position, the cancel lever pivots in connection with the opening operation and displaces the transmitting member to the releasing position. Therefore, since the transmitting member allows the relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body, the close lever stops coming into contact with the fork irrespective of the pivoting of the pivoting body. As a result, the known vehicle door lock apparatus makes it possible to stop the operation for closing the door by the closing mechanism.


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for generating SIR estimates early in a time interval that include the benefits of interference suppression without requiring the computation of specific interference suppression elements. In particular, the present invention generates an SIR estimate for a RAKE receiver during a current time interval based on channel estimates generated based on the received signal(s). By applying an offset derived during a previous time interval to the RAKE SIR estimate, the present invention generates a second SIR estimate for a G-RAKE receiver.

The present invention generally relates to wireless receivers, and more particularly to estimating a signal quality metric, i.e., a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR), in a wireless receiver.
Receivers in wireless networks typically estimate one or more signal quality metrics to process the received data, to evaluate channel conditions, and/or to generate control signals related to current channel conditions. One signal quality metric of particular interest to wireless receivers is the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) associated with the received signals. Conventional receivers typically calculate the SIR of received signals and use the calculated SIR, for example, to generate a power control command or a channel quality indication (CQI). For example, a mobile station may transmit a power control command determined based on an estimated SIR to the base station to control the transmit power of the base station on a downlink communication channel. Similarly, a mobile station may provide the base station with a channel quality indication (CQI) based on the estimated SIR. The base station may use the CQI for link adaptation and rate control.
The accuracy of the channel feedback depends on the accuracy of the SIR estimates. In turn, the accuracy of the SIR estimates depends on the amount of time available to perform the calculation, the complexity of the receiver architecture, and/or existing architecture constraints.


Thermoformable multi-layer sheet products are manufactured by pressure laminating one or more molten polymeric films and superposed layers of glass cloth material such that the molten polymer impregnates the glass cloth layers.

Steel and aluminum are widely used to fabricate structural components of automobiles and aircraft. Although these materials offer high impact resistance and rigidity, they suffer from various shortcomings. For example, aluminum is light weight but costly. Steel has a low cost but is heavy and not corrosion resistant. Neither material is thermoformable. A need exists for a material, specifically in sheet form which is inexpensive, lightweight, corrosion resistant and thermoformable.
An apparatus for continuously fabricating lightweight structural panels is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,146. This patent teaches heating a single layer core sheet to a temperature at which it is plastically deformable and passing it through a corrugating machine. The corrugated sheet is then passed through a compression nip and is adhered to superposed sheets of other similar or identical material to produce a panel. While the corrugated panel product is useful for many applications, it does not offer the impact resistance and rigidity necessary for automotive and aircraft applications.
Methods of on-line lamination of polyester structures are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,586. Ultraviolet radiation absorbing layers are laminated to a polyester core structure. Unfortunately, these materials, while resistant to ultraviolet degradation, fail to exhibit the properties necessary for automotive door, hood and side panel applications.

Multi-layer thermoformable laminates and methods of their manufacture


A system for connecting two relatively movable structures on an aircraft, comprising: a first rigid structure attached to one of the relatively movable rigid structures; a second rigid structure attached to another of the relatively movable structures; a flexible skin connected to the first and second rigid structures; a sleeve comprising first and second end portions; a first rod comprising a first end portion attached to the first rigid structure, a second end portion slidably coupled to the first end portion of the sleeve, and an intermediate portion made of shape memory alloy; a second rod comprising a first end portion attached to the second rigid structure, a second end portion slidably coupled to the second end portion of the sleeve, and an intermediate portion made of shape memory alloy; and means for heating at least the intermediate portions of the first and second rods.

The present disclosure relates generally to aerodynamic surfaces and, more particularly, to continuous surfaces for eliminating gaps between relatively movable components of a flight vehicle.
Conventional aircraft typically include a variety of movable aerodynamic devices for controlling the pitch, yaw and roll of the aircraft and for altering the lift characteristics of the aircraft. For example, fixed wing aircraft may include ailerons mounted to the trailing edge of the wings for roll control of the aircraft. The wings may also include flaps or slats mounted to the leading edge of the wings and which may be deployed or deflected downwardly from the wings during certain phases of flight in order to maintain airflow over the wing at high angles of attack.
Flaps may be also mounted to the trailing edges of the wings to increase the amount of lift generated by the wings when the aircraft is moving through the air at relatively slow speeds. Trailing edge flaps are typically deflected downwardly during takeoff to increase lift and are then retracted during the cruise portion of a flight. The flaps may again be deflected downwardly during the approach and landing phases of the flight to reduce the landing speed of the aircraft.
Although generally effective for reducing the landing speed of an aircraft, the deflection of conventional flaps may produce several undesirable effects, Such undesirable effects may be attributed to gaps that are created between the side edges of the deployed flaps and the wings. For example, the flow of air around the relatively sharp side edges of a deflected flap may result in formation of vortices along the side edges. Such vortices may increase the aerodynamic drag of the flap, which may reduce the aerodynamic efficiency of the wing. The vortices may also cause vibration and flutter in the flap, which may have an undesirable effect on the flap actuation mechanism.
Even further, vortices that may form along the side edge of a deflected flap may generate a significant amount of noise. Although flap noise may have minimal impact when the aircraft is at high altitudes or is flying over unpopulated areas, the noise generated by deployed flaps may have a greater impact when the aircraft is near populated areas located underneath the landing pattern of an airport. In this regard, flap noise may comprise a significant portion of the overall noise generated by the aircraft during the approach and landing phases of flight when the engines are typically idling.
Continuous mold lines have been considered for use between a wing and the edge of a flap. The continuous mold line provides a continuous surface between the wing and the flap edge to reduce noise caused by air passing by a gap formed between the wing and the flap edge. Such continuous mold lines included flexible rods (made, e.g., of quartz, epoxy or composites) embedded in an elastomeric skin.
However, these continuous mold lines were employed in conjunction with relatively large actuators which bend the flexible rods and overcome the biasing force of the elastomer. For example, the actuation mechanism may comprise a rigid plunger that moves the control surface in response to an actuation force produced mechanically, electromechanically or hydraulically. The drawback to this is that such actuators are sized for the specific loads and power required to move the control surface and would need to be sized much larger to apply the force necessary to move an attached continuous surface.
Another drawback is the poor performance of elastomeric skins in cold temperatures. In low temperatures (i.e., at altitude), the elastomer can lose some flexibility and not immediately return to its original, non-deformed shape.
More recently, fiberglass strands were used in place of the flexible rods. However, the use of fiberglass strands does not overcome the large actuator and cold temperature issues.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods for employing continuous surface technology on aircraft which do not require large actuators and in which the elastomeric skins perform better in cold temperatures.

Shape memory alloy rods for actuation of continuous surfaces


A method, a computer program product and a computer-readable storage medium are disclosed for displaying signal values of a combined magnetic resonance positron emission tomography device. In at least one embodiment, the spatial correspondence of signal values, which result from a magnetic resonance measurement, and of signal values, which result from a positron emission tomography measurement, are used and the corresponding signal values are arranged in matrix form and displayed graphically as a multi-dimensional scatter plot.

Imaging methods for displaying examination objects, in particular for determining material properties, the material arrangement and expansion or suchlike are widespread in particular in terms of their medical application.
The image data of various known medical examination facilities allows for different conclusions. While x-ray-based image data allows for statements to be made about the attenuation coefficients of the imaged examination object, magnetic resonance tomography enables knowledge to be obtained about the proton density or the density of the respectively excited cores, relaxation parameters and other variables. Positron emission tomography by contrast enables functional imaging, without reaching the local resolution of the magnetic resonance tomography for instance. There is therefore the need for combined medical examination facilities, which allow for the receiving of image data from a number of examination facilities, in order ultimately to acquire fused image data. Improved information can then be derived from this fused image data for diagnosis purposes in particular than when taking just singular image data into account, in other words image data from a single examination facility.
Magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) is an imaging method, which allows for the high resolution generation of sectional images of living organisms, such as humans. The patient is positioned in a homogeneous magnetic field B0. With gradient coils, the outer magnetic field in the FOV (field of view) is modified such that a body layer is selected on the one hand and a local encoding of the generated MR signals takes place on the other hand. With the subsequent reconstruction of the MR signals for instance by way of Fourier transformation, an image of the selected layer is produced, which is used for medical diagnostics. The generation and detection of MR signals takes place with a high frequency system, which includes a transmit antenna, which radiates HF excitation pulses into the patient, and a receive antenna, which detects the emitted HF resonance signals and forwards the same for image reconstruction purposes. By selecting a suitable pulse sequence, such as a spin echo sequence or a gradient echo sequence, and the sequence parameters associated therewith, the contrast of MR images can be varied considerably depending on the diagnostic task description. The MRT images body structures and accordingly represents a structural imaging method.
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a widespread method for functional imaging. During an examination, a weak radioactive substance is administered to an examination person, the distribution of which in the organism is made visible by way of PET. As a result, biochemical and physiological functions of the organism can be mapped. Molecules are used here as radiopharmaceuticals, said molecules being marked with a radionuclide which emits the positrons. The high-energy photons produced during the annihilation of the positron with an electron in the body of the examined person, which are emitted at an angle of 180° relative to one another, are detected with a plurality of detectors arranged in an annular fashion about the examination person. Only coincidental events, which were recorded with two opposing detectors, are evaluated in each instance. The spatial distribution of the radiopharmaceutical in the inside of the body is concluded from the registered coincidental decay events and a series of sectional images is calculated. The image reconstruction can take place in such cases with a filtered back projection or an iteration method, wherein the spatial resolution generally remains inferior to the resolution of conventional computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance tomography systems.

Method for displaying signal values of a combined magnetic resonance positron emission tomography device and a correspondingly embodied magnetic resonance positron emission tomography device


An wireless terminal includes a demodulating unit which comprises an FV (fading vector) estimating unit for receiving a CPICH spread/demodulated signal to output an FV signal with a reduced noise ratio; a phase synchronization unit for multiplying a PDSCH spread/demodulated signal with a complex conjugate of the FV signal to correct the phase offset of the PDSCH I and Q signals to send the resulting PDSCH I and Q signals to a multi-level QAM amplitude synchronization detection unit and to an amplitude demodulating unit; a first-quadrant transformation unit for collecting the second to fourth quadrant signals of the phase-synchronized PDSCH I and Q signals; and a threshold value detecting unit for calculating a multi-level QAM threshold value from the first quadrant signals and the FV signals to send the threshold signal to an amplitude demodulating unit. The amplitude demodulating unit effects amplitude demodulation to output multi-level QAM demodulated signals. The threshold value detecting unit previously assumes a plural number of probabilities as to which of the levels received data belongs to and, using a plural number of the data, raises the precision of the assumed data. The threshold value is estimated, using the frequencies and differences of the respective levels, from the assumed plural threshold values.

In a multi-level QAM system, information is included in both phase and amplitude. In the multi-level QAM system, it has been thought customary to transmit a predetermined signal for phase and amplitude synchronization. In HSPDA in 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project), a synchronization signal along the phase direction is transmitted over a separate channel. However, no synchronization signal along the amplitude direction is transmitted. Moreover, the transmission power is varied with time in accordance with the operation in a base station. Thus, there arose a necessity for the mobile station to estimate a threshold value to achieve amplitude synchronization, without resorting to a preset signal. The outline of the HSPDA are now explained (see for example the following Patent Publication 1).
The HSDPA, in which a base station transmits high-speed data via a downlink network to a mobile station in a cellular system is now under investigation by 3GPP. In this HSDPA, a high speed physical downlink shared channel (HS-PDSCH) is used for transmission over downlink channel from the base station to the mobile station. This HS-PDSCH is used for data transmission from each base station to a plural number of mobile stations. Thus, the base station or a base station control device decides on a schedule for transmitting data to each of the plural mobile stations and transmits data at timings which differ from one mobile station to another. For controlling the data transmission from the base station to the mobile station, each base station sets a dedicated channel DPCH (dedicated physical channel) independently with each of the mobile stations. This DPCH is used for transmitting control information from the base station to the mobile station by a downlink signal and for transmitting control information from the mobile station to the base station by the signal in the reverse direction, that is, by an uplink signal. The control information transmitted from the base station to the mobile station includes the information on the data transmission timing to the mobile station.
In the HS-PDSCH, there is known a technique in which such a modulation system is selected and used, depending on the state of the propagation channel between the base station and the mobile station, from among plural modulation systems, such as QPSK, 16-ary QAM or 64-ary QAM, which will enable the fastest data transmission, insofar as the target bit error rate is satisfied. The information for selecting the modulation system is also transmitted from the base station to the mobile station as the control information. There are occasions wherein, for changing over the modulation mode, the receiving quality of common pilot signals, transmitted from the base station, is measured, and the measured results are transmitted as the control information from the base station to the mobile station. In the mobile station, the ratio of time spent by the mobile station on receiving data with use of the HS-PDSCH is small. However, the DPCH is persistently allocated between the mobile station and the base station, even in the data awaiting state in which data is not received, so that data transmission can be commenced in a short time when a request is made for data transmission. Thus, although each base station may have data communication with only one mobile station at the same time, a large number of mobile stations are in the data awaiting state, and set DPCH between the base station and the mobile stations.
In the data transmission which employs HS-PDSCH, if the control information transferred by DPCH is low in reliability, the occurrence of reception error in the control information received by the base station and the mobile station is increased, thereby to lower the data transmission efficiency. In the HS-PDSCH, transmission power is set larger than that of a downlink signal of each DPCH, in order to effect high-speed data transmission. Thus, if the data block is re-transmitted due to failure in transmission, the power of an interference wave of the downlink is increased appreciably, thus reducing network capacity.
As for details in the signal format of the HS-PDSCH (sub-frame structure), reference is made to publications listed below (for example, see non-patent publications 1 and 4). As for the constellation chart for 16-level QAM and the spreading of the downlink physical channel, reference is made to publications listed below (for example, see non-patent publications 2 and 5). As for the power control of HS-PDSCH, reference is made to publications listed below (for example, see non-patent publications 3 and 6). As for the structure of phase synchronization for 16-level QAM on the CPICH, reference is made to publications listed below (for example, see non-patent publication 1). The CPICH is transmitted by a specified code (for example, see non-patent publication 2).
Non-Patent Publication 1:
3GPP TS 25.211 V5.1.0. (2002 June) (3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Physical channels and mapping of transport channels onto physical channels (FDD) (Release 5)) 184.108.40.206 High Speed Physical Downlink Shared Channel (HS-PDSCH), 18.104.22.168, Common Pilot Channel (CPICH) Internet URL <http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/2002-06/Rel-5/25-series/ File name: 25211-510.zip
Non-Patent Publication 2:
3GPP TS 25.213 V5.1.0. (2002 June) (3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Spreading and modulation (FDD) (Release 5)) 5.1 Spreading, 5.2.2 Scrambling Code Internet URL <http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/2002-06/Rel-5/25-series/ File Name: 25213-510.zip>
Non-Patent Publication 3:
3GPP TS 25.214 V5.1.0. (2002 June) (3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Physical layer procedures (FDD) (Release 5)) 5.2.11 HS-PDSCH Internet URL <http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/2002-06/Rel-5/25-series/ File Name: 25214-510.zip>
Non-Patent Publication 4:
3GPP TS 25.211 V5.2.0. (2002 September) (3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Physical channels and mapping of transport channels onto physical channels (FDD) (Release 5)) 184.108.40.206 High Speed Physical Downlink Shared Channel (HS-PDSCH), Internet URL <http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/latest/Rel-5/25-series/ File Name: 25211-520.zip>
Non-Patent Publication 5:
3GPP TS 25.213 V5.2.0. (2002 September) (3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Spreading and modulation (FDD) (Release 5)) 5.1 Spreading, 5.2.2 Scrambling Code Internet URL <http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/latest/Rel-5/25-series/ File Name:25213-520.zip>
Non-Patent Publication 6:
3GPP TS 25.214 V5.2.0. (2002 September) (3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Physical layer procedures (FDD) (Release 5)) 5.2.11 HS-PDSCHS Internet URL <http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/2002-06/Rel-5/25-series/ File Name: 25214-520.zip>
Meanwhile, there is known an n-ary (multi-level) QAM decoding apparatus, as a decoding apparatus for preventing an error in data decision in decoding a wireless communication signal of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system employing a demodulation system for a multi-level QAM signal, in which frequency domain signals of the baseband Ich and Qch are Fourier-transformed, variations in the amplitude and the phase of Ich and Qch data signals are estimated, in the estimating unit for Ich and in the estimating unit for Qch, respectively, based on a pilot signal in the transformed signals, and in which the threshold values are corrected in an Ich threshold correction unit and a Qch threshold correction unit, based on the estimated results (for example, see Patent Publication 2).
Moreover, in a fading network where the transmission line is subjected to severe variations, there is known a configuration including a transmission line distortion compensation unit, which is adapted for estimating the threshold value information as needed for deciding data in a decoding unit, as a transmission line compensation system in case of managing an n-ary(multi-level) quadrature amplitude modulation system (for example, see Patent Publication 3).
Patent Publication 1
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2002-325063A (page 5)
Patent Publication 2
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2002-217862A (pages 3 and 4, FIG. 2)
Patent Publication 3
Japanese Patent Kokoku Publication No. JP-B-6-1908 (pages 2 to 4, FIG. 4)

Wireless apparatus employing multi-level QAM and method for estimating threshold value


A multi-socket guide for guiding a semiconductor package to a semiconductor package testing device includes a housing, a guiding unit disposed in the housing, the guiding unit guiding the housing to the semiconductor package testing device, and a mounting unit disposed in the housing, the mounting unit receiving the semiconductor package, wherein a size of the mounting unit corresponds to a size of a ball area of the semiconductor package.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a guide guiding a semiconductor package to a test board of a semiconductor package test device, and more particularly, to a multi-socket guide guiding a semiconductor package to a test board of a semiconductor package test device.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A semiconductor package can be tested by a semiconductor package test device including a test board therein. A guide disposed in the test device guides the semiconductor package to be properly located on the test board. However, it is inconvenient when the guide is replaced based on a shape or size of the semiconductor package to be tested.

Multi-socket guide and test device comprising the same


A circuit and method of operation for controlling block-write operations to interleaved memories is disclosed which includes first and second interleave banks of memories, each memory addressable in a normal mode in a block-write mode. Each memory has a plurality of input nodes for receiving data in a normal mode, ones of the input nodes operable to receive data in the block-write mode and other ones of said input nodes not used in the block-write mode. Coupling circuitry couples leads from an output bus to input nodes of the first bank memories which are operable to receive data in the block-write mode and to input nodes in the second bank of memories which are not used in the block-write mode.

Microprocessors intended for graphics applications must be able to move pixel information between memory bit maps as quickly as possible. In situations where many pixels must be transferred to a bit map, the transfer may be speeded up by using a block-write feature. Typically, a block-write is created by associating a color register with each VRAM, filling the color register with bits to determine the desired color value of selected portions of the VRAM, and then using both the address bits of the VRAM as well as the data bus input to the VRAM to determine the locations within the VRAM where the color represented by the value in the color register will appear. This technique does not burden the data bus with multiple copies of the same pixel value and thus increases the available memory bandwidth, again speeding up data transfers.
The simplest application where the block-write can be used to advantage is the fill, which transfers the same pixel value into a defined area of memory. Also, some forms of data expansion are well suited to the application of block-write techniques. Thus, when a bit map is stored in compressed form the 1's and 0's can represent the presence or absence of a pixel and block-writes can be used to decompress the bit map. Typically, this sort of expansion is applied to character fonts which are often stored in compressed form to save memory.
Problems arise because memory accesses must be made in regular mode and in block-write mode via the same bus and they must be consistent such that data written (or read) in one mode must be able to be read (or written) in the other mode. This problem is addressed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 898,398, referenced above and incorporated by reference herein.
Another problem occurs where interleaving banks of memories are used. An interleaved memory is one in which banks of memory are arranged such that the least bit (or bits) of the word address are used to select between the banks. For example, in a 32-bit data bus system, with two interleaved banks, the first thirty-two bits of data are contained in the first bank of memory and the next thirty-two bits of data are contained in the second bank of memory. The third 32-bits of data are contained in the first bank and the fourth 32-bits are contained in the second bank. Hence, the bank where the data is contained alternates every other word (in this example, 32-bit words are used).
One way to think of an interleaved memory is a 64-bit wide memory bank, wherein the processor can only access 32-bits of data at a time, so the data bus goes to both halves. The half actually accessed by the processor in any one cycle is determined by the least significant bit of the address.
Interleaving is generally used in graphic systems in order to make possible a higher pixel bandwidth. With two-way interleaving, 64-bits of pixel data are available every shift clock cycle. This high data rate is needed to support high resolution screens.
In block-write mode, however, the processor tries to address and control one hundred twenty-eight consecutive bits (four 32-bit words) in a single cycle. The 128-bits will be spread out between two banks, bits 0-31 and 64-95 in bank0 and 32-63 and 96-127 in bank1. At 8-bit/pixel, pixel 0 and pixel 4 are in the same memory locations within each bank, and thus cannot be controlled individually during the same cycle. If both banks are enabled to be written to, which they must be to access one hundred twenty-eight consecutive bits, then the same data will go into both banks. Control of individual pixels and different banks would thus be impossible.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a method of supporting interleaved memory banks in a block-write mode.

Apparatus and method for coupling a multi-lead output bus to interleaved memories, which are addressable in normal and block-write modes


A system and method are disclosed for determining a global position of an anatomical structure. The system utilizes a surgical navigation system and a substrate that is capable of being removably mounted to an outer surface of a user's body. The substrate includes a positional device and a sensor that is tracked by the surgical navigation system. A finger mounted structure capable of communicating with the positional device is also provided. The concatenation of a position of the sensor and a position of the finger mounted structure allows a global position of a point on the anatomical structure to be determined by a computer system.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to surgical navigation systems. More particularly, this invention relates to a substrate removably attached to a user that assists the user in determining the position of a point on an anatomical structure within a patient.
2. Background Art
The use of surgical navigation systems for assisting surgeons during surgery is quite common. Some systems are used to determine points of interest on organs or bony structures. Determining the precise location of a point on these anatomical structures has proved difficult. One typical surgical technique is to use rigid pointer devices, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,857, with surgical navigation trackers attached thereto. These conventional systems, however, have numerous problems. Present systems suffer from pointer lift-off concerns, where the tip of the pointer that should correspond to the point desired to be located on the anatomical structure has moved away from the bony structure or organ when the location is determined. Other problems arise with conventional techniques when the anatomical structure is relatively inaccessible, especially to rigid pointers that cannot bend around obstructions within the patient to reach the anatomical structure. This is especially problematic with the increased use of smaller incisions for surgical procedures. Also of great importance is the wasted time surgeons must tolerate when switching from pointers to the other surgical tools needed to operate on the patient. The present invention provides a system for determining the global position of a point on an anatomical structure that does not suffer from the same lift-off, inaccessibility, or time wasting problems of conventional techniques.

System for determining a position of a point on an object


An improved trench MOS-gated device comprises a monocrystalline semiconductor substrate on which is disposed a doped upper layer. The upper layer includes at an upper surface a plurality of heavily doped body regions having a first polarity and overlying a drain region. The upper layer further includes at its upper surface a plurality of heavily doped source regions having a second polarity opposite that of the body regions. A gate trench extends from the upper surface of the upper layer to the drain region and separates one source region from another. The trench has a floor and sidewalls comprising a layer of dielectric material and contains a conductive gate material filled to a selected level and an isolation layer of dielectric material that overlies the gate material and substantially fills the trench. The upper surface of the overlying layer of dielectric material in the trench is thus substantially coplanar with the upper surface of the upper layer. A process for forming an improved MOS-gate device provides a device whose gate trench is filled to a selected level with a conductive gate material, over which is formed an isolation dielectric layer whose upper surface is substantially coplanar with the upper surface of the upper layer of the device.

An MOS transistor that includes a trench gate structure offers important advantages over a planar transistor for high current, low voltage switching applications. In the latter configuration, constriction occurs at high current flows, an effect that places substantial constraints on the design of a transistor intended for operation under such conditions.
A trench gate of a DMOS device typically includes a trench extending from the source to the drain and having sidewalls and a floor that are each lined with a layer of thermally grown silicon dioxide. The lined trench is filled with doped polysilicon. The structure of the trench gate allows less constricted current flow and, consequently, provides lower values of specific on-resistance. Furthermore, the trench gate makes possible a decreased cell pitch in an MOS channel extending along the vertical sidewalls of the trench from the bottom of the source across the body of the transistor to the drain below. Channel density is thereby increased, which reduces the contribution of the channel to on-resistance. The structure and performance of trench DMOS transistors are discussed in Bulucea and Rossen, "Trench DMOS Transistor Technology for High-Current (100 A Range) Switching," in Solid-State Electronics, 1991, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp 493-507, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In addition to their utility in DMOS devices, trench gates are also advantageously employed in insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), MOS-controlled thyristors (MCTs), and other MOS-gated devices.
FIG. 1 schematically depicts the cross-section of a trench MOS gate device 100 of the prior art. Although FIG. 1 shows only one MOSFET, a typical device currently employed in the industry consists of an array of MOSFETs arranged in various cellular or stripe layouts.
Device 100 includes a doped (depicted as N+) substrate 101 on which is grown a doped epitaxial layer 102. Epitaxial layer 102 includes drain region 103, heavily doped (P+) body regions 104, and P-wells 105. Abutting body regions in epitaxial layer 103 are heavily doped (N+) source regions 106, which are separated from each other by a gate trench 107 that has dielectric sidewalls 108 and floor 109. Gate trench 107 is substantially filled with gate semiconductor material 110. Because the source regions 106 and gate semiconductor material 110 have to be electrically isolated for device 100 to function, they are covered by a dielectric layer 111. Contact openings 112 enable metal 113 to contact body regions 104 and source regions 106.
Contact openings 112 are formed in dielectric layer 111, which typically is a deposited layer of oxide, by conventional mask/etch techniques. The size of device 100 depends on the minimum thickness of dielectric needed for isolation (the lateral distance between a source region 106 and gate trench 107) and on the tolerance capabilities of the mask/etch procedures. The thickness of dielectric layer 111 is determined not only by the minimum required voltage isolation but also on the need to minimize source-to-gate capacitance, which affects device switching speed and switching losses. Switching losses are directly proportional to the capacitance, which is in turn inversely proportional to the dielectric thickness. Therefore there is a typical minimum thickness of about 0.5-0.8 .mu.m for dielectric layer 111 in prior art device 100.
As just noted, the required minimum thickness of dielectric layer 111 imposes limitations on the minimum size of device 100. It would be desirable to be able to reduce the size and improve the efficiency of semiconductor devices. The present invention provides these benefits.

MOS-gated device having a buried gate and process for forming same


Methods and apparatus to insert prefetch instructions based on garbage collector analysis and compiler analysis are disclosed. In an example method, one or more batches of samples associated with cache misses from a performance monitoring unit in a processor system are received. One or more samples from the one or more batches of samples based on delinquent information are selected. A performance impact indicator associated with the one or more samples is generated. Based on the performance indicator, at least one of a garbage collector analysis and a compiler analysis is initiated to identify one or more delinquent paths. Based on the at least one of the garbage collector analysis and the compiler analysis, one or more prefetch points to insert prefetch instructions are identified.

In an effort to improve and optimize performance of processor systems, many different prefetching techniques (i.e., anticipating the need for data input requests) are used to remove or "hide" latency (i.e., delay) of processor systems. In particular, prefetch algorithms (i.e., pre-execution or pre-computation) are used to prefetch data for cache misses associated with data addresses that are difficult to predict during compile time. That is, a compiler first identifies the instructions needed to generate data addresses of the cache misses, and then speculatively pre-executes those instructions.
In general, linked data structures (LDSs) are collections of software objects that are traversed using pointers found in the preceding object(s). Traversing an LDS may result in a high latency cache miss on each object in the LDS. Because an address of an object in the LDS is loaded from the preceding object before the object itself may be loaded, cache misses may be unavoidable. On the other hand, when accessing a data array structure where the address of subsequent objects may be calculated from the base of the data array structure, loops may be unrolled and techniques such as stride prefetching may be performed to avoid cache misses while iterating through the data array structure. These techniques assume that the address of subsequent objects may be calculated using the base of the data array structure. However, most LDSs do not have layout properties that may be exploited by stride prefetching techniques. Further, the gap between processor and memory speeds continues to increase. As a result, managed runtime environments (MRTEs) may encounter difficulties when attempting to insert prefetch instructions properly to reduce latencies while traversing LDSs.

Methods and apparatus to dynamically insert prefetch instructions based on compiler and garbage collector analysis