The shim of the present invention is preferably molded from plastic or the like and has a planar front surface of a width substantially equal to the width of an L-bracket and a height which is substantially equal to the height of the wood molding to which it is intended to be secured. The rear face of the shim has a pattern formed thereon which is complementary to or the negative of the shape of the face of the molding. Thus, when the shim is placed onto the molding, the planar front surface is essentially vertical. A plurality of elongated slots are formed through the shim between the front and rear surfaces thereof to accommodate mounting hardware for the L-brackets or similar hardware. Utilizing the shims of the present invention essentially guarantees that the mounting hardware for drapes or blinds or other window treatments will be properly oriented.

The present invention is directed toward a plastic molded shim and more particularly toward such a shim which is adapted to be mounted to the molding around a window or door to create a planar surface for mounting a window treatment bracket thereto.
Window treatments such as drapes or blinds or the like are commonly supported by metal brackets attached to the area of the wall around the window or door. These brackets can either be attached to the wall itself or to the molding which surrounds the door or window. Mounting the brackets to the wall is sometimes difficult since the walls may be made of plasterboard or the like which does not provide significant anchoring support for the brackets. It is, therefore, frequently desirable to secure the brackets to the wooden frames surrounding the window or door. These solid wooden frames frequently provide better anchoring security for the brackets.
As is well known in the art, however, moldings frequently used around windows or doors do not present vertical planar surfaces. Rather, they are normally decorative in nature and frequently are thicker at their outer edge away from the window or the door than at the inner edge which is adjacent the window opening. The unevenness of such molding creates a significant problem when installing the brackets or other hardware for drapes or blinds as anyone who has ever attempted to do so has undoubtedly experienced.
The primary problem with the use of decorative type window moldings results primarily from the horizontally extending molding located above the window or door. Most hardware and similar brackets used for drapes and blinds are normally in the form of a metal L-bracket which, when properly mounted and oriented, has a vertical leg and a horizontally extending leg. The vertical leg normally has a substantially planar rear vertical surface that is adapted to be secured to the wall or molding so that the horizontal surface can extend into the room for supporting the rods or tracks or the like which, in turn, support the drapes or blinds. Obviously if the L-bracket is not mounted so that its rear surface is substantially vertical, the horizontal leg of the same will be tilted and the drapes or blinds cannot be properly hung.
If the horizontal molding above a door or window is not substantially planar, there is no planar surface to which the L-bracket can be mounted. The brackets, therefore, cannot be mounted directly to the molding and in proper orientation.
Window treatment installers have, from time to time, wedged small pieces of wood or metal or the like between the lower end of the L-brackets and the molding so as to space the lower end of the bracket from the molding in order to make the same vertical. This, however, is a haphazard type of cure as the spacer can become dislodged. Furthermore, there is no guarantee of uniformity amongst the brackets and there is no way to insure that each of the multiple brackets being mounted to the molding will be in substantial alignment with the others.


The invention relates to a method for checking a compatibility of a functional module for an installation for process automation. An input specification is provided for an input interface of the functional module, the input specification indicating for an input signal all input values that the functional module respectively accepts as valid. An output specification is provided, the output specification indicating for an output signal of the functional module all output values that the functional module provides as intended when the input specification is fulfilled. Operation of the functional module on the installation is preceded by an analysis device checking whether the functional module produces, for each input signal produced on the input interface in accordance with the input specification, the output signal on an output interface in accordance with the output specification. When an output value of the output signal violates the output specification, a module error is signaled.

The invention relates to a method for checking a compatibility of a functional module that is intended for an installation for process automation. The functional module is provided for communicating with the installation via an input interface and an output interface. The functional module uses the input interface to receive at least one input signal and uses the output interface to output at least one output signal. There needs to be a check to determine whether the functional module produces output signals suitable for the installation and whether the installation can supply the functional module with correct, input signals. The invention also includes an engineering system for performing the method.
In an installation for process automation, or an automation installation for short, the regulation or control of a process can be performed on the basis of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). For a programmable logic controller to carry out the respectively required correct control steps or regulation steps, the programmable logic controller is configured or parameterized or planned by means of a control program. This control program can be provided by a functional block or multiple functional blocks. As an alternative to programmable controllers, it is also possible for dedicated control circuits to be provided.
The text below refers to a functional block and a functional circuit consistently by "functional module".
Each functional module implements a specific functionality by reading in at least one input signal that is respectively described by a temporal sequence of input values. The at least one input signal is used to compute at least one output signal, which in turn represents a respective temporal sequence of output values. By way of example, a functional module for controlling a drive for a conveyor belt can receive firstly the conveying speed and secondly the operating status of a conveyor belt connected upstream or positioned upstream in a conveying installation as input signals and adapt the conveying speed of its own conveyor belt accordingly as an output signal.
To equip an installation with suitable functional modules, there is an interest, for economic reasons, in continuing to use functional modules that have already been developed to completion and that were originally intended for other installations. In particular, it is also advantageous to be able to accept functional modules from other manufacturers, for example the manufacturer of the respective installation component to be controlled, so that one's own development work is dropped completely.
The reuse of functional modules or the use of other functional modules has been found to be a source of error for the configuration or planning of an installation. By way of example, an older functional module may have been developed on different assumptions. The described functional module for controlling the conveyor belt can, by way of example, provide a maximum speed that is lower than the actually available maximum speed for the conveyor belt that is currently to be controlled, which may have a more powerful motor, for example. Such a limitation cannot be discovered until the functional module is used in the new installation, however, and then only under extreme conditions.
Sometimes, the incorrectly configured maximum speed is not discovered until in a productive mode and can result in damage to the installation or the goods being produced.
A second source of error is the coding of the input signals and output signals, which coding can change as a result of further development of the hardware. By way of example, in an old conveyor belt system, there may be provision for stoppage of the conveyor belt to be signaled by a negative input value for the conveying speed. In a more modern conveyor belt, both a positive and a negative conveying speed may be possible, for example because the drive can move the conveyor belt in the opposite direction too. If a functional module were now to receive an input signal having negative input values, then this would result in a misinterpretation of the installation state.
Acceptance of a functional module from another manufacturer entails the additional risk that the functional module can be tested only on a random basis, since normally the actual programming, that is to say the source code, is not visible. In this case, it is necessary to rely on the information from the manufacturer. There is also then no guarantee of whether the manufacturer has also actually checked the functional module for all possible input values.

Checking a functional module of an automation installation


A laminate substrate may include a slug positioned within a cavity of a laminate core. The laminate substrate may have routing layers on either side of the laminate core, at least one of which is coplanar with an outer side of the slug. A capping layer may then be applied to the laminate substrate which is directly coupled with the slug and the routing layer. In embodiments, a dielectric layer may be coupled with the capping layer, and an additional routing layer may be coupled with the dielectric layer. Therefore, the routing layer may be an “inner” routing layer that is coplanar with, and coupled with, the slug.

In several applications, it may be useful to embed a copper slug into an existing laminate core of a laminate substrate. For example, the copper slug may act as a heat sink for the laminate substrate, or provide other thermal advantages to the user or manufacturer of the laminate substrate. In addition, the copper slug may act as an electrical conductor to carry electrical signals from one side of the laminate substrate to the other.
However, in many embodiments the addition of the thermal slug may have one or more electrical disadvantages. Specifically, the addition of the copper slug to the laminate substrate may increase the signal pathway of one or more signals being routed through the laminate substrate. In these embodiments, the increased signal pathway may lead to an increased inductance, which may decrease the electrical performance of the electronic component built with the laminate substrate.


The main object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing an EL element for realizing the high luminous efficiency, the high light takeout efficiency, the simplicity of the production process, and the formation of highly fine patterns. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for producing an EL element wherein at least one organic EL layer constituting the EL element is patterned by the use of a photolithography method.

The present invention relates to a method for producing an electroluminescent element (may be referred to as an abbreviation of EL) in which a pattern is formed.
EL elements attract attention as spontaneously emitting flat panel display elements in which positive holes and electrons, which have been poured into from opposed electrodes, are combined in a luminous layer to generate energy, and the energy excites fluorescent material in luminous layer to emit light of a color corresponding to the fluorescent material. Among them, an organic thin film EL display using an organic material as a luminescent material has such a high luminous efficiency that high intensity luminescence can be realized even if applied voltage is a little less than 10 V, is possible to emit light with a simple element structure, and is expected to be applied to low-cost simple expression displays such as advertisements and the like in which specific patterns are emitted and displayed.
In the production of a display using such an EL element, patterning on an electrode layer and an organic EL layer is usually put into practice. Methods of EL element patterning include a vapor deposition method of a luminescent material via a shadow mask, a method of separately painting through inkjet, a method of destroying specific luminescent pigment through ultraviolet irradiation, a screen printing method, and others. However, these methods could not provide an EL element being possible to realize all of the high luminous efficiency, the high light takeout efficiency, the simplicity of the production process, and the formation of highly fine patterns.
The present invention has been achieved in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is a main object of this invention to provide a method for producing an EL element for realizing the high luminous efficiency, the high light takeout efficiency, the simplicity of the production process, and the formation of highly fine patterns.


Disclosed is an uncoated facestock product having enhanced printability, holdout, and edge wick properties, which are attained through a combination of manufacturing techniques including increased refining of the furnish, sizing, increased hard nip calendering, and the use of extended nip calendering. The resulting uncoated facestock product has the following properties: a density between about 0.7 and 1.0 g/cc and/or an ash content of less than about 15% as measured by the 525° C. standard test method; and a finished surface having a Sheffield smoothness between about 50 and 150 Sheffield units and a Parker Print Surf roughness (PPS-10) less than about 5.0 microns.

There is a need in the marketplace to replace coated facestock with uncoated facestock for use in adhesive-backed labels. A driving force behind this need is to cut the high cost associated with the purchase, application, and handling of the coatings that are used to coat such facestock materials.
Requirements that must be met by an uncoated facestock before it can be used to replace certain coated facestocks include obtaining a surface having good flexographic printing, adequate UV adhesive holdout, and minimum edge wick.
In order to attain the micro-smoothness required for good flexographic plate contact and ink transfer, conventional papermaking processes tend to compress the sheet, sacrificing bulk, stiffness and converting performance. Since facestock generally requires only one side to be finished (e.g. for subsequent printing and/or over-laminating), a process which could preferentially treat one surface would be desirable.
Temperature gradient calendering is a known process where the surface of the paper is heated to a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the cellulose in the nip while the bulk temperature of the sheet is substantially cooler. This process enables smoothness development with reduced bulk loss compared to conventional hard-nip (machine calendering) or hot-soft calendering. In addition, surface moisturization can also be used to lower the glass transition temperature preferentially closer to the surface to develop smoothness with minimum bulk loss.
Hot-soft calendering, another method of calendering that is commonly used for coated substrates, also relies on the temperature gradient calendering concept, but the web that is being pressed against a hot surface in a nip is supported by a roll that has a deformable cover. This cover gives the paper a longer dwell time in the nip compared to hard nip calendering and also allows the smoothness and gloss development to occur at relatively uniform density across the width of the paper. Soft calendering is an expensive option for existing machines and has limitations, such as cover delamination and cracking due to overheating.
Extended nip calendering extends the soft calendering concept to longer nip widths and reduces the operational problems. One type of extended nip calendering uses an endless band/belt over a backing roll to provide support for a paper web that is pressed against a heated cylinder. Another variation to this concept is to use a shoe instead of a roll as a backing for the paper web. The backing shoe provides longer nip widths, hence an increase in dwell time and a decrease in peak nip pressure. Use of extended nip calendering has provided substantial benefits for the manufacture of certain paper products such as envelope paper (reference U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,953).
Based on the high cost of coating conventional coated facestock, there is clearly a need in the market for uncoated facestock materials that have suitable or improved performance in comparison to conventional coated facestock.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Uncoated facestock for adhesive-backed labels


The present invention provides a shipping unit comprising more than one flexible pouch (15) and a secondary package (20). Each flexible pouch is filled with a granular laundry detergent. The secondary package contains the filled pouches of the shipping unit and keeps the filled pouches together in the shipping unit. The secondary package is in a closed position such to prevent the exit of any of the filled pouches prior to opening of the shipping unit. The secondary package is flexible and non-resistant to compression force when the shipping unit is stacked with other shipping units in an assembly, and the granular laundry detergent contained in each flexible pouch has a cake strength of less than or equal to 200 g/cm.sup.2. This shipping unit is able to carry the load of other stacked shipping units to form an assembly in form of a pallet.

A great variety of packages have been described which are suitable for packaging granular or liquid detergent. A constant preoccupation of detergent manufacturers is to provide packaged goods which are convenient to handle and in particular to store. This requirement includes the possibility to stack packages so that minimum ground space is required.
Granular laundry detergents are known to be packed into flexible pouches. The flexible pouches are such that they are not able to carry any load in an assembly when single or grouped flexible pouches are stacked one over another in the assembly during storing and transportation of the flexible pouches. The load of the stacked assembly is immediately transferred to the contained detergent. It has now been found that certain type of packaged granular or powdered detergents are not able to carry the load and sustain the weight of other packaged granular or powdered detergent when the packaged detegents are stacked in an assembly. Indeed, it is known that certain types of granular detergent "cakes". To "cake" means in the following that the granular or powdered detergent sticks or aggregates together forming lumps when put under a compression force, like a top load. The caking may be such that the detergent aggregates into one insoluble block. The "caking" of a detergent may adversely affect the washing properties of the detergent itself.
The so called "cake strength" is a measure of the caking of a granular or powdered detergent. The "cake strength" is defined to be the force needed to disaggregate a caked detergent. This means that a lower cake strength results in less caking of the detergent. For example, a cake strength of 0 g/cm.sup.2 means that the detergent does not cake. The cake strength of a granular or powdered detergent varies with the composition or manufacturing method of the detergent itself. Therefore, especially when the pouches are filled with granular or powdered detergent susceptible to caking, it is important to take care that the weight or load from the stacked assembly is not carried by the detergent.
To avoid caking of the granular or powdered detergent, the filled flexible pouches are usually combined into a shipping unit which is formed by a high strength outer case. This outer case is able to support the stacking of several shipping units in an assembly. This also means that only the outer case and not the filled pouches combined into these outer cases carry the weight or support the compression force from the stacked assembly. This is certainly one way to avoid caking of the granular or powdered detergent. However, the manufacturing cost of such a packaging assembly is relatively high. Furthermore, the use of the above mentioned outer cases increases the waste packaging materials. Indeed, the outer cases are usually not reusable after the storing and transportation of the flexible pouches. Therefore, the manufacturers of detergent compositions are in need to reduce the costs of the packaging and to reduce the waste packaging materials necessary for handling, storing and transportation of detergent filled in flexible pouches.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a shipping unit of flexible pouches, the flexible pouches being filled with granular or powdered detergent less susceptible to caking when stacking other flexible pouches one over another, and without the need to combine these filled, flexible pouches into outer cases which carry the compression force from the stacked assembly.


A method for balancing vibrations in a rotating machine is provided. The rotating machine has a first and a second plane of imbalance. The method includes determining a first set of solution mass vectors that includes a first solution mass vector for the first plane and a first solution mass vector for the second plane. Each first solution mass vector includes a mass and a phase angle. A first phase difference between a phase angle of the first solution mass vector for the first plane and a phase angle for the first solution mass vector for the second plane is calculated. The first phase difference is compared to a pre-selected value. If the first phase difference is less than the pre-selected value, the first set of solution mass vectors is retained. The first set of solution mass vectors is then incremented to create a second set of solution mass vectors that includes a second solution mass vector for the first plane and a second solution mass vector for the second plane. A second phase difference between a phase angle of the second solution mass vector for the first plane and a phase angle for the second solution mass vector for the second plane is then compared to the pre-selected value. If the second phase difference is less than the pre-selected value, the second set of solution mass vectors is retained. Finally, selected retained solution mass vectors are determined that balance the rotating machine such that vibration of the rotating machine is reduced.

Aircraft employing turbo-machines enjoy higher performance than similar aircraft not equipped with turbo-machinery. For instance, turbojets provide significantly higher thrust at higher speeds and altitudes than the prior art engines. Modern turbojets include a compressor disc mounted on a shaft toward the forward end of the jet engine. The shaft also carries a turbine disc mounted on the aft end of the shaft. In operation, the compressor compresses rarified air drawn into the engine. Then, within a fuel mixing region of the engine, fuel nozzles inject fuel into the compressed air whereupon an igniter causes the air/fuel mixture to burn.
The now hot, and compressed, combustion gases flow through the turbine thereby forcibly turning the turbine and the shaft. In turn, the shaft turns the compressor thereby compressing more air. The partially expanded exhaust gases then escape via a converging exit nozzle to propel the aircraft forward. Because of the higher pressures and temperatures achieved via the compression of the air, the turbojet enjoys higher thrust than an engine without the turbine/compressor combination.
Many other turbo-machines enjoy similar advantages for similar reasons. However, turbo-machines are prone to vibration from the rotating parts (e.g. the compressor and turbine discs of a turbojet). The vibration arises because often the center of mass of each disc rotating assembly may be slightly displaced from the center of rotation. Moreover, the shaft may also suffer from slight misalignment and center of mass offsets too.
Thus, when the turbo-machine rotates, these imbalances cause the individual components (the compressor, the turbine, and the shaft) to vibrate. Differences between the levels of vibration of each part may aggravate the resulting movement of the machine. The vibration is typically transmitted through the aircraft structure generating corresponding noise and vibration in the cabin of the aircraft. Such vibration and noise often cause passenger and crew discomfort. Thus, a need exists to minimize the vibration and noise within the aircraft cabin causes by such engine vibrations.
Many other types of turbo-machines, beyond the turbojet engine discussed above, can suffer from the above described drawbacks. Therefore, it should be understood that references herein to turbo-machines includes any machine in which at least two parts rotate about a common shaft. Non-limiting examples of such rotating machinery include steam turbines, gas compressors, fluid pumps, gear trains, and turbochargers. Accordingly, a need exists to minimize the vibration and vibration induced movement generated by rotating machinery.


In a broad aspect, the invention relates to an improved downstop seal for use with a rod-piston actuator of a surface controlled subsurface safety valve, wherein the rod-piston actuator has a beveled shoulder formed thereon. The improved downstop seal has a resilient, primary, sealing member having a beveled sealing surface to matingly engage with a portion of the beveled shoulder of the rod-piston actuator; and further has a non-resilient, secondary, sealing member having a beveled sealing surface to matingly engage with a portion of the beveled shoulder of the rod-piston actuator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a combination resilient and non-resilient downstop seal for use within a surface controlled subsurface safety valve.
2. Description of the Related Art
Subsurface safety valves are commonly used in wells to prevent uncontrolled fluid flow through the well in the event of an emergency, such as to prevent a well blowout. Conventional safety valves use a flapper, which is biased by a spring to a normally closed position, but is retained in an open position by the application of hydraulic fluid operating on a rod piston connected to the flapper valve from the earth's surface. A typical surface controlled subsurface safety valve ("SCSSV") is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,219, which is commonly assigned hereto.
Previous subsurface safety valves typically incorporate either a non-resilient seal such as a metal-to-metal seal or some type of resilient, or yieldable, seal such as an elastomeric or a non-elastomeric, plastic, seal to seal the rod piston actuator within the hydraulic actuation chamber when the subsurface safety valve is in an open position. Elastomeric seals have proven to be undesirable in certain applications wherein dissolved gases may be introduced into the elastomeric seals, which can cause an explosive decompression of the elastomeric seal from a sudden release of pressure upon opening of the safety valve, thus destroying the elastomeric seal during operation. Non-resilient metal-to-metal seals have proven to be generally reliable, although they may not provide a suitable seal in certain applications, and may permit some fluid to pass through the seal, particularly when debris is introduced into the seal creating a leak path, thus causing some leakage to occur. Non-elastomeric seals will generally provide a sufficient seal, but they may be less reliable than metal-to-metal seals in particular applications.
The necessary selection between the use of metal-to-metal seals and resilient, or yieldable, seals have not previously provided an adequate sealing solution for existing SCSSV downstops. Accordingly, there has developed a need to provide a combination non-resilient and resilient, sealing assembly to provide the benefits of both a non-resilient seal and a resilient seal in a single sealing assembly. The present invention has been contemplated to meet this need.

Surface controlled subsurface safety valve downstop seal


An electronic device, such as a sample-and-hold circuit, includes a field effect transistor (FET), a capacitor, and a voltage offset circuit. The FET is configured to receive a signal at a first terminal thereof and selectively provide the signal to a second terminal thereof responsive to a switching signal at a gate terminal thereof. The capacitor is electrically connected to the second terminal of the FET. The voltage offset circuit is electrically connected to the first terminal and the gate terminal of the FET. The voltage offset circuit is configured to maintain a substantially constant voltage differential between the first terminal and the gate terminal of the FET while the signal is provided to the second terminal of the FET and substantially independent of a voltage level of an input signal. Related methods of operation are also discussed.

A track-and-hold circuit, or sample-and-hold circuit, is a type of circuit that may typically be used in a front end of an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter to sample a continuously varying signal in discrete time intervals. A conventional track-and-hold circuit may typically include a switch and a capacitor. As such, a conventional track-and-hold circuit may exhibit considerable channel charge injection and/or variation in channel conductance, both of which may be dependent on the gate-source voltage and/or the threshold voltage of the switch in the track-and-hold circuit.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional track-and-hold circuit. Referring to FIG. 1, a n-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor 20 functioning as a switch includes a gate terminal to which a pulse signal VP having a given period is applied, a source terminal to which an analog input signal VIN is applied, and a drain terminal coupled to a hold capacitor CH. The track-and-hold circuit may function in a track mode operation and a hold mode operation. In track mode operation, the NMOS transistor 20 is turned on in response to applying the pulse signal VP at a logic 'high' level, and the hold capacitor CH is electrically charged. In hold mode operation, the NMOS transistor 20 is turned off in response to applying the pulse signal VP at a logic 'low' level, and the hold capacitor CH holds the stored electric charges.
When the NMOS transistor 20 transitions from a turned-on (i.e., conducting) state to a turned-off (i.e., non-conducting) state, electric charges, which may be deposited in a channel region under the gate of the NMOS transistor 20, may be released either to the input voltage terminal or to the hold capacitor CH, with equal likelihood. As such, about a half of the released charges may be transferred to the hold capacitor CH. The formula (½)×(COX×W×L)×(Vgs−Vth) may be used to describe the charges transferred to the hold capacitor CH, where COX denotes capacitance per unit area of a gate oxide layer, W denotes a width of the gate, L denotes a length of the gate, Vgs denotes a voltage between the gate terminal and the source terminal, and Vth denotes the threshold voltage of the NMOS transistor 20.
A channel voltage Vch across the channel of the NMOS transistor 20 may be represented by:Vch=−((COX×W×L)/(2×Chold))×(Vgs−Vth)  Equation 1
wherein Chold denotes a capacitance of the hold capacitor CH.
When the input signal VIN is a sine wave Asin(ωt), the gate-source voltage Vgs may be represented by the formula Vgs=VP−Asin(ωt), wherein A denotes a voltage amplitude of the input signal VIN. A change in the gate-source voltage ΔVgs may be represented by:ΔVgs=A sin(ωt)  Equation 2
The threshold voltage Vth may be represented by:Vth=Vtho+Γ×[(2φF+VSB)1/2−(2φF)1/2]  Equation 3
wherein Vtho denotes an initial threshold voltage, φF denotes a work function, VSB denotes a voltage between the source and a body of the transistor, and Γ denotes (2qεSNSUB)1/2/COX, wherein q denotes an amount of electric charge of an electron, εS denotes a permittivity of silicon, and NSUB denotes a doping concentration of a substrate (or the body).
A change in the threshold voltage ΔVgs may be represented by:ΔVth=Γ×[A sin(ωt)]1/2  Equation 4
Referring to equations 1, 2 and 4, a maximum change in voltage ΔVch,var for the channel voltage Vch, based on the charge injection, may be represented by:ΔVch,var=[(COX×W×L)/(2×Chold)]×[A+Γ×A1/2]  Equation 5
Accordingly, as the gate-source voltage Vgs and the threshold voltage Vth vary in response to the input signal VIN, the maximum change in the channel voltage ΔVch,var may be varied based on the input signal VIN.
When an NMOS transistor operates in the linear region, a drain current id of the NMOS transistor can be represented by the formula id=Kn/2[2(Vgs−Vth)Vds−Vds2], and a channel conductance Gds can be represented by the formula Gds=(∂id/∂vds)≈Kn×(Vgs−Vth), wherein vds denotes a voltage between the drain and the source, Kn denotes μ×COX×W/L and μ denotes an electron mobility. A maximum change in conductance ΔGds,var of the channel conductance Gds may be represented by:ΔGds,var=Kn×[A+Γ×A1/2]  Equation 6
Accordingly, the maximum change in channel conductance ΔGds,var, as well as the maximum change in channel conductance ΔVch,var may be varied depending on the input signal VIN, as the gate-source voltage Vgs and the threshold voltage Vth may vary in response to the input signal VIN.

Sample-and-hold circuits having reduced channel conductance variation and methods of operation thereof


An optical communication network includes at least one single-mode fiber, referred to as a "primary fiber," for transmission between a central office and a distribution node, and at least one multiplicity of single-mode fibers, referred to as "distribution fibers," for transmission between the distribution node and a multiplicity of optical network units (ONUs). Transmissions are exchanged between the primary and distribution fibers via at least one optical coupler located at the distribution node. The network is passive in the sense that all monitoring of the transmission media and the ONUs can be performed at the central office, without active intervention at remote locations. The network includes a monitor and a multiplicity of bypass lines by means of which at least a portion of inbound signals from the distribution fibers are transmitted to the monitor without passing through the optical coupler at the distribution node.

In a passive optical communication network, signals from a central office are transmitted through one or more coupling elements to as many as 64 optical network unit (ONU) receivers. Conventional monitoring techniques cannot readily be used to identify faults on individual fibers since the inputs and outputs from each ONU distribution fiber are conventionally multiplexed onto the same feeder fiber going to the central office. Optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) has, in fact, been used to locate anomalous losses in passive optical networks. However, means have been generally unavailable for identifying features in the received OTDR signals with particular distribution fibers with adequate specificity. Moreover, coupling losses in conventional networks have reduced the sensitivity of OTDR techniques, placing large demands on the power of OTDR laser transmitters.

Passive optical communication network with broadband upgrade


An apparatus and method for balancing a disk are described. A balance ring may be a circular band for placement along the inner diameter of a disk. On the outer diameter of the balance ring, one or more clamp structures may extend outward to attach the balance ring to the inner diameter of a disk. The inner diameter of the balance ring may have a number of protuberances that, when trimmed, establish a new rotational center of the disk/balance ring coincident with the mass center. The disk and balancing ring may be mounted on a disk balancing system to determine a mass center and trim the protuberances, accordingly, to establish adjust the rotational center of the disk/balance ring to be coincident with the mass center. The protuberances may be trimmed using, for example, laser energy.

A disk drive system typically consists of one or more magnetic recording disks and control mechanisms for storing data within approximately circular tracks on a disk. A disk is composed of a substrate and one or more layers deposited on the substrate. In most systems, an aluminum substrate is used. However, alternative substrate materials such as glass have various performance benefits such that it may be desirable to use a glass substrate.
To produce a substrate from a blank sheet of a brittle material such as glass, the material may be scribed to generate a substrate having an inner diameter (ID) and an outer diameter (OD). One method of generating a disk substrate is to laser scribe a controlled shape, such as a circle, into one surface (the scribe side) of a glass sheet to generate the ID and OD contours of the disk substrate. A fine crack is propagated along the contours during the laser scribing. After scribing, the disk-shaped substrate may be removed from the excess bulk material of the sheet by breaking the material along the scribed contours.
Because of the radial deviation of the scribe, the non-scribed side of the substrate may have a poorly defined diameter. The ID may result in inwardly or outwardly protruding spurs, as illustrated FIG. 1A, and sloping side walls. Spurs on the surface of the disk substrate adjacent the ID may be generated when the glass is fractured to remove the disk from excess bulk material. Also, the scribe lines have a tendency to overlap resulting in imperfections to the disk substrate. The radial deviation of the laser scribe may also result in a substrate having a non-circular ID, as illustrated in FIG. 1B. The ID imperfections may be especially problematic because the ID is mounted onto the spindle of the disk drive.
Such disk substrate imperfections may result in a disk substrate that is not mass-balanced, as illustrated in FIG. 1C. The mass center may be at point A, while the rotational center (substantially the ID geometric center at which the disk rotates when mounted) may be at point B. A disk having this type of substrate may encounter balancing problems when rotated on the spindle of a disk drive system. In order to ensure proper rotation of a disk on a spindle, the mass center of a substrate should be located at the rotational center at which the substrate rotates. Thus, a mass balanced disk is one in which the mass center of the disk equates to the rotational center of the disk. A mass balanced disk is functionally important, because newer disk drive systems require higher rotational speeds. A high rotational speed of an unbalanced disk may lead to poor performance or disk failure. In addition, proper balancing is also necessary to achieve high track density by enabling the read/write head to accurately follow data tracks on a disk.
Another problem of disk substrate scribing results from the ID having a greater size than the drive spindle in order to fit properly over the disk drive spindle. A gap between the ID of the disk and the spindle diameter is present, as illustrated in FIG. 2, causing the disk to be located eccentrically on the drive hub. It should be noted that off angle illustration of the disk in relation to the spindle is not meant to imply a loss of planarity but, rather, to highlight the gap between the disk ID and the spindle hub. The gap results in an offset between the disk's rotational center and the spindle's rotation center. If the ID were scribed to fit exactly around the spindle, the disk would most likely be in balance. However, because of manufacturing limitations, such precision may not be practical.
Although disks that are not mass balanced during manufacturing could be corrected in post-production steps, current methods to correct disk imbalance may be costly and time consuming. Additionally, in multiple disk systems, mass balancing may be even more complex and costly compared to single disk systems.


A gift card holder includes a two-leaf sliding panel mounted within a box that frames an image or object. In a first position, the panel covers the image or object within the box. In a second position, when the panel is partially drawn upward, the interior of the box is revealed. In a third position, when the panel is drawn completely upward, the two leaves of the panel open to reveal a gift card secured between the leaves.

This invention relates generally to gift card holders and more particularly to a device for holding a gift card or gift card packet while providing graphical and mechanical enhancements to entertain the gift card recipient and add value to the gift, namely a two leaf sliding panel for holding a gift card, the panel being mounted in a box so that in a first position the panel covers an image or object within the box and in a second position, as drawn upward, reveals the interior of the box, and in a third position, when drawn completely upward, opens to reveal a gift card secured between the leaves.
Transaction cards, stored value cards, or gift cards, as they are commonly called based upon their intended use, have become popular gifts. Gift cards typically comprise a stored value card whereby a certain cash equivalent value is encoded upon a magnetic strip applied to the surface of the card. This stored value may be determined by the vendor prior to packaging and display for sale or may be selected at the point of sale by the purchaser and loaded by the cashier using a magnetic card reader/writer. While popular, gift cards are typically provided with a generic and impersonal design, typically identifying the associated merchant for which the card may be used to purchase merchandise, and therefore are not personalized in view of the intended recipient.
What is needed, therefore, is a gift card holder that provides graphical and mechanical enhancements to entertain the gift card recipient and add value to the gift, and that causes, in a single fluid motion, both an image (or object) within a box and a gift card to be revealed nearly simultaneously though they are in distal locations on the holder.


A tampering verification system and method for financial institution certificates are based on blockchain and verify whether one of the financial institution certificates has been tampered with by comparing the contents of the financial institution certificate at the point of first being generated by a financial institution and at the point of client issue.

As financial transaction methods and channels diversify and information related to financial transactions are used in various fields, numerous certificates like a certificate of deposit balance, a debt certificate, a bank guarantee, a transaction history, a financial information statement, a letter of credit, etc. are frequently issued from financial institutions.
However, clients have to go to an actual place and request the certificates, which is cumbersome and time-consuming.
A conventional electronic certificate issuing system (patent 1) to resolve this problem is comprised of a means of receiving information on a requested certificate including a type, a purpose, a client, a means of extracting at least one piece of certificate information corresponding to the information on the requested certificate from a certain ledger or a database, a means of creating and storing an electronic document including the certificate information in an electronic document vault, and a means of issuing the certificate by transmitting the electronic certificate stored in the vault to a terminal.
Using this system, the client may receive the certificates in real-time using the terminal at a remote place without physical access to a financial institution.
In general, a seal, an embossed seal, or a stamp, etc. of a financial institution's head officer is used to prove that an issued certificate is not forged.
Clearly, the conventional electronic certificate issuing system cannot provide an official seal like the seal, the embossed seal, or the stamp, etc. that can determine whether the issued certificate is authentic or forged.
However, this problem was resolved by a document issuing and authenticating system utilizing a conventional watermarking technology (patent 2).
In detail, the document issuing and authenticating system utilizing the conventional watermarking technology offers services that can issue an online certificate with an embedded watermark, and an institution or a company verifies integrity and authenticity of the online certificate submitted from a customer by extracting the watermark embedded in the certificate using a watermark extracting algorithm.
However, in case of the document issuing and authenticating system utilizing the conventional watermarking technology, forgery of documents is determined only by a fact whether the watermark is embedded into the certificate. Therefore, if the watermark is embedded after the issued certificate is forged, then this forged certificate is recognized as an authentic certificate. In turn, this poses a problem that renders the system useless.
Such a problem of the certificate being verified as authentic when the watermark is embedded after the forgery, is resolved by a patent No. 3 in which a method for verifying financial institution certificate based on a blockchain and the system using the same is provided.
That is, the conventional method for verifying financial institution certificate based on the blockchain and the system using the same has an effect of accurately verifying authenticity of the certificate issued from the financial institution by comparing the certificate for client initially issued from the financial institution and the certificate re-issued later at the request of the client, without regard to whether its watermark is verified or not.
Despite these advantages, the conventional financial certificate verification method based on the blockchain and the system using the same requires an initial cost of issuance for storing and managing of the certificate for client in the blockchain nodes.
The initial cost is about 0.0001 bitcoin, and as of July 2014, 0.0001 bitcoin amounts to about mere 4 cents, however, this cost is charged every time the certificate for the client is stored in the blockchain, thus this becomes a problem as the cost of the issuance increases in proportion to the increase of the number (quantity expressed as a cardinal number) of certificates for the client.
Additionally, the conventional certificate verification method and the system using the same registers, stores, and manages the certificate for the client in more than 0.1 million blockchain nodes to prevent forgery.
That is, the broadcast of the transaction information including the certificate for client is defined by a protocol, and if the transaction information including the public key occurs, one node, i.e., a blockchain node, broadcasts initial transaction information including the public key to eight designated nodes, then each of the eight designated nodes that received the information broadcasts again to another eight designated nodes in a pyramidic fashion, and the broadcast is completed when the information is transmitted to all of the blockchain nodes which have the digital wallets containing the blockchain required for bitcoin transfer.
Thus, the conventional certificate verification method based on the blockchain and the system using the same has a problem of network overload due to heavy traffic of transaction information including the certificate for the client when requests for registration of certificates are flooding in.

Tampering verification system and method for financial institution certificates based on blockchain


An adhesive pattern for a label system is disclosed. The adhesive pattern includes a label sheet having a plurality of non-adhesive sections, and a plurality of adhesive sections connected to the non-adhesive sections. The non-adhesive sections and the adhesive sections are in alternate arrangement to form the label sheet. The label sheet also includes a plurality of labels having a first end and a second end, and the first end is attached to a non-adhesive section. Upon removal of the label from a non-adhesive section, the label has a non-sticking surface.

The present invention is directed to an adhesive pattern for a label system, and more particularly, to an adhesive pattern for labeling faceplates, surface mount boxes, patch panels and marker ties.
Adhesive patterns for labeling a 24-port or 48-port installation with one sheet have been utilized in the telecommunications industry. For example, Hellermann Tyton's 606Basic Plus package utilizes different label sizes on one sheet to label a 24-port or 48-port installation. Moreover, adhesive label sheets having only one size label placed thereon are also known. However, none of the prior label sheets have utilized the same adhesive pattern on sheets of one-port, two-port, three-port, four-port and six-port labels, each sheet having only one label size, as well as on sheets having a combination of different label sizes.


A relay, a terminal, and a communication method of the same are provided. The terminal acting as a relay receives a message including scan duration information from a superordinate HR-BS, and the terminal transmits a message including the scan duration information to a subordinate HR-MS. The terminal receives an A-preamble from the superordinate HR-BS according to the scan duration information.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication method of a relay, a terminal, and a communication method of the terminal.
(b) Description of the Related Art
When a disaster or a calamity occurs, an important social infrastructure may be destroyed or damaged. Various communication facilities such as a wireless phone, a wired phone, and an Internet network are part of the important social infrastructure, and when such communication facilities are destroyed or damaged, social congestion increases and security of society recovery may be difficult.
Therefore, even in such a situation, a high reliability support that provides a method that can quickly restore or replace a communication facility is important.
Particularly, as a base station that performs a central function of communication using a mobile terminal is damaged or as a power line is destroyed, when the base station does not perform a function thereof, a service unavailable area may occur.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a means that can provide a wireless communication service in a service unavailable area due to damage of a base station.

Communication method of relay, terminal, and communication method of the terminal

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION, CHOSUN UNIVERSITY


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that uses a portable security token (PST) to facilitate cross-certification between a first certification authority (CA) and a second CA, wherein the first CA and associated subscriber devices constitute a first public-key infrastructure (PKI) domain, and wherein the second CA and associated subscriber devices constitute a second PKI domain. During operation, the system uses the PST to transfer certification information between the first CA and the second CA, wherein the PST communicates with the first CA and the second CA through a location-limited communication channel. Next, the system uses the certification information to issue a cross-certificate to the first CA. Note that the cross-certificate is signed by the second CA. Finally, the system propagates the cross-certificate from the first CA to the associated subscriber devices in the first PKI domain, thereby allowing the associated subscriber devices in the first PKI domain to authenticate themselves to the devices in the second PKI domain.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanisms for providing security in networked computing systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus that uses a portable security token (PST) to facilitate cross-certification between certification authorities (CAs) associated with separate public-key infrastructure (PKI) domains.
2. Related Art
Public key cryptography provides a powerful tool that can be used to encrypt data and to authenticate digital signatures. However, widespread use of public key cryptography requires that a practical solution be found for the problem of associating public keys with their owners in a trusted (authenticated) manner.
One solution to this problem is to construct a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). A PKI supports a collection of well-known trusted public keys, which can be hierarchically organized. In a PKI, the owner of a trusted key is usually referred to as a "Certification Authority," or "CA." A CA can use a private key corresponding to its trusted public key to authenticate the keys of other members (users and devices) in the PKI by signing the keys for the members, and creating "digital certificates." A digital certificate typically links a public key to information indicating who owns the key (an identity certificate), or what the key is allowed to be used for (an attribute certificate), or at a minimum, that the bearer of the corresponding private key is a valid member of this particular PKI or some other trust system. A PKI simplifies the key management problem because it eliminates the need to exchange keys between all the members of a trusted network. Instead, in a PKI, only the trusted public keys need to be publicized.
It was initially envisioned that a single "global" PKI would eventually be adopted, which would enable any device on the Internet to authenticate itself to any other device on the Internet. Unfortunately, such a global PKI has not been adopted. Instead, there presently exist many separate PKI domains. For example, a separate PKI domain often exists for computing devices within a company or within a governmental organization. Because of absence of a single global PKI, it is difficult for devices on the Internet to establish trust with other devices on the Internet.
A number of schemes have been developed to enable devices from different PKI domains to interoperate with each other. In particular, a technique known as "cross-certification" allows two separate PKI domains to be merged into a single combined PKI domain. For example, consider a scenario with two PKI domains: a first PKI domain, with an associated first root CA, and a second PKI domain, with an associated second root CA. In the cross-certification process, the second root CA issues a "cross-certificate" to the first root CA. The cross-certificate is then propagated to devices in the first PKI domain, thereby allowing these devices to authenticate themselves to devices in the second PKI domain. In addition, cross-certification can also take place in the other direction, in which the first root CA issues a cross-certificate to the second root CA, thereby achieving full cross-certification.
Unfortunately, cross-certification is a complicated and time-consuming process. Cross-certification typically requires a meeting between administrators of the different domains, and certification information has to somehow be transferred securely between the root CAs for the different domains. Note that secure communications between the root CAs cannot take place across a public network, such as the Internet, until the cross-certificate is completed. Consequently, the certification information has to be exchanged through some other communication channel. For example, disks carrying this certification information can be hand-carried between the CAs.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus that simplifies the process of performing cross-certification between different PKI domains.

Using a portable security token to facilitate cross-certification between certification authorities


Disclosed herein is an angular optical component retention and removal system that reduces the amount of space needed to accommodate fiber optic cables and enables optical components to be quickly and easily inserted, retained, and removed from an optical communications system. The optical component retention and removal system may include a single or plural angular retention sections that retain optical components in an angular orientation through a faceplate. The system may further include an insertion/retention mechanism that enables an optical component to be inserted and removed with a single hand. With the system, fiber optic cables extend at an angle from the optical components, requiring less clearance space in front of the faceplate for provision of the fiber optic cables.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the communications field, and, more particularly to an angular optical component retention and removal system for use in the communications field.
B. Description of the Related Art
Optical communication equipment is typically housed in bays, which include a rectangular frame having dimensions conforming to a particular standard, such as the Network Equipment Building Standard (NEBS). NEBS covers a large range of requirements including criteria for personnel safety, protection of property, and operational continuity. NEBS covers both physical requirements including: space planning, temperature, humidity, fire, earthquake, vibration, transportation, acoustical, air quality and illumination; and electrical criteria including: electrostatic discharge (ESD), electromagnetic interference (EMI), lightning and AC power fault, steady state power induction, corrosion, DC potential difference, electrical safety and bonding and grounding. The term "electrostatic discharge" or "ESD", as used herein, refers to the rapid, spontaneous transfer of electrostatic charge induced by a high electrostatic field. Usually the charge flows through a spark (static discharge) between two bodies at different electrostatic potentials as they approach one another.
An optical communications equipment frame further typically has a plurality of shelves, each having one or more slots for accommodating circuit boards or cards that have optical and electrical components associated with a communication network mounted thereon. Such optical components include, but are not necessarily limited to optical module/components, connectors, lasers, photodetectors, optical amplifiers, switching elements, add/drop multiplexers etc. In addition, fiber optic cables typically connect to one or more component.
Furthermore, the recent increase in bandwidth requirements for telecommunications systems has resulted in more densely packed equipment and fiber optic cables than prior systems. Many carriers or other consumers of optical communications equipment have very limited floor space in which to place new equipment and fiber optic cables. For example, some carriers may only have a single open bay (or shelf) in which to place new equipment and fiber optic cables. If the communications equipment can be more densely packed, then a greater amount of equipment and fiber optic cables may be placed within the available space. The fiber optic cables housed within optical communications equipment are also exposed to damage when the doors to the equipment are closed due to the close fit between the doors and the fiber optic cables.
Electrical and electro-optical circuit packs ("circuit packs"), which are examples of optical modules/components, include a circuit board with components mounted thereon. In a typical interconnection scheme, a plurality of pins are provided through a backplane mounted at the far end of a shelf. Each circuit pack is inserted horizontally and/or vertically into the shelf (also known as a "subrack") on guideways and through a faceplate so that the connector engages the appropriate pins for connection to that circuit pack when the circuit pack is in its final position. The circuit pack is usually inserted into the backplane using a lever, sometimes referred to as a latch, injector-ejector, or circuit pack ejector system.
Typically, circuit packs have front panels, which may have multiple connectors or other components that connect to other devices. The physical front panel size of the circuit pack limits the number of connectors that may be implemented. The circuit pack size (i.e., the front panel) is limited by the physical dimensions of the chassis.
Additionally, fiber or other copper cabling may extend from connectors fastened to a circuit pack front panel. Due to the cable bend radius limitations, a great deal of space in front of the circuit pack may be required. This space constraint may cause certain components to be unusable.
Presently, it is a problem in the field of communication cable installation to ensure the precise placement of the communication cable without the possibility of damage to the communication cable by the provision of tight bends, or inappropriate use of fasteners, or inadequate support to the communication cable. Such communication cables include conventional telephone cable having a plurality of copper conductors, coaxial cable, optical fiber, or the like. In all of these applications, the minimum radius of curvature of the communication cable is well defined, and bending the communication cable in a tighter bend can cause damage to the communication medium housed within the cable. The installer of communication cable is thus faced with the problem of routing the communication cable over surfaces, which typically include sharp bends, without over bending the communication cable, yet also securing the communication cable to these surfaces in a manner to ensure protection from damage.
This problem is further heightened when fiber optic cables (alternatively referred to as "optical fibers" or "fibers") are used. Glass fibers used in such cables are easily damaged when bent too sharply and require a minimum bend radius to operate within required performance specifications. The minimum bend radius of a fiber optic cable depends upon a variety of factors, including the signal handled by the fiber optic cable, the style of the fiber optic cable, and equipment to which the fiber optic cable is connected. For example, some fiber optic cables used for internal routing have a minimum bend radius of 0.75 inches, and some fiber optic cables used for external routing have a minimum bend radius of 1.0 inches.
Damaged fiber optic cables may lead to a reduction in the signal transmission quality of the cables. Accordingly, fiber optic cables are evaluated to determine their minimum bend radius. As long as a fiber optic cable is bent at a radius that is equal to or greater than the minimum bend radius, there should be no reduction in the transmission quality of the cable. If a fiber optic cable is bent at a radius below the minimum bend radius determined for such cable, there is a potential for a reduction in signal transmission quality through the bend. The greater a fiber optic cable is bent beyond or below its minimum bend radius, the greater the potential for breaking the fiber(s) contained in the cable, and the shorter the life span of the cable.
If a network component requires maintenance or an upgrade, the circuit pack containing the component or a component module is typically removed from the shelf. However, since fiber optic cables are typically fragile, if the fiber optic cable is bent beyond the minimum bend radius during board or module removal, the fiber optic cable may break. Accordingly, removal and insertion of component boards or modules can be difficult and inconvenient.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional arrangement 100 for mounting optical module/components 102 and other optical components 104 horizontally in the shelf of an optical communications equipment frame (not shown). Arrangement 100 includes a faceplate 106 attached to a "mother" or main printed circuit board ("PCB") 108 and through which optical module/components 102 and optical components 104 may be provided. A handle 110 and a releasable handle 112 may connect to faceplate 106 for releasably attaching faceplate 106 and main PCB 108 to the shelf. Screws 114 may also be provided through faceplate 106 for releasably connecting faceplate 106 and main PCB 108 to the shelf.
Optical module/components 102 releasably connect through openings in faceplate 106 with spring retainers 116. Spring retainers 116 releasably engage faceplate 106 when optical module/components 102 are pushed into the openings of faceplate 106. Each optical module/component 102 may be removed from faceplate 106 by forcing spring retainers 116 inward toward optical module/component 102, and by pulling optical module/component 102 away from faceplate 106. This is a cumbersome process since two spring retainers 116 need to be manipulated while each optical module/component 102 is manually pulled away from faceplate 106.
As further shown in FIG. 1, optical module/components 102 and optical components 104 are aligned horizontally in faceplate 106. With this configuration, the fiber optic cables or optical cables 118 emanating from optical module/components 102 and optical components 104 also extend horizontally, requiring, for example, a distance A of empty space in front of faceplate 106 for accommodation of cables 118 without bending cables 118 beyond their minimum bend radii. If proper spacing is not provided between faceplate 106 and the optical communications cabinet door, then fiber optic cables 118 may be bent beyond their minimum bend radii, potentially damaging cables 118 and communication link provided thereby.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an optical component retention and removal system that overcomes the limitations and problems of the related art.

Angular optical component retention and removal system


A catalyst composition and a process for di-, tri- and/or tetramerization of ethylene, wherein the catalyst composition comprises a chromium compound, a ligand of the general structure R1R2P—N(R3)—P(R4)—N(R5)—PR6R7, or any cyclic derivatives thereof, wherein at least one of the P or N atoms of the PNPNP-unit is member of a ring system, the ring system being formed from one or more constituent compounds of the ligand by substitution, and a co-catalyst or activator.

The present invention relates to a catalyst composition and a process for the di-, tri- and/or tetramerization of ethylene.
Existing processes for the production of linear alpha olefins (LAOs), including comonomer-grade 1-hexene and 1-octene, rely on the oligomerization of ethylene. These processes have in common that they lead to a product distribution of ethylene-oligomers of chain length 4, 6, 8 and so on. This is due to a chemical mechanism which is widely governed by competing chain growth- and displacement reaction steps, leading to a Schulz-Flory- or Poisson-product distribution.
From the marketing point of view, this product distribution poses a formidable challenge for the full-range alpha olefins producer. The reason is that each market segment served exhibits a very different behavior in terms of market size and growth, geography, fragmentation etc. It is, therefore, very difficult for the producer to adapt to the market requirements since part of the product spectrum might be in high demand in a given economic context, while at the same time other product cuts might not be marketable at all or only in a marginal niche. Currently, the highest-value LAO product is comonomer-grade 1-hexene for the polymer industry, while 1-octene demand is also growing at a considerable rate.
Thus, the on-purpose production of the most economically viable LAOS, i.e., comonomer-grade 1-hexene and 1-octene, appears highly desirable. To meet the requirements regarding high C6- and/or C8-selectivities, new processes have been developed. The only known selective C6-commercial process has been commissioned by Chevron Phillips, see for a comprehensive review e.g. J. T. Dixon, M. J. Green, F. M. Hess, D. H. Morgan, "Advances in selective ethylene trimerisation—a critical overview", Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 689 (2004) 3641-3668.
Furthermore, patent applications have been filed by Sasol (WO 93/053891 A1), disclosing chromium-based selective ethylene-trimerization catalyst systems, typically of the type CrCl3 (bis-(2-diphenylphosphino-ethyl)amine)/MAO (methylaluminoxane). Also disclosed were variations of the ligand structure (e.g. bis(2-diethylphosphino-ethyl)amine, pentamethyldiethylenetriamine etc.). However, all these complexes generate considerable amounts of unwanted side products such as LAOs other than 1-hexene and polyethylene.
A large body of scientific publications and patent literature describes the use of chromium-based metal-organic complexes with ligands featuring the basic PNP-structure (for example bis(diphenylphosphino)amine-ligands) (D. S. McGuinness, P. Wasserscheid, W. Keim, C. Hu, U. Englert, J. T. Dixon, C. Grove, "Novel Cr-PNP complexes as catalysts for the trimerization of ethylene", Chem. Commun., 2003, 334-335; K. Blann, A. Bollmann, J. T. Dixon, F. M. Hess, E. Killian, H. Maumela, D. H. Morgan, A. Neveling, S. Otto, M. J. Overett, "Highly selective chromium-based ethylene trimerisation catalysts with bulky diphosphinoamine ligands", Chem. Comm., 2005, 620-621; M. J. Overett, K. Blann, A. Bollmann, J. T. Dixon, F. Hess, E. Killian, H. Maumela, D. H. Morgan, A. Neveling, S. Otto, "Ethylene trimerisation and tetramerisation catalysts with polar-substituted diphosphinoamine ligands", Chem. Commun., 2005, 622-624; A. Jabri, P. Crewdson, S. Gambarotta, I. Korobkov, R. Duchateau, "Isolation of a Cationic Chromium(II) Species in a Catalytic System for Ethylene Tri- and Tetramerization", Organometallics 2006, 25, 715-718; T. Agapie, S. J. Schafer, J. A. Labinger, J. E. Bercaw, "Mechanistic Studies of the Ethylene Trimerization Reaction with Chromium-Diphosphine Catalysts: Experimental Evidence for a Mechanism Involving Metallacyclic Intermediates", J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 1304-1305; S. J. Schafer, M. D. Day, L. M. Henling, J. A. Labinger, J. E. Bercaw, "Ethylene Trimerization Catalysts Based on Chromium Complexes with a Nitrogen-Bridged Diphosphine Ligand Having ortho-Methoxyaryl or ortho-Thiomethoxy Substituents: Well-Defined Catalyst Precursors and Investigations of the Mechanism", Organometallics 2006, 25, 2743-2749; S. J. Schofer, M. D. Day, L. M. Henling, J. A. Labinger, J. E. Bercaw, "A Chromium-Diphosphine System for Catalytic Ethylene Trimerization: Synthetic and Structural Studies of Chromium Complexes with a Nitrogen-Bridged Diphosphine Ligand with ortho-Methoxyaryl Substituents", Organometallics 2006, 25, 2733-2742; P. R. Elowe, C. McCann, P. G. Pringle, S. K. Spitzmesser, J. E. Bercaw, "Nitrogen-Linked Diphosphine Ligands with Ethers Attached to Nitrogen for Chromium-Catalyzed Ethylene Tri- and Tetramerization", Organometallics 2006, 25, 5255-5260; WO 2004/056578, WO 2004/056479, EP 02 794 480.0, EP 02 794 479.2; or the SNS-structure (D. S. McGuinness, D. B. Brown, R. P. Tooze, F. M. Hess, J. T. Dixon, A. M. Z. Slavin, "Ethylene Trimerization with Cr-PNP and Cr-SNS Complexes: Effect of Ligand Structure, Metal Oxidation State, and Role of Activator on Catalysis", Organometallics 2006, 25, 3605-3610; A. Jabri, C. Temple, P. Crewdson, S. Gambarotta, I. Korobkov, R. Duchateau, "Role of the Metal Oxidation State in the SNS-Cr Catalyst for Ethylene Trimerization: Isolation of Di- and Trivalent Cationic Intermediates", J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 9238-9247; C. Temple, A. Jabri, P. Crewdson, S. Gambarotta, I. Korobkov, R. Duchateau, "The Question of the Cr-Oxidation State in the {Cr(SNS)} Catalyst for Selective Ethylene Trimerization: An Unanticipated Re-Oxidation Pathway", Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 7050-7053); for both, trimerization and tetramerization of ethylene. Excess amounts of MAO are most commonly used as activator/co-catalyst.
While the majority of the published studies rely on Cr—PNP complexes, some deal with other ligands, e.g. of the general formula (R1)(R2)P—X—P(R3)(R4), where X is a bivalent organic bridging group, see WO 2005/039758 A1, or deal with entirely different complexes, such as titanocenes (H. Hagen, W. P. Kretschmer, F. R. van Buren, B. Hessen, D. A. van Oeffelen, "Selective ethylene trimerization: A study into the mechanism and the reduction of PE formation", Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 248 (2006) 237-247). In either case, the major concern is always selectivity and minimization of polyethylene formation.
The ethylene trimerization and tetramerization catalysts and processes disclosed so far in scientific and patent literature generally have one or more of the following disadvantages:                Low selectivities to the desired products 1-hexene and/or 1-octene (undesired byproducts from side reaction channels).        Limited purities of the products, i.e. the selectivities within the specific C6- or C8-cut (isomerization, branched olefin formation etc.)        Wax formation, i.e. formation of heavy, long-chain, high carbon-number products.        Polymer formation (polyethylene, branched and/or cross-linked PE); this leads to considerable product yield loss and fouling of equipment.        Poor turnover rates/catalyst activity, resulting in high cost per kg product.        High catalyst—or ligand cost.        Difficult ligand synthesis, resulting in poor availability and high catalyst cost.        Susceptibility of catalyst performance, in terms of both activity and selectivity, to trace impurities (catalyst losses/-poisoning).        Difficult handling of catalyst components in a technical environment (catalyst complex synthesis, pre-mixing, inertization, catalyst- or ligand recovery).        Harsh reaction conditions, i.e. high temperatures and pressures, resulting in high investment-, maintenance-, and energy cost.        High co-catalyst/activator cost and/or consumption.        Susceptibility to varying co-catalyst qualities; often the case when larger amounts of relatively ill-defined compounds must be used as activators (e.g. certain MAO-varieties).

Catalyst composition and process for di-, tri- and/or tetramerization of ethylene


Method and apparatus implementing smart store operations with conditional ownership requests. One aspect includes a method implemented in a multi-core processor, the method comprises: receiving a conditional read for ownership (CondRFO) from a requester in response to an execution of an instruction to modify a target cache line (CL) with a new value, the CondRFO identifying the target CL and the new value; determining from a local cache a local CL corresponding to the target CL; determining a local value from the local CL; comparing the local value with the new value; setting a coherency state of the local CL to (S)hared when the local value is same as the new value; setting the coherency state of the local CL to (I)nvalid when the local value is different than the new value; and sending a response and a copy of the local CL to the requester. Other embodiments include an apparatus configured to perform the actions of the methods.

In software applications, it is not uncommon for code to make repeat updates to the same memory locations over and over again. Often times, the value to be written into a memory location is the same as the existing value already stored at that location. In these cases, updating the memory location with the same value is redundant and unnecessary. Typically this is not a serious issue and most programmers, out of convenience or lack of concern for performance, simply use the following code syntax to store or update a value in memory:
var=val
However, in instances where the spatial locality in memory is low and the sharing ratio between threads of the same or close-by data is high, such as often the case with control blocks, unnecessary updates to memory can result in noticeable performance degradation and thus should be avoided when possible.
In a shared memory multi-core processor system with separate cache memory for each core, many copies of the same cache line can exist at the same time. For instance, a copy of a cache line may reside in main memory while another copy is cached in the local cache memory of one or more of the cores. When one copy of the cache line is changed, other copies of the same cache line must also be changed or invalidated in order to maintain coherency between the different copies. To prevent collisions that occur when multiple cores try to make overlapping changes to the same cache line, a core that desires to modify a cache line must first own the cache line it intends to modify. Typically, to establish ownership of a cache line, a first core broadcasts to the other cores a Read for Ownership or a Request for Ownership message through its caching agent to invalidate all copies of that cache line in other cores. Then a second core which owns a copy of the cache line in its local cache will invalidate its copy upon receiving the message. Later, if the second core wishes to access from its local cache the copy of the cache line, a cache miss would result because its copy is no longer valid. The second core would then need to issue a read, read for ownership, or request for ownership message, depending on the type of access desired, to acquire a valid copy of the cache line. The message sent out by second core may in turn invalidate other copies of that cache line and cause a similar local cache miss when another core tries to access the invalidated cache line down the road. This global invalidation of a particular cache line due to write requests occurs even if such acquisition is unnecessary, such as, for example, when the value to be written into the cache line is the same as what is already stored. To reduce the occurrence of these kind of situations, more advanced programmers tend to use the following syntax when storing or updating to a memory location:
if (var < > val)var=val
This ensures that the store or update operation, and associated Read for Ownership or Request for Ownership messages that follow, only happens when the value in that memory location is actually different than what will be written.
While useful in many case, this approach comes with its own set of drawbacks. For instance, it requires extra code which, in case of large number of stores, can lead to a significant increase in code size. Also, the added check complicates the control flow and may limit the ability for compilers to apply code optimizations such as vectorization, loop invariant code motion, etc. Moreover, the predicate condition introduces numerous branches and tends to pollute the branch prediction table, not to mention the high performance and recovery cost in the event of incorrect predictions.

Method and apparatus for smart store operations with conditional ownership requests


A measuring device, in particular for a flow inside a turbomachine, in particular in an aircraft engine. The measuring device includes at least one suction intake opening for fluid from an area of a mixed-out flow, wherein the at least one suction intake opening is arranged at a distance from a wall that delimits the flow, and fluid that is suctioned in through a fluid channel can be conducted to a sensor device.

The invention relates to a measuring device for a flow and a measuring method for a flow.
One characteristic of flows involving friction is the formation of so-called boundary layers. Here, the boundary layer comprises the fluid that has a lower impulse as compared to the core flow and that occurs due to friction (e.g. against bodies inside the flow), but also as a result of rotational or centrifugal forces. In particular in rotation-induced boundary layers, what occurs as a result are circumferential variations with a very high amplitude that make a precise and low-fluctuation characterization of the cavity flow more difficult or impossible.
Technical flows are versatile and in most cases very complex. Effects such as for example friction, rotational and Coriolis forces contribute to the flows exhibiting velocity, pressure and temperature gradients. Especially in turbomachines (e.g. an aircraft engine) in which high pressures and high rotational speeds occur, the flows comprise a complex three-dimensional structure. A typical case is the labyrinth seal between a guide vane and a rotor blade in an aircraft engine that is used for sealing cavities in the turbine. Here, an intact sealing is essential for limiting the thermal load that the turbine discs are exposed to. Therefore, the air temperature is often measured in this area for monitoring the sealing function of the labyrinth seal. However, due to boundary layer effects, different temperatures occur in the circumferential direction during operation, which makes it necessary to arrange a plurality of sensors.
In known flow measuring devices (e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,914 A, US 2014/0133963 A1 or US 2014/0037430 A1), the fluid is suctioned from the flow in a manner flush with the wall, so that the measurements are impacted by boundary layer influences and thus a large circumferential variation has to be expected.

Measuring device and measuring method for a flow


A PCB bridge for interconnection of two or more semiconductor chips for data communication between the semiconductor chips includes a plurality of metal strips; and a dielectric material disposed in between the plurality of metal strips. The PCB bridge is employed in a vertical direction in a semiconductor module for interconnection of two or more semiconductor chips, the vertical direction of the PCB bridge provides a flexible impedance matching by adjusting the dielectric material and a trace width of the PCB bridge, and the vertical direction of the PCB bridge avoids signal reflections by matching the impedance to a source, and a trace length of the PCB bridge is limited by spacing in between two semiconductor chips which further limited inductance of the trace of the PCB bridge.

A chip-to-chip interconnection is a functional block that provides data communication between two different semiconductor chips that are assembled into one module. The interconnection can either be required in a PCB, PCB substrate, IC, Photonic IC and other components that require data communication interconnection. The chip-to-chip interconnection create the connection between two chips to achieve maximum power transfer and ultra-high bandwidth transmission. The chip-to-chip interconnection is typically made of different control block that provides a seamless connection between connection pads on two chips. This implemented using a high-speed architecture or high-density parallel architecture, which are optimized to support multiple advanced 2D, 2.5D, and 3D packaging technologies
A chip-to-chip interconnection is a key structure of the industry trend in both monolithic SoC designs and multi-chip SoC design. This approach mitigates growing concerns around high cost/low yield of small process nodes and provides additional product modularity and flexibility.
To make a good chip-to-chip interconnection, the transmission line required to achieve maximum power transfer and ultra-high bandwidth. The transmission line can be modeled by the generalized lumped elements. The generalized lumped-element model of a transmission line can be used to calculate characteristic impedance, phase velocity, and both parts of the propagation constant (phase and attenuation). The model uses an infinitesimally small section of a transmission line with four elements as shown in FIG. 21. Here the series resistance, series inductance, shunt conductance and shunt capacitance are all normalized per unit length (denoted by the "prime" notation).
L=series inductance per unit length, in H/m, represents the total self-inductance of the conductors.
C=shunt capacitance per unit length, in F/m. represents the capacitance due to close proximity of the conductors.
R=series resistance per unit length, in Ω/m, represents the resistivity loss due to finite conductivity of conductors.
G=shunt conductance per unit length, in S/m. represents the dielectric loss in the material.
For a lossless transmission line, the series resistance and shunt conductance can be ignored. The model can be simplified to a LC connection. The LC connection formed a LC low pass filter which cut off the high frequency signal and limited the transmission bandwidth. At the same time impedance matching is needed in the LC connection in order to minimize signal reflection or maximize power transfer. In DC circuits, the source and load should be equal. In AC circuits, the source should either equal the load or the complex conjugate of the load, depending on the goal.
These two issues dominated the communication performance of the interconnection.
PCBs typically use two types of transmission lines: microstrips and striplines. Each of the transmission lines consists of a signal trace and a reference plane(s). Based on the transmission line geometry, it is essential to assume the signal trace and the reference plane as one unit. And never divide them since microstrips and striplines have their unique EM field distributions which define their properties. The EM field distribution of the microstrip and stripline transmission lines can be changed by selecting the PCB material (dielectric constant and loss tangent) and adjusting the guided wavelength, propagation velocity, and characteristic impedance. These parameters eventually change the EM field distribution, therefore the properties of the transmission lines.
In current packaging technologies, wire bonding is one of the most common method to make the interconnection between two chips. Au or Cu wire are the most common bonding wire that attached on the wire bond pad by using ultrasonic or thermosonic energy. This makes a good adhesion and form an ohmic contact between the bond wire and the bond pad. However, since the dielectric between the bond wire is air and wire to wire distance are fixed, that means the capacitance between two bond wires are normally fixed. It limited the signal bandwidth, and it is difficult to make a good impedance matching between the source and the load. In general, wire bonding technologies provide a high flexibility of interconnection, but it suffers from worse impedance matching. Additionally, the wire diameter is limited by the size of the bonding pad in the wire bonding solutions. Furthermore, to construct different architectures, such as step different or for tilting bonding between two chips, a bit longer wire for tilting bonding between two chips is to be used in the assembly process.
In the advanced technologies that required high standard specification, silicon bridge will be used for building the interconnection. In the silicon bridge design, the dielectric is normally fixed as SiO2 which means fixed dielectric constant. A carefully design of trace width is needed to get a good impedance matching trace. Flip-chip bonding process is required for the silicon bridge bonding process which means a very tight thickness requirement is needed between two chips. In general, silicon bridge interconnection provides a good impedance matching interconnection, but it suffers from tight flip-chip bonding process. Trace width is limited by the pitch of bonding pad in silicon bridge.
Additionally, the silicon bridge is a rectangular shape due to the fabrication process. Therefore the flip chip process require very tight height requirement. The bonding may get open if there is step different between two chips.
In the above two mentioned method, both are also suffering from yield loss issue. It is because these two methods are not favorable for rework. The bonding pad has easily been damaged by the wire bonding or the flip-chip process.
Thus, there is a need of an interconnection between two chips that provides a flexibility for the impedance matching requirement, and avoids yield loss issue.

Architecture for chip-to-chip interconnection in semiconductors


A system and method for controlling envelope tracking in a transmitter with closed loop power control, including up-converting and pre-amplifying a baseband signal to a pre-amplified RF signal, amplifying the pre-amplified RF signal, converting the envelope of the baseband signal into a shaped envelope signal, adjusting the gain of the pre-amplified RF signal, and adjusting the shape of the envelope signal in response to changes in the gain of the pre-amplified RF signal.

Radio-frequency (RF) mobile communication devices typically employ power saving techniques to increase battery life. Because the transmitter power amplifier of a mobile communication device consumes a large percentage of the overall power utilized by the device, various power management systems are used to increase the overall power efficiency of the power amplifier.
One such system adjusts the transmission power of a mobile communication device in order to utilize the least amount of power necessary to maintain signal quality while minimizing interference between different wireless networks within range of the device. The use of closed automatic power control (APC) loops may be used to control power changes from one desired power level to another within the transmitter of the mobile communication device. For example, in response to receipt of a command from a cellular base station to reduce transmission power, it is known in the art to employ an APC loop between a transmitter output stage and a power amplifier of the transmitter for controlling gain and bias settings of the transmitter output stage.
Envelope tracking (ET) is another power management system known in the art, for adjusting the power supply voltage applied to the power amplifier so that the amplifier operates at peak efficiency for given instantaneous output power requirements. In operation, the voltage supplied to the power amplifier is synchronized with the envelope of the RF signal passing through the transmitter, thereby reducing unused energy that would otherwise be dissipated as heat.
In conventional envelope tracking (ET) transmitters, the gain applied to the ET signal path is scaled in response to a power step (e.g. using a table lookup) and applied to an ET modulator immediately before closing the APC loop. However, step-wise gain adjustment (scaling) of the ET signal path can result in spectral anomalies before the APC loop is closed, which persist until the APC loop has stabilized.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of protection is thereby intended.

System and method for controlling envelope tracking in a transmitter with closed loop power control


In the present invention, in a case where a display unit is capable of displaying either multiple tomographic images or at least one plain image of a subject, a display control unit switches the display on the display unit to the display of tomographic images in sequence or to the display of a plain image.

It has been a widely established practice to perform a tomosynthetic process by applying radiation to a target object (for example, a subject) from a plurality of respective different angles, detecting radiation that has passed through the target object with a radiation detector, converting the detected radiation into respective radiographic images (projected images), and processing the converted projected images in order to reconstruct a tomographic image at a desired sectional position in the target object. (See, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-130487, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-192384, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-512669 (PCT)).
The tomosynthetic process may be combined with a plain image capturing process for applying radiation to a target object from an angle (0°) in front of the target object, detecting radiation that has passed through the target object with a radiation detector, and converting the detected radiation into a radiographic image (plain image). Acquisition of such a plain image is not limited to acquisition by a plain image capturing process, which is carried out separately from the tomosynthetic process. For example, the tomosynthetic process may include, as a portion thereof, a process for producing a projected image, which is acquired by applying radiation to a target object from an angle of 0° as a plain image, or a process for generating a pseudo-plain image based on respective tomographic images at a plurality of sectional positions.
For displaying each of the acquired tomographic images and the plain image on an image display device, it has heretofore been customary to provide the image display device with a single display unit having two display areas on a screen thereof, or two display units having respective display areas on screens thereof, and to successively display the tomographic images in one of the display areas, while at the same time displaying the plain image in the other display area. Successively displaying tomographic images refers to displaying the tomographic images at respective sectional positions successively one after another, to thereby display a pseudo-three-dimensional image (hereinafter also referred to as a "reconstructed image") of the target object, which is reconstructed from the tomographic images.

Image display device, image display method, medical image diagnostic device, medical image diagnostic method, medical image diagnostic system, data preparation device, data preparation method, and non-transitory recording medium


An electromagnetic coil gun system includes a launcher having a barrel with a longitudinal bore therethrough, and a plurality of longitudinally extending electrical excitation coils arranged circumferentially around the bore of the barrel so that a magnetic field produced by an electrical current in each electrical excitation coil penetrates into the bore. Each electrical excitation coil is independently activated by the electrical current passed therethrough. There is a projectile sized to be received within the bore of the barrel and having a circumferential armature at a tail end thereof, and a nose end. The projectile placed into the bore is fired by producing a traveling sequence of propulsive currents in the electrical excitation coils moving in a direction from the breech end toward the muzzle end of the barrel, so that a traveling propulsive magnetic field produced by the electrical excitation coils interacts with the armature of the projectile to propel the projectile in the direction from the breech end toward the muzzle end of the barrel. Simultaneously, a traveling sequence of field-nulling currents in the electrical excitation coils moves in the direction from the breech end toward the muzzle end of the barrel but closer to the muzzle end of the barrel than the traveling sequence of propulsive currents and spatially leading the traveling sequence of propulsive currents. The field-nulling currents are in a circumferential direction opposite to the propulsive currents, thereby at least partially nulling the traveling propulsive magnetic field at the nose end of the projectile.

An electromagnetic coil gun system includes a launcher and a projectile that is fired from the launcher. The launcher has a barrel with a series of circumferential electrical excitation coils that extend longitudinally along the length of the barrel. The projectile has a circumferential armature near its tail. The projectile is propelled from the gun by producing a traveling sequence of propulsive currents in the electrical excitation coils. A propulsive magnetic field produced by the electrical excitation coils interacts with the armature of the projectile to propel the projectile along the length of the barrel and out of the muzzle end of the barrel. The fundamental principles of the electromagnetic coil gun have been known for some time, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,235,201; 3,611,783; 4,926,741; and 5,125,321, whose disclosures are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
This basic approach under development is promising in those cases where the projectile is an unguided device that is an inert kinetic slug or that contains essentially no more than a warhead. However, it is expected that with further development the range of the electromagnetic coil gun system will be well beyond the line of sight from the launcher. Optimum performance will be achieved by including a guidance subsystem that guides the projectile after it is fired from the launcher.
The guidance subsystem for the projectile of the electromagnetic coil gun system may be based on any operable type of sensing technology. The guidance may be based on radar, visible light, infrared light, the global positioning system (GPS), or any other approach that survives the high acceleration experienced during the launching of the projectile and provides the necessary guidance commands to a control subsystem. These guidance technologies are all susceptible to erratic behavior or failure as a result of the high-magnetic-field environment, typically 30 Teslas or greater, produced within the launcher barrel during the firing of the projectile. Therefore, care must be taken to protect the sensors, signal processors, and other components of the guidance subsystem from the high magnetic fields produced by the launcher.
One approach to protecting the guidance subsystem is to place magnetic shielding around the guidance subsystem. This approach has the drawback that a sufficient amount of magnetic shielding for the extremely high magnetic fields produced by the launcher must be quite thick and consequently heavy. This weight and volume of magnetic shielding adds kinetic mass to the projectile, but it reduces the size of the warhead that may be used.
There is therefore a need for an improved approach to the design of an electromagnetic coil gun system to reduce the adverse effects of the high magnetic fields required to propel the projectile. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.

Magnetic field protection for the projectile of an electromagnetic coil gun system