A central controller receives an offer signal including at least one condition signal. The offer signal defines an offer having at least one condition from a customer. The central controller also receives a payment identifier signal for specifying an account from which funds may be paid. An informational signal relevant to the offer is received from a third party. The central controller transmits the offer signal and the informational signal to at least one seller. In response, an acceptance signal is received from at least one of the sellers. The central controller selects one acceptance signal, if more than one is received, and the corresponding lender is identified. The borrower is thereby bound to the identified lender under the terms and conditions of the offer. Use of the payment identifier signal is initiated if it is determined that the borrower has failed to abide by terms of the offer.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for processing the sale of products and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for processing the sale of products to buyers who have submitted offers to purchase the products.
Most systems for processing the sale of products are seller-driven. In such systems, the seller, not the buyer, sets product prices and configures products. In addition, the seller must attempt to attract buyers and complete the sales of products. Accordingly, the seller bears costs such as product advertising. Stores, catalogs, classified advertisements, telemarketing, auction houses and on-line computerized reservation systems are all seller-driven systems.
In typical seller-driven systems, a seller sets a product price and a buyer decides whether or not to accept that price. Prices for some products, such as airline tickets, can change frequently, but even in such systems the buyer must still wait for the seller to offer a price that is acceptable to the buyer.
Auctions are seller-driven, even though prices are not directly set by the seller. In an auction, the seller attracts a number of buyers who collectively bid for and thereby determine the product price. However, the seller may subsequently reject the group-determined price, if he desires.
Other systems, such as NASDAQ or the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), match buyers and sellers by offering an efficient, fair and orderly marketplace. Such systems typically favor neither buyers nor sellers, but simply facilitate communications that allow for the matching of offers and acceptances. An example of an automated exchange-driven commerce system for trading futures is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,201.
In contrast to the above systems, a buyer-driven system is one in which buyers find sellers, such as a xe2x80x9cwanted to buyxe2x80x9d classified advertisement. A help-wanted advertisement is another type of buyer-driven system in which an employer offers to buy a product consisting of the services of a qualified employee. The inquiry is typically advertised to a large number of potential xe2x80x9csellers,xe2x80x9d (people who may be qualified to accept the offer). Each of the potential sellers may respond by submitting a resume to the prospective employer.
Buyer-driven systems are in many ways preferable to other systems for processing the sale of products. For example, a buyer can exercise more control over the terms and conditions of the sale of a desired product. Additionally, when a large number of potential sellers exist, but those sellers do not or cannot advertise globally, buyers may still communicate their product preferences to the sellers. A buyer-driven system would also be advantageous for sellers by allowing sellers to sell a product at a reduced price set by and known only to the buyer, thus without destroying the seller""s advertised price structure. The buyer would realize the benefits of a reduced product price, while the seller would realize the benefit of selling some, but not all, products at reduced prices, when desirable.
Unfortunately, buyer-driven systems for processing the sale of products require a buyer to directly or indirectly communicate his product preferences to each of a number of potential sellers. Known systems typically make such communication too burdensome to be effective on a large scale. For example, an individual seeking car repair services generally would not want to contact every repair shop and communicate details of his repair needs to each. The benefits to the consumer from doing so (e.g., achieving a lower price) would likely be outweighed by the amount of time and money expended in the effort. Known systems also would not typically prevent buyers from receiving an inordinate number of offers from potential sellers, many of which may be unqualified.
Similarly, known buyer-driven commerce systems impose costs on sellers as well. Sellers must incur substantial costs merely to review and understand each offer, many of which may be from buyers who have little or no intention of buying. Accordingly, buyers that actually buy must pay additional costs to subsidize those that merely provide offers, but do not actually buy. Moreover, sellers may also be reluctant to customize products and/or prices for buyers.
There have been some attempts to use the Internet in a bilateral, buyer-driven system for processing the sale of products. However, those attempts have been largely unsuccessful. Currently, there exist xe2x80x9cbulletin boardxe2x80x9d sites on the Internet where buyers can electronically post offers at little or no cost. Unfortunately, potential sellers are deterred from using bulletin board sites because (i) there is no guarantee of the authenticity of the posted offers, (ii) the cost of negotiating with individual buyers is often too high, and (iii) it is difficult to enforce any agreement (including payment guarantees) which may be reached between the buyer and the seller.
Additionally, xe2x80x9cbulletin boardsxe2x80x9d containing posted offers are scattered across the Internet making it difficult, if not impossible, for sellers to find relevant offers. Finally, the posted offers may have any of a large number of possible formats, conditions and terms. In sum, sellers are reluctant to accept posted offers, and thus will not spend time and money to find and process offers. In turn, the absence of a sufficient number of sellers reduces the incentive for buyers to post offers.
In addition to the above-described drawbacks of known systems, sellers often require information relevant to the offer from a third party in order to determine whether to accept a buyer""s offer. For example, potential buyers of artworks require that the artworks be accompanied by a trusted third party""s xe2x80x9cseal of approvalxe2x80x9d. Such a seal would typically authenticate that the artworks are genuine, and also appraise their value. Similarly, potential lenders of funds require the credit history or xe2x80x9ccredit scorexe2x80x9d of a potential borrower. Lenders would typically not accept such critical information from the potential borrower, since the borrower might try to alter the information to appear more credit-worthy. The credit information must come from a trusted third party.
Accordingly, an offer to borrow funds, which would include borrower-specified conditions such as an interest rate and loan amount, would, by itself, be insufficient for the lender to determine whether to accept the offer. Potential lenders would not be able to ascertain whether the offer was acceptable in terms of credit risk and credit worthiness. Thus, buyers would not be able to usefully make such offers.
Systems for evaluating borrower credit exist. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,052 to Dykstra describes a system that accesses credit bureau information to obtain a credit score of a borrower. However, the system of the Dykstra patent does not allow a buyer to specify desired loan conditions. In addition, that system does nothing to prevent people who do not intend to buy from inundating a seller with worthless loan applications.
Thus, there exists a need for a buyer-driven system for processing the sale of products which overcomes the above-described drawbacks of prior art systems. In particular, there exists a need for a buyer-driven system which allows sellers to evaluate the acceptability of an offer from a buyer in light of information relevant to the offer from a third party.
There further exists a need for such a system that would facilitate a large-scale buyer-driven system for processing the sale of products overcoming the shortfalls of known systems.
It is an object of the present invention to allow sellers to evaluate the acceptability of an offer from a buyer in light of information relevant to the offer from a third party.
Generally, according to one aspect of the present invention, a central controller receives an offer signal including at least one condition signal. The offer signal defines a conditional purchase offer having at least one condition from a customer. The central controller also receives a payment identifier signal for specifying an account from which funds may be paid. An informational signal relevant to the offer is received from a third party. The informational signal typically includes relevant information that would not be trusted if it came from the borrower submitting the conditional purchase offer.
In one embodiment, the central controller transmits the offer signal and the informational signal to at least one seller. In response, an acceptance signal is received from at least one of the sellers. The central controller selects one acceptance signal, if more than one is received, and the corresponding lender is identified. The borrower is thereby bound to the identified lender under the terms and conditions of the offer.
In another embodiment, the central controller stores at least one rule signal from each seller. Each rule signal includes at least one seller-defined restriction that an offer must meet to be accepted. The central controller compares the offer signal and the informational signal with at least one of the rule signals, and in turn determines whether the offer signal and the informational signal satisfy each seller-defined restriction of any rule. If any rules are satisfied, one rule is selected, and the corresponding lender is identified. The borrower is thereby bound to the identified lender under the terms and conditions of the offer.
In either embodiment described above, use of the payment identifier signal is initiated if it is determined that the borrower has failed to abide by terms of the offer. Thus, there is incentive for borrowers to submit only genuine offers, and if any borrower reneges, the lender is assured to receive compensation.

System and method for managing third-party input to a conditional purchase offer (CPO)


A label printing apparatus includes a printing unit for printing an image on a front surface of a label tape having a back surface bearing an adhesive layer via an ink ribbon having a back surface bearing a removal layer. The apparatus further includes a superposed-travelling guiding mechanism for guiding traveling of the label tape and the used label tape together, with the removal layer of the ink ribbon being contacted with and superposed on the adhesive layer of the label tape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a label printing apparatus, and more particularly to a label printing apparatus including a printing means for printing an image such as a character, a mark, a graphic image or the like on a front surface of a label tape having a back surface bearing an adhesive layer via ink ribbon having a back surface bearing a removal layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a label printing apparatus of the above-noted type includes a printing head and a platen roller together constituting the printing means. The apparatus further includes a tape feed core which winds thereabout a label tape and an ink ribbon, with a surface of the former being placed in contact with a surface of the latter, and a ribbon take-up core for taking up the used ribbon removed from the label tape after the printing operation (see Japanese laid-open patent gazette Hei. 8(1996)-160861 for instance).
In the above apparatus, a removal layer is formed, by e.g. the well-known Teflon.TM. coating treatment, on the outer peripheral face of the platen roller, so as to prevent the adhesive face of the adhesive layer of the label tape from un-removably adhering to the outer peripheral face of the platen roller.
With the above-described conventional apparatus, no removable paper is affixed to the adhesive layer of the label tape. Then, the manufacture cost of the label tape may be reduced by an amount corresponding to the cost of such removable paper. In addition, a desired printing portion of the used label tape after the printing operation may be affixed to a predetermined target surface. However, the used label tape may be accidentally bent, leading to mutual adhesion between adjacent adhesive layer portions thereof, or the adhesive layer may be adhered to a certain object when the desired printing portion is cut off the tape and is transported to another place. In such case, great trouble is required for removing the layer. Moreover, if the adhesive layer is torn off or if a wrinkle is developed in the label tape during the removal, another printing operation becomes necessary. Hence, handling of the used label tape after a printing operation requires a significant care.
The present invention attends to the above-described drawbacks of the conventional art. A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved label printing apparatus which enables reduction in the manufacture cost of the label tape, restricts occurrence of accidental adhesion of the used label tape and facilitates the handling of the used label tape.


The present invention is directed to a method of assessing suitability of wheat or wheat flour for producing noodles, wherein starch contained in the wheat or wheat flour is analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry for its thermal characteristics and assessment is carried out based on the results of the analysis; wheat flour which is suitable for preparing noodles, wherein the wheat flour is prepared from wheat containing starch having an endothermic enthalpy (.DELTA.H) of 0.3 J/g of dry matter or less at a thermal change onset temperature (To) of 80.degree. C. or higher when the starch is analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry in the presence of added water; and use of the wheat or wheat flour for preparing noodles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of assessing the suitability of wheat or wheat flour for production of noodles; a method of manufacturing wheat flour for producing noodles by use of wheat evaluated to possess excellent suitability for producing noodles according to the assessing method; the wheat flour evaluated to possess excellent suitability for producing noodles; noodles prepared from the wheat flour; a farina composition comprising the wheat flour; and noodles prepared from the farina composition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Suitability of starting material wheat (hereinafter referred to simply as "wheat") for producing noodles has conventionally been well known to depend on the meteorological conditions under which wheat is cultivated, as well as the district where the wheat is grown, its variety, and the blend condition of wheat grains.
Suitability of wheat flour for producing noodles is also known to vary according to the variety (or market class) of wheat milled into wheat flour as well as the period and conditions of storage for the wheat flour.
Conventionally known methods of assessing suitability of wheat or wheat flour for producing noodles include 1) methods in which noodles are actually produced from wheat flour obtained by milling wheat in situ or by use of wheat flour already milled so as to evaluate handling characteristics when made into noodles, and in which sensory tests or the like are employed to evaluate the quality of the thus-obtained noodles, and 2) methods in which physical properties are evaluated by the amylograph test or a similar test method.
However, the conventional methods described above in 1) have a drawback that they require experience and much time and effort on the part of the experimenters, because noodles must actually be produced for evaluation of suitability of wheat or wheat flour for producing noodles. The conventional methods described above in 2) are also disadvantageous in that a large amount of sample is required and that suitability of wheat or wheat flour for producing noodles cannot be evaluated directly. Thus, there has been demanded a simple, quick, and accurate method of assessing suitability of wheat or wheat flour for producing noodles, as well as wheat flour evaluated to possess excellent suitability for producing noodles according to the assessing method.
Noodles are stored, distributed, and sold in various forms such as uncooked (moisture-containing conditions), semi-dry, dry, boiled, steamed, frozen, and instant noodles. Of the uncooked wet noodles (hereinafter simply referred to as uncooked noodles), those for microwave cooking have recently become of interest as consumers are becoming oriented toward convenience in eating. Unlike conventional uncooked, semi-dry, and dry noodles, uncooked noodles for microwave cooking do not require such procedures as boiling a large amount of water and boiling the noodles in the water for a long time, and are easily prepared only by cooking in a microwave cooking device such as a microwave oven after the noodles are put into a container along with a small amount of water or hot water. In addition, they exhibit better texture than do conventional instant noodles. Therefore, demand for them is expected to grow. However, uncooked noodles for microwave cooking developed hitherto generally require 3-5 minutes of cooking, thus falling short of the expectations of consumers, who prefer a shorter cooking time. Thus, there has been a demand for the development of uncooked noodles for microwave cooking which require a shorter cooking time than do their conventional equivalent and which exhibit excellent eating qualities.

Method of assessing wheat or wheat flour regarding suitability for producing noodles


A method, system, and product are described for alleviating router congestion when the router is processing packets transmitted by computer systems having a congestion notification capability. The router marks packets transmitted between a first computer system and a second computer system when the first and second computer systems have the congestion notification capability. The marking indicates that the router is moderately congested. A marked packet is then received by the first computer system. The router then drops packets transmitted by the first computer system when the packets were transmitted subsequent to the receipt of the marked packet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer systems and, more specifically to computer systems including a method, system, and apparatus for alleviating router congestion when the router is processing packets transmitted by computer systems having a congestion notification capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
When TCP/IP is used for data transmission between computer systems, the transmitted data is routed through intermediate routers. These routers may experience congestion. When the router is severely congested, the router will drop packets indiscriminately in order to reduce the congestion and to indicate to the sending computer systems that the router is congested.
When the router is only moderately congested, a method of congestion notification has been proposed which requires the marking of packets to indicate congestion to the sending computer systems. An addition to the TCP/IP protocol, called Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN), has been proposed as a method of indicating congestion to the sending computer systems. The ECN describes a method of marking packets in order to provide an indication of moderate congestion prior to the router actually dropping packets. Each packet includes an ECN bit and a Congestion Experienced (CE) bit in the IP header of the packet. The ECN bit may be set by the sender to indicate that the sender and receiver of this packet have the ECN capabilities. The CE bit is set by the router through which a packet passed when the router is experiencing moderate congestion.
When a router which utilizes the ECN protocol is moderately congested, the router will mark and pass packets having the ECN bit set, and will drop packets which do not have the ECN bit set. Therefore, packets transmitted by senders which have the ECN capability receive preference over packets transmitted by senders which do not have the ECN capability.
When senders are notified that a router has become moderately congested, the senders should either cease or slow transmissions in order to relieve the congestion. If a sender without the ECN capability continues to transmit packets, these packets will be dropped. If a sender having the ECN capability continues to transmit packets, its packets will not be dropped until the router becomes severely congested. Therefore, it is possible for senders having the ECN capability to abuse the ECN protocol by continuing to transmit packets even after being notified that the router is moderately congested.
Therefore, a need exists for a system, method, and product for reducing preferential treatment given to packets transmitted by computer systems having a congestion notification capability.

Method, system, and product for alleviating router congestion

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided is a one-axis driving optical scanner which includes a substrate, a stage separated from the substrate to a predetermined height and having an upper surface where an optical scanning surface is formed, a torsion spring supporting the stage from middle portions of both edge sides of the stage, a support portion fixed to the substrate to support the torsion spring, a driving portion rotating the stage with respect to the torsion spring forming a center axis, and a flat panel type tuning electrode arranged in an area of the substrate corresponding to the stage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical scanner having an MEMS (micro electro-mechanical system) structure in which a frequency is tunable, and more particularly, to an optical scanner in which a resonant frequency is tunable by using a tuning electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microactuators are used as scanners to deflect a laser beam in projection TVs. U.S. Patent Publication Application No. 2003-39089 discloses an example of an MEMS type scanner.
In an optical scanner disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication Application No. 2003-39089, a stage seesaws with respect to a torsion spring supporting the stage as a center shaft. As the stage is seesawing, light incident on a flat reflection mirror formed on the stage is scanned. The optical scanner deflects the stage connected to a driving electrode by applying an electrostatic force between a driving comb electrode and a fixed comb electrode.
In the MEMS type scanner, when the stage is driven in a resonant frequency range, a driving angle of the stage increases and a driving voltage is lowered. However, when an MEMS structure is accurately manufactured, it is very difficult to manufacture an actuator having a predetermined natural frequency due to a deviation in process. Also, a change in the resonant frequency may occur according to a change of surrounding environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,325 discloses a method of controlling a resonant frequency of an MEMS type optical scanner. That is, after a plurality of tuning tabs are installed at an edge portion of a stage, the tab is removed by a laser trimming or mechanical force while a frequency is measured, so that the weight of a mirror body is reduced. Thus, by increasing the frequency, the optical scanner is driven at a resonant frequency.


A gear shift control system for vehicles is provided which mathematically calculates a rate of deceleration of the vehicle equipped an automatic transmission upon start of deceleration of the vehicle and inhibits the automatic transmission from upshifting or changes a permissible gear shift range of the automatic transmission as a function of the rate of deceleration of the vehicle, thereby ensuring a desired degree of braking force including an engine braking force while the vehicle is decelerating.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gear shift control system for an automatic transmission for vehicles, and more particularly to such a control system designed to control an operation of the automatic transmission when it is required to decelerate the vehicle.
2. Background Art
Usually, an internal combustion engine in automotive vehicles is rotated in a selected one of multiple gear ranges in order to drive road wheels of the vehicle at a desired torque. Specifically, the vehicle has an automatic transmission disposed between a drive shaft and the wheels to provide a given torque to the wheels either in a low-speed range or in a high-speed range
Typical automatic transmissions work to automatically change gear ratios as a function of relation of the position of an accelerator operated by the driver of the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle to transmit torque, as outputted by the internal combustion engine, to the wheels. For instance, the automatic transmission is, as demonstrated in FIG. 14, designed to change the gear ratios at the time when the relation (i.e., a locus) between the position of the accelerator and the speed of the vehicle meets one of upshift gear shift lines US or downshift gear shift lines DS prepared one for each of a set of gear ranges (see Japanese Patent First Publication listed below). The automatic transmission, as taught in this publication, is engineered to inhibit an upshift thereof (i.e., fix a selected one of the gear ranges) or establish a downshift by one gear to enhance the efficiency of engine braking when the vehicle is running on an slope.    Japanese Patent First Publication No. 10-238621.
The driver of the vehicle, as demonstrated by a speed reduction locus DT in FIG. 14, may release the accelerator pedal suddenly for some reason while the vehicle is accelerating, and then depress the brake pedal strongly to decelerate the vehicle rapidly. This causes the speed reduction locus DT to intersect with the upshift gear shift lines US several times. The automatic transmission, thus, upshifts several times in a gear shift control mode even though the speed of the vehicle is not very high, which results in an increased possibility that the speed of the internal combustion engine falls in an engine stall range. Additionally, the speed reduction locus DT also intersects with the downshift gear shift lines DS several times to establish the downshift of the automatic transmission. This results in sequential application of sudden engine braking to the vehicle, which will give occupants of the vehicle an uncomfortable ride and also lead to a bad maneuverability of the vehicle.
When the vehicle is decelerating on a slope, the gear shift control system, as taught in the above publication, works to control the operation of the automatic transmission to provide the engine braking to ensure the continuity of speed reduction control. Specifically, the gear shift control system calculates an inclination of the road and, when the inclination exceeds a given threshold, controls an upshift of the automatic transmission. The gear shift control system also calculates a rate of deceleration of the vehicle and, when such a rate exceeds a given threshold, instructs the automatic transmission to downshift to produce engine braking. Usually, the rate of deceleration is derived by calculating a change in speed of the vehicle for a set period of time. The comparison of the rate of deceleration with the threshold is, therefore, made after a lapse of the set period of time following the start of deceleration of the vehicle. This may cause the automatic transmission to upshift or downshift undesirably depending upon the relation between the speed of the vehicle and the position of the accelerator pedal, which may result in a lack of braking force when the vehicle has started decelerating suddenly during acceleration.
It is, therefore, an object to provide a gear shift control system for an automatic transmission which is mounted in a vehicle along with a power source such as an internal combustion engine or an electric motor and designed to inhibit the automatic transmission from shifting gear ratios undesirably frequently, avoid the stall of the power source without sacrificing a comfortable ride and maneuverability of the vehicle.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a gear shift control system for an automatic transmission mounted in a vehicle to transmit torque, as produced by a power source, to a wheel of the vehicle. The gear shift control system comprises: (a) a speed determiner which works to determine a speed of the vehicle; (b) a deceleration detector which detects deceleration of the vehicle when a braking force is being applied to the wheel; (c) a braking force determiner which determines the braking force applied to the wheel when the deceleration detector is detecting the deceleration of the vehicle; (d) a deceleration determiner which determines a deceleration of the vehicle as a function of the speed of the vehicle, as determined by the speed determiner, and the braking force, as determined by the braking force determiner; and (e) a gear shift controller which determines whether the deceleration of the vehicle, as determined by the deceleration determiner, is greater than a given deceleration threshold. When the deceleration of the vehicle is determined to be greater than the given deceleration threshold, the gear shift controller inhibits the automatic transmission from upshifting gears thereof.
In the first preferred mode of the invention, the vehicle is equipped with a brake pedal which is responsive to depression thereof to produce the braking force. The gear shift control system further includes an amount-of-braking effort determiner which works to determine an amount by which the brake pedal is depressed. The deceleration detector detects the deceleration of the vehicle when the braking force is being applied to the wheel in response to the depression of the brake pedal. The braking force determiner calculates the braking force applied to the wheel when the deceleration detector is detecting the deceleration of the vehicle as a function of the speed of the vehicle, as determined by the speed determiner, and the amount by which the brake pedal is depressed, as determined by the amount-of-braking effort determiner.
In the second preferred mode of the invention, the vehicle is equipped with an accelerator pedal which is responsive to depression thereof to accelerate the vehicle. The gear shift control system may further include an amount-of-acceleration determiner which works to determine an amount by which the accelerator pedal is depressed. The deceleration detector may detect the deceleration of the vehicle when the braking force is being applied to the wheel in response to release of the accelerator pedal. The braking force determiner may calculate the braking force applied to the wheel which arises from the release of the accelerator pedal.
In the third preferred mode of the invention, the vehicle may be equipped with either or both an internal combustion engine and an electric generator which serve to produce the braking force applied to the wheel. The braking force determiner may determine one or the sum of an engine braking force, as produced by the internal combustion engine, and a regenerative braking force, as produced by the electric generator, as the braking force applied to the wheel.
In the fourth preferred mode of the invention, the braking force determiner may determine a regenerative electric energy which is produced by the electric generator and being charged in a storage battery mounted in the vehicle and calculate the regenerative braking force based on the determined regenerative electric energy to determine the braking force.
In the fifth preferred mode of the invention, the given deceleration threshold may be set to change to have one of a plurality of values as a function of the speed of the vehicle. The plurality of values are different from each other. When the deceleration of the vehicle is determined to be greater than a greatest one of the values, the gear shift controller may inhibit the automatic transmission from upshifting gears thereof. When the deceleration of the vehicle is determined to be greater than one of the values other than the greatest one, the gear shift controller permits the automatic transmission from upshifting in a range of a given number of gear ratios. The smaller the values, the greater the given number of gear ratios.

Gear shift control system for automatic transmission


A method is provided for identifying non-local relationships between licensing elements in a text segment and a word or phrase external to the text segment during a syntactic parse. Under the method, certain syntactic rules for combining words or phrases with text segments indicate that there is a possibility that the word or phrase being combined with the text segment will fill a gap in a relationship within the text segment. Based on this possibility, the text segment is searched to determine if there are any unfilled gaps in the text segment. Under some embodiments, if an unfilled gap is found, the location of the gap and the role the word or phrase plays in the gap are stored in a data structure associated with the syntactic node formed by combining the word or phrase with the text segment.

The present invention relates to natural language processing. In particular, the present invention relates to syntactic parsing of text.
A natural language parser is a program that takes a text segment, usually a sentence, of natural language (i.e., human language, such as English) and produces a data structure, usually referred to as a parse tree. This parse tree typically represents the syntactic relationships between the words in the input segment.
In general, natural language parsers build the parse trees by applying syntax rules to the input text segment. Parsers apply these rules in either a "top-down" or a "bottom-up" manner.
In a bottom-up parser, all of the possible parts of speech for the individual words of the input text are first identified to form a set of word tokens. The parser then attempts to combine the individual word tokens into larger syntactic structures, such as noun phrases and verb phrases, by applying syntax rules to the tokens. The resulting larger structures represent candidate nodes for the parse tree. The parser continues to try to build larger and larger structures by applying syntactic rules to previously identified candidate nodes. A full parse is achieved when a node spans the entire text segment.
Many syntax rules encode grammatical relations between the nodes that they combine into a larger segment. For instance, in the sentence "Joe likes Mary", the syntax rule which combines the verb phrase "likes" with the noun phrase "Mary" to form a larger verb phrase will also identify the noun phrase as the direct object of the verb phrase. However, relationships between nodes that do not appear near each other are typically not identified in the parse. For instance, in the question "Who does Joe like?", the word "who" is interpreted as the direct object of the verb "like". However, because "who" is separated from "like" by the words "does Joe", most syntactic parsers would typically not identify the non-local relationship between "who" and "like".
In extreme cases, the distance that may be between words that are involved in a non-local relationship is unlimited. Such relationships are known as unbounded dependencies.
Although a valid syntactic parse can be formed without identifying these non-local relationships, the relationships must be identified when constructing a representation of the argument structure, or logical form, for the text. As is well known in the art, a logical form is a more generalized version of the syntactic parse that shows the basic argument structure of the text without being affected by how the components of the argument structure are expressed in the text. Thus, the sentence "I bought the book" and "The book was bought by me" would have the same logical form but different syntactic parses.
In most systems, logical forms are constructed by identifying relationships within clauses of the text, and between any clauses and the clauses that are subordinate to it. Thus, relationships that hold between one clause and a superordinate clause or between an element in one clause and an element in some superordinate clause present an exception to normal logical form processing. To deal with these non-local relationships, the logical form systems must implement special rules that search for relationships that extend beyond clause boundaries.
To overcome this problem, some prior art syntactic parsers introduce empty elements after words in sentences that can be in non-local relationships and that are missing a neighboring word needed to complete a relationship locally. Each empty element is indexed and this index is passed upward in the parse tree as larger structures are built with the empty element. Eventually, the index is used by a rule to link the empty element with the word or phrase that the empty element represents in the parse.
One problem with using empty elements is that it greatly increases the number of hypotheses that must be considered during syntactic parsing, because each empty element represents an additional word that must be parsed.
Thus, a syntactic parser is needed that can identify non-local relationships in an input sentence without increasing the number of hypotheses generated during a parse.

Method and apparatus for determining unbounded dependencies during syntactic parsing


An ink composition includes an at least partially intercalated metal oxide colorant and an ink vehicle.

The present disclosure relates generally to ink compositions and to method(s) for forming the same.
Digital printing is a process by which information, in textual and/or graphical form, is transferred from a digital storage device (e.g., a computer), and is established, via a printer, as an image on a print surface. Digital printing may be accomplished using an inkjet printing method, which is a non-impact printing method where droplets of ink are deposited on the print media to form the desired image.
Several inks, including, but not limited to, pigment-based inks and dye-based inks, have been used for digital inkjet printing processes. Metallic inks (e.g., gold, silver, copper, etc.) may be used for producing digital images having a brilliant metallic luster, and for producing elements in electrical and/or optical display applications. The metallic inks, however, may potentially exhibit poor stability and jettability due, at least in part, to relatively large particle size(s) of the metallic luster imparting component, and the tendency of the particles to agglomerate and/or settle.

Ink composition and method for forming the same

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A system and method for recalling and utilizing location data are presented. A connection between a device and a vehicle is detected. After the connection is detected, a first set of data stored on the device is identified. The first set of data includes a last known location of the vehicle. A current value of a vehicle sensor is compared to a historical value of the vehicle sensor. The historical value was captured from the vehicle sensor at about a time the first set of data was stored on the device. When the current value of the vehicle sensor is the same as the historical value of the vehicle sensor, the first set of data is used to define a current location of the vehicle.

Many vehicles today include navigation systems that assist a user in navigating to a desired destination. The navigation systems generally use radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted from external sources (e.g., global positioning system (GPS) satellites) to determine the vehicle's current location. Using that current location, the navigation system can then calculate a route to a desired location and assist the user in navigating along that route.
In some cases, to enable navigation services, the vehicle is interconnected with a device, for example, a smartphone or other mobile device, with a vehicle. These systems, though, are generally not useful beyond providing a map and directions for proceeding from a starting point to an end point. Thus, there is a need for device applications that are useful not only for navigation to a point of interest (POI) but also allow the user of the device to store information, such as the location where the vehicle is parked, for how long the vehicle has been parked in the case of a metered space, and the direction of a POI relative to the location of the vehicle.

System and method for storing and recalling location data


In one embodiment of the present invention, a device for delivering an embolization coil into a microcatheter for deployment of the embolization coil from the microcatheter into a body vessel of a patient is provided. The device comprises a cannula that has a proximal portion extending to a distal portion. The cannula has a lumen formed through the proximal and distal portions. The distal portion has a distal tip that is formed from metal and is configured to interface with the microcatheter for advancing the embolization coil from the lumen into the microcatheter. The proximal portion is at least partially formed of a transparent material for viewing into the lumen to facilitate delivery of the embolization coil into the microcatheter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical devices. More particularly, the invention relates to occluding devices for occluding fluid flow through a body vessel.
2. Background of the Invention
Embolization coils have been used to stop undesired blood flow, such as for example, in the treatment of aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, traumatic fistulae and tumor embolization. These conditions require that the blood flow through a portion of a body vessel be stopped, for example by introducing an artificial device into the vessel to slow the flow, and by letting the natural clotting process form a more complete blockage of the blood vessel with a clot.
Embolization coils can be used to form a blockage in a vein or artery to treat conditions like those listed in the foregoing paragraph. These devices have become increasingly common in procedures to block the flow of blood by promoting formation of a clot in a desired location. Embolization coils may be made from a bio-compatible material, such as platinum, to minimize the problems associated with tissue irritation and rejection. These coils typically have a pre-coiled tension that correspondingly shapes the coil upon deployment as a complex three dimensional curvy structure that fill in portions of the body vessel and slow blood flow therein. Often, polymeric fibers are added to the metallic coils to enhance the coil's thrombogenicity, which is the coil's ability to promote formation of clots.
Embolization coils are typically introduced into a body vessel by using a microcatheter which extends from a proximal point outside of the patient's body to a distal point near the embolization site. A loading device, e.g., a metal introducer sheath or cannula, containing the embolization coil is used to carry and protect the coil prior to transferring the embolization coil to the microcatheter for introduction into the patient. Typically, the loading device may have a small metal stopper or wire stopper that is used to hold the embolization coil within the loading device during packaging and shipping. When the interventionalist is ready to transfer the embolization coil to the microcatheter, she removes the stopper to release the coil into the microcatheter. Sometimes, however, the embolization coil falls out of the loading device prior to being transferred to the microcatheter. If the interventionalist is unaware that the loading device is empty, the occluding procedure may be temporarily performed on the patient without using the embolization coil until the interventionalist realizes the mishap. This will prolong the procedure and possibly present an unnecessary risk to the patient. Accordingly, further improvements and enhances to a device for transferring an embolization coil to a microcatheter for introduction into a patient are desirable.

Loading device for delivering an embolization coil into a microcatheter


The invention relates to an optical transceiver system for use in a host device including an optical transceiver receptacle or cage with a heat dissipating structure mounted thereon. The heat dissipating structure is electronically powered by an external source in the host device, which are electrically connected by insertion of a transceiver module into the transceiver receptacle. The present invention enables optical transceivers to support very high data rates, e.g. >8 Gb/s, while still supporting very high density applications, e.g. SFF/SFP. Actuating features on the transceiver module and cage enable the heat dissipating structure to be turned on when the transceiver module is fully inserted into the cage, and turned off when the transceiver module is removed or at least partially removed from the cage.

Typically the size of optical transceiver modules are chosen by multiple suppliers in a consortium known as a multi-sourcing agreement (MSA). The MSA determines the specifications of the transceiver after considerable engineering effort is expended. Attributes, such as the physical size, are determined by the power dissipation of the module and typical customer cooling capabilities. Other factors contributing to the design process include the maturity of the internal technology needed to build the module, i.e. newer technology tend to be smaller and consume less power, but are less likely to be readily available in the marketplace quickly.
Currently, optical transceivers with data rates up to 4 Gb/s are packaged in small form factor (SFF or SFP) packages, while optical transceivers with higher data rates, e.g. 10 Gb/s, are in larger packages, such as XFP, X2, and XENPAK. A conventional XFP arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 1, in which an XFP transceiver module 1 is plugged into a host cage assembly 2 mounted on a host circuit board 3. The host cage assembly 2 includes a front bezel 4, a cage receptacle 5, and a host electrical connector 6. The transceiver module 1 is inserted through an opening in the front bezel 4, and through an open front of the cage receptacle 5, until an electrical connector on the transceiver module 1 engages the host electrical connector 6. The cage receptacle 5 has an opening 7 in the upper wall thereof through which a heat sink 8 extends into contact with the transceiver module 1 for dissipating heat therefrom. A clip 9 is provided for securing the heat sink 8 to the cage receptacle 5 and thereby into contact with the transceiver module 1. With this arrangement, the heat sink 8 can be changed to suit the owners' individual needs without changing the basic transceiver module 1.
Currently, there is motivation in the industry to extend the SFF/SFP package to 8 Gb/s or even higher data rates; however, considerable concern has been expressed on both temperature and EMI performance as well as how the large power consumption will limit the density of usage and/or the number of reaches (LR, ER, etc) available.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcoming of the prior art by providing an optical transceiver arrangement that will support both very high data rates and very high density applications.

Heat dissipating cages for optical transceiver systems


A Hard Disk Drive anti-shock and anti-vibration device and a Data Storage Device consisting of a HDD and the HDD anti-shock and anti-vibration device are described. The HDD anti-shock and anti-vibration device includes a packaging paper and foam. The foam is adhered on the packaging paper. When this packaging paper, with the foam adhering onto it, is folded, it can wrap the HDD in the foam. This HDD anti-shock and anti-vibration device can prevent the HDD from damage when the HDD is accidentally dropped or bumped and has excellent anti-shock and anti-vibration effects.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hard disk drive anti-shock and anti-vibration device, and more particularly, to a data storage device consisting of a hard disk drive and a hard disk drive anti-shock and anti-vibration device.
(2) Description of the Related Art
As technology advances, it is increasingly important to properly store and transfer information. At present, this information storage and transfer are often carried out using a hard disk drive (HDD), especially Mobile HDD's. This is because a HDD has large capacity and fast data transfer, two important advantages compared to other data storage products. However, since Mobile HDD's will be moved around during usage, they can easily be dropped or bumped. This will cause damage to the HDD and, hence, the loss of important information or data stored in it.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,360 to Kacseus, Sr. et al shows a foam enclosure in a shock resistant module housing for a hard disk drive. U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,374 to Sherry discloses insulator foam or other resilient material around a HDD to reduce shock. U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,532 (Boulay et al) describes mounting plates of a viscoelastic material having aligned ventilation holes for cooling. U.S. Pat. No. 7,009,835 (Desai et al) discloses an elastic envelope that holds open-cell foam, a viscous liquid, and a compressible gas around a HDD. U.S. Pat. No. 7,012,805 (Shah et al) says that a portable disk drive should be able to survive multiple drops of 36″ onto a hard surface.


An apparatus and method determines the position of a point on a work implement attached to and movable relative to a mobile machine. The apparatus includes a site coordinate system position sensor mounted on the mobile machine, a ground speed sensor mounted on the mobile machine, an implement position sensor mounted on the mobile machine and coupled to the work implement, and a pitch sensor mounted on the machine. A controller is adapted to receive a reference point position signal from the site coordinate system position sensor, the reference point position signal being indicative of a position of a reference point on the mobile machine in a site coordinate system, to receive an implement position signal from the implement position sensor, a ground speed signal from the ground speed sensor and a pitch signal from the pitch sensor, and to determine the position of the point on the work implement in site coordinates compensating for the pitch of the machine and the translational movement of the machine as a function of the reference point position signal, the implement position signal, the ground speed signal, and the pitch signal.

Computer-based aids for earthmoving machines are becoming more common. For example, systems are being developed which utilize the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites for determining the position of the machine and even the position of an earthmoving tool.
Other systems compile a data base of this position information. The database is continuously updated as the earthmoving machine modifies the site. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,494, issued to Henderson. The system disclosed by Henderson displays the vehicle on a video screen to aid the operator in operation of the machine. The database may include information related to the site, such as the position of points or sections of the work site in a site coordinate system.
As the earthmoving machine modifies the site, the site surface changes and the database must be updated. Positioning systems, such as GPS, may be used to determine the position of points located on the new or modified site surface.
Problems are encountered in such systems when attempting to determine the position in site coordinates of points on the site surface to an acceptable accuracy. For example, a GPS receiver determines the position of the GPS antenna, not the site surface. The accuracy of any position estimate for the site surface based solely on GPS will be inaccurate because the machine is moving, the machine is pitched and rolled with respect to the site surface, and there is a time lag between the time when a position estimate is accurate and the time the estimate is received.
The present invention is aimed at solving one or more of the problems as set forth above.

Apparatus and method for determining the position of a point on a work implement attached to and movable relative to a mobile machine


A rate adaptive digital subscriber line (XDSL) communication system and method are disclosed. An XDSL link for XDSL equipment is trained at a data rate set by a baud rate and a constellation size. Actual operating characteristics of the XDSL equipment are then obtained from parameters for the trained XDSL link. One or more rate adaptive data tables storing empirical data for performance of the XDSL equipment are accessed. Then, it is determined whether the trained data rate will provide a desired bit error rate using the actual operating characteristics and the empirical data from the accessed one or more of the rate adaptive data tables. In one embodiment, if the trained data rate will not provide the desired bit error rate, a new data rate is selected using the empirical data and the actual operating characteristics. Then, the XDSL link is trained using the new data rate, and the process is repeated. Further, in one embodiment, the actual operating characteristics used comprise the actual receiver gain and signal-to-noise ratio, and the empirical data comprises specified receiver gains, signal-to-noise ratios, baud rates and constellation sizes used to achieve a desired bit error rate.

In XDSL communication systems, there can be provisions made for adapting the rate at which data is communicated across the XDSL link. Rate Adaptive DSL (RADSL) is one example of such a system. In general, the data rate across an XDSL link is determined by the baud rate and the number of bits per symbol, or constellation. Thus, the data rate can be adjusted by adjusting either the baud rate or the size of the constellation.
Typically, conventional XDSL chip sets implement rate adaptive algorithms that provide a choice of rate based solely upon the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, these schemes typically take too long to functions. Further, they often do not work because a given signal-to-noise ratio does not guarantee the desired performance (e.g., 10.sup.-7 bit error rate) at the desired rate. This is true in part because the chip set is assuming performance based upon relatively constant noise, when, in fact, real world physical connections do not typically experience constant patterns of noise. Thus, the conventional rate adaptive algorithms are incorrect on some types of noise models and do not accurately select the appropriate rate.

Rate adaptive XDSL communication system and method


A method and apparatus are provided for providing a packet data service in an asynchronous Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system. A combination of physical channel elements are determined based on combinations of physical channel elements and a first Puncturing Limit (PL). Packet data is transmitted using the determined physical channel elements. A second PL is used for a maximum combination of physical channel elements when no combination of physical channel elements are available to satisfy the first PL.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to asynchronous Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) communications, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for efficiently determining and transmitting control information required for transmitting Enhanced Uplink Dedicated Channel (EUDCH or E-DCH) data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service (UMTS) system is a 3G (3rd Generation) mobile communication system which is based on Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications (i.e., a European mobile communication system), and uses WCDMA technology. The UMTS system provides consistent services enabling mobile phone and computer users to perform packet-based transmissions of text, digitized voice, video, and multimedia data at a high rate of more than 2 Mbps no matter where in the world they are located. The UNITS system uses a concept called a "virtual connection" which is a packet-switched connection using a packet protocol such as the Internet Protocol (IP), and which is always available to any other end point in the network.
The UMTS system uses an Enhanced Dedicated Channel (E-DCH) to enhance packet transmission performance in uplink communication from User Equipment (UE) to a Node B (also referred to as a base station). The E-DCH, which is enhanced from the general DCH to support more stable high-speed data transmission, is a transport channel supporting technologies such as Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC), Hybrid Automatic Retransmission Request (HARQ), and Node B controlled scheduling.
The AMC is a technology for increasing the utilization efficiency of a data channel by adaptively determining different modulation and coding schemes of the data channel according to channel states between a Node B and a UE. The AMC uses Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) levels indicating various combinations of modulation and coding schemes. The AMC increases overall channel utilization efficiency by adaptively determining the MCS level according to the channel state between the Node B and the UE.
The HARQ is a technique in which a data packet is retransmitted for error compensation if an error occurs in an initially transmitted data packet. The receiver receives and decodes the retransmitted packet by soft-combining it with the initially received data packet. The HARQ technique can be classified into Chase Combining (CC), in which the same bits as those of the initially transmitted packet are retransmitted when an error occurs in the initially transmitted packet, and Incremental Redundancy (IR) in which different bits from those of the initially transmitted packet are retransmitted when an error occurs in the initially transmitted packet.
The Node B controlled scheduling is a technique used for data transmission using an E-DCH in a system with the E-DCH established. In this technique, a Node B determines a maximum allowed data rate of a UE and determines if the UE is permitted to transmit uplink data, and informs the UE of the determination. Based on the determination information received from the Node B, the UE determines a possible uplink E-DCH data rate. When this technique is used, an MCS level is adaptively determined based on channel states between the UE and the Node B to increase channel utilization efficiency.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating data transmission through an E-DCH in a radio link.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 110 denotes a Node B supporting the E-DCH, and reference numerals 101, 102, 103 and 104 are UEs receiving E-DCH signals. The Node B 110 detects channel states of the E-DCHs used by the UEs 101 to 104, and schedules data transmission of each of the UEs. To increase the overall system performance, this scheduling is performed in such a manner that a low data rate is allocated to the UE 104 furthest from the Node B 110, and a high data rate is allocated to the UE 101 near the Node B 110, while preventing a Rise Over Thermal (ROT) value of the Node B 110 from exceeding a target value.
FIG. 2 is a message flow diagram illustrating the procedure for transmission and reception through an E-DCH.
First, at step 203, the Node B 201 and the UE 202 set up an E-DCH there between. This setup procedure includes the transmission of messages through a dedicated transport channel. If the E-DCH is set up, the UE 202 notifies the Node B 201 of state information (i.e., scheduling information) at step 204. This state information includes, for example, the amount of data awaiting transmission stored in a buffer, available UE transmit power, and UE transmit power information indicating uplink channel information.
The Node B 201 and receives monitors the state information of the UE 202 at step 211. At step 211, the Node B 201 schedules the UE 202 to perform uplink packet transmission, and transmits scheduling assignment information to the UE 202. The scheduling assignment information includes a data rate, transmission timing, etc.
Using the scheduling allocation information, the UE 202 determines, at step 212, a Transport Format (TF) of an E-DCH for transmission in the uplink, and transmits the determined TF information to the Node B at step 206 and also transmits uplink (UL) data to the Node B at step 207 through the E-DCH. The TF information includes a Transport Format Resource Indicator (TFRI) that indicates information required to demodulate the E-DCH. The UE 202 performs the uplink data transmission of step 207 based on an MCS level selected according to the channel state and the data rate allocated by the Node B 201.
At step 213, the Node B 201 determines if an error exists in the data and the TFRI received from the UE 202. At step 208, the Node B 201 transmits Non-Acknowledgement (NACK) information to the UE 202 through an ACK/NACK channel if an error exists, and transmits Acknowledgement (ACK) information to the UE 202 through an ACK/NACK channel if no error exists. If the ACK information is transmitted to the UE 202, the data transmission is completed, so that the UE 202 transmits new user data to the Node B 201 through the E-DCH. On the other hand, if the NACK information is transmitted to the UE 202, the UE 202 retransmits data containing the same contents as transmitted at step 207 to the Node B 201 through the E-DCH.
Since the UE uses a different MCS level in each transmission through the E-DCH, and uses different Spreading Factors (SFs) according to the size of data to transmit, the Node B must normally acquire control information (i.e., TFRI) of packets of uplink data to normally demodulate the uplink data.
The TFRI information required to demodulate the uplink data includes a Modulation Format (MF), a Spreading Factor (SF), and a Transport Block Size (TBS) of the uplink data. The E-DCH transmission employs modulation formats such as Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), Quadrature PSK (QPSK) and 8-ray PSK (8-PSK) because it is very important to decrease Peak to Average power Ratio (PAR) in the E-DCH transmission. The E-DCH transmission can use a variety of Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factors (OVSF) in the uplink because there is no limitation on the use of code resources in the uplink. The E-DCH transmission provides a peak data rate of 2 Mbps, and supports various TBSs to provide various services.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for providing uplink packet data service in asynchronous WCDMA system


Methods are described of evaluating the genuineness of a sample presented for biometric evaluation. The sample is illuminated under distinct optical conditions. Light scattered from the sample is received. Multiple images are formed, each image being formed from the received light for one of the optical conditions. A set of texture measures is generated, each texture measure being generated from one of the images. It is determined whether the generated texture measures is consistent with the sample being authentic unconcealed biological tissue.

This application relates generally to biometrics. More specifically, this applications relates to methods and systems for detecting attempts to spoof biometric systems.
"Biometrics" refers generally to the statistical analysis of characteristics of living bodies. One category of biometrics includes "biometric identification," which commonly operates under one of two modes to provide automatic identification of people or to verify purported identities of people. Biometric sensing technologies measure he physical features or behavioral characteristics of a person and compare those features to similar prerecorded measurements to determine whether there is a match. Physical features that are commonly used for biometric identification include faces, irises, hand geometry, vein structure, and fingerprint patterns, which is the most prevalent of all biometric-identification features. Current methods for analyzing collected fingerprints include optical, capacitive, radio-frequency, thermal, ultrasonic, and several other less common techniques.
Most of the fingerprint-collection methods rely on measuring characteristics of the skin at or very near the surface of a finger. In particular, optical fingerprint readers typically rely on the presence or absence of a difference in the index of refraction between the sensor platen and the finger placed on it. When the angle of light at an interface is greater than the critical angle and an air-filled valley of the fingerprint is present at a particular location of the platen, total internal reflectance ("TIR") occurs in the platen because of the air-platen index difference. Alternatively, if skin of the proper index of refraction is in optical contact with the platen, the TIR at this location is "frustrated," allowing light to traverse the platen-skin interface. A map of the differences in TIR across the region where the finger is touching the platen forms the basis for a conventional optical fingerprint reading. There are a number of optical arrangements used to detect this variation of the optical interface in both bright-field and dark-field optical arrangements. Commonly, a single quasimonochromatic beam of light is used to perform this TIR-based measurement.
There also exists non-TIR optical fingerprint sensors. Some non-TIR contact sensors rely on some arrangement of quasimonochromatic light to illuminate the front, sides, or back of a fingertip, causing the light to diffuse through the skin. The fingerprint image is formed because of the differences in light transmission through the finger and across the skin-platen interface for the ridge and valleys. The difference in optical transmission at the interface is due to changes in the Fresnel reflection characteristics that result from the presence or absence of intermediate air gaps in the valleys. Some non-TIR sensors are non-contact sensors, which use polarized light to image the surface features of the finger. In some cases the imaging system may include a linear polarizer and the illumination light may be polarized in parallel and perpendicular directions to provide two images, which are then combined in some manner to enhance the surface features of the finger.
Although optical fingerprint readers based on TIR phenomena are one of the most commonly deployed types of fingerprint sensors, they are susceptible to image-quality problems due to non-ideal conditions. If the skin is overly dry, the index match with the platen will be compromised, resulting in poor image contrast. Similarly, if the finger is very wet, the valleys may fill with water, causing an optical coupling to occur all across the fingerprint region and greatly reduce image contrast. Similar effects may occur if the pressure of the finger on the platen is too little or too great, the skin or sensor is dirty, the skin is aged and/or worn, or overly fine features are present such as may be the case for certain ethnic groups and in very young children. These effects decrease image quality and thereby decrease the overall performance of the fingerprint sensor. In one recent study, 16% of fingerprint images were found to be of suboptimal image quality as a result of these effects. In some cases, commercial optical fingerprint readers incorporate a thin membrane of soft material such as silicone to help mitigate some of these effects and restore performance. As a soft material, the membrane is subject to damage, wear, and contamination, limiting the use of the sensor before it requires maintenance.
Biometric sensors, particularly fingerprint biometric sensors, are generally prone to being defeated by various forms of spoof samples. In the case of fingerprint readers, a variety of methods are known in the art for presenting readers with a fingerprint pattern of an authorized user that is embedded in some kind of inanimate material such as paper, gelatin, epoxy, latex, or the like. Thus, even if a fingerprint reader can be considered to reliably determine the presence or absence of a matching fingerprint pattern, it is also critical to the overall system security to ensure that the matching pattern is being acquired from a genuine, living finger, which is difficult to ascertain with many existing sensors.
There is accordingly a general need in the art for improved biometric sensing techniques resistant to spoofing.

Comparative texture analysis of tissue for biometric spoof detection


An endoscopic or laparoscopic surgical instrument having an internally disposed locking mechanism located within a barrel portion of a handle assembly. The instrument includes a handle assembly having a pivoting handle and a stationary handle, a barrel portion to which an elongated body assembly is secured, and a locking mechanism for releasably positioning a tool mechanism located at the distal end of the body assembly. In one embodiment the locking mechanism comprises a trigger, a brake and a latch spring. In another embodiment the locking mechanism comprises a latch spring and a locking block. A rotational knob and locking member may also be provided to position the body assembly at various orientations to the longitudinal axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surgical instruments, and more particularly relates to a handle for an endoscopic or laparoscopic surgical instrument having a novel locking mechanism which is internally disposed within the handle to provide for incremental positioning of the jaw members of a surgical instrument in relation to each other. The positioning and subsequent release of the jaw members is accomplished through the provision of a trigger mechanism disposed within the handle.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In the prior art, various endoscopic surgical instruments are disclosed which utilize generally complex mechanisms for opening and closing handle members which actuate jaw members to facilitate use of the device at a surgical site. Many devices provide an intricate construction in which a linkage mechanism for opening and closing the jaws requires numerous moving parts, while a sliding arrangement is provided between two extended rod members to activate the linkage mechanism in response to movement of the handle members. In addition, pivoting of the handle members in many cases causes an unwanted radial torquing force on the rod which requires additional space to be provided in the handle members to accommodate the deflected radial movement of the rod.
Furthermore, it is often necessary for the surgeon, or an assistant, to maintain a constant force on the handles to keep the jaw mechanism closed in the event that the instrument is a grasping or gripping device such as forceps, needle holders, or retractors. This limits the surgeon's range, and in the case of an assistant, often requires additional personnel to be present in the operating room, thus restricting movement in an already confining location. To alleviate this problem, it has been known to provide locking mechanisms on the handles of the surgical instruments which allow the surgeon to lock or clamp the jaw members in place to free his hands to operate additional instruments during the course of the operation. Furthermore, this frees the surgical assistant to support the surgeon and eliminates the need for additional assistants. Typical locking devices include arm members which extend between the handles so that a series of ridges or ribs on each arm member engage corresponding ridges on the opposite arm to lock the handles in position. Bending one arm in relation to the other releases the locking mechanism.
A disadvantage associated with these devices concerns the release of the locking mechanism for subsequent movement of the jaw members to remove or reposition the instrument. Generally, the arm members of locking mechanisms are constructed of a resilient material, such as stainless steel or rigid plastic, and the locking forces which hold the arm members in engagement are generated by the natural flexing and biasing of the material of which the arm members are constructed. To release the locking mechanism, the arms must be disengaged by overcoming the locking forces of the arms. Typically, this is accomplished by manually flexing the arms away from each other, necessitating the use of two hands, one to grasp the instrument, and the other to forcibly move the arm members. This, of course, requires the surgeon (or assistant) to cease what he is doing and release the mechanism, thus reducing the effectiveness of the surgeon during the operation, particularly in an emergency situation.
Finally, locking mechanisms located on the handles require special care in sterilization, packaging and storage, as well as in normal handling in the operation room. Dirt and debris may clog the ribs of the locking mechanism thus reducing its effectiveness, and damage to the ribs during storage or packaging may destroy the ribs, rendering the locking mechanism useless.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,452,373, to Gomez discloses a typical locking mechanism for a surgical instrument, in which a plurality of ribs are provided on an extension of the handle member which engage a similar rib member on the opposite handle. Once engaged, the handles must be moved away from each other perpendicular to their longitudinal axis to disengage the locking mechanism to release the jaw mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,661, to Bogert et al. discloses a surgical instrument having a ratchet mechanism positioned on the handle members which includes a curved rack member attached to one handle member which passes through a slot in the other handle member. A releasable pawl member is provided on the second handle to engage the rack member and provide a means for releasing the ratchet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,027, to Yoon discloses a surgical instrument having a ratchet mechanism positioned between the handle members. A rack member is provided which extends from one handle and passes through a slot in the second handle to lock the handles in place. Pivoting the rack member away from corresponding grooves in the slot will release the ratchet mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,374, to Auburn discloses a surgical instrument having means for positioning and holding the handle members in relation to each other. A rack member is provided on one handle member which extends through a slot in the second handle member in which a releasable pawl mechanism is provided to engage and disengage the rack member.
The novel surgical instrument pursuant to the present invention obviates the disadvantages encountered in the prior art and provides a precise instrument which is easy to manufacture and efficient to use, which eliminates the need for a external locking device and provides for one hand operation of the surgical instrument through manipulation of the opposing handles and a trigger mechanism. The instrument of the present invention incorporates many features which are of use to the surgeon during an operation, including a means for rotating the jaws in relation to the handle if desired, while maintaining a lightweight construction in an easy to handle device in which all of the features may be operated with one hand. Furthermore, the features are positioned so as to provide a maximum line of sight for the surgeon without obstructing the view to the surgical site.


An object of the present invention is to obtain a clear absorbed current image without involving the difference in gain of amplifier between inputs, from absorbed currents detected by using a plurality of probes and to improve measurement efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to specimen inspection equipment for analyzing a semiconductor device or the like and how to make electron beam absorbed current images using the same. For example, the invention relates to the technique of identifying a location of electrical failure in a wiring pattern on a semiconductor device or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device on whose semiconductor surface a circuit is formed, it is becoming more difficult to identify a failure location as the device is becoming finer, so that it takes long time to perform the failure analysis. For the analysis, analysis equipment such as OBIRCH (Optical Beam Induced Resistance Change) equipment, an EB tester, or the like has been used at present.
As a failure analysis on a wiring pattern in the failure analysis on the semiconductor device, in recent years, attention is being paid to the technique of irradiating the surface of the semiconductor device with an electron beam, analyzing current absorbed by the wiring pattern or a secondary signal emitted from the semiconductor device, and forming an image from the current/signal.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-368049 discloses the technique of identifying a failure location in a semiconductor device by bringing probes into contact with both ends or one end of a pattern, scanning the pattern on the semiconductor device with an electron beam, measuring current flowing in the probes, and forming an image.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-296771 discloses the technique of amplifying signals from a plurality of probes, obtaining the difference between the signals, performing a scanning with the differential amplification signals, and displaying an image, and the technique of modulating an electron beam, performing a scanning with the modulated electron beam, and displaying an image.
As described in the conventional techniques, at the time of measuring current outputted from a probe, when one probe is connected to a current amplifier, another probe is grounded, and signals from the probes are measured by the current amplifier, the situation is as follows.
When probes are in contact with both ends of a wiring pattern and a semiconductor device is irradiated/scanned with an electron beam in that state, some of current supplied to the wiring pattern (absorbed current) flows from the point where the electron beam strikes to the ground, and the other flows toward the current amplifier. In this case, the original resistance of the wiring pattern is divided between portions each from the point where the electron beam strikes to the contact point of different one of said probes. The absorbed current supplied from the electron beam to the wiring pattern is bifurcated according to the divided resistance values, and the resultant currents each are passed to either the ground or the current amplifier. With the measuring method, when a failure exists in the wiring pattern, a difference due to the abnormal resistance value can be observed, so that a location of the failure can be identified. However, when the resistance of the pattern is smaller than input impedance of the current amplifier, the absorbed current flows to the ground more than to the current amplifier. When the difference between the resistance of the pattern and input impedance of the current amplifier is large, the difference between absorbed currents each flowing in either the ground or the current amplifier increases, and flow of the absorbed current to the current amplifier is suppressed. Consequently, a wiring pattern having a small resistance value cannot be measured, and a failure location cannot be identified.
Similarly, in the case of the measurement using two probes, inputs of the differential amplifier are connected to the outputs of each amplifier in the conventional configuration. Currents outputted from the probes are amplified by the different amplifiers and, after that, the amplified currents are supplied to the differential amplifier. In this case, the signals which are amplified by the different gain according to the individual difference among the amplifiers connected to the input of the differential amplifier are input to the differential amplifier. As a result, there is a case such that the differential signal between the signals obtained by amplifying the currents input from the probes at their respective different gains is amplified by the differential amplifier, and that a value different from the actual current is measured.
In the case where one of input signals to the differential amplifier is amplified extremely larger than the other signal, the output goes off the scale to the positive or negative side. To avoid such a state of things, the amplifiers have to be adjusted to have the same gain and the same offset. Consequently, measurement itself is also complicated.
Further, since the differential amplifier is used, when the probes come into contact with both ends of a wiring pattern, a loop is formed between input terminals of the differential amplifier through a connection cable from the probes to the input terminals. As the loop is influenced by the magnetic field, in the case where a magnetic shield is not provided, currents determined by both an induced electromotive force generated by the magnetic field and the impedance of the wiring pattern may be directly superimposed as noise upon the signals of the input current from the probes.

Specimen inspection equipment and how to make electron beam absorbed current images

Abstract: In the present invention, a plurality of probes are brought in contact with a specimen. While irradiating the specimen with an electron beam, currents flowing in the probes are measured. Signals from at least two probes are input to a differential amplifier. An output of the differential amplifier is amplified. On the basis of the amplified output and scanning information of the electron beam, an absorbed current image is generated. According to the invention, a clear absorbed current image can be obtained without involving the difference in gain of amplifier between inputs. Thus, measurement efficiency in a failure analysis of a semiconductor device can be improved.


Presented herein is a unified decoder architecture. A system comprises a video decoder, instruction memory, and a host processor. The video decoder decodes the video data encoded with the particular standard. The instruction memory stores a first set of instructions and a second set of instructions. The first set of instructions are for decoding encoded video data according to a first encoding standard. The second set of instruction are for decoding encoded video data according to a second encoding standard. The host processor provides an indication to the video decoder indicating the particular encoding standard. The video decoder executes the first set of instructions if the indication indicates that the particular encoding standard is the first encoding standard and executes the second set of instructions if the indication indicates that the particular encoding standard is the second encoding standard.

A number of different standards exist for encoding video data. In some cases, the video data is also compressed as part of the encoding process. For example, the Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) has devised two such standards commonly known as MPEG-2, and Advanced Video Coding (MPEG-4). Another example of an encoding standard is known as the Digital Video-25 (DV-25).
The encoded video data is decoded by a video decoder. However, a video decoder can receive encoded video data that is encoded with any one of a wide variety of encoding standards. In order to display the video data, the video decoder needs to be able to determine and decode video data that is encoded with any one of the wide variety of encoding standards.
Although some video decoders are capable of decoding video data from multiple formats, the video decoders comprise special hardware dedicated to decoding each one of the wide variety of encoding standards. This is disadvantageous because the additional hardware increases the cost of the decoder system.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with embodiments presented in the remainder of the present application with references to the drawings.


The present invention relates to a dual type flat panel display device and a flexible printed circuit board that is integrated to simultaneously transfer electric signals to both of a light source device and a main display panel. According to one aspect of the present invention, the first flexible printed circuit board includes a first substrate portion, a second substrate portion, a third substrate portion, and a connection substrate portion. The first substrate portion is connected to a main display panel. The second substrate portion is disposed between the main display panel and a backlight unit, and is connected to the first substrate portion. The second substrate portion includes a light source device to transmit light into the backlight unit. The third substrate portion is disposed between the backlight unit and the printed circuit board, and is connected to the printed circuit board. The connection substrate portion connects the second substrate portion to the third substrate portion. The integrated flexible printed circuit board will make it possible to manufacture more compact portable display apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dual type flat panel display device, and more specifically, a dual type flat panel display device and a portable display apparatus using the same, which includes an integrated flexible printed circuit board transferring electrical signals to the flat panel display panel and a light source device mounted in the flat panel display as a backlight unit
2. Description of the Related Art
In the contemporary terminology, a dual type flat panel display device means a flat panel display device including two display panels that display images in opposite directions. The two display panels are usually configured of a main display panel and a sub-display panel. For example, a main display panel is configured of a liquid crystal display device and a sub-display panel is configured of a liquid crystal display device or an organic electro-luminescence display device.
A dual type flat panel display device includes a printed circuit board for driving a main display panel, a first flexible printed circuit board for transferring signals form the printed circuit board to the main display panel to drive the main display panel, and a second flexible printed circuit board transferring signals form the printed circuit board to a sub-display panel to drive the sub-display panel
A flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) is a type of a printed circuit board having flexibility. The flexible printed circuit board has a conductive thin film layer such as copper formed in a pattern on a base film of an insulated resin material, and has a protective film formed on the thin film layer. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a flexible printed circuit board. The flexible printed circuit board is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2005-0064550. According to the disclosure, the flexible printed circuit board is formed with conductive wiring layer 12 and protective film 30 covering wiring layer 12. A part of conductive wiring layer 12 is exposed without protective film 30 (portion a in FIG. 1) for a connection to a terminal of an external device. Conductive wiring layer 12 with a circuit pattern is formed on base film 11.
A dual type flat panel display device has an additional flexible printed circuit board in addition to the first and second flexible circuit board described above. The additional flexible printed circuit board is necessary to connect the printed circuit board to a light source device to provide necessary electrical energy to the light source device. The increased number of flexible printed circuit board, however, makes the structure of portable display apparatus complicated.

Flat panel display device and portable display apparatus using the same


A process for forming a tris-cyclometallated complex comprises the step of reacting;                a) an M(I) complex, wherein M represents Rh or Ir, and said complex comprises at least two ligands and contains at least two alkenyl groups pi-bonded to M, with        b) a heterocyclic compound capable of forming a organometallic cyclometallated complex.

Organometallic cyclometallated complexes of transition metals (e.g. rhodium, iridium, platinum) have become useful materials because of their photophysical and photochemical properties. One especially important application of these compounds are as phosphorescent dopants in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) because of their strong emission from triplet excited states (M. A. Baldo, et al, Appl. Phys. Letters, 75, 4 (1999)). An important class of phosphorescent cyclometallated complexes contain ligands that are at least bidentate wherein one coordination site of the ligand to the metal is through an N atom that is doubly bonded to C or another N atom, usually as part of a heterocyclic ring, and wherein another coordination site of the ligand to the metal is through a C atom. As used herein, the term "organometallic cyclometallated complex" means that at least one of the coordination sites forming the cyclic unit binding the metal atom by at least one ligand must be a metal-carbon bond. The metal-carbon bond is formed in place of a hydrogen-carbon bond of the free ligand before it is complexed. The carbon atom forming the metal carbon bond is usually also doubly bonded to another carbon as in, for example, a phenyl ring or a thienyl ring or furanyl ring. Further the carbon atom forming the metal-carbon bond also is preferably positioned so as to form a five- or six-membered metallacycle including the coordinated N atom of the ligand. A tris-cyclometallated complex has three such ligands. Some examples of iridium(III) organometallic cyclometallated complexes are shown below. It is also possible that the organometallic cyclometallating ligands are not all the same.

Further, there are two isomers, facial and meridional (fac and mer), possible for such complexes having three identical but unsymmetrical bidentate ligands as illustrated below. The facial isomers are typically more desirable in OLED applications because they usually have higher quantum efficiencies.

The usefulness and importance of organometallic cyclometallated complexes of second- and third-row transition metals have necessitated synthetic methods for preparing them more efficiently. Chassot et al., Inorg. Chem., 23, 4249-4253, (1984), have used lithiated ligands with platinum compounds that include leaving groups to form cyclometallated complexes of the ligands with platinum. Jolliet et al., Inorg. Chem., 35, 4883-4888, (1996) also used lithiated ligands to form cyclometallated complexes of the ligands with platinum or palladium, and Lamansky and Thompson, in WO 00/57676, used the same procedure for cyclometallated platinum complexes. These procedures suffer from low yields, as well as the relative instability of and difficulty in handling lithiated organic materials.
Organometallic cyclometallated complexes may also be formed from direct reaction of the cyclometallating ligand, wherein the carbon-hydrogen is activated and replaced by the carbon-metal bond. For example, fac-tris(2-phenylpyridinato-N,C2′)iridium(III), or Ir(ppy)3, was made by reaction of 2-phenylpyridine and tris(acetylacetonate) iridium (Ir(acac)3) in glycerol solvent by K. Dedian et al., Inorg. Chem., 30, 1685 (1991). Stössel and coworkers (WO02060910) further optimized and improved this reaction, but still using the expensive Ir(acac)3 starting material. By reacting less expensive halide complexes of Ir(III) such as iridium(III) chloride hydrate with 2-phenylpyridine in a solvent comprising a 3:1 mixture of 2-ethoxy-ethanol and water, Nonoyama obtained dimeric organometallic cyclometallated complexes such as tetrakis(2-phenyl-pyridinato-N,C2′-) (di-μ-chloro)di-iridium(III). (Ir(ppy)3 was later extracted as a side product in 10% yield from this reaction mixture, K. A. King, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 107, 1431 (1985).) M. G. Colombo, et al., Inorg Chem., 33, 545 (1994), further reacted the above-cited di-iridium complex with a silver salt in neat 2-phenylpyridine to obtain Ir(ppy)3 in 75% yield. Grushin et al., US 2002/0190250, used this process to make additional tris-cyclometallated complexes of Ir(III) having fluorine-substitutions on phenylpyridine and phenylquinoline cyclometallating ligands. H. Konno and Y. Sasaki, Chem. Lett., 32, 252 (2003) found that fac-Ir(ppy)3 could be formed in good yield by the reaction of IrCl3 3H2O with a excess of the ligand under microwave conditions. Many of these processes require a large excess of a ligand since it is employed as the solvent, thereby either consuming valuable material or necessitating a process to recover excess ligand.
Lamasky et al., Inorg. Chem., 40, 1704-1711, (2001), demonstrated yet another process for making tris-cyclometallated iridium complexes. First, a mixed ligand complex, bis(7,8-benzoquinolinato-N,C3′)iridium(III)(acetylacetonate), was made from tetrakis(7,8-benzoquinolinato-N,C3′)(di-μ-chloro)di-iridium(III). Then the bis(7,8-benzoquinolinato-N,C3′)iridium(III)(acetylacetonate) was reacted with additional 7,8-benzoquinoline in refluxing glycerol to produce a mixture of isomers of the tris-cyclometallated complex, tris(7,8-benzoquinolinato-N,C3′)iridium(III). Kamatani et al., US 2003/0068526, have also employed this reaction type for additional cyclometallated iridium complexes. But this process often yields less desirable meridional isomers or mixtures of the facial and meridional isomers of the tris-cyclometallated complexes. This process also requires very long reaction times at elevated temperatures, in the case of many other desired ligands, to completely replace the acetylacetonate or similar anionic bidentate ligand with the desired organometallic cyclometallating ligand. Tamayo et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 125, 7377-7387 (2003), have shown that reaction of dimeric organometallic cyclometallated complexes such as tetrakis(2-phenyl-pyridinato-N,C2′) (di-μ-chloro)di-iridium(III) with sodium carbonate and additional cyclometallating ligand in glycerol can lead to formation of meridional isomers in many cases, while further reaction at higher temperatures results in formation of mostly facial isomer. However, this procedure is inconvenient for facial isomers as it necessitates finding exact conditions for the reaction of each ligand.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,870,054 describes a process for forming organometallic cyclometallated complexes of Ir(III) comprising the step of reacting a halide-containing complex of the metal with a silver salt and a heterocyclic organic ligand compound capable of forming an organometallic cyclometallated complex and in a solvent comprising an organic diol. However, this process fails or works poorly in many cases of desirable ligands. One of the possible reasons for this process not being generally applicable to a wide variety of possible cyclometallating ligands is that the solubility of the intermediate complexes may be too low in these solvents.
B. Schmid, F. Garces, and R. Watts, Inorg. Chem., 33, 9 (1994), describe the preparation of solvento complexes of iridium that additionally comprise cyclometallating ligands. However these materials comprise cationic complexes that are not volatile enough for vapor deposition and therefore are not as useful as tris-cyclometallated complexes for OLED applications.
Commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/879,657, filed on Jun. 29, 2004, describes a process for forming organometallic tris-cyclometallated complexes of Ir(III) or Rh(III) from a complex comprising an Ir (III) or Rh (III) metal ion and two cyclometallated ligands, two monodentate ligands and a counterion. That process requires the formation of a bis-cyclometallated intermediate, which is difficult for certain ligands.
Nakayama and coworkers, WO 2004/043974, describe a process in which a monovalent iridium dinuclear complex, shown below, wherein A represents a non-conjugated diene compound and X represents a halogen atom, is reacted with a heterocyclic compound capable of forming an organometallic cyclometallated complex.

However, the product of this process is a dimeric organometallic cyclometallated complex such as tetrakis(2-phenyl-pyridinato-N,C2′-) (di-μ-chloro)di-iridium(III), and not the desired tris-cyclometallated complex.
Despite the large number of investigations into the synthetic methodology for cyclometallated organometallic complexes, there remains a need for alternative methods that are applicable to a wide range of cyclometallating ligands, especially cyclometallating ligands containing multiple heteroatoms.

Synthesis of organometallic cyclometallated transition metal complexes