This invention pertains to methods and devices for producing products in web form. In particularly advantageous embodiments, the instant invention relates to methods and devices for forming films by coating a coating mass formed from organic raw materials in an aqueous basis onto a reusable transfer support web to form a composite. The composite is then dried and the dried coating transferred onto a intermediate support material. The dried coating and intermediate support material are directed to a winding station. Upon separation from the dried coating, the dried reusable transfer support web may be directed to treatment and cleaning stations and is subsequently reused.

Flat administration forms to be applied in the oral region and on mucous membranes of the mouth are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,858 describes medicament strips based on a gelatin-like material. Also, pharmaceutical products in the form of a film have already been described in the early 70 s. DE-A 24 49 865 described medicinal active substance carriers in the form of a film, containing different active substances and active substance concentrations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,445 discloses technical solutions in loading of carrier material with active substances and, in this context, goes into the subsequent addition of active substance preparations by applying them onto pre-fabricated film-shaped preparations. The document describes loading methods in dry and moist form aiming at achieving a uniform, subsequent distribution of active substance on a layer.
Canadian patent application No. 492 040 describes a process for manufacture of film-shaped preparations employing active substance along with gelatin, agar, gluten, carboxyvinyl polymer, polyhydric alcohol, vegetable mucilage, wax or water.
Also known are proposals for application of active substance-loaded films or foils outside the pharmaceutical field. Thus, in EP-A 219 762 a water-soluble film of starch, gelatin, glycerol or sorbite is disclosed, which is coated using the roll coating method. In this connection, it is stated that such dosing forms may also be produced employing ingredients of chemical reagents, aromatics and the like.
DE-A 36 30 603 provides for a flat dosage form, on a carrier material (release film), to be peelable in doses.
Drug containing film-shaped systems and their advantages are further known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,244. These systems comprise a double-layered structure of a water swellable layer and a non-water-swellable barrier film. The use of polymers such as polyethylene glycol, the use of colloidal silicon dioxide, of bioadhesive (e.g. carboxy-functional) polymers, but also of polyvinyl alcohol, and of a number of other auxiliary substances is likewise known from the above publication.
A preparation suitable for making film-shaped aromatics-containing preparations is described by EP-A 460 588. A composition comprising 20 to 60 weight-% of film former, 2 to 40 weight-% of gel former, 0.1 to 35 weight-% of active substance or aromatic, and a maximum of 40 weight-% of an inert filling agent is regarded as affording particular advantages. As a gel former, polyvinyl alcohol is mentioned besides other ingredients. However, as it turns out, the gel-forming properties of polyvinyl alcohol are only partially compatible with the film formers mentioned in this written document. A portion of 20 weight-%, and more, of film-former—mostly a sugar derivative, polyethylene glycol, etc.—lead to considerable loss of aroma occurring already in thin layer drying, which is part of the production process.
The films or coatings to which the instant invention is related are based on organic raw materials or on a mix of such substances. These are preferably water-soluble substances. Such organic raw materials include polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, cellulose derivatives, polyvinyl acetate, polyetlylene glycol, alginate, carrageenan, xanthan, gelatine and other water-soluble polymers known to the skilled artisan, as well as mixtures and copolymers of such substances. If desired, such films or coatings may also include fillers such as mannitol, lactose, calcium phosphate, glucose, sorbitol etc., active substances such as drugs, aroma substances, menthol etc., sweeteners such as cyclamate, flavours such as glutamate, and other ingredients, including in some cases volatile ingredients. These films may also have mucoadhesive properties.
Usually, the films and coatings are produced by means of casting methods or reverse coating methods. The manufacture of thin films or coatings is accomplished according to the present invention in that initially a coating mass is prepared containing organic substances which are suitable for forming a film, or a coating, for instance, polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, cellulose derivatives, polyvinyl acetate, polyetlylene glycol, alginate, carrageenan, xanthan, gelatine and other water-soluble polymers known to the skilled artisan, as well as mixtures or copolymers of such substances. Preferably, these substances are completely or partially dissolved or dispersed in water. Apart from water, other solvents may be used as well, e.g. alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol or solvent mixtures such as water-alcohol mix.
The coating composition may further comprise various additives, e.g. fillers such as mannitol, lactose, calcium phosphate, glucose, sorbitol etc., and/or active substances such as drugs, aroma substances, menthol etc., and/or sweeteners such as cyclamate, flavours such as glutamate, and other ingredients, including in some cases volatile ingredients.
The coating mass thus obtained is subsequently applied to a web-shaped support material, using the casting method or reverse coating method. As support material, a web or sheet of paper, plastic, metal or a composite of two or more of these materials may be used.
The product web may, for example, have a width of about 0.1 m to about 2 m. Preference is given a width in the range of from 0.5 to 1.6 m. The films or coatings applied to the support layer are preferably thin, that means, their thickness ranges of from about 10 to 500 μm, preferably from 50 to 200 μm.
The coated support material, i.e. the composite of support and coating composition, is thereafter transferred into a drying device (drying oven) and transported through the same, preferably continuously.
The dried composite is then wound up and stored.
The above-described method, however, has the disadvantage that parts of the active-ingredient diffuse from the coating into the support material during the contact period. For that reason, used support material cannot be used again for the preparation of the same or other products in web form, since an unpredictable quantity of active-ingredient disappears from the coating or diffuses back from the support material into the coating during the contact period. Thus, big amounts of waste support material arise during the conventional process making the preparation expensive and environmentally less favourable.

Method and device for producing products in web form


A rod assembly includes a turnbuckle that extends along a central axis, a first rod that is to be screwed into a first adjustment hole of the turnbuckle, a second rod that is to be screwed into a second adjustment hole of the turnbuckle, a first nut that is fitted to a first adjustment end portion of the first rod, and a second nut that is fitted to a second adjustment end portion of the second rod. A first turnbuckle-welded portion is provided between the first nut and the turnbuckle, and a second turnbuckle-welded portion is provided between the second nut and the turnbuckle. A first rod-welded portion is provided between the first nut and the first rod, and a second rod-welded portion is provided between the second nut and the second rod.

Rods, which are provided in a turbocharger and of which the lengths can be adjusted as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, are known. The rod disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used for an actuator for a waste gate valve and includes an adjuster used to adjust the length of the rod. The rod disclosed in Patent Document 2 is also used for an actuator for a waste gate valve and includes a connecting rod and an adjustment rod. The connecting rod is inserted into a threaded hole of the adjustment rod. This rod includes a lock nut that locks the adjusted positions of these rods and a cylindrical protective sleeve that covers the lock nut. Since the lock nut is fixed at a predetermined position, the lock nut is adapted so that the lock nut cannot easily readjust the rods.


A method, system and server for selectively sending out notification to a message recipient when a new message is available for retrieval. A sender sends a message to a recipient. A first server receives the message and detects a condition for forwarding the message to a second server. The first server further detects an internal setting for sending or not sending a notification alerting the recipient of the presence of the message. Based on this setting, the first server inserts an indication in a copy of the message that is forwarded to the second server. Upon receipt of the copied message by the second server, the former knows whether or not the first server has already issued a notification to the recipient, and uses this information for selectively sending out a notification only in cases where the first server has not sent such notification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system and messaging service center for sending optimized MMS notifications.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Short Messaging Service (SMS) has been launched in 1992 and has become the most successful wireless data service to date. Typically, SMS allows mobile phone users to send and receive text messages of up to 160 characters in a cost and time-efficient manner. SMS is a "store and forward" service, meaning that messages are not sent directly between users but via an SMS centre. SMS may also be used to notify users of incoming e-mail, voice mail or faxes, as well as to inform them about weather forecasts, news headlines, stock quotes or other events they can subscribe to.
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is the pinnacle of the messaging evolution. Currently being defined and specified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a standard for 3rd Generation (3G) implementation, MMS completes the potential of messaging and is becoming the preferred messaging method of mobile terminal users, since there are virtually no limits to the content of an MMS transmission. An MMS message may contain formatted text, graphics, data, animations, images, audio clips, voice transmissions and video sequences. Sending digital postcards and PowerPoint™-style presentations is expected to be among the most popular user applications of MMS. Greatly anticipated by young users in particular, MMS is projected to fuel the growth of related market segments.
Although MMS is a direct descendant of SMS, the difference in content is substantial. The size of an average SMS message is about 140 bytes, while the average size of an MMS message can be (in the early stages of MMS development) around 30,000 bytes, but is actually unlimited. As MMS is developed, users will be able to store a large number of messages, including those with video clips. The size of these messages may easily reach 100,000 bytes.
MMS uses the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) as its bearer technology and is being standardized and defined by the 3GPP release 4 TS 23.140 v4.0.0, as well as by the following three specifications form the WAP Forum:                the WAP MMS Architectural Overview;        the WAP MMS Client Transaction Specification, which defines the interactions between the phone and MMS server for sending and receiving MMS messages; and        the WAP MMS Encapsulation Specification, which defines the message content and the format of communication between the terminal and MMSC; all of which are herein included in their entirety by reference.
An MMS server is a server through which MMS messages are sent. It supports flexible addressing (to both normal phone numbers (MS-ISDN) and e-mail accounts), which makes the user interface more friendly and allows greater control for operators.
The MMS server, moreover, is responsible for the instant delivery feature of MMS. The MMS standard, just like SMS, offers store-and forward transmission (instant delivery) of messages, rather than a mailbox-type model. MMS is a person-to-person communications solution, meaning that the user gets the message directly into the mobile. He or she does not have to call the server to get the message downloaded to the mobile. Unlike SMS, the MMS standard uses WAP as its bearer protocol. MMS may be implemented with any of the high-speed data 3G transport technologies (such as for example EDGE, CDMA2000, W-CDMA, UMTS) and 2.5G GPRS, and supports a variety of image, video and audio formats to facilitate a complete communication experience.
A typical MMS server is typically referred in the industry as an MMS Centre (MMS-C), and comprises an MMS Server, an MMS Proxy-Relay and an MMS Store facility. The MMS-C is the central element of the MMS network architecture, providing the storage and operational support, enabling instant delivery of picture messages from terminal-to-terminal and terminal-to-e-mail, and supporting flexible addressing. The center's MMS Proxy-Relay interacts with the application being run on the MMS-enabled terminals to provide various messaging services. WAP is used as bearer of an MMS message between the MMS-C and the MMS client (application). A WAP Gateway is used for delivery and retrieval of messages-enabled terminal to provide various messaging services.
As MMS is a store-and-forward protocol, MMS messages are stored on the MMS server, which upon receipt of any new MMS message sends the recipient a notification using WAP Push (that may essentially consist of an SMS message). The notification triggers the receiving terminal to retrieves the message automatically (or depending on filters defined by the user) using a WAP GET command.
Newer MMS systems further comprise Value-Added Service Provider (VASP) severs that are connected to MMS-Cs and are used as multimedia libraries or repositories for the MMS users who desire to have online MMS storage libraries. The MMS server connects to such a VASP server, and relays to that VASP server incoming MMS messages addressed to users with subscriptions to the VASP. Acting as an MMS repository, the VASP too sends notifications to the end-user as soon as a new MMS message is deposited therein for a subscribed MMS user.
A problem arises with the current prior art implementations wherein an incoming MMS message transits through an MMS-C and is then forwarded and stored in a VASP MMS repository. In such an instance, as soon as the MMS-C receives the MMS message, it sends the recipient a first notification alerting the user of the new MMS message. As the message is further relayed from the MMS-C to the VASP MMS repository, it is stored therein, and the VASP MMS repository also sends, another, second notification to the same recipient for alerting of the presence of the same MMS message. This implementation results in a transmission of duplicate notifications for alerting of the existence of one single new MMS message.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 (Prior Art) that shows a high-level network diagram of a typical prior art MMS system 100. The MMS system 100 typically comprises an MMS Center (MMS-C) 101, which is the server responsible for receiving and routing the MMS messages. An MM1 interface connects a WAP Server Gateway 103 of the MMS-C 101 to a cellular system 102 serving a first Mobile Station (MS) A 104 and a second MS B 106. It is understood that in an actual system many more than the two illustrated MSs may exist. Finally, the MMS-C 101 may further comprises an SMS component 105 for sending out SMS notifications about incoming messages to subscribers of MSs A 104 and B 106. The MMS system 100 may further comprise a first VASP 110 acting, for example, as a service provider for photo finishing that connects to the MMS-C 101 via an MM7 SOAP/XML interface 112. MM7 is an interface for submission and delivery of multimedia messages from user equipment to a VASP, like the VASP 110, wherein HTTP is used as the transport protocol and SOAP as the formatting language. Such a VASP may provide a photo finishing service for receiving and storing the subscriber's photos, thus allowing later access by the subscriber to high-quality printing and photo finishing services such as postcard arrangement, T-Shirt printing, etc. Another VASP 116 is also connected to the MMS-C 101 via an MM3 interface 117 and acts as a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server and an MMS repository for certain subscribers. The MM3 interface 117 is a communications interface external or non-MMS for sending and retrieving multimedia messages from servers of external messaging systems connected to MMS servers, such as for example SMTP servers, SMPP servers, POP3 servers, IMAP4 servers, etc. The exemplary VASP SMTP service provider 116, also called herein a VASP MMS repository 116, comprises an SMS interface module 118 that connects to the cellular system 102. Finally, an IP/Internet network 120 may connect to the MMS-C 101, the cellular system 102 and a terminal PC 122 that belongs to the same user of the MS B 106. For the purpose of the present exemplary scenario, it is also assumed that the user of the MS B 106 has activated an auto-forwarding feature for incoming MMS messages, wherein each one, or a selection of the incoming MMS message are forwarded by the MMS-C 101 to the VASP MMS repository 116.
With reference being further made to FIG. 1 (Prior Art), when the user of the MS A 104 sends an MMS message intended for the user of the MS B 106, the new MMS message is first transmitted to the cellular system 102, action 140, the MMS-C 101 receives the message, and replies back to the MS B 106 with a notification alerting of the receipt of the new message, action 142. Further, the MMS-C 101 forwards a copy of the MMS message received from MS A 104 to the VASP MMS repository 116, action 144. The VASP MMS repository 116 receives the copy of the MMS message, saves the message, action 146, and also sends another, second notification to the MS B 106 for alerting of the existence of a new message, action 148.
As it will be apparent for those skilled in the art, with the current implementations of MMS systems, a problem occurs as soon as an MMS message transits in more than one MMS server, as the recipient of the MMS message, which in the present scenario is the user of the MS B 106 receives duplicate notifications alerting of the existence of the same single MMS message.
Accordingly, it should be readily appreciated that in order to overcome the deficiencies and shortcomings of the existing solutions, it would be advantageous to have a method and system for harmonizing the message notifications that are sent in relation with a new MMS message. The present invention provides such a method and system.


An optical coupling apparatus includes: a coupling and polarization beamsplitter, a phase shifter, a 2×2 adjustable beamsplitter, a photoelectric detector, and a microprocessor. Light in any polarization direction can be coupled from an optical fiber into a waveguide, an extra insertion loss is small, intrinsic insertion losses for light in different polarization directions are the same, a structure is simple, and miniaturization is easy to be implemented.

Currently, silicon photonics application is developing towards directions such as high density and wavelength division. All key devices, for example, refractive index sensitive devices such as an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) and a microloop, have strong polarization dependency, and therefore polarization independent coupling is of utmost importance.
An existing method for polarization independent coupling is: light in an optical fiber is coupled into a waveguide by using a two-dimensional grating coupler (2DGC), to obtain two transverse electric (TE) polarized beams. Phase control is performed on the two TE polarized beams by using a phase shifter, to enable a phase difference between the two TE polarized beams to be 0. Beam combination is performed on the two TE polarized beams whose phase difference is 0 by using a 1×2 beam combiner, to obtain one TE polarized beam.
In the foregoing method, the light existing in the optical fiber is in any polarization direction. For a TE/transverse magnetic (TM) evenly mixed polarized beam, an intrinsic insertion loss is 0. For a pure TE or TM polarized beam, an intrinsic insertion loss is 3 dB. Therefore, for light in different polarization directions, intrinsic insertion losses are different, and an extra insertion loss is relatively large.

Optical coupling apparatus and control method thereof


The object of the present invention is to provide a stereoscopic video and audio recording method, a stereoscopic video and audio recording medium, a stereoscopic video and audio reproducing method, a stereoscopic video and audio recording apparatus, and a stereoscopic video and audio reproducing apparatus. An audio information storage region for three-dimensional video is arranged in advance, separately from audio information for ordinary two-dimensional video, in a media recording format for recording stereoscopic video and audio. Therefore, when stereoscopic reproduction is selected, an audio can be reproduced with realistic sensation in a depth direction in sound-image processing or surround processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic video and audio recording method, a stereoscopic video and audio reproducing method, a stereoscopic video and audio recording apparatus, a stereoscopic video and audio reproducing apparatus, and a stereoscopic video and audio recording medium.
2. Description of the Background Art
Along with the progress of encoding techniques for compressing digital video signals, the record of compressed video signals to an optical disk have enabled implementation of an optical disk apparatus with excellent searchability and operability. Since such an optical disk apparatus records video as a digital signal, the optical disk apparatus is free from deterioration in dubbing compared with recording of an analog video signal, and achieves a higher reliability with its non-contact optical recording and reproduction.
Examples of encoding methods for compressing data of such a digital video signal include the MPEG (Moving Picture coding Experts Group) method. This MPEG compression method achieves improved compression efficiency as compared with intra compression methods such as motion JPEG, but the MPEG compression method is still restricted by the following constrained conditions. For example, since the MPEG compression method uses a motion-compensated prediction in the temporal direction, the MPEG compression method allows searching only in units of videos consisting of group of pictures (GOPs), and in order to access a disk, it is necessary to initially access one picture made by the intraframe compression.
At least in terms of audio information, Japanese Patent No. 3935507, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-191895, Japanese Patent No. 4036239, Japanese Patent No. 4124268, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-236757 use the same data format as that used for a conventional two-dimensional planar video. In this respect, a method for allowing sound-video localization in synchronization with viewing of a stereoscopic video is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-128818 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-128816, but Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2006-128818 and 2006-128816 merely relate to a method for selectively reproducing something that has been recorded with a plurality of microphones. Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H6-105400 describes a method for allowing stereoscopic sound-video localization, but is silent on a format made with special consideration paid to recording and reproduction of a medium.
For example, NTT DOCOMO Technical Journal, VOL II, No. 1, relates to stereoscopic sound-video of sound, and explains, e.g., a mechanism of surround techniques for enhancing realistic sensation. However, Journal, VOL II, No. 1, does not describe sound processing performed in synchronization with stereoscopic videos. Accordingly, it has been desired to achieve a method for enhancing realistic sensation in an acoustic system used to see stereoscopic video. It is to be noted that the above cited patent publications, i.e., Japanese Patent No. 3935507, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-191895, Japanese Patent No. 4036239, Japanese Patent No. 4124268, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-236757, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-128818, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-128816, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H6-105400 describe neither a later-described stereoscopic-viewing audio file easily generated during content production nor a medium format made with consideration paid to viewing-safety, and do not describe a more specific method for, e.g., how to determine a portion of a video and an OSD to which sound-video localization in synchronization with videos should be focused on.
As screens become larger and attain a higher resolution, more realistic viewing has been achieved. Meanwhile, in the field of audio processing, pseudo surround techniques have emerged, which allow listening of more realistic audio even in a case of 5.1 ch surround or 2 ch audio. With the advent of a TV capable of showing stereoscopic videos, it has been desired to reproduce the sound in such a manner to allow a user to perceive audio-video sensations differently for each of a two-dimensional video and a three-dimensional video, because the two-dimensional video and the three-dimensional video appear differently in terms of perception of persons and objects in the depth direction. Especially, when a medium or distributed content information includes both of two-dimensional videos and three-dimensional videos but includes only one set of audio information that is shared by both of two-dimensional video and three-dimensional video, there is a problem in that the audio information cannot be optimized in order to provide realistic sensation suitable for listening of audio with each of the two-dimensional video and the three-dimensional video.
In addition, there is a problem in that a user cannot view stereoscopic videos with sound localization and sound-video being in synchronization with the amount of depth perception of videos in accordance with the stereoscopic videos.
Further, in a case where localization in the depth direction is performed in synchronization with a stereoscopic video in sound-video processing, it is impossible to determine a portion of the stereoscopic video to which a position of sound should be determined in the depth direction, which causes a problem in that a user cannot listen to realistic sounds.
Further, in a case where localization in the depth direction is performed in sound-video processing in synchronization with a stereoscopic video upon determining a position of the face or the mouth of a person appearing in a stereoscopic screen, it takes a long time to perform the processing for determining the position of the face or the mouth of the person appearing in the stereoscopic screen, and this processing is likely to fail to catch up with real-time process.
Further, in a case where audio information suitable for a stereoscopic video is further added to a medium including a stereoscopic video stream, it is necessary to have a format that allows an apparatus to immediately determine the content of audio information suitable for the stereoscopic video and recognize the sequence of menu operation and reproduction based on disk information management information.
Further, in a case where audio information suitable for a stereoscopic video is further added to a video and audio distribution stream including a stereoscopic video stream, it is necessary to have a format that allows an apparatus to immediately determine the content of audio information suitable for the stereoscopic video.

Stereoscopic video and audio recording method, stereoscopic video and audio reproducing method, stereoscopic video and audio recording apparatus, stereoscopic video and audio reproducing apparatus, and stereoscopic video and audio recording medium


When an elevator is running, the car door 27 is locked in the closed position by a brake shoe 12 which engages the edge of the door hanger 24 in response to a push-type solenoid 19 overcoming the force of a spring. When the door is not closed, a friction brake pad 11 contacts the door hanger surface to hold the door open for passenger boarding or to stop the door in case of failure of door operator power while the door is in motion.

Due to the intrinsic design of an elevator door operator powered by a linear electric motor, there is no mechanical coupling or link between the primary and secondary of the motor. With power off, the motor cannot provide a braking force, a hold-closed force, or a hold-open force on the door. With power applied to the linear electric motor, the motor force available is insufficient to provide a hold-closed force (also called "evacuation deterrent force") required by safety codes, which is typically required to be 450 Newtons or more. Furthermore, providing power to the linear electric motor when the door is not moving is not desirable due to heat generated as a consequence of the relative inefficiency of a linear electric motor with a static secondary.

Elevator door brake, brake, lock, and hold-open


A control program for a game device having a storage unit configured to store points associated with players. The game device may receive a request by a player to designate at least a portion of the points associated with the first player as region points of the first player, which may in turn be correlated with a game region designated by the first player. When the first player has the most points for a particular game region, the game region may be set to be a region of the first player. When the first player disposes a first and second game region in a predetermined arrangement, such that the first and second game region has game regions between them, the game regions between the first and second game region may have their point values swapped to put the first player on top.

A domination game in which a plurality of players respectively occupies a plurality of territories included in a game field and deprives a territory of other players is known. In such a domination game, a game in which a player correlates the owned point (which may be virtual currency and the like) or the owned character, with a territory, and the player competes with another player for the territory, in accordance with the amount of points or the strength of the character correlated with the territory may be performed.
For example, JP-A-2014-73164 discloses a game program for realizing a domination game in which a competition may be executed between players who respectively own territories, and the territory owned by the player losing in the competition may be ceded to the player winning in the competition.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Video game with bounded region capture and ownership value swap


A system for assuredly copying information from a reference database to a remote database. A send server is coupled to a first network. A receive server is coupled to a second network. A one-way data link provides unidirectional transfer of information from the send server to the receive server. A monitor application iteratively forwards update files including sequence information to the send server. An update application receives each update file and updates the remote database based therein. The update files are also sequentially stored in the send server in groups and each group is sent to the receive server and stored in memory. If an update file is not received in proper sequential order, the receive server stops sending update files in the current group and instead reads the missing update file and subsequent update files in the current group from memory and forwards such files to the update application.

Protection of computer or data networks from undesired and unauthorized data disclosure, interception or alteration has been a perennial concern in the field of computer and network security, for which firewalls and anti-spyware software have been developed to address security threats to computers and networks connected to the Internet and to protect them from possible cyber-attacks, such as Trojan horse-type viruses or worms that may trigger undesired and unauthorized data disclosure by these computers and networks. However, for high security computer networks, such as those used by government agencies, intelligence communities, and certain commercial applications, conventional network security devices such as firewalls may not provide sufficiently reliable protection from undesired disclosure.
A high level of network security can be attained through the use of one-way data links, which isolate secure networks from security breaches (i.e., undesired and unauthorized data flow out of the secure network) while still allowing data from a low security environment to enter the network in a controlled manner or vice versa. Various systems and methods have been developed for implementing one-way data transfer to a secure network, including both hardware and software implementations of one-way data links.
Software solutions include standard Internet firewalls as well as operating systems configured with specialized rules for restricted unidirectional information flow. Systems such as these are designed to have great flexibility, but are now being asked to perform strict unidirectional data transfer. The complexity of software-implemented one-way data transfer is such that it is difficult to validate and verify that the controlled interface is strictly one-way, failsafe and resistant to reconfiguration through administrator error or malicious intent. Additionally, it is difficult to prove in complex systems that data is not bypassing the one way security feature.
As an alternative to software-based one-way data transfer, hardware-based unidirectional interfaces have also been developed. Since such systems implement the unidirectional policy of the controlled interface in hardware, the one-way nature and non-bypassable operation of the device can be validated to a high degree of assurance. Highly engineered solutions, such as the Owl Computing Technologies DualDiode, (described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,068,415, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) provide a direct point-to-point optical link between the enclaves. The DualDiode one-way data link includes an optical transmitter (on the send side) coupled to an optical receiver (on the receive side) via an optical fiber that crosses the boundary from the send side to the receive side. The unidirectionality of the data transfer is enforced in the circuitry of the network interface cards at both enclave endpoints and in the cable interconnects (because there are no optical receiving devices coupled to the optical fiber on the send side and no optical transmitting devices coupled to the optical fiber on the receive side). In this way, the hardware provides an added layer of assurance of unidirectional information flow and non-bypassable operation. In contrast to software based one-way data transfer systems, it is easy to prove that data is not bypassing the DualDiode. One problem that arises in such systems, however, is the detection of transmission errors for data passing from a transmitting server to a receiving server, since no feedback is provided (or could be provided) from the receiving server to the transmitting server in view of the one-way nature of the transmission along the one-way link coupling the transmitting server to the receiving server. This can be particularly troublesome when the data passing across the one-way link constitutes database update information for updating a remote database at a server coupled to the receiving server so that the remote database includes the same information as a reference database on the send side. This is because the transmitting server will not have any way to identify and correct transmission errors. As a result, any database update data lost during transmission cannot be recovered and the remote database will not be fully updated to match the reference database.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method which assures that a remote database receives every database update message transmitted across a one-way data link. Additionally, there is a need for a way to automatically recover when messages are missed due to networking or power issues.

System and method for providing assured database updates via a one-way data link


In one aspect, a device may include a processor and storage accessible to the processor. The storage may include instructions executable by the processor to receive at least one image that indicates a first gesture being made by a person using a hand-based sign language, with at least part of the first gesture extending out of the image frame of the image. The instructions may then be executable to provide the image to a gesture classifier and to receive plural candidate first text words for the first gesture from the gesture classifier. The instructions may then be executable to use at least a second text word correlated to a second gesture to select one of the candidate first text words, combine the second text word with the selected first text word to establish a text string, and provide the text string to an apparatus different from the device.

Electronic video conferencing is becoming increasing prevalent in today's society. But as recognized herein, one person might not be able to audibly communicate but may be able to perform gestures according to a sign language to participate in the video conference. However, other conferees might not be able to understand what the person is gesturing and, as further recognized herein, even if software were used to help identify the various gestures that were being performed, the software might not work for gestures performed off to the side and not fully within the field of view of the camera (e.g., if the person were too close to the camera for all gestures to be fully captured). Thus, as recognized herein, if the person inadvertently signs a gesture partially outside of the field of view of the camera, the remote conferees may not be apprised of what was being signed. There are currently no adequate solutions to the foregoing computer-related, technological problem.

Techniques for determining sign language gesture partially shown in image(s)


Disclosed is a filter circuit assembly that includes a filter stage with a variable resistor and a resistor/capacitor (RC) oscillator. A controlling output of the RC oscillator controls the value of the variable resistor. The RC oscillator itself also includes a variable resistor. The controlling output of the RC oscillator also controls the value of the variable resistor of the RC oscillator. The structure of the variable resistor of the filter stage is substantially the same as the structure of the variable resistor of the RC oscillator.

The use of Sallen-Key type filters is well-known for use in various applications. A typical Sallen-Key filter has four key elements: A serially connected resistor pair, an output amplifier, and two capacitors. The resistor pair is connected in series at an input of the amplifier. One of the capacitors is a feedback capacitor, connected between the output of the capacitor and a node between the resistor pair. The other capacitor is connected between the amplifier input and ground. Often, the circuit is symmetric, in a differential configuration, so that a second resistor pair is connected in series to a parallel input of the output amplifier, with a corresponding second feedback capacitor in the parallel branch. It is also known to employ an input buffer before the actual filter, in order to provide a high input resistance to the circuit and at the same time to separate the filter resistors from the output resistance of the previous circuits. An advantage of this filter type is that it may be easily implemented on a chip, and it is also suitable for multistage filter assemblies, such as those commonly used in wireless applications.
Recently, a number of known electronic devices have entered the market in a portable, battery-operated version. At the same time, many electronic devices have been equipped with wireless features, for example for communicating data between an outdoor sensor and an indoor receiver unit. All these applications require circuits which should have low operating voltage and low power consumption. Operating voltages as low as 1.5 V are required, so that even a single battery may power the device. Low power consumption is required for the very same reason.
The requirements for these low-power devices conflict with some of the traditional principles of circuit design. For example, in an amplifier circuit with a separate input buffer stage it is common to use multiple levels of transistors. Integrated circuit (IC) chip transistors are often FETs or MOSFETs, which each need an operating voltage of about 1.2–1.3 V. This means that two transistors in series between the power supply voltage Vdd and ground require at least 2.4–2.6 V for operation.
A further requirement of IC is a capability for process compensation. This may be realized by providing variable resistors or capacitors in the circuit. Since the Sallen-Key filter is tunable, further variable elements are also needed to perform the tuning of the circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,492 to Wang et al. discloses a fully differential Sallen-Key type filter, which contains a unity gain follower instead of an operational amplifier (op-amp). The transistors of the filter are NPN devices, and the unity gain follower contains two transistors in series between Vdd and ground, accordingly the operating voltage must be 3 V or above. Process compensation is not addressed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,244 to Chen discloses a linear and tunable filter, designed for a 3 V supply voltage. The filter is provided with a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), which controls variable capacitors with a successive approximation register (SAR), and thereby adjusts the capacitance of the circuit. The capacitance in the VCO is also adjusted. Further, variable resistors are also provided, so both capacitance and resistance are adjusted in an interdependent manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,627 to Martin discloses a tunable Sallen-Key filter, which includes an adjustable resistor ladder. The filter is tuned by switching resistors in the ladder.

Tunable Sallen-Key filter stage and filter assembly


The invention relates to a method for treating triazine-containing water of a melamine plant. The method is characterized in that the water containing ionic and non-ionic triazines in a dissolved form is fed to at least one membrane filtration unit, the water is separated into an ionic triazine-rich fraction and a non-ionic triazine-rich fraction in the membrane filtration unit, whereupon the ionic triazine-rich fraction is discharged and the non-ionic triazine-rich fraction is redirected into the melamine plant. The inventive method allows a great portion of the melamine contained in the triazine-containing water to be redirected into the process while the yield is increased along the entire melamine process. Furthermore, the need for fresh water in the wet part of the melamine plant is decreased. The disclosed method can be carried out continuously and in liquid phase.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for treating triazine-containing water of a melamine plant, and to a high-pressure process for preparing melamine from urea.
2) Description of the Related Art
The starting material used for melamine preparation is virtually exclusively urea, which is converted to melamine either in a catalytic low-pressure process or in a high-pressure process without catalyst.
The by-products, degradation products and unconverted starting materials present in the crude melamine have to be removed from the product in the subsequent melamine workup. Since the melamine workup is usually effected in the presence of water, these by-products are obtained as wastewater constituents, for example as constituents of the mother liquor from the melamine crystallization.
The wastewater constituents from the melamine process are mainly cyclic nitrogen compounds in the form of triazines such as melamine or ureidomelamine, or oxoaminotriazines (OATs) such as ammeline or ammelide. In addition, urea or cyanuric acid may also be present. Owing to the aqueous melamine workup in a basic medium, these substances are for the most part present in ionic form. Further ionic constituents which may occur in the melamine wastewater are, for example, carbonates, sodium or ammonium ions.
For the purposes of a maximum melamine yield, it is desirable to recover the melamine present in the water and to recycle it into the melamine process very substantially and selectively. This causes a separation of the melamine from the other wastewater constituents.
The prior art discloses some processes for treating triazine-containing melamine wastewaters, which separate the melamine from the OATs. In some of these processes, the OATs are recovered as solids.
According to WO 01/46159 A2, the mother liquor comprising melamine and OATs is acidified up to pH=7 after the melamine crystallization, which forms an OAT suspension which is then subjected to a tangential filtration. This affords an aqueous melamine solution and an OAT dispersion. While the aqueous melamine solution is recycled into the process, the OATs are separated from the dispersion. One disadvantage in this process is that a stream comprising solids is filtered; as a result, there is the risk of filter blockage.
According to IT 0 128 2369, the wastewater comprising melamine and OAT is treated at high temperature and high pressure, which brings about destruction of the OATs. After the NH3 and CO2 formed in this destruction have been stripped out, the remaining solution is recycled into the melamine plant. In this process, there is the disadvantage that not only the OATs but also the melamine present in the wastewater are destroyed in the thermal treatment, and a satisfactory melamine yield in the overall process accordingly cannot be achieved.
WO 02/100839 A1 describes a process in which a majority of the mother liquors of the melamine crystallization are recycled untreated into the melamine plant; NH3 and OAT are recovered from the smaller portion of the mother liquors. The disadvantage of this process is that more fresh water additionally has to be supplied when the untreated, OAT-containing mother liquors are recycled into the melamine process in order to be able to work up the crude melamine melt to the desired quality.

Method for the treatment of triazine-containing water of a melamine plant

AMI Agrolinz Melamine International GmbH


Labels that have radio frequency identification (RFID) tags embedded within them may include a removable electromagnetic shield that is removed only for the next tag to be processed, so that only that tag will be detected by an RFID reader. In some embodiments such processing includes printing the labels. Different embodiments may use single-sided or double-sided shielding.

Advances in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology have made it possible to embed RFID tags into printable labels. A label may be printed with appropriate information, and then the label attached to an associated device. The identification number of the RFID tag in that label may then be associated with the labeled device. For this process to be efficiently automated, rolls of such labels (or sheets, or other multiple-label configurations) may be provided to the printer. An RFID reader may read the identification number of the next label being printed, and a computer record may be generated to associate that particular identification number with the item to which that label is to be attached. However, having many RFID tags in close proximity, which would be the case in, for instance, a roll of labels, may confuse the RFID reader, which won't know which of the many RFID tags numbers is embedded in the next label to be printed.
Unused rolls (or sheets, etc.) of such labels might also be left within range of the RFID readers stationed at dock doors, warehouses, etc. These labels might then interfere with the ability of those readers to identify the RFID-associated goods that are also at the facility by increasing the number of tags that need to be singulated and slowing down the entire process.


In one embodiment, a light detection and range (LIDAR) device includes a light source to emit a light beam to scan a range of orientations associated with a target scanning zone. The LIDAR device further includes a first microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror configured to receive and redirect the light beam towards to the target scanning zone. The first MEMs mirror is configured to tilt vertically and horizontally to redirect the light beam in a plurality of angles. The LIDAR device further includes a light detector to receive the light beam reflected from one or more objects located within the target scanning zone. The first MEMS mirror tilts multiple directions with respect to the light source to allow the light source to emit the light beam and the light detector to receive the reflected light beam to obtain multiple angular resolutions of the one or more objects.

Vehicles operating in an autonomous mode (e.g., driverless) can relieve occupants, especially the driver, from some driving-related responsibilities. When operating in an autonomous mode, the vehicle can navigate to various locations using onboard sensors, allowing the vehicle to travel with minimal human interaction or in some cases without any passengers.
LIDAR techniques have been widely utilized in military, geography, oceanography, and in the latest decade, autonomous driving vehicles. Apart from others, LIDAR's applications in autonomous driving vehicles have been hindered by the high cost. A LIDAR device can estimate a distance to an object while scanning through a scene to assemble a point cloud representing a reflective surface of the object. Individual points in the point cloud can be determined by transmitting a laser pulse and detecting a returning pulse, if any, reflected from the object, and determining the distance to the object according to the time delay between the transmitted pulse and the reception of the reflected pulse. A laser or lasers, can be rapidly and repeatedly scanned across a scene to provide continuous real-time information on distances to reflective objects in the scene.
FIG. 1 shows a typical LIDAR device. Referring to FIG. 1, LIDAR device 180 includes beam steering optics 184, where a laser beam 186 is directed to the beam steering optics 184. Beam steering optics 184 is a rotating angled mirror that directs laser beam 186 (e.g., rotating horizontally) to sweep across a scanning zone. Rotating angled mirror 184 rotates about an axis substantially parallel, and roughly in line with, the initial downward path of the laser beam 186. The rotating angled mirror 184 rotates in the direction indicated by the reference arrow 188. Typically, mirror 184 is attached to a frame of range finder 182 with a fixed angle. Mirror 184 rotates together with the entire LIDAR device 180 according to rotating direction 188.
The most popular design of LIDAR includes 16 to 64 of 907 nanometer (nm) semiconductor lasers, corresponding detectors, and electronics stacked into a single assembly to provide angular resolutions in a stacking direction. The whole assembly is then spun around an axle mechanically to achieve scanning in two dimensions (2D). In order to obtain multiple angular resolutions, multiple of LIDAR device 180 may be stacked together vertically, each corresponding one of the targeted angular resolutions. The number of lasers and detectors required significantly limits the achievement of previous effort for cost reduction.

LIDAR system with synchronized MEMS mirrors


An exposure system includes a cleaning unit for cleaning a surface of a resist film formed on a wafer with a cleaning fluid and an exposure unit for performing pattern exposure with an immersion liquid provided between the resist film and a projection lens.

The present invention relates to an exposure system for use in fabrication process or the like for semiconductor devices and a pattern formation method using the same.
In accordance with the increased degree of integration of semiconductor integrated circuits and downsizing of semiconductor devices, there are increasing demands for further rapid development of lithography technique. Currently, pattern formation is carried out through photolithography using exposing light of a mercury lamp, KrF excimer laser, ArF excimer laser or the like, and use of F2 laser lasing at a shorter wavelength is being examined. However, since there remain a large number of problems in exposure systems and resist materials, photolithography using exposing light of a shorter wavelength has not been put to practical use.
In these circumstances, immersion lithography has been recently proposed for realizing further refinement of patterns by using conventional exposing light (for example, see M. Switkes and M. Rothschild, "Immersion lithography at 157 nm", J. Vac. Sci. Technol., Vol. B19, p. 2353 (2001)).
In the immersion lithography, a region in an exposure system sandwiched between a projection lens and a resist film formed on a wafer is filled with a liquid having a refractive index n (whereas n>1) and therefore, the NA (numerical aperture) of the exposure system has a value n·NA. As a result, the resolution of the resist film can be improved.
Now, a conventional pattern formation method employing the immersion lithography will be described with reference to FIGS. 9A through 9D.
First, a positive chemically amplified resist material having the following composition is prepared:
Base polymer: poly((norbornene-5-methylene-t-2gbutylcarboxylate) (50 mol %) - (maleicanhydride) (50 mol %))Acid generator: triphenylsulfonium triflate0.06gQuencher: triethanolamine0.002gSolvent: propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate20g
Next, as shown in FIG. 9A, the aforementioned chemically amplified resist material is applied on a substrate 1 so as to form a resist film 2 with a thickness of 0.35 μm.
Then, as shown in FIG. 9B, with a liquid (water) 3 provided between the resist film 2 and a projection lens 5, pattern exposure is carried out by irradiating the resist film 2 with exposing light 4 of ArF excimer laser with NA of 0.68 through a mask.
After the pattern exposure, as shown in FIG. 9C, the resist film 2 is baked with a hot plate at a temperature of 105° C. for 60 seconds, and the resultant resist film is developed with a tetramethylammonium hydroxide developer in a concentration of 0.26 N. In this manner, a resist pattern 2a made of an unexposed portion of the resist film 2 is formed as shown in FIG. 9D.

Exposure system and pattern formation method


An active ray curable ink jet solventless ink contains: a bifunctional or higher acrylate compound having a structure expressed by general formula (1) in an amount of less than 35% by mass, and a monofunctional acrylate compound in an amount of 65% by mass or more: wherein the general formula (1) is —(—R—O—)n— where, R represents an alkyl group, and n represents an integer of 1 or larger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an active ray curable ink jet solventless ink, an image forming method using the same, and an ink jet recording apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, ink jet recording system has been widely applied in various printing fields including photograph, miscellaneous printings, marking, special printing for color filer or the like, by virtue of its simplicity and inexpensiveness in image formation. In particular, it has also been made possible to obtain image quality equivalent to that of silver salt photograph by using recording apparatuses capable of ejecting and controlling fine ink dots, or using inks having an improved color reproducibility, durability and ejection suitability in combination with specialized paper having a largely improved ink absorption property, color developing property for colorant materials and surface glossiness. That is, the improved image quality of the recent ink jet recording system cannot be accomplished without a perfect combination of the recording apparatus, ink and specialized paper.
The ink jet system always in need of the specialized paper, however, limits the range of available recording media, and undesirably increases cost for the recording media. Much effort has thus been made on recording by the ink jet system onto media to be printed which differs from the specialized paper. Specific examples of the ink jet system include phase-transfer ink jet system using a solid wax ink at room temperature, solvent ink jet system using an ink mainly composed of a quick-drying solvent, and active ray curable ink jet system allowing the ink to crosslink by UV or electron beam irradiation after recording an image.
Among others, the UV ink jet system has recently attracted public attention because of its various advantages over the solvent ink jet system in that it is causative of only a relatively low odor, has a quick-drying property, and allows recording on media having no ink absorption property. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-200204, and Published Japanese Translation of PCT International Publication for Patent Application No. 2000-504778 disclose ultraviolet ray curable ink jet inks.
It is, however, impossible to form high-definition images on various recording material even with these inks, because ink dot diameter after the placement tends to largely vary depending on types of the recording material or working environment.
Specific examples of the ultraviolet ray curable ink ever proposed include radical-polymerizable ultraviolet ray curable inks using photo-polymerizable compounds mainly composed of acryl-base compositions (see European Patent No. 540,203, Brochure of International Publication No. 97/31,071 and Brochure of International Publication No. 99/29,788, for example), but the following problems remain unsolved.
The radical-polymerizable ultraviolet ray curable ink is labile to oxygen inhibition in an oxygen-participated environment because of its polymerization mechanism, and tends to degrade the curing property so as to degrade the image quality. The large curing shrinkage thereof is also causative of wrinkle formation or curling of the recording material.
The radical-polymerizable compounds are also disadvantageous in that they generally have a large viscosity, and thus make it difficult to form high-definition images by the ink jet recording due to their insufficient ejection stability.

Active ray curable ink jet solventless ink, image forming method using the same, and ink jet recording apparatus


An airflow speed detection device for measuring an airflow speed includes an airflow speed switch, and a connector. The airflow speed switch includes a detection head, and an elastic piece. The connector is electrically connected to the testing the airflow speed switch to connect an indicator to indicate close and open states of the airflow speed switch. If the airflow speed is not faster than a critical value, the elastic piece contacts the detection head to close the airflow speed switch. If the airflow speed is faster than the critical value, the elastic piece is blown away from the detection head to open the airflow speed switch.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an airflow speed detection device.
2. Description of Related Art
Most of airflow speed measure devices in the market are of electronic type, such as a hot-wire anemometer, via which a value of an airflow speed at any time can be known. However, in some situations, detecting if the airflow exceeds a certain critical value is sufficient. For example, in a computer system, if a rotation speed of a fan (an airflow speed in the computer system depends on the rotation speed of the fan) exceeds a certain critical value, which means the computer system is too hot, as a response, the computer system will automatically power off to prevent damages from over heating. In such situation, if an electronic type anemometer is employed, it is high-cost and wasteful.


A method of determining whether there is a need to re-calculate a trip route including a departure point and a destination by using traffic information according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided. The method is performed by a server and includes: receiving the current position from a terminal when the terminal moves a specific distance from a previously reported position; obtaining the current position of a third party when the destination is the position of the third party defined as the identifier (ID) of the third party; and determining whether there is a need to re-calculate the route according to a specific condition based on the obtained current position of the third party, wherein the specific condition is (1) when the third party moves a distance equal to or greater than a predetermined value from the previously reported position or (2) when the third party moves a distance equal to or greater than a predefined value from the previously reported position and the distance between the current position of the terminal and the current position of the third party is shorter than a critical value, and if one of the specific conditions is satisfied, it may be determined that there is a need to re-calculate the route.

Conventionally, a navigation terminal detects its current location, that is, an origin of a trip through a Global Positioning System (GPS) connection, receives information about a destination of the trip from a user, and internally calculates a route based on the origin and the destination. Along with the recent proliferation and increased performance of smartphones, services have become popular, in which a traffic and route information providing server provides route information, real-time traffic information related to routes, and other various information to Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) over a mobile communication network.
Particularly in the situation where various navigation services are available, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) standardization organization is working on standardization of Dynamic Navigation Enabler (DynNav) that provides real-time traffic information by Peer to Peer (P2P) communication through an Internet Protocol (IP)-based network of a mobile communication network or a wireless network, rather than Traffic Protocol Expert Group (TPEG) information is transmitted over a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) network that provides information in a broadcast signal. The standard considers a navigation terminal and a service type largely in two ways for a smartphone.
First, a traffic and route information providing server performs complex route computation, instead of a navigation application loaded in a smartphone, and indicates a calculated route to the smartphone. Second, owing to the improved performance of a smartphone, an application loaded in the smartphone performs or a navigation terminal equipped with a mobile communication modem performs route computation. In this case, the traffic and route information providing server does not provide route information. Rather, once the terminal registers a calculated route to the server, the terminal can receive from the server only real-time traffic information related to the registered route in a customized manner by IP-based P2P communication, not in a conventional broadcast signal.
FIG. 1 illustrates Navigation Device (ND) types. NDs may be classified into a type 110 that additionally provides TPEG-based traffic information transmitted through a broadcasting network such as a DMB network, a type 120 that additionally provides traffic information in an IP-based manner, for example, over a mobile communication network or a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) network, and a standalone type 130 that tracks the location of a vehicle through a GPS connection without connecting to other communication media, generates route information, and provides the route information.
DynNav under standardization in the OMA LOC WG belongs to the type 120 that provides IP-based traffic information, specifically by P2P communication. The following two types of NDs are defined in DynNav.
1. Smart ND: a device that can calculate a route on its own and thus requests only real-time traffic information to a DynNav server without receiving route information from the DynNav server.
2. Lightweight ND: a device that cannot calculate a route on its own and thus requests all real-time traffic information including route information to a DynNav server.
Since traffic information is requested and provided in a RESTful-based manner in a conventional DynNav system, the following route information formats are used and each information format can be defined by XML Schema Definition (XSD).
1) Trip Structure: a terminal initially acquires basic information such as an origin and a destination from a user, for route setting, and provides the acquired information to a server. The trip structure includes subsets corresponding to a plurality of route structures.
TABLE 1ElementTypeOptionalDescriptionoriginWGS84Location_PointYesLocation information about an originrepresented by WGS84 (Location_Pointstructure is defined in tpeg-locML [TTI LOC].At least one element originWGS84 ororiginAddress MUST be specified.)originAddressCivic LocationYesLocation information about the originFormatrepresented as a civic location (Civic LocationFormat is defined by IETF [RFC 5139]. Atleast one element originWGS84 ororiginAddress MUST be specified.)destinationWGS84Location_PointYesLocation information about a destinationrepresented by WGS84 (Location Pointstructure is defined in tpeg-locML [TTI LOC].At least one element destinationWGS84 ordestinationAddress MUST be specified.)destinationAddressCivic AddressYesLocation information about the destinationFormatrepresented as a civic location (Civic LocationFormat is defined by IETF [RFC 5139]. Atleast one element destinationWGS84 ordestinationAddress MUST be specified.)waypointsLocation_PointYesLocation information about a way point[0 . . . unbounded](represented by WGS84)(Location_Pointstructure is defined in tpeg-locML [TTILOC].)startingTimexsd:dateTimeYesStarting time of navigation service (if a servicestarting time is specified, the trip is a plannedtrip. If a service starting time is not specified,a current time is the service starting time).(starting time of the planned trip. If notpresent, current time is assumed.)tollRoadxsd:booleanYesIt indicates whether passing through a toll roadis allowed. (If true or not present, a toll road isallowed.)vehicleTypeVehicle_InfoYesInformation about a used vehicle(Vehicle_Info structure is defined in tpeg-rtmML [TTI RTM].)calculateRoutexsd:booleanYesIt indicates whether the server provides acalculated route. (If false or not present, theserver should not propose routes.)linkcommon:LinkYesLin information about routes defined in the[0 . . . unbounded]trip. (Links to routes related to the trip.Attribute "rel" must be set to "Route".)resourceURLxsd:anyURIYesSelf-referring URL information (Self-referringURL. SHALL NOT be included in POSTrequests, MUST be included in responses toany HTTP method that returns an entity body,and in PUT requests.)
2) Route Structure: a route structure is expressed as a plurality of segments as a way to represent total routes calculated using the trip structure.
TABLE 2ElementTypeOptionalDescriptiontravellingTimexsd:floatYesTotal travelling time (in minutes) for the routedistancexsd:floatYesTotal distance (in Km) of the routeoriginLocation_PointNoOrigin of the route (represented by WGS84)(Location_Point structure is defined in tpeg-locML [TTI LOC].)segmentSegmentNoSequence of road segments that form the route[1 . . . unbounded]trafficEventsCategorizedEventYesInformation about links accessing trafficListReferenceinformation resources (List of traffic events as[0 . . . unbounded]defined in tpeg-rtmML [TTI RTM], groupedinto categories.)linkcommon:LinkYesReference to the route for which it is proposedas alternative. Attribute "rel" must be set to"Route".resourceURLxsd:anyURIYesSelf-referring URL. SHALL NOT be includedin POST requests, MUST be included inresponses to any HTTP method that returns anentity body, and in PUT requests.)
3) Segment Structure: it is a structure that represents each segment. The segment structure may define a real-time traffic state corresponding to the segment as well as the length of the segment, in TPEG.
TABLE 3ElementTypeOptionalDescriptionendPointLocation_PointNoLocation information about the end point of eachsegment (represented by WGS84)(Location_Pointstructure as defined in tpeg-locML [ITT LOC]. Thestarting point of the segment should be assumedequal to the ending point of the previous segment (orthe trip origin for the first segment))midwayPointLocation_PointYesLocation_Point structure as defined in tpeg-locML[0 . . . unbounded][TTI LOC].linkNamexsd:stringYesName of the road that the segment belongs todistancexsd:floatYesLength of the segment in kmtravellingTimexsd:floatYesEstimated average time to cover the segmentexpressed in minutes. It includes regular travellingtime and delay.delayxsd:floatYesEstimated delay along the segment expressed inminutes.speedxsd:floatYesEstimated average speed along the segmentexpressed in m/s.performancexsd:stringYesInformation about traffic state (levels may be definedto indicate delay, congestion, and severe congestion).(Description of traffic conditions along the segment.This field should be encoded according to tpegrtmML definition [TTI RTM].)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a signal flow for an operation of a lightweight ND in a conventional DynNav system. Because the lightweight ND does not support route calculation in view of its capability, the lightweight ND should request route information to a server and receive the route information from the server. The lightweight ND has the following main functionality.
1. The smart ND transmits trip information to the server, for use in route calculation at the server.
2. The smart ND receives information about a set of routes (including a recommended route) calculated by the server from the server.
3. The smart ND subscribes to a notification service to receive real-time traffic information from the server.
The signal flow illustrated in FIG. 2 contains the followings, on the whole.
1. The user defines journey parameters, and the application sends the parameters to the server; the server calculates a set of proposed routes based on the received parameters with related traffic information. The server replies with the location of the created "trip" resource to the application.
a) The server may reply with a representation of the created "trip" resource. In this use case, behaviors are equivalent.
2. The application uploads the calculated route to resource/{tripId}/routes. The server may replay with a representation of a "route" resource containing performance parameters and links to traffic events.
a) The server may reply with traffic information (performance parameters and traffic events). In this case, additional GET operation is necessary to retrieve the resource.
3. The application subscribes to a notification service for a trip and route.
4. The traffic events and/or performance parameters are modified for the subscribed route(s); Notification resource is created.
5. The server delivers the notification resource to the application using links to the modified resources with the trip and route containing the updated performance parameters and traffic information.
6. The application accesses the updated resources and reads the resources.
7. The application decides to calculate a new route using the received resources.
8. The application uploads the newly calculated route to resource/{tripId}/routes. The server replies with a representation of the "route" resource containing route performances and links to events. This step may be repeated several times until a route satisfying performance restriction is found.
9. The application requests to modify subscription setting for adding notification of the newly subscribed route.
FIG. 3 shows operation of a smart ND described with reference to FIG. 2 when a destination is a third terminal (that is, a target terminal 34).
For fast GPS connection and additional support information delivery between a navigation terminal (that is, a source terminal 31) and a location server 33 before performing a navigation service, positioning assistance data (A/D) is shared between the source terminal and the location server using a location information delivery protocol.
S301: The source terminal 31 performs a service for setting the location of the target terminal 34 as a destination. In this step, an identifier (ID) for identifying the target terminal is used to specify the target terminal. Here, a globally unique value of a terminal, such as Ipv4 address, Ipv6 address, MSISDN, IMSI, etc., is used as the identifier.
S302: The source terminal delivers the identifier of the specified target terminal and notifies a traffic information server 32 that the service for setting the location of the target terminal as the destination is performed. In this step, for the service, the source terminal delivers the location information thereof to the traffic information server.
S303: The traffic information server requests permission to use the location information of the target terminal and to perform the service from the target terminal and receives a response for accepting the request. In this step, if the target terminal does not accept the request, the service is not performed.
S304: If the target terminal accepts performance of the service in S303, the navigation service starts.
S305: The traffic information server requests the location information of the target terminal via the location server 33 as soon as the navigation service starts.
S306: The location server acquires the location information of the target terminal according to the request of the traffic information server.
S307: The location server transmits the location of the target terminal acquired in S306 to the traffic information server.
S308: The traffic information server delivers the location information of the target terminal acquired in S307 to the source terminal. At the same time, partial traffic information may be provided. The partial traffic information includes detailed traffic information (performance parameters) of the vicinity (within a certain radius) of a departure point and traffic event information (traffic event) from the departure point to the destination based on the location of the source terminal delivered by the source terminal in S302 and the location of the target terminal delivered by the location server in S307.
S309: The source terminal calculates an optimal route based on the location of the target terminal and the partial traffic information received in S308.
S310: The source terminal registers the route acquired in S309 with the traffic information server. The route is registered with the traffic information server in order to receive, from the traffic information server, traffic condition change (that is, traffic information=detailed traffic information+traffic event information) of the route based on the registered route in addition to a current traffic condition based on the registered route.
S311: The traffic information server delivers the current traffic condition of the registered route information to the source terminal, in order to calculate an estimated time of arrival of the source terminal on the route. Since information on traffic accidents or construction on the route is delivered in S308, re-calculation of the route is not performed.
S312: The location server may track the location of the target terminal on a predetermined cycle (temporal cycle) and deliver the location information to the traffic information server or continuously track the location of the target terminal and deliver the location information to the traffic information server only when a movement distance is satisfied.
S313: The traffic information server delivers the received location of the target terminal to the source terminal.
S314: The source terminal re-calculates the route (or performs re-searching) based on the received location of the target terminal. After the route is re-calculated, the operation returns to S309 to repeat S309 to S314 repeated.
The smart ND of the conventional DynNav system described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 has several problems.
1) Problems Occurring when the Smart ND Operates on a Predetermined Cycle
If the location server receives and delivers the location information of the target terminal to the source terminal on a temporal cycle, for example, if it is assumed that the location server obtains the location of the target terminal at an interval of 5 min, assume that the location of the source/target terminal is hardly changed for 5 min. After 5 min has elapsed, when the source terminal acquires the location of the target terminal and re-calculates the route ting based on the acquired location, the re-calculated route may be hardly changed from the existing route. In this case, since the route is unnecessarily re-calculated, overhead occurs in data processing, transmission and reception.
2) Problems Occurring when the Source Terminal Decides Route Re-Calculation
The source terminal does not have traffic condition information and decides route re-calculation using the location thereof and the location of the target terminal. In such a decision process, an actual traffic condition may not be considered. That is, if the current location of the target terminal is not included in an existing route, since traffic condition information from the existing route to the current location of the target terminal is not present, a probability that the re-calculated route does not include an actual traffic condition is very high.

Method of calculating route, and method or device for obtaining route


A propulsion system of a spacecraft comprises a main tank adapted to contain a volume of propellant and a pressurizing gas which applies pressure to the propellant. The main tank comprises a membrane delimiting an upper volume to contain the pressurizing gas and an inferior volume to contain the propellant, the gas applying the pressure to the propellant by means of the membrane. A pressurization circuit is connected directly to the main tank. The propulsion system further comprises an auxiliary tank adapted to contain pressurizing gas. The auxiliary tank is connected directly to the main tank by means of the pressurization circuit. When in operation, gas contained in the auxiliary tank expands continuously with the gas contained in the upper volume of the main tank, the pressures prevailing in the upper volume of the main tank, in the pressurization circuit and in the auxiliary tank being identical. The auxiliary tank is dimensioned so that the maximal volume of propellant of the main tank is greater than the volume of propellant which the main tank can contain without an auxiliary tank.

A propulsion system of a spacecraft allows the spacecraft, during a mission, to change orbit, maintain course on a preferred orbit and control its attitude.
Such a propulsion system mainly comprises a propellant tank and propulsion units.
The tank is pressurized when the spacecraft launches.
Current propulsion systems comprise a tank including a sealing membrane delimiting an upper volume and a lower volume.
In this type of propulsion system, pressurized pressurizing gas is stored in the upper volume and the propellant is stored in the lower volume.
The pressurizing gas feeds the propulsion units with propellant.
During the mission, the gas will expand from 24 bars at 50° C. to 5.5 bars at 10° C., minimal pressure admissible for supplying the propulsion units.
Therefore, at the start of the mission, the tank is filled with a volume Vc,0 of propellant and a volume Vg,0 of pressurizing gas. The quantity of gas is determined so that during the mission there is the following equality: Vg,0/Vg,f=(Pf/P0)*T0/Tf where Vg,f is the volume of gas on completion of the mission when the tank contains no more propellant, P0 is the pressure in the tank when it is filled to its maximum capacity at the temperature T0 and Pf is the pressure in the tank at the temperature Tf when the tank is empty.
A problem is that the maximum volume Vc,0 of propellant is limited because the tank contains gas to respect the constraints hereinabove. So, the duration of a mission is impacted by the capacity of the tank which is such that Vc,0=Vg,f−Vg,0.

Augmentation of a monopropellant propulsion system


Disclosed is a chemical cleaning process for removing fouling from process lines of oil refining or petrochemical plants. The process lines are in an on-line state and a chemical cleaning agent is circulated through the process lines to remove the fouling. It can effectively recover the thermal efficiency in oil refining processes or petrochemical processes within a short period of time, so that significant energy consumption is reduced. Furthermore, the chemical cleaning process requires a shorter cleaning period and therefore allows for a longer operating time. It can also dislodge fouling without opening heat exchangers or other equipment thereby preventing the release of VOCs. As a result, environmental pollution is not generated. The present invention is also ecconomically favorable as it extends the time between periodic maintenance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chemical cleaning process for removing fouling. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of a chemical cleaning agent to remove fouling formed within the process lines of oil refining or petrochemical plants. The chemical cleaning agent of the present invention can be applied during periodic maintenance as well as during operation. If the cleaning agent is applied during operation, the lines are to be in an on-line state with a feed-cut condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fouling is one of the most problematic obstacles to the effective operation of oil-refining plants or petrochemical plants because it reduces the efficiency of heat exchangers, causes a large loss of energy, and its removal necessitates frequent periodic maintenance. Typically, fouling results from crude petroleum deposits, such as sand, silt, clay, heavy hydrocarbons, and asphaltene or from corrosion materials such as FeS.
In order to remove fouling, various cleaning methods have been developed. One method is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,826 in which an aqueous chemical cleaning solution is introduced into the tubes of heat exchangers and shock waves are generated to remove sludge, scale and other deposits fouling the heat exchangers. However, the disadvantage of this method is that the cleaning has to be performed on individual heat exchangers during periodic maintenance. Another cleaning method employs a second heat exchanger which functions as a bypass during cleaning of a troubled, primary heat exchanger. The disadvantage of cleaning methods using a second heat exchanger, is that such methods require a high initial investment for installation of the second heat exchanger. Still other cleaning methods are known, including those using chemical antifoulants or turbulence promoters to remove fouling. Importantly, the previously available chemical antifoulants are generally not desirable as the benefit of their cleaning effects are outweighed by their cost. Furthermore, turbulence promoters cost a significant amount of money, and if not applied to every heat exchanger fail to bring about a very large effect in the reduction of fouling.
Mechanical cleaning methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,773,357 and 5,006,304. According to these references, fouling can be removed by the application of a high velocity water jet to heat exchangers only after the operation of the oil refining plant has been halted and the heat exchangers have been opened. The disadvantage of this method is that it forces plant managers to submit to serious financial and production losses when operation of the plant is halted to clean the heat exchanger. Additionally, the cleaning method itself is costly and results in the release of environmental pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the open heat exchangers.
Chemical cleaning agents, such as non-aqueous cleaning agents comprising C8, C9 and C10 aromatic compounds, and light gas oil (LGO) or light cycle oil (LCO), and cleaning methods are disclosed which overcome conventional problems resulting from stoppage of oil refining or petrochemical processes and the opening of heat exchangers. These chemical cleaning agents effectively remove the fouling formed in process lines, including the feed line and the side streamxe2x80x94both of which may be feed-cut in an on-line state. Removal of fouling is monitored with a near-infra red or IR analyzer.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome conventional problems encountered in the prior art and to provide a chemical cleaning method for removing fouling from the lines of oil refining plants and petrochemical plants such that the cleaning method restores heat exchanger efficiency to start of run (SOR) levels.
Based on the present invention, the above object can be accomplished by providing a chemical cleaning method for removing fouling from process lines of oil refining or petrochemical plants, in which the process lines are in an on-line state and a chemical cleaning agent is circulated through the process lines to remove the fouling.

Chemical cleaning process for removing fouling


The invention provides a slip layer substrate which can reduce the thermal residual stresses between components induced by their mismatch of thermal expansion, thus greatly improve the reliability of electronic packages. The slip layer substrate comprises: a base material; a first metallization layer formed on the base material; a first diffusion barrier layer formed on the first metallization layer; a slip layer formed on the first diffusion barrier layer; a second diffusion barrier layer formed on the slip layer; and a second metallization layer formed on the second diffusion barrier layer.

Field of Invention
This invention relates to a substrate structure, and more particularly, to a multilayer substrate which reduces the residual stress induced by thermal expansion mismatch in electronic packages.
Description of Related Arts
Multilayer metallized substrates have been extensively used in electronic packages, such as DBC (direct bonded copper) substrate, AMB (active metal braze), DPC (direct plated copper), thick film plated up technology, and thin film technology. As an example, shown in FIG. 1, a typical DBC substrate consists of a ceramic base material 10 and copper metallization 11 on one side or on both sides. The copper metallization 11 is plated with a nickel plating layer 12, and a gold plating layer 13. Commonly used base materials are ceramics such as AlN, Al2O3, BeO, and Si3N4. The ceramic provides mechanical strength and electrical insulation from a live circuit to chassis, while the copper metallization provides interconnections to form an electrical circuit. The nickel plating layer 12, which separates the copper metallization 11, is formed on top of the copper metallization 11. The gold plating layer 13 is formed on top of the nickel plating layer 12. The nickel plating layer 12 between the copper metallization 11 and the gold plating layer 13 serves as a diffusion barrier which prevents the diffusion between the copper metallization 11 and the gold plating layer 13. On top of the gold plating 13, electronic devices, such as diodes and IGBTs, are attached by solder or conductive epoxy. The gold plating layer 13 prevents oxidation and improves solderability and bondability for die attachment. The combination of all layers makes the electrically insulated substrate strong in mechanical strength, and forms an electrical circuitry when electronic devices are bonded onto the metallization. The substrate is then attached by solder, epoxy, or thermal grease to a metal heat spreader such as copper or aluminum, for heat spreading and dissipating.
A common issue of the abovementioned structure where a multilayer metallized substrate with electronic devices populated is attached onto a metal heat spreader is the excessive residual stress caused by thermal expansion mismatch between the internal layers. The excessive residual stress plays a major role in the long-term reliability of electronic packages which are characterized as multilayered structures. Among the materials of the layers in a multilayer metallized substrate that is attached to a metal heat spreader, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of silicon is 2.5 ppm/° C., CTE of ceramic materials is normally between 3 ppm/° C. and 10 ppm/° C., CTE of copper is 17 ppm/° C., CTE of nickel is 13 ppm/° C., CTE of gold is 14 ppm/° C., and CTE of solder materials is generally between 13 ppm/° C. to 35 ppm/° C. When temperature changes, the materials of all layers of this multilayer structure expand or contract at different rates because the materials have different CTE's. Temperature range of applications in automobile, military, and aerospace usually falls between −55° C. and 150° C. In some extreme cases, the application temperature can get as low as −65° C. and as high as 200° C. Exposure to such a wide temperature range can result in excessive thermal residual stress as high as several hundred mega Pascal in the multilayered structure, which can induce solder interface cohesive failure, copper/ceramic interface fracture, ceramic cohesive fracture, copper/solder adhesive failure, and even cracking of silicon electronic components. As a result of these failures, the actual contact area between layers of the substrate is reduced, so that the electronic devices that are bonded onto the substrate will run hotter due to a more restricted path of conduction, indirectly reducing the life of the product (or a lower MTBF number). In some severe cases, the assembly can simply malfunction due to the cracking of the ceramic substrate, compromising the integrity of the circuitry that forms on top of the substrate, or due to die cracking as a direct result of substrate cracking.
Several approaches have been utilized to address this long term reliability issue induced by mismatch of thermal expansion. One approach is to use heat spreader materials with similar thermal expansion coefficient as that of ceramics and electronic components. For example, AlSiC and CE alloy have a CTE of less than 10 ppm/° C. The major drawbacks of these materials are the high material cost, and long lead time, which prevent their widespread use in electronic packaging industry, unless very large volume is used for a single design. In addition, AlSiC is a brittle material that is difficult to machine without running into the risk of cracking it, requiring a custom design to incorporate aluminum rich area for each mounting hole so that it can be drilled without cracking.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a multilayer substrate which reduces the residual stress induced by thermal expansion mismatch in electronic packages.

Multilayer substrate and method for manufacturing the same


A system and method for method for implementing a discounted printing is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for implementing discounted printing includes creating a sponsored document including a digital signature using a cryptographic protocol provided in an application by an enterprise, sending the sponsored document including the digital signature to a client computing system including a sponsored printer for printing by the enterprise, dynamically verifying the digital signature by a trusted service provider upon the enterprise sending the sponsored document to the sponsored printer, and printing the sponsored document by the sponsored printer upon a successful verification of the digital signature. The method may also include crediting an end user associated with the sponsored printer by an amount that substantially subsidizes cost associated with the printing of the sponsored document.

Currently, with the Internet, customers have come to expect up on-demand, up-to-date and relevant information. Enterprises that have traditionally valued print media for marketing communications are finding it a challenge to provide this kind of information, using traditional centralized printing and physical distribution techniques.
Marketing communication tools, such as brochures, direct mail, coupons, and inserts and customer relationship management components, such as orders, invoices, complaints and so on, are most significant drivers of business printing today. Typically, large percentage of trillion or so pages, printed per year by enterprises is used for marketing alone. Further, CRM and advertising industry account for a large percentage of the trillion or so pages printed per year. This makes print-based advertising significantly larger than online advertising, as print media can have certain inherent advantages such as retainability, ease-of-use, visual appearance, extensible display surface and so on, that are generally attractive for marketing.
Despite the above advantages of the print media, enterprises are increasingly investing in Web-based communication, often at the expense of printing. Some of the reasons for this shift are the ability of Web marketing to target and personalize messages, provide larger amount of content at near zero incremental cost, and the speed at which content can be updated and delivered. Currently, print based communication methods that involve centralized printing and physical distribution, such as direct mail do not provide enough speed, flexibility to modify content, personalization, traceability, and most significantly targetability. Further, online Web-based advertisements provide ability to generate actionable transactions and analytics. Furthermore, online Web-based advertisements provide high traceability and clickthrough measurability. Moreover, the online Web-based advertisements provide ability to change content at a short notice. Therefore, enterprises are investing heavily in online advertisements at the expense of other media of communications.
However, Web based marketing and advertising is unable to address the need of enterprises which value printed collaterals for effectiveness. Further, the current centralized printing and physical distribution, such as direct mail are push based systems and often are ill-directed and wasted. Furthermore, current techniques do not provide a means by which a consumer, in developing or emerging markets, can print information when he/she needs it without incurring printing cost, which can be prohibitive. This can significantly impact print based marketing and/or communication in these market segments.
Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

System and method for discounted printing

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.