A vehicle rental transaction system and method which provide a vehicle lot owner with a choice of options for vehicle security and customer convenience. The vehicle rental transaction system includes a computer for identifying a customer as part of a rental transaction involving a vehicle, and for sending a wireless message to the vehicle containing instructions for preparing the vehicle for the customer. Example instructions include, but are not limited to, unlocking doors and a trunk of the vehicle, adjusting power seats and power mirrors in accordance with customer preferences, adjusting climate control settings in accordance with the customer preferences, adjusting radio station settings in accordance with the customer preferences, and adjusting GPS settings in accordance with the customer preferences.

Rental car lot owners frequently leave car keys in the car for customer and lot operator convenience. To mitigate theft, some rental car lots utilize secure entry and exit points to ensure cars are not improperly driven off the lot.
However such systems are not fool-proof as rogue individuals may still drive one or more open and accessible cars through obstacles associated with such secure entry and exit points. Further, some rental car lots or agencies maintain vehicles in the open in unsecure lots which results in a higher likelihood of theft where keys are left in unattended vehicles or the vehicles are left unlocked, and minimizes the ability to provide the customer or lot operator the convenience commensurate with leaving the keys in the car, including having the right key associated with the right car, and providing for unattended or self-service lot operation.
Rental car lot owners also fail to do much more to prepare vehicles for customers than cleaning the vehicles and ensuring they are full of fuel.
It would be desirable to provide a vehicle rental transaction system and method which provides a vehicle lot owner with a choice of options for vehicle security and customer convenience.

Vehicle rental transaction system and method


A reactor arrangement for alternating electrical current includes different coils (105, 107) for positive and negative half-cycles of the alternating electrical current. The negative and positive half-cycles of the alternating electrical current are directed to the different coils with the aid of unidirectional electrical components (106, 108) such as, for example, diodes. The both coils are arranged to magnetize a common magnetic core element (104) in a same direction. The reactor arrangement further includes at least one permanent magnet (109) that generates, into the magnetic core element, a biasing magnetic flux component having an opposite direction than that of magnetic flux components generated with the coils. Therefore, the biasing magnetic flux component generated with the permanent magnet relieves magnetic saturation of the magnetic core element. Hence, the size and the weight of the magnetic core element can be reduced.

In conjunction with many electrical converter devices, e.g. a frequency converter, an inductive electrical component is needed between an inverter bridge arranged to produce e.g. multiphase alternating voltage and an electrical system connected to it, and/or between a rectifier bridge and an alternating voltage network. The inductive electrical component can be needed, for example, for reducing slew rate of output voltage of an inverter, for over-current protection, for reducing radio frequency emissions, and/or for suppressing harmonics of voltage and/or of electrical current. The physical size of an inductive electrical component can be reduced by providing the inductive electrical component with a magnetic core element that is made of magnetically amplifying material, i.e. material having the relative permeability greater than unity (μr>1). The magnetically amplifying material can be ferromagnetic or paramagnetic material. The magnetic core element is preferably made of soft magnetic material that provides low hysteresis losses, e.g. electrical steel sheets, soft magnetic powder, ferrites, etc. In many applications, the magnetic saturation of magnetically amplifying material causes problems in conjunction with inductive electrical components, e.g. non-linear phenomena that may be harmful in operation of an inductive electrical component. For example, dynamical inductance (a change of magnetic flux/a change of electrical current) may drastically diminish as a response to a situation in which a magnetic core element of an inductive electrical component gets magnetically saturated. Because of the above-mentioned facts, a magnetic core element of an inductive electrical component is traditionally dimensioned with respect to a pre-determined value of electrical current in such a way that the magnetic core element does not get too deeply saturated during operation. The requirement that the magnetic core element must not get too deeply saturated sets lower limits to the size and the weight of the inductive electrical component.
In a solution according to the prior art, an inductive electrical component that is used for limiting fluctuations of direct electrical current, i.e. dc-current, is provided with a permanent magnet. In this document dc-current means electrical current the value of which may fluctuate over time but the flowing direction of which does not change. The permanent magnet is arranged to generate into a ferromagnetic core of the inductive electrical component a biasing magnetic flux component that has an opposite direction with respect to a magnetic flux component generated by dc-current flowing in windings of the inductive electrical component. With the aid of the biasing magnetic flux component the maximum value of the dc-current that can be used without causing a too deep saturation of the ferromagnetic core can be e.g. doubled compared with a situation in which no biasing magnetic flux component is being used. An inductive electrical component of the kind described above is disclosed also in publication U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,465. The above-described solution according to the prior art is, however, suitable for only inductive electrical components that are used for limiting fluctuations of dc-current. In conjunction with an electrical converter device, e.g. a frequency converter, many inductive electrical components are, however, used as reactors for alternating electrical currents.

Reactor arrangement for alternating electrical current


A portable electronic imaging device, in performing digital zoom, exploits barrel distortion in the original digital image to produce higher quality digitally zoomed images than can be obtained by simple cropping and rescaling. Such a portable electronic imaging device may be implemented using a moderately wide-angle lens of fixed focal length.

Portable electronic imaging devices such as digital cameras or digital video cameras often include a zoom feature. This feature may be provided optically, through the use of a zoom lens, or by cropping (and possibly rescaling) the digital image. The latter method is often referred to as "digital zoom."
Though simple and inexpensive to implement, digital zoom has a major disadvantage: loss of resolution upon rescaling to a larger image size. A digital image may be scaled to a larger image size by using the existing pixel information to estimate the added pixels. The simplest method replicates the value of the nearest neighbor pixel. More sophisticated techniques use interpolation to generate an intermediate pixel value from several neighboring pixels. Bilinear and bicubic interpolation are examples of these techniques. Every rescaling method, particularly pixel replication, produces an image that suffers in quality at high zoom factors, even if the portable electronic imaging device has reasonably high resolution. Providing the portable electronic imaging device with even higher resolution to compensate for digital zoom adds to the cost of the device. Although an optical zoom lens avoids the major disadvantage of digital zoom, an optical zoom lens may add bulk, weight, and cost to the portable electronic imaging device.
It is thus apparent that there is a need in the art for an improved-resolution digital zoom capability in a portable electronic imaging device.

Apparatus and method for improved-resolution digital zoom in a portable electronic imaging device

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


To suppress color moire in a color image recording apparatus, a method for recording a color image by forming record dots of at least first through third colors on a recording medium in a plurality of lines of record dots each extending in a main scan direction and a plurality of rows of record dots each extending in a sub-scan direction, includes the step of forming the record dots of first through third colors with a different disposition pattern effective to avoid the occurrence of color moire. In a preferred embodiment, the disposition pattern of the record dots of one of the three colors comprises an ordinary zigzag printing pattern in which selected ones of the record dots in each line of record dots are shifted in the sub-scan direction by a uniform amount, the disposition pattern of the record dots of another one of the three colors comprises a modified ordinary zigzag pattern in which a dot pitch between lines of record dots in the sub-scan direction is a non-integer multiple of the dot pitch of the ordinary zigzag printing pattern, and the disposition pattern of the remaining one of the three colors comprises a modified ordinary zigzag pattern in which corresponding record dots in adjacent lines of record dots are closer to each other than are the record dots in adjacent rows.

As an apparatus for recording a color image that has been arranged to form the record dots of at least three colors on a recording medium, there is known a melt type color thermal transfer recording apparatus. In the melt type color thermal transfer recording apparatus, there is used an ink sheet on which there are longitudinally coated heat-meltable inks that have respectively three colors of yellow ("Y" hereinafter), magenta ("M" hereinafter), cyan ("C" hereinafter) or four colors having these colors and a color of black ("K" hereinafter) added thereto in this order. And, this ink sheet and a transfer paper are superposed one over the other and heat is applied from a thermal head to the ink sheet to thereby melt the ink and thereby transfer "Y", "M" and "C", or "Y", "M", "C" and "K", to the transfer paper in this order. The thermal head is equipped with a large number of heat generating elements that have been disposed in the form of a line in the main scan direction. By controlling the time width in which current is applied to these heat generating elements, it is possible to control the area of the record dot to be transferred onto the transfer paper and thereby express the gradation sequence.
FIG. 19 illustrates an example of the disposition pattern of the record dots that have been formed on the transfer paper through the operation of a conventional melt type color thermal transfer recording apparatus. This pattern is one wherein the record dots of each of four colors of "Y", "M", "C" and "K" are formed at 300 dpi (dot pitch .apprxeq.84.7 .mu.m) in each of the main scan and sub-scan directions. Further, by shifting the record dots in each line every other row in the sub-scan direction by 1/2 (.apprxeq.42.3 .mu.m) of the dot pitch, the heat of the thermal head is diffused to thereby enable the formation of excellent record dots. In this specification, shifting of the record dots in each line every other row in the sub-scan direction in this way is called "one-dot zigzag printing".
FIG. 20 illustrates an example of the timing of pulses which are applied to an energization control switch of the thermal head when realizing the above-mentioned print pattern. It is to be noted that since in this figure for the convenience of not only illustrating the timing for realizing the print pattern such as that illustrated in FIG. 19 but also illustrating the gradation level concurrently, with the gradation in the first row being set to be 63 under the assumption that the maximum gradation level is 63, the gradation levels in the second row and thereafter succeeding rows are made to become gradually lower, it does not result that the areas of the record dots formed by this current correspond to those illustrated in FIG. 19.
As illustrated in FIG. 20, in either the odd row that stands in an odd number of order or the even row that stands in an even number of order, application of current is started in units of 10 msec and this application is stopped after the lapse of a time period that corresponds to the gradation level. And, a time difference of 5.0 msec is provided between the timing for starting the application of current in a line in an odd-order row and the timing for starting the application of current in the line in an even-order row. This timing is determined by being synchronized with a timing pulse that is generated in units of 2.5 msec. It is to be noted that this timing pulse is also synchronized with the timing for driving a stepping motor for conveying the transfer paper. Here, vertical broken lines that have been drawn commonly to all rows in units of 300 dpi/10 msec are reference lines that have been drawn at equal intervals from the print starting timing.
In a case where the resolution as viewed in the sub-scan direction is 300 dpi as illustrated in FIG. 19, it is ideal to dispose the record dots accurately at pitches of 84.7 .mu.m in the sub-scan direction. However, so long as the ink sheet and transfer paper are respectively mechanically conveyed using stepping motors, it is at present extremely difficult to dispose the record dots with the positions thereof being not departed even 1 .mu.m from each other over an entire recording region of every transfer paper. Accordingly, it is actually unavoidable that the departures are made somewhat (several .mu.m to several tens of .mu.m) from the regular positions in the sub-scan direction. In addition, these departures occur at random between each color or between adjacent prints generally with some extent of widths (several mm to several tens of mm) as viewed in the sub-scan direction. FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a disposition pattern of record dots where there exist portions at which "C" departs relatively from "Y" and "M".
In a case where the record dots have been relatively departed in this way, even when each of "Y", "M" and "C" has been printed at a gradation of 50%, the color on the transfer paper does not become a uniform half-tone gray. The reason for this is because by the record dots of a given color being relatively departed from the record dots of another color in the sub-scan direction the hue that is seen with the naked eyes undesirably changes with the result that hue streaks (also called "color moire") occur. Further, the fact that a difference in respect of the transferability (the ink concentration with respect to the energy) exists between where ink is transferred directly onto the transfer paper and where ink is applied onto the ink of another color also promotes the occurrence of the color moire.

Method for recording color image, apparatus for recording color image, and method for controlling recording of color image

Seiko Instruments Information Devices Inc.


An adjustable rear stud connector is suitable for connecting a circuit breaker to a bus bar. Rear stud connectors are rotationally adjustable to contact a corresponding bus bar, while minimizing the stress applied to the rear stud connector when connected. The rear stud connector includes a rear stud, including a stud blade and a stud base, and a rear stud adapter including an adapter base and an adapter mount. The adapter base includes a plurality of connector holes for connecting the stud base to the adapter base with fasteners. The stud base includes a plurality of circumferentially extending slots, with reference to a center axis of the stud base, for connecting the stud base to the adapter base with fasteners and to allow for a degree of positional flexibility of the stud base relative to the adapter base in a circumferential direction with respect to the center axis.

In today's market, molded case circuit breakers (MCCB's) are often connected to a bus bar of an electrical appliance by way of a circuit breaker rear stud connector, like large copper and/or aluminum bussing connectors or large cables.
Conventional circuit breaker rear stud connectors have the disadvantage that a connection between the bus bar and rear connector of a circuit breaker is often stressed due to a misalignment of the contact surfaces of the bus bar and the rear connector. If the contact surfaces are not aligned so as to be in the same or parallel planes, the use of fasteners to connect or secure the contact surfaces may add a stress on the rear connector and/or bus bar. These connections can cause high stress and/or strain forces if the contact surfaces are not in alignment with the plane of the connection surface. These forces can cause undue stress/strain to the circuit breaker and as circuit breakers become smaller, as today's market dictates, structural integrity becomes a concern. In the past Siemens, as well as some competitors, have offered adjustability of rear studs in 90 degree increments often making it difficult to make a secure connection without imposing unwanted forces to the device.

Angular adjustable rear stud for molded case circuit breaker


A decoupling assembly structured to decouple the charging motor and the charging assembly cam shaft is provided. The decoupling assembly includes a lifter pin assembly and an elongated second end to a link member in the over-running clutch assembly. The link member supports a pawl which engages an over-running clutch assembly sprocket. The pawl is disposed on one side of a link member that is pivotally attached to an over-running clutch assembly hub assembly. The link member is structured to pivot in a “see-saw” like manner and thereby move the pawl between a first position, wherein the pawl engages the sprocket, and a second position, wherein the pawl does not engage the sprocket. The lifter pin assembly includes a spring loaded lifter pin that is structured to engage the link member second end and thereby move the pawl between the first position and the second position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical switching apparatus operating mechanism and, more specifically to a decoupling assembly disposed between the charging assembly motor and the charging assembly cam shaft structured to decouple the charging assembly motor and the charging assembly cam shaft in the event the charging motor fails to stop rotating.
2. Background Information
An electrical switching apparatus, typically, includes a housing, at least one bus assembly having a pair of contacts, a trip device, and an operating mechanism. The housing assembly is structured to insulate and enclose the other components. The at least one pair of contacts include a fixed contact and a movable contact and typically include multiple pairs of fixed and movable contacts. Each contact is coupled to, and in electrical communication with, a conductive bus that is further coupled to, and in electrical communication with, a line or a load. A trip device is structured to detect an over current condition and to actuate the operating mechanism. An operating mechanism is structured to both open the contacts, either manually or following actuation by the trip device, and close the contacts.
That is, the operating mechanism includes both a closing assembly and an opening assembly, which may have common elements, that are structured to move the movable contact between a first, open position, wherein the contacts are separated, and a second, closed position, wherein the contacts are coupled and in electrical communication. The operating mechanism includes a rotatable pole shaft that is coupled to the movable contact and structured to move each movable contact between the closed position and the open position. Elements of both the closing assembly and the opening assembly are coupled to the pole shaft so as to effect the closing and opening of the contacts.
An electrical switching apparatus typically had a stored energy device, such as at least one opening spring, and at least one link coupled to the pole shaft. The at least one link, typically, included two links that acted cooperatively as a toggle assembly. When the contacts were open, the toggle assembly was in a first, collapsed configuration and, conversely, when the contacts were closed, the toggle assembly was, typically, in a second, toggle position or in a slightly over-toggle position. The spring biased the toggle assembly to the collapsed position. The spring and toggle assembly were maintained in the second, toggle position by the trip device.
The trip device included an over-current sensor, a latch assembly and may have included one or more additional links that were coupled to the toggle assembly. Alternately, the latch assembly was directly coupled to the toggle assembly. When an over-current situation occurred, the latch assembly was released allowing the opening spring to cause the toggle assembly to collapse. When the toggle assembly collapsed, the toggle assembly link coupled to the pole shaft caused the pole shaft to rotate and thereby move the movable contacts into the open position.
Typically, the force required to close the contacts was, and is, greater than what a human may apply. As such, the operating mechanism typically included a mechanical closing assembly to close the contacts. The closing assembly, typically, included at least one stored energy device, such as a spring, and/or a motor. A common configuration included a motor that compressed one or more springs in the closing assembly. That is, the closing springs were coupled to a cam roller that engaged a cam coupled to the motor. As the motor rotated the cam, the closing springs were compressed or charged. The closing springs were maintained in the compressed configuration by a latch assembly. The latch assembly was actuated by a user to initiate a closing procedure. The closing assembly is structured to apply the energy stored in the springs to the toggle assembly so as to cause the pole shaft to rotate and close the contacts.
In many electrical switching apparatuses the springs are coupled to the toggle assembly via a cam roller. That is, the toggle assembly also included a cam roller, typically at the toggle joint. The closing assembly further included one or more cams disposed on a common cam shaft with the closing spring cam. Alternatively, depending upon the configuration of the cam, both the closing spring cam roller and the toggle assembly cam roller could engage the same cam. When the closing springs were released, the closing spring cam roller applied force to the associated cam and caused the cam shaft to rotate. Rotation of the cam shaft would also cause the cam associated with the toggle assembly cam roller to rotate. As the cam associated with the toggle assembly cam roller rotated, the cam caused the toggle assembly cam roller, and therefore the toggle assembly, to be moved into selected positions and/or configurations. Alternatively, as set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/693,159, which is incorporated by reference, the springs could be coupled to a ram assembly having a ram body that moved over a predetermined path. The ram body was structured to directly engage the toggle assembly and move the toggle assembly into a selected position. That is, whether the closing assembly utilized a cam or a ram assembly, the toggle assembly was moved so as to rotate the pole shaft into a position wherein the contacts were closed.
For example, during a closing procedure the toggle assembly would initially be collapsed and, therefore, the contacts were open. When the closing springs were released, the rotation of the cam associated with the toggle assembly cam roller would cause the toggle assembly to move back into the second, toggle position, thereby closing the contacts. This motion would also charge the opening springs. Simultaneously, or near simultaneously, the trip device latch would be reset thereby holding the toggle assembly in the second, toggle position. After the contacts were closed, it was common to recharge the closing spring so that, following an over current trip, the contacts could be rapidly closed again. That is, if the closing springs were charged, the contacts could be closed almost immediately without having to wait to charge the closing springs.
As noted above, the charging of the closing springs was typically accomplished via a motor. The motor had an output shaft that was coupled, directly or indirectly, to the shaft of the charging cam. In addition to the charging motor, most electrical switching apparatuses included an elongated manual charging handle. The charging handle also acted upon the shaft of the charging cam either directly or indirectly.
As set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/733,449, filed Apr. 10, 2007, entitled "OVER RUNNING CLUTCH FOR A DIRECT DRIVE MOTOR OPERATOR", an over-running clutch assembly for an electrical switching apparatus is provided. The over running clutch assembly includes a sprocket and a hub assembly. The hub assembly is rotatably coupled to the sprocket and structured to rotate in a charging direction relative to the sprocket. The sprocket is fixed to a motor shaft. The hub assembly is structured to be disengagably fixed to a cam shaft in the charging assembly. A manual charging handle is also coupled to the cam shaft and is structured to rotate the cam shaft in a charging direction. In this configuration, an operator may charge the closing springs of the electrical switching apparatus using either the handle assembly or the motor. When the handle assembly is used to charge the closing springs, the cam shaft causes the hub assembly to rotate over the sprocket. Thus, the rotation of the cam shaft is not transferred to the motor. When the motor is used, the motor turns both the sprocket and the hub assembly. The hub assembly transfers the rotational force from the motor to the cam shaft.
The over-running clutch assembly, however, is not structured to allow the hub assembly to disengage from the sprocket in the event of a failure to disengage the motor. That is, the charging assembly as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/733,449, filed Apr. 10, 2007, entitled "OVER RUNNING CLUTCH FOR A DIRECT DRIVE MOTOR OPERATOR", as well as in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/693,159, which is incorporated by reference, provides for a latch assembly structured to latch the charging cam in a stop position when the closing springs are charged. Because the latch assembly locks the cam in place, at least until the latch assembly is released, any subsequent rotational force applied to the cam or the associated cam shaft is very likely to damage the electrical switching apparatus operating mechanism.
There is, therefore, a need for a decoupling assembly for a charging assembly for an electrical switching apparatus structured to decouple the charging motor and the charging assembly cam shaft.
There is a further need for a decoupling assembly for a charging assembly for an electrical switching apparatus that acts in concert with an over-running clutch assembly.

Motor operator de-coupling system sensing camshaft position


A method for forming a rectifier device is provided. The method forms a first layer on a substrate, a second layer is formed on the first layer and a photoresist layer is deposited on the second layer in which a plurality of trench patterns are formed. A plurality of trenches are formed in the first layer and the second layer by etching based on the trench patterns in the photoresist. The method then laterally etches the second layer to expose a corner portion of the first layer at mesas formed in between the two trenches. A portion of the second layer is preserved at an edge of the rectifier device.

Particular embodiments generally relate to rectifiers.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section
Power electronics are associated with the efficient conversion, control and conditioning of electric power. This may include rectifying alternating current (AC) and converting this form of electrical power to direct current (DC). Diodes have been utilized as power rectifiers for many years and have been instrumental in providing power conversion for many of the systems which connect to the common AC power provided in most businesses and homes.
In the conventional processing of power rectifiers, an 'ACTIVE' photo mask and a 'TRENCH' photo mask are utilized to achieve the desired structure. This increases the number of processing steps and masks required.


A single crystal semiconductor manufacturing method for realizing a dislocation-free single crystal while not varying or hardly varying electric power supplied to a heater when and after a seed crystal comes into contact with a melt. The allowable temperature difference ΔTc not causing dislocation in the seed crystal is determined according to the concentration (C) of the impurities added to the seed crystal (14) and the size (diameter D) of the seed crystal (14). When the seed crystal (14) comes into contact with the melt (5), electric power supplied to a bottom heater (19) is fixed, and a magnetic field produced by a magnet (20) is applied to the melt (5). Electric power supplied to a main heater (9) is controlled so that the temperature at the surface of the melt (5) which the seed crystal (14) comes into contact with may be a target value. After the seed crystal (14) comes into contact with the melt (5), single crystal silicon is pulled up without performing a necking process.

The CZ method is one of the methods for manufacturing single crystal silicon.
One of unavoidable problems when the single crystal silicon is grown by the CZ method is "dislocation" which occurs at a solid-liquid interface of a seed crystal when the seed crystal comes into contact with a melt. The dislocation is generated by thermal stress induced within the seed crystal when the seed crystal comes into contact with the melt.
To eliminate the dislocation from the crystal, a so-called Dash neck is required to decrease a crystal diameter to 3-4 mm. FIG. 7 shows a state that a Dash's neck portion 21 having a crystal diameter of 3-4 mm is formed to eliminate the dislocation from the crystal.
There are demands for the manufacture of a large-diameter silicon wafer having a diameter of 300 mm or more in these years, and it is required that a large-diameter, heavy single crystal silicon ingot can be pulled up without any problem. When the neck portion is decreased to a diameter of about 3-4 mm by the necking process, the dislocation is eliminated but the diameter is so thin that there is a possibility that it is impossible to manufacture a large-diameter, heavy single crystal silicon ingot without a problem such as falling of the crystal or the like.
(Prior Art 1)
Patent Literature 1 described later describes an invention that uses a silicon seed crystal with boron B added as an impurity at a high concentration and pulls up a large-diameter, heavy single crystal silicon ingot in a dislocation-free state without performing the necking process.
But, a parameter for suppressing the dislocation caused in the seed crystal is not limited to a concentration of impurity (boron B) added to the seed crystal.
Patent Literature 1:
    Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No 2001-240493

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Single crystal semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and method


The present invention generally relates to doped, metal oxide-based sensors, wherein the doped-metal oxide is a monolayer, and platforms and integrated chemical sensors incorporating the same, methods of making the same, and methods of using the same.

Chemiresistors (conductometric sensors) are traditionally used as building blocks for integrated chemical sensors (artificial olfactory systems, electronic noses). A chemiresistor is a device whose electrical resistance is modulated by molecular adsorption on its surface. The changes in resistance are proportional to the partial vapor pressure. Hence a chemiresistor converts the concentration of chemicals in the ambient air into a corresponding measurable electrical signal. A chemiresistor is constructed from a vapor-sensitive material placed between conducting leads. One of the best chemically sensitive materials ever discovered is nanoscale tin oxide (SnO2). The sensing mechanism of metal oxides is primarily based on the activation of atmospheric oxygen on the semiconductor surface. Consequently, catalytic reactions of gaseous species with oxygen sites on the surface induce charge transfer from the surface to the bulk, i.e., subsurface, which changes the electrical resistance of the device.
Most conventional chemical sensors are based on recognition of particular analytes, e.g., methane, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, etc. For complex mixtures, however, this approach is not the most reliable, since it causes frequent false alarms due to cross-sensitivity of sensors to different analytes. The advantage of using integrated sensory systems (electronic noses) is in their ability to learn the chemical signatures of interest, similar to training of canines. Unlike many other analytical techniques, an integrated sensor does not try to separate all the chemical components within a sample, but it perceives a sample as a whole, creating a global fingerprint. For example, the smell that emanates from coffee has hundreds of different chemical components, but our biological olfactory system (and the integrated sensor) simply identifies the total chemical composition as coffee. In an integrated sensor, the headspace from a sample (i.e., the gases emanating from a sample) is delivered to an array of chemical sensors. As each sensor is different in some way (usually broadly tuned to a different chemical group), each sensor's response to a sample is different. These responses can then be used to form a chemical fingerprint of a sample. The response is seen as a change in electrical properties (normally resistance) of the sensor. Specialized software then identifies the sample from this fingerprint.
These sensors usually suffer more or less from cross sensitivity, i.e., apart from their response to a particular target gas they do (to a certain extent) respond to other gases as well. For instance, a methane sensor is also responsive to propane, butane, and natural gas in general. In this respect, a single output sensor cannot be sufficient, even if only one target gas is to be detected. However, a combination of several gas sensors, each providing a different sensitivity spectrum, a so-called sensor array, delivers signal patterns characteristic for the gases to which the array is exposed. These signal patterns enable the distinction between individual gases or gas ensembles. Which gases can or cannot be detected or distinguished depends on the sensor type and the extent of the difference in selectivity between the sensors. Now, the cross sensitivity of the individual sensors, due to a low selectivity even turns out to be an advantage. A low selectivity (in the case of a single sensor a disadvantage for detecting a particular gas), now allows the array to respond to a wide range of gases. A combination of several chemiresistors, each providing a different sensitivity spectrum, a so-called sensor array, delivers signal patterns characteristic for the gases to which the array is exposed.
For more than two decades now, small and simple gas sensors, which provide one output signal only, have been commercially available. Typically, they are manufactured by the sol-gel method, in which metal oxide layers are deposited in the form of a viscous paste and then baked in an inert environment, creating thick films. Metal oxide sensors from Figaro (TGS sensors) and Henan Hanwei Electronics Co., ltd. (MQ sensors) are manufactured by this method. The first integrated sensory systems equipped with arrays assembled from separate sensors were manufactures in the early 90s.
Individually manufactured sensors equipped with sockets are placed in plugs on a carrier plate of several centimeters in size. There are multiple drawbacks associated with this conventional design:                1. The sol-gel process utilized for manufacturing of individual sensors does not provide precise control over the oxide layer thickness. Because of that, variations from sensor to sensor in this manufacturing process are unavoidable. As a consequence, even if the datasheet provides a calibration curve, every sensor manufactured by the sol-gel method requires a calibration and verification by the consumer, using costly specially prepared gaseous mixtures.        2. Individual sensors in a sensor array evolve over time. This phenomenon is known as a long-term drift. For a conventional integrated system, individual elements evolve differently, causing failures of pattern recognition algorithms.        3. Short-term drift due to the fluctuations in the environment also has different effects on individual elements in a conventional integrated system and causes failures of pattern recognition algorithms.        4. Frequently, individual sensors in a conventional integrated system have variances in response time. This means that some of them respond to analyte exposure faster than the others. Upon exposure to analyte but before reaching a stationary state, sensors of integrated system go through the transient phase. If they are not well-synchronized, during the transient phase, the conventional integrated system typically reports several false results. Synchronization of individual elements of a conventional integrated system is another time consuming process, and has to be implemented for each unit after the assembly.        5. If one of the sensors in a conventional integrated system fails and needs to be replaced, the entire system will need to undergo synchronization and calibration.        6. The thickness of the metal oxide layer is a key parameter that determines sensor sensitivity. The thinner the layer—the higher the sensitivity. Since only the thick films can be produced by the sol-gel method, sensors formed with this method have limited sensitivity. For most chemical compounds, the sensitivity of a sol-gel sensor is unable to go below 1 ppm.        7. Sol-gel films, which are thick, have relatively long time of recovery after exposure, which can be up to 1 min for exposure to high concentrations.        8. Conventional integrated sensory systems are typically large in size. Discrimination power of an integrated sensor depends on the number of individual basic sensing elements with different chemiresistive properties. However, an increase in the number of sensors inevitably leads to an increase in size, which causes makes a non-uniform distribution of chemicals over the sensor array upon exposure to gaseous analyte.        9. As a consequence of their size, conventional integrated systems often require sophisticated gas sampling systems, splitting the analyte gas into identical fractions for each sensor.        10. Conventional integrated sensory systems typically have high power consumption (hundreds of watts).        11. Conventional integrated sensory systems typically have high manufacturing costs, especially in the case of an advanced sampling system. Synchronization and calibration also makes the manufacturing process time-consuming.
In view of the above, it would be advantageous to develop new chemiresistors and integrated chemical sensors and methods of making and using the same, which overcome at least some of the above-noted drawbacks with conventional integrated sensory systems.

Doped, metal oxide-based chemical sensors


Architecture that monitors interaction data (e.g., search queries, query results and click-through rates), and provides users with links to other users that fall into similar categories with respect to the foregoing monitored activities (e.g., providing links to individuals and groups that share common interests and/or profiles). A search engine can be interactively coupled with one or more social networks, and that maps individuals and/or groups within respective social networks to subsets of categories associated with searches. A database stores mapped information which can be continuously updated and reorganized as links within the system mapping become stronger or weaker. The architecture can comprise a social network system that includes a database for mapping search-related information to an entity of a social network, and a search component for processing a search query for search results and returning a link to an entity of a social network based on the search query.

The emergence of global communication networks such as the Internet and major cellular networks has precipitated interaction between users and other network entities. Not only are cellular and IP networks now a principal form of communications, but also a central means for interacting with other users for most purposes. Network users now have mechanisms for searching and communicating (or socializing) on virtually any topic of interest. However, this vast resource of information can also be an impediment to finding information as it continues to grow with no end in sight. This presents a formidable challenge when trying to find the information desired or other users who have similar points of interest.
One such network entity that provides social interaction around common subjects is the social network. Social network theory focuses on the relationships and links between individuals or groups of individuals within the network, rather than the attributes of individuals or entities. Smaller, stronger networks can be less useful to network individuals than networks with many weak links to individuals outside the main network. Generally, a social network can be described as a structure of nodes that represent individuals or groups of individuals (e.g., organizations). Social networking can also refer to a category of network applications that facilitate connecting friends, business partners, or other entities or groups of entities together.
Social networks with many weak links and social connections are more likely to provide new ideas and opportunities to the network individuals or groups than relatively closed networks that can have many redundant links such as in a group of individuals who routinely interact, and may already share the same knowledge and opportunities. Accordingly, individuals or groups of individuals of the social network having connections to other social entities are more likely to have access to a wider range of different information. Thus, social networks can function as a source of information that is more relevant to what a user may want.
However, given the already vast amount of information available and increasing number of new data sources coming online and the differing types of data being provided, finding these more focused and relevant resources of information such as social networks can be difficult.


A hydraulic pressure control device includes: a hydraulic pressure unit, in which a solenoid valve for hydraulic pressure control is assembled with a hydraulic pressure block; and an electronic control unit, which includes a circuit board having a drive control circuit of the solenoid valve and stored inside a resin case, wherein a solenoid coil is fit onto the main body of the solenoid valve fixed to the hydraulic pressure block of hydraulic pressure unit, and wherein the solenoid coil is elastically pressed against and fixed to the hydraulic pressure block by a coil pressing arm integrally formed with the resin case.

As hydraulic pressure control devices for brakes for vehicles, for example, there are hydraulic pressure control devices such as disclosed in JP-A-2004-360864 and 2006-342863.
These and the like are configured by combining a hydraulic pressure unit and an electronic control unit. The hydraulic pressure unit is configured by assembling a solenoid valve for hydraulic pressure control, a pump, a motor for driving the pump, and the like, with a hydraulic pressure block, and the electronic control unit including by a circuit board having a drive control circuit for the solenoid valve or the motor and stored in a resin case.
The main body of the solenoid valve is fixed to the hydraulic pressure block of the hydraulic pressure unit, a solenoid coil is fit onto a protruding portion protruding from the hydraulic pressure block of the main body of the solenoid valve, and then the solenoid coil (a yoke integrated with the coil) is pressed by an elastic supporting member, so that the solenoid valve is fixed to the hydraulic pressure block together with the yoke and the pump.
In JP-A-2004-360864, as the elastic supporting member, a bent flat spring is used. In JP-A-2006-342863, a coil is stored in a cup-shaped yoke having a cut and raised tongue piece as the elastic supporting member, and the tongue piece is used as a spring to interpose the solenoid coil between the hydraulic pressure block of the hydraulic pressure unit and the resin case of the electronic control unit with the force of the spring, together with the yoke.
In addition, it is known that hydraulic pressure control devices, in which rubber balls, a silicon material, or the like that elastically deforms is interposed between a resin case of an electronic control unit and a solenoid coil, and is used as the elastic supporting member. It is also known that hydraulic pressure control devices in which a coil is inserted into a coil case, a flat spring is attached to the coil case with a rivet, and the coil is pressed by the flat spring, and the like.


A method and apparatus for processing exceptions in a microprocessor having a plurality of pipelined stages. The method comprises the steps of generating an exception processing code at a given stage to indicate the occurrence of an exception at the given stage; temporarily stopping processing at the given stage; transferring the exception processing code to a special stage; decoding said exception processing code at the special stage; and causing the pipeline to execute exception processing when the exception processing code is decoded at the special stage. Using the invention, the microprocessor can avoid much of the delay and complexity resulting from using an external circuit to control exception processing and can cope with the occurrence of an exception at any stage without prematurely cancelling or reexecuting processing steps. The invention is simplified in both hardware and software, and can easily cope with expansion of the number of stages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microprocessor, and more particularly to a pipelined microprocessor having exception processing features.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The pipeline system has been widely put to use for improving the processing speed of the microprocessor.
In general, pipelining divides processing for a series of instructions or operations among a plurality of circuits to allow each circuit to sequentially process results simultaneously and in parallel. Pipelining does not reduce the time required to process one instruction or one operation, but reduces the overall processing time substantially in inverse proportion to the divided number of the processing circuits.
Pipelines have experienced difficulties in processing exceptions. An exception, as used herein, means any information whose processing requires a deviation from continuous, sequential processing.
When an exception occurs during pipelining, such as when an error or the like is created, the processor must cancel subsequent pipelining and reexecute the processing from the stage where the exception first occurred. Also, where pipelining is used for instruction processing, when an exception requiring a temporary interruption is encountered such as a branch instruction, various problems will be created. For example, if at a certain stage of pipelining, it is decoded that an instruction under processing is a branch instruction, so that a branch condition is established at the stage executing the decoding, the next instruction to be executed is not the following one but the branched one. Accordingly, it is required that all the following instructions having already started pipelining be canceled and the branched instruction is newly fetched into the first stage of the pipelining and thereafter the processing is reexecuted.
The automatic cancellation approach to exception processing takes additional processing steps, and therefore time, and may cause cancellation of results which are otherwise acceptable.
To further clarify some of the problems attending handling exceptions in connection with pipelined processors, consider the prior art circuit of FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principal portion of a microprocessor having the pipelining function disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 56-92643 (1981).
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a pipelined processor for calculation which includes five stages: an operand readout stage 17, a first calculation stage 18, a second calculation stage 19, a store/exception check stage 20, and an operand store stage 21. Also shown in FIG. 1 are corresponding flip-flops, respectively, reset-set flip-flop 15, D flip-flop 161, D flip-flop 162, D flip-flop 163, and D flip-flop 164 as will be more particularly described hereafter.
Also included in the pipeline at FIG. 1 is an operand counter 27, which, when the remainder is zero, outputs a reset signal at a high level to OR gate 241 through a signal line 23.
Also shown in FIG. 1 is a signal line 14, which conveys a control signal for indicating that processing has started, by giving R-S (reset-set)-flip-flop 15 a processing start signal for starting the calculation.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the output of the R-S-flip-flop 15 is input to the operand readout stage 17 and to a first D flip-flop 161. The output of the first D flip-flop 161 is input to the first calculation stage 18 and a second D flip-flop 162. The output of the second D flip-flop 162 is input to the second calculation stage 19 and a third D flip-flop 163. The output of the third D flip-flop 163 is input to the store/exception check stage 20 and a fourth D flip-flop 164. The output of the fourth D flip-flop 164 is input to the operand store stage 21. In addition, flip-flops 15 and 161 through 164 operate in synchronism with a clock (not shown).
Referring still to FIG. 1, there is shown an interruption priority circuit 22, which, when an exception such as an error is generated, receives as input through signal lines 251, 252, and 253 interruption request signals from the outputs of operand readout stage 17, second calculation stage 19, and store/exception check stage 20. The interruption priority circuit 22 outputs an interruption request signal to a control circuit 26 (not shown) through a signal line 26.
In addition, the aforesaid interruption request signal from the operand readout is coupled to the input of OR gates 241 and 242; the interruption request from calculation stage 19 is coupled to OR gates 241, 242, and 243; and the signal from check stage 20 is coupled to the input of OR gates 241, 242, and 243 and to D flip-flops 163 and 164.
The conventional processing unit of FIG. 1 operates as follows.
The data number for the processing object is set in operand counter 27 simultaneously with the start of pipelining and a processing start signal is given to the R-S-flip-flop 15 from a control circuit (not shown) through a signal line 14. Next, the R-S-flip-flop 15 is set to turn its output to a high level. Hence, the operand readout stage 17 of the first stage of the pipeline becomes active to start processing.
Upon turning the output of R-S-flip-flop 15 to the high level, the flip-flops 161 through 164 are synchronized with the clock so as to be set and develop the high level outputs every one clock cycle, in a lagging sequence. On the other hand, since the respective stages 17 through 21 perform processing between the respective clocks, stages 17 through 21 become active corresponding to the respective flip-flop 15 and 161 through 164 being set sequentially in synchronism with the clock, thereby performing processing in order.
Accordingly, in normal operation, the operand readout stage 17 sequentially fetches the calculation object in synchronism with the clock, the respective stages 17 through 21 sequentially process the calculation object in synchronism with the clock, and the results of processing are sequentially transferred to the next stage. Thereafter, when the operand readout stage 17 processes the last processing object and delivers the result thereof to the first calculation stage 18, the remainder in the operand counter 27 is zero. Accordingly, the reset signal (zero) is output from the operand counter 27 through the signal line 23. R-S-flip-flop 15 is thereby reset and the operand readout stage 17 is inactivated. The following stages 18 through 21 respectively process the last processing object sequentially in synchronism with the clock and the results of processing are sequentially transferred to the next stage in order. Also, as the respective D flip-flops 161 through 164 are reset in lagging sequential order in synchronism with the clock, the respective stages 18 through 21 are sequentially inactivated.
The above operation is under normal processing conditions, but when an exception such as an error is received or generated the operation of the microprocessor is as follows.
When an error occurs at a given stage, the data being processed at the stage where the error is created is cancelled, and the processing results in preceding stages (following processing) which are high in the possibility of generating the error are also cancelled. Cancellation in all such stages is inefficient, however, when, for example, the error is an isolated occurrence at one stage. The processing in succeeding stages ahead of the stage generating the error (preceding processing) is effective, whereby the preceding processing is continued until it reaches the last stage in the pipeline.
Referring again to FIG. 1, when an error occurs, an interruption request signal 251, 252, and 253 is output from either one of the operand readout stage 17, second calculation stage 19, or store/exception check stage 20, and the flip-flop corresponding to the interruption request signal, and that at preceding stages are reset. Simultaneously, the interruption request signal is input to the interruption priority circuit 22 and supplied to the control circuit (not shown) through the signal line 26.
When the control circuit accepts the interruption, all following pipelining will be reexecuted on the basis of set/reset (level of output signal) of the flip-flops 15 and 161 through 164 and an obtained count of the operand counter 27. Thus, in order to process exceptions, set/reset signals must be conveyed to the external control circuit, the external control circuit must accept the interruption, and the nature of the error and the proper response must be determined by the control circuit. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the stage which checks for exceptions is a separate stage at the end of the pipeline.
In addition, when an error is generated simultaneously at a plurality of stages, the flip-flops corresponding to the most advanced stage and all preceding stages are all reset and the interruption priority circuit 22 decides the interruption priority. All processing following the stage where the error occurred is automatically cancelled.
Moreover, a problem occurs in implementing a control circuit for the processor in FIG. 1 in that as the number of stages for the pipeline increases, the program and circuitry for control become complicated and large-scale. In addition, additional delay is created because signals must be conveyed to and received from the complicated external control circuit which must also determine the source of the exception, the kind of exception, and the proper response.
The aforesaid prior art is exemplary of pipelining for calculation, but besides this, the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-29155 (1982) discloses an example of pipelining for instruction processing.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that what is needed when an exception occurs during pipelined processing is a means to delay cancellation or reexecution by the pipeline until after the entire preceding instruction groups in advance complete execution, and the error can be properly analyzed and isolated.
What is also needed is a simple method for indicating the stage of the pipeline at which the exception occurred and for controlling cancellation and reexecution of processing such that circuit complexity, delay, decision, and reexecution time is kept to a minimum.

Microprocessor with pipeline system having exception processing features


A cover for the outdoor unit of a split-system air conditioner is disclosed having a flexible shroud and a resilient protective panel disposed in the top of the shroud to protect the top of the unit against damage from falling objects. The protective panel may be formed with a downwardly opening recess covered by a rigid insert panel to provide added protection for the air conditioner motor mount, vanes or grille, or to provide clearance for upwardly projecting parts. A rigid cap panel coextensive with the resilient panel may also be used. The protective panel is retained within the top of the shroud by a retainer skirt having an elastic free edge extending below the perimeter of the protective panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner cover and, more particularly, to a protective cover for an outdoor air conditioner unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Split-system air conditioners are widely used in which an outdoor unit houses the compressor, condenser, fan, and control components. The outdoor unit is installed near the exterior of the building in which the evaporator is located. Protective covers for outdoor units are known in which a shroud of flexible, weather resistant material envelops the outdoor unit to protect against the weather, moisture, dirt, leaf particles, and other debris when the unit is not in use.
Outdoor units of split-system air conditioners are frequently located beneath the eaves of buildings. In this situation, the units are susceptible to damage from ice and other hard objects falling from the eaves. Since the fan motor of an outdoor unit is frequently mounted to the underside of the top panel of the unit, the fan motor is particularly susceptible to damage. Furthermore, the top panel is usually formed with fins or a grille which are also easily damaged by falling objects. Therefore, it is desirable for an air conditioner cover to be capable of protecting against such damage from hard, falling objects.


Documents (eg., bank notes, travellers cheques, credit cards) (10) are authenticated by scanning the documents for one or more identifying features and/or indicia (11–19), comparing the sanned features/indicia (11–19) with stored information in a database and transmitting a signal indicating the authenticity, or otherwise, of the documents (10). In another aspect, documents that are being deposited into a receptacle are scanned for identifying features and/or indicia and the features and/or indicia are recorded in a card. Access to the documents in the receptacle is possible only by the presentation of the card to a reader associated with the receptacle.

1. Field of the Invention
THIS INVENTION relates to a document authentication method and apparatus.
The invention is particularly suitable for, but not limited to, validation of financial instruments, including cash (ie., bank notes), personal cheques, traveller's cheques, credit cards, debit cards and the like.
The invention is also particularly suitable for, but not limited to, the validation of legal instruments such as letters, agreements, licences, bills, and copies (eg., photocopies) thereof.
2. Prior Art
The counterfeiting of documents, particularly currency, has been a major problem for the authorities for many years. Money issuing authorities (eg., Reserve Banks or Mints) have adopted many different methods in an attempt to overcome or minimise counterfeiting of currency and other financial documents, and examples have included features or indicia such as watermarks and holograms. Examples of papers discussing such matters include (1) "Spacial Logic Algorithms Using Basic Morphological, Anologic CNN Operations" (Zarande et al) in "The Proceedings of the 1994 Third IEEE International Workshop on Cellular Neural Networks and their Applications", Rome, Italy, published in the "International Journal of Circuit Theory and Applications" v 24 n 3 May–June 1996, pages 283–300; (2) "Development of Embossed Holograms" (Haines) in "Proceedings of SPIE—The International Society for Optical Engineering", v 2652, 1996, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, Bellingham, Wash., United States of America, pages 45–52; (3) "Performance of Diffraction Grating on a Banknote—The Experience with the Australian Commemorative Note" (Hardwick) in "Proceedings of SPIE—The International Society for Optical Engineering", v 1210, published by The International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, Wash., United States of America, pages 20–26; (4) "Optically Variable Devices for use on Bank Notes" (Rolfe) in "Proceedings of SPIE—The International Society for Optical Engineering" v 1210, published by the International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, Wash., United States of America, pages 14–19; (5) "Evaluation of Security Features for new U.S. Currency" (Church et al) in "Proceedings of SPIE—The International Society for Optical Engineering", v 2659, 1996, Society of Photo Optical Instrumentation Engineers, Bellingham, Wash., United States of America, pages 28–36.
Whilst such authentication features or indicia can be placed in bank notes, currency or other financial or legal documents, there is a need for financial or legal instruments bearing such indicia, to be rapidly and accurately-identified and authenticated.

Document authentication method and apparatus


An example system may include an electromagnet, a drive circuit electrically coupled to the electromagnet, and a controller configured to control the drive circuit to provide current to the electromagnet to generate a pulsing magnetic field. The electromagnet may include a first conductive winding, a second conductive winding, and a magnetic core. The first conductive winding may be crescent shaped. The first conductive winding may define an inner surface and an outer surface. The outer surface of the first conductive winding may include a convex portion and a concave portion. The second conductive winding may reside proximate to the concave portion of the outer surface of the first conductive winding. The outer concave segment of the first conductive winding may define a concavity, and at least a portion of the second conductive winding may reside within the concavity of the first conductive winding.

A number of medical ailments may be treated and/or diagnosed through the application of a magnetic field to an afflicted portion of a patient's body. Neurons and muscle cells may be a form of biological circuitry that carry electrical signals and respond to electromagnetic stimuli. When a conductive wire loop is passed through a magnetic field or is in the presence of a changing magnetic field, an electric current may be induced in the wire. The same principle may hold true for conductive biological tissue. When a changing magnetic field is applied to a portion of the body, neurons may be depolarized and stimulated. Muscles associated with the stimulated neurons may contract as though the neurons were firing by normal causes.
A nerve cell or neuron may be stimulated in a number of ways, for example, transcutaneously via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS may use a rapidly changing magnetic field to induce a current on a nerve cell, without having to cut or penetrate the skin. The nerve may "fire" when a membrane potential within the nerve rises with respect to its normal negative ambient level of approximately −90 mV, for example, depending on the type of nerve, local pH of the surrounding tissue, and/or peripheral nerve stimulation.
A magnetic stimulation component may be used to produce the rapidly changing magnetic field inducing a current on a nerve cell. The magnetic stimulation component may fail or operate improperly during treatment, which may result in improper treatment for the patient. For example, the magnetic component may appear to operate correctly, but actually may be producing magnetic field pulses outside of designed device specifications, potentially resulting in improper diagnosis and/or therapy being administered to the patient. Administering an incorrect magnetic field pulse to a patient can affect the magnetic stimulation diagnosis and/or treatment adversely. For example, the treatment provider may believe that the patient is not responding to the treatment, when in fact the intended treatment is not being administered to the patient. Thus, the treatment provider and/or diagnosing clinician may be led to make treatment decisions based on faulty information.
Typical TMS treatment apparatuses generate pulsed magnetic fields that induce currents in electrically sensitive cells (e.g., nerve cells or neurons). These induced currents typically form a complete circuit in the body, such that a path of zero current through the body is created. The currents induced by a TMS treatment apparatus typically drop off to zero in approximately the middle of this path. The rate of this current drop off may be slowed, for example by spreading the current density generated the TMS apparatus over a wide surface area. However, employing this approach may concentrate return currents, which may lead to higher rates of undesirable side effects (e.g., the stimulation of untargeted regions of a subject's brain).
A typical TMS treatment apparatus may include one or more electrically conductive stimulating coils. Such coils may be configured (e.g., wound) in a single layer, such that the coils may be disposed as close as possible to the tissue that is to be stimulated. Such coils may be capable of stimulating brain tissue at a desirable depth relative to the skull. However, such coils are traditionally only configured to stimulation a single location within a subject, and in order to stimulation multiple locations, multiple coils, which may be large and cumbersome, may be required.

Magnetic stimulation coils and ferromagnetic components for treatment and diagnostic procedures


A semiconductor chip may include high frequency electrical circuitry. The semiconductor chip may include a cavity resonator integrated with the high frequency electrical circuitry in a semiconductor substrate of the semiconductor chip. The cavity resonator may include a resonator body in a cavity in the semiconductor substrate of the semiconductor chip. The resonator body may comprise a metal layer. The cavity resonator may include a feeding structure electrically connected to the high frequency electrical circuitry.

A cavity resonator includes a resonator body (e.g., a hollow or dielectric-filled metallic structure) and a feeding structure. In operation, the feeding structure feeds electromagnetic waves into the resonator body, and the resonator body contains the electromagnetic waves as the electromagnetic waves reflect back and forth between walls of the resonator body (i.e., within a cavity of the resonator body). Standing waves are formed in the cavity when the electromagnetic waves are at a resonant frequency of the cavity resonator, which causes the cavity resonator to oscillate at the resonant frequency.


The present invention is directed to a computer implemented method and apparatus for flexibly recognizing meaningful data items within an arbitrary user utterance. According to one example embodiment of the invention, a set of one or more key phrases and a set of one or more filler phrases are defined, probabilities are assigned to the key phrases and/or the filler phrases, and the user utterances is evaluated against the set of key phrases and the set of filler phrases using the probabilities.

The use of speech recognition in computer-based interactive applications has become more and more commonplace in everyday life. Today, a computer-based voice application can allow a telephone caller to direct the application to perform simple tasks through spoken utterances, such as connecting the caller with people in a telephone directory or retrieving airline flight information. Many companies have sought to expand or improve their customer service functions by using technology such as speech recognition to automate tasks that have traditionally been handled by human agents.
Conventional voice applications are well understood in the art, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,173,266 issued to Marx et al. and 6,314,402 issued to Monaco et al., both of which are incorporated herein by reference. PRIOR ART FIG. 1 shows the call flow (100) of an example voice activated phone attendant application that can be used by a company to direct incoming phone calls. When a user calls the company, the application receives the call and outputs a greeting message, such as "Welcome to Company A" (110). The application then prompts the user to provide information (120) by listing options available to the user or by instructing the user on how to respond to the application, for example by providing the prompt: "If you know the name of the person you wish to speak to, please say the first name followed by the last name now. If you would like to speak to an operator, please say 'Operator' now."
Next, the application waits for a response from the user (130) and then processes the response (140). For example, if the user says "Chris Brooks" the application needs to recognize this user utterance and determine if there is a Chris Brooks to whom the call should be transferred. A robust application should be designed to also recognize common variations of names, such as "Christopher Brooks." If the application finds a match to the user utterance, the application prompts the user for confirmation by providing output such as: "Do you mean 'Chris Brooks'?" (150). The application waits to receive a confirmation response from the caller (160), processes the response (170), and then acts upon the processed response (180), such as by transferring the call to the designated recipient and informing the caller of this action.
PRIOR ART FIG. 2 shows a flowchart (200) that provides more detail in the processing of a user utterance, such as in step 140 of the example voice application of FIG. 1. First, the audio waveform of the user utterance is recorded (210), and a phonetic representation of the waveform is created (220). Next, the phonetic representation of the utterance is compared to entries in a database of vocabulary words or phrases recognized by the application to generate a hypothesis of what the user said and a confidence level that the hypothesis is correct (230). In this example, the hypothesis is categorized as a high confidence hypothesis (240), a low confidence hypothesis (250), or a null hypothesis (260). Depending on whether a hypothesis is generated and the level of confidence, the application can reprompt the user (270), ask the user to confirm the hypothesis (150), or proceed directly to take appropriate action (180). For example, if the processing of the user utterance leads to a high confidence hypothesis (240), the example phone attendant application can directly transfer the caller to the requested recipient (180) and omit the confirmation and related steps (150, 160, 170).
Because people communicate naturally via speech, speech recognition systems have become viewed as a promising method for automating service functions without requiring extensive changes in user behavior. To achieve this vision, speech recognition systems should allow a user to ask for and provide information using natural, conversational spoken input. Recent advances in certain areas of speech recognition technology have helped alleviate some of the traditional obstacles to usable speech recognition systems. For example, technology advances have enabled unrehearsed spoken input to be decoded under a wider range of realistic operating conditions, such as background noise and imperfect telephone line quality. Additionally, recent advances have allowed voice applications to recognize voice inputs from a broader population of users with different accents and speaking styles.
However, despite such recent advances, conventional speech recognition systems have not provided adequately natural and conversational speech interfaces for users, and therefore the effectiveness of such systems, and the perception of and willingness to adopt such systems by users, has been severely limited.
In particular, understanding arbitrary speech from a human user has been a difficult problem. The acoustic signals related to common speech contain an overlap of phonetic information that cannot be decoded perfectly without knowledge of the context of the conversation, and in turn, knowledge of the real world. Therefore, computer-based speech recognition provides probabilistic results, relying on data-driven statistical approaches to determine a hypothesis (or small set of hypotheses) that has the highest posterior probability for matching the input audio signal. A description of the current state-of-the-art in speech recognition systems may be found in X. Huang, A. Acero, H. Hon, Spoken Language Processing, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2001, and M. Padmananbhan, M. Picheny, "Large-Vocabulary Speech Recognition Algorithms", IEEE Computer, April 2002.
To maintain high levels of recognition accuracy, the user's input must typically be constrained by limiting both the vocabulary of allowed words and the way in which sentences can be formed. These constraints are expressed by a grammar, a set of rules that defines valid sentences as a structured sequence of words and phrases. For example, to recognize user responses to the question "Tell me the name of the person you'd like to call" (for a sample voice activated phone attendant application), the application developer might define the following variations:                [Name]        I want to talk to [Name]        I want to call [Name]        I want to speak with [Name]        I'd like to get [Name] please
The difficulty with the above practice is that if the user makes a response that is not exactly matched by one of the predefined rules (e.g. "Can you get me John Smith if he's in the office?"), the application will not recognize it (an out-of-grammar condition), and will have to reprompt the user, who may not understand why his or her response was not recognized. The out-of-grammar rates can be quite high unless the application developer is knowledgeable enough to predefine all the common linguistic variations that might be uttered by a user.
Alternatively, the prompt must be very detailed to guide and restrict the user response, e.g. "If you know the name of the person you wish to speak to, please say only the first name followed by the last name now. If you would like to speak to an operator, please say 'Operator' now". This technique is awkward, lengthy, and sounds un-natural to most callers. Moreover, a user's response can still be highly variable and hard to predict, and can contain disfluencies such as re-starts and pauses (uhm and uh). Despite these limitations, the use of grammars is common in current voice applications, and most developers are familiar with grammars and able to write and understand grammars of reasonable complexity.
One alternative approach to using pre-defined grammars in handling variations in user responses is an n-gram language model. An n-gram model does not rely on predefining all valid sentences; instead, an n-gram model contains information on which words are more likely to follow a given sequence of (n−1) words. An n-gram model does not enforce a sentence structure, and can assign a probability to a sentence even if it is ungrammatical or meaningless in normal usage. If the probability of a word depends only on the immediately preceding word, the model is known as a bigram. If the probability of a word depends on the previous two words, the model is known as a trigram. An n-gram language model is usually derived by counting word sequence frequencies from a training corpus—a large set of training texts that share the same language characteristics as the expected input. For example, a bigram model for a flight reservation application might specify that the word "to" has a much higher probability of following the word "fly" than the word "will", since a sample of user utterances in this context would have a higher frequency of the word sequence "fly to" than the word sequence "fly will". With a sufficient training set size, n-gram models can be built to recognize free-style speech.
However, there are several disadvantages to using n-gram models. First, n-gram models are not as familiar as grammars to most current voice application developers, and cannot be represented in as concise a human-readable form as grammars. Second, n-gram models need to be trained by a large number of samples (many tens of thousands—or up to millions) to achieve adequate levels of accuracy. This training requirement significantly limits the speed in which these systems can be deployed. Furthermore, typically the training samples must be obtained by collecting utterances from an already deployed speech recognition system. Therefore, n-gram models cannot be easily used in building a new voice application that does not have a detailed record of user utterances.
There is a need for a system and method that overcomes the above problems, as well as providing additional benefits.

Methods and apparatus for flexible speech recognition


Soft polishing pads for polishing semiconductor substrates are described. A soft polishing pad includes a molded homogeneous polishing body having a thermoset, closed cell polyurethane material with a hardness approximately in the range of 20 Shore D to 45 Shore D.

Chemical-mechanical planarization or chemical-mechanical polishing, commonly abbreviated CMP, is a technique used in semiconductor fabrication for planarizing a semiconductor wafer or other substrate.
The process uses an abrasive and corrosive chemical slurry (commonly a colloid) in conjunction with a polishing pad and retaining ring, typically of a greater diameter than the wafer. The pad and wafer are pressed together by a dynamic polishing head and held in place by a plastic retaining ring. The dynamic polishing head is rotated with different axes of rotation (i.e., not concentric). This removes material and tends to even out any irregular topography, making the wafer flat or planar. This may be necessary in order to set up the wafer for the formation of additional circuit elements. For example, this might be necessary in order to bring the entire surface within the depth of field of a photolithography system, or to selectively remove material based on its position. Typical depth-of-field requirements are down to Angstrom levels for the latest 45 nm technology node.
The process of material removal is not simply that of abrasive scraping, like sandpaper on wood. The chemicals in the slurry also react with and/or weaken the material to be removed. The abrasive accelerates this weakening process and the polishing pad helps to wipe the reacted materials from the surface. The process has been likened to that of a child eating a gummy candy. If the candy sits on the tongue without being scraped around, the candy becomes covered with a gel coating, but the majority of the candy is not affected. Only with a vigorous scraping does the candy dissolve away. Another analogy is the act of brushing one's teeth. The toothbrush is the mechanical part and the toothpaste is the chemical part. Using either the toothbrush or the toothpaste alone will get one's teeth somewhat clean, but using the toothbrush and toothpaste together makes a superior process.
Accordingly, in addition to advances in slurry technology, the polishing pad plays a significant role in increasingly complex CMP operations. However, additional improvements are needed in the evolution of CMP pad technology.

Soft polishing pad for polishing a semiconductor substrate


An optical receptacle includes a light dividing surface that divides light from a light-emitting element into monitor light and coupling light to be coupled with an optical transmission body using total reflection. The light dividing surface includes a first curved surface that protrudes to the side opposite to a first surface from a first virtual reference surface having a slope angle of angle α[°] in relation to the first surface on a photoelectric conversion device side of an optical receptacle main body and a second curved surface that is connected to the first curved surface and protrudes to the side opposite to the first surface from a second virtual reference surface having a slope angle of angle β[°] in relation to the first surface, in which α and β satisfy α>β>critical angle.

Since the past, an optical module has been used in optical communication using optical fibers, the optical module including a light-emitting element such as a surface light-emitting laser (for example, a vertical cavity surface emitting laser [VCSEL]).
In this type of optical module, an optical module component referred to as an optical receptacle is used. The optical receptacle is used in optical transmission via optical fiber by light that includes communication information and has been emitted from the light-emitting element being coupled with an end face of the optical fiber.
In addition, since the past, various proposals have been made regarding the optical module to monitor the light (intensity and amount of light) emitted from the light-emitting element, for the purpose of stabilizing output characteristics of the light-emitting element against temperature changes and adjusting optical output.
For example, Patent Literature 1 proposes an invention that is a lens array in which a reflective/transmissive layer is disposed within a recessing section of a lens array main body. The reflective/transmissive layer divides light from a light-emitting element into coupling light to be coupled with an optical fiber and monitor light.    Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2011-133807

Optical receptacle and optical module provided with same


Disclosed herein in an example embodiment is a multicast policy infrastructure that allows administrators to integrate location awareness for a particular multicast stream when it is being forwarded to an intended user. The infrastructure provides more flexibility by allowing multicast call admission control, access control, and other multicast policies to be based on the location or conditions where the host/user is receiving the multicast stream. A multicast policy can also provide additional mechanisms such as transcoding services, compression services, etc. based on the host/user location. As will be demonstrated in example embodiments herein, location awareness can include connectivity media (wired or wireless), physical location of user, and/or signal strength (and/or effective bandwidth).

Multicast is the delivery of information to a group of destinations simultaneously on a network. As receivers join a multicast group, a multicast distribution tree is created for the multicast group. Networks can be configured to provide multicast policies based on receiver IP address (e.g. using Internet Group Management Protocol "IGMP" filtering), multicast authentication and authorization (mAAA), and/or multicast Call Admission Control (mCAC). These policies, however, have many deficiencies.


An edible spread which comprises a water and oil emulsion in which the fat phase is essentially a single, natural vegetable fat and processes for producing such a spread. While certain non-physical properties of the fat phase, such as its color, may be due to the presence of other fats than that responsible for the characteristic physical properties, the fat phase of the spreads of the invention contain low amounts of such natural additives; the physical properties of the fat phase are essentially determined by a single fat which has not been subjected to any chemical treatment other than refining.

The present invention relates to an edible spread and to a processes for producing such a spread.
Butterfat, although possessing a reputation as a "healthy natural" fat contains a high proportion of fats having a relatively low level of unsaturation. Details of the exact composition of butterfat can be found in International Dairy Federation document 125 (pp 4-13). Typical compositions for milk fat are 61% saturated fatty acids, 36% cis mono-unsaturated fatty acids and 3% cis poly-unsaturated (so-called "essential") fatty acids.
In recent years there has been considerable medical interest in reducing the dietary intake of saturated fats. Consumers now find a diet rich in saturated fat unacceptable, and research has long been concerned with how a proportion of the fat may be replaced by vegetable oils, which are accepted to be dietetically more acceptable. In addition, recent years have seen an increasing consumer awareness that the total cholesterol level in the diet should not be too high. This has again contributed to a shift from dairy fat consumption to vegetable fat consumption.
The first margarines were manufactured from animal tallow. Vegetable oils were first added to margarine fat compositions towards the end of the nineteenth century, in proportions of around 20% in order to soften the end product. As the price of animal fats rose, use of vegetable fat increased until by 1907 vegetable fat comprised some 25-30% of the fat blend of European margarines. It was not possible to incorporate more than this proportion as the resulting products became far too soft during warm weather.
In 1912-13 edible hydrogenated fats became available in commercial quantities. Hydrogenation increases the melting point of fats which would otherwise be liquid at ambient temperature and tends to products with a smooth melting curve. With the advent of these harder fats it became possible to produce vegetable fat blends having similar melting properties to animal fats and the margarine industry became relatively independent of the beef fat and lard market. However, partially hydrogenated fats contain a reduced level of cis-unsaturated fatty acids and fully hydrogenated fats contain exclusively saturated fats. These chemically modified fats are considered less acceptable than unmodified vegetable fats. Moreover, hydrogenation and other modifications of edible fats require expensive catalysts and a considerable investment in plant and workforce.
The properties of fats may also be modified by fractionation, with or without solvents. One difficulty of fractionation is that many separations result in fat fractions with limited usefulness.
In addition to the overall fatty acid content of fats, the stereochemistry of triacyl-glycerols and the effect of this upon the physical properties of the fat and spreads containing these fats has been investigated. As a result, interesterification, carried out in the presence of catalysts has been used to modify the physical properties of fats. This has resulted in fatty materials which enable spreads to be made with low levels of saturated fats. Interesterification is a complex, expensive processing step and requires the use of expensive enzyme catalysts if side reactions are to be minimised.
In considering this prior art it is convenient to use the notation given in table 1, as used throughout this specification:
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ FATTY ACID NOTATION ______________________________________ S stearic acid, (C18 saturated) P palmitic acid, (C16 saturated) M lauric fats, (C12-C14 fats) H stearic + palmitic (C16-C18 saturated) O oleic acid, (C18 cis unsaturated) L linoleic acid, (C18 cis cis diunsaturated) E mono-trans fat, and (C16-C18 mono trans) U oleic + linoleic. (C16-C18 unsaturated) ______________________________________
It should be noted that the "E" fats occur in nature only in very low concentrations: trans carbon-carbon linkages are generally only found in chemically hydrogenated fats.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,643 discloses some of the S2E and SES ratios which can be obtained by non-fractionated but hydrogenated vegetable oils.
JP 54/034305 and JP 52/069411 disclose specific S2U, SU2, S3 and U3 ratios obtained by mixing of co-randomised vegetable fats.
The effect of S20 fats on physical properties of a fat is discussed in EP 78568 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,462. The effect of S2U fats on physical properties is discussed in EP 109721.
In general the prior art indicates that the symmetric HUH triglyceride is preferable to the HHU triglyceride. Fat blends comprising plurality of components obtained from differing sources or requiring extensive, and expensive, modification of part or all of the fats present have been suggested as a source of this material.
As well as hydrogenation, fractionation and interesterification, saponification has been proposed as a suitable modification of fats, so as to stabilize spreads containing vegetable fats. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,207, over 5% of a soap is added to a fat to stabilize a water and oil emulsion. As is well known, soap is traditionally a chemically modified fat.
Despite over a century of research, workers have been unable to produce an edible spread which, like butter, comprises a single vegetable fat which has not been subjected to modification.

Van den Bergh Foods Co., division of conopco, Inc.


The invention provides for a novel human checkpoint kinase gene, hCDS1, comprising the nucleic acid sequence of residues 66-1694 of SEQ ID NO: 1, a protein expressed from the gene, fragments and functional equivalents of the protein. The invention also provides for pharmaceutical compositions comprising a hCDS1 protein, and methods utilizing the protein.

The integrity of the genome is of prime importance to a dividing cell. In response to DNA damage, eukaryotic cells rely upon a complex system of checkpoint controls to delay cell-cycle progression. The normal eukaryotic cell-cycle is divided into 4 phases (sequentially G1, S, G2, M) which correlate with distinct cell morphology and biochemical activity, and cells withdrawn from the cell-cycle are said to be in G0, or non-cycling state. When cells within the cell-cycle are actively replicating, duplication of DNA occurs in the S phase, and active division of the cell occurs in M phase. See generally Benjamin Lewin, GENES VI (Oxford University Press, Oxford, GB, Chapter 36, 1997). DNA is organized in the eukaryotic cell into successively higher levels of organization that result in the formation of chromosomes. Non-sex chromosomes are normally present in pairs, and during cell division, the DNA of each chromosome replicates resulting in paired chromatids. (See generally Benjamin Lewin, GENES VI (Oxford University Press, Oxford, GB, Chapter 5, 1997).
Checkpoint delays provide time for repair of damaged DNA prior to its replication in S-phase and prior to segregation of chromatids in M-phase (Hartwell and Weinert, 1989, Science, 246: 629-634). In many cases the DNA-damage response pathways cause arrest by inhibiting the activity of the cyclin-dependent kinases (Elledge, 1997, Science, 274: 1664-1671). In human cells the DNA-damage induced G2 delay is largely dependent on inhibitory phosphorylation of Cdc2 (Blasina et al., 1997, Mol. Cell Biol., 8: 1-11; Jin et al., 1996, J. Cell Biol., 134: 963-970), and is therefore likely to result from a change in the activity of the opposing kinases and phosphatases that act on Cdc2. However, evidence that the activity of these enzymes is substantially altered in response to DNA damage is lacking (Poon et al., 1997, Cancer Res., 57: 5168-5178).
Three distinct Cdc25 proteins are expressed in human cells. Cdc25A is specifically required for the G1-S transition (Hoffmann et al., 1994, EMBO J., 13: 4302-4310; Jinno et al., 1994, EMBO J., 13: 1549-1556), whereas Cdc25B and Cdc25C are required for the G2-M transition (Gabrielli et al., 1996, J. Cell Sci., 7: 1081-1093; Galaktionov et al., 1991, Cell, 67: 1181-1194; Millar et al., 1991, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88: 10500-10504; Nishijima et al., 1997, J. Cell Biol., 138: 1105-1116). The exact contribution of Cdc25B and Cdc25C to M-phase progression is not known.
Much of our current knowledge about checkpoint control has been obtained from studies using budding (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and fission (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) yeast. A number of reviews of our current understanding of cell cycle checkpoints in yeast and higher eukaryotes have recently been published (Hartwell & Kastan, 1994, Science, 266: 1821-1828; Murray, 1994, Current Biology, 6: 872-876; Elledge, 1996, Science, 274: 1664-1672; Kaufmann & Paules, 1996, FASEB J., 10: 238-247). In the fission yeast six gene products, rad1+, rad3+, rad9+, rad 17+, rad26+, and hus1+ have been identified as components of both the DNA-damage dependent and DNA-replication dependent checkpoint pathways. In addition cds1+ has been identified as being required for the DNA-replication dependent checkpoint and rad27+/chk1+ has been identified as required for the DNA-damage dependent checkpoint in yeast.
Several of these genes have structural homologues in the budding yeast and further conservation across eukaryotes has recently been suggested with the cloning of two human homologues of S. pombe rad3+: ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) (Savitsky et al., 1995, Science, 268: 1749-1753) and ATR (ataxia telangiectasia and rad3+ related)(Bentley et al, 1996, EMBO J., 15: 6641-6651; Cimprich et al., 1996, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93: 2850-2855) and of a human homologue of S. pombe rad9+ (Lieberman et al., 1996, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93: 13890-13885).
While much is known about yeast checkpoint proteins and genes, this knowledge is not fully predictive of the existence of corresponding human genes or proteins, or their effector role in human cell-cycle control and regulation.
In order to develop new and more effective treatments and therapeutics for the amelioration of the effects of cancer, it is important to identify and characterize human checkpoint proteins and to identify mediators of their activity.

Human checkpoint kinase, hCDS1, compositions and methods


Systems and methods that expedite connection negotiations. In one embodiment, a method expedites an upper layer protocol (ULP) negotiation between a first node and a second node. The method may include, for example, sending a modified acknowledgement packet from the first node to the second node, the modified acknowledgement packet including information that is used to retrieve parameters agreed upon by the first node and the second node in a previous ULP negotiation between the first node and the second node.

In many types of networks or systems, resources in a first node may need access to resources in a second node. Especially in the case in which multiple connections or repeated connections are needed between the first node and the second node, the connection process can be very time consuming because, for example, the connection process views each connection process as a new and isolated case, despite the fact that the connection is between the same two nodes.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

System and method for expediting upper layer protocol (ULP) connection negotiations