An embodiment of the present invention is a switching power supply that includes a full-wave bridge rectifier to rectify incoming AC line voltage, a transformer having a primary winding and two secondary windings and a switched mode power supply chip that includes an integrated high voltage power MOSFET with a low voltage tap in the drift region. The MOSFET controls power switching of the primary winding of the transformer and has a high voltage present during initial power-up. This high voltage is dropped across the JFET part of the MOSFET and supplies a regulator with power either temporarily or continuously to operate a pulse width modulator in the chip that controls the switching of the MOSFET.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic switching power supplies and specifically to the integrated circuit devices used in switching power supplies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The cost to manufacture a power supply is a principal concern in selecting power supply types to be used in particular applications and the components selected to construct them. Switching power supplies have become cost competitive with much simpler linear power supplies because integrated circuit (IC) technology has advanced such that a majority of the complex switch mode circuits can be integrated on a single chip. As a rule of thumb, the fewer necessary pins on an IC package the lower will be the cost. Fewer support components and less expensive peripheral components also will reduce the overall cost of a power supply.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art power supply 10 that includes a full-wave bridge rectifier 12, a transformer 14 with a primary winding 16 and a pair of secondary windings 18 and 20, a switched mode power supply chip 22, a plurality of filter capacitors 24-27, a pair of diodes 28 and 30, and a high-voltage high-wattage resistor 32. The power to operate chip 22 is produced by secondary winding 20, diode 30 and capacitor 27 and is referred to as .sup.V bias. However, at power start-up, chip 22 will be without power because primary winding 16 will be open and no voltage will be induced into secondary winding 20 because chip 22 is not switching. To initiate such switching, a point with high-voltage DC is tapped on bridge rectifier 12 by resistor 32 and the current is filtered by capacitor 25. This tap will supply just enough current through resistor 32 to start chip 22. Unfortunately, resistor 32 must be a high-wattage type because significant amounts of power can be dissipated in the process of dropping the high voltage of the line to the low voltage required by chip 22. The waste of power is continuous, even after Vbias is available. This problem is particularly severe when input voltage range is wide (e.g., 80-275 VAC for universal operation). Given worst case design rules, resistor 32 has to be designed to provide the required start up current for the lowest expected voltage. Thus, at the highest expected voltage, resistor 32 must dissipate all the more power. To compound the problem, such high-wattage resistor types require extra space and air circulation.
FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art power supply 50 that is similar to power supply 10, except resistor 32 has been eliminated and chip 22 is replaced by a switched mode power supply chip 52. A voltage regulator internal to chip 52 allows the elimination of resistor 32 and includes a high voltage pre-regulator transistor 54, a series-pass transistor 56 and an undervoltage comparator 58. A resistor 60 biases transistor 54 on and during initial power-up, transistor 54 will pull transistor 56 up and supply power to a pulse width modulator (PWM) 62 that switches on a power output transistor 64. A voltage develops across primary winding 16 and induces a voltage in secondary winding 20 which supplies .sup.V bias. With .sup.V bias being supplied, comparator 58 operates to maintain transistor 54 off and no further high voltage power is required. Turning off high voltage pre-regulator 54 will save power after start up, but such a function is more expensive to implement, as it requires a high voltage transistor and extra pin with high voltage safety spacing.
The typical prior art high voltage transistor used in the pre-regulator of switch mode power supply chips is usually a relatively small device. The transistor's immunity to line transients is therefore limited. Thus, the pin associated with the transistor becomes a limiting factor for electrical static discharge (ESD) and safe operating area (SOA) rating of the switching regulator chip.

Switched mode power supply integrated circuit with start-up self-biasing


A method and various structures are described for reducing excess photon noise in short coherence light sources, such as broadband superfluorescent fiber or superluminescent diodes, for example. The method contemplates splitting the light source signal into a plurality of components, thereby splitting, and reducing, the photon noise or "beat noise" as well as the light intensity. Each component travels in a separate path having a unique time delay which is longer than the coherence time of the light source. The light from each separate path is recombined at an output end, prior to detection, causing the signal to get back to its original intensity, while keeping the total beat noise at a reduced level. The paths may be created using different length polarization maintaining (PM) fibers, different length optical fibers, or multi-mode fibers having several propagation modes propagating at different rates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to improvements in superfluorescent laser light sources, and more particularly pertains to the reduction of excess photon noise in superfluorescent or short coherence laser light sources.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of laser radiation, it has become known that light from an incoherent source exhibits random fluctuations in signal intensity which are caused by beats between the various randomly phased fourier components making up the linewidth of the source. These fluctuations are known as excess photon noise or wave interaction noise. Every laser source has these two noise components, shot noise and excess photon noise.
Such devices as fiber optic gyroscopes or optical time delay reflectometers (OTDR), which use short coherence light sources such as broadband fiber light sources or superluminescent diodes, for example, suffer from low signal to noise ratios. Increasing the light intensity does not necessarily increase the signal to noise ratio because excess photon noise is proportional to the square of the source intensity, while the shot noise is simply proportional to the average intensity.
The prior art has attempted to improve the signal to noise ratio of laser sources by various techniques. One technique described in Optics Letters, Vol. 16, No. 3, by R. P. Moeller and W. K. Burns, "1.06 .mu.m all-fiber gyroscope with noise subtractor," p. 1902, Dec. 1, 1991, utilizes an optical and electronic configuration for noise subtraction. This method utilizes a plethora of equipment, including a plurality of fiber delay coils, detectors, amplifiers, multipliers, subtractors and polarizers. Another approach described in "Excess Noise Reduction in Fiber Gyroscope Using Broader Spectrum Rinwidth Er-Doped Superfluorescent Fiber Laser," by K. Iwatsuki, p. 281, March 1991, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 3. No. 3, attempts to reduce excess noise by utilizing rare earth-doped superfluorescent laser material. Other approaches, such as found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,603 for Highly Efficient Superfluorescent and Fiber Laser/Amplifier for Interferometric Sensors issued May 10, 1994, to Bernard G. Fidric, the present inventor, are directed to improving the light source itself.
Although the problem of reducing excess noise in a laser light source has been known for many years, with a variety of solutions being proposed, none suggest the solution of the present invention, which provides a more simple, direct and more efficient method and apparatus for reducing excess noise in a broadband laser light source.

Method and apparatus for reducing excess photon noise in short coherence light sources


Films of fluorinated silicon oxide, suitable for use as inter-metal dielectrics, have been deposited by means of CVD at reduced pressure using fluorotriethoxysilane (FTES) and tetra-exthyloxysilane (TEOS) as the precursors, together with ozone (mixed with oxygen). If tight control over the deposition conditions is exercised, high quality films having no surface damage and good step coverage, with no trapped voids, can be obtained. In a second embodiment of the invention, the TEOS is omitted and only FTES is used. Among the most important deposition parameters we include temperature at 400-500.degree. C., pressure at 200-260 torr, ozone concentration (in oxygen) 8-12%, and an ozone:precursor ratio of 3-10 to 1 weight percent. In a third embodiment, a stacked layer is formed, consisting of at least one fluorinated silicon oxide layer and one silicon dioxide layer, deposited within the same deposition process by changing the TEOS or the FTES flow.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the general field of chemical vapor deposition with particular reference to the deposition of fluorinated silicon oxide films.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
As dimensions in integrated circuits grow ever smaller and as circuit speeds grow faster, the demands made on the materials from which they are formed grow ever more stringent. An example of this is the inter-metal dielectric layer (IMD) that is used to separate different levels of inter-circuit wiring. To minimize the incidence of mutually induced signals between two such levels it is necessary to make the IMD as thick as possible and its dielectric constant as low as possible.
In practice, considerations such as planarity and via plug integrity limit the maximum IMD thickness so attempts have been made in recent years to find alternative dielectrics to silicon dioxide which, till now, has been the material of choice for IMDS. Since silicon dioxide already has a low dielectric constant (about 4), the choice of materials is very limited.
A promising candidate to replace silicon dioxide as an IMD has been fluorinated silicon glass, known as FSG or SiOF. FSG films are known to have a dielectric constant of 3.2-3.6, depending on the fluorine concentration. The problem addressed by the present invention is to determine the best conditions under which to form FSG films. While many different ways that differ in detail have been described, they all depend on precursor gases that decompose under the influence of heat into fluorine, silicon and oxygen. The oxygen component is usually made more reactive through ionization/dissociation in a high density plasma (HDP) and/or by the inclusion of ozone in the mix. Depending on the exact conditions used, films of varying quality will be obtained. One such variable is step coverage with or without trapped voids internal to the film. Some examples include:
a) Fukuda et al. in "Highly reliable SiOF film formation using high density plasma containing hydrogen" in Proceedings of the 1997 DUMIC Conference February 10-11 pp. 41-48 describe using inorganic sources such as silane and silicon tetrafluoride together with a plasma generator and hydrogen. They were able to achieve films having dielectric constants between 3.3 and 3.6. PA1 b) Laxman and Hochberg in "Remote microwave plasma enhanced CVD of fluorine doped silicon dioxide from FASI-4 and FTES" in Proceedings of the 1997 DUMIC Conference February 10-11 pp. 57-63 used fluorotriethoxysilane (FTES) in combination with an organosilicon compound and plasma activated oxygen to form SiOF films with about 8 atomic % fluorine and having dielectric constants around 3.6. PA1 c) Instead of an organo silicon compound, Laxman and Hochberg also used TEOS (tetra-exthyloxysilane) Si(OC.sub.2 H.sub.5).sub.4 !. PA1 d) Homma in "Characteristics of SiOF films formed using TEOS and FTES at room temperature by CVD" in J. Electrochem. Soc. vol. 143 1996 pp. 707-711 describes a process for undoped silicon oxide deposition at temperatures as low as 25.degree. C. and atmospheric pressure using a hydrolysis reaction of a TEOS-FTES mixture with water vapor. Polymer-like film structures were found due to silicon oligomer formation during the hydrolysis reaction. PA1 e) Instead of room temperature polymerization of TEOS and FTES with water vapor, Homma, in his patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,518 February 1994) describes a CVD method for forming fluorine containing silicon oxide films at temperatures as low as 200.degree. C., using decomposition of alkoxysilane and fluoroalkoxysilane vapor in the presence of ozone, or under ultraviolet radiation, or in a gas plasma. The resulting films were found to have a composition of SiO.sub.1.85 F.sub.0.15. Boron or phosphorus-doped films were supposedly also formed by introduction of boron or phosphorus precursors in the gas mixture. PA1 f) Dobuzinsky et al. present a method of forming a fluorosilicate glass by reacting an O.sub.2 /Si precursor gas, a F.sub.2 precursor gas, and hydrogen. The aim is to avoid the incorporation of C or N in the film. F concentration is controlled through the hydrogen which reacts with, and thus removes from the reaction site, excess F. PA1 g) Kubo et al. in "An SiO.sub.2 film deposition technology using tetraethylorthosilicate and ozone for interlayer metal dielectrics" in J. Electrochem. Soc. vol. 143 1996 pp. 1769-1773, describe the deposition of SiO.sub.2 films (no fluorine) that exhibit good void free step coverage. Fujino et al. in "Silicon dioxide deposition by atmospheric pressure and low temperature CVD using TEOS and ozone" in J. Electrochem. Soc. vol 137 1990 pp. 2883-2887 report on the characteristics of films deposited in this way. Again, no fluorine was involved. PA1 h) Qian et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,576 November 1996) form SiOF films using plasma CVD and no ozone, while Jang et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,681 July 1996) shows a method of oxide formation wherein a plasma treatment is followed by ozone/TEOS deposition.
Note that all low temperature (around 200.degree. C. and below) deposition methods for silicon dioxide have at least two well known, but nevertheless serious, disadvantages which make them unusable in today's reality. The first problem is structural recombination of material on heating above the original temperature of formation, which is a typical treatment in the manufacture of real devices. It leads to undesirable phenomena such as substantial shrinkage and stress in films, fluorine outdiffusion (followed by changes in dielectric constant), etc. The second problem is the phenomenon of enhanced moisture absorbtion by low temperature deposited silicon dioxide films which causes problems of instability of film properties.
As pointed out above, there is a wide range of conditions under which fluorinated silicon oxide films may be deposited. It has, however, been found that in many cases the resulting films are not entirely satisfactory. In TABLE I below we summarise some of the pros and cons of some of these methods:
TABLE I ______________________________________ Formation method Advantages Disadvantages ______________________________________ Inorganic sources Excellent coverage Possibility of plasma Hi density plasma and gap-fill damage problems Microwave plasma Reduced plasma damage Non-conformal step due to remote plasma coverage and gap-fill Possible voids; low deposition rates Room temperature No plasma damage Poor oxide quality; hydrolysis of TEOS problems Changes in film and FTES properties with heating; Enhanced moisture absorption phenomena; Poor step coverage and gap-fill for submicron devices Low deposition rate Low temperature No plasma damage Poor oxide quality; decomposition of problems (without Change of properties aloxisilanes and plasma or ultra- with film heating; fluoroalkoxysilanes violet radiation) Enhanced moisture in the presence of absorption phenomena; ozone, under Possibility of plasma ultraviolet damage problems with radiation or gas plasma or ultraviolet acti- plasma; vation; Non-conformal Phosphorus/boron step coverage and gap doping of oxide is fill, possible voids in also possible submicron devices under plasma or ultraviolet; Increase of dielectric constant with dopants Ozone based SiO.sub.2 Excellent step cover Surface sensitivity CVD and gap-fill; of chemical reactions No plasma damage prob. ______________________________________
Thus, none of the existing methods for preparing SiOF films are totally satisfactory even though many experimenters have tried a wide range of deposition conditions. As we will describe below, excellent films can be obtained but only over a relatively narrow range of deposition conditions.

Method of fluorinated silicon oxide film deposition

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Ltd.


According to one embodiment, a sensor-securing apparatus has a frame having a sensor-mount region to hold an image sensor that generates heat while operating. The frame has a first adhesive-applying hole and a plurality of second adhesive-applying holes. The first adhesive-applying hole opens in the sensor-mount region and faces the center part of the image sensor. The second adhesive-applying holes are smaller than the first adhesive-applying hole, open in the sensor-mount region and are arranged around the first adhesive-applying hole. Adhesive is filled in the first adhesive-applying hole and the second adhesive-applying holes. The adhesive secures the image sensor to the frame.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a sensor-securing apparatus designed to secure an image sensor, such as a CMOS sensor, to a frame by use of an adhesive. The invention also relates to a camera module having a frame that holds an image sensor, more particularly to a structure for securing the image sensor to the frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
Business-use color camera modules designed to process image data at high speed comprise a holder, a base and a CMOS image sensor as is disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln, KOKAI Publication No. 2007-155800. The holder holding a lens unit is secured to the base. The CMOS image sensor is adhered to the center part of a substrate. The substrate is adhered, at its outer circumferential edge, to the bottom of the base. Since the substrate is so adhered, the center of the CMOS image sensor is aligned with the optical axis of the lens unit, and the CMOS image sensor is held at a prescribed distance from the lens unit.
In the conventional color camera module that is disclosed in the above-identified publication, the circumferential edge of the substrate holding the CMOS image sensor is adhered to the bottom of the base. Therefore, the area in which the substrate is adhered to the base is not large enough to secure the image sensor to the base. The substrate will therefore inevitably move if the color camera module receives a large external impact. Consequently, the center of the CMOS image sensor will deviate from the optical axis of the lens unit, possibly rendering it necessary to adjust the optical axis minutely in position.
The CMOS image sensor generates heat while operating. The heat must be radiated outside as much as possible, in order to suppress the temperature rise of the CMOS image sensor.
Here arises a problem. In the conventional color camera module, the CMOS sensor is merely adhered to the substrate and no components are provided to promote the heat radiation from the CMOS sensor. To make matters worse, the heat the CMOS image sensor generates tends to accumulate in the space between the substrate and the base. The heat-radiating efficiency of the CMOS image sensor is therefore inevitably low.

Sensor-securing apparatus and camera module


Motion vectors and associated errors which are determined in the course of encoding a video signal are used to determine whether respective macroblocks of two or more frames represent the same subject matter albeit displaced by motion represented by the frames. The motion vector errors are compared to a predetermined motion threshold. If a particular motion vector error is less than the motion threshold, the macroblocks corresponding to the motion vector error are determined to represent substantially identical subject matter and the corresponding motion vector represents displacement of the subject matter between the frames due to motion of the subject matter. Accordingly, differences between the macroblocks corresponding to the motion vector error are determined to be due primarily to noise and not to differences in the subject. Therefore, a relatively heavy temporal filter is applied between the macroblocks. Conversely, if a particular motion vector error is not less than the motion threshold, the macroblocks corresponding to the motion vector error are determined to represent different subject matter and only a spatial filter is applied to either macroblock. The spatial filter is applied relatively lightly to reduce noise while minimizing signal loss, e.g., blurring, resulting from the filtering. The motion threshold is set according to the noise variance of the video signal which is being encoded. The noise variance of the video signal can be measured using the video signal acquisition equipment used to acquire the video signal, e.g., a video camera, or can be estimated from the video signal itself.

With the advent of digital video products and services, such as Digital Satellite Service (DSS) and storage and retrieval of video streams on the Internet and, in particular, the World Wide Web, digital video signals are becoming ever present and drawing more attention in the marketplace. Because of limitations in digital signal storage capacity and in network and broadcast bandwidth limitations, compression of digital video signals has become paramount to digital video storage and transmission. As a result, many standards for compression and encoding of digital video signals have been promulgated. For example, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has promulgated the H.261 and H.263 standards for digital video encoding. Additionally, the International Standards Organization (ISO) has promulgated the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), MPEG-1, and MPEG-2 standards for digital video encoding.
These standards specify with particularity the form of encoded digital video signals and how such signals are to be decoded for presentation to a viewer. However, significant discretion is left as to how the digital video signals are to be transformed from a native, uncompressed format to the specified encoded format. As a result, many different digital video signal encoders currently exist and many approaches are used to encode digital video signals with varying degrees of compression achieved.
The primary objective of any digital video signal encoder is to achieve a high degree of compression without a significant loss of video signal. Video signal compression is generally achieved by representing identical or similar portions of an image as infrequently as possible to avoid redundancy. As a result, an image which has only very coarse detail and very few distinct colors can be compressed to a much smaller representation in comparison to a compressed representation of an image with significant amounts of very fine detail and many distinct colors. Unfortunately, video cameras and other video signal acquisition equipment introduce noise into the video signal and, from the perspective of video signal processing, the noise is generally indistinguishable from fine detail in the subject of the video signal. For example, ordinary noise in a monochromatic image may be indistinguishable from the fine detail and texture of a terrycloth towel photographed up close.
In addition, noise can have a more severely adverse effect on the degree to which a motion video signal can be compressed than the effect on such compression of fine detail in the subject matter of the motion video signal. In particular, a video image with fine detail frequently includes picture elements, i.e., pixels, which differ only incrementally from one another and which are identical to many other pixels representing other portions of the fine detail. For example, a video image of the fine detail in a knitted sweater typically includes a number of pixels which represent different shades of the same color, or of a few colors, and each shade is represented by a substantial number of pixels. During compression, e.g., using a discrete cosine transformation (DCT), such an image can be compressed quite significantly since different shades of the same color or a few colors are typically grouped into a narrow spectrum and the remainder of the spectrum is discarded. Noise has a particularly adverse effect on such compression since the noise is frequently unrelated to the subject matter of the video image and frequently results in pixel values being transformed outside the narrow spectrum such that greater portions of the transformed pixel data spectrum must be included in the compressed video signal.
To achieve both enhanced image quality and greater compression, video signal encoders frequently filter a video signal prior to encoding the video signal. However, the use of a particularly strong filter achieves greater compression at the expense of greater signal loss, and a particularly light filter preserves more of the original signal at the expense of a smaller degree of compression. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,484 to Gonzales et al. for "Motion Video Compression System with Adaptive Bit Allocation and Quantization" dated Jul. 27, 1993 (the '484 patent). The '484 patent describes a system which uses an estimation of error in a macroblock of an MPEG encoded frame to determine how strong a filter to apply to the macroblock. However, the estimation of error in the '484 patent does not adequately distinguish noise in the image of the frame from detail in the image. In addition, the filtering performed by the system described in the '484 patent is a smoothing, spatial filter which suffers from unacceptable levels of signal loss in particularly noisy images.
What is needed is a digital video signal encoder which can better distinguish between noise and fine detail in the video signal and filter the video signal in such a way that maximizes elimination of noise to thereby simultaneously improve the quality of the video signal and maximize compression of the video signal.

Digital video signal encoder and encoding method


Novel protease variants derived from the DNA sequences of naturally-occurring or recombinant non-human proteases are disclosed. The variant proteases, in general, are obtained by in vitro modification of a precursor DNA sequence encoding the naturally-occurring or recombinant protease to generate the substitution of a plurality of amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of a precursor protease. Protease variants are provided that contain substitutions of the amino acids at one or more residue positions so that the substitution alters the charge at that position to make the charge more negative or less positive compared to a precursor protease and thus the protease variant is more effective in a low detergent concentration system than a precursor protease. Also provided are protease variants containing substitutions of the amino acids at one or more residue positions so that the substitution alters the charge at that position to make the charge more positive or less negative compared to a precursor protease and thus the protease variant is more effective in a high detergent concentration system than a precursor protease.

Serine proteases they comprise a diverse class of enzymes having a wide range of specificities and biological functions. Stroud, R. Sci. Amer., 131:74–85. Despite their functional diversity, the catalytic machinery of serine proteases has been approached by at least two genetically distinct families of enzymes: 1) the subtilisins and 2) the mammalian chymotrypsin-related and homologous bacterial serine proteases (e.g., trypsin and S. gresius trypsin). These two families of serine proteases show remarkably similar mechanisms of catalysis. Kraut. J. (1977), Annu. Rev. Biochem, 46:331–358. Furthermore, although the primary structure is unrelated, the tertiary structure of these two enzyme families brings together a conserved catalytic triad of amino acids consisting of serine, histidine and aspartate.
Subtilisins are serine proteases (approx. MW 27,500) which are secreted in large amounts from a wide variety of Bacillus species and other microorganisms. The protein sequence of subtilisin has been determined from at least nine different species of Bacillus. Markland, F. S., et al. (1983), Hoppe-Seyler's Z. Physiol. Chem., 364:1537–1540. The three-dimensional crystallographic structure of subtilisins from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus licheniformis and several natural variants of B. lentus have been reported. These studies indicate that although subtilisin is genetically unrelated to the mammalian serine proteases, it has a similar active site structure. The x-ray crystal structures of subtilisin containing covalently bound peptide inhibitors (Robertus, J. D. et al. (1972), Biochemistry, 11:2439–2449) or product complexes (POULOS, et al. (1976), J. Biol. Chem., 251:1097–1103) have also provided information regarding the active site and putative substrate binding cleft of subtilisin. In addition, a large number of kinetic and chemical modification studies have been reported for subtilisin; Svendsen, B. (1976), Carlsberg Res. Commun., 41:237–291; Markland, F. S. Id.) as well as at least one report wherein the side chain of methionine at residue 222 of subtilisin was converted by hydrogen peroxide to methionine-sulfoxide (Stauffer, D. C., et al. (1965), J. Biol. Chem., 244:5333–5338) and extensive site-specific mutagenesis has been carried out (Wells and Estell (1988) TIBS 13:291–297)
A common issue in the development of a protease variant for use in a detergent formulation is the variety of wash conditions including varying detergent formulations that a protease variant might be used in. For example, detergent formulations used in different areas have different concentrations of their relevant components present in the wash water. For example, a European detergent system typically has about 4500–5000 ppm of detergent components in the wash water while a Japanese detergent system typically has approximately 667 ppm of detergent components in the wash water. In North America, particularly the United States, a detergent system typically has about 975 ppm of detergent components present in the wash water. Surprisingly, a method for the rational design of a protease variant for use in a low detergent concentration system, a high detergent concentration system, and/or a medium detergent concentration system as well as for use in all three types of detergent concentration systems has been developed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multiply-substituted protease variants with altered net charge for use in detergents

Abstract: Protease variants are provided that contain substitutions of the amino acids at one or more residue positions so that the substitution alters the charge at that position to make the charge more negative or less positive compared to a precursor protease and thus the protease variant is more effective in a medium detergent concentration system than a precursor protease. Also provided are protease variants containing substitutions of the amino acids at one or more residue positions so that the substitution alters the charge at that position to make the charge more positive or less negative compared to a precursor protease and thus the protease variant is more effective in a medium detergent concentration system than a precursor protease.

Abstract: Further provided is a method of producing a protease variant that is more effective in a low detergent concentration system, medium detergent concentration system and high detergent concentration system than a precursor protease.


An interconnect system for the supply chain management of network services, preferably virtual private network services, provides a networking architecture and interface usable in delivering substantially measurable virtual private network services involving multiple carriers.

As more and more people rely on the ability to communicate data electronically, there is a growing dependency by firms and organizations on the computer networks used to connect its users to each other. For many businesses that have geographically distributed employees, customers and strategic partners, integrating and on-going management of the corporation's computer networks is a major and increasing challenge.
In general, global businesses and organizations have disparate requirements for data network services. There are several approaches to solving a business' network service requirements. One approach is to interconnect a company's offices or various site locations with dedicated or private communication connections via a wide area network (WAN).
An advantage of this traditional approach to building a customized private network is that it is generally owned and managed by the corporation; management of the network along with control of computing resources, is centralized. Another advantage is improved security of the network against unauthorized access.
However, a major disadvantage of a corporate-owned and controlled private network is the extremely high total cost of procurement, design, implementation, operations, management, skill retention, and facilities related to private networks. Also, private corporate networks are oftentimes underused as the dedicated resources must be configured to handle the peak capacity requirements of the business.
In an attempt to reduce costs and enhance their competitiveness, some companies chose to deploy some business applications over the public Internet, a second approach to solving a business' network service requirements. In other words, rather than undergoing the considerable expense of constructing a private network of dedicated communication lines, some companies opt to employ the Internet to facilitate communication between various remote sites.
An advantage of using the Internet as a transport mechanism is the Internet's ubiquity; Internet access is worldwide. It is also convenient. However, a major disadvantage is that the Internet is a public network. Data propagation is indeterminate, security is relatively low and performance is not guaranteed. Electronic communications are susceptible to interception, modification and replication by third parties, essentially compromising proprietary and confidential internal corporate communications.
Because the potential business related damage resulting from security breaches and unreliable performance has become such a critical factor in network services, companies often seek an alternative solution to the Internet to obtain virtual private network (VPN) services with a high degree of security and performance assurance.
As a practical matter, there are two approaches to providing VPN services today: "on-net" or "off-net". These VPN services are generally a premium service offered by a service provider where a firm or business contracts with the service provider for a specified VPN service.
In the on-net approach, typically a service provider offers VPN service on its own network infrastructure only. An advantage of on-net service is that it does not require collaboration among multiple service providers, and generally uses standard service provider products and services only. However, a major drawback is the limited reach of a sole service provider's network. One service provider on its own often cannot offer service to corporate sites in all cases.
When a subscriber's requirements extend beyond the service provider's infrastructure, an off-net approach is used that sometimes employs the Internet to provide basic, easy-to-implement and easy-to-administer off-net capabilities. Alternatively, two or more service providers may collaborate which may involve some integration of transport networks, operations systems and business systems. Of course, a service provider may choose to extend its reach by building its own network to reach the off-net sites. But this often proves expensive.
The problem with one or more of the above-mentioned conventional approaches is difficulty of implementation. Significant time and coordination is required to arrange new service provider partnership(s), and to interconnect network(s) and/or technologies and/or configurations and/or operations systems and/or business systems. For example, a service provider must undertake to coordinate field support of off-net gateways with one or more third party groups. Additionally, the integration of operational and business systems to make the collaboration viable is complex and costly. Moreover, once set-up, the complex interconnections are difficult to change.
Another problem in one or more of the prior art approaches is the significant investment of financial resources. The cost of implementing and maintaining an off-net computer network, for example, is high. These high costs are compounded by the high costs for long distance charges for leased lines and switched services. In addition, the number of support staff necessary to manage these networks further increases the costs to manage them.
Yet another problem in one or more of the prior art approaches is non-deterministic route propagation. The route by which data communications travel from point to point over a public network, such as the Internet, can vary on a per packet basis, and is essentially indeterminate. This prevents per customer design, implementation and monitoring, essentially preventing a service being engineered to meet an individual customer's need. It also prevents differentiation between customers because per-customer state/status is not maintained throughout the network.
Yet another problem in one or more of the prior art approaches is unreliable network performance. There are little or no controls in the way that users use the Internet, for example. This generally means that one customer's use of the Internet may be adversely affected by another customer, for instance.
Yet another problem in one or more of the prior art approaches is the low level of data security. The data protocols for transmitting information over a public network, such as the Internet, are widely known. Consequently, electronic communications over the Internet are susceptible to interception. Packets can be replicated or even modified by unauthorized users.
Yet a further problem in one or more of the prior art approaches is significant delays in restoring service to customers. A significant number of performance-related faults occur at the interface between the off-net gateway and the off-net transport service, for instance. These problems prove very difficult to resolve and, again, the extending service provider must undertake to coordinate fault resolution with the off-net transport supplier.
Yet a further problem in one or more of the prior art approaches is lack of effective monitoring to determine whether one or more service providers are providing acceptable or unacceptable service. This creates a bottleneck for proper billing, settlement, fault-finding and fault resolution.
Yet a further problem in one or more of the prior art approaches is lack of service guarantees provided to customers. Fault resolution, a service guarantee highly valued by corporate customers, is often haphazard, without procedure, based on goodwill, and of indeterminate duration. This generally results in unacceptably long delays for VPN service to be properly restored.
These and other problems are shortcomings for which there is a need to overcome.

Interconnect system for supply chain management of virtual private network services

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention includes a package assembly which comprises a blister package and a surrounding frame having a child resistant feature. The blister package includes a blister sheet having blisters that form recesses adapted for receiving medications and a lidding sheet overlying the face of the blister sheet for enclosing medications in the blister recesses. The surrounding frame is designed for receiving and supporting the blister package and is made up of first and second panels. The apertures in each panel are correspondingly arranged so as to overlap in an opposing face-to-face relation. The apertures in the second panel are configured to partially obstruct the corresponding aperture in the first panel. The partial obstruction thereby forming a protective device to impede unwanted removal of medication from the blister package in a child resistant fashion.

The pharmaceutical packaging industry offers a wide array of dispensers and containers for all types of medications. These packages include many types of child resistant features such as different styles of safety caps in conjunction with a conventional prescription bottle. With respect to blister card style packaging, child resistant features include a reinforced additional backing sheet. In all these cases of existing child resistant packaging there exists a substantial danger that patients--the intended users of the medications--cannot get into a package to gain access to the medication. Patients will get frustrated in their efforts to get to the medication and may simply ignore the instructions to take them. This PG,4 potentially harmful situation involves patients having advanced age, or any patient have dexterity problems such as a result of arthritis, or anyone else who simply lacks an aptitude for opening child resistant packages. Specifically, with respect to blister cards having a reinforced backing layer, it is necessary to go through the extra mechanical step of peeling off the reinforcing backing before a patient can punch the medication through the frangible backing layer. Further, many patients may not be aware of the reinforcing backing on existing child resistant blister cards and may inadvertently tear or damage an entire package in seeking to obtain the medications from it and possibly spoil the medications as a result thereof.

Child resistant package assembly for dispensing pharmaceutical medications


A particulate matter concentration measuring apparatus configured to measure concentration of particulate matter in exhaust gas passing through an exhaust line includes an exhaust gas collecting line branched from the exhaust line, a particulate matter detection filter provided in the exhaust gas collecting line, a differential pressure sensor configured to sense differential pressure between an inlet and an outlet of the particulate matter detection filter, a passage wall disposed so that the exhaust gas flows to a downstream side of the particulate matter detection filter, an inlet side passage through which the exhaust gas flows into the particulate matter detection filter in the passage wall, and an outlet side passage through which the exhaust gas flows out from the particulate matter detection filter. The outlet side passage has an outlet side cross-sectional area approximately 1.0 times or more larger than an inlet side cross-sectional area of the inlet side passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a particulate matter concentration measuring apparatus configured to measure the concentration of particulate matter (PM) included in exhaust gas.
2. Discussion of the Background
FIG. 1 shows a known particulate matter concentration measuring apparatus 20PM (PM sensor), as described in EP1916394A1, capable of detecting the concentration of particulate matter (PM) including carbon (C) as a main component in exhaust gas of a diesel engine. As shown in FIG. 1, the particulate matter concentration measuring apparatus 20PM includes an exhaust line 21, a secondary exhaust line 21A branching from the exhaust line 21, a particulate matter detection filter 22A provided in the secondary exhaust line 21A, and a differential pressure sensor 22B measuring differential pressure between inlet and outlet of the particulate matter detection filter 22A. Further, in the secondary exhaust line 21A, a flow rate meter 24 and a temperature sensor T1 are provided. Further, in the particulate matter detection filter 22A, a heater 22H is provided.
According to Patent EP1916394A1, in the particulate matter concentration measuring apparatus 20PM, a differential pressure ΔP across the particulate matter detection filter 22A, a temperature T of exhaust gas in the secondary exhaust line 21A, and a flow amount Q2 of exhaust gas in the secondary exhaust line 21A are measured. Then, based on the measured values of the differential pressure ΔP, the temperature T of the exhaust gas, and the flow amount Q2 of the exhaust gas, a value of PM [g/h] which is the mass of particulate matter (PM) collected on the particulate matter detection filter 22A per unit time is calculated. Based on the PM [g/h] which is the mass of particulate matter (PM), a value of PMconc [g/cm3] which is the concentration of particulate matter (PM) in the exhaust gas is calculated. In this case, if a large amount of particulate matter (PM) is accumulated on the particulate matter detection filter 22A, detection accuracy of the differential pressure ΔP may be more likely to be degraded. To overcome the problem, in the particulate matter concentration measurement according to EP1916394A1, a heater 22H is provided so as to burn and remove particulate matter (PM) when the particulate matter (PM) is accumulated on the particulate matter detection filter 22A to some extent.
Further, EP1916394A1 discloses a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22 made of porous ceramic material and provided in the exhaust line 21 of an exhaust gas purification apparatus 20. Further, the secondary exhaust line 21A is connected to the exhaust line 21 on the upstream side of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22, and based on a value of PMconc [g/m3] which is concentration of particulate matter (PM) in exhaust gas and an engine operating status or a flow amount Q1 of the exhaust gas introduced into the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22, a value of PMenter-full-filter [g/h] which is the mass of particulate matter (PM) introduced into the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22 is calculated.
Similar to the particulate matter detection filter 22A, in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22, the collected particulate matter (PM) is likely to be gradually accumulated with continuous use of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22. If the accumulation of the particulate matter (PM) in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22 is ignored, a pressure caused by exhaust gas may become too high, which may lower fuel economy and/or cause engine damage.
To avoid the problems, in the exhaust gas purification apparatus 20 using the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22, the accumulated particulate matter (PM) is burned and removed at regular intervals in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22 so as to regenerate the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22.
To regenerate the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22, high-temperature exhaust gas is introduced into the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22 so that the accumulated particulate matter (PM) can be burned and removed.
EP1916394A1 describes that, by obtaining the value of PMenter-full-filter [g/h] which is the mass of particulate matter (PM) collected on the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22, it becomes possible to accurately determine whether an amount of particulate matter (PM) having been actually collected on the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22 exceeds a predetermined threshold value which necessitates the regeneration of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) 22.

Particulate matter concentration measuring apparatus


A digital high speed programmable delayed locked loop (DLL) includes a zero degree phase shift digital delay line, at least one intermediate phase shift digital delay line, a three hundred and sixty degree phase shift digital delay line, and a digital control module. The zero degree phase shift, intermediate phase shift, and 360 degree phase shift digital delay lines are operably coupled to produce, from a clock signal, zero phase shifted, intermediate phase shifted, and 360 phase shifted representations, respectively, of the clock signal. The digital control module is operably coupled to produce an intermediate control signal for the intermediate phase shift digital delay line and a 360 degree control signal for the 360 degree phase shift digital delay line based on a phase difference between the zero phase shifted representation of the clock signal and the three hundred and sixty degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to integrated circuits and more particularly to integrated delayed locked loops.
2. Description of Related Art
As is known, delayed locked loops (DLL) are used for clock deskewing, i.e., taking a clock signal and producing multiple phased representations of the clock signal. For example, a DLL may produce a 90 degree phase shifted representation of the clock, a 180 degree phase shifted representation of the clock, and a 270 degree phase shifted representation of the clock.
As is also known, a DLL may be implemented in a variety of ways. For instance, a fully digital DLL that produces a ninety degree phase shifted representation of a clock signal, a one hundred and eighty degree phase shifted representation of the clock, and a two hundred and seventy degree phase shifted representation of the clock includes four cascaded digital delay lines and a phase detection module. The first digital delay line receives, as its input, the input clock signal and, based on a control signal, produces the ninety degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal. The second digital delay line receives, as its input, the ninety degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal and, based on the control signal, produces the one hundred and eighty degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal. The third digital delay line receives, as its input, the one hundred and eighty degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal and, based on the control signal, produces the two hundred and seventy degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal. The fourth digital delay line receives, as its input, the two hundred and seventy degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal and, based on the control signal, produces a three hundred and sixty degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal.
The control module produces the control signal by comparing the input clock signal with the three hundred and sixty degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal. In general, the control module produces the control signal such that the three hundred and sixty degree phase shifted representation of the clock signal looks exactly like the input clock signal, but shifted by one period of the input clock cycle.
To provide an accurate and flexible DLL, each digital delay line includes a plurality of buffers that have their data transition rates controlled to produce a plurality of delayed representations of the respective input clock signal. The DLL further includes a multiplexer coupled to output one of the plurality of delayed representations of the respective input clock signal as the respective phase shifted output clock signal.
Due to the amount of circuitry required to implement each digital delay line and having four digital delay lines cascaded together, there is a finite limit as to the rate of clock signals it can deskew. For instance, if each digital delay line includes 128 taps and the DLL is implemented using 0.13 micron CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technology, the maximum rate of the input clock is about 500 MHz (mega Hertz).
Therefore, a need exists for a digital high speed (e.g., greater than 500 MHz) programmable delayed locked loop (DLL).

Digital high speed programmable delayed locked loop


A Virtual Access Core (VAC) manages and controls access to virtual machines. A Virtual Instruction Routine (VIR) protocol is used by all components of the system to pass instructions and information about a Virtual Session. The VAC issues commands in the VIR protocol language causing virtual machines to start and stop. A VIR host that hosts virtual machines responds to VAC commands. Web clients access the system via links, which a web server uses to send access requests to the VAC. The VAC responds by searching through process memory and database tables for information about free slots on a plurality of VIR hosts grouped into a Host Array. When one or more free slots have been identified, the VAC issues VIR Protocol commands instruction one or more VIR Hosts to load and start specific virtual machines in Specific Slots.

This invention relates to the field of automated information processing, and more specifically to a computer tool for providing computer clients a method and system for accessing and managing virtual machines over a distributed network.
Virtual machines are computers that exist in software. They run in the memory of another computer called a host computer, sharing the host's hardware and network connections. The host is usually able to sponsor several virtual machines simultaneously, making ownership of multiple computers more economical. In many cases, management of networks is made easier due to a decrease in hardware requirements. The virtual machine typically consists of a file that stores all of the data for the virtual machine, including the operating system, applications and data files. An application residing on the sponsoring host will load the virtual machine file into the host's memory so that the virtual machine runs as an application on the host.
AT&T has developed and published an open-source software product called VNC that permits a first (client) computer to operate a remote (server) computer over a network. It does not matter whether the remote computer is real or virtual, or even whether the operating systems are compatible. Because of its ready availability, effectiveness and relatively simplicity, VNC remote control software is widely used for connecting client computers with remote machines. This software provides a web-based Java client that can connect to a remote host with the server software installed. Once connected, a user has full desktop access. The software, however, does not allow multiple users to access their multiple hosts through a single IP address and a single port.
Virtual machines can run in persistent or non-persistent mode. In persistent mode, any changes the client makes while using the virtual machine are saved. This allows a client to interact with a virtual machine in the same way it would with a hardware-based computer. For example, a student using a virtual machine running persistent mode might stop in the middle of a session, log off the computer, and return later to pick up the instruction at the same point. In non-persistent mode, the information and changes to the virtual machine are not stored in non-volatile memory and the virtual machine is returned to its original state at the end of a session. The advantage to non-persistent mode is that many clients can access the same virtual machine either simultaneously or sequentially and have a clean, unchanged system at each login. For example, training systems can be built with non-persistent mode, allowing students the temporary use of a virtual machine to take the training. Upon completion of training, the system is automatically restored to its original state for the next student.
The use of virtual machines is not without problems. Access and management across a distributed network is not easily accomplished. Scalability is critical to successful operation in an enterprise environment. Accessing a virtual machine directly on the host machine's console restricts the host to providing virtual machines for only a single client during each session.
In order to make such a system viable for multiple simultaneous clients, remote access to the host must be accomplished. Additionally, networking issues must be resolved in order to provide security and isolation of each client session. Such a system must be scalable, having the ability to add additional supporting hosts on the fly.

Method and system for accessing and managing virtual machines


A global positioning system that actively guides blind pedestrians and military/police forces. This system uses DoD Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide user position and navigation to centimeter accuracy. Present position and navigation requests are digitally cellular telephoned to a central xe2x80x9cbase stationxe2x80x9d where data is correlated with a computerized map database which holds names and coordinates of specific locations, such as streets; intersections; traffic lights; hospitals; bathrooms; public telephones; and internal layouts of major buildings and facilities, in selected regions, cities, and neighborhoods. System operates by user entering desired destination into hand-held unit via voice recognition software or using Braille keyboard. Hand-held unit then transmits present position (PP) GPS satellite signals and desired destination to a base station which contains map database and surveyor quality GPS computer system.

The present invention relates generally to navigation systems which calculate the position of the user using a GPS link, and more specifically to a GPS navigation system tailored for use by the visually impaired.
Finding one""s exact location in an unfamiliar city has presented a problem. Discovering a location is even more challenging for the visually impaired. The visual clues used by sighted individuals in an unfamiliar place are useless to the blind pedestrian.
To provide the military with a location determination system, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has devised a system that can very accurately locate any point in three-dimensional space. This system is known as the global positioning system (GPS).
There are twenty-four non-geosynchronous satellites circling the earth as part of a $12 billion DoD location determination system. An accurate location can be determined by measuring the distance to at least three satellites. Since the signals produced by the satellites are not classified by the military, civilian companies have produced portable GPS receivers for determining exact locations on the earth. A GPS receiver can pinpoint a location on the earth to within about 100 meters.
This invention relates to map positioning hardware for continuously establishing a user""s geographical position and providing progressive vectors/directions to/within selected destinations or facilities by voice output and/or Braille map displays. Specifically, this invention is a reduced weight, extremely accurate global positioning active navigation system for both visually handicapped and DoD/police users. This device phonetically describes user""s geographical position and provides phonic and/or braille vectors to/within selected destinations. It differs from ALL other GPS systems by its incorporation of digital cellular telephone link to a city/regional base station. The significant advantage is realized by: Marked weight reduction and bulk of the hand-held unit because GPS computations, map database, and voice recognition hardware and files are all relocated from hand-held unit to the base station; and centimeter system accuracy and reduced hardware costs because the entire network (hand-held units and base station) rely upon the base station""s single survey-grade GPS system which has proven accuracy of 2-3 centimeters. With the survey-grade GPS system centrally located, redundancy of having one GPS computer per hand-held unit is eliminated.
The ability to accurately navigate is severely challenged by blindness and/or darkness, especially when the user is not familiar with his/her surroundings/environment. The advent of GPS systems such as Magellan Corporation""s NeverLost automotive GPS system used by Hertz Rental Corporation has provided the foundation of this invention. Improving upon and applying this technology to the blind expands the world of travel freedom by allowing the blind to significantly expand the distance they can comfortably and safely traverse. The military, specifically ground forces whose tactics require light weight/extremely accurate navigation tools to operate in an urban environment will especially benefit from this invention while performing operations in strange/unknown urban surroundings. The ramifications of positional disorientation and/or inability to map read and navigate roads and within buildings, while leading combatants/equipment have proven to cause delays and loss of tactical advantage and initiative. This invention improves upon Magellan Corporation""s NeverLost automotive GPS navigation system to the blind and military/police users. NeverLost correlates GPS coordinates with mapped locations and provides real-time directions/steering to selected addresses. Inventions such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,233 claim to capture the ability to keep the visually handicapped user informed of his/her GPS derived location, but it and others fail in their designs/claims to take the process to the next logical step of dramatically improving accuracy, significantly reducing weight and creating the ability to blindly navigate city streets and within major buildings/facilities. Therefore, applying centimeter accurate GPS system to create an active navigation system for the visually handicapped using digital cellular telephone links to a central base station is the essence of AF Invention AFB0017.
One of the best existing systems is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,223 issued to Fruchterman, which is incorporated herein by reference and which describes a GPS that helps a blind pedestrian navigate through a city. This system uses the DoD Global Positioning System and a Differential GPS receiver to determine a pedestrian""s longitude and latitude. Once these coordinates have been determined, they are correlated with a computerized map database. The map database holds the names and coordinates of specific locations, such as intersections, in a particular region. The system of the Fruchterman invention retrieves the names of locations from the map database that are near the pedestrian. These names are then output to a voice synthesizer.
Other prior art systems are described in the following U.S. Patents, which are incorporated herein by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,399 issued to Yokoyama et al;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,388 issued to Kashiwazaki;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,497 issued to Nimura et al;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,494 issue d to Woolfson;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,613 issued to Endo et al;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,836 issued to Ono et al;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,363 issued to Akiyama et al;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,301 issued to Shimizu et al;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,430 issued to Yano et al;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,842 issued to Brown et al.
While Fruchterman is excellent, it uses a voice system where city noise might obscure important information. The present invention uses a Braille display such as shown in the following patents, which are incorporated herein by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,721, Nov. 11, 1997, Refreshable Braille-cell display implemented with shape memory alloys, Decker, Lawrence H.,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,251, Dec. 3, 1996, Electronic refreshable tactile display for Braille text and graphics, Gilkes, Alan M.,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,012, Sep. 26, 1995, Braille display, Hudecek,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,464, Mar. 8, 1994, Braille reading display terminal device, Hirano,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,288, Sep. 14, 1993, Method and apparatus for Braille display of information from CRT screen, Nagoaka.
Invention is a hand-held GPS for use by the blind and special forces working in urban areas under conditions of total darkness. Unit operates in similar fashion as typical GPS"" with the main differences being in application and display. Application in total darkness and for use by blind is completely different from existing applications and is made possible by use of an active Braille display. The Braille display can function/present information in at least three modes: First and primary mode is audio directions; second is through basic Braille vectors on hand-held display; and third is a complex Braille topographic display on the hand-held display. Individual city, street, address, and major building layouts are programmed into the system""s database. To ensure the highest accuracy, each city transmits a differential GPS signal that works in concert with satellite GPS signals. The user types in desired address or service (such as closest toilet, security, emergency exit, or telephone) via Braille keyboard. Database in concert with GPS signal provide user present position and vectors to selected location. Using audio vectors, voice database provides xe2x80x9cturn left, turn right, distance to intersections, roads and intersections, user""s current heading, and time to selected destination. The basic Braille vectors mode provides the user with Braille vector providing both magnitude and direction that is felt by the user. As the user approaches a turnpoint, the vector becomes shorter and shorter until the turnpoint or destination is reached. When the selected destination is reached the single point remaining from the vector pulses to let the user know he/she has arrived. The topographic Braille display is composed of a system similar to a CRT, but instead, the hard glass display is replaced with a soft iron oxide coated mylar type membrane. Details that would normally be projected/seen on the typical CRT are now three-dimensionalized against the flexible display membrane and can now be felt by the blind""s Braille trained hands. In this manner, the xe2x80x9cbig picturexe2x80x9d is provided to the user in the form of a map each can use to xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d his/her way from origin to destination. Navigational safety functions that could be incorporated are audio and/or Braille warnings as user approaches streets.
This invention includes off the shelf software that runs a GPS navigation system for use by the visually impaired and/or DoD/police that accurately determines user geographic position and provides verbal and/or Braille vectors/directions to selected location(s). It is a hand-held GPS system for use by the blind and Special Forces/police working in urban areas/buildings requiring light weight/extremely accurate navigation capability. Unit operated in similar fashion as typical GPS hand held systems, with the main differences being in application, displays, and use of a base server (FIGS. 2 and 3). Application in total darkness and for use by blind is completely different from existing applications and is made possible by use of an active braille display (FIGS. 4 and 6). The Braille displays can function/present directional navigation vectors in at least three modes: First and primary mode is audio vectors; second is through basic Braille command vectors presented on the hand-held display (FIG. 4); and third is a complex Braille topographic display depicted on the hand-held display (FIG. 6). Individual city, street, address, and internal layouts of major buildings are programmed into the system""s base station map database. To ensure the highest accuracy, the base station incorporates a survey-grade GPS system having a proven accuracy of 2-3 centimeters. The user enters desired address, or location (such as closest toilet, security, emergency medical, emergency exit, or telephone) into the system by typing or speaking (using voice recognition software interface). Invention in concert with map database and GPS signals provides user present position and vectors to the desired location through audio vector commands such as xe2x80x9cturn left, turn right, distance to intersections, roads, stairways, etc.xe2x80x9d The basic braille vectors mode (FIG. 4) provides the user with braille vectors providing both distance and direction that the user feels with hand/fingers. The topographic braille display (FIG. 6) utilizes a modified cathode ray tube to present a moving map three dimensional topographic map of user present position and layout of path which lies in front of vector path to destination. Invention can incorporate enhanced features such as cellular telephone; weather forecast radio; and/or traffic light signal information.

GPS urban navigation system for the blind

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


Disclosed is a resin composition comprising (A) 100 parts by weight of a base resin comprising a rubber-modified styrene-containing graft copolymer and a styrene-containing copolymer; (B) 0.5-8 parts by weight of an acrylic rubber graft copolymer resin having an average particle size of 0.1-0.5 μm; and (C) 0.5-8 parts by weight of a graft copolymer resin comprising an ethylene α-olefinic copolymer rubber having an average particle size of 0.1-0.8 μm. The thermoplastic resin composition of the present invention greatly improves chemical resistance to insulating materials, such as urethane foam, or foaming agent compounds, such as freon (CFC-11, HCFC-141b, HFC-245fa, HFC-245eb, HFC-245ca, HFC-356mffm) and cyclopentane and offers superior impact strength, whiteness and processability. It can be useful for extrusion sheets of refrigerator interiors.

Because of superior processability, coloring ability and luster as well as superior impact resistance and strength, ABS resin is widely used for electric/electronic housings and automobile interior/exterior materials. When used for internal parts of a refrigerator, the ABS resin requires resistance against foaming agent in addition to the afore-mentioned properties.
It is because foaming agents, such as freon (CFC-11, HCFC-141b, HFC-245fa, HFC-245eb, HFC-245ca, HFC-356mffm) or cyclopentane, used to form urethane foams in making the insulation layer of a refrigerator may contact the resin during or after the manufacturing process, thereby causing chemical crack and cracking of the resin at the site where internal stress is concentrated.
As conventional methods of improving chemical resistance, increasing content of vinyl cyanide compound in ABS resin, increasing rubber content, increasing molecular weight of acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer resin (hereunder referred to as "SAN resin"), etc. are known. However, increasing content of vinyl cyanide compound may cause yellowing and reduced fluidity during processing of the resin. Increasing rubber content or increasing molecular weight of SAN resin may also cause worse resin processability.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-338794 introduces an ethylene-containing terpolymer in order to improve chemical resistance. But, thermal stability of the resin is lowered because the compound is decomposed at high temperature during compounding.
In order to solve the problem of the ABS resin composition, the present inventors developed a thermoplastic styrenic resin having superior chemical resistance by introducing a rubber graft copolymer.

Chemical resistant thermoplastic resin composition


A write once disc includes a defect management area that is present in at least one of a lead-in area and a lead-out area; a temporary defect management area that is present in at least one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area; and a drive & disc information area that is present in at least one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area. Information regarding the locations of temporary defect information and temporary defect management information is recorded in the drive & disc information area, the temporary defect information and temporary defect management information, which includes drive & disc information, are recorded in the temporary defect management area, and temporary defect information and temporary defect management information, which are lastly recorded in the temporary defect management area, are recorded in the defect management area for disc finalization.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disc defect management, and more particularly, to a disc with a temporary defect management area in which drive & disc information is recorded, and a disc defect management method and apparatus therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disc defect management is the process of rewriting data stored in a user data area of a disc in which a defect exists to a new portion of the disc's data area, thereby compensating for data loss otherwise caused by the defect. In general, disc defect management is performed using a linear replacement method or a slipping replacement method. In the linear replacement method, a user data area in which a defect exists is replaced with a spare data area having no defects. In the slipping replacement method, a user data area with the defect is slipped and the next user data area having no defects is used.
Both linear replacement and slipping replacement methods are, however, applicable only to discs such as a DVD-RAM/RW, on which data can be repeatedly recorded and recording can be performed using a random access method. In other words, the conventional linear and slipping replacement methods cannot be applied to write once discs on which recording is allowed only once. Specifically, the presence of defects in a disc is generally detected by recording data on the disc and confirming whether the data has been recorded correctly on the disc. However, once the data is recorded on a write once disc, it is impossible to overwrite new data and manage defects therein.
After the development of write once discs Compact Disc (CD)-R and Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)-R, a high-density write once disc with a recording capacity of several dozen GBs has been introduced. This type of disc can be used as a backup disc since it is not expensive and allows random access that enables fast reading operations. However, disc defect management is not available for write once discs. Therefore, a backup operation may be discontinued when a defective area (i.e., an area where a defect exists) is detected during the backup operation. Further, the backup operation is performed when a system is not frequently used (e.g., at night) when a system manager does not operate the system. In this case, it is more likely that the backup operation will be discontinued because a defective area of a write once disc is detected.
Meanwhile, when additional data will not be recorded on a recordable disc (i.e., when only data reproduction will be allowed), write protect information is recorded on the disc to prevent the data recorded on the disc from being mistakenly erased. However, once the write protect information is recorded, recording is not further allowed, and, thus, possible disc defects cannot be managed. That is, since recording is not allowed in a data area of the disc after recording of the write protect information, disc defect management also cannot be performed.

Method and apparatus for managing disc defect using temporary DFL and temporary DDS including drive and disc information disc with temporary DFL and temporary DDS


A method and system for recovering a server blade, in a multiple server blade computer, that is lost during a flash update operation on a service processor in the server blade. Because of the flash update failure, the lost server blade is unaware of its location on a management pathway, which in an exemplary form may be a midplane or a bus, which connects the server blade and a management module in a server blade chassis. The lost server blade puts a signal on the management pathway indicating that the flash failed. The signal is put on a special channel reserved for such messages. The management module receives the signal, and then determines which of the multiple server blades are lost due to the flash update failure.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of computers, and in particular to multiple blade servers housed in a server chassis. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for automatically recovering a failed flash of a blade service processor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Server blade computers offer high-density server boards (blades) in a single chassis (blade chassis). A typical server blade computer is illustrated in FIG. 1, identified as server blade chassis 102. Server blade chassis 102 includes multiple hot-swappable server blades 104a-n. There are typically fourteen server blades 104 in server blade chassis 102. The operations of server blades 104 are coordinated by logic identified as a management module 108, which typically includes a processor for controlling input/output (I/O) functions, interfacing with a network 106 (such as the Internet or a Local Area Network), and allocating jobs and data to the different server blades 104.
Another function of management module 108 is to program Flash Read Only Memory (Flash Memory) in server blades 104. This flash operation updates firmware in the server blade 104, resulting in optimized operation. However, since server blades 104 are hot-swappable, there is usually nothing to prevent an engineer from unwittingly removing a server blade 104 from a mid-plane or back-plane (not shown) of server blade chassis 102 while the server blade 104 is in the middle of a flashing operation, which can take several minutes. When the partially flashed server blade 104 is re-installed into server blade chassis 102 or another chassis, it will often malfunction. Upon being re-installed into server blade chassis 102, self-diagnostic logic in the re-installed server blade 104 will recognize that the flash operation failed to fully execute. However, the server blade 104 will often be crippled to the point of not knowing its bus address or physical location within server blade chassis 102, and thus unable to advise management module 108 of the problem with the aborted flash.
Similarly, even if server blade 104 is not removed from server blade chassis 102, but the flashing operation fails, management module 108 will likely not know of the failure. Again, server blade 104 will be unable to notify management module 108 of the problem.
What is needed, therefore, is a method and system for enabling a server blade to communicate with a management module in a server blade chassis after a failed flash operation, which resulted in the server blade not knowing its location in the server blade chassis.

Method and system to recover a failed flash of a blade service processor in a server chassis

International Business Machines Corporation


A belt member is seamed to form an endless belt which is stretched by a plurality of roller members and circulated in a first direction. The belt member is provided with an electrode portion at a first end portion thereof in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. A cleaning member is abutted against the belt member. A seam of the belt member extends obliquely relative to the first direction such that an end of the seam confronting the electrode portion is situated in an upstream side of the first direction.

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/705,236 filed Nov. 12, 2003 now U.S. Pat No. 7,085,523. The entire disclosure of the prior application, application Ser. No. 10/705,236 is considered part of the disclosure of the accompanying divisional application and is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an image carrier belt or a medium transporting belt formed in an endless shape.
The present invention also relates to an image forming apparatus capable of controlling a stop position of an image carrier belt provided with a position indicator.
The present invention also relates to an image forming apparatus having a cleaning member or a secondary transferring member which is brought into contact with and separated from an intermediate transferring member.
In an intermediate transfer method of an electrophotography process in which a plurality of color images are laminated on an intermediate transfer member, an endless belt member suspended by a plurality of rollers is used as the intermediate transfer member. Alternatively, the endless belt member may be used as a photoconductive member or a transporting member for a recording medium.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-305112A discloses an endless intermediate transfer belt in which a seam is extended obliquely relative to the circulating direction thereof, in order to suppress the circulating speed fluctuation or vibration occurred when a step at the seam passes a roller such as a driving roller suspending the belt, so that to suppress nonuniformity of a final image.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-146386A discloses a similar endless intermediate transfer belt, in order to prevent the seam from bounding when it passes a cleaning blade to enhance the cleaning ability. Further this publication teaches that a reinforcement for the seam is adhered on the belt so as to extend obliquely relative to the circulating direction of the belt, in order to suppress the circulating speed fluctuation due to the seam.
However, these publications does not consider the extending direction of the oblique seam.
In a case where a cleaning blade is brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt having an electrode layer at one widthwise end thereof, through which a bias voltage is applied to primarily transfer a toner image formed on a photoconductive member, if the seam is extended obliquely as described the above, forces act on toner scraped by the cleaning blade so as to convey toward the downstream side of the belt circulating direction along the seam. Therefore, in a case where the oblique seam is extended such that an end of the seam confronting the electrode layer is situated in the downstream side, the toner conveyed along the seam contaminate the electrode layer so that the transfer failure would be occurred.
In this specification, "the upstream side of the belt circulating direction" is defined as a side of which is first brought into contact with another contact member such as the cleaning blade, while "the downstream side of the belt circulating direction" is defined as a side of which is brought into contact with the contact member later. That is, in the case of FIG. 2, the upstream side is an upper side of the figure, whereas the downstream side is a lower side of the figure.
Further, at the end of the seam confronting the electrode layer, the thickness of the seam differs from another portion. In a case where the belt is seamed by ultrasonic welding, the welding becomes unstable according to the above thickness difference. The strength of the seam confronting the electrode layer accordingly becomes weaker than the other portion of the seam.
By the way, when the oblique seam is confronted with the roller, the stress acting on the upstream side end of the seam is greater than that acting on the downstream side end of the seam. Therefore, the upstream side of the seam is liable to break firstly.
Therefore, in a case where the oblique seam is extended such that an end of the seam confronting the electrode layer is situated in the downstream side, even when the upstream side of the seam is broken firstly, the broken cannot be recognized by the monitoring the primary transfer current detected through the electrode layer. Since the belt continues to be used under such a condition, the broken portion would damage the cleaning blade, the photoconductive member or the like. In a case where the broken portion comes in contact with a metal plate member disposed in the vicinity of the belt, the voltage applied to the belt would be short-circuited through the metal plate member.
On the other hand, in a case where the oblique seam is extended such that an end of the seam confronting the electrode layer is situated in the upstream side of the belt circulating direction, since the larger stress acts on the relatively weak portion of the seam, the lifetime of the belt would be shortened. Further, in a case where the bias voltage is applied to the electrode layer through a roller member, a plate spring or the like, the broken portion is likely to be caught by such members, so that the breakage would progress in an instant.
In order to enhance the accuracy of the color lamination on the intermediate transfer belt, or in order to prevent the image or the recording medium from being placed on the seam, a mark is provided on the belt and the mark is detected by a reflective sensor to determine the position of the belt.
Although there is a case where a mark is printed on the belt so as to have a different color from the color of the belt, erroneous operation would be caused when the mark is dirtied with toner or dust. In order to secure the position detection, Japanese Patent No. 3025070 discloses a hole is formed on the belt as the mark. On the other hand, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-343864A discloses that a projection is formed on one widthwise end of the belt, and the projection is detected by a transmissive sensor to determine the position of the belt.
In order to avoid the loss of optical gain, in the case of the reflective sensor, the distance between the sensor and the reflective face of the belt is made small. In the case of the transmissive sensor, the distance between the light emitter and the light receiver is made small.
The sensor is preferably placed in the vicinity of the roller suspending the belt because the motion of the belt is stabilized thereat. However, in the case of the reflective sensor, the sensor is placed at a portion of the belt which is not wound on the roller in order to avoid the loss of optical gain. In the case of the transmissive sensor, the sensor is placed away from the roller to avoid the interference of the roller shaft. Although this problem can be avoid if the roller diameter is made large, this is contrary to the downsizing requirement in recent years.
In a case where the belt suspended by the rollers are stopped for a long time period during the deactivation of the apparatus, the belt is crept in accordance with the shape of the roller to form a bent curl. Further, the creep is produced also by a contact member such as a cleaner blade, a contact cleaning mechanism at an inner face of belt or the like other than the roller.
Although the thickness of the belt may be reduced to avoid the creep, this is contrary to the requirement that the thickness of the belt is made thick to prevent the belt being stretched in order to suppress the positioning deviation of the respective color images.
Although the tension applied to the belt may be released mechanically, it is necessary to provide an additional mechanism to perform the release operation, thereby disabling the downsizing of the apparatus. Further, since it is necessary to again apply the tension from the released condition when the printing operation is activated, there poses a problem that a time is taken from instructing to print to starting to print.
Although it is unavoidable that creep is produced at the belt at a portion thereof made to wrap on the roller, when the belt is stopped, there is a case where the position detecting hole or the position detecting projection of the belt is brought into a state of being made to wrap on the roller. In that case, when the belt is moved again, in the case of the reflective sensor, the position detecting hole is deformed and therefore, gain of reflection is reduced and accuracy of detecting the position is deteriorated. Further, the sensor is liable to be brought into contact with uneven portions produced by the deformation to wear the detection mark to pose a problem that the position is detected inaccurately.
Further, in the case of the transmissive sensor, there is a case where uneven portions produced at the position detecting portion are liable to be caught by the small interval between the light emitter and the light receiver to break the belt. This problem is more remarkable in a case where the projection extended from one width end of the belt is used as the position detecting portion.
Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 10-221967A, 11-184203A and 2002-91107A disclose an image forming apparatus in which a cleaning member and a secondary transfer roller, each of which is brought into contact with or separated from the intermediate transfer belt to remove toner remaining thereon after the superposed toner images on the intermediate transfer belt is collectively transferred onto a recording medium (secondary transfer).
In such an image forming apparatus, when the cleaning blade or the secondary transfer roller is brought into contact with the intermediate transfer belt, impact or vibration effects influence on forming an image, as a result, a failure in image formation such as banding is brought about. Further, toner is scattered to float by the impact, conduction failure would be brought about when the floated toner is adhered to a conductive member in the apparatus.
In the apparatus disclosed in the above publications, the cleaning blade or the secondary transfer roller is brought into contact with the intermediate transfer belt entirely and simultaneously in the widthwise direction thereof. Such operation generates a relatively large impact to scatter the toner. This problem is more remarkable in a case where an endless belt member provided with a seam is used (disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-305112A).
Further, in a case where the seam is obliquely extended relative to the circulating direction of the belt as disclosed in this publication, and in a case where the cleaning member or the secondary transfer member is so configured as to be brought into contact with the belt while avoiding the seam, it is difficult to downsize the intermediate transfer belt because a non-image forming region is accordingly enlarged.

Image forming apparatus having a medium transporting belt formed in an endless shape and having a first and second region


An in-jig assembly bond fixture for manufacturing a composite component having a plurality of parts includes at least one fixture for holding each of the plurality of parts in proper alignment relative to one another during a bonding operation. A mechanical mechanism is provided integral with the at least one fixture for applying a predetermined uniform compressive force to each bond line between each of the plurality of parts during the bonding operation. A plurality of heating elements is provided for applying heat directly to each bond joint and are each selectively located within the fixture for applying heat uniformly across each bond line during the bonding operation.

The present invention relates to the manufacturing of components made from composite materials, and more particularly, to an in-jig assembly bond fixture for manufacturing composite components having multiple subcomponents, such as a composite gas turbine engine component or the like.
Composite materials are gaining wider application and use as a material for aerospace applications and the like, and in particular the manufacturing of gas turbine engine components, such as those used in high performance engines for aircraft propulsion, because of the light weight and high strength of these composite components. Such aircraft engine components may include an engine front frame, a fan stator assembly or an airfoil type engine assembly. An example of a composite gas turbine engine component is the front frame engine assembly 10 shown in FIG. 1. Referring also to FIGS. 2 and 3, the front frame assembly 10 includes an annular outer forward case 12, an inner hub 14 and a plurality of intermediate radially extending strut members 16 which are attached between the annular case 12 and the inner hub 14. As best shown in FIG. 3, strut 16 includes an outer end 18 having outer strut feet 20, which extend substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal extent of strut 16, and radially extending flanges 22 extending substantially perpendicular from strut feet 20. Both strut feet 20 and flanges 22 are attached or bonded to case 12 during manufacturing. Strut 16 further includes an inner end 24 having inner strut feet 26 extending substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal extent of strut 16 and radial flange 28 extending substantially perpendicular from inner strut feet 26. Inner strut feet 26 and flange 28 are attached or bonded to inner hub 14 during manufacturing. An aft annular casing 30 is bonded to forward casing 12 as shown in FIG. 1 after assembly of the forward case.
The frame, therefore, represents a very complex assembly of sub-components which must be bonded together using high temperature adhesives. The assembly of these different components into the frame 10 represents a formidable manufacturing challenge. The bonded joints must be maintained at a specific bond line thickness to ensure strength while the adjacent constituents are held accurately in place during the curing cycle. Because of tight tolerances, positioning of the components is very critical and must be accurately controlled to ensure proper airfoil orientation and the proper air flow path through the engine during operation of the assembled engine.
A prior art arrangement for retaining the different components in proper alignment during a curing cycle in an oven utilized C-clamps, jack screws and paste adhesive. The different constituents were prepared with the paste adhesive and oriented relative to one another and secured in position by tightening the hand jack screws, C-clamps or toggle clamps. This arrangement and method provided no control or reliability as to the integrity of the finished assembly. This oven fixture provided no internal heating or uniform pressure on the different bond joints during the curing cycle to ensure a specific bond line thickness and that the different constituents remained in their proper orientation relative to one another. Additionally, this fixture had no internal monitoring to verify or control that the proper amounts of heat and pressure were being applied to each respective bond joint. The pressure applied was merely as a result of the clamping mechanics of the jack screws, C-clamps or toggle clamps and maintenance of a constant uniform pressure was suspect during a curing cycle because of the susceptibility of these different clamps to thermal growth and distortion caused by the heat of the curing oven. The temperature of the oven could be controlled by a thermocouple; however, there was no actual monitoring and control of the bond temperatures at the individual joints of the assembly or monitoring and control of the bonding at critical bonding surfaces.
Thus, there was a need for a new in-jig assembly bond fixture which was a self-contained, stand-alone, integrally heated and pressurized unit including a computer controlled/integrated system for monitoring and controlling the bonding operation at the different bond joints and at critical bonding surfaces.

In-jig assembly bond fixture for manufacturing composite components