The radiation to be analyzed is sent onto an interference filter which selects different portions of the radiation spectrum in correspondence with different incidence angles. The intensity values of the radiation outgoing from the element are stored by a measuring and data processing unit which processes such values with the transfer function of the element to obtain the information on the spectrum.

Optical spectroscopy systems commonly used to analyze the spectrum of a light radiation generally utilize prisms or gratings which give rise to a spatial dispersion of the various wavelengths present in the radiation to be analyzed. In certain applications very high resolutions are required in order to separate wavelengths which differ e.g. by some nanometers as may be necessary to characterize a monochromatic or quasi-monochromatic source (namely an LED or a laser diode), or in Raman or Brillouin spectroscopy.
Obtaining such high resolutions by spatially dispersive means with satisfactory results demands use of very cumbersome, complicated and expensive systems. To overcome this problem, spectroscopy systems have been proposed which exploit different means for the selection of the frequency range of interest, such as for instance interference filters.
Interference filters, as is known, consist of a transparent dielectric substrate, with a suitable refractive index, onto which a complex multilayer coating has been deposited. Light radiation traversing the filter undergoes multiple reflections at the interfaces between the various layers. By an appropriate choice of the refractive indices and thicknesses of the layers, a certain portion of the incident radiation spectrum can be transmitted or eliminated by interference. The cut-off wavelength (in case of high-pass or low-pass filters), or the central wavelength of the transmitted or eliminated band (in case of bandpass or band-elimination filters) varies with the incidence angle, since the optical paths of the various rays inside the filter change.
An example of system using an interference filter is described in WO-A-90/07108 published on Jun. 28, 1990.
That document discloses a Raman spectroscopy apparatus where a sample is illuminated by light from a laser source, which is reflected to it by a dichroic mirror, and a bidimensional image of the illuminated area is formed on a detector through a suitable optical system. On the way to the detector, the light passes through an interference filter which selects a desired line from a Raman spectrum scattered by the sample. The filter is arranged for pivotal movement about an axis perpendicular to the optical axis, to scan in wavelength the scattered spectrum.
For each position of the filter, the rays or beams which give rise to the image traverse the interference filter at different angles. Hence the image is a non-monochromatic image of the sample, and each point on the detector will be associated with a point of the sample and a wavelength. A computer measures the frequencies and the relative intensities of the peaks present in the signals supplied by the various detector points and associates the results with the spectra of the various molecules. The same computer can control the filter movements.
The known system has a number of drawbacks which limit its performance. More particularly, the interference filter is used basically as a monochromator, and hence its resolution is strictly dependent on the width of the filter passband. To obtain good resolution not only must the band must be very narrow, but the corresponding peak must also be isolated from adjacent secondary peaks, if any. It is rather complicated and hence expensive to fabricate interference filters meeting these requirements. Besides, the resolution also depends on the accuracy with which the amplitude of the filter angular displacements filter can be determined. Since the cost of angular position measuring devices increases with sensitivity, also such requirement causes an increase in the system costs. Finally the presence of moving parts generally gives rise to reliability problems.

CSELT-Centro Studi E Laboratori Telecommunicazioni S.p.A.


A financial methodology for the analysis of events' impact on media coverage and business, and predictive indications of movements of stock prices (or other financial instruments) triggered by media and business impact is described. The methodology is based on a numerical approach suitable for processing by a computer. It takes into account data outside the traditional realm of finance, such as public sensitivity to certain classes of events, and the correlation between media coverage and stock price performance during the course of an event.

The disclosed method concerns the prediction of the short term movements in the stock price of publicly traded corporations in periods of sudden and material change, with a particular focus on corporate crisis scenarios. Crisis-type stock price dynamics have been the subject of detailed analysis and modeling in the past, both academic and commercial. This is hardly surprising; billions of dollars are lost or, in some cases, earned, in the highly volatile dynamics which follow the news of such sudden events. The input parameters of existing predictive impact models are typically the financial attributes of the event itself and the companies involved. The disclosed method augments this approach with a new and fundamentally different class of attributes; communication parameters which can be used to predict the media impact of different types of events. The number of potential or actual stock owners who learn of a crisis, almost simultaneously and usually within the first 24-hour period following the crisis breaking, has a major impact on the demand/supply balance for the stock and therefore on the price. A prediction of a change in a stock price is a prediction of a shift in demand/supply, which in turn relies implicitly on assumption about the timing, tonality, quantity, prominence and audience reach of news coverage.
The disclosed method proceeds from the recognition that the business attributes of the event itself, and of the subject company, are often poor predictors for the volume and tonality of the media coverage, through which medium the markets will be informed and kept up-to date of the event/crisis. It is not that these parameters are invalid, but they are insufficient. As the disclosure will demonstrate, a sudden event or crisis and the corporation impacted by it, are associated with communication parameters as well as the business parameters already used by existing prediction models. These communication parameters include factors such as the quality of photographs, the level of convergence with current public concerns or fashions and the level of positive or negative endorsement by key influencers. The disclosed method permits the identification of such communication parameters for different types of events and it provides quantification of both the influence on the news coverage and on the resultant stock price movements.
The central principle of the methodology is that the communication factor can be derived by a three-step process: a) identify all the parameters with high correlations against stock price movements b) identify all the parameters which have a high correlation against the media impact c) all the parameters which have a high correlation against both the media and stock price are the ones with the highest predictive potential. It may be counter-intuitive that a parameter such as the quality of the photographic material is treated as the dual business/communication parameter rather than purely a communication parameter. However, parameters which impact on the reportage of an event will also influence the level of confidence in a stock and therefore the price.
A related application (U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/595,175 filed on Jun. 13, 2005) has been filed for examining the non-sudden but more sustained spread between analyst targets and stock prices by analyzing how investor confidence is influenced continuously by media coverage.

Financial methodology to valuate and predict the news impact of major events on financial instruments


An electrical connector includes a first jaw having a first set of insulation-piercing elements and a second jaw having a second set of insulation-piercing elements. The first and second sets of insulation-piercing elements are arranged such that at least one row of insulation-piercing elements from the first set of insulation-piercing elements is able to intermesh with at least one row of insulation-piercing elements from the second set of insulation-piercing elements when the first and second jaws are moved towards one another along a z-coordinate.

The present invention relates to an electrical connector for connecting electrical cable conductors, and more particularly to an electrical connector having insulation-piercing elements for use with an insulated electrical cable conductor.
Electrical connectors are often used for connecting cable conductors together. For example, an electrical connector may be used as a branch connector when electrical power is distributed from a power generation plant to consumers of electrical power. The electrical connector may have one or more openings for receiving an electrical cable conductor ("cable"). A cable is typically round in cross-section and formed of a conductive core (typically copper or aluminum) and may be surrounded by one or more layers of insulating material ("insulative coating"). Additionally, multiconductor cable constructions containing sector shape (i.e., a pie shape) insulated conductors with an overall outer sheath are used in some countries. An electrical connector may be an insulation-piercing connector ("IPC"), which incorporates insulation-piercing elements in the cable-receiving opening in order to create an electrical connection between the electrical connector and the insulated cable. The IPC may include a fixed jaw and a movable jaw, where the movable jaw creates an opposing force on a cable which is engaged between the fixed jaw and the moveable jaw. The movable jaw may be actuated by a threaded bolt extending through a threaded bore in the electrical connector body. A cable may be inserted between the jaws, and as the bolt is turned, the movable jaw moves toward the fixed jaw and engages the cable. An IPC may also be formed by a bolt and a fixed jaw, where the bolt creates an opposing force on the engaged cable.
Where an IPC has two opposing jaws, insulation-piercing elements (e.g., teeth) are typically formed on each jaw in order to pierce an insulative covering of the cable and make electrical contact with the conductive cover of the cable as the movable jaw is clamped down on the cable. The teeth may be essentially two-dimensional or fully three-dimensional. In order to cover a range of cable sizes, it may be preferred to arrange the teeth with their initial cable contacting surfaces in an arced profile on each jaw, so that the teeth contact as much of the cable perimeter as possible for low contact resistance. In current IPC designs, where a fixed jaw and moveable jaw configuration is used, the opposing sets of teeth are typically mirror images of one another.
An IPC may also be used in other applications that require creating an electrical connection through an insulated cable. An IPC may be used because of shorter cable installation time due to little or no cable preparation (e.g., there is no need to strip insulation from a cable in order to establish electrical contact). The design of an IPC requires a balance between several different criteria, including, but not limited to, a low penetration force through the insulative layer of the cable, the ability to penetrate and displace the insulation, low total installation force (or torque), low damage to the cable, low contact resistance, low overall Joule heating, good long term electrical connection stability, and a sufficient grip on the cable ("strain relief") to prevent cable movement and dislodgment from the connection.
It may also be desirable for an IPC to be "range-taking". That is, it may be desirable to have an IPC that has the ability to connect reliably to a wide range of cable sizes (e.g., different cable diameters). It has been found that a broad range-taking capability may be difficult to achieve with current IPC designs because when the teeth on opposed jaws in an IPC are closed down onto a small diameter cable, some of the teeth may crash into each other, preventing the proper force from being applied to the cable.

Intermeshing insulation-piercing elements for an insulation-piercing connector


Improved thermoplastic compositions characterized by high tensile elongation values are described. They comprise polyphenylene ether resin, a hydrogenated elastomeric block copolymer having an A-B-A' structure, with specific molecular weight values for the copolymer blocks and a phenylsiloxane fluid of particular composition. Electrical conductor articles which include polymerized thermoplastic compositions as mentioned above represent another embodiment of this invention.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to polyphenylene ether resin thermoplastics and more particularly to blends of such resins which are useful as electrical insulating coatings.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Polyphenylene ethers are a widely used class of thermoplastic engineering resins characterized by excellent hydrolytic stability, dimensional stability, toughness, heat resistance and dielectric properties. However, they may be deficient in certain other desired properties such as workability and flame retardance. Therefore, there is a continuing need for means of modifying polyphenylene ethers to improve certain properties, particularly flexibility, tensile elongation and strippability to enhance their use as wire coatings and in particular electrical insulation coatings for electrical conductors.
Polyphenylene ether (PPE) based compositions useful as dielectric insulators sometimes include polyolefins, and exhibit improved impact strength and chemical resistance. However, the inclusion of olefinic components can decrease the flame retardance of the overall composition, thereby necessitating the addition of special additives to regain this important property. As an illustration, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,808,647 and 4,945,018 (V. Abolins et al.) describe the use of a multi-component flame retardant composition which includes an organic phosphate and a brominated material such as a tetrabromobisphenol-A oligomeric polycarbonate.
While the compositions described in the Abolins patents exhibit excellent properties suitable for many applications, it is often desirable to minimize or eliminate the use of bromine or other halogen-containing additives in compositions designed for certain products. For example, the wire insulation compositions mentioned above frequently cannot contain halogen additives because they could form corrosive compounds when exposed to flame, thereby resulting in considerable damage to surrounding electrical equipment. Nevertheless, any modification of such an insulation composition must not result in significant decreases in the other important properties necessary for very durable products, e.g., flexibility and "stretchability".
It is therefore apparent that a need still exists for polyphenylene ether-based compositions that are flame retardant, flexible, and noncorrosive. In particular, a need exists for halogen-free wire insulation compositions which are flame retardant, and which exhibit very high tensile elongation and flexibility. The compositions of the present invention obviate the need for halogen-containing flame retarding additives, employing instead a phenylsiloxane fluid ingredient which imparts a degree of flame retardance to articles made from the compositions of the invention.
A number of PPE based compositions have included as an additive polyorganosiloxanes; see for example the descriptions found in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,479 (Haaf). Lovgren et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,446,090 and 4,487,858 show that high viscosity silicone fluids have been blended with thermoplastic polymers to produce flame retardant thermoplastic materials. However, since the polyorganosiloxanes also function as an impact-modifier in blends thereof with thermoplastic resins, their use as plasticizers was not seriously considered.

Polyphenylene ether electrical insulation compositions


An apparatus and method for carrier frequency synchronization in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system are provided for correcting an initial carrier frequency offset in the OFDM system. A metric generator for frequency estimation performs a first accumulation process for a value computed by multiplying a Phase Reference Symbol (PRS) generated from a reception stage by a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) output signal for an OFDM symbol in a PRS position within a frame, acquires a differential symbol from a product of adjacent FFT output symbols, performs a second accumulation process for a real part extracted from the differential symbol, and outputs a metric value for the frequency estimation. A maximal value-related index generator compares metric values for initial frequency estimation within a predetermined frequency offset estimation range, and selects and outputs a maximal metric value as a frequency offset estimate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a wireless communication system based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for correcting an initial carrier frequency offset in a wireless communication system based on OFDM.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication systems typically make use of a cellular communication scheme. These wireless communication systems make use of multiple access schemes for simultaneous communication with multiple users. For the multiple access schemes, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) are typically used. With the rapid progress of CDMA technology, CDMA systems are developing from a voice communication system into a system capable of transmitting packet data at high speeds.
In order to overcome limitations in using code resources of the CDMA system, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) scheme has been used recently.
The OFDMA scheme is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). An OFDM system for transmitting data using multi-carrier is a type of Multi Carrier Modulation (MCM) system in which a serial symbol stream is converted into parallel symbol streams and is modulated into multiple subcarriers, that is, multiple subcarrier channels, orthogonal to each other.
The MCM-based OFDM scheme was first applied to High Frequency (HF) radio communications for the military in the late 1950's. The OFDM scheme for overlapping orthogonal subcarriers started to be developed in the 1970's. Since a problem exists in that it is difficult to implement orthogonal modulation between multiple carriers, the OFDM scheme has limitations in actual system implementation. However, in 1971, Weinstein, et al. proposed that OFDM modulation/demodulation can be efficiently performed using Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). Thus, the OFDM technology has rapidly developed. Also, the introduction of a guard interval into which a Cyclic Prefix (CP) symbol is inserted further mitigates adverse effects of multipath propagation and delay spread on an OFDM system.
As a result, with the development of technology, the OFDM scheme has been widely used for digital transmission technologies such as Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), digital television (TV), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode, (WATM), and the like. Although hardware complexity is an obstacle to implementation of the OFDM system, recent advances in digital signal processing technology including Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) enable the OFDM system to be implemented. The OFDM scheme is analogous to a conventional Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) scheme, and can obtain optimal transmission efficiency when high-speed data is transmitted while maintaining orthogonality between multiple subcarriers. More specifically, the OFDM scheme leads to efficient frequency use and is robust to multipath fading, thereby obtaining optimum transmission efficiency upon transmission of high-speed data. The OFDM scheme uses overlapping frequency spectra, thereby efficiently using frequencies. The OFDM scheme is robust to frequency selective fading, multipath fading, and impulse nose. The OFDM scheme can reduce Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) using guard intervals and can easily design an equalizer structure in hardware. Therefore, the OFDM scheme is actively exploited in communication system structures.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating physical layers for transmission and reception in a conventional OFDM system.
An input bit stream 101 to be transmitted is input to an encoder 102. The encoder 102 encodes the input bit stream 101 in a predefined scheme and then outputs the encoded bit stream to a Serial-to-Parallel Converter (SPC) 103. The SPC 103 converts the encoded serial bit stream into parallel bit streams and then outputs the parallel bit streams for which an IFFT process is performed. Thus, the parallel bit streams output from the SPC 103 are input to an IFFT processor 104. In this case, it is assumed that the parallel bit streams are N symbols. Further, it is assumed that the IFFT processor 104 receives the N symbols because the IFFT process is performed in a unit of N bit streams. Thus, the IFFT processor 104 receives the N parallel symbols and performs the IFFT process for the N parallel symbols to be transmitted, thereby transforming frequency domain symbols into time domain symbols. The time domain symbols are input to a Parallel-to-Serial Converter (PSC) 105. The PSC 105 converts the N time domain symbols input in parallel into N serial or sequential bit streams and then serially or sequentially outputs the N bit streams. Hereinafter, the sequentially output N bit streams are referred to as "OFDM symbols".
An OFDM symbol is input to a CP adder 106. The CP adder 106 copies a predefined number of last bits of the input OFDM symbol and then inserts the copied bits before a first bit of the OFDM symbol. A CP is added to remove the effect of a multipath channel. The OFDM symbol to which the CP has been added is input to a Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) 107. Then, the DAC 107 converts input digital symbols into analog symbols and transmits the analog symbols to a receiver.
The transmitted analog symbols are input to the receiver through a predefined multipath channel 110. Now, a structure and operation of the receiver will be described.
An Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) 121 of the receiver receives analog signals transformed into the time domain in the IFFT processor 104 of a transmitter and then converts the received analog signals into digital signals. The ADC 121 inputs the digital signals to a CP remover 122. The CP remover 122 removes CPs, that is, CP symbols, contaminated in a multipath environment. A signal from which the CPs have been removed in the CP remover 122 is a serial signal. Thus, the signal from which the CPs have been removed is input to a SPC 123. The SPC 123 converts serially input symbols into parallel symbols in a unit of N symbols and then outputs the parallel symbols.
The serially input symbols are converted into the parallel symbols in the unit of N symbols because the transmitter performs the IFFT process in the unit of N symbols. Thus, an FFT processor 124 receives N parallel data and then performs an FFT process for the received parallel data. That is, the FFT processor 124 transforms time domain symbols into frequency domain symbols. The frequency domain symbols are input to an equalizer 125. The equalizer 125 eliminates the channel effect from the input frequency domain symbols and then outputs the symbols from which the channel effect has been eliminated. The symbols output from the equalizer 125 are input to a PSC 126. The PSC 126 converts the input parallel symbols into serial symbols and then outputs the serial symbols. The symbols serially converted in the unit of N symbols are input to a decoder 127. The decoder 127 decodes the input symbols and then provides an output bit stream 128.
The above-described OFDM system can more efficiently use a transmission band in comparison with a single carrier modulation system. For this reason, the OFDM system is widely used for a broadband transmission system.
In terms of reception characteristics, the OFDM system is more robust to a frequency selective multipath fading channel in comparison with a single carrier transmission system. Because there are a frequency selective channel in a frequency band occupied by multiple subcarriers and a frequency nonselective channel in each subcarrier band in terms of input signal characteristics of a receiver, a channel can be easily compensated in a simple channel equalization process. In particular, the OFDM system copies a second half part of each OFDM symbol, attaches the copied part as a CP before the OFDM symbol, and transmits the OFDM symbol, thereby removing ISI from a previous symbol. Thus, the OFDM transmission scheme is robust to the multipath fading channel and is proper for broadband high-speed communication.
In a standard for digital broadcasting, the OFDM transmission scheme receives attention as a transmission scheme capable of ensuring high quality of reception and high-speed transmission and reception. Examples of broadcasting standards adopting the OFDM transmission scheme are DAB for European wireless radio broadcasting, Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T) serving as a terrestrial High Definition Television (HDTV) standard, and the like. Recently, a mobile broadcasting system is being developed in line with the global trend towards the convergence of broadcasting and communications. In particular, a major object of the mobile broadcasting system is to transmit a large amount of multimedia information. In Europe, DVB-Handheld (DVB-H) developed from DVB-T has been adopted as the mobile broadcasting standard. In South Korea, terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) developed from DAB has been adopted as the broadcasting standard along with European DVB-H. MediaFLO proposed by Qualcomm is also based on the OFDM transmission scheme.
When a reception stage receives a signal modulated and transmitted by a transmission stage and converts the received signal into a baseband signal, synchronization between a transmission frequency and a reception frequency may not be acquired due to a tuner characteristic difference between the transmission stage and the reception stage. Herein, a frequency difference is referred to as a frequency offset.
Because this frequency offset leads to a decrease in signal magnitude and interference between adjacent channels, its correction is important to determine the performance of the OFDM system.
To correct the frequency offset in the OFDM scheme, many algorithms have been proposed. Synchronization algorithms for the OFDM system are divided into a carrier frequency synchronization algorithm and a symbol timing synchronization algorithm. The carrier frequency synchronization algorithm performs a function for correcting a carrier frequency offset between a transmitter and a receiver. The carrier frequency offset is caused by an oscillator frequency difference between the transmitter and the receiver, and a Doppler frequency offset. The carrier frequency offset of a signal input to a reception stage may be more than a subcarrier interval. A process for correcting an associated carrier frequency offset corresponding to an integer multiple of the subcarrier interval is defined as "initial carrier frequency synchronization." A process for correcting an associated carrier frequency offset corresponding to a decimal multiple of the subcarrier interval is defined as "fine carrier frequency synchronization. A transmitted OFDM signal is shifted by an integer multiple of a subcarrier unit in a frequency domain due to an offset corresponding to an integer multiple of a subcarrier unit and therefore an FFT output sequence is shifted by the integer multiple of the subcarrier unit.
On the other hand, the carrier frequency offset corresponding to the decimal multiple of the subcarrier leads to interference between FFT outputs and significant degradation of Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. In general, it is known that the OFDM system has a larger amount of performance degradation due to the carrier frequency offset in comparison with the single carrier transmission system.
Existing initial carrier frequency synchronization algorithms for the OFDM system can be divided into a blind detection algorithm and an algorithm using a predefined symbol. In an example of the blind detection algorithm, a shift amount of a signal band is estimated using a guard band. However, it is difficult to actually implement the blind detection algorithm because performance degradation is very large under a multipath fading channel environment. On the other hand, the algorithm using the predefined symbol is disadvantageous in that a data transmission rate is reduced because the predefined symbol is transmitted independent of a data symbol. However, the algorithm using the predefined symbol is widely used for many OFDM systems because the performances of synchronization and channel estimation are improved.
In general, the predefined symbol transmitted for synchronization and channel estimation of the reception stage is constructed with a sequence capable of using autocorrelation characteristics like a Pseudo Noise (PN) sequence. FIG. 2 illustrates a sequence offset related to autocorrelation characteristics of a Phase Reference Symbol (PRS) serving as a predefined symbol used in a DAB system. When an offset of a conventional PN sequence is 0, a maximal autocorrelation value is provided. In the other case, the autocorrelation value is very small. However, in the case of the PRS of FIG. 2, it can be seen that a significantly large side peak occurs. In other offsets, a very small autocorrelation value appears.
As the initial carrier frequency synchronization algorithm using the predefined symbol, algorithms proposed by Nogami and Taura are well known. The algorithm proposed by Nogami is illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
First, a PN detector 320 detects an autocorrelation value of a PN sequence in a frequency domain during a predefined symbol. After the PN detector 320 detects the autocorrelation value of the PN sequence, a magnitude generator 330 performs a square operation on an absolute value and inputs a metric value Zn for a frequency offset to a maximal value-related index generator 350.
The metric value Zn is expressed as shown in Equation (1).
                                          Z            n                                          (                          f              n                        )                          =                                                                        ∑                k                                                                            Y                                                        [                    k                    ]                                                                                p                    *                                                                          [                                          k                      -                                              f                        n                                                              ]                                                                                            2                                    (        1        )
Herein, Y[k] is a k-th FFT output result for an OFDM symbol in a PRS position, fn is an integer multiple of a carrier frequency offset estimate, p[k−fn] is a local PRS of a receiver with respect to fn, and p*[k−fn] is a complex conjugate of p[k−fn]. The maximal value-related index generator 350 estimates a frequency deviation value as an initial carrier frequency offset when an autocorrelation value is maximal.
Because the algorithm proposed by Nogami as illustrated in FIG. 3A is very sensitive to a symbol timing offset, an additional algorithm has been proposed which can reduce sensitivity to the symbol timing offset by decreasing an autocorrelation length and increasing a noncoherent combining length as illustrated in FIG. 3B.
Referring to FIG. 3B, a PN detector 320 detects an autocorrelation value of a PN sequence in a frequency domain during a predefined symbol. After the PN detector 320 detects the autocorrelation value of the PN sequence, a magnitude generator 330 performs a square operation on an absolute value. A second accumulator 340 accumulates an output of the magnitude generator 330 and inputs a metric value Zn to a maximal value-related index generator 350.
The metric value Zn is expressed as shown in Equation (2).
                                                        Z              n                                                  (                              f                n                            )                                =                                    ∑              m                                                                                                    R                                                        [                    m                    ]                                                                              2                                                                                R                                      [              m              ]                                =                                    ∑                              k                =                                  mN                  1                                                                                (                                          m                      +                      1                                        )                                                                          N                    1                                                  -                1                                                                                Y                                                  [                  k                  ]                                                                                p                  *                                                                  [                                      k                    -                                          f                      n                                                        ]                                                                    ,                                                    m          =          0                ,        1        ,        2        ,        …                            (        2        )
Herein, Y[k] is a k-th FFT output result for an OFDM symbol in a PRS position, fn is an integer multiple of a carrier frequency offset estimate, p[k−fn] is a local PRS of a receiver with respect to fn, x* is a complex conjugate of x, and N1 is an accumulation length of a first accumulator. The maximal value-related index generator 350 estimates a frequency deviation value as an initial carrier frequency offset when an autocorrelation value is maximal.
On the other hand, the algorithm proposed by Taura corrects a PN sequence in a frequency domain, transforms the frequency domain sequence into a time domain sequence, and estimates a frequency shift amount mapped to a maximal value as an initial carrier frequency offset. This algorithm is significantly robust to a symbol timing offset, but requires very high hardware complexity because an IFFT process should be performed to compute every frequency offset estimate.
Among the conventional initial carrier frequency synchronization technologies in an OFDM receiver, the algorithm proposed by Nogami is difficult to be applied because autocorrelation characteristics are degraded when an FFT timing offset is large in a reception stage. That is, the FFT timing offset leads to linear phase rotation in the frequency domain. Thus, an autocorrelation length is reduced due to a limitation in the number of subcarriers capable of taking autocorrelation. As the autocorrelation length decreases, an autocorrelation value decreases and detection performance is degraded even though noncoherent combining is performed because distortion easily occurs due to a noise component. If an offset value is very large although FFT timing is detected, it can be seen that the performance of initial carrier frequency synchronization acquisition is significantly degraded in Nogami's algorithm.
On the other hand, when the FFT timing offset of the reception stage is small and interference from a previous symbol is absent under a multipath channel environment, only multipath components with a relatively small timing offset provide a large autocorrelation value and only multipath components with a relatively large timing offset provide a small autocorrelation value. In a Single Frequency Network (SFN) and a multipath channel environment with large channel delay spread, an amount of performance degradation further increases in Nogami's algorithm.
Among the conventional initial carrier frequency synchronization technologies in the OFDM receiver, the algorithm proposed by Taura can detect a predefined symbol even when an FFT timing offset is large, but has a disadvantage in that an IFFT process with very high hardware complexity should be used for processing in the time domain. In particular, the algorithm proposed by Taura is difficult to be used when a frequency offset is large because the IFFT process should be performed for one frequency estimate. Because only a multipath component with a largest magnitude value is used after transformation into the time domain, the number of multiple paths increases. There is a disadvantage in that performance is significantly degraded when the magnitudes of multipath components are similar to each other.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method for carrier frequency synchronization in an OFDM system that sustains performance in the presence of multipath interference.

Apparatus and method for carrier frequency synchronization in an OFDM system


An electronic device having a piezoelectric pump. The electronic device includes: an audio input section; an audio recording section recording input sound from the audio input section; a piezoelectric pump cooling air by a piezoelectric element; a drive circuit driving the piezoelectric element; and a control circuit monitoring and controlling operation of the audio input section, the audio recording section, and the drive circuit, wherein when an operation mode being monitored is an audio recording mode, in which the input sound is used for recording by the audio recording section, the control circuit controls the drive circuit to decrease the amount of air flow exhausted outside from the piezoelectric pump, and when the operation mode being monitored is another mode without audio recording, the control circuit maintains the amount of the air flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device having a piezoelectric pump which lowers the internal temperature of the device by moving air through vibration of a piezoelectric element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A drive circuit of a piezoelectric element has come into practical use for a liquid spray and various kinds of actuators (for example, Japanese Patent Nos. 2618685 and 3115618).
In this drive circuit, a switching transistor is connected to a primary winding of a transformer, and a piezoelectric element is connected to a secondary winding of the transformer. The circuit generates and controls a drive voltage of the piezoelectric element by switching operation of the transistor.
Also, a drive circuit having a resonant circuit, which causes parallel resonance with a piezoelectric element in order to generate a sinusoidal drive voltage at a secondary side by performing switching with a transistor, etc., at a primary side, has come into practical use as a drive circuit of an ultrasonic motor using a piezoelectric element (for example, Japanese Patent No. 2976489).

Electronic device having piezoelectric pump which may prevent or reduce deterioration of s/n ratio which may be caused by air noise of the pump during a recording operation


An apparatus and method for processing Hsync and Vsync signals in graphic controllers to avoid a false reading of pulses caused by glitches. The apparatus and method involve detecting when the synch signal crosses the threshold for the first time. When this occurs, the output of the detection circuit is held for the predetermined period of time, even if subsequent transitions across threshold occur during this period. After the predetermined period expires, the output is released and may assume the same state as the input sync signal at that time. In this manner, a misinterpretation of the resolution format caused by the reading of a “false” pulse caused by a glitch on a sync signal can be avoided.

Graphic controllers are used by computers and other graphic-intensive devices such as video game consoles for controlling the image that is displayed on an image device, such as a CRT, LCD panel, or plasma display. Generally speaking, graphic controllers are responsible for translating information received in one resolution to a second resolution that is native to the display device. For example, if the video input signals are in the standard video 640×480 pixel resolution, but the actual display device is an HDTV display resolution having 1024×784 pixels, then the graphics controller is required to upscale the input video information to the 1024×784 format used by the display device. Alternatively, the graphics controller is required to downscale the video information when the input video information has a greater resolution than the display device.
The video input information provided to a graphics controller typically includes both color information signals and timing signals. The color information signals are typically three separate signals representing the colors red, blue and green (i.e., "RGB") respectively. For each pixel, the magnitude of each signal represents the amount of red, blue and green to be displayed per pixel. When combined, the three signals are capable of generating the full color spectrum, depending on the magnitude of each color signal. The timing signals are horizontal or Hsync and vertical or Vsync. The Hsync signal defines the start time and end time for displaying a horizontal line on the display. The Vsync signal defines the start time and end time of each frame.
The graphics controller is responsible for generating the output signals, in response to the input signals, necessary to generate the desired output on the display device. These signals typically include a 24 bit RGB signal that defines the color for each pixel on the display, Hsync and Vsync signals, a data enable DE signal, and display clock CLK signal. For example, the current HDTV standard defines a pixel display having a resolution of 1024×784. Each frame therefore has 784 horizontal lines from top to bottom of the display. Each horizontal line has 1024 pixels. Each pulse of the Hsync signal represents the start of a new row. For each row, the CLK clock is pulsed 1024 times. With each pulse, a 24 bit RGB signal that defines the color for each pixel is generated. With progressive scan, the Vsync signal is pulsed after the 784 rows are displayed to designate the start of a new frame. The data enable signal DE is typically used only for raster type display devices. The DE signal is reset to disable the display during retracing or blanking. Although the data enable signal is not needed for non-raster type displays such as plasma or LCD panels, most graphic controllers retain this signal to be backwards compatible with older display devices such as standard televisions or CRTs.
Graphic controllers include a processing module to perform the translation from the input to the output resolutions. One responsibility of the processing module is to detect the resolution of the input video information. This is typically done by analyzing the timing between pulses of the input Hsync and Vsync signals. The Hsync and Vsync signals are first passed through an on-chip regenerative circuit, such as a Schmitt trigger, before being provided to the processing module. Based on the measured time duration between pulses, the processing module determines the resolution of the input video information.
Glitches in the Hsync and/or Vsync signals provided to the inputs of the graphic controller may cause the processing module to make an error in computing the wrong resolution of the input signals. For example, a sync signal may have a "shoulder" on the rising edge at a voltage level somewhere between zero volts and Vdd. Similarly, the signal may have a shoulder between Vdd and zero on the falling edge. If the shoulder occurs at or near the trigger points of the Schmitt trigger, the regenerated output of the synch signal may also contain glitches. The processing module may therefore misinterpret a glitch as a "false pulse", and as a consequence, compute the wrong resolution of the input.
An apparatus and method for processing Hsync and Vsync signals in graphic controllers to avoid a false reading of pulses caused by glitches is therefore needed.

Apparatus and method for processing synch signals in graphic controllers


The present inventions are related to monitoring movement, and in particular to systems and methods for extending the service life of a monitoring device.

The present inventions are related to monitoring movement, and in particular to systems and methods for extending the service life of a monitoring device.
Large numbers of individuals are currently housed in prisons. This represents a significant cost to society both in terms of housing expense and wasted productivity. To address this concern, house arrest systems have been developed for use by less violent offenders. This allows the less violent offender to be monitored outside of a traditional prison system and allows the offender an opportunity to work and interact to at least some degree in society. The same approach is applied to paroled prisoners allowing for a monitored transition between a prison atmosphere and returning to society. House arrest systems typically require attaching a monitoring device to a monitored individual that must be periodically recharged. Such recharging interferes with the operation of the device, and at times failure to recharge results in a temporary failure of the device.
Thus, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art for more advanced approaches, devices and systems for individual monitoring.

Systems and methods for individual tracking using multi-source energy harvesting


In a case for a circuit breaker in which a terminal is simply replaceable or mountable according to a wiring method of the circuit breaker, the case comprises a case which accommodates components for breaking a circuit, a terminal block portion which provides a common platform for plural types of terminals, and a door engaged with the case in monolithic form so that it may be operable to a closed position for closing the case or an opened position for installing a selected terminal of the plural types of terminals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low voltage circuit breaker which is so-called molded case circuit breaker, and particularly, to a case for a circuit breaker with a monolithic door capable of simply changing a terminal structure according to a wire engaging method.
2. Background of the Invention
In general, a circuit breaker applied to a power system may be provided with a terminal portion for engaging a power source side wire and a electric load side wire. The circuit breaker may have, according to a wire engaging method, an upper engaging-type terminal portion (so-called standard type terminal portion), a rear engaging-type terminal portion, a plug-in type terminal portion and a lug type terminal portion.
A circuit breaker with a structure capable of replacing various terminal portions according to the wire engaging method and a case therefor according to the related art will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, the related art will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a circuit breaker according to the related art and a case therefor, particularly, a partially-cut perspective view illustrating a terminal portion, and FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a circuit breaker according to the related art and a case therefor, particularly, an operational state view illustrating that a terminal block is assembled to or separated from a terminal portion.
Regarding a circuit breaker 1 according to the related art illustrated in FIG. 1, a case therefor may include a lower case 2 and an upper cover 3. A reference numeral 6 designates a terminal block provided at each of front and rear surfaces of the circuit breaker 1 for engaging external wires of power source side and electric load side.
Explaining an operation of mounting (assembling) the terminal block portion 6 to the circuit breaker 1 according to the related art with reference to FIG. 2, an upper engaging-type terminal portion (so-called a standard type terminal portion) is exemplarily shown in FIG. 2. The terminal block portion 6 is inserted into the circuit breaker 1 in a rear direction indicated by an arrow based upon the drawing in a state of having a nut 7 being mounted thereon.
In more detail, rail engaging portions (reference numeral not given) formed by both lateral concave portions between upper and lower plates of the terminal block portion 6 are slid onto mounting rails (reference numeral is not designated) which are installed at the lower case 2 below a terminal portion T of a fixed contactor which is exposed to front and rear surfaces of the circuit breaker 1 and provided on each of three phases, such that the rail engaging portions can be supported by the mounting rails. Accordingly, the terminal block portion 6 is assembled to the circuit breaker 1 of the related art.
Here, terminal block protrusions 6a formed on the lower plate of the terminal block portion 6 intensify a contact force between the rail engaging portions of the terminal block portion 6 and the mounting rails at the lower case 2.
An unexplained reference numeral 3 in FIG. 2 designates the upper cover previously described in FIG. 1.
Both in the related art and in the present invention, various types of terminal blocks can be mounted in the circuit breaker, which will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.
A terminal block shown in FIG. 3 designates a standard type terminal block portion 6-1 which is a terminal block having an upper face (surface) to which an external wire of either a power source or an electric load is engaged. It is characteristic that a nut (refer to the numeral 7 in FIG. 2) is mounted on its upper face.
A terminal block shown in FIG. 4 designates a rear engaging-type terminal block portion 6-2, which is a terminal block in a shape that an external wire of the power source or the electric load is engaged to short rear engaging-type terminal and long rear engaging-type terminal (refer to 6-2a and 6-2b in FIGS. 8 and 9) each of which is extended downwardly from a terminal block (not shown). Unlike the standard type terminal block portion 6-1, this rear engaging-type terminal block portion 6-2 does not have the nut but has an insertion hole in which an upper hexagonal end portion of the short or long rear engaging-type terminal is inserted.
A terminal block shown in FIG. 5 designates a plug-in type terminal block portion 6-3, which is a terminal block in a shape that an external wire of power source or the electric load is engaged to a plug-in type terminal (not shown and refer to 6-3a in FIG. 11) extended downwardly from the terminal block. Unlike the standard type terminal block portion 6-1, this plug-in type terminal block portion 6-3 does not have the nut but has an insertion hole in which an upper hexagonal end portion of a plug-in type terminal is inserted.
A terminal block shown in FIG. 6 designates a lug type terminal block portion 6-4 in a shape that an external wire of the power source or electric load is connected in a lug (refer to the numeral 6-4a in FIG. 13). It is characteristic that the upper surface of the terminal block portion 6-4 is wide and flat suitable for the installation of a terminal portion of a fixed contactor (refer to T in FIG. 2).
FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a circuit breaker according to the related art and a case therefor, particularly, a state view illustrating an operation that an external wire is connected to a terminal portion having a standard type terminal block mounted, explanation of which will be given as follows.
The operation of mounting the standard type terminal block can be understood by the description made with reference to FIG. 2.
After mounting the standard type terminal block, the following operation is performed such that external wires of the power source or electric load (in detail, six wires in all including three power source side three-phase wires and three electric load side three-phase wires) are engaged to terminal portions exposed to front and rear surfaces of the lower case 2 of the circuit breaker.
That is, as shown in the drawing, a wire terminal W1 of an external wire W is placed on an exposed terminal portion (reference numeral not given) of a fixed contactor.
A coupling screw S is inserted into (passed through) the wire terminal W1 to be coupled (engaged) to a screw engaging hole (not shown) formed in the terminal portion of the fixed contactor.
Accordingly, the external wire W can be electrically connected to the fixed contactor terminal portion so as to complete the wire connection.
With reference to FIGS. 8 to 10, explanation will be made of a rear connecting-type terminal block according to the related art and the construction of a case for a circuit breaker having the rear connecting-type terminal block, and an operation of mounting the rear connecting-type terminal block according to the related art to the case for the circuit breaker.
Description will be given of an operation of first removing a standard type terminal block having mounted and mounting a rear engaging-type terminal block with reference to FIG. 10 as follows.
FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a circuit breaker according to the related art and a case therefor, particularly, a perspective view shown from a lower side of the circuit breaker with an inclination angle which illustrates an operation of removing is a standard type terminal block and mounting a rear connecting-type terminal block and a rear connecting-type terminal.
First, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a standard type terminal block portion 6-1 is removed in a direction indicated by an arrow.
The rear engaging-type terminal block portion 6-2 is mounted where the removed standard type terminal block portion 6-1 has been disposed.
An upper end hexagonal engaging portion either of a short rear connecting-type terminal 6-2a or a long rear connecting-type terminal 6-2b is upwardly inserted from a lower side of the rear connecting-type terminal block portion 6-2.
The upper end hexagonal connecting portion of the rear connecting-type terminal 6-2a or 6-2b is rotated for insertion such that the upper end hexagonal connecting portion can be accurately connected with an inner hexagonal connecting hole of the rear connecting-type terminal block portion 6-2. Accordingly, the rear connecting-type terminal block portion 6-2 is connected to the rear connecting-type terminal 6-2a or 6-2b.
A coupling screw S is inserted into a screw engaging hole (not shown) of the terminal portion of the fixed contactor and a female screw hole (not shown) formed in an upper end portion (head portion) of the rear connecting-type terminal 6-2a or 6-2b so as to be coupled thereto.
Accordingly, the connecting between the rear connecting-type terminal 6-2a or 6-2b and the rear connecting-type terminal block portion 6-2 can firmly be maintained.
For additional reference, external wires may be connected to the rear connecting-type terminal 6-2a or 6-2b by a method for inserting the wires through a wire connecting hole formed in a lower end portion of the rear connecting-type terminal 6-2a or 6-2b.
In another connecting method, a busbar-type wire is placed on the lower end portion of the rear connecting-type terminal 6-2a or 6-2b. A bolt is inserted through both the wire connecting hole and the busbar-type wire to be fixed by a nut, thereby engaging the wire to the terminal.
With reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, the following description will be given of constructions of a plug-in type terminal block and a case for a circuit breaker having the same according to the related art, and an operation of mounting the plug-in type terminal block at the case for the circuit breaker according to the related art.
An operation of first removing a standard type terminal block having mounted and mounting a plug-in type terminal block will be described with reference to FIG. 11.
FIG. 11 is a view illustrating a circuit breaker and a case therefor according to the related art, particularly, a perspective view shown from a lower side with an inclination angle which illustrates an operation of removing a standard type terminal block and mounting a plug-in type terminal block and a plug-in type terminal.
First, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the standard type terminal block portion 6-1 is removed in a direction indicated by an arrow.
The plug-in type terminal block portion 6-3 is mounted where the removed standard type terminal block portion 6-1 has been disposed.
An upper end hexagonal connecting portion of the plug-in type terminal 6-3a is upwardly inserted from a lower side of the plug-in type terminal block portion 6-3. Accordingly the plug-in type terminal 6-3a is connected to the plug-in type terminal block portion 6-3.
A coupling screw S is inserted into a screw engaging hole (not shown) of the terminal portion of the fixed contactor and a female screw hole (not shown) formed in an upper end portion (head portion) of the plug-in type terminal 6-3a so as to be coupled thereto.
Accordingly, the connecting between the plug-in type terminal 6-3a and the plug-in type terminal block portion 6-3 can firmly be maintained.
Description will be given with reference to FIG. 12 of an operation of engaging a circuit breaker having a plug-in type terminal block and a plug-in type terminal according to the related art and its case to a plug-in connecting base as follows.
Referring to FIG. 12, a plug-in connecting base B may include plug-in insertion holes B2 for engaging plug-in terminals of the circuit breaker having a plug-in type terminal, and a plurality of engaging terminals B1 disposed at front and rear surfaces for connecting external wires of either a power source side or a electric load side.
The plug-in connecting base B as illustrated in FIG. 12 may be a base to which not only the case for the circuit breaker having the plug-in type terminal according to the related art but also a case for a circuit breaker having a plug-in type terminal according to the present invention can be engaged.
An operation of connecting the plug-in terminal of the circuit breaker having a plug-in type terminal to the plug-in connecting base B can be done by pressing and inserting the plug-in terminal of the circuit breaker into the plug-in insertion hole B2 from an upper side of the plug-in connecting base B.
An operation of connecting a lug-type terminal block and a lug according to the related art will be explained with reference to FIG. 13 as follows.
Explaining that a lug-type terminal block portion 6-4 is assembled to a circuit breaker 1 according to the related art with reference to FIG. 13, first, the lug-type terminal block portion 6-4 is inserted into the circuit breaker 1 in a direction to a rear surface side based upon the drawing.
In more detail, rail engaging portions (reference numeral not given) formed by both concave portions between upper and lower plates of the lug-type terminal block portion 6-4 are installed onto mounting rails (reference numeral not given) which are installed at the lower case 2 below a terminal portion T of a fixed contactor, each of which is exposed to front and rear surfaces of the circuit breaker 1 and provided on each of three phases, such that the rail engaging portions can be supported by the mounting rails. Accordingly, the lug-type terminal block portion 6-4 is assembled to the circuit breaker 1 of the related art.
The lug 6-4a is inserted in a direction to a rear surface side based upon the drawing such that it can be positioned on the terminal portion T of the fixed contactor.
Regarding the case for the terminal structure changeable circuit breaker the according to the related art which is configured and mounted as mentioned above, from the perspective of manufacturers of the circuit breakers or installation operators of the circuit breakers, the terminal blocks should be provided according to their types to be suitable for each wiring method. Accordingly, they should keep sufficient amount of the terminal blocks according to their types in order to supply them when required.
In addition, in the case for the terminal structure changeable circuit breaker the according to the related art, each type of terminal block has a similar structure, which make it difficult for those who have not instructed or have no experience of classification to accurately classify and use the terminal blocks.
In the case for the terminal structure changeable circuit breaker the according to the related art, each type of terminal block has a very small size with a horizontal or vertical length of 1 to 3 centimeters. Also, these tiny components are fabricated separately from the case for the circuit breaker to be thereafter assembled thereto. Accordingly, it is easy to lose the terminal blocks.
Therefore, the manufacturers or installation operators of the circuit breakers need to make personal, temporal or physical efforts for preventing the loss.
Furthermore, a separation preventing structure between a terminal block and a case, for example, a separation preventing protrusion with strong intensity for preventing the separation of the terminal block while being used is generally configured. Accordingly, if the terminal block is required to be replaced while being used, when separating the terminal block to be replaced by an excessive force or by using a certain device, the terminal block or the case for the circuit breaker may be damaged.
In addition, if the separation preventing structure between the terminal block and the case is changed into a structure that can easily be separated by weak outer force, due to the difficulty of the replacement, the terminal block may easily frequently be separated from the case.

Case for circuit breaker with monolithic door


A face image processing apparatus for use in a sleep-inhibition security system for car drivers is disclosed. The apparatus includes an input section for acquiring an input face image of a target person, an eye extraction region setter for determining an eye extraction region within the input face image, and an extractor for extracting from the eye extraction region first and second image components corresponding to an eyebrow image and an eye image respectively. A first detector is adapted to detect relative positions of the first and second image components extracted. A second detector is provided for detecting the open or closed state of at least one eye image by analyzing variations in the relative positions detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image pattern recognition, and more particularly to face image processing systems including detection and monitoring of the open or closed state of at least one eye image as extracted using face image processing techniques. The instant invention also relates to a face image processing apparatus for use in security systems for maintaining the continuous of workers safety by raising an alarm upon the occurrence of a doze or sleep while at work.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As one of image pattern recognition techniques, a face image processing system has a wide variety of applications, including an apparatus for detecting falling asleep of a target person, such as an automobile driver, by monitoring the open/closed state of his or her eyes. One of such driver's condition monitoring systems has been described, for example, in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 6-227278, which is arranged generally as shown in FIG. 33. The prior art apparatus of FIG. 33 includes an image input section 82 for acquiring an input face image of a driver, a digitizer 83 for digitizing the face image acquired by the image input section 82 to produce a binary face image signal, and an eyeball presence region setter 56 for determining the exact location of an eyeball image region in the binary face image. An eye open/closed state detector 57 is adapted to detect the open or closed state of an eye within the eyeball presence region thus detected. The detector 57 is connected to a driving condition identifier 86 which identifies the actual condition of the driver on the basis of the resulting eye open/close pattern detected by the eye open/close detector 57. A detection error identifier 84 is provided for determining the occurrence of any error in detection of the eyeball presence region based on the detection results of the open/close detector 57. A resetter 85 is also provided for modifying or updating the eye presence region in response to the detection error identification results.
The operation of the prior art apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 33 through 36. When a face image of a target driver is acquired and inputted by the image input section 82, the resultant face image is then supplied to the digitizer 83, which digitizes it to produce a binary face image signal. This image signal is given to the eyeball presence region setter 56, which extracts an eyeball image portion from the face image to determine and set the location of such eyeball, i.e., the eyeball presence region therein. The open or closed state detection of the open/close detector 57 is effected within a window 58 (see FIG. 34) taken out of the face image so as to contain the eyeball image portion as set by the eyeball presence region setter 56. The open/close detector 57 may employ one of two different kinds of schemes as the open/closed state detecting method thereof as will be described below.
With a first eye open/closed state detection scheme, an iris is detected in the face image window 58 of FIG. 34 representing the eyeball presence region. As shown in FIG. 35, such iris may be detected by (i) defining a certain circle 59 defined with a given point (x, y) being as a center within the window 58 and four slit-like rectangular marks 60 that extend from the center point (x, y) in four radial directions, (ii) calculating any possible difference in the total sum of brightness values of respective white portions of the rectangular marks 60 and that of hatched portions thereof, and (iii) determining as the iris center a point that exhibits a maximal brightness difference.
The eye-open/closed state detection is effected based on detection of such maximal brightness difference at the iris center thus determined. At this time, if any maximal brightness difference is not detected for a predetermined time period, the detection error identifier 84 then determines that the eye detection fails and a detection error is occurred. Once such eye detection error takes place, the resetter 85 forces the eyeball presence region setter 56 to perform resetting of the eyeball presence region.
A second eye open/closed state detection scheme is as follows. As shown in FIG. 36, the eye window 58 is vertically scanned to search for any contiguous black colored picture elements (pixels) in order to detect an eyeball image, thereby to find out a specific image portion consisting of a maximum number 63 of contiguous black pixels. Calculating this maximum contiguous black-pixel number 63 is done repeatedly with respect to a plurality of images; the resultant maximum and minimum values of them are used to set a suitable threshold value. After the threshold value is set, the open/closed state of eye(s) may be detected by comparing the maximum contiguous black-pixel number 63 to the threshold value. At this time, the detection error identifier 84 may detect that the maximum contiguous black-pixel number 63 remains unchanged during a predetermined time period; if this is the case, it is concluded that no correct eye detection is made. Responding to the determination of such eyeball detection error, the resetter 85 then causes the eyeball presence region setter 56 to perform an eyeball presence region resetting operation, i.e., repeating a similar eyeball presence region setting operation with respect to a different face image region.
As is seen from the above explanation, the prior art apparatus is so arranged as to acquire necessary information used to determine whether a driver is falling asleep or not by analyzing variations of an iris portion which is detected from an eye window taken from a binary face image. Alternatively, the prior art apparatus is arranged to (i) detect a possible eyeball presence region, from which the information as to whether a driver is dozing is obtainable, by vertically scanning the eye window 58 to search for a series of contiguous black pixels therein, (ii) calculate the maximum contiguous black-pixel number, and (iii) finally determine whether the eyeball detection is successful or not by analyzing monitored variations in the maximum contiguous black-pixel number during a predetermined time period.
A drawback of the prior art is that the eyeball detection is unstable and less reliable for the following reasons. A driver's face image sensed may involve shadows due to variations in image pickup light rays incident on his or her face and/or variations in driver's face direction at the time of image pickup. If this is the case, the binary eyeball presence region extracted from a digitized face image may become unstable, causing an intended eyeball image to shift in position from a regular location or letting an eyeball image be deformed into an ellipsoidal shape. As far as detection of the open/closed state of an eye is performed by detecting an iris image under such an unstable condition, the prior art apparatus is incapable of suppressing or eliminating the occurrence of detection errors.
Another drawback of the prior art is that an erroneous threshold value may possibly be set depending upon the actual binary state of an input face image, causing eye-open/close detection to fail due to the fact that the prior art apparatus focuses attention only to an eye portion of the eyeball presence region in the input face image and determines a threshold value with such eye portion being as a reference.

Detection of the open/closed state of eyes based on analysis of relation between eye and eyebrow images in input face images


A computer-implemented method for performing garbage collection in a delta compressed data storage system selects a file recipe to traverse to identify live data chunks and a chunk identifier from the file recipe. The chunk identifier is added to a set of live data chunks. Delta references in the file recipe corresponding to the chunk identifier are added to the set of live data chunks. Data chunks in a data storage system not identified by the set of live data chunks are discarded.

Many companies and individuals with large amounts of stored data employ a backup data storage system. These backup data storage systems can be located local to the data to be backed up or at a remote site. The backup data storage systems can be managed by the entity controlling the primary data storage devices or a backup data storage service company. Data can be backed up at any frequency and any amount of data can be backed up. The backed up data can be retrieved in the case of a failure of a primary storage device from the backup data storage system. Where the backup is managed by a service company the data of many separate clients of the backup service can be backed up into the backup data storage system.
Compression of data before storage is widespread within the backup storage service market. Delta compression is a particular type of compression that is applied in this field. The basic idea of delta compression is to divide incoming data into smaller units called data chunks, generate a resemblance hash over the data chunk (this hash result is referred to herein as a "sketch"), and check the sketch against an index of previously stored data chunks. A sketch can be generated by identifying "features" of a data chunk that would not likely change even as small variations are introduced into the data chunk. In one example embodiment, a rolling hash function (e.g., to generate a Rabin fingerprint) is applied over all overlapping small regions of the data chunk (e.g., a 32 byte window) and the features are selected from maximal hash values generated in the process. This can be done with multiple hash functions to generate any number of features (e.g., generating four features). These features can be further processed to generate "super features," which can be generated by the application of a hashing function over the feature values. While features are described herein as being used for similarity matching, one skilled in the art would understand that super features can also be used for this purpose and are considered herein as a subset of the use of features and feature matching.
Data chunks with identical or similar sketches are considered for delta compression, while sketches that are not found in the index cause the corresponding data chunk to be stored and the sketch added to the index. In this way only a sub-set of the data chunks need to be stored in their entirety. For each data chunk with a matched sketch the system encodes a data chunk as a reference to the similar data chunk (i.e., the data chunk with the matching sketch) and a difference or change in the data chunk being compressed relative to the similar data chunk. In this way, only the original data chunk and a difference (i.e., the delta) between the two similar data chunks are stored rather than two entire data chunks, thereby reducing the amount of data that must be stored significantly.
Each of the data chunks also has a secured hash executed over it to generate a result that is referred to herein as a "fingerprint." The fingerprint can be utilized to identify a specific data chunk. The data chunks can be portions of a file. The file has a recipe for reconstruction, which consists of a list of fingerprints and related information corresponding to the chunks stored in the backup data storage system. For backup data storage systems, the typical backup cycle consists of daily or weekly full backups of a primary data storage system, so most of the data stored in the backup data storage system is repeated (i.e., a duplicate) or has minor alterations. These minor alterations can be effectively delta compressed to avoid having to store significant amounts of data.
Delta compression also has applicability to data transmission where instead of minimizing an amount of data storage space that is required, the delta compression seeks to minimize the amount of data that must be transmitted thereby reducing bandwidth requirements. The delta compress transmission process works in a similar manner to that of the delta compression for storage, except that instead of storing the delta compressed data, the delta compressed data is transmitted to a receiving computer. Fingerprint data is also transmitted to the remote machine such that a fingerprint index can be maintained at the receiving machine to enable proper reconstruction of the transmitted data at the receiving machine.

Method for cleaning a delta storage system


A terminal device includes: an image generating unit generates a configuration change image used for changing a configuration of an entire image displayed by a display device which includes an individual image on the basis of image information supplied from one or more terminal devices; and an input unit to which operation information representing an operation relating to a change in the configuration is input. The configuration change image represents an arrangement of the individual image in the entire image and includes an individual-image arranging area divided into a plurality of display target areas and an icon arranging area including the icon of each of the terminal devices.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an information storage medium, a terminal device, a display system, and an image generating method.
2. Related Art
For example, in JP-A-2004-54783, a display system is disclosed in which captured image data that has been size-converted is received from a plurality of terminal devices, is composed as image data of one screen, and is displayed. In addition, in JP-A-2004-54783, it is described that an image displayed on a specific terminal device is enlarged, removed, or added by a user operating a remote controller of a display device.
However, for example, in a conference or the like, in a case where a presenter performs enlargement or the like of an image displayed on a terminal device used by a participant by using a remote controller in accordance with a request from the participant, the presenter needs to specify the image, understand the content of the request, and perform a remote controller operation in accordance with the request. Accordingly, it takes time to perform the operation. In addition, in JP-A-2004-54783, although it is described that a divided screen or the like to be displayed in an enlarged scale can be designated from the terminal device side, a specific technique is not described. Furthermore, in a case where a participant performs changing of the configuration of an image displayed by a display device or the like by using his or her own terminal device, an operation for changing the configuration or the like needs to be performed in an easy manner.

Information storage medium, terminal device, display system, and image generating method


The connecting box comprises contact elements which allow automatic contacting and assembling of a solar panel with the connecting box. The solar panel comprises fixed contacts suitable for automatic contacting with the contact elements of the connecting box. The contact elements of the connecting box comprise tapered receiving regions allowing automatic insertion of the fixed contacts of the solar panel into a contact region of the contact elements. Inexpensive production is possible as a result of automatic assembling of the panels with the connecting boxes.

Solar panels have a large number of solar cells which are used to convert power from sunlight. Power generated by the solar cells is coupled via electric lines to a rectifier for example, for feeding into the alternating current (AC) network or to a battery. A connecting box is generally provided for coupling to the solar panel.
A connecting box is known from European patent application EP 1 102 354 A2. The connecting box has a housing, in the base board of which is provided an opening for introducing the electric lines of the solar panel. Electrical contacts for contacting the electric lines are provided in the connecting box. The electrical contacts are in turn connected to terminal pins which are arranged in a sidewall of the housing and are used for connecting electric lines. The connected electric lines lead to the rectifier or to the battery. Conductor rails comprising a contact region for detachable connection of a foil conductor of the solar panel are provided in the housing as the electrical contacts. The contact region comprises a metal clamping spring to which the foil contact can be securely clamped. For introducing the foil contact, the clamping spring is opened in a clamping region by means of tool, then the foil contact is introduced into the clamping spring and the tool then removed from the clamping spring, so the clamping spring recoils into the starting position and in the process securely clamps the foil contact.
An object of the invention is to provide a connecting box and a solar panel with which simple contacting between the connecting box and the solar panel is possible.

Connecting box for a solar panel and solar panel


A composition for the treatment of follicular tonsillitis is provided. The composition includes a therapeutically effective amount of carnosic acid and a carrier consisting of pharmaceutically acceptable solvents and ingredients. The composition is in the form of spray and includes ethanol and polyoxyethylenesorbitan monooleate and at least 0.1% oregano essential oil. Other compositions and treatment methods are disclosed.

The present invention relates to the field of pharmaceutics and more particularly, to compositions comprising carnosic acid for the treatment of follicular tonsillitis.
Carnosic acid is a diterpene occurring in a number of plants, such as rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and sage (Salvia officinalis), especially in the leaves. Other diterpenes occurring in these plants are 12-O-methyl carnosic acid, carnosol, rosmanol, isorosmanol and 11, 12-di-O-methylisorosmanol.
The isolation of the actives from the above mentioned plants may be done by several methods, the best known of which are steam distillation (leading to essential oils) and extraction (leading to extracts).
Essential oils and extracts have very different compositions because, while the essential oils contain the volatile compounds in the plant, the extracts contain the compounds soluble in the extracting solvent or medium.
As carnosic acid is a polar compound, it is not expected to be volatile, therefore its presence in the essential oils, if any, is expected to be very low.
The plant leaves extraction may be carried out with a solvent or mixture of solvents, aqueous or non-aqueous, or by supercritical extraction. The solvent, temperature, pH, ratios and other conditions affect the extract's composition. The extraction may be followed by a concentration step, in which a concentrate is obtained which is enriched in one or more actives. The concentrate contains a relatively high percentage of carnosic acid and other components extracted side-by-side with it.
Carnosic acid has been shown to have some beneficial medical effects.

Compositions for treatment of follicular tonsillitis using an emulsion based on rosemary extract and oregano essential oil

THE STATE OF ISRAEL, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANIATION (ARO), (VOLCANI CENTER)


A system and method for configuring coils in a coil array are provided. The system includes a coil arrangement for a medical imaging system. The coil arrangement includes a plurality of coil elements for a medical imaging system and a plurality of twisted portions in combination with at least one of the plurality of coil elements.

This invention relates generally to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems and, more particularly, to radio-frequency (RF) coils in such systems.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) utilizes hydrogen nuclear spins of the water molecules in the human body, which are polarized by a strong, uniform, static magnetic field generated by a magnet (typically denoted as B0—the main magnetic field in MRI physics). The magnetically polarized nuclear spins generate magnetic moments in the human body. The magnetic moments point or are aligned parallel to the direction of the main magnetic field B0 in a steady state and produce no useful information if they are not disturbed by any excitation.
The generation of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals for MRI data acquisition is accomplished by exciting the magnetic moments with a uniform radio-frequency (RF) magnetic field (typically referred to as the B1 field or the excitation field), for example, by applying a uniform RF magnetic field orthogonal to B0. This RF field is centered on the Larmor frequency of protons in the B0 field and causes the magnet moments to mutate their alignment away from B0 by some predetermined angle. The B1 field is produced in the imaging region of interest typically by an RF transmit coil that is driven by a computer-controlled RF transmitter with a RF power amplifier. During excitation, the nuclear spin system absorbs magnetic energy, and the magnetic moments precess around the direction of the main magnetic field. After excitation, the precessing magnetic moments will go through a process of free induction decay (FID), releasing their absorbed energy and returning to a steady state. During FID, NMR signals are detected by the use of a receive RF coil that is placed in the vicinity of the excited volume of a human body. The NMR signal is an induced electrical motive force (electrical voltage or current) in the receive RF coil that has been induced by the flux change over a period of time due to the relaxation of precessing magnetic moments of the human tissue. The receive RF coil can be either the transmit coil itself or an independent receive-only RF coil. The NMR signal is used for producing MR images by using additional pulsed magnetic gradient fields that are generated by gradient coils integrated inside the main magnet system. The gradient fields are used to spatially encode the signals and selectively excite a specific volume of the human body. There are usually three sets of gradient coils in a standard MRI system that generate magnetic fields in the same direction of the main magnetic field and vary linearly in the imaging volume.
In MRI, it is desirable for the excitation and reception to be spatially uniform in the imaging volume for better image uniformity. In a standard MRI system, the best excitation field homogeneity is usually obtained by using a whole-body volume RF coil for transmission. The whole-body transmit coil is the largest RF coil in the system. A large coil, however, produces lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR or S/N) if it is also used for reception, mainly because of its greater distance from the signal-generating tissues being imaged. Because a high signal-to-noise ratio is the most desirable in MRI, special-purpose coils are used for reception to enhance the SNR ratio from the volume of interest.
In practice, a well-designed specialty RF coil has the following functional properties: high SNR ratio, good uniformity, high unloaded quality factor (Q) of the resonance circuit, and high ratio of the unloaded to loaded Q factors. In addition, the coil device must be mechanically designed to facilitate patient handling and comfort, and to provide a protective barrier between the patient and the RF electronics. Another way to increase the SNR is by quadrature reception. In this method, NMR signals are detected in two orthogonal directions that are in the transverse plane or perpendicular to the main magnetic field. The two signals are detected by two independent individual coils that cover the same volume of interest. With quadrature reception, the SNR can be increased, for example, by up to √2, over that of the individual linear coils.
To cover a large field-of-view, while maintaining the SNR characteristic of a small and conformal coil, linear surface coil arrays are used, for example, to image the entire human spine or to provide cervical, thoracic, lumbar (CTL) spine imaging. These linear surface coil arrays typically include an array of planar linear surface coil elements. However, these coil systems do not operate well for imaging deep tissues, such as, for example, the blood vessels in the lower abdomen, due to the sensitivity drop-off away from the coil surface.
To image the lower extremities, for example, lower human extremities, quadrature phased array coils have been utilized. One known quadrature phased array coil images the lower extremities by using two orthogonal linear coil arrays, for example, six planar loop coil elements placed in the horizontal plane and under the patient, and six planar loop coil elements placed in the vertical plane and in between the legs of the patient. Another known quadrature phased array coil images, for example, the blood vessels from the pelvis of patient and lower. This quadrature phased array coil includes two orthogonal linear coil arrays extending in the head-to-toe direction, for example, a planar array of loop coil elements positioned laterally and centrally located above a second array of butterfly coil elements. The loop coil elements, for example, are placed immediately under the patient and the butterfly coil elements are wrapped around the patient.
In MRI, gradient coils are routinely used to provide phase-encoding information to a sample to be imaged. To obtain an image, all of the data points in a so-called "k-space" (i.e., frequency space) must be collected. Some of the data points in the k-space are intentionally skipped and at the same time the intrinsic sensitivity information of the RF receive coils is used as the phase-encoding information for the skipped data points. This operation occurs simultaneously and, thus, is referred to as partially parallel imaging or partially parallel acquisition (PPA). By collecting multiple data points simultaneously, less time is required to acquire the same amount of data (e.g., image data) as compared to a conventional gradient-only phase-encoding approach. The time savings can be used to reduce total imaging time, in particular, for applications in which cardiac or respiratory motions in tissues being imaged become concerns, or to collect more data to achieve better resolution or SNR. PPA may be used to improved both temporal resolution (e.g., shorter acquisition time) and spatial resolution (e.g., collect more data points while the acquisition time remains unchanged).
Simultaneous Acquisition of Spatial Harmonics (SMASH) and Sensitivity Encoding (SENSE) are two methods of PPA. The two methods also may be combined to produce a hybrid method. SMASH utilizes parallel imaging by skipping phase encode lines that yield a decreasing field-of-view (FOV) in the phase-encoding direction and uses coils (e.g., coil arrays) together with reconstruction techniques to fill in the missing data points in the k-space. SENSE, on the other hand, utilizes a reduced FOV in the read direction, resulting in an aliased image that is then unfolded in the x-space (i.e., real space), while using the RF coil sensitivity information to obtain a true corresponding image. SENSE uses the phase and magnitude difference between signals from multiple coils to skip some of the phase encoding steps. By skipping some of the phase encoding steps, the image acquisition time is reduced, for example, by a reduction factor R, with the factor R equaling the number of independent coils/arrays. In SENSE imaging, the SNR is defined as: SNRSENSE=SNRFULL/{g√R}, where SNRFULL is the SNR that may be achieved when all the phase encoding steps are collected by a traditional gradient phase encoding scheme. SNRSENSE is optimized when the geometry factor g equals one. To obtain a "g" of one, traditional decoupling techniques such as overlapping nearest adjacent coil elements to null the mutual inductance between the coils may have to be relaxed.
The SENSE and SMASH or a hybrid approach have different RF coil design requirements than traditional coil designs. For example, in SMASH, the primary criterion for the coil array is that it is capable of generating sinusoids whose wavelengths are on the order of the FOV. Thus, the target FOV along the phase encoding direction for the array is determined in this manner. Conventional array designs can incorporate element and array dimensions that will give optimal SNR for the object of interest. Furthermore, conventional array designs may select almost any FOV so long as severe aliasing artifacts are not a concern. On the other hand, when using SMASH, the size of the array determines the approximate range of FOVs that can be used in the imaging test. This then determines the approximate element dimensions, assuming complete coverage of the FOV is desired, as in most cases.
SENSE is based upon the principle that the sensitivity of a RF receiver coil generally has a phase-encoding effect complementary to those achieved by linear field gradients. For SENSE imaging, the elements of a coil array may be smaller than for common multi-array imaging, resulting in a trade-off between basic noise and geometry factor. Further, when using SENSE, adjacent coil elements may not be overlapped for a net gain in SNR due to the improved geometry factor.
Thus, PPA design requirements are different than for traditional coil arrays based in part on the different operating characteristics. For example, SNR is intrinsically reduced when imaging time is reduced. Thus, to compensate for the SNR loss, the size of coil elements in PPA coil arrays tend to be smaller than the elements of a conventional array element.
Some known PPA coil arrays are based upon traditional RF coil design requirements using conventional coil design schemes and thus have the limitations of conventional systems (e.g., increased acquisition time). Further, some known PPA coil array designs include non-overlapping adjacent coil elements in an attempt to provide better definition in the individual phase and magnitude information associated with each RF coil used in the array, for example, to obtain information of B1 of a receive coil in SENSE applications. Without overlap, a net gain in SNR may be realized when using SENSE imaging, but the coupling between coils may also increase.
Thus, these known PPA coil arrays are not optimized for parallel imaging operation and limit the design options for such arrays. Therefore, the operation and control of an associated MRI system, operating, for example, using SENSE or SMASH is limited when using these known coil arrays.

Coil arrays for parallel imaging in magnetic resonance imaging


An audio capture method is performed by a computing system. A plurality of applications is instantiated. An audio data stream is received via audio capture hardware. The audio data stream is stored in a memory space accessible by the plurality of applications. A trigger associated with an application of the plurality of applications is detected. A history segment of the audio data stream is provided from the shared memory space to the application based on the trigger. The history segment is captured prior to the trigger. A contemporary segment of the audio data stream is provided to the application based on the trigger. The contemporary segment is captured subsequent to the trigger.

An operating system of a computing system may be configured to control access to audio capture hardware of the computing system, such as a microphone. As such, different applications may have to request and be granted access to the microphone in order to obtain an audio data stream captured by the microphone. In some examples, the operating system may grant microphone access to a plurality of applications at the same time so that each application can capture an audio data stream via the microphone. In such examples, each of the plurality of applications may receive a separate audio data steam from the microphone and store the audio data stream in memory space allocated for the application. In other words, a different audio data stream may be created by each application and stored in a different memory space.

Providing historical captured audio data to applications