The integrated computing wireless communication device offers the added flexibility of conventional mobile computing devices while offering optional portability of the wireless communication device. The integrated computing wireless communication device includes an information input/output device connected to a wireless communication device at a universal joint. The information input/output device includes a display and at least one input device. The wireless communication device includes a processor and at least one separate input device. The processor receives the input and presents an output image on the display. The information input/output device and the wireless communication device are electrically connected by electrical contacts of the universal joint. The universal joint includes a pivot for rotating the information input/output device over a vertical axis and a swivel for rotating the information input/output device over a horizontal axis. The universal joint includes mechanical latch positions for latching the integrated computing wireless communication device into a variety of positions for inputting information into the device. The mechanical latch facilitates single-hand operation of the integrated computing wireless communication device by latching the device into angles of rotation of the pivot and the swivel. The information input/output device and the wireless communication device detach at the universal joint so that the wireless communication device may be used independently of the information input/output device. In an alternative embodiment, the information input/output device might be replaced by a mobile computing device which, when separated, may be used independently of the wireless communication device.

Despite tremendous diversity of cellular phones and mobile computing devices, in recent years there has been little innovation in the basic physical design of these devices. As the mobile user demands more functionality on the move, these two products are beginning to converge. Accordingly, demand is increasing for a single device that offers the combined functionality of a mobile computing device and a cellular phone.
With the demand for an integrated mobile computing/cellular phone device rapidly growing, designers must address two integral concerns surrounding the market. First, it is optimal to build an integrated mobile computing/cellular phone device that incorporates the flexibility of modern mobile computing features. Cellular phones with integrated mobile computing features will be larger and heavier than the conventional, increasingly smaller cellular phone. Second, it is important to build an integrated mobile computing/cellular phone device while designing towards the popular portability of modern cellular phones.
Several designs for an integrated mobile computing/cellular phone device have been introduced; however, none have been successful at addressing both of the aforementioned concerns. In particular, these designs are associated with problems related to bulkiness, non-portability, and inefficient battery life. The conventional design integrates the mobile computing device and the cellular phone into a single physical device. This design results in a bulky device, typically the size of the mobile computing device of the design. Further, the cellular phone of this design is non-portable, meaning that the cellular phone may not be detached and used separate from the mobile computing device.
Bluetooth™ technology has led to the implementation of another design. Bluetooth™ is a new wireless technology offering an alternative to physically integrating the mobile computing device and the cellular phone into a single body. Bluetooth™ technology was developed by a Bluetooth™ Special Interest Group consisting of a number of companies. Bluetooth™ offers a high-speed wireless link between all devices in a user's personal space up to 30 feet, commonly referred to as a personal area network (PAN). While Bluetooth™ technology is one attempt to solve the aforementioned concerns, many users still demand the integrated device in a single-body design. In order to use Bluetooth™, a user must either remain within the PAN or carry a collection of special devices with them while out of the home or office. Furthermore, the wireless link used in Bluetooth™ technology is much more draining of battery life than a physical electrical connection.

Modular two-body design for integration of mobile computing device features with a wireless communication device


A charging device includes a fixing member fixed to a fixed object, a cable holder mounted on the fixing member in an attachable and detachable manner and a charging cable unit mounted on the cable holder.

In consideration of the environment, much interest has been recently focused on a hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle, a fuel-cell vehicle and the like equipped with a battery.
Also, much attention has been accordingly focused on a charging device for charging a battery mounted on a vehicle from outside the vehicle.
For example, a charging device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-226817 is a wall-hung type charging device. This charging device includes a cabinet for charging; a flat plate portion formed below the cabinet; a CCID holder formed in the flat plate portion; a CCID mounted on this CCID holder; and a charging cable connected to the CCID and hooked on to the cabinet.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open Nos. 06-014470, 2011-050125 and the like also disclose various types of charging devices.


Pavement marking material comprising a top layer, an optional base sheet, and a layer of adhesive, wherein the adhesive comprises a rubber and a high loading of tackifier. Such adhesives have been found to exhibit exceptional impact shear resistance.

Preformed pavement marking materials are used as traffic control markings for a variety of uses, such as short distance lane striping, stop bars, and pedestrian lane markings at cross walks and lane and shoulder delineators and skips on highways. Typically, preformed pavement marking materials comprise a continuous, preferably wear-resistant top layer overlying a flexible base sheet. Such marking materials are typically applied to road surfaces using pressure-sensitive adhesives or contact cement.
Pavement markings such as markings for crosswalks, stop bars, etc. at intersections, sometimes referred to as "transverse applications", are subjected to very high, very quick shear forces from vehicles which start, stop, and turn at the location. The shear stresses encountered in transverse applications are typically substantially greater than the shear forces typically encountered due to traffic in "long line" or "longitudinal applications" such as lane and shoulder delineators and skips on highways. The adhesives on many markings do not provide desired shear resistance to achieve satisfactory performance in transverse applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,939 (Eigenmann) discloses a pavement marking tape material which utilizes an adhesive which is not tacky at room temperature but which is activated by a hot primer layer or solvent to provide adhesion to pavement surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,635 (Eigenmann) discloses a road marking tape material designed to better withstand tangential stresses internally by incorporation of an inextensible, tensionally resistant intermediate layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,956,904 (Hendricks) discloses use of high energy electron ("e-beam") bombardment of rubber resin type pressure-sensitive adhesives to increase the cohesive properties of the adhesives.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


Provided is an optical unit with a blur correction function, wherein even when a photoreflector and a drive mechanism for blur correction are provided in a movable module provided with an optical element, sizes in an optical axis direction and a direction crossing the optical axis direction can be prevented from increasing. In an optical unit (100) with a blur correction function, a drive mechanism (500) for blur correction is provided between the outer peripheral surface of an image capturing unit (1) and a fixed body (200) (upper cover (250)), and a first photoreflector (580) and a second photoreflector (590) are provided between a bottom portion (substrate (15)) of the image capturing unit (1) and the fixed body (200) (lower cover (700)), between which a swing support (180) is provided. The first photoreflector (580) is provided in a position overlapping in the direction of an optical axis (L) with an axis line (X0) out of two axis lines (X0, Y0) when the image capturing unit (1) is swung, and the second photoreflector (590) is provide in a position overlapping in the direction of the optical axis (L) with the axis line (Y0).

In recent years, an optical device such as a cell phone is structured on which an optical unit for photographing is mounted. In the optical unit, in order to restrain or reduce any disturbance of a photographed image due to a shake in the hand of a user, a technique has been proposed in which an angular velocity sensor, a photo reflector and a shake correction drive mechanism are disposed around a lens and, on the basis of a detection result for a shake by the angular velocity sensor, the shake correction drive mechanism is controlled and the position of the lens is monitored by the photo reflector (see Patent Literature 1).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Optical unit with shake correcting function


When a low operation voltage device is idle and a voltage of an external power supply is larger than a predetermined voltage, a transistor with a high threshold voltage is turned on to provide electric power to the low operation voltage device. When the low operation voltage device is operating and the voltage of the external power supply is not larger than the predetermined voltage, a transistor with a low threshold voltage is turned on to provide electric power to the low operation voltage device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage controller, and more particularly, to a voltage controller implemented in a low operation voltage device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, an operating voltage of a low operation voltage device is smaller than a potential provided by an external power supply. Therefore, a voltage dropping circuit is designed to drop the potential of the external power supply to an allowable operating voltage range of the low operation voltage device. However, an input voltage and current provided to the low operation voltage device when the low operation voltage device is idle is smaller than that when the low operation voltage device is operating. Thus, the voltage dropping circuit must be designed to properly drop voltages according these different conditions.
When the low operation voltage device, taking a static random access memory (SRAM) for example, writes data or reads data, it requires a larger operating voltage. However, some rules of a memory specification indicate that the current flowing into the SRAM must be limited when the SRAM is idle. In this condition, the SRAM just needs a smaller voltage that is large enough to keep all the data stored in the memory. Therefore, when the SRAM is idle, the voltage dropping circuit can drop the potential of the external power supply to a much smaller voltage, and then provide the smaller voltage to the SRAM to keep the data. Since the SRAM requires a basic voltage to maintain data, when the SRAM is idle, it has to detect whether the received operating voltage is smaller than the basic voltage so as to prevent data stored in the memory from becoming inaccurate.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a voltage controller 1 and a low operation voltage device 2 according to the prior art. The voltage controller 1 comprises a first transistor 12 and a second transistor 14, wherein a threshold voltage HV of the first transistor 12 is larger than a threshold voltage LV of the first transistor 14. The voltage controller 1 drops the potential of an external power supply VCC via the first transistor 12 or the second transistor 14, and the dropped voltage is provided to the low operation voltage device 2.
A drain of the first transistor 12 and a drain of the second transistor 14 are both coupled to the external power supply VCC, such as a battery; a source of the first transistor 12 and a source of the second transistor 14 are both coupled to a voltage input of the low operation voltage device 2; a gate of the first transistor 12 receives an idle signal STBY of the low operation voltage device 2; and a gate of the second transistor 14 receives an operating signal ACT of the low operation voltage device 2.
When the low operation voltage device 2 is operating, the operating signal ACT is high while the idle signal STBY is low, resulting in turning on the second transistor 14 and turning off the first transistor 12. The potential of the external power supply VCC is dropped by the second transistor 14, and thereby provides the voltage of (VCC−LV) to the low operation voltage device 2. On the contrary, when the low operation voltage device 2 is idle, the operating signal ACT is low while the idle signal STBY is high, resulting in turning off the second transistor 14 and turning on the first transistor 12. The potential of the external power supply VCC is dropped by the first transistor 12 with larger threshold voltage, and only provides the voltage of (VCC−HV) to the low operation voltage device 2. Thus, the prior art can drop different voltages according to different conditions.
However, the voltage controller 1 of the prior art has some disadvantages. Suppose that the low operation voltage device 2 is an SRAM with a 2-volt operating voltage when reading and writing data and a 0.8-volt basis operating voltage to maintain data, the external power supply is a battery with a maximum 3.6-volt voltage, the threshold voltage HV of the first transistor 12 is 1.2 volts, and the threshold voltage LV of the second transistor 14 is 0.7 volts.
If the low operation voltage device 2 switches from the idle status to the operation status, the input voltage power path of the low operation voltage device 2 must be switched. That is, the input voltage originally provided from the first transistor 12 should be provided from the second transistor 14 instead. Since the low operation voltage device 2 is a memory capable of reading and writing data, if the input voltage provided to the low operation voltage device 2 were not immediately increased from low potential to high potential, it might fail in reading or writing the first data bit.
For example, please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, which respectively show the low operation voltage device 2 idle and operating when the external power supply VCC is 2.7 volts. As shown in FIG. 2, when the low operation voltage device 2 is idle, the first transistor 12 drops the potential of the external power supply VCC down to 1.5 volts to be provided to the low operation voltage device 2. As shown in FIG. 3, when the low operation voltage device 2 is operating, the second transistor 14 drops the potential of the external power supply VCC down to 2 volts to be provided to the low operation voltage device 2. Therefore, the input voltage of the low operation voltage device 2 must be increased from 1.5 volts to 2 volts when transferring from the idle status to the operation status. The time for switching the power path might result in failing to read or store the first data bit.
The other possible way to fail to read or store the first data bit is as follows. Please refer to FIG. 4, which shows the low operation voltage device 2 idle when the potential of the external power supply is decreased to 2 volts. At this time, the low operation voltage device 2 receives the operating voltage of 0.8 volts, where the data stored in the memory can still be kept precisely. If the potential of the external power supply VCC is smaller than 2 volts, the data cannot be maintained precisely anymore. If reading or writing data is executed, the battery must be changed or be charged. Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows the potential of the external power supply VCC of FIG. 4 increased from 2 volts to 3.6 volts and the operation status entered. At this time, the input voltage of the low operation voltage device 2 is increased from 0.8 volts to 2.9 volts, which still requires a time to switch the power path, resulting in failing to read or store the first data bit.
In addition, please refer to FIG. 6, which shows the low operation voltage device 2 idle when the potential of the external power supply VCC is 3.6 volts. Since some rules of the memory specification limit the flowing current of the idle status, in FIG. 6, the low operation voltage device 2 receives 2.4 volts, which does not conform to the rules. If the threshold voltage of the first transistor 12 is increased to reduce the input current, when the first transistor 12 with increased threshold voltage is in the status of FIG. 4, the data cannot be stored precisely because the input voltage of the low operation voltage device 2 is smaller than 0.8 volts. Thus, adjusting the threshold voltages of the voltage controller 1 of the prior art would limit the applications.

Voltage controller implemented in a low operation voltage device


The present invention comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) retrofit receiver. In one embodiment the present invention includes a receiver adapted to receive WAAS messages via an antenna. The receiver is further adapted to translate the WAAS messages into RTCM SC-104 standard messages and transmit the messages to an external GPS receiver via a communications link. In so doing, the external GPS receiver is able to utilize the WAAS messages without modification of the external GPS receiver.

The Navstar Global Positioning System, hereafter referred to simply as GPS, is a space based radio positioning network for providing users equipped with suitable receivers highly accurate position, velocity, and time (PVT) information. Developed by the United States Department of Defense (DOD), the space based portion of GPS comprises a constellation of GPS satellites in non-geosynchronous 12 hour orbits around the earth.
FIG. 1 shows the constellation 100 of GPS satellites 101 in orbit. The GPS satellites 101 are located in six orbital planes 102 with four of the GPS satellites 101 in each plane, plus a number of "on orbit" spare satellites (not shown) for redundancy. The orbital planes 102 of the GPS satellites 101 have an inclination of 55 degrees relative to the equator and an altitude of approximately 20,200 km (10,900 miles) and typically complete an orbit in approximately 12 hours. This positions each of the GPS satellites 101 in such a manner that a minimum of five of the GPS satellites 101 are normally observable (above the horizon) by a user anywhere on earth at any given time.
GPS position determination is based upon a concept referred to as time of arrival (TAO) ranging. The orbiting GPS satellites 101 each broadcast spread spectrum microwave signals encoded with positioning data. The signals are broadcast on two frequencies, L1 at 1575.42 MHz and L2 at 1227.60 MHz, with the satellite ephemeris (positioning data in an earth centered, earth fixed, coordinate system) modulated using bi-phase shift keying techniques. Essentially, the signals are broadcast at precisely known times and at precisely known intervals. The signals are encoded with their precise time of transmission. A user receives the signals with a GPS receiver. The GPS receiver is designed to time the signals and to demodulate the satellite orbital data contained in the signals. Using the orbital data, the GPS receiver determines the time between transmission by the satellite and reception by the receiver. Multiplying this by the speed of light gives what is termed the pseudo range measurement of that satellite. If the GPS receiver clock were perfect, this would be the range measurement for that satellite, but the imperfection of the clock causes them to differ by the time offset between actual time and receiver time. Thus, the measurement is called a pseudo range, rather than a range. However, the time offset is common to the pseudo range measurements of all the satellites. By determining the pseudo ranges of four or more satellites, the GPS receiver is able to determine its location in three dimensions, as well the time offset. Thus, a user equipped with a proper GPS receiver is able to determine his PVT with great accuracy, and use this information to safely and accurately navigate from point to point, among other uses.
Accurate navigation signals and accurate navigation data needs to be available at all times in order to assure safe navigation. For example, it is important to a ship maneuvering through a strait to know precisely its position heading and speed relative to known navigational hazards. Accuracy with respect to the GPS system typically refers to either predictable accuracy (the accuracy of the GPS determined location with respect to the charted location), repeatable accuracy (the ability of GPS receiver to return to the coordinates of a previously determined GPS position), and relative accuracy (the accuracy of a GPS determined position relative to that of another user of the same system at the same time), and each is important safe vessel navigation. Maritime vessels have come to rely upon GPS for accurate navigation data.
The GPS signals commonly available to civilian users are referred to as the standard positioning service (SPS). The accuracy of SPS is currently specified by DOD to be within 100 meters horizontal positioning accuracy 95% of the time and 300 meters 99.99% of the time. Horizontal accuracy of 100 meters may be adequate for some navigational applications, such as navigating a maritime vessel in open ocean waters, however, maritime navigation in coastal waterways often requires an increased level of accuracy. To provide increased accuracy, the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) established standards describing a differential correction GPS service, e.g., messages, format standards, communication bands, and the like.
Differential GPS functions by observing the difference between pseudo range measurements determined from the received GPS signals with the actual range as determined from the known reference station point. The DGPS reference station determines systematic range corrections for all the satellites in view based upon the observed differences. The systematic corrections are subsequently broadcast using the RTCM format to interested users having appropriate DGPS receivers. The corrections enable the users to increase the accuracy of their GPS determined position. Differential service using the RTCM standard is in wide use throughout the world. Tens of thousands of RTCM-compatible receivers have been built and are in operation. These RTCM-compatible receivers, however, are not WAAS-compatible nor are they easily upgraded to WAAS-compatibility.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram of a portion of a differential GPS scheme of operation 200 is shown. Differential GPS scheme 200 shows a plurality of GPS satellites 101, a land based reference station 202, a land based transmitter 203, and a differential GPS receiver equipped user 204. The differential GPS (hereafter DGPS) reference station 202 is fixed at a geodetically surveyed ground position. From this position the reference station tracks the signals of all GPS satellites in view, represented by lines 205. The reference station 202 uses the geodetically surveyed position, and the location of each satellite 101 as determined from the ephemeris data in the satellite transmission, to determine the actual range to the satellite. The reference station then subtracts the measured pseudo range from the actual range to obtain the differential correction for that satellite. After conversion to the RTCM format, the correction is broadcast via transmitter 203 to all users within the local area, e.g., user 204. To insure compatibility, the transmitter 203 broadcasts differential corrections in accordance with an RTCM defined standard. In so doing, any RTCM compliant receiver within range of the transmitter 203 is able to receive and demodulate the differential corrections.
User 204 tracks the GPS satellites in view, represented by lines 206, and determines his "GPS based" position. As described above, this position has a 95% confidence level accuracy on the order of 100 meters. User 204 receives the pseudo range corrections broadcast by the transmitter 203 and applies the corrections to his GPS based pseudo range measurements to derive a DGPS position, wherein the DGPS position has an accuracy of better than 10 meters (typically 1 to 3 meters). In this manner, DGPS greatly improves the accuracy of position information available to user 204. To determine corrections via DGPS methods, user 204 needs to be equipped with a DGPS capable receiver.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a prior art RTCM compatible DGPS receiver system 300 is shown. RTCM compatible DGPS receiver system 300 includes a standard RTCM compatible DGPS receiver 301 adapted to communicate with a RTCM radio demodulator 302 via a standard communications port 303. RTCM compatible DGPS receiver 301 receives GPS satellite signals via antenna 304. The GPS signals are down converted, then de-spread and demodulated by the digital signal processor (DSP) and passed to a processor, which computes the corrected pseudo ranges and determines the GPS based PVT. Information is communicated to the user via a display coupled to the processor and the processor is configured via a coupled user input (e.g., a keyboard or communications port).
RTCM radio demodulator 302 receives RTCM differential correction signals via antenna 305. The RTCM radio demodulator 302 and the RTCM compatible DGPS satellite receiver 301 are both designed and built to comply with the RTCM DGPS standards. Thus, the RTCM differential correction signals are demodulated by the RTCM radio demodulator and passed to RTCM compatible DGPS receiver 301 via a communications port 303. RTCM compatible DGPS receiver 301 applies the DGPS corrections to the GPS pseudo range measurements it determines from the received GPS satellite signals in order to determine a DGPS position. The RTCM radio demodulator can be physically attached to the GPS receiver such that the two form a single physical unit or merely linked to the GPS receiver via communications port 303 and physically mounted at a location away from the RTCM compatible DGPS receiver 301. Additionally, the communications port 303 can be one of many well known interface standards in use in the electronics field (e.g., RS-232, ARINC 429, ARINC 629, Milstd 1553, and the like).
There is a problem however in the fact that in order to determine DGPS positions, the DGPS receiver needs to be within range of an operating DGPS transmitter (hereafter RTCM transmitter). Many RTCM transmitters are located near busy waterways and harbors within the United States. DGPS functions adequately as long as the user remains within range of an RTCM transmitter, often yielding accuracies of one meter or less. In the open ocean, however, and in some waterways and harbors, there is no RTCM transmitter within range (typically 100 kilometers) or of suitable strength to be received. In addition, the farther the DGPS receiver is from the RTCM transmitter, the less accurate the DGPS determined position. In these situations, DGPS position accuracy is reduced. Beyond 100 kilometers, the utility of the corrections deteriorates. This problem has severely limited the utility of RTCM compatible DGPS receivers for the aviation community.
The FAA has recognized GPS overall has great potential benefits for aircraft navigation, and has implemented a new DGPS system called WAAS. Integrating WAAS based DGPS systems with GPS receivers is the subject of this invention. There is an impediment to quick and easy interaction, due to the fact that RTCM compatible DGPS receivers are not capable of easily utilizing wide area augmentation system (WAAS) signals. The FAA plans for WAAS to provide position determination accuracy of 5 meters or less 95% of the time. WAAS, as currently envisioned, will include a network of 22 to 50 ground reference stations with each station determining correction information. The correction information is subsequently processed and uplinked to geostationary satellites for retransmission to users.
The transmitted WAAS signals by themselves are not sufficient to determine a differentially corrected GPS position. An approximate present position is required to properly interpret the transmitted WAAS signals. This approximate present position is typically derived from a conventional, uncorrected GPS present position. Using the approximate present position, a WAAS compatible DGPS receiver uses the WAAS differential correction information to determine an accurate differentially corrected position.
As its name implies, WAAS will be capable of providing DGPS accuracy over very large areas, e.g., the continental United States. Additionally, WAAS provides GPS satellite integrity status by monitoring GPS satellite transmissions in real time and broadcasting integrity or "health" information to WAAS equipped GPS receivers. WAAS signals, however, are not compatible with typical RTCM compatible DGPS receivers. WAAS signals are not RTCM format compliant. As such, RTCM compatible DGPS receivers, e.g., DGPS receiver 300, cannot utilize WAAS capabilities.
Thus, what is required is a method and system of enabling RTCM compatible DGPS receivers to receive differential correction information from the new WAAS signals. Such a system should increase the accuracy of GPS determined positions over wide areas, without regard to distance of a DGPS receiver from a RTCM transmitter. What is further required is a system which allows RTCM compatible DGPS receivers to utilize the GPS satellite integrity monitoring capability of the WAAS network.

Wide augmentation system retrofit receiver


Correspondence relationships between two laser scanning point clouds are easily determined with high accuracy. A data processor includes a laser scanning point cloud acquiring unit and a laser scanning point cloud correspondence relationship determining unit. The laser scanning point cloud acquiring unit acquires a first laser scanning point cloud that is obtained in a first time period and a second laser scanning point cloud that is obtained in a second time period. The laser scanning point cloud correspondence relationship determining unit determines correspondence relationships between the first laser scanning point cloud and the second laser scanning point cloud on the basis of a laser scanning point cloud relating to a fixed object. The fixed object is contained in both the first laser scanning point cloud and the second laser scanning point cloud and does not change between the first time period and the second time period.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-45150 discloses a technique for performing laser scanning by using a laser scanner mounted on a vehicle.
Techniques utilizing a laser scanning point cloud in various types of assessments, maintenance, etc., are publicly known. The laser scanning point cloud or laser scanning data can be of road facilities, etc., which is obtained by performing laser scanning using a laser scanner while a vehicle is traveling with the laser scanner mounted thereon.
These techniques involve performing laser scanning on the same target at a predetermined time interval and comparing the obtained laser scanning point clouds. In these techniques, it is necessary to determine correspondence relationships between a first laser scanning point cloud and a second laser scanning point cloud. This process is also called "registration" in terms of alignment.
Types of software-based techniques for determining correspondence relationships between laser scanning point clouds have been developed. However, determination of correspondence relationships among a large number of point clouds requires massive processing and can cause problems such as hanging of processing before completion or occurrence of erroneous processing, and therefore, this processing is not practical in use. For this reason, currently, processing relating to the determination of correspondence relationships is conducted by using both software processing and manual processing of an operator, consuming large amounts of time and labor.

Data processor, data processing method, and data processing program for determining correspondence relationships between laser scanning point clouds


A system and method in accordance with the present technique for protecting motor drives from damage due to misconfiguration while coupled to a common DC bus, comprises sensing electrical operating parameters of the motor drives, automatically determining whether each of the drives is actually installed as a common bus leader or a common bus follower, and comparing the actual installation of the motor drives to a respective stored configuration of each of the motor drives as either a common bus leader or a common bus follower.

The invention relates generally to motor drives. Particularly, this invention relates to a protection system implemented in a common bus connection between motor drives.
In many modern automation settings, motors are generally coupled to motor drives configured to control the rotational speeds of the motors. In so doing, motor drives typically comprise components, such as converters, inverters and associated circuitry for controlling motors. Among electrical connections comprising the circuitry in motor drives is the electrical connection between the converter and the inverter of the motor drive, typically referred to as a "DC bus."
In certain instances it may be desirable to connect two or more motor drives via their respective DC buses. Such arrangements may be advantageous for many reasons, such as to minimize wiring and termination costs upon installation and servicing. Similarly, during operation, some motors may require input power while others may be available to regenerate power, the latter being applied to the common bus to aid in driving the then power-consuming motors. In such a configuration, the motor drives are said to share a common DC bus or to be in a common DC bus mode. A common DC bus mode may be established by connecting the DC bus of two or more motor drives, which could have identical hardware. In establishing a common DC bus connection between motor drives, it may be necessary to define functional modes of operation depending on how the motor drives are positioned in a circuit topology. That is, the configuration of each of the motor drives placed in a common DC connection may depend upon or may dictate how each motor drive in the circuit topology provides to or receives power from the common DC bus.
Given a certain circuit topology, user configurations of the motor drives not in accordance with the circuit topology may damage the motor drives, leading to their malfunction. There is a need, therefore, for a technique that can avoid mis-configuration of motor drives when connected to a common DC bus.

DC common bus self-protection method and system


The invention relates to compounds of the formulae:

The invention relates to new unsaturated cyclic organic compounds which can be used as monomers or co-monomers in free radical polymerisation and polymers or co-polymers derived from these compounds. These compounds have the ability to ring open during polymerisation and provide examples of allylic monomers that will readily polymerise to high molecular weight polymers.
Monomers capable of ring opening (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cring-opening monomersxe2x80x9d) are important in minimising volume shrinkage during polymerisation. Additionally, ring-opening monomers are useful in providing an alternative method of incorporating functionalities such as amide, ester or carbonate into the backbone of a polymer. Generally, such functionalities are introduced by step growth (i.e. poly esterification) polymerisation rather than chain growth (i.e. free radical and ionic) polymerisation. The limitations of step growth polymerisation are that (a) very high conversion is required for high molecular weight polymers and (b) elimination products, such as, water or HCl are formed and require removal. In contrast, chain growth polymerisation results in very high molecular weight polymers from the beginning of the polymerisation.
There are many types of ring-opening monomers available for ionic polymerisation. However, there are only a limited number of ring-opening monomers available for free radical polymerisation. A review by Endo et al. in Chapter Five of New Methods for Polymer Synthesis, Plenum Press, New York, 1992 summarises the present state of the art. The major types of free radical polymerisation ring-opening monomers are vinyl cyclopropanes, cyclic vinyl ethers, cyclic ketene acetals (U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,620) spiro ortho esters and spiro ortho carbonates.
Many of these known ring-opening monomers suffer from limitations. Ring opening of the vinyl cyclopropanes is a reversible process and substituents that favour ring opening may also inhibit polymer growth by excessive stabilisation of the ring-opened propagating radical. The oxygenated ring-opening monomers can also exhibit sensitivity to trace amounts of acid. This results in difficulties with their synthesis and subsequent storage. Furthermore, ring opening is not guaranteed and the final polymers can contain various proportions of opened and unopened rings. In addition, the spiro ortho esters and spiro ortho carbonates have the following problems as described in Expanding Monomers, Eds. Sadhir, R. K. and Luck, R. M., CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1992:
(i) They are sensitive to impurities. Impurities can prevent ring opening from occurring and make the polymerisation somewhat irreproducible.
ii) They have a low reactivity towards free radical polymerisation. This is partly due to side reactions, such as degradative chain transfer, in the polymerisation of allylic monomers.
iii) They have a low reactivity ratio with common commercial vinyl monomers, such as, styrene, methyl methacrylate and other monomers having a similar reactivity.
iv) They are crystalline compounds with low solubilities in organic solvents and monomers.
International Patent Application No. PCT/AU93/00667 discloses new cyclic acrylate monomers which undergo facile ring opening. These compounds are readily co-polymerised with monomers that co-polymerise with acrylates or styrenic monomers.
Some compounds within the scope of the present invention have been previously reported in the following references:
(1) Butler, J.; Kellogg, R. M.; van Bolhuis, F., xe2x80x9cFunctionalized Thia-crown Ethers. Synthesis, Structure and Properties.xe2x80x9d, J Chem Soc., Chem Comm., 1990, 282;
(2) Tostikov, G. A.; Kanzafarov.F, Ya.; Kanzafarova, S. G.; Singizova, V. Kh., xe2x80x9cNucleophilic Thialation of Allyl Halides in the Presence of Phase-Transfer Catalystsxe2x80x9d., Z. Org. Khim, 1986, 22(7), 1400;
(3) Martinetz, D., Hiller, A., xe2x80x9cPhase Transfer-Catalytic Conversion of Unsaturated Organic Halogen Compounds with Sodium Sulfide Nonahydrate.xe2x80x9d, Z. Chem., 1978, 18(2), 61;
(4) Dietrich, E-M.; Schulze, K.; Muhlstadt, M., xe2x80x9c1,5-Dithiacyclanesxe2x80x9d, East German Patent No. 100 001., Sep. 5, 1973; and
(5) Richter, H.; Schulze, K; Muehlstaedt, M., xe2x80x9cReactions of 1,3-Dichloro-2-methylenepropanexe2x80x9d, Z. Chem., 1968, 8(6), 220.
References (1) to (5) are sparse in detail other than stating that the compound was made, together with a brief description of its synthesis. The use of these monocyclic monomers in free radical polymerisation is not disclosed in these references.
We have now found new unsaturated cyclic organic compounds which are capable of undergoing free radical polymerisation. These compounds include monocyclic compounds and bicyclic compounds in which two monocyclic units are tethered together.
Allylic monomers, such as allyl acetate, generally polymerise slowly, with a low degree of conversion and low molecular weight oligomers being formed. This is largely due to the occurrence of extensive degradative chain transfer during the polymerisation.
Some of the monocyclic compounds have been previously made and reported as discussed above, but their use in free radical polymerisation has not previously been disclosed. The cyclic compounds of the present invention avoid the degradative chain transfer problems of allylic monomers by converting the initially highly reactive, non-selective carbon-centered radical into a less reactive, more selective sulfur-centered radical by rapid ring-opening.
The bicyclic compounds are new and the use of such compounds is in the replacement of conventional bi-functional monomers, such as, CR 39 and dimethacrylates. Thus, crosslinked polymers may be produced with significantly less shrinkage.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided compounds of the formulae:
wherein:
R1 to R4 may be the same or different and are selected from hydrogen, halogen, optionally substituted alkyl, optionally substituted aryl, nitrile, hydroxy, alkoxy, acyloxy and ester; or R1 and R2 or
R3 and R4 together form methylene;
X is selected from sulfur, sulfoxide, sulfone and disulfide;
Y is selected from sulfur, SO2, oxygen, Nxe2x80x94H, N-alkyl, N-aryl, acyl and CR5R6 wherein
R5 and R6 are the same as R1 to R4; and
Z1 and Z2 are linking functionalities.
The compounds of Formula 1a wherein R1 to R4 are hydrogen, X and Y are sulfur and Z1 is xe2x80x94(CH2)2xe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94C(xe2x95x90CH2)xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94 are known per se and therefore excluded from the compounds of the present invention.
Preferably X is S or SO2 and Y is C(R5R6), S, O or SO2.
Suitable linking functionalities for Z1 include xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CO)xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CRR)mxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CO)xe2x80x94(CRR)mxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CRR)mxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94C(xe2x95x90CH2)xe2x80x94(CRR)mxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94COxe2x80x94(CRR)mxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94(CRR)mxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94SO2xe2x80x94(CRR)mxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(CRR)nxe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94(CRR)mxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(Oxe2x80x94CRRCRR)nxe2x80x94 and optionally substituted phenyl (wherein R may vary within the linking functionality and is preferably selected from hydrogen, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, hydroxy, carboxy, optionally substituted phenyl, halogen and Z2; and m and n are integers including zero).
Suitable linking functionalities for Z2 in the compounds of the Formula 1b include xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CO)xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CRR)qxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CO)xe2x80x94(CRR)qxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CRR)qxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94C(xe2x95x90CH2)xe2x80x94(CRR)qxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94COxe2x80x94(CRR)qxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94(CRR)qxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94SO2xe2x80x94(CRR)qxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(CRR)pxe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94(CRR)qxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Gxe2x80x94(Oxe2x80x94CRRCRR)pxe2x80x94Jxe2x80x94 and optionally substituted phenyl (wherein R may vary within the linking functionality and is preferably selected from hydrogen, alkyl, haloalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, hydroxy, carboxy, optionally substituted phenyl and halogen; G and J are functional groups which join Z2 to Z1 and may be selected from a bond, xe2x80x94(CRR)rxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, NHxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90O)Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90O)Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90O)NHxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94; and p, q and r are integers including zero). Thus, Z2 can be derived from di-functional compounds capable of reacting with a functional group, such as, hydroxy, aldehyde, ketone and carboxy from the cyclic portion of the compounds of the Formula 1a. Suitable difunctional compounds from which Z2 could be derived, include diols, for example, pentane diol; dithiols; diamines; diacids, for example, succinic and phthalic acids; dichlorosilanes, for example, dichlorodimethylsilane; diisocyanates, for example, hexamethylene diisocyanate and toluene diisocyanate; and xcex1-xcfx89 hydroxy acids.
In the above definitions, the term xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d, used either alone or in compound words such as xe2x80x9chaloalkylxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chydroxyalkylxe2x80x9d denotes straight chain, branched or cyclic alkyl, preferably C1-20 alkyl or cycloalkyl. Examples of straight chain and branched alkyl include methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, amyl, isoamyl, sec-amyl, 1,2-dimethylpropyl, 1,1dimethyl-propyl, hexyl, 4-methylpentyl, 1-methylpentyl, 2-methylpentyl, 3-methylpentyl, 1,1 -dimethylbutyl, 2,2-dimethylbutyl, 3,3-dimethylbutyl, 1,2dimethylbutyl, 1,3-dimethylbutyl, 1,2,2,-trimethylpropyl, 1,1,2-trimethylpropyl, heptyl, 5-methoxyhexyl, 1-methylhexyl, 2,2-dimethylpentyl, 3,3-dimethylpentyl, 4,4-dimethylpentyl, 1,2-dimethylpentyl, 1,3-dimethylpentyl, 1,4-dimethyl-pentyl, 1,2,3,-trimethylbutyl, 1,1,2-trimethylbutyl, 1,1,3-triethylbutyl, octyl, 6-methylheptyl, 1-methylheptyl, 1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl, nonyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- or 7-methyl-octyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-ethylheptyl, 1-, 2- or 3-propylhexyl, decyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7- and 8-methylnonyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-ethyloctyl, 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-propylheptyl, undecyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8- or 9-methyldecyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- or 7-ethylnonyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-propylocytyl, 1-, 2- or 3-butylheptyl, 1-pentylhexyl, dodecyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 9- or 10-methylundecyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7- or 8-ethyldecyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-propylnonyl, 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-butyloctyl, 1-2-pentylheptyl and the like. Examples of cyclic alkyl include mono- or polycyclic alkyl groups such as cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl, cyclooctyl, cyclononyl, cyclodecyl and the like.
The term xe2x80x9calkoxyxe2x80x9d denotes straight chain or branched alkoxy, preferably C1-20 alkoxy. Examples of alkoxy include methoxy, ethoxy, n-propoxy, isopropoxy and the different butoxy isomers.
The term xe2x80x9chalogenxe2x80x9d denotes fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine, preferably chlorine or fluorine.
The term xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d denotes single, polynuclear, conjugated and fused residues of aromatic hydrocarbons or aromatic heterocyclic ring systems. Examples of aryl include phenyl, biphenyl, terphenyl, quaterphenyl, naphthyl, tetrahydronaphthyl, anthracenyl, dihydroanthracenyl, benzanthracenyl, dibenzanthracenyl, phenanthrenyl, fluorenyl, pyrenyl, indenyl, azulenyl, chrysenyl, pyridyl, 4-phenylpyridyl, 3-phenylpyridyl, thienyl, furyl, pyrrolyl, indolyl, pyridazinyl, pyrazolyl, pyrazinyl, thiazolyl, pyrimidinyl, quinoloinyl, isoquinolinyl, benzofurnayl, benzothienyl, purinyl, quinazolinyl, phenazinyl, acridinyl, benoxazolyl, benzothiazolyl and the like.
The term xe2x80x9cacylxe2x80x9d either alone or in compound words such as xe2x80x9cacyloxyxe2x80x9d denotes carbamoyl, aliphatic acyl group and acyl group containing an aromatic ring, which is referred to as aromatic acyl or a heterocyclic ring which is referred to as heterocyclic acyl, preferably C1-20 acyl. Examples of acyl include carbamoyl; straight chain or branched alkanoyl such as formyl, acetyl, propanoyl, butanoyl, 2-methylpropanoyl, pentanoyl, 2,2-dimethylpropanoyl, hexanoyl, heptanoyl, octanoyl, nonanoyl, decanoyl, undecanoyl, dodecanoyl, tridecanoyl, tetradecanoyl, pentadecanoyl, hexadecanoyl, heptadecanoyl, octadecanoyl, nonadecanoyl and icosanoyl; alkoxycarbonyl such as methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, t-butoxycarbonyl, t-pentyloxycarbonyl and heptyloxycarbonyl; cycloalkylcarbonyl such as cyclopropylcarbonyl cyclobutylcarbonyl, cyclopentylcarbonyl and cyclohexylcarbonyl; alkylsulfonyl such as methylsulfonyl and ethylsulfonyl; alkoxysulfonyl such as methoxysulfonyl and ethoxysulfonyl; aroyl such as benzoyl, toluoyl and naphthoyl; aralkanoyl such as phenylalkanoyl (e.g. phenylacetyl, phenylpropanoyl, phenylbutanoyl, phenylisobutylyl, phenylpentanoyl and phenylhexanoyl) and naphthylalkanoyl (e.g. naphthylacetyl, naphthylpropanoyl and naphthylbutanoyl]; aralkenoyl such as phenylalkenoyl (e.g. phenylpropenoyl, phenylbutenoyl, phenylmethacryloyl, phenylpentenoyl and phenylhexenoyl and naphthylalkenoyl (e.g. naphthylpropenoyl, naphthylbutenoyl and naphthylpentenoyl); aralkoxycarbonyl such as phenylalkoxycarbonyl (e.g. benzyloxycarbonyl); aryloxycarbonyl such as phenoxycarbonyl and napthyloxycarbonyl; aryloxyalkanoyl such as phenoxyacetyl and phenoxypropionyl; arylcarbamoyl such as phenylcarbamoyl; arylthiocarbamoyl such as phenylthiocarbamoyl; arylglyoxyloyl such as phenylglyoxyloyl and naphthylglyoxyloyl; arylsulfonyl such as phenylsulfonyl and napthylsulfonyl; heterocycliccarbonyl; heterocyclicalkanoyl such as thienylacetyl, thienylpropanoyl, thienylbutanoyl, thienylpentanoyl, thienylhexanoyl, thiazolylacetyl, thiadiazolylacetyl and tetrazolylacetyl; heterocyclicalkenoyl such as heterocyclicpropenoyl, heterocyclicbutenoyl, heterocyclicpentenoyl and heterocyclichexenoyl; and heterocyclicglyoxyloyl such as thiazolylglyoxyloyl and thienylglyoxyloyl.
In this specification xe2x80x9coptionally substitutedxe2x80x9d means that a group may or may not be further substituted with one or more groups selected from alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, halo, haloalkyl, haloalkenyl, haloalkynyl, haloaryl, hydroxy, alkoxy, alkenyloxy, aryloxy, benzyloxy, haloalkoxy, haloalkenyloxy, haloaryloxy, nitro, nitroalkyl, nitroalkenyl, nitroalkynyl, nitroaryl, nitroheterocyclyl, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, alkenylamino, alkynylamino, arylamino, diarylamino, benzylamino, dibenzylamino, acyl, alkenylacyl, alkynylacyl, arylacyl, acylamino, diacylamino, acyloxy, alkylsulphonyloxy, arylsulphenyloxy, heterocyclyl, heterocycloxy, heterocyclamino, haloheterocyclyi, alkylsulphenyl, arylsulphenyl, carboalkoxy, carboaryloxy mercapto, alkylthio, benzylthio, acylthio and phosphorus-containing groups.
Representative examples of the compounds of the invention wherein n is as defined above are as follows:
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a polymer or co-polymer which is derived from at least one monomer of the Formula 1a and/or 1b.
The present invention also provides a co-polymer derived from at least one monomer of the Formula 1a and/or 1b and at least one monomer selected from unsaturated compounds susceptible to free radical polymerisation.
Suitable unsaturated compounds include acrylic esters or amides, vinyl esters, vinyl aromatics, olefins or dienes.
The present invention further provides the use of compounds of the Formula 1a and/or 1b as monomers or co-monomers in free radical polymerisation.
The compounds of the Formula 1a and/or 1b may be used as monomers or co-monomers in free-radical, homo- or co-polymerisations. The polymerisations may be carried out in bulk or in solution. The compounds may be co-polymerised with each other or with other monomers having a suitable reactivity, such as, for example, those monomers listed in The Polymer Handbook, Ed Brandup. The polymerisation may be initiated by any suitable known method such as, redox; photochemical, for example, camphor quinone/aromatic amine or xe2x80x9cDarocur 1173xe2x80x9d by Ciba-Giegy; or thermal (i.e. AIBN) methods.
The compounds of the invention possess the ability of being able to ring open efficiently during free radical polymerisation. They undergo essentially 100% ring opening. Unlike other allylic compounds, these compounds readily polymerise to high molecular weight polymers.
In a polymerisation process, the monomers of the Formulae 1a will ring open by undergoing xcex2-bond cleavage in the manner shown in Scheme 1 below using a monomer of the Formula 1a-1 as defined above. Similarly, the di-functional, bicyclic monomers of the Formula 1b will undergo dual ring opening to give a cross-linked network.
Generally, polymers and co-polymers resulting from a process involving the compounds of the invention will contain the compounds of the Formula 2a and/or 2b, respectively as repeating units as shown in Scheme 2 below.
The polymerisation process of the invention allows the manufacture of polymers with a wide range of functionalities in and attached to the polymer backbone. Such polymers are generally made by step growth polymerisation which requires that the polymerisation be taken to a very high conversion in order to obtain high molecular weights. By using the compounds of the invention alone in free radical polymerisation or as co-monomers in co-polymerisations, polymers may be prepared having controlled amounts of the repeating unit of Formula 2.
By choosing appropriate substituents and co-monomers, the monomers of the Formula 1a and/or 1b can produce polymers with a degree of crystallinity ranging from high to essentially no crystallinity. For example, a homopolymer derived from a monomer of the Formula 1a-1 forms a white crystalline polymer with a melting point of 129xc2x0 C. and a very small glass transition at xe2x88x9235xc2x0 C., but a co-polymer derived from monomers of the Formula 1a-1 and/or 1a-2 (1:1) is a white rubber like solid with a much smaller observed melting point occurring at 53.3xc2x0 C. and a marked glass transition at xe2x88x9247.5xc2x0 C. Furthermore, a co-polymer of methyl methacrylate and a monomer of the Formula 1a-1 (16:1) shows essentially no crystallinity. Thus, the mechanical properties of polymers made using monomers of the Formula 1a and/or 1b can be varied as required.
The compounds of the invention enable the production of polymers having structures not otherwise obtainable. The presence of a methylene group in a polymer formed by free radical polymerisation allows a wide scope for further processing of the polymer. By way of example, the methylene group can be used as a point of further chemical manipulation. The manipulation could be in the form of standard addition chemistry to the carbon-carbon double bond or the active methylene unit could be used as a point of grafting or crosslinking. This crosslinking could occur during polymerisation or on the final co-polymer as a separate step.
Under the appropriate conditions, homopolymers of the compounds may undergo depolymerisation. For example, the homopolymer of the Formula 1a-1 depolymerises to monomers if heated to ca. 130xc2x0 C. in dimethyl sulfoxide. This facility for depolymerisation would allow, for example, the synthesis of block co-polymers if the homopolymers were heated for example in DMSO in the presence of another monomer such as methyl methacrylate.
Thus, according to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a process for the preparation of a block co-polymer which comprises heating a homopolymer derived from a compound of the Formula 1a and/or 1b as defined above in the presence of at least one other monomer.
The compounds of the invention may also be used to minimise shrinkage during polymerisation because of their ability to ring open. For example, the compounds of the invention show significant reductions in volume shrinkage when compared with conventional monomers of an equivalent molecular weight. The monomer of the Formula 1a-2 produces a polymer that shrinks only 6.3%. A conventional monomer of the same molecular weight would shrink in the order of 11.5%. Such a suppression of volume shrinkage has applications in polymeric coatings, adhesives, dental restorative materials, matrix resins for composites, and fabrication of optical lenses (both contact and conventional).
The bicyclic compounds of the Formula 1b, provide a method of manufacturing crosslinked polymers. They show very little shrinkage on polymerisation due to their high molecular weight and the fact that they are dual ring opening. Thus, they may act as replacements in applications which use conventional di-functional monomers such as CR 39, mono-, di- or tri-ethylene glycol dimethacrylates and BIS-GMA. For example, a common resin system used in dental composites is a mixture of triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate and BIS-GMA. Such a mixture may be replaced with a resin system involving one or more compounds of the Formula 1b, for example, Ib-1, Ib-2, Ib-3 or Ib-4. Similarly, replacement of CR 39 in optical lenses manufactured by a monomer of the Formula 1b may not only result in less polymerisation shrinkage, but the resulting material may have a significantly higher refractive index due to heavy atoms, such as, sulfur in the polymer. Thus, the lenses can be more easily cast and be thinner for a given optical power. An additional advantage of resin systems composed of compounds of the Formula 1a and/or 1b is that they should readily co-polymerise with approximately equal reactivity with other compounds of the Formulae 1a and 1b for a given set of substituents R1 to R4.
In another embodiment the present invention there is provided the use of a compound of the Formula 1a and/or 1b defined above in the manufacture of adhesives, dental composites or optical lenses.
The present invention also provides an adhesive, dental composite or optical lens which is composed wholly or partly of a polymer of co-polymer as defined above.
The present invention further provides a method for the manufacture of an adhesive, dental composite or optical lens which comprises free radical polymerisation of a compound of the Formula 1a and/or 1b as defined above.
The compounds of the invention are stable chemicals and can be kept at room temperature without an inhibitor although preferably they should be refrigerated. They also are stable to mildly acidic or basic conditions and can be prepared from commercially available starting materials. It will be appreciated that a number of possible synthetic routes to the compounds of the invention can be devised in addition to those described herein or in the literature.
Thus, according to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a process for the preparation of a compound of Formula 1a and/or 1b as defined above which comprises reacting 2-chloromethyl-2-propene with a suitable xcex1-xcfx89-dimercapto compound, such as, for example, 1,2-ethanedithiol.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a process for the preparation of a compound of Formula 1a and/or 1b as defined above which comprises reacting 2-mercaptomethyl-3-mercapto-1-propene with a suitable xcex1-xcfx89-dihalo compound, such as, for example, 1,2-dibromoethane.
Compounds of Formula 1a may also be made from other compounds of Formula 1a, for example, Compound 1a-15 may be made by reacting Compound 1a-4 with methacryloyl chloride.
The present invention also provides a process for the preparation of a compound of Formula 1b as defined above which comprises reacting a compound of Formula 1a as defined above with a suitable difunctional compound, such as, a dichlorodialkylsilane, diisocyanate, dicarboxylic acid or diacid chloride, for example, oxalylchloride.

Abstract: processes for their preparation, polymers, co-polymers or block co-polymers containing them or their use as monomers or co-monomers in free radical polymerization and in the manufacture of adhesives, dental composites or optical lenses.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization


An exhaust purifying device for reducing toxic components contained in an exhaust emanating from an internal combustion engine. The device has a casing connected at both ends thereof to an exhaust system extending from the engine, and a core received in the casing and provided with a honeycomb structure constituted by a corrugated sheet and a flat sheet which are rolled up together in a spiral configuration. A pair of retaining members are received in axially opposite ends of the casing for preventing the core from moving in the axial direction and circumferential direction relative to the casing. Each of the retaining members radially traverses the associated end of the casing and includes a biting portion slightly biting into the associated end of the core.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device incorporated in the exhaust system of an automotive or similar internal combustion engine for purifying exhaust gases emanating from the engine and, more particularly, to an exhaust purifying device of the type using a metallic core having a honeycomb structure and coated with a catalyst.
2. Description of the Related Art
An exhaust purifying device or so-called catalytic converter has customarily been incorporated in the exhaust system of an automotive or similar internal combustion engine, e.g., an exhaust pipe or a muffler. Provided with a catalyst, the catalytic converter promotes the oxidation of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and other toxic components contained in exhaust gases emanating from the engine. One of conventional catalytic converters has a cylindrical casing attached to predetermined part of, for example, a muffler, and a metallic honeycomb core received in the casing and coated with a catalyst. The honeycomb core is made up of a corrugated sheet of metal and a flat sheet of metal which are rolled up together in a spiral configuration. Such a core is inserted into the casing and then soldered together with the casing. As a result, the corrugated sheet and flat sheet are bonded together to prevent the honeycomb structure from being deformed while, at the same time, the outer periphery of the core is bonded to the inner periphery of the casing to prevent the core from moving in the casing. However, the problem with this kind of catalytic converter is that the soldering operation is complicated and time-consuming. This, coupled with the fact that the solder itself is expensive, increases the cost of the catalytic converter.
To eliminate the above problem particular to soldering, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 94015/1988, for example, discloses an exhaust purifying device in which a core is received in a cylindrical casing, but the former is not soldered to the latter. Specifically, retaining members are each affixed to one end of the casing in such a manner as to extend through the center of the opening of the casing. The retaining members prevent the core from slipping out of the casing and prevent the radially central portion of the core from protruding from the casing in an auger-like configuration. On the other hand, U.K. Patent 1452982 teaches an exhaust purifying device having similar support members affixed to opposite ends of a casing.
However, the conventional retaining members or support members affixed to the cylindrical casing as stated above simply restrict the core in the axial direction of the casing, i.e., they cannot cope with the movement of the core in the circumferential direction. As a result, when an automotive vehicle with such an exhaust purifying device is in travel, the core is apt to move in the circumferential direction within the casing due to the stream and heat of engine exhaust, vibration of the vehicle body and so forth. Specifically, it is likely that the core rotates within the casing while the corrugated sheet and flat sheet shift and rub against each other within the core. This would cause the catalyst to come off the core while cracking or breaking the core itself, degrading the expected function of the device.


A method for forming a semiconductor interconnect structure includes forming a dielectric layer on a substrate and patterning the dielectric layer to form an opening therein. A metal layer fills the opening and covers the dielectric layer. The metal layer is planarized so that it is co-planar with a top of the dielectric layer. A treating process is performed on the metal layer to convert a top surface thereof into a metal oxide layer. A copper-containing layer is then formed over the metal oxide layer and the dielectric layer. The copper-containing layer is etched to form interconnect features, wherein the etching stops at the metal oxide layer and does not etch into the underlying metal layer. A radiation exposure process is thereafter performed on the metal oxide layer to convert it into a non-oxidized metal layer.

Since the mid-1990's so-called damascene processes have been the dominant technology for forming conductive interconnects in integrated circuits. Those skilled in the art recognize that damascene processing involves forming openings (via and trenches) in a dielectric layer and then filling the openings with a conductive, typically copper. The copper is typically deposited by initially depositing a thin seed layer within the openings and then filling the openings by electroplating copper.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an interconnect formed on a semiconductor device from the prior art. In the figure, a patterned dielectric layer 54 is formed on a substrate 50. Formed between an opening of the patterned dielectric layer 54 and thereabove is a conductive layer 58. Formed between the dielectric layer 54 and the conductive layer 58 is a hard mask 56. A mask layer, such as a tri-layer photoresist layer 60 is formed above the conductive layer 58. In a later process, using the tri-layer photoresist layer 60 as a mask, the conductive layer 58 will be etched to form conductive lines 58 above the dielectric layer 54, as shown in FIG. 2.
The conventional copper metal line formation method can have a number of problems. One problem may be misalignment. In the process of device feature or pattern exposure, the alignment between successive layers that are being created is of critical importance. Smaller device dimensions place even more stringent requirements on the accuracy of the alignment of the successive layers that are superimposed on each other. In FIG. 2, following the etching of the conductive layer 58 in which the photoresist layer 60 is used as a mask to form conductive lines 58, via recesses VR may be formed at the juncture of a conductive line 58 and the hard mask 56 and/or the dielectric layer 54. Via recesses can be caused when the photoresist layer is misaligned (e.g., shifted to one side). Such misalignment can result from a mask misalignment failure, for example, during the photolithography process. Due to this misalignment, the via recess formed can be a serious problem in the conventional copper etch approach by causing unstable yield and decreased reliability.

Method of fabricating a semiconductor interconnect structure

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


One embodiment relates to an electron beam apparatus for automated imaging of a substrate surface. An electron source is configured to emit electrons, and a gun lens is configured to focus the electrons emitted by the electron source so as to form an electron beam. A condenser lens system is configured to receive the electron beam and to reduce its numerical aperture to an ultra-low numerical aperture. An objective lens is configured to focus the ultra-low numerical aperture beam onto the substrate surface. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to electron beam (e-beam) apparatus and methods of operating same. More particularly, the present disclosure pertains to e-beam apparatus for automated measurement systems and automated inspection/review systems.
2. Description of the Background Art
Substrates, such as low-k dielectric and similar wafers, frequently have embedded charges. These embedded charges may cause beam aberration issues in electron beam imaging of such substrates. Such beam aberration issues may include, for example, astigmatism and/or defocusing.
Correcting for such beam aberrations is often a time consuming procedure for automated measurement systems and automated inspection/review systems. Conventional techniques to correct for beam aberrations typically involve adjustments to the strengths of octupole and/or quadrupole electron lenses in the e-beam column hardware. Such conventional beam aberration correction is a relatively slow process and requires additional beam dosage to the substrate which may result in damage to the specimen.
Furthermore, the conventional techniques for beam aberration correction may be limited by the adjustability of the octupole/quadrupole lenses and by other limitations of the e-beam column. Hence, only small amounts of beam aberration are usually correctable with the conventional techniques. In the event of extreme aberrations, the ranges of the adjustable column components typically reach a maximum ("max out"), leading to a failure to correct the high level of aberration.
The present disclosure describes a novel and inventive technique to reduce or eliminate the need for conventional beam aberration correction in certain applications.

Method and apparatus for aberration-insensitive electron beam imaging


The present invention relates to a composite article and to a process for manufacturing the composite article. The composite article comprises multiple layers including high tenacity fibers incorporated into a fabric and a core thermoplastic resin. The fabric may be coated with a surface treatment agent, a polymer matrix resin. Single or multiple layers of the composite articles may be formed into a composite part having high strength, rigidity, fast molding cycle time and extremely good conformability in a 3-dimensional mold. The composite parts formed by this process have high part strength in all directions.

The transportation industry, including automobile and aircraft manufacturing, continues to expand the use of fiber reinforced polymer matrix composite parts to reduce weight, emissions and improve energy consumption and noise reduction. Common automobile composite parts are made by heat compression molding a preform sheet material made from glass fiber and thermoplastic resin. The aerospace industry requires materials with high strength modulus performance and typically uses unidirectional continuous fiber reinforced thermoset composite parts or carbon reinforcement impregnated with thermoset or high melt temperature advanced thermoplastic resins.
One common method of composite manufacture uses a pre-impregnated (prepreg) material made by applying a matrix resin onto a reinforcement fiber. The matrix resin may be a thermoplastic or thermoset resin applied onto a high tenacity reinforcement fiber. The fiber may be in a non-woven fabric of short or long fiber length or a woven or unidirectional fiber configuration of continuous fiber length. One method of prepreg manufacture is to apply a thermoplastic resin onto the reinforcement fiber or fabric by dip coating the fabric into a aqueous slurry made from micro-sized thermoplastic resin powder dispersed in water. The wet powder adheres to the fabric as the water is removed by drying. A consolidated prepreg can be made at this point by heating the prepreg under pressure and above the melt temperature of the resin. An alternative process is to heat the prepreg to partially melt the resin onto the fiber reinforcement to partially impregnate the prepreg. Complete impregnation of the prepreg is done during the composite part manufacturing and consolidation step.
Composite parts can be made by layup of the prepreg, where multiple layers are laid up by hand or mechanical means in a stacked configuration where subsequent layers are stacked having a defined fiber orientation. The laid up stack can than be processed by applying pressure and heat. Thermoset prepreg is normally processed in an autoclave under controlled pressure and heat to initiate a thermal chemical reaction to cure and consolidate the prepreg into a final composite part. Thermoplastic prepreg can be processed by layup in a mold and compression molded with pressure and heat to melt the thermoplastic resin throughout the fibrous stack. When the thermoplastic prepreg reaches the softening and melt temperature of the resin, the resin will flow into the fibers in a consolidation process and the prepreg will conform to fit the mold, producing the final composite part.
Several shortcomings in performance are inherent in manufacture of the prepreg by the aqueous slurry process. The polymer resin must be milled to a 25 to 50 micron particle diameter powder size, usually by cryogenic grinding, an expensive intermediate processing step. The polymer powder at 50 microns is much larger than the reinforcement fiber bundle diameter and therefore does not effectively penetrate into and uniformly wet the fibers during prepreg consolidation, producing a final composite with inadequate mechanical performance. The reinforcement fiber surface requires a surface treatment agent so that the polymer matrix resin will wet and tightly adhere to the fiber surface in order to produce a high quality prepreg. Typically, treating the fiber surface to wet the surface and improve adhesion of the polymer matrix resin to the fiber surface is called "sizing" the fiber.
The transportation manufacturing industry is looking for new composite materials and composite molding processes that deliver light weight, high strength-stiffness parts that address the issues of manufacturing cycle time, forming and joining, crashworthiness, safety, production cost and end of life recycle or reuse capability. The present invention is directed to a lower cost and faster manufacturing process for producing prepreg that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.

Composite article and method of manufacture


In one aspect, the present invention features a system including a local computing device in communication with a distributed computing system, the local computing device configured to perform computations for a first portion of a computer software application and to send a second portion of the application for computation on the distributed computing system. According to such an aspect, the distributed computing system may include a node computing device configured to perform computations for the second portion of the application, a persistent data storage queue in communication with the node computing device, the persistent data storage configured to store the second portion of the application, wherein a minimum availability of the distributed computing system is defined by an availability of the persistent data storage, and a compute function deployed on the distributed computing system, the second portion of the application including a job with an input, wherein the input has a task to be performed by the compute function, and wherein the input need not be supplied to the job at a time of job creation.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure and operation of computing systems, and more particularly, to distributed computing systems and methods of operating such systems.
II. Description of the Related Art
Certain organizations have a need for high performance computing resources. For example, a financial institution may use such resources to perform risk management modeling of the valuations for particular instruments and portfolios at specified states of the world. As another example, a pharmaceutical manufacturer may use high performance computing resources to model the effects, efficacy and/or interactions of new drugs it is developing. As a further example, an oil exploration company may evaluate seismic information using high performance computing resources.
One conventional computing system includes a mainframe computer attached to an individual user terminal by a network connection. Using the terminal, a user may instruct the mainframe computer to execute a command. In this conventional system, almost all data storage and processing functionality resides on the mainframe computer, while relatively little memory or processing capability exists at the terminal. This terminal/mainframe architecture may not, however, allow computations requested by a user to be computed rapidly or automatically.
The open systems interconnection (OSI) model describes one conceptual network architecture represented by seven functional layers. In this model, the functions of a networking system in a data communications network are reflected as a set of seven layers, including a physical layer, data link layer, network layer, transport layer, session layer, presentation layer and application layer. One or more entities within each layer implement the functionality of the layer. Each entity provides facilities for use only by the layer above it, and interacts directly only with the layer below it. FIG. 1 depicts the seven functional layers of the OSI model.
The physical layer describes the physical characteristics of hardware components used to form a network. For example, the size of cable, the type of connector, and the method of termination are defined in the physical layer.
The data link layer describes the organization of the data to be transmitted over the particular mechanical/electrical/optical devices described in the physical layer. For example, the framing, addressing and check summing of Ethernet packets is defined in the data link layer.
The network layer describes how data is physically routed and exchanged along a path for delivery from one node of a network to another. For example, the addressing and routing structure of the network is defined in this layer.
The transport layer describes means used to ensure that data is delivered from place to place in a sequential, error-free, and robust (i.e., no losses or duplications) condition. The complexity of the transport protocol is defined by the transport layer.
The session layer involves the organization of data generated by processes running on multiple nodes of a network in order to establish, use and terminate a connection between those nodes. For example, the session layer describes how security, name recognition and logging functions are to take place to allow a connection to be established, used and terminated.
The presentation layer describes the format the data presented to the application layer must possess. This layer translates data from the format it possesses at the sending/receiving station of the network node to the format it must embody to be used by the application layer.
The application layer describes the service made available to the user of the network node in order to perform a particular function the user wants to have performed. For example, the application layer implements electronic messaging (such as "e-mail") or remote file access.
In certain conventional high performance computing systems designed using the OSI model, the hardware used for computation-intensive processing may be dedicated to only one long-running program and, accordingly, may not be accessible by other long running programs. Moreover, it may be difficult to easily and dynamically reallocate the computation-intensive processing from one long running program to another. In the event processing resources are to be reallocated, a program currently running on a conventional high performance computer system typically must be terminated and re-run in its entirety at a later time.

System architecture for distributed computing and method of using the system


Provided is an information processing device that includes a first component, including a display unit and a first antenna of the information processing device; a second component, including an arithmetic unit and a radio frequency circuit; the arithmetic unit used for providing a display signal to the display unit; a first connecting means used for connecting the first component and the second component and enabling the first component to rotate relative to the second component; and a second antenna disposed on the first connecting means.

At present, an information processing device such as a notebook computer often utilizes metallic materials as a house containing hardwares such as a display, a mainboard and a processor. In such a case, an antenna (such as an antenna for wifi communication or 3G communication) of an information processing device needs certain electromagnetic clearance area (no metallic material exists in the vicinity thereof) to obtain a higher signal receiving/sending quality, however, the electromagnetic shielding characteristic of a metallic house generally influences the signal receiving/sending quality of the antenna, and therefore it often needs to open the electromagnetic clearance area (for example, through utilizing an integral forming of plastics and metal) on the metallic house. This will generally increase the cost of the information processing device and influence the texture of the metallic house.
In order to solve the technical problem in the prior art, an aspect of the present disclosure provides an information processing device, comprising: a first component, including a display unit and a first antenna of the information processing device; a second component, including an arithmetic unit and a radio frequency circuit, the arithmetic unit used for providing a display signal to the display unit; a first connecting means used for connecting the first component and the second component and enabling the first component to rotate relative to the second component; and a second antenna disposed on the first connecting means.
Further, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the first component comprises a first metallic house body used for containing the display unit, and the first metallic house body having a first surface and a second surface; and the first surface of the first metallic house body is opposite to the display screen of the display unit, and is used as the first antenna.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the second component comprises a second metallic house body used for containing the arithmetic unit and the radio frequency circuit, and the second metallic house body having a third surface and a fourth surface, wherein the third surface is an upper surface of the second metallic house body, and the fourth surface is a lower surface of the second metallic house body; and the information processing device has a first operation state and a second operation state based on a relative position of the first surface and the fourth surface.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the information processing device has the first operation state, if the first component clockwise rotates relative to the second component, and if the first surface and the fourth surface do not coincide; and the information processing device has the second operation state, if the first component clockwise rotates relative to the second component, and if the first surface and the fourth surface coincide.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein in the first operation state, the first antenna is coupled with the radio frequency circuit, and the second antenna is coupled with the radio frequency circuit; and in the second operation state, the second antenna is coupled with the radio frequency circuit.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the information processing device further comprises: a feed line connected with the radio frequency circuit, the feed line having a feed point; and the radio frequency circuit is used for receiving or sending a radio frequency signal via the feed line.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the feed point is disposed in the first connecting means; and in the first operation state, the feed point is electrically coupled with the first antenna and/or the second antenna.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein in the second operation status, the feed point is electrically coupled with the second antenna.
Further, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the information processing device further comprises: a frequency divider disposed between the radio frequency circuit and the feed line, being configured to divide frequency of a signal transmitted by the feed line.


The present invention is employed in the environment in which a plurality of OSs exist on a single processor having a power-saving function, and includes a primary OS for receiving a timer interrupt from a hardware timer after a predetermined time lapse and a secondary OS treated as a task to be executed by the primary OS, wherein upon receiving the timer interrupt, the primary OS determines whether there exists any task to be executed, and interrupts the secondary OS if there is any task to be executed on the secondary OS.

Portable information terminals such as portable telephones and laptop computers use rechargeable batteries as their power source. When these battery-powered terminals are continuously used, however, their maximum operation time will be a few hours at most. Therefore, to extend the operation time of these terminals, it is essential to improve their power-saving function to efficiently use the battery power. One known power-saving function shifts to a power-saving mode by stopping supply of clocks to the processor or reducing the frequency level of the clocks during idle time, that is, when there exists no task to be executed by the processor, in order to reduce the power consumed by the processor. The processor which has been shifted to the power-saving mode is restarted using a timer interrupt from a hardware timer as a trigger.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a conventional processor power-saving control method. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 22 denotes a processor. Reference numeral 23 denotes a first OS; 24 a hardware timer for issuing a timer interrupt to the first OS 23 at predetermined time intervals (periodic interrupt) or at a specified time (non-periodic interrupt); 25 a timer handler for receiving a timer interrupt from the hardware timer 24; 26 a scheduler called by the timer handler 25 for executing tasks in an orderly manner; 27 a power-saving mechanism which is called by the scheduler 26 when there is no task to be executed and which shifts the processor 22 to the power-saving mode; and 28 a task to be executed by the first OS 23. The hardware timer 24 issues a timer interrupt to the first OS 23 and outputs a start-up signal to the processor 22 in the power-saving mode to restart it, at the same time.
On the other hand, reference numeral 29 denotes a second OS; 30 a hardware timer for issuing a timer interrupt to the second OS 29 at predetermined time intervals (periodic interrupt) or at a specified time (non-periodic interrupt); 31 a timer handler for receiving a timer interrupt from the hardware timer 30; 32 a scheduler called by the timer handler 31 for executing tasks in an orderly manner; 33 a power-saving mechanism which is called by the scheduler 32 when there is no task to be executed and which shifts the processor 22 to the power-saving mode; and 34 a task to be executed by the second OS. The hardware timer 30 issues a timer interrupt to the second OS 29 and outputs a start-up signal to the processor 22 in the power-saving mode to restart it, at the same time.
As described above, the hardware timers 24 and 30 are provided for the first OS 23 and the second OS 29, respectively. That is, the hardware timers 24 and 30 issue timer interrupts to the first OS 23 and the second OS 29, separately and respectively. Accordingly, in the conventional processor power-saving control method, the processor 22 is restarted each time a timer interrupt is issued to an OS, which makes it difficult to efficiently keep the power-saving mode.
To solve the above problem, an object of the present invention is to propose a processor power-saving control method and a processor power-saving control device executing the method employed in the environment in which a plurality of OSs exist on a single processor, wherein the processor power-saving control method can collectively control a timer interrupt issued to each OS so as to reduce the number of timer interrupts to be issued, efficiently maintaining the processor power-saving mode.

Processor power-saving control method, storage medium, and processor power-saving control device


The present invention is directed to anti-microbial compositions and methods for treating fungal and yeast infections.

Some of the most common pathogens associated with invasive fungal infections are the opportunistic yeasts, such as Candida spp. and Aspergillus spp. Thousands of Candida spp. cells can be present in an individual, primarily in the gastrointestinal tract, as a harmless commensal organism. However, Candida spp., such as C. albicans, cause opportunistic fungal infections. Infections can be localized, such as a vaginal infection or an oral infection, both of which cause a considerable degree of discomfort. In patients whose immune system is severely compromised (for example, prematurely born infants, patients infected with HIV, patients with hematological disease or cancer, and burn patients), the yeast can turn into a deadly pathogen causing systemic infections. Aspergillus spp., such as A. niger, are also opportunistic fungi which under certain conditions lead to infection, e.g., aspergillosis.
Currently available drugs for the treatment of fungal infections include amphotericin B, a macrolide polyene that interacts with fungal membrane sterols, flucytosine (5FC), a fluoropyrimidine that interferes with fungal protein and DNA biosynthesis, and a variety of azoles (e.g., triazoles and imidazoles such as ketoconazole, itraconazole, and fluconazole) that inhibit fungal membrane-sterol biosynthesis. Even though amphotericin B has a broad range of activity and is viewed as the "gold standard" of anti-fungal therapy, its use is limited due to infusion-related reactions and nephrotoxicity. Flucytosine usage is also limited due to the development of resistant microbes and its narrow spectrum of activity. The widespread use of azoles is causing the emergence of clinically-resistant strains of Candida spp.
The development of new anti-fungal treatment regimens has been a continuing challenge. What is needed in the art are additional anti-microbial, e.g., anti-fungal agents.

Anti-microbial composition and methods of use thereof


In a method of analyzing and modifying a footprint depending on a specified number of texture elements touched by the footprint, in a graphics system providing the texture elements having a resolution, a dimension or a shape of the footprint is initially determined. On the basis of the specified number of texture elements and on the basis of the determined dimension or shape, the resolution of the texture elements associated with the footprint is specified. Then it is determined whether the graphics system provides texture elements having the specified resolution. If the graphics system provides texture elements having the specified resolution, the footprint is preserved. If the graphics system does not provide texture elements having the specified resolution, the texture elements which are provided by the graphics system and have a relevant resolution are selected, and those of the footprint are reduced such that the number of texture elements touched by the footprint having a reduced size is essentially equal to or smaller than the specified number.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for displaying images in a raster display controlled by a computer. In particular, the present invention relates to an anisotropic filter mechanism required for reconstructing, or scaling, discrete, stored images or for subjecting same to a perspective projection for the purposes of representation on raster display elements of a high quality. The above-mentioned discrete, stored images will be referred to as textures below. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for analyzing and modifying a footprint depending on a specified number of texture elements touched by the footprint in a graphics system providing the texture elements having a resolution.
2. Description of Prior Art
A "footprint" is a perspective projection of a picture element (pixel) of an object onto a curved surface. A "footprint" may be a convex quadrilateral representation reproducing the approximated result of the perspective projection onto a regular texel grid (texture-element grid) of a square picture element (pixel) of an object onto a curved surface.
In associating textures with picture elements (pixels) of an object, known graphics systems, e.g. OpenGL graphics systems, operate in such a manner that a footprint of a pixel of an object has one or more texture elements having a desired resolution associated with it, the footprint being approximated by a square. The disadvantage is that the approximation here is always effected by a square which is either too large or too small and that the shape of the footprint is not taken into account.
The resolution desired results in a texel size in a texel grid underlying the footprint. Various mipmap level exist for predetermined texel sizes. If a resolution is chosen which leads to a texel size for which there is no mipmap with a suitable resolution (level), the texture must be calculated at high expenditure.

Method of analyzing and modifying a footprint


A method of deploying an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operation system may be provided. A method may include estimating an amount of traffic for one or more routes based on a demand of the one or more routes. The method may also include determining a required number of docking stations for each route of the one or more routes based on the estimated amount of traffic for the route, a distance of the route, and a maximum travel distance for a UAV. Further, the method may include installing the required number of docking stations for each route of the one or more routes, wherein each docking station of the required number of docking stations including at least one of a power supply, a wireless charger, a communication module, a control module, and a camera.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are also referred to as remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), drones, and the like, are aircrafts without an on-board human pilot. UAVs are used in many civilian applications such as surveillance, filmmaking, law enforcement, rescue, agriculture, and logistics.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

Unmanned aerial vehicle operation systems


An upper body garment which selectively supports the muscles used during inhalation without hindering the movement of the spinal column. The upper body garment is constructed by stitching, to a shirt that adheres closely to the body, a plurality of band-form fabrics having a stretchability lower than that of the shirt. The stitching of the band-form fabrics occurs along several defined anatomical lines such as: the first lines that extend from the left and right acromia to a portion that corresponds to the center of the sternum, second lines which extend from this portion corresponding to the center of the sternum, pass beneath the breast area, and extend to the left and right armpit areas, and third lines which connect the left and right armpit areas of the second lines to each other on the back surface.

In recent years, the physique of the Japanese population has improved, and the average body height has also increased. On the other hand, it has been reported that there is an increase in the number of persons with rounded backs and poor posture. It has been reported that such a deterioration in posture has occurred as a result of a drop in the muscular power of the back muscles and the like in the case of elderly persons, and as a result of a lack of knowledge of how to use the muscles (especially in the back) in the case of persons in younger age groups. Especially in the case of persons in younger age groups, it may be said that these persons do not sufficiently exhibit their own physical ability.
Many garments with structures that focus on posture and straighten the spinal column by pulling the shoulders to the rear have been proposed as means of solving the problem of such a deterioration in posture.
However, such garments suffer from the following problem: specifically, even though these garments straighten the spinal column, the garments fix the movement of the spinal column so that the degree of freedom of the operation of the muscles (especially in the back) is lowered, thus leading to the danger of a drop in muscular power.
Meanwhile, when a human being breathes deeply, the back muscles are stretched and the chest is expanded so that a good posture is formed. However, although conventional techniques relating to the support of the upper body or chest include techniques for supporting the muscles and skeleton of the back (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 9-250008) and brassieres that have abreast shaping function (U.S. Pat. No. 309,602), the point of supporting the muscles used to breathe has not been proposed in any of these techniques.
The present invention was devised in order to solve the above mentioned problems; it is an object of the present invention to provide an upper body garment which can provide focused support of the muscles used during inhalation without hindering the movement of the spinal column.