An input control device (21, 121, 221) includes a touchpad (25, 125, 225) located near an associated keyboard (23, 123) for use with a computer-related apparatus (120). The touchpad (25, 125, 225) is positioned so that it can be reached by the user""s thumbs (40) during normal operation of the associated keyboard (23, 123). The location of the touchpad (25, 125, 225) is such that a ridge (39, 139) protruding near the edge of the touchpad (25, 125, 225) is encountered by the user""s thumbs (40) both when moved inadvertently during normal typing operations and when intentionally moved toward the touchpad (25, 125, 225). In this way, the ridge (39, 139) signals the boundary with the touchpad (25, 125, 225) so that the user can proceed to activate it if desired, or can avoid activating it if not desired.

This invention relates to input devices for computer-related apparatus, and, more particularly, to an improved ergonomic touchpad for use in conjunction with such apparatus.
Touchpads or touch screens often serve the same input and navigation functions in computers as the so-called xe2x80x9cmouse.xe2x80x9d Touchpads generally include a planar, generally rectangular input surface and a pair of control keys below the input surface. The input surface of the touchpad generally has capacitive or resistive sensors or other means for detecting the presence of a fingertip or other pointing object against or near the surface.
To perform the functions typically associated with a mouse, the user moves a stylus or his or her finger about the input screen which generally causes a cursor to move to corresponding positions on the display screen of a computer or computer-related apparatus. Tapping the display screen itself may correspond to xe2x80x9cclickingxe2x80x9d of a mouse button, thus selecting an element or command at which the cursor is positioned. Alternately, the two control keys of the touchpad can be used to select objects or commands, and the input surface can be used to drag or relocate the cursor in combination with the activation of the control keys.
Touchpads are especially prevalent in portable computers or other applications where it is uncertain whether a flat surface suitable for operating a mouse will be available. Increasingly, however, touchpads are available as add-on features or integral components of standard computer keyboards. U.S. Pat. No. D375,492 shows one such touchpad integrated into the chassis of a full-sized keyboard for a stand-alone computer.
Touchpads are often located below associated keyboards or keypads, that is, when the keypad is positioned for normal operation by the user, the touchpad is located between the user and the keypad or keyboard. If the keyboard is suitably close to the touchpad, the user can extend a finger from the keyboard, generally the thumb from the spacebar, and contact the touchpad with the finger. This arrangement, while it has the advantage of potentially keeping the user""s hands in a normal typing position while accessing the touchpad, has various drawbacks and disadvantages. Chief among the drawbacks is the following: normal operations on the keyboard involve rapid and frequent movements and xe2x80x9creaches,xe2x80x9d especially when alphanumeric data is being entered. It is natural during operation of the keypad or keyboard by the user""s typing fingers for the user""s thumb to also involuntarily shift position during the course of such operation. Sometimes, inadvertent movements of the thumb during operation of the main keyboard cause the thumb to unintentionally contact the touchpad, thus performing an unintended operation in the course of another application.
Such unintended activation of the touchpad may open windows or execute time-consuming commands, both of which would interrupt the currently-displayed application. The execution of such commands or the opening of such windows is, at best, an inconvenience when operating a standard, stand-alone personal computer or when working with a state-of-the-art workstation. The unwanted execution of additional commands and the unintentional opening of additional windows can be even more frustrating when it occurs in the context of a portable personal computer running on batteries, where execution times are often slowed due to power constraints.
The space constraints on the keyboard and on the other input controls of a portable computer often require the touchpad to be located even closer to the user""s hands, particularly to his or her thumbs. As such, the opportunity for inadvertent touchpad activation is greatest in those computer environments, i.e., portable computers, in which touchpads are most prevalent.
Inadvertent activation of the touchpad is more likely to occur when the user is typing furiously or otherwise working rapidly with the main keyboard. During such power typing or rapid data entry, it is often the case that the user is focusing the majority of his or her attention on the data to be inputted, rather than on the display screen. Under such circumstances, inadvertent activation of the touchpad may not be detected for long periods of time, if ever. When the display is not being watched, even a seemingly harmless, unintentional command, like relocating the cursor, can have drastic consequences. Only when the user has finished his or her task and is proofreading or otherwise reviewing the final product will the user be confronted with inexplicable data corruption, including data loss, random insertions, or scrambling of data, all of which occurred during the course of seemingly normal operation of the keyboard. Such occurrences are obviously not only a waste of time, but can border on the infuriating, especially when combined with the time pressures which required the fast-paced data entry to begin with.
One way of avoiding the above-described drawbacks is to distance the touchpad from the keyboard or other input device. Such a solution, however, vitiates the advantages of the user""s being able to access the touchpad without needing to remove his or her hands from the keyboard. Thus, operation of such a xe2x80x9cremotexe2x80x9d touchpad is more time-consuming than need be, requiring the user to interrupt the flow of text or data entry being accomplished on the main keyboard. Furthermore, it is not always possible for a user to distance the touchpad from the keyboard, such as with a portable computer, or when the touchpad is otherwise integral with the keyboard.
The increasing prevalence of portable computers means that they are more likely to be carried and used in low-light situations. Because touchpads of the current art are generally in substantially the same plane as the working surfaces of the keyboard chassis, it is sometimes not easy for a user""s fingers to locate touchpads in reduced-light situations. This, again, makes operation of the associated computer more difficult in such environments.
There is thus a need to improve the ergonomics of touchpads used in association with keypads, keyboards or other input devices.
There is a corresponding need to optimize the location of the touchpad so it can be accessed during normal operation of a keypad, but without undesirable, unintended activation of such touchpad.
An input device has a touchpad located near a corresponding keyboard. The touchpad has a ridge protruding from the plane of the touchpad and extending near the edge of the touchpad. The touchpad is located relative to the keyboard so that the ridge is likely to be encountered by the user""s fingers nearest the touchpad, typically the thumbs. As such, the ridge provides tactile feedback, that is, the ridge signals the boundary of the touchpad either to facilitate its activation or to inhibit inadvertent activation thereof.
In one aspect of the invention, the likely locations of the user""s thumbs during operation of the keyboard define a first ergonomic zone, while the xe2x80x9creachxe2x80x9d of the user""s thumbs when other fingers are in position over the keyboard constitutes a second ergonomic zone. There is an overlap in the boundaries of these two ergonomic zones and the touchpad is located so that its edge extends at least partially within this overlap zone. In this way, the ridge of the present invention and its advantageous signaling functions are likely to be encountered during normal operations of the input control device.
In accordance with still another aspect of the current invention, the touchpad is either rectangular or triangular. The touchpad can be integrally mounted with the associated keyboard in a chassis.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the touchpad is part of a portable computer.


Disclosed is an interactive method for reporting location reports by a target UE in an LCS. The method comprises: the target UE receiving a location request initiated by an applicant and reporting a location report to the LCS system after detecting the occurrence of an event triggering a location report; the LCS system returning to the target UE a location report acknowledgement after receiving the location report submitted by the target UE. Further, while submitting the location report to the LCS system, the target UE starting a timer designating a time period and judging whether it has received a location report acknowledgement returned by the LCS system within the designated time period, if yes, stopping the timer designating the time period; otherwise, reporting once again the location report to the LCS system and re-starting the timer designating the time period at the same time. In accordance with this method, errors in reporting location reports are reduced and the uncertainty in implementation of LCS is lowered.

LCS of a mobile communication network is to obtain the location information of a target UE by means of positioning technique, where the target UE refers to a target UE to be positioned in a mobile communication network and the location information may be the geographical information expressed in the form of latitude and longitude data or the location information with reference to local streets. The location information obtained by LCS system may be provided to the target UE for self-positioning, or to the communications system itself for area-specific charging or operation and maintenance, or to other clients, for instance agencies or individuals, that request for the location information of the target UE for use of value-added services. Therefore, LCS has wide applications in many fields such as emergency aid, vehicle navigation and intelligent traffic system, scheduling and team management, mobile yellow page inquiry, and enhanced network performance etc. In the Third Generation Partner Project (3GPP), specifications on LCS as well as the functional mode, structure, state description, and message flow of the LCS system have been proposed.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the logical structure implementing LCS. As shown in FIG. 1, Applicant 101 requests the location information of Target UE 103 through Network 102 containing LCS system. Network 102 containing LCS system makes a legitimate authentication of Applicant 101 to check whether Target UE 103 permits Applicant 101 to request for its location information. If Applicant 101 passes the legitimate authentication of Network 102 containing LCS system, Network 102 locates Target UE 103 and provides Applicant 101 with the location information of Target UE 103; otherwise, Network 102 containing LCS system refuses the request from Applicant 101 for the location information of Target UE 103. Applicant 101 may comprise applicants and LCS clients. Said LCS client refers to software or hardware entity for obtaining the location information of one or more target UEs 103, which is interfaced with Network 102 containing LCS system. Said applicant refers to an LCS application client for requesting the location information of a target UE, such as an agency or an individual, which is the initiator of a location request. While LCS client can also be an applicant at the same time.
Functional entities for implementing location service in LCS system include Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC), subscribers' data storage server (HLR/HSS), Core Network (CN), and Radio Access Network (RAN). Wherein, GMLC may further include Requesting-GMLC (R-GMLC), Home-GMLC (H-GMLC), and Visited-GMLC (V-GMLC). R-GMLC refers to the GMLC in the network containing LCS system, which receives the location request for the target UE from an applicant, H-GMLC refers to the GMLC in the network containing LCS system, to which the target UE belongs, and V-GMLC refers to the GMLC in the network containing LCS system, which is currently visited by the target UE, that is, the GMLC in the network where the target UE currently locates. Wherein, R-GMLC, H-GMLC, and V-GMLC may be one physical entity.
At present, in 3GPP specifications, the Deferred Location Request Procedure for the change of area event and the implementation are provided. Said location request message of area variation class refers to the message in condition that the applicant designates in advance the target area and events for triggering location reports, for instance, a location report is requested to be reported to the applicant when the target UE enters, leaves, or is located at the designated target area. Said LCS system sends to the target UE the information about the designated target area and events for triggering location reports, and the target UE saves the information and initiates at the same time the appropriate application program. When the application program detects the occurrence of an event for triggering a location report, for instance, when the target UE has entered, left, or located in the designated target area, the target UE will report to the LCS system a location report, and the LCS system will forward the location report to the appropriate applicant, informing the corresponding applicant that the event designated for triggering a location report has occurred. In addition, the applicant may also designate the number of location reports required to be reported by the target UE, for instance, only one location report should be reported, or designate a valid period of time in which the target UE should periodical report location reports. In summery, with area variation class location requests, an applicant is able to define conveniently some LCSs with track monitoring function, for instance, child tracking and pet tracking, which make LCS be widely used for track monitoring.
FIG. 2 shows the message interaction in the processing of area variation class location request in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 2, the message interaction in the processing of area variation class location request comprises the steps of:
Step 201: the applicant sending to R-GMLC an LCS Service Request, which carries the identity of a target UE, designated target area, and events for triggering location reports, wherein the events for triggering location reports may comprise: reporting a location report when the target UE enters, leaves, or locates in the designated target area. The LCS Service Request may carry the valid time period of the LCS Service Request as well, for instance, the starting time and ending time, and the number of location reports reported by the target UE requested by the LCS Service Request. If a plurality of location reports is required, the LCS Service Request will also need to carry the time interval among the periodical reported location reports. This LCS Service Request is then the area variation class location request as mentioned above.
Step 202: after receiving the LCS Service Request, R-GMLC forwarding this LCS Service Request to H-GMLC, which makes a legitimate authentication for the applicant to determine whether the target UE permits the LCS system to provide this applicant with the location information of the target UE. If the applicant passes the legitimate authentication, HGMLC sending to V-GMLC the LCS Service Request; otherwise, H-GMLC returning to R-GMLC an authentication failed acknowledgment (Ack), R-GMLC refusing the area variation class location request for the target UE initiated by the applicant and ending the current processing of the area variation class location request.
Step 203: V-GMLC, after receiving the LCS Service Request, converting the designated target area carried by said request to a geographical identity identifiable to the network and sending to CN a Provide Subscriber Location request, which carries the identity of the target UE, the converted designated target area expressed in the network geographic format, and events for triggering location reports. Corresponding to the information carried in the LCS Service Request, this Provide Subscriber Location request may carry the number of the location reports reported as well, and if a plurality of location reports is required, the time interval among the periodically reported location reports is also carried.
Step 204: CN, when detecting the target UE is in the idle mode, initiating a paging for the target UE, and making authentication and ciphering for the target UE to judge whether the target UE is a legitimate network device. Furthermore, CN sending to the target UE a privacy verification notification, notifying the target UE that an applicant is requesting for its location information, and the target UE itself verifying whether to permit the LCS system to provide the applicant with the location information of the target UE.
Steps 205˜206: CN sending to the target UE via RAN a Location Area Event Invoke request, and the information carried in the Location Area Event Invoke request is corresponding to the information carried in the LCS Service Request. After receiving the Location Area Event Invoke request, the target UE starting the relevant application program in itself, monitoring the occurrence of the events for triggering location reports, and sending to CN a Location Area Event Invoke Ack, notifying CN that the current location request has been accepted and properly handled.
Steps 207˜210: after receiving the Location Area Event Invoke Ack, CN sending to V-GMLC a Provide Subscriber Location Ack, notifying V-GMLC that the current area variation class location request has been accepted. After receiving the Provide Subscriber Location Ack, V-GMLC sending to H-GMLC an LCS Service Response, notifying H-GMLC that the current area variation class location request has been accepted. After receiving the LCS Service Response, H-GMLC sending to R-GMLC the LCS Service Response, notifying R-GMLC that the current area variation class location request has been accepted. After receiving the LCS Service Response, R-GMLC sending to the applicant the LCS Service Response, notifying the applicant that the current area variation class location request has been accepted by the target UE.
Steps 211˜212: an event triggering a location report occurs, that is, the target UE enters, leaves, or locates in the designated target area, and the target UE sending via RAN a Location Area Event Report to CN that covers the designated target area, notifying CN that an event triggering a location report has occurred.
Steps 213˜214: after receiving the Location Area Event Report, CN sending a Subscriber Location Report to V-GMLC that covers the designated target area, notifying the V-GMLC that the event triggering a location report of the target UE has occurred. After receiving the Subscriber Location Report, V-GMLC sending to CN a Subscriber Location Report Ack, notifying CN that the Subscriber Location Report sent by CN has been received. At this moment, CN may generate a corresponding billing record for the current location request.
Steps 215˜218: after sending the Subscriber Location Report Ack to CN that covers the designated target area, V-GMLC sending to H-GMLC an LCS Service Response, notifying H-GMLC that an event triggering a location report of the target UE has occurred. After receiving the LCS Service Response, H-GMLC making authentication (privacy check) for the applicant to ensure that the location information of the target UE provided to the applicant is permitted under the authorization for this applicant. After the applicant passes the authentication, H-GMLC sending to R-GMLC an LCS Service Response, notifying R-GMLC that the event triggering a location report of the target UE has occurred. After receiving the LCS Service Response, R-GMLC sending to the applicant an LCS Service Response, notifying the applicant that the event triggering a location report of the target UE has occurred. Said V-GMLC in steps 211˜218 refers to GMLC where the target UE currently locates and which is able to cover the target area, it can be the same GMLC as V-GMLC said in steps 202˜210, or a different GMLC from V-GMLC said in steps 202˜210. Likewise, CN said in steps 211˜218 refers to CN where the target UE currently locates and which is able to cover the target area, it can be the same CN as said in steps 202˜210, or a different CN from that in steps 202˜210.
If an area variation class location request carries the interval among the periodically reported location reports and the number of the location reports, then the interval among the location reports reported by the target UE to the CN that covers the designated target area can not be smaller than the interval among the area variation class location requests, and the total number of location reports can not exceed the number required in the area variation class location request. The processing procedure of reporting each location report is basically the same as the above process shown in steps 211˜218.
As can be seen from the above message interactive process of area variation class location request defined by the 3GPP specifications, in step 212, when the target UE detects that an event triggering a location report has occurred, it will send via RAN a Location Area Event Report to CN that covers the designated target area, notifying CN that an event triggering a location report has occurred; in step 213, however, when receiving the Location Area Event Report, CN will not return to the target UE a corresponding response to notify the target UE that the Location Area Event Report sent by the target UE has been successfully received, but send to V-GMLC a Subscriber Location Report to notify V-GMLC that the event triggering a location report of the target UE has occurred. In the subsequent process CN will not return to the target UE a corresponding response either, which results in that the target UE can not determine whether CN that covers the designated target area has received the Location Area Event Report, increasing the uncertainty in the implementation of the LCS.
Moreover, as there is difference in the supporting capability of CNs in the network for LCS, for example some CNs are capable of supporting the area variation class location request, while others are not. CNs not supporting the processing of area variation class location requests may directly discard such location reports as it cannot identify the report when receiving a location report sent by the target UE. Thus, since in the present processing procedure there is no step of CN returning to the target UE a corresponding response, the target UE is unable to learn whether the reported location report has been properly processed by CN or discarded by CN.
In addition, there are other reasons that leads to the loss of the location reports reported to CN by the target UE, for instance, when the message is transferred via a wireless channel, the message may be lost due to instable radio signaling. As there is no mechanism by which CN returns a corresponding response to the target UE, the target UE will not know whether CN has properly received the location report currently reported. Furthermore, in the prior art the target UE makes no more reporting of the location report after one time of reporting to CN. If the location report reported is lost, even that an event triggering a location report that is designated by the applicant has occurred, the LCS system will not return any location reports of the target UE to the corresponding applicant, since CN has not received a location report of the target UE, which leads to a failure in the middle of the current processing procedure. Thus, the applicant can not properly receive the location report reported by the target UE, which adds uncertainty in the implementation of LCS.
Apart from the above description, there are some services as Advice of Charge Charging (AoCC) for charging, making use of the target UE, as well as Advice of Charge Information (AoCI) for providing the charging information, making use of the target UE. In accordance with the processing procedure of the prior art, as there is no mechanism for CN returning a corresponding response to the target UE, the current service will be charged right after the target UE has reported the location report, but if the LCS system does not receive this location report at this time due to some abnormal reasons, a charging error for the target UE may occur.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Interactive method for reporting location report by target user equipment in location service


Embodiments herein disclose conditioning traffic through multiple data paths of a Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN). Some embodiments include monitoring a first and a second path through an SD-WAN to reach a destination node, comparing the link utilization for the first and the second path to generate an allocation ratio of the first and the second path, allocating a sequence of data packets to the first and the second path using the allocation ratio to generate a first path data sequence and a second path data sequence, generating a forward error correction (FEC) packet for first path sequence, sending the first path data sequence to the destination node on the first path, sending the second path data sequence to the destination node on the second path, and sending the FEC packet on at least one of the first and the second path.

Network data communications have moved beyond asynchronous text and file transfer traffic to time-sensitive traffic such as streaming and interactive communications. At the same time many of the resources being used to carry the data are virtualized. A VNF (Virtual Network Function) may take the place of a hardware router. An SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) may take the place of dedicated physical network resources. An SD-WAN may have at least one designated hub node for each of the branch nodes. The hub nodes are able to act as a gateway to a plurality of branch nodes. The, branch nodes themselves may have direct access to the Internet through one or more WAN links as well as through the hub nodes.
Real-time applications, frequently used for streaming and interactive communications, such as voice and video conference applications including VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), have more stringent delay requirements than other data transmissions. As a result, retransmission of a lost packet can cause noticeable delay or lag in a user's experience. Application traffic, such as Software as a Service (SaaS) applications and Internet-hosted applications in which the application and possibly also user data are remotely hosted, such as Microsoft Office 365 ® and Dropbox® applications, etc. may also be sensitive to communication delay. These applications may be accessed by clients through, for example, the Internet, an intranet, a private LAN (Local Area Network), or through a cloud, such as a public cloud, a private cloud, and/or a hybrid cloud.

Data packet traffic conditioning with packet striping through lossy data paths


The developing agent is selected to have a distribution of adhesive force to the surface of an image carrier, which is configured such that the ratio of the developing agent having an adhesive force which is not less than 2.5 times as high as an average value of a distribution of adhesive force is 3% by weight or less based on an entire weight of the developing agent.

This invention relates to an image forming apparatus for developing an electrostatic image or a magnetic latent image in an electrophotographic method, an electrostatic printing method, or a magnetic recording method, and also to a method for forming an image where the image forming apparatus is employed.
When an image is to be formed by means of an electrophotographic system and if a two-component dry developing method is to be employed, a particulate toner is delivered from a developing apparatus and transferred via a carrier, an image carrier and, optionally, a transfer medium such as in intermediate transferring member, etc., to a recording material. Then, the toner on the recording material is subjected to heat and pressure so as to be fixed on the recording material. The toner in this case is enabled to adhere to each transferring medium through electrostatic force derived from the quantity of electric charge each toner particle has, van der Waals force, and liquid cross-linking force, i.e., adhesive force effected by water or moisture. The toner is transferred mainly through the mechanism that toner once adhered to one of the transferring medium is separated by the effect of external electric field and then permitted to adhere to a succeeding transferring medium. The toner is ultimately transferred over a recording medium such as paper and fixed as a pattern on the recording medium to form an image thereon. In order to efficiently transfer the toner to obtain a final image of high quality, it is desirable to control the adhesive force of toner to the transferring mediums.
As for the method of forming an image through the control of adhesive force of toner, there has been proposed a method of forming an image as shown in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-328484 wherein the relationship among the adhesive force between the toner and an image carrier, an average particle size of toner, and the quantity of electrification is confined. In this case, there has been proposed a method of calculating the aforementioned adhesive force from the centrifugal force which is required to separate the toner from a transferring medium and which can be derived through the employment of a centrifugal separator.
Alternatively, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-101753, for example, describes a method of improving the transferring properties of toner wherein the toner is regulated to meet the condition of F/2σ>10 as the toner is subjected to centrifugal separation (wherein F is an average value in the distribution of toner adhesive force to be obtained from the measurement of adhesive force of toner after the tone is pressed onto the surface of an image carrier at a predetermine pressure; and σ is a standard deviation). In this method, it is intended that the distribution of toner adhesive force to be measured under specific conditions is greatly sharpened thereby to suppress non-uniformity of the transferring properties of toner and to make it possible to perform the transferring of toner efficiently and very precisely.
However, since this distribution of toner adhesive force is confined to an extremely narrow range, e.g. the a standard deviation σ is required to be not more than 0.3×10−8 as the average adhesive force is 6×10−8 N, the manufacture of toner becomes very difficult. Further, although it may be possible to enlarge the distribution of toner adhesive force to a certain extent by increasing the average adhesive force, if the toner adhesive force is increased too high, the transferring electric field required for the transfer of toner would become very high, thereby giving rise to risk of aerial discharge. Further, according to this measuring method, it is required to employ a step of pressing toner onto a recording material prior to the measurement of the adhesive force in order to reproduce the transferring pressure. According to this measuring method however, it is impossible to grasp the behavior of the toner which is weak in adhesive force, i.e., the toner which can be separated from an image carrier as the toner is subjected to weak transferring electric field immediately before the toner is introduced into the transferring nip. Moreover, according to this technique, there are possibilities that a small quantity of toner particle exhibiting an adhesive force which differs greatly from the average adhesive force may be included in the toner. Toner particle exhibiting considerably large adhesive force may become a cause for generating residual toner after the step of transferring the toner. On the other hand, toner particle exhibiting considerably small adhesive force may become a cause for generating the scattering of toner to a periphery of image. Because of these reasons, even with the employment of this technique, there are problems with regard to the transferring efficiency and quality of image.
In the cleaner-less process where a mechanism for recovering residual toner concurrent with the development of image, when the toner is caused to leave behind after the transferring step thereof, the succeeding electrification step and latent image-forming step are permitted to be undergone without the residual toner being removed, after which the residual toner in the non-imaging regions is recovered by a developing device concurrent with the development of new image regions. Therefore, if the quantity of residual toner after the transferring step is large, it may become causes for generating a defective image due to the incidents that the light source for forming a latent image may be obstructed, the recovery of toner by the developing device may become insufficient, and the generation of undesirable retransferring.
In the case of a color image forming apparatus of tandem structure, the toner that has been transferred to an intermediate transferring medium for example from an image carrier may happen to be reversely transferred to an image carrier of succeeding stage when the toner is subjected to a transferring electric field in the transferring region of the image carrier of succeeding stage and, at the same time, is press-contacted with the succeeding image carrier. Once this reversely transferred toner is recovered by the developing device in the cleaner-less process, the toner having the color of the developing station of the preceding stage is permitted to enter into the developing device of the succeeding stage, thereby making it impossible to perform the management of color if the toner entering the developing device of the succeeding stage is increased. The transferring efficiency frequently conflicts in nature with the reverse transferring efficiency. Therefore, in order to prevent such a situation where the color mixing due to the reverse transferring become too prominent to recover, it is required to adopt transferring conditions which make it possible to prevent the reverse transferring even at the sacrifice, to a certain extent, of the transferring performance.

Method for forming image and image forming apparatus having a developing agent with a distribution of adhesive force to a surface of an image carrier


A computer system compnses a processor (2), memory (4) and a plurality of devices (6, 8, 12), the processor (2) and the memory (4) being operable to effect the operation of a fault response processor (AFR), and a device driver (GRAPHICS, NETWORK, H2IO, IO2L, SERIAL) for each of the devices. The fault response processor (AFR) is operable to generate a model which represents the processor (2), the memory (4) and the devices (6, 8, 12) of the computer system and the inter-connection of the processor (2), memory (4) and the devices (GRAPHICS, NETWORK, H2IO, IO2L, SERIAL). The device driver (GRAPHICS, NETWORK, H2IO, IO2L, SERIAL) for each of the devices (6, 8, 12) is arranged, consequent upon a change of operational status of the device, to generate fault report data indicating whether the change of status was caused internally within the device or externally by another connected device. The devices of the computer system may be formed as a plurality of Field Replaceable Units (FRU). The fault response processor (AFR) is operable, consequent upon receipt of the fault reports from the device drivers (GRAPHICS, NETWORK, H2IO, IO2L, SERIAL) to estimate the location of a FRU containing a faulty device by applying the fault indication to the model. In other embodiments the fault report data includes direction information indicating a connection between the device and the other connected device which caused the external fault. Having identified the faulty device the FRU may be replaced, thereby minimizing down time of the computer system.

The present invention relates to computer systems.
There are many fields in which mankind has become reliant on computers to perform valuable and sometimes essential functions. The reliance on computer systems demands that the down time of computer systems is as small as possible. The down time of a computer system is a period during which a computer system is inoperable as a result of a fault in the system. If a computer system goes down, the inconvenience and loss of revenue and indeed life endangering effects can be substantial. As result, the reliability of computer systems is arranged to be as high as possible.
In a co-pending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/097,485, a fault tolerant computer system is disclosed in which multiple processing sets operate to execute substantially the same software, thereby providing a amount of redundant processing. The redundancy provides a facility for detecting faults in the processing sets and for diagnosis and automatically recovering from the detected faults. As a result, an improvement in the reliability of the computer systems is effected, and consequently the down time of such fault tolerant computer systems is likely to be substantially reduced.
Computer systems are generally comprised of a processor and memory connected via an I/O bus to utility devices which serve to provide under control of the processor particular functions. Although redundant processing sets within a computer system provide a facility for detecting, diagnosing and recovering from errors in the processing sets, the utility devices within the computer system, including the connecting buses and peripheral buses, may fail from time to time. A device failure can cause disruption in the operation of the computer system, and may even cause the computer system to go down. Conventionally, detecting and identifying a faulty device has required the presence of a skilled technician.
It is therefore desirable to provide a computer system in which a faulty device or a replaceable unit containing the faulty device can be readily identified, so that repair can be effected quickly, and down time of the computer system can be reduced.

Method and apparatus for locating a faulty device in a computer system


A protective film of the present invention is used at the time of performing heat bending on the resin substrate, and includes a base material layer and a pressure sensitive adhesive layer adhered to a resin substrate, in which the base material layer includes a first layer which is positioned on an opposite side of the pressure sensitive adhesive layer and has a melting point of 150° C. or higher, and includes a second layer which is positioned on a pressure sensitive adhesive layer side and has a melting point of lower than 150° C., the pressure sensitive adhesive layer has a melting point of lower than 150° C., and MFR of a thermoplastic resin contained in the second layer, which is measured in conformity with JIS K7210, is in a range of 0.5 g/10 min to 4.0 g/10 min.

A lens for sunglasses provided with a resin substrate having a configuration in which both surfaces of a polarizer are coated with a coating layer formed of a polycarbonate resin, a polyamide resin, or a cellulose resin is produced, for example, as follows. First, with protective films attached to both surfaces of the resin substrate, which has a flat plate shape in a plan view, the resin substrate is punched into a predetermined shape such as a circular shape in the plan view, and then the resin substrate is subjected to a heat bending while being heated. Next, after peeling off the protective films from the heat-bent resin substrate, a polycarbonate layer is injection-molded on a concave surface of this resin substrate to produce the lens for sunglasses.
As the protective film, for example, a film having a configuration in which a base material containing a polyolefin-based resin as a main material is attached to both surfaces of the resin substrate through a pressure sensitive adhesive layer containing, as a main material, polyethylene, an ethylene-propylene copolymer, and the like has been suggested (for example, see PTL 1).
However, in the protective film having such a configuration, in a case of, after heat bending, peeling off the protective films respectively attached to the both surfaces of the resin substrate, a gripping part in which a part of the protective film protrudes from an edge of the resin substrate in a surface direction of the resin substrate is not formed, so that it is not possible to peel off the protective film using this gripping part as a starting point. Accordingly, there is a problem that it takes time and labor to peel off the protective film.
In addition, even in a case where it is possible to form the gripping part by changing conditions during the heat bending, there is also a problem that two gripping parts protruding from the both surfaces of the resin substrate and facing each other are bonded to each other, and as a result, the two gripping parts cannot be used as the gripping part.
Further, these problems occur not only in the lens for sunglasses described above, but also in resin substrates such as a lens of goggles and a visor of helmets.


Compensating for wideband quadrature imbalance error by introducing inverse complex inputs to phase quadrature estimator filters to generate estimated quadrature distortion; summing estimator quadrature distortion with a delayed version of the actual complex input to obtain estimated quadrature output; comparing the output with the true output to obtain residual quadrature imbalance error; applying a least mean square to the inverse input and imbalance residual error to obtain an updated estimate of filter coefficients; updating the filter coefficients of the phase quadrature estimator; and updating the filter coefficients of a phase quadrature compensator with the filter coefficients of the phase quadrature estimator to obtain a quadrature output pre-compensated for quadrature imbalance error.

Quadrature modulators used in communication systems receive quadrature inputs x1 and xQ which are modulated up to a carrier frequency ωc. The quadrature modulator operates by mixing the in-phase input signal, x1, with cos(ωc+φ) and quadrature-phase input signal xQ by sin(ωc−φ) and summing together the two mixed signals. Generally the error, φ, is regarded as a function of the carrier frequency ωc. But it has been determined that the error φ is also a function of the frequency of inputs x1 and xQ and further that as the input signal bandwidth x1, xQ becomes larger, there is more variation in the error φ across the band. Thus the conventional approach of assuming phase error φ is constant across the input signal frequency band and nulling out phase error φ, by pre-compensating for a constant phase error is not truly sufficient. The gain imbalance (frequency dependent or otherwise) and local oscillator feed-through due to dc-offset in the I and Q paths are assumed to be taken care of by other means and are not addressed here. These gain and dc-offset terms are hence not shown or discussed in the rest of the disclosure.

Wideband quadrature imbalance compensation system and method


The invention provides techniques for duplicating all or part of a file system while maintaining consistent copies of the file system. A preferred embodiment reads data from the source file system (mapped according to a first storage block arrangement) creates an image stream and writes this data onto the destination file system (in accordance with a second storage block arrangement). Thus, the invention allows an image transfer between file systems that have dissimilar characteristics. An intermediate storage medium can be used to store or transmit the data read from the source file system before writing the data to the destination file system. (For example, the intermediate storage medium can include a magnetic tape or other archival device, or a network.) Another aspect of the invention writes the data to the intermediate storage medium using a normalized or implied block list. The information is read from the intermediate storage medium using normalized or implied block list and written to the destination file system according to the second storage block arrangement. Another aspect of the invention is that the invention determines a first set of block numbers (BNs), determines where the blocks referenced by these BNs are to be stored, and updates the BNs accordingly.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to storage systems.
2. Background
In computer file systems for storing and retrieving information, it is sometimes advantageous to duplicate all or part of the file system. For example, one purpose for duplicating a file system is to maintain a backup copy of the file system to protect against lost information. Another purpose for duplicating a file system is to provide a replica of the file system at multiple servers so that the multiple servers can share the load incurred in accessing the available information.
One known problem in the prior art is that existing techniques for duplicating data in a file system are either relatively awkward and slow (such as duplicating to tape), or are relatively expensive (such as duplicating to an additional set of disk drives).
The previously referenced application discloses how to efficiently copy data contained in the storage blocks of the source file system to the storage blocks on the destination file system where each file system has the same block numbers (BNs) identifying the storage blocks (thus, making an identical image copy of the source file system on the destination file system). The previously referenced application required that the BNs for the source file system and the BNs for the destination file system be the same.
A problem can exist when the destination file system is smaller than the source file system as not all the possibly-used storage blocks in the source file system are available on the destination file system. Another problem can exist when the destination file system has unusable storage blocks at locations that correspond to storage blocks used on the source file system. Yet another problem occurs when the RAID geometry of the source file system is different from that of the destination file system because the organization of storage blocks on the destination file system may not be organized as efficiently as on the source file system. These problems are among those addressed by the instant invention.
It would be advantageous to provide a technique that efficiently copies storage blocks from the source file system (arranged according to a first storage block arrangement) to the destination file system that is arranged according to a second storage block arrangement that differs from the first storage block arrangement.

File system image transfer between dissimilar file systems


A magnetic head drive device includes a magnetic head having a main coil for magnetic field generation. Current is supplied to the main coil via first to fourth current supply channels. A first auxiliary coil is provided in the first current supply channel through which current is supplied to the main coil from a first direction. A second auxiliary coil is provided in the second current supply channel through which current is supplied to the main coil from a second direction opposite to the first direction. The third current supply channel is provided to be connected in parallel with the first current supply channel so as to supply current to the main coil from the first direction. The fourth current supply channel is provided to be connected in parallel with the second current supply channel so as to supply current to the main coil from the second direction. The first to fourth current supply channels are controlled in accordance with a control signal for designating a given operation mode. When a first operation mode in which the magnetic head generates a modulated magnetic field is designated, the first to fourth current supply channels are controlled to supply a current modulated in accordance with an information signal to be recorded to the main coil. When a second operation mode in which the magnetic head generates a magnetic field in a predetermined direction is designated, the first to fourth current supply channels are controlled to supply a current to the main coil from one predetermined direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic head drive device for driving a magnetic head by supplying a drive current thereto so as to record an information signal on a magneto-optical recording medium, and a magneto-optical recording apparatus using the same.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, as a magneto-optical recording apparatus for recording an information signal on a magneto-optical recording medium such as a magnetooptical disk or the like at high density, an apparatus using a magnetic field modulation scheme is known. A magnetic field modulation magneto-optical recording apparatus comprises an optical head, a magnetic head, a magnetic head drive device, and drive means for driving a magneto-optical recording medium. When an information signal is recorded on a magneto-optical recording medium using such a magneto-optical recording apparatus, the optical head irradiates a high-power laser beam focused to a small beam spot onto a magnetic layer of the magneto-optical recording medium while driving the magneto-optical recording medium relative to the optical head and magnetic head. At the same time, the magnetic head drive device supplies a current modulated by the information signal to the magnetic head, so that the magnetic head perpendicularly applies a magnetic field modulated according to the information signal to the portion irradiated with the laser beam of the magneto-optical recording medium. As a result, a magnetic domain, the direction of magnetization of which changes in correspondence with the direction of magnetic field applied, is formed in the magnetic layer, thus recording the information signal. Using such a magnetic field modulation scheme, an information signal can be recorded at a very high density.
When the information signal recorded in this way is to be reproduced, the magneto-optical recording medium is driven, and at the same time, the optical head irradiates a lower-power laser beam than that upon recording, which is focused to a small beam spot, onto the magnetic layer of the magneto-optical recording medium. In this case, since the plane of polarization of the laser beam reflected by the magnetic layer rotates in correspondence with the direction of magnetization of the magnetic domain, it is detected by a photosensor provided to the optical head, and the information signal is reproduced based on the detection signal.
Superresolution reproduction is conventionally known. This technique uses a magneto-optical recording medium, a magnetic layer of which is comprised of a plurality of layers including at least a recording layer and reproduction layer, and transfers magnetization formed in the recording layer to the reproduction layer. Up on reproduction of an information signal, a laser beam is irradiated onto the magnetic layer, and at the same time, a magnetic field applying means applies a given magnetic field, so that the magnetization in a local region of the reproduction layer, which has reached high temperature upon irradiation of the laser beam, is switched in the direction of the applied magnetic field, irrespective of the magnetization formed in the recording layer, thus detecting a magnetic domain smaller than the beam spot size.
Especially, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 3-242845 has proposed a recording/reproduction scheme in which an information signal is recorded by magnetic field modulation, and the recorded information signal is reproduced by superresolution reproduction. With this scheme, an information signal can be recorded at a very high density, and the recorded information signal can be reproduced with high resolution.
However, conventionally, inorder to attain superresolution reproduction, a means for applying a given magnetic field is required in addition to a magnetic field applying means for magnetic field modulation recording, even though superresolution reproduction is possible to attain. For this reason, magnetic heads for magnetic field modulation and superresolution reproduction, and their drive devices must be independently equipped, and an expensive apparatus with a complicated arrangement is required.

Magnetic head drive device, and magneto-optical recording apparatus using the same


A center-mounted passenger seat for mounting on either a men's or women's style adult bicycle in which the passenger is situated between the saddle and handlebars of the adult bicycle. The passenger seat comprises a seat for carrying the passenger and a supporting bracket attached to the seat. The supporting bracket is engaged with both the seat tube and the top tube of the bicycle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an arrangement for mounting a passenger seat on an adult bicycle in which the passenger seat is situated between the saddle and handlebars of the adult bicycle. The center-mounted passenger seat for bicycle is adjustable in angle and height, can be used interchangeably on most sizes and styles of adult bicycles, and is readily removable. It also can be used as a stationary child seat after removal from the adult bicycle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The idea of carrying a passenger, often a child, in a seat attached to an adult bicycle is known in the art. Currently, the most frequently seen configuration is one in which the passenger seat is mounted either in front of the handlebars or behind the saddle of the adult bicycle. However, placing the passenger seat in either of these locations substantially alters the center of gravity of the bicycle. This makes the bicycle less stable and more difficult to operate. Additionally, if the passenger is a young child and the adult must place him into the passenger seat, it is more difficult for an adult acting alone to place the child into the passenger seat and then mount the bicycle when the seat is mounted in either of these positions, unless the bicycle is somehow rigidly supported by extrinsic means.
For these reasons, the present invention mounts the passenger seat between the saddle and the handlebars of the adult bicycle, with engagement with the bicycle frame at the seat tube and top tube of the adult bicycle. Passenger seats mounted between the saddle and handlebars of an adult bicycle ("center-mounted passenger seats") have been suggested previously in the art. See, for example, Sager, U.S. Pat. No. 479,845; Sager, U.S. Pat. No. 453,212; Loewke et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,479; Bobbitt, U.S. Pat. No. 1,474,577; Christy, U.S. Pat. No. 2,234,299; Collins, U.S. Pat. No. 579,514; Reminger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,532; Robbin et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,453; Berger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,737; Darden, U.S. Pat. No. 2,448,867; and Mangan, British Patent No. 364,922. However, the prior art fails to disclose the structure of the center-mounted passenger seat for bicycle described and claimed herein, and therefore fails to achieve the advantages associated with the present invention. No prior art center-mounted passenger seat discloses engagement points at both the seat tube and the top tube of the adult bicycle, instead either (1) utilizing only one engagement point, at either the seat tube or the top tube of the adult bicycle; (2) utilizing engagement points at the top tube and at the saddle post itself, above its entry into the seat tube; or (3) utilizing engagement points at the top tube and the down tube of the adult bicycle.
The present invention, by using engagement points at both the seat tube and the top tube, combined with adjustable securing means at both points and a supporting bracket between the two points comprising a plurality of braces, can be used on most sizes and types of bicycles, and can be quickly and easily switched from a men's to a women's style bicycle. Although the distinction between men's and women's style bicycles is less obvious on some current bicycle models than it was at one time, a men's style bicycle generally is considered as one having a substantially horizontal top tube, with the top tube connecting the seat tube and the head tube. A women's style bicycle, on the other hand, is generally considered as one that has a top tube which slants towards the ground from the head tube to a connection at some point along the seat tube. The present invention also is readily adjustable to a variety of heights and angles on the adult bicycle, rather than a single position, allowing the rider to adjust the center-mounted passenger seat easily to the most desirable or comfortable position for both the rider and the passenger.
The adaptability of the present invention is achieved by the fact that, in the preferred embodiment, the forward part of the supporting bracket includes an angled forward support plate that defines separate cutouts for use with men's and women's style bicycles. The after part of the supporting bracket comprises an aft supporting member that includes a plurality of braces which may be rail-like members, as opposed to being a solid body, at least one of which passes to one side of a substantially vertical imaginary plane simultaneously intersecting the head, top, and seat tubes of a men's or women's bicycle, and at least one of which passes to the other side of the same imaginary vertical plane. These rail-like members allow use of the center-mounted passenger seat for bicycle on both men's and women's style bicycles, provide for easy height and angle adjustment, and provide increased seat stability.
By using the seat tube and the top tube as the primary engagement points, the present invention offers other distinct advantages. First, the center-mounted passenger seat is significantly more stable than prior art center-mounted passenger seats. Center-mounted passenger seats mounted solely along the top tube tend to sway and rock, as do center-mounted passenger seats mounted solely to the seat tube, with no forward engagement point. The plurality of rail-like members used in the present invention likewise adds to the stability of the passenger seat by decreasing sway, pitching from side to side, and yaw. This stability is furthered by constructing the rail-like members with shock-absorbing bends in two different directions. In the preferred embodiment, one bend is in a direction normal to an imaginary vertical plane bisecting the saddle of the bicycle. The other is in a direction substantially normal to an imaginary plane substantially parallel to the horizontal support member of the passenger seat. Center-mounted passenger seats utilizing top tube and saddle post engagement points preclude the wide variety of angle and height adjustments available in the present invention.
Another significant advantage of the present invention is that the passenger seat of the present invention can be removed easily from the bicycle. Ease of removal often is a highly desirable attribute in products used in conjunction with bicycles (e.g., quick-release wheels, quick-release saddle posts, quick-release front and rear lights). To remove the passenger seat, all that is required is that the rail bolts securing the rail-like members of the supporting bracket to the seat tube clamp on the seat tube be loosened. This is accomplished easily, as in the preferred embodiment the rail bolts are hand-operable plastic knobs. The rail-like members will slide out, and the passenger seat can be removed.
Additionally, the present invention allows an easy and rapid switch from a men's style bicycle to a women's style bicycle. For example, if parents are on a long bicycle trip with a child, both bicycles could be provided with a seat tube clamp. When one rider becomes fatigued, all that is required to move the center-mounted passenger seat from the men's style bicycle to the women's style bicycle or vice-versa is that the seat be removed from the men's style bicycle by loosening the rail bolts and withdrawing the rail-like members from the seat tube clamp, the forward support plate be switched from the men's bicycle configuration to the women's bicycle configuration, the rail-like members be inserted into the seat tube clamp of the woman's bicycle and the rail bolts tightened.
A further advantage of the invention is that with the passenger seat disconnected from the bicycle, the supporting bracket provides a means for keeping the passenger seat upright when placed on the ground, which makes the invention particularly useful when the passenger is a child. The passenger seat can thus be used to hold a child before or after the passenger seat is mounted on or removed from the bicycle, respectively; indeed, it can be mounted or removed with the child still strapped in place.

Center-mounted passenger seat for bicycle


A stool includes a seat, a primary U-shaped frame having a lower portion provided with a transverse rod, a secondary H-shaped frame pivotally connected with the primary U-shaped frame at an intermediate portion thereof, a U-shaped positioner pivotally connected to upper ends of the secondary frame, and a pair of elongated stays fixedly mounted on a bottom of the seat and provided with a primary recess dimensioned to receive an upper end of the primary frame and a secondary recess dimensioned to receive a horizontal portion of the U-shaped positioner, whereby the stool can be conveniently collapsed when not in use.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to an improved stool and in particular to one which can be conveniently collapsed when not in use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional stool for bar counters generally includes a base A, a post B, a seat C and a foot rest D.
As shown, the base A is a circular disk on the center of which is vertically mounted the post B. The seat C is arranged on the upper end of the post B, while the foot rest D is mounted on an appropriate position of the post B. However, such a stool suffers from the following drawbacks:
1. The stool cannot be folded thereby making it very inconvenient to transport and difficult to stow when not in use and therefore making it unfit for practical use.
2. The base of the stool is heavy and has a large area in order to increase its stability thus making it very difficult to move.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved stool which can obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.


A stand off brace of preferably one-piece tubular construction for use with ladders in which the brace includes a central generally V-shaped apex which is adapted to extend into and between the ladder rails such that increased rigidity between the brace and ladder is brought about.

This invention relates to a ladder attachment and more particularly to a stand off brace or stabilizer for use in connection with a standard ladder for positioning the ladder away from the work surface and increasing the effective ladder width to increase stabilization thereof and to prevent the ladder from coming in direct contact with the supporting surface, namely, the wall of the building, whether such wall is a straight wall or a corner thereof.
There are numerous ladder braces or stabilizers presently in use and contemplated which present structures such that when the brace is attached to the ladder, the ladder in its use position is outwardly spaced from the supporting wall such as of a house or other building as when maintenance such as cleaning or painting is being performed. The main idea of these braces is to provide a wider stabilizing contact surface than the ladder would normally provide and also to position the ladder a greater distance away from the supporting surface so that people will not have to lean backwards a greater extent than is safe as when cleaning gutters or reaching wall areas to work upon.
Representative of such prior art devices are those shown in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,814 issued Jun. 16, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,790 issued Jun. 10, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,218 issued Jan. 8, 1963; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,592,006 issued Apr. 8, 1952. These devices generally either rely upon removable extensions to convert the braces from flat wall to corner wall use thus complicating their structure or utilize the ladder rungs as the area to which attachment between the brace and ladder is accomplished. Attachment to ladder rungs can conceivably interfere with the user's hand grasping such a rung for support during ladder use and inherently provides point attachment which is less strong and rigid than spaced lateral attachment such as by attachment to the laterally-spaced ladder rails. Also in those prior art devices which allow for attachment to the laterally-spaced rails, such is done in a single plane where the contact between the central brace portion and the rails is a face to face point contact which can lead to slippage or require an unnecessarily tight attachment mechanism.
Accordingly there remains a need for a stabilizing brace which can operate on both flat and corner wall surfaces and which avoids the above-indicated shortcomings of the prior art and yet which is easily manufactured, straightforward to use and of a rigid, safe construction.
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by a stand off brace for a ladder having first and second side rails laterally-spaced comprising a rigid elongated frame having a pair of generally equal length first legs forwardly outwardly extending from each other so as to define a generally V-shaped central section and a pair of generally equal length legs outwardly inwardly extending from said first legs and in turn terminating in ends adapted to contact a vertically oriented wall at laterally-spaced points thereon so as to support the ladder at an outwardly spaced operational position with respect to said wall, said frame central portion adapted to extend between said ladder rails and project into and beyond the vertical plane defined thereby in said operational position with said first legs contacting said rails, and means for fixedly attaching said first legs to said rails in said position.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.


A lamp device is provided that is capable of performing a first actuation and a second actuation. At the first actuation, the lamp device pivots a lamp about a first axis relative to a support, and, at the second actuation, the lamp device pivots the lamp about a second axis, which is perpendicular to the first axis, relative to the support. The lamp includes a first supporting portion that is located on the first axis and at a side of the lamp and a second supporting portion that is located on the first axis and at the other side of the lamp. The first supporting portion is supported by the support to be pivotable about the intersection point of the first axis and the second axis. The second supporting portion is joined to a movable joint member. The movable joint member is supported by the support so as to be movable along a second actuation axis.

Conventional lamp devices that can adjust the direction of emitted light include the vehicle lamp device disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-186731. In accordance with the driving state of the vehicle, the vehicle lamp device of the above publication pivots a lamp about a first axis and a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. By pivoting the lamp about the first axis, the lamp device adjusts the direction of light emitted by the lamp substantially along the horizontal direction. By pivoting the lamp about the second axis, the lamp device adjusts the direction of the light substantially along the vertical direction.
The vehicle lamp device disclosed in the above publication has a bracket for supporting the lamp. The bracket is supported from the rear wall of the body of the lamp by means of two adjuster shafts extending along the front-rear direction of the lamp. The adjuster shafts are used for adjusting the position of the lamp along the front-rear direction so as to change the direction of light upward or downward and leftward or rightward, thereby adjusting the direction of the light to a reference direction. An actuator is fixed to the bottom of the lamp body. The actuator includes a first drive source performing a first actuation and a second drive source performing a second actuation. In the first actuation, the first drive source actuates a first output portion to pivot the lamp about the first axis. In the second actuation, the second drive source actuates a second output portion to pivot the lamp about a second axis. The distal end of the first output portion is joined to a lower portion of the lamp. The second output portion extends along the front-rear direction with its distal end pivotally joined to the rear wall of the lamp body.
In the vehicle lamp device of the above publication, the actuator incorporates both the first drive source and the second drive source, and the actuator pivots the bracket and the lamp in an integral manner about the second axis. Thus, the bracket and the actuator act as a load at the second actuation. Accordingly, the size of the second drive source is increased, which leads to a larger size for the vehicle lamp device and an increased consumption current.
In this vehicle lamp device, the lamp is supported from the rear wall of the lamp body only by three shafts, which are the two adjuster shafts and the shaft of the second output portion. Thus, the lamp is likely to be shaken upward and downward, and leftward and rightward.


An inverter that includes a first multiple-gate transistor including a source connected to a power supply, a drain connected to an output terminal, and a gate electrode; a second multiple-gate transistor including a source connected to a ground, a drain connected to the output terminal, and a gate electrode; and an input terminal connected to the gate electrodes of the first and second multiple-gate transistors. Each of the first and second multiple-gate transistors may further include a semiconductor fin formed vertically on an insulating layer on top of a substrate, a gate dielectric layer overlying the semiconductor fin, and a gate electrode wrapping around the semiconductor fin separating the source and drain regions.

The dominant semiconductor technology used for the manufacture of ultra-large scale integrated (ULSI) circuits is the metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) technology. Reduction in the size of MOSFETs has provided continued improvement in speed performance, circuit density, and cost per unit function over the past few decades. As the gate length of the conventional bulk MOSFET is reduced, the source and drain increasing interact with the channel and gain influence on the channel potential. Consequently, a transistor with a short gate length suffers from problems related to the inability of the gate to substantially control the on and off states of the channel. Phenomena such as reduced gate control associated with transistors with short channel lengths are termed short-channel effects. Increased body doping concentration, reduced gate oxide thickness, and ultra-shallow source/drain (S/D) junctions are ways to suppress short-channel effects. However, for device scaling well into the sub-50 nm regime, the requirements for body-doping concentration, gate oxide thickness, and source/drain doping profiles become increasingly difficult to meet when conventional device structures, based on bulk silicon (Si) substrates, are employed. Innovations in front-end process technologies or the introduction of alternative device structures are required to sustain the historical pace of device scaling.
For device scaling well into the sub-30 nm regime, a promising approach to controlling short-channel effects is to use an alternative device structure with multiple-gate electrodes. Examples of multiple-gate structures include the double-gate structure, triple-gate structure, omega-FET structure, and the surround-gate or wrap-around gate structure. A multiple-gate transistor structure is expected to extend the scalability of CMOS technology beyond the limitations of the conventional bulk MOSFET and realize the ultimate limit of silicon MOSFETs. The introduction of additional gates improves the capacitance coupling between the gates and the channel, increases the control of the channel potential by the gate, helps suppress short channel effects, and prolongs the scalability of the MOS transistor.
A simple example of a multiple-gate device is the double-gate MOSFET structure, where there are two gate electrodes on the opposing sides of the channel or silicon body. A one way to fabricate a double-gate MOSFET is described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,802B1, issued to Hu et al, for FinFET transistor structures having a double gate channel extending vertically from a substrate and methods of manufacture. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,802B1, the device channel comprises a thin silicon fin formed on an insulative substrate (e.g. silicon oxide) and defined by using an etchant mask. Gate oxidation is performed, followed by gate deposition and gate patterning to form a double-gate structure overlying the sides of the fin. Both the source-to-drain direction and the gate-to-gate direction are in the plane of the substrate surface. The specific device structure, the cross-section of which is illustrated in FIG. 1A, is widely recognized to be one of the most manufacturable double-gate structures. A plane view of the double-gate structure 10 is shown in FIG. 1B. The etchant mask 12 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,802B1 is retained on the fin 20 in the channel region through the process. The device width of a single fin is defined to be twice the fin height h. Multiple device widths may be achieved on the same substrate 14 by placing multiple fins 22,24 in parallel, as illustrated in device 30 in FIG. 2. An inverter circuit may be formed using N-channel and P-channel MOSFETs comprising such multiple fins. In another embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,802B1, an inverter circuit 40 is implemented using N-channel and P-channel MOSFETs 42,44 that are vertically aligned and separated by a dielectric layer 46, as illustrated in FIG. 3.
Another example of the multiple-gate transistor is the triple-gate transistor 50. The cross-section of the triple-gate transistor structure 50 is illustrated in FIG. 4A. The plane view of the triple-gate structure 50 is shown in FIG. 4C. The triple-gate transistor structure 50 has three gates: one gate on the top surface 52 of the silicone body/fin, and two gates on the sidewalls 54,56 of the silicon body/fin. The triple-gate device achieves better gate control than the double-gate device because it has one more gate on the top surface 52 of the silicon fin.
While there is some work on the design and fabrication of multiple-gate devices such as the double-gate and triple-gate devices, there is little work on circuits, such as inverter circuits, configured using such devices. The relentless pursuit of high-performance has pushed logic and circuit designers to utilize every delay and area optimization technique at their disposal. However, the optimization of circuits, such as inverter circuits, incorporating multiple-gate transistors has not been addressed. Traditionally, in logic synthesis, delay optimization techniques have heavily relied on gate sizing algorithms which vary drive strengths of gates to optimize circuit delay. Since the delay in CMOS logic circuits not only depends on the drive strengths of each stage, but also on the width ratio of the P-channel and N-channel devices (P/N width ratio), it is crucial to make available a simple method to provide optimal P/N width ratios for inverters incorporating multiple-gate transistors.
Referring back to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a double-gate MOSFET structure 10 is shown. FIG. 1A shows the cross-sectional view of the double-gate MOSFET 10 through its channel region where the semiconductor fin 20 forms the channel and a gate electrode 16 straddles over the semiconductor fin 20, forming two gates 26,28, one on each of the two sidewalls 36,38 of the semiconductor fin 20. The plane view of the double-gate MOSFET structure 10 is shown in FIG. 1B. The width of a double-gate MOSFET formed using a single semiconductor fin is two times the fin height h, that is, the width of the double-gate MOSFET is equal to 2h. Varying the fin width for the double-gate MOSFET has no effect on the device width. Multiple device widths may be achieved on the same substrate by placing multiple fins in parallel. FIG. 2A shows the cross-sectional view of two double-gate MOSFETs connected in parallel. The width of the resulting parallel connection of two double-gate MOSFETs 4h.
FIG. 4A shows the cross-sectional view of a triple-gate transistor 50 through the channel region. The triple-gate transistor is similar to the double-gate transistor except for the absence of the mask on the top surface 52 of the semiconductor fin 20. The gate dielectric 58 wraps around the semiconductor fin 20 on three sides, and the gate electrode 48 straddles over the fin 20. The gate electrode 48 forms three gates: a gate 62 on the top surface 52 of the semiconductor fin 20 and a gate 64,66 on each of the two sidewalls 54,56 of the fin. The device width of the triple-gate MOSFET 50 is given by the sum of the fin width and twice the fin height, e.g. (2h+w). Note that in this device structure, a variation of the fin width w changes the device width. The value of fin width w may be varied by altering the layout as schematically illustrated in FIG. 4C. A three-dimensional perspective of the triple-gate MOSFET 50 is shown in FIG. 5A.
Triple-gate transistors may have a recessed insulator layer for improved gate control, as illustrated in FIG. 4B. Such a structure is also known as the Omega field-effect transistor (FET), or simply omega-FET, since the gate electrode has an omega-shape in its cross-sectional view. The encroachment of the gate electrode under the semiconductor fin or body forms an omega-shaped gate structure. It closely resembles the gate-all-around (GAA) transistors for excellent scalability, and uses a manufacturable process similar to that of the double-gate or triple-gate transistor. The omega-FET has a top gate 62, two sidewall gates 64,66, and special gate extensions or encroachments 68 under the semiconductor body. The omega-FET is therefore a field effect transistor with a gate that almost wraps around the body. In fact, the longer the gate extension, e.g. the greater the extent of the encroachment E, the more the structure approaches or resembles the gate-all-around structure. A three-dimensional perspective of the triple-gate transistor 50 with recessed insulator, or omega-FET, is schematically illustrated in FIG. 5B. The encroachment of the gate electrode 48 under the silicon body helps to shield the channel from electric field lines from the drain and improves gate-to-channel controllability, thus alleviating the drain-induced barrier lowering effect and improving short-channel performance. The encroachment 68 of the gate electrode under the silicon body relies on an undercut 88 of the insulator layer 18 on the substrate 14, thus forming an undercut 88 in the substrate 14 at the base of the silicon body. It should be noted that the device width of the omega-FET is given by the sum of the fin width w, twice the fin height h, and twice the encroachment E. Therefore, the device width is given by (w+2h+2E). A variation of the fin width for the omega-FET changes the device width.
The plane view showing the triple-gate transistor of FIG. 4A, or the omega-FET of FIG. 4B, is shown in FIG. 4C. Both cross-sections in FIGS. 4A and 4B are drawn along line A–A′.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inverter formed of multiple-gate metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for fabricating an inverter by multiple-gate metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors.

CMOS inverters configured using multiple-gate transistors


The embodiments herein relates to a method in a first network node for handling operation mode of a base station in a communications network. The communications network comprises a transport network. The first network node activates a Remote Unit-Main Unit, RU-MU, operation mode in the base station when data traffic load in the transport network is below a first threshold. The first network node activates a regular operation mode in the base station when the data traffic load in the transport network is above a second threshold.

In a typical communications network, also referred to as a wireless communication network, communication system or wireless communication system, a User Equipment (UE), communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more Core Networks (CNs).
A user equipment is a device by which a subscriber may access services offered by an operator network and services outside operator's network to which the operators radio access network and core network provide access, e.g. access to the Internet. The user equipment may be any device, mobile or stationary, enabled to communicate over a radio channel in the communications network, for instance but not limited to e.g. mobile phone, smart phone, sensors, meters, vehicles, household appliances, medical appliances, media players, cameras, or any type of consumer electronic, for instance but not limited to television, radio, lighting arrangements, tablet computer, laptop or Personal Computer (PC). The user equipment may be portable, pocket storable, hand held, computer comprised, or vehicle mounted user equipments, enabled to communicate voice and/or data, via the radio access network, with another entity, such as another user equipment or a server.
User equipments are enabled to communicate wirelessly with the network. The communication may be performed e.g. between two user equipments, between a user equipment and a regular telephone and/or between the user equipment and a server via the radio access network and possibly one or more core network nodes and possibly the Internet.
The radio access network covers a geographical area which is divided into cell areas, with each cell area, or group of cell areas, being served by a base station, e.g. a Radio Base Station (RBS), which in some radio access networks is also called evolved NodeB (eNB), NodeB, B node or base station. A cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the base station at a base station site. Thus, the communications network may also be referred to as a cellular network. The base stations communicate over the air interface with the user equipments within range of the base stations. The base station will be referred to as BS in some of the drawings.
A technology that is gaining ground in current communications networks is the use of Remote Radio Units (RRU), also known Remote Radio Heads (RRH). With this concept a base station is split into one part for the lower layer radio related mechanisms and another part for the higher layers, e.g. baseband processing. The former are called RRUs, RRHs or simply Remote Units (RUs), and are geographically distributed to the antenna sites, or close to the antenna sites, while the latter is deployed as a pooled resource cluster in a more central site, e.g. so-called baseband hotels. The centrally located part is called Main Unit (MU). Hence, this concept may also be referred to as RU-MU operation mode. RU-MU operation mode involves reduced hardware cost and reduced energy consumption, as a result of hardware pooling gains. A disadvantage of the concept is that RU-MU operation mode requires more transport network transmission capacity than regular operation mode and thus relies on the presence of (preferably cheap) high data rate transport network connections between the central site and the remote sites. Regular operation mode refers to a regular base station where the functionality of both the MU and the RU is integrated in the base station (in which case the terms "MU" and "RU" are not used).
A network deployment strategy which sometimes fits very well with RU-MU operation mode is the so-called heterogeneous networks deployment strategy, which is more or less generally assumed to be dominant in future communications networks. In a heterogeneous network large and small cells, high power and low power base stations/access points are mixed with each other in a largely overlapping fashion. Different cells may also employ different Radio Access Technologies (RATs), such as LTE FDD and LTE TDD, other RATs of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family. Other RATs of the 3GPP family may be Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)/High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and/or Global System for Mobile communication (GSM)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)/Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and non-3GPP RATs, e.g. the IEEE 802.11x family (where "x" may be e.g. "a", "b", "g" or "n") RATs or 3GPP2 RATs, e.g. Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000). LTE is short for Long Term Evolution, FDD is short for Frequency Division Duplex and TDD is short for Time Division Duplex. IEEE is short for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
In a heterogeneous network the same location is often covered (i.e. within the radio transmission and reception coverage area) by more than one cell and base station or access point. Pico cells, also referred to as the pico cell layer (or pico layer) are often deployed to provide greater capacity in hotspot areas with dense user population and intense wireless communication, while macro cells, also referred to as the macro cell layer (or macro layer) provide the overall wide area coverage. Pico and femto cells, as well as RRUs may also be deployed to improve coverage in locations which are poorly covered by the macro cell layer, e.g. indoors.
Another topic that currently receives a lot of attention in the communications network industry is the importance of energy efficiency, both for the purpose of reducing Operational EXpenses (OPEX) and in order to save the environment by reducing the CO2 footprint of communications networks. Another motive is to create goodwill for the operators and for the industry as a whole.
Combining heterogeneous networks and energy efficiency provides opportunities to leverage the greater number of base stations and the layered cell architecture of heterogeneous networks which often have overlapping coverage areas. To this end, schemes have been proposed where some cells of one layer, e.g. pico cells, are powered down (put in sleep mode) when the data traffic load and resource demands are low enough for the macro layer to handle. This principle may be used even in a non-overlapping scenario, where instead the coverage areas of neighboring cells are extended, either by tilting up the antennas or utilizing reconfigurable antenna system techniques or adaptive antenna mechanisms, so that they cover the area of a cell that is currently in sleep mode.
Sleep mode may be utilized on various time scales and various levels in terms of affected hardware. The sleep mode may affect the entire base station, the part of the base station responsible for a certain cell, the transmission equipment, including the Power Amplifier (PA), or single circuit boards or components being part of pooled equipment. The time scale may be hours, e.g. shutting down an entire base station during nighttime, all the way down to milliseconds, e.g. putting single components, or even the PA, into sleep mode on an LTE subframe basis. In order to carry information of different types between the base station and the user equipment, the LTE system has a defined LTE frame and subframe structure for the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), i.e. the air interface for LTE. A frame may have a certain length, e.g. 10 ms, and the frame is divided into a number of individual slots. A LTE subframe comprises two time slots.
Such energy saving sleep mode strategies may be utilized even in deployments where the coverage is not taken over by higher layer or neighboring cells. Potential scenarios may be low load periods (even empty cells which are not uncommon) or in combination with controlled Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) strategies where the user equipments in the cell know when to expect and when not to expect transmissions, such as reference signals and system information, from the base station. On-demand wakeup of sleeping cells to be ready to receive user equipments handed over from neighbor cells is another mechanism that may be used in conjunction with energy saving based on sleep mode.
A problem with the RU-MU operation mode concept is that the cheap high-rate transmission capacity in the transport network that the concept relies on is often not available. Instead, the transport network capacity is often more or less fully, or at least to a large degree, utilized during periods of high data traffic load. This limits the potential deployment scenarios for RU-MU operation mode and hence the full potential of hardware and energy saving cannot be leveraged.

Method for handling the operation mode of a base station


The disclosure relates to a blower housing component with a housing body and a mounting flange extending radially outward from the housing body, at which mounting flange multiple mounting points are arranged for mounting the blower housing component, which mounting points are evenly spaced in the circumferential direction, wherein radial ribs extending radially in a straight line along the mounting flange are formed between the housing body and the mounting points, and wherein the radial ribs are intersected by tangential ribs extending along the mounting flange, which tangential ribs extend tangentially to the housing body between two of the mounting points, respectively, and connect the two mounting points, respectively.

The disclosure relates to a blower housing component with a housing body and a mounting flange extending radially outward from the housing, at which mounting flange multiple mounting points are arranged for mounting the blower housing component to a gas blower, which mounting points are evenly spaced in the circumferential direction. Such blower housing components with gas connection are known from the state of the art and are frequently made of plastic. In this context, we have found that it is necessary to ensure that the stiffness is sufficiently high and material use is low.

Reinforced blower housing component for arrangement on a gas blower


Techniques for automatically detecting objects left behind. An example method includes receiving video frames of a scene from a three-dimensional (3D) camera and establishing, based on 3D depths associated with the video frames, a background of the scene. The method also includes detecting, in the frames, a foreground blob in the scene based on the foreground blob having a 3D depth that is different from the background. The method further includes detecting that the foreground blob has separated into a blob corresponding to a person and a second blob corresponding to an object, based on the person having a 3D depth that is different from the object. The method additionally includes determining that the person has been separated from the object for a threshold, and responsive to determining that the person has been separated from the object for the threshold, generating an alert indicating that the object is left behind.

Challenges exist when attempting to accurately and automatically detect objects left behind in busy environments (such as, for example, airport terminals, banks, schools, retail locations, or busy public spaces). Object Left Behind detection (i.e., abandoned object detection) can be a challenging problem to solve. Detecting objects left behind in a scene is not easy with traditional computer vision methods or presently known deep learning methods. The main problem is detecting an object has been introduced into a crowded scene and detecting the owner has abandoned it. The type of the object or degree of congestion in the scene may confuse traditional methods. The color of the object or type of object may confuse traditional methods.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved systems, methods and techniques for automatically detecting objects left behind.


An improvement for mole chaser includes a stem houses a motor to drive a rotary means within a hollow impact unit. The impact unit has a plural number of curved bulges located therein. The rotary unit has movable impact members eccentrically located thereon. Motor rotation will drive the impact members hitting the bulges because of centrifugal force and cause the stem to produce strong vibration and audio frequency to scare away the moles. The eccentric impact member may hit the bulges and bounce back without damage.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement for a mole chaser and particularly to a mole chaser which employs a motor to drive a rotation member for producing impact force to generate vibration and audio frequency to scare away moles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional mole chaser such as the one disclosed under U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,066 (as shown in FIG. 1) includes an audio frequency circuit to produce the desired function. According to the circuitry shown in FIG. 1, the power supply passes RI to charge PIN 7 of IC 555 in a cyclic and periodic manner; the charging and discharging coefficient are about in a ratio of 1:7. The power passes D2 to supply the PIN 6 of IC 555 to generate an oscillation which is coupled with C2 to generate a charging and discharging cycle of 1-2 seconds. C2 charges PIN 7 through R2 and D1 to provide a triggering level. When a comparative level is reached, PIN 2 will make a reset. An output of driving voltage will be generated on PIN 3 to drive a buzzer 3406 to generate an audio vibration at a frequency ranging from 300 to 400 HZ on a main stem 10 so as to provide a chaser effect to moles. As the audio frequency is generated by the vibration of the main stem driven indirectly through the buzzer, the intensity will diminish during transmission. The mole chasing effect is limited to small range and is not effective.