Embodiments herein relate to a method in a network node configured in an optical network for enabling a first unit to connect ad-hoc to a second unit in a system configured for remote radio units and main units. The network node receives a connection request from the first unit over the optical network. The network node establishes a connection, to the first unit, for retrieving control data. The network node stores control data regarding the first unit. The control data is retrieved from the first unit over the established connection and wherein the control data enables the first unit to connect/be connected ad-hoc to the second unit for transferring user data over a physical path through the optical network.

In today's radio communications networks a number of different technologies are used, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications/Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations. A radio communications network comprises Radio Base Stations (RBS) providing radio coverage over at least one respective geographical area forming a cell. The cell definition may also incorporate frequency bands used for transmissions, which means that two different cells may cover the same geographical area but using different frequency bands. User equipments (UE) are served in the cells by the respective radio base station and are communicating with respective radio base station. The user equipments transmit data over an air or radio interface to the radio base stations in uplink (UL) transmissions and the radio base stations transmit data over an air or radio interface to the user equipments in downlink (DL) transmissions.
A system configured for remote radio units and main units for mobile backhaul separates a radio base station into main units (MU), also referred to as base band units, and remote radio units (RRUs), connected via e.g. an optical network. The MUs may be centralized and located e.g. 10's of km from the remote radio units, which remote radio units are placed close to the radio antennas, e.g. in antenna masts. This will minimize feeder and jumper losses between antenna and remote radio units, which is often a major challenge to address in most radio communications networks, in particular to enhance the uplink capacity of mobile services. This system configured for remote radio units and main units is gaining significant interest and has some clear advantages, e.g. when it comes to installation of the remote radio units close to the antennas.
The interface between the main units and remote radio units is typically an optical Non-Return to Zero (NRZ) signal, which is a sampled In-phase Quadrature (I/Q) air interface waveform. Sampling the air waveform makes the remote radio unit implementation relatively simple but leads to very high bitrates of the optical signal, in the order of 1.25 Gbps per antenna. In parallel, advances in e.g. metro and aggregation optical networks enable seamless and common control and management planes to be established between the Packet and Optical domain, e.g. through the use of Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS). Combined with convergence of optical solutions on both sides of the metro/access network divide, e.g. Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM) or WDM-Passive Optical Network (PON), this creates new dynamics in the relations between transport and radio network solutions of tomorrow.
A Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) specifies a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) like protocol for Radio Base Station (RBS) configurations in a system configured for remote radio units and main units over a first layer. The application of CPRI between the main units and the remote radio units is static, i.e. determined as the RBS is deployed, and its configuration is only changed as part of a predetermined topology involving the main units and the remote radio units.
The CPRI defines a Master/Slave protocol which is used to connect a Radio Entity Controller (REC), a Radio Entity (RE). In a typical configuration, the REC will be used in a Main Unit to control RE(s) in remote radio units.
A typical location of remote radio units has a plurality of remote radio units and antennas. To reduce the required number of fibers connected to the location of remote radio units, the remote radio units are daisy-chained, i.e. wired together in sequence or in a ring, to generate a multiplexed digital signal of up to 10 Gbps, which is also the highest rate supported by the protocol generally used between a remote radio unit and a main unit, i.e. the CPRI. A more complex CPRI setup with adjacent remote radio units communicating in cascade is today used, and then a middle-remote radio unit between a main unit and remote radio unit is acting both as a Master Port, towards the remote radio unit, and a Slave Port, towards the main unit, so as to support multiplexing/demultiplexing of a CPRI stream. Whatever topology is used, the CPRI specification includes calibration facilities to enable Master-Slaves to negotiate on CPRI rates to use, including calculating offsets so that different distances between antennas and main units may be factored in before transmission over the air interface. CPRI also allows for re-calibration to occur if necessary.
The relationship between the main unit and the remote radio unit is static. Thus, there are no means for either the main unit or the remote radio unit to announce its presence and preferences to its environment, prior to connecting to another appropriate main/remote radio unit of this environment. In CPRI today, when connecting entities to one another, by definition the topology has already been determined prior to this. First, physical topologies are established between the main unit and remote radio units in a daisy chain manner. Next, the main unit and remote radio units communicate and create CPRI connections between one another according to a master and slave protocol. There are no ways to connect remote radio units and main units ad-hoc to one another.

Network node and a method therein enabling a first unit to connect or to be connected ad-hoc to a second unit


The invention is in a composition and process for the chromium free passivating postrinsing of conversion layers on metals before the application of a paint or adhesive. The conversion layers can be on the bases of phosphate layers, at least two polyvalent metal ions with complex formers, titanium, zirconium and/or hafnium. The postrinsing agent is an aqueous solution which has been adjusted to a pH value of up to 5 and which contains an aluminum fluorozirconate having an Al:Zr:F mole ratio of (0.15 to 8.0):1:(5 to 52), and in which solutions the total concentration of Al+Zr+F is 0.1 to 8.0 g/l. The postrinsing solutions may additionally contain at least one of the anions benzoate, caprylate, ethyl hexoate, salicylate in a total concentration of 0.05 to 0.5 g/1 and may preferably be adjusted to the required pH value with cations of volatile bases, such as ammonium, ethanolammonium and di- and triethanolammonium. The paint is subsequently applied suitably by cathodic electrocoating or powder coating or from a low-solvent high-solids paint.. The rinsing treatment is over a period of 1 to 120 seconds at temperatures of 20.degree. to 80.degree. C. The invention is used as a pretreatment to the application of a paint coating, film coating or adhesive coating.

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 484,730, filed Feb. 23, 1990.
The present invention relates to passivating postrinsing of conversion layers on metals, particularly steel, galvanized steel, zinc alloy-plated steel and aluminum, with a chromium-free aqueous solution before the application of a paint or adhesive.
The application of conversion layers is industrially employed on a large scale for the preparation of metal surfaces for a subsequent application of paint. The conversion layers thus formed result, inter alia, in an improved adhesion of the paint films on the metals, an increased resistance to corrosion and an inhibition of subsurface corrosion which might be initiated at damaged portions of the paint film. The conversion layers are those known as phosphate layers, those formed by an alkaline solution which contains at least two different polyvalent metal ions and those formed using a solution based on titanium, zirconium and/or hafnium ions. The protective properties of the conversion layers may further be improved by a passivating postrinsing with an aqueous fluid.
Desirable properties from the aspect of application technology are obtained from a passivating postrinsing with fluids which contain hexavalent and/or trivalent chromium. However, toxicity of the trivalent and particularly of the hexavalent chromium compounds is often regarded as a disadvantage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,000 describes a chromium-free postrinsing agent which contains a comparatively high concentration of polyvinylphenol. The use of this agent results in an undesired pollution of the sewage, particularly because a large amount of oxygen is required for the decomposition.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,942 discloses the use of soluble zirconium components for an aftertreatment of conversion layers. In addition to zirconium, the postrinsing agents contain cations consisting of alkali and ammonium. The reference contains an explicit warning against the use of alkaline earth metal cations. These postrinsing agents, which are used at a pH value from 3 to 8.5, do not result in the same quality as the chromium-containing agents.
U.S. Pat. No.3,895,970 describes acid aqueous postrinsing agents for treating phosphate layers. Such agents containing simple or complex fluorides and chromium-zirconium fluoride and zirconium fluoride are mentioned as zirconium compounds. With the exception of chromium-zirconium fluoride, the products mentioned in that patent will meet only medium requirements. Chromium-zirconium fluoride has the above-mentioned disadvantage that it is toxic.
A process for producing a conversion layer on a surface of zinc or zinc alloy followed in a subsequent stage by rinsing with a rinsing solution is known from DE-C-1 521 854 in particular as a pretreatment prior to a paint coating or film coating procedure.
In order to form a layer on a zinc or zinc alloy surface, the process known from DE-C-1 521 854 makes use of an aqueous alkaline solution which contains ions of one or more of the metals silver, magnesium, cadmium, aluminum, tin, titanium, antimony, molybdenum, chromium, cerium, tungsten, manganese, cobalt, iron and nickel as so-called non-alkaline metal ions. Solutions which contain ions of iron or cobalt with one or more of the listed metals as ions are considered to be particularly suitable. Moreover, the solutions contain organic complex former in a sufficient amount so as to maintain the non-alkaline metal ions in solution. The conversion layers formed by means of these ions have increased corrosion resistance and improved adherence of subsequently applied organic coatings. The metal surfaces on which the conversion layers are formed show improved corrosion resistance and adherence when rinsed with a solution containing an acid, hexavalent chromium and, optionally, additional trivalent chromium.
Although that process for producing a conversion layer on a zinc or zinc alloy surface provides good corrosion protection and paint adherence, the use of tri- and, in particular, hexavalent chromium ions in a passivating rinsing solution is disadvantageous due to the toxicity and the necessary special waste disposal of the hexavalent chromium (chromate detoxification).
Industrial production of conversion layers on aluminum or aluminum alloy surfaces, in particular as a pretreatment prior the application of an organic coating, also is practiced extensively. Conversion layers of this kind prevent or inhibit corrosion, and in case of an organic coating, provide an improved adherence of the applied coating. Well known chromating layers meet these requirements to a sufficient extent. However, for hygienic reasons at the work place, for reasons of environmental protection, and since the treated material is used for special purposes such as the packing of foods, the production of chromium-free conversion layers is increasingly preferred. The treatment solutions used for this purpose are generally adjusted to an acid pH value and contain, for example, titanium, fluoride, phosphate and tannin (U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,334) or zirconium, fluoride, and boron (U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,936). A treatment solution containing hafnium and fluoride is described in FR 2,417,537.

Process for a passivating postrinsing of conversion layers


It is an object to provide polypeptide compositions originating from silk protein which have not only excellent cell growth-promoting activity associated with undegraded silk fibroin and sericin, the fibroin H-chain and L-chain, or the a component of sericin, but also excellent touch, extensibility, and the like inherent in fibroin and sericin having a molecular weight not higher than 200,000. A method for producing functional polypeptide compositions originating from silk protein having an average molecular weight not lower than 10,000 and not higher than 200,000 and being excellent for cell growth-promoting activity, extensibility and the like, comprising; solubilizing a raw silk protein material from the domesticated silkworm or Antheraea yamamai in an aqueous solution of neutral salt, the raw silk protein material having an average molecular weight larger than 200,000 and at least a part or the whole of the H-chain and L-chain of silk fibroin and sericin a left undegraded in the case of the raw silk protein material from the domesticated silkworm; treating subsequently the solution with a peptide bond-cleaving agent; and cleaving peptide bonds between specific amino acid residues of silk protein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to functional polypeptide compositions originating from silk protein excellent for promoting cell growth, extensibility and the like, a production method thereof and use thereof in the fields of medicament, quasi drug, cosmetics as a material for skin care, food and the like.
2. Description of the related Art
Since silk threads have been used as a surgical suture from the old days, silk protein is regarded as a biocompatible material, and developments have recently become active for new uses of silk threads in various fields other than that of clothing.
For example, as available fields, silk threads are solubilized to form an aqueous silk protein solution, followed by conversion to powder by coagulation, drying, grinding, etc., for additives of cosmetics; the aqueous silk protein solution is made into a film-like material by casting on a plate and the like for cell culture bed, wound-covering and coating material; and the aqueous silk protein solution is made into a gel-like material for use in food and cosmetics. The developments of these uses are pursued (see Patent literatures 1 to 11).
As described above, silk materials are processed and used in the forms of powder, film, gel and the like after silk threads are solubilized to form an aqueous silk protein solution.
In the processes of these silk materials, neutral salt is mainly used for solubilizing silk threads. However, there is no description that the aqueous solution of neutral salt of silk protein has a property of human cell growth promotion.
Further, during the development of new silk materials, it has come to be said that silk protein has a variety of functions such as cell growth, antioxidation, germicidal action, alcohol digestion and anticoagulation of blood.
The present inventors paid attention to the cell growth function associated with silk protein and have pursued the development and study of understanding of its function with the aim of utilizing cocoon filaments or silk threads as a skin care material for wound-covering materials and cosmetics after these are solubilized and then converted into powder, film, gel and the like (see Patent literatures 12 to 14).
Furthermore, the present inventors had separated, purified and recovered the components constituting silk protein and evaluated their functions, studying which site or structure in silk protein was responsible for the cell growth function. As the result, it was found that the fibroin H-chain (see Patent literature 15) and L-chain (see Patent literature 16) and the a component of sericin (see Patent literature 17), both constituting silk protein, have a growth-promoting action on fibroblasts originating from normal human skin.
They are particularly excellent for cell adhesion in the cell growth process.
Fibroin in which the H- and L-chains are held together via SS bonds having a molecular weight of 370,000 daltons and the sericin a having a molecular weight of 400,000 daltons are called undegraded silk protein.
On the other hand, silk threads are used for fiber, besides the field of clothing, in the fields of medical care (surgical suture for surgery), cosmetics (puff) and the like.
It has recently been recognized that the molecular weight of silk protein decreases during these processes of cocoon and raw silk.
Moreover, in the processes of converting cocoon filaments or silk threads into powder, film, gel and the like (particularly, the solubilizing process of cocoon filaments or silk threads), the molecular weight of silk proteins was found to decrease (see Patent literatures 18 and 19).
An electrophoretogram of silk protein with molecular weight decreased by conventional processes of silk shows only a broad band with a smear in a molecular weight range between 10,000 and 200,000 daltons.
Degraded products of silk protein having lower than ca. 5,000 daltons are eliminated during the processes of dialysis and the like. Therefore, it is considered that the molecular weight of silk protein has been decreased up to amino acid and peptide levels during the processes. Here, polypeptide means having amino acid residues not less than 30 and peptide means having amino acid residues less than 30.
In addition, it has been found that silk proteins with reduced molecular weights in such ways are reduced in growth-promoting activity for human cells (see Patent literature 14). As to the cell growth rates of silk fibroin and sericin, they show highest values in their undegraded states. When an average molecular weight is decreased to about 200,000 daltons, the cell growth rate becomes about half of that at the time when they are in undegraded states, and when the molecular weight is decreased to 20,000 to 40,000 daltons, the cell growth-promoting activity is hardly present.
This reason may be that substances inhibiting cell growth are generated as their molecular weights are reduced.
As to the reasons for the inhibition of cell growth by silk protein, it is considered that peptide bonds of protein are generally cleaved in a complex fashion and heterogeneously by acid, alkali, light (ultraviolet light, radiation and the like), heat or the like, thereby reducing its molecular weight, or that modification of the side chains of amino acid residues (oxidization, halogenation, deamidation or the like) takes place, or the like.
In other words, treatment with acid, alkali, light, heat or the like during the steps of silk processing causes reduction in the molecular weights due to cleavage of nonspecific peptide bonds as well as increased inhibition of cell growth in spite of excellence for cell growth promotion of undegraded fibroin and sericin.
Accordingly, in order to use the function of cell growth promotion of silk protein, it is preferred to use undegraded silk fibroin, sericin, the H-chain (about 350,000 daltons) and L-chain of fibroin, sericin a (about 400,000 daltons), or the like.
However, when the physical properties of silk protein are taken into consideration, fibroin and sericin in solution have properties that the higher the molecular weights of fibroin and sericin are, the more easily they become fibers (crystallization) by shear at the time of vibration or stirring.
Substances transformed to fibers become water insoluble aggregates.
In particular, undegraded silk protein (fibroin and/or sericin) tends to form gel (soft crystal containing water) in solution even if there is no shear.
An aqueous solution of silk protein having a molecular weight not lower than 200,000 daltons dissolved with a neutral salt becomes gel during desalting.
The gel gradually hardens, and it becomes harder when it is stirred.
Fine fiber formation easily takes place by a slight shear as described above, which causes to lower availability (touch, extensibility) of ointment and cosmetics (cream, emulsion, conditioner, and the like), resulting in poor applicability to skin care materials.
For example, when an aqueous solution of undegraded fibroin or an aqueous solution of fibroin having a molecular weight larger than ca. 300,000 daltons is lightly rubbed on hands, water insoluble aggregates of about 0.5 to 2 mm are easily formed. Even if it has a molecular weight of about 200,000 daltons or larger, aggregates are formed when it is rubbed hard, presenting lack of extensibility.
On the other hand, as the molecular weight of silk protein decreases, fiber formation by friction and the like may not occur.
In particular, when a molecular weight of silk protein becomes lower than 200,000 daltons, particularly from 50,000 to 100,000 daltons, no fiber aggregates in a ball shape are not formed even if the aqueous silk protein solution is rubbed hard. For this reason, the silk protein can become an excellent material in physical properties as a material for cosmetics or the like.
However, in silk threads for silk fabric and the like obtained by conventional cocoon processing, the H-chain of fibroin cannot be confirmed and the L-chain thereof is degraded to a level hardly confirmed.
The cell growth-promoting activity of such fibroin is about half of or less than half of undegraded fibroin.
The function of cell growth of silk protein is decreased to less than or equal to one-half of that of undegraded silk protein. However, fibroin and sericin have been used as their molecular weights were reduced during the silk manufacturing processes or the like.
In other words, the conventional uses of silk fibroin and sericin were aimed at their easy use and availability rather than their cell growth properties, and fibroin and sericin having molecular weights lower than 200,000, mainly less than 100,000, have been used.    [Patent Literature 1]    Kokoku (Jpn. examined patent publication) No. 40-24920    [Patent Literature 2]    Kokai (Jpn. unexamined patent publication) No. 62-415    [Patent Literature 3]    Kokoku (Jpn. examined patent publication) No. 1-44320    [Patent Literature 4]    Kokai (Jpn. unexamined patent publication) No. 1-254164    [Patent Literature 5]    Kokai (Jpn. unexamined patent publication) No. 1-256351    [Patent Literature 6]    Kokoku (Jpn. examined patent publication) No. 4-202435    [Patent Literature 7]    Kokoku (Jpn. examined patent publication) No. 5-83292    [Patent Literature 8]    Kokoku (Jpn. examined patent publication) No. 6-4679    [Patent Literature 9]    Kokai (Jpn. unexamined patent publication) No. 8-143595    [Patent Literature 10]    Kokai (Jpn. unexamined patent publication) No. 11-139986    [Patent Literature 11]    Kokai (Jpn. unexamined patent publication) No. 11-276876    [Patent Literature 12]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,758    [Patent Literature 13]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,239    [Patent Literature 14]    Patent application No. 2002-230656    [Patent Literature 15]    Kokai (Jpn. unexamined patent publication) No. 2001-163899    [Patent Literature 16]    patent application No. 2001-180169 (WO02/102845A1 WO publication)    [Patent Literature 17]    Kokai (Jpn. unexamined patent publication) No. 2002-128691    [Nonpatent Literature 1]    By H. Yamada et al.: Materials Science & Engineering C, 14, P. 41–46 (2001)    [Nonpatent Literature 2]    K. Tsubouchi, H. Yamada, Y. Takasu: The Japanese Society of Sericulture Science academic journal Vol. 71, No. 1, P. 1–5 (2002)

Production of functional polypeptides originating from silk protein and use thereof

National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences


An endpoint protection system is provided. The system comprises: an endpoint agent deployed to an endpoint device, wherein the endpoint agent is built-into one or more existing applications running on the endpoint device and is configured to capture network session activity between the endpoint device and one or more internet servers to detect a phishing attack using a set of machine learning algorithm trained classifiers, and block the phishing attack; and an endpoint management system in remote communication with the endpoint agent, wherein the endpoint management system is configured to train and develop the set of classifiers, and receive information about the detected phishing attack and an incident report from the endpoint agent, the endpoint agent provides a graphical user interface running on the endpoint device allowing an end user to configure one or more protections provided by the endpoint agent.

Modern day hackers can attempt to infiltrate computer systems using a variety of network-based cyber attacks. These malicious attacks can be conducted to perform different types of malicious activities like Data Theft, Spam, Click-Fraud, Espionage, Ransom, Data Destruction etc. Although anti-virus software has been available since the late 1990's and more recently, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Sandbox based Web MPS, and Next Generation Firewalls have attempted to add protection against certain attacks such as, for example certain types of malware, none of these systems has been able to provide sufficient protection against the current generation of cyber attacks.
There are many types of network-based cyber attacks including for example Drive-By Exploits, Malicious Binaries, Data Exfiltration, Social Engineering and Credential Stealing Attacks. Modern day hackers try to infiltrate computer systems using a variety of attacks including but not limited to Drive-by Exploits, Malicious Binaries, Data Exfiltration, Social Engineering and Credential Stealing attacks.
These malicious attacks can be delivered through multiple types of protocols like HTTP, HTTPS/TLS/SSL, SMB, RPC, FTP, SMTP, DNS etc. designed to target multiple types of operating systems like Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, IOT devices and SCADA systems.
Drive-By Exploits usually try to compromise users' browsers by exploiting a variety of software vulnerabilities within browsers' code, plugins and operating system underneath. End goal is to exploits these vulnerabilities and run a remote shell code within browse memory that can download and install additional malicious executables on the compromised system. Most of these software exploits are delivered through malicious web sites using HTTP or HTTPS protocols. Executables delivered through these exploits can be of different types depending on the target OS, like Widows PE format, Linux ELF, OSX MACH-O, Android APK etc.
Malicious binaries are standard OS executable used to compromise a system permanently. Malicious executables or binaries can be of different types depending on the target OS, like Windows PE format, Linux ELF, MACH-O, APK designed to carry different types of malicious activities like Data Theft, Spam, Click-Fraud, Espionage, Ransom, Data Destruction etc. These malicious binaries can be delivered to target systems though Drive-by or Social Engineering Attacks (SEAs). In some cases, a malicious binary can be downloaded and installed by malware already installed on the system to increase the attacks surface or as an update.
Data Exfiltration is the end game for most of the cyber attacks, the aim of the attackers is often to steal Victim's personal information once this information is gathered from the infected machine or from the surrounding network. It is uploaded to a remote location controlled by hackers. Sometime this data exfiltration phase is done directly through installed malicious binaries or a human threat actor can remotely log into the machine through a planted backdoor and upload this information manually. Attackers use protocols of their choice to exfiltrate this data, most common choices are HTTP, HTTPS/TLS/SSL, FTP and the like.
Credential Stealing Attacks are an effective way to snatch someone's confidential information. Hacker's create a look-a-like web page matching different brands' (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft etc.) Sign-in, Sign-up, Password recovery pages etc. and send victim a deceiving email or instant message linking to this fake page. When the victim reads the message, the fake page is displayed for the victim. If the victim doesn't pay close attention to the URL or security certificate of the page, he/she would enter confidential information onto the fake page—resulting in real time transfer of the user's sensitive information to attackers.
Anti-virus software has been available since the late 1990's. More recently, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Sandbox based Web MPS and Next Generation Firewalls have attempted to add protection against certain types of malware. These devices commonly depend on two detection technologies for detecting malware: signatures and sandboxes. Unfortunately, both of these detection mechanisms are easily circumvented by the current generation of cyber-attacks.
In addition, a variety of malicious activities including cyber attacks can be performed with the help of malicious servers. These malicious servers are online hosts that are set up and controlled by cyber criminals and can be set up to serve malware binaries, exploits, social engineering, and/or credential stealing attacks. Some of these servers can act as mother-ships that malware can use to retrieve commands and to upload stolen data after successfully compromising a machine.
Phishing used to be comprised of easy-to-spot phishing emails attempting to trick users with fake login pages or scams. However, the phishing landscape has changed dramatically over the last few years. Today's threat actors are using new attack vectors across mobile, email, and web to deliver a greater variety of phishing payloads. Moreover, the threats may use multiple evasion tactics and speed to bypass multi-layer defenses. At the same time, phishing payloads are no longer limited to simple scam or fake login phishing sites. New phishing payloads can include a variety of attacks such as Scareware, Rogueware, Malicious Browser Extension, or Money transfer scam.
Mobile and remote workers are at greater risk from phishing threats. Without full-time VPN tunneling, they're outside of perimeter protections, and on mobile, the risks are even higher. Small screens can hide important clues about senders and web page URLs, making it harder to spot phishing threats. Mobile users are also exposed to additional unprotected attack vectors beyond email such as SMS (SMIShing), social media, ads, rogue apps, and more.
Mobile users are also exposed to additional unprotected attack vectors beyond email such as SMS (SMiShing), social media, ads, rogue apps, and more. Built-in safe browsing protections on desktop browsers do not keep pace with newly emerging zero-hour threats. And due to resource constraints, only a fraction of this protection is available on mobile browsers.
Moreover, built-in safe browsing protections on desktop browsers do not keep pace with newly emerging zero-hour threats. And due to resource constraints, only a fraction of this protection is available on mobile browsers.

Method and system for stopping multi-vector phishing attacks using cloud powered endpoint agents


Technologies for providing access control for a network are disclosed. The method may include receiving a request from a user to access a network, receiving a plurality of data associated with the user, the plurality of data comprising a plurality of social data associated with the user's relationship to a social circle, identifying an electronic security policy based at least on the plurality of social data, and authenticating the user to the network if the electronic security policy permits authentication based at least on the plurality of social data.

In some local area networks, such as a home network or a business's public wifi network, it has become increasingly important to allow flexibility in which users (and which user devices) may be allowed to join the network in order to minimize electronic security vulnerabilities. Some current methods of allowing guest access to local networks require either no restriction (e.g., for a public wifi system) or maintaining lists of technical details for guest devices. Maintaining lists of the technical specifications of all devices allowed to joint a network may be unwieldy (in the case of a business that wishes to offer its customers a service without having to track machine-specific details), impractical (in the case of a business that wishes to offer its customers a service, it may not be possible to take the time to track all necessary data), or impossible (in the case of a technologically-naïve administrator of a home network who may find the data difficult or impossible to find).

Utilizing a social graph for network access and admission control


The modular jack allows a RJ series connector plug to be attached to a communications card that conforms to the PCMCIA requirements for a Type III card. The modular jack includes a main body portion including a top surface, a bottom outer surface and a front surface. The receptacle is disposed entirely within the front surface of the modular jack such that no portion of the plug extends through either the top surface or the bottom surface of the main body portion of the modular jack. Thus, the modular jack allows the communications card to be connected to standard RJ series plugs without deviating from the Type III PCMCIA card height requirement, even when the plug is inserted into the jack. Desirably, the main body portion has a height measured from the top surface to the bottom surface that is generally equal to or less than about 10.5 mm. Additionally, the receptacle preferably includes an upper inner surface and a lower inner surface that are separated by a distance that is generally equal to or less than about 10.1 mm. The modular jack may also include a latching area that securely holds the connector plug within the receptacle, but allows the connector plug to be removed from the receptacle without the user depressing a biased clip of the connector plug if a predetermined force is applied to a body of the connector plug.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to connectors used with electronic devices such as computers. More specifically, the present invention relates to connectors used with communications cards that allow computers to be connected to electronic devices and communications systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Portable computers and other electronic equipment frequently use communications cards to allow electrical communication to be established between electronic devices or to allow electronic devices to be connected to communication systems. The communications cards are typically located internally within the computer or electronic equipment and the cards are relatively small in size. These communications cards, for example, are commonly used with modems, fax/modems, Local Area Network (LAN) adaptors and cellular telephone equipment.
Conventional communications cards are often constructed according to the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) guidelines, which set forth the physical specifications and electronic architecture of the cards (also known as PC cards). The PCMCIA guidelines define three types of cards and sockets for support of electronic equipment. For instance, PCMCIA standards require all PC cards to have the same length and width (roughly the size of a credit card), and each card includes a connector to allow it to be connected to the computer or other host device. In particular, according to the known PCMCIA standards, PC cards have a length of 85.6 mm (3.4 inches), a width of 54.0 mm (2.1 inches), and a height of 3.3 mm (0.1 inches), 5.0 mm (0.2 inches) or 10.5 mm (0.4 inches) depending upon if the card is a Type I card, Type II card or Type III card, respectively. Type I PC cards are typically used for memory devices such as read only memory (RAM), flash memory or static random access memory (SRAM). Type II PC cards are generally used with input/output (I/O) devices such as data/fax modems, LANs and mass storage devices. Type III PC cards are used for devices whose components are thicker and require additional space. The PCMCIA Guidelines also define corresponding types of sockets. Type I sockets support only Type I cards, Type II sockets support Type I and II cards, and Type III sockets support all three types of cards.
A conventional PC card 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The PC card 10 has a generally rectangular shaped body with a top surface 12, a bottom surface 14, a right side 16, a left side 18, a front end 20 and a rear end 22. The terms xe2x80x9cfrontxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9crearxe2x80x9d are used in reference to the direction in which the PC card 10 is inserted into the receiving socket. The front end 20 of the PC card 10 includes a 68-pin connector 24 that is used to connect the card to an electronic device such as a notebook or lap top computer. Disposed within the PC card 10 is a printed circuit board or substrate 26 with various electronic components 28 that provide the necessary circuitry to perform the intended functions of the PC card.
Additionally, a variety of connectors have been developed in order to facilitate electrical communication between electronic devices and to allow electronic devices to be connected to communication systems. Conventional connectors typically include a plug and a corresponding jack that is sized and shaped to receive the plug. Thus, when the plug is inserted into the jack, the connector allows electrical communication to be established between the plug and the jack.
Conventional connectors are frequently constructed according to standards that are well known in the art to promote compatibility and interchangeability. These standard connectors allow various electronic devices and communication systems to be interconnected or linked as desired by the user. A conventional connector that is well known in the art is the RJ-xx series of connectors, such as the RJ-11, RJ-12 and RJ-45 connectors. The RJ series of connectors include a plug and a corresponding jack that is sized and configured to receive the plug. The RJ-11 connector, for example, includes four or six contact pins and is commonly used to attach communication devices, such as telephones, facsimile machines and moderns, to electronic devices. The RJ-45 connector includes eight contact pins and it is frequently used to connect LANs or Ethernets to electronic devices. The RJ series of connectors have the same overall configuration except for slightly different widths. Thus, the RJ-11 and RJ-45 connectors have the same general configuration, but the RJ-45 connector is slightly wider than the RJ-11 connector.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a conventional RJ series connector 30, such as a RJ-11 connector, includes a jack 32 and a plug 34. The plug 34 includes a rectangular contact pin block 36 with a front end 38, a rear end 40, a top surface 42, a bottom surface 44 and a plurality of contacts 46 located proximate the front end of the block. The contacts 46 are recessed within tracks formed in the contact pin block 36, and the contacts are accessible from the front end 38 and bottom surface 44 of the block. A cable 48 is used to electrically connect the plug 34 to a communications system or other electronic device. The front end 38 of the contact pin block 36 typically includes a pair of notches that define front abutment surfaces 50 that are perpendicular to the top surface 42 of the block.
A biased retention clip 52 extends from the top surface 42 of the contact pin block 36. The biased clip 52 includes a broad base 54 in which the front end is integrally attached to the top surface 42 or front end 38 of the block 36, and the other end includes a narrow tab 56 extending away from the base 54. An abrupt transition between the base 54 and the tab 56 creates a pair of retention edges 58 on both sides of the tab 56. The biased clip 52 extends at an angle relative to the top surface 42 of the contact pin block 36 and the biased clip may be elastically deformed towards the top surface of the contact pin block to allow the plug 34 to be inserted and removed from the jack 32.
As best seen in FIG. 2, the jack 32 includes an aperture 60 that is sized and configured to receive the plug 34. The aperture 60 includes a first pair of notches 62 with a first opening 63 disposed between this first pair of notches, and a second pair of notches 64 with a second opening 65 disposed between this second pair of notches. When it is desired to insert the plug 34 into the jack 32, the user depresses the biased clip 52 towards the top surface 42 of the contact pin block 36 and this permits the plug to be inserted into the receptacle. After the plug 34 is inserted into the jack 32, the user releases the biased clip 52 and, as shown in FIG. 3, the biased clip returns to its original position. The plug 34 is securely held within the jack 32 because the retention edges 58 of the biased clip 52 engage the inner surfaces of the second pair of notches 64 and the narrow tab 56 extends through the opening 65 formed between the second pair of notches.
Alternatively, instead of the user depressing the biased clip 52 towards the top surface 42 of the contact pin block 36, the user can simply insert the plug 34 into the aperture 60 and the base 54 of the biased clip 52 will engage the lower surfaces of the second pair of notches 64. This engagement of the base 54 with the lower surfaces of the second pair of notches 64 forces the biased clip 52 downwardly towards the upper surface 42 of the contact pin block 36, and this allows the plug 34 to be inserted into the jack 32. In either case, the plug 34 is securely held within the jack 32 and it cannot be removed by simply pulling on the plug or cable 48 in a direction away from the receptacle. Instead, the biased clip 52 must be depressed towards the upper surface 42 of the contact pin block 36 in order to remove the plug 34 from the receptacle 60.
If excessive force to remove the plug 34 from the jack 32 is applied to either the plug or the cable 48 without depressing the biased clip 52, the biased clip will break. That is, because the biased clip 52 extends through the opening 65 and the retention edges 58 securely engage the inner surface of the second pair of notches 64, the plug 34 cannot be removed from the receptacle without depressing the biased clip. Thus, the biased clip 52 will break and the plug 34 will fail if too much force is applied to the cable 48 or plug 34 without depressing the biased clip 52. Accordingly, if the cable 48 is accidentally stepped on or tripped over, or the computer is suddenly moved, for example, this may break the biased clip 52. Disadvantageously, if the biased clip 52 is broken, the plug 34 must be replaced. Replacement of the plug 34 is frequently time consuming, inconvenient and awkward. Further, the user may be unable to use the communications or electronic device while the plug 34 is broken.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the jack 32 includes a plurality of contact pins 66 that elastically deform or deflect as the plug 34 is inserted into the aperture 60. In greater detail, each contact pin 66 includes a wire with a straight section 68 and a contact section 70 that are joined by a bend 72. As shown in phantom in FIG. 3, the wire is bent at an angle xcex1 of at least 120xc2x0 with respect to the straight section 68 when the plug 34 is not inserted into the jack 32. When the plug 34 is inserted into the jack 32, the contact 46 on the plug 34 pushes the contact section 70 of the pin 66 downwardly towards the straight section 68 until the contact pin is bent or folded back upon itself at an angle of about 180xc2x0. Disadvantageously, bending the contact pin 66 at this severe angle creates significant stresses in the contact pin proximate the bend 72, which may lead to failure of the pin.
The electronic devices used with these conventional RJ series connectors are becoming smaller and smaller. Because these electronic devices are becoming smaller, one or more of the dimensions of the RJ series connector may now be larger than one or more of the dimensions of the electronic device. For example, communications cards that comply with PCMCIA guidelines have a height that is less than the height of conventional RJ series connectors. In particular, communications cards that comply with PCMCIA standards have a height of 10.5 mm for a Type III PC card, but conventional RJ-11 jacks have a minimum height of at least 12.0 mm. Thus, a conventional RJ-11 jack cannot be mounted in a PC card because the height of the RJ-11 jack exceeds the height limitation of the PC card.
As shown in FIG. 4, a known device to connect a RJ series connector to a PC card includes a physical/electrical connector 80 that is attached to the rear end of a PC card 82. The physical/electrical connector 80 includes a generally rectangular shaped body 84 with a conventional RJ series jack or receptacle 86. Disadvantageously, because the physical/electrical connector 80 extends outwardly from the computer 88, the computer may no longer fit within its carrying case, the protruding connector may be easily broken or damaged, the protruding connector may limit the potential uses of the computer, and the connector alters the aesthetics of the computer.
It is also known to use flexible connectors or adaptors to connect RJ series connectors to a communications card. These known adaptors, however, suffer from several drawbacks such as requiring the user to externally carry the adapter from the computer. Thus, the user must remember to bring the adaptor, otherwise the communications card cannot be used. Disadvantageously, users commonly misplace or lose such adaptors. In addition, these known adaptors are typically bulky and that exacerbates the problems associated with externally carrying the adaptor. In addition, these known adaptors typically extend well beyond the periphery of the host computer and that limits the usefulness of the adaptor, and often poses problems when used in tight space confinements.
Other known devices have been developed in order to allow conventional RJ series connectors to be used with PC cards. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,183,404; 5,335,099; 5,338,210; 5,547,401; 5,727,972 and 5,816,832 disclose assorted devices and methods to connect RJ series connectors to PC cards and other electronic devices. These patents are assigned to the same assignee as the present application and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. Briefly, the above-listed patents generally disclose a thin plate that is slidably mounted to a PC card. The thin plate includes a top surface with an aperture formed therein and a plurality of contact wires mounted to the thin plate. Each contact wire includes a first end that is freely exposed within the aperture and a second end that is connected to the thin plate. A flexible wire ribbon is typically used to electrically connect the second end of the contact wires to contacts on a printed circuit board located within the PC card.
As known in the art, the thin plate selectively slides between an extended position and a retracted position. In the extended position, the aperture is exposed such that a corresponding plug, such as a RJ-11 plug, can be inserted and the contacts on the plug engage the contact wires extending into the aperture. This allows electrical connection to be established between the plug and the printed circuit board. In particular, electrical communication is established between the plug, contact wires, flexible wire ribbon and printed circuit board. When not in use, the thin plate is retracted into the PC card and the aperture is not exposed. The flexible wire ribbon allows the thin plate to be repeatedly moved between the extended and retracted positions because it freely bends or folds as the plate is moved.
Another known device for using a RJ series connector with a PC card is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,332 issued to Glad. As shown in FIG. 5, the Glad patent discloses a communications card 90 that follows the PCMCIA card Type III standards for dimensions and configuration. The Type III PC card 90 includes two receptacles 92, 94 that are designed to receive standard RJ-xx plugs (specifically, a RJ-11 plug and a RJ-45 plug). The Type III PC card 90 also includes an upper surface 96 and a lower surface 98 that form a portion of the housing of the communications card. The Glad patent explains that because the height of a PCMCIA Type III card is still not great enough to allow standard RJ-xx series receptacles to be mounted therein, T-shaped cutouts 100 are removed from the housing of the communications card 40. The T-shaped cutouts 100 accommodate the biased clip 102 and the ridge 104 present on the connector plug 106. The shape of the T-shaped cutout 100 engages the biased clip 102 and the ridge 104 to hold the plug 106 in place. The Type III PC card height limitation of 10.5 mm, however, is not satisfied when the connector plug is inserted into the receptacles because the biased clip 102 extends through the cutout 100 and protrudes through the tipper surface 96 of the housing. Disadvantageously, the biased clip 102 can be easily broken or damaged because it protrudes through the upper surface 96 of the card 90. Additionally, the protruding clip 102 may limit design options and uses of the communications card because it does not satisfy the Type III PC card configuration and size requirements. Further, the PC card 90 may not be used in close fitting Type III sockets because the socket may prevent the biased clip 102 from extending through the cutout 100. Thus, the connector plug 106 will not be secured to the PC card 90.
Still another known device for connecting a RJ series connector to a PC card is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,731 issued to Laity. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a plug 110 is inserted into a receptacle 112 located between upper and lower surfaces 114, 116 of a communications card 118. The receptacle 112 includes a cutout 120 to allow the biased clip 122 of the plug 110 to extend through an outer surface of the communications card 118. Specifically, by providing an open bottom (or cutout) in the receptacle, the retention clip, in the fully inserted position of the modular plug, is permitted to project outwardly from the lower, horizontal outer surface of the card. Accordingly, the 10.5 mm height of the Type III card can incorporate a receptacle conforming to the FCC RJ connector standards, if there are cutouts in the lower outer surface of the card.
The Laity patent discloses a complicated structure with a plurality of components that is used to physically and electrically connect the plug 110 to the communications card 118. For example, disposed between the upper and lower surfaces 114, 116 of the communications card 118 are contact wires 124 that include a first end 126 soldered to the upper surface of the printed circuit board 128 and a second end 130 that extends into the receptacle 112. As seen in FIG. 6, the contact wires 124 include a first angled section 132 that is bent at a 180xc2x0 angle such that the wire is folded back upon itself and a second angled section 134 that is bent at a 90xc2x0 angle.
In greater detail, the housing of the communications card 118 defines the receptacles 112, and the receptacles are sized and configured to closely receive standard RJ-type modular plugs. A contact block with planar abutment surfaces is engaged by and bonded to the upper surface of the rear margin of the printed circuit board 128. Vertical slots in the wall of the contact block are longitudinally aligned with grooves in the interior surface of the top wall of the receptacle body. The first ends or solder tails 126 of the contact wires 124, which are soldered to the printed circuit board 128, are contained within the longitudinal confines of recesses. After fabrication of the subassembly comprising the contact block and the printed circuit board, these recesses facilitate inspection of the integrity of the solder joints connecting the first ends 126 of the contact wires 124 to the printed circuit board 128 and provide sufficient space to permit resoldering if necessary. Disadvantageously, if the receptacles in the housing are not exactly aligned with the contact block, the slots in the wall of the contact block and the grooves in the inner surface of the receptacle will not be aligned. This undesirably causes the pins to be laterally deformed and may result in the failure of the connector. Additionally, hand soldering of the contact wires 124 to the printed circuit board 128 is time consuming, expensive and unreliable. Further, because the contact block is permanently attached to the substrate, this forces the user to dispose of the entire communications card if the connector is broken or damaged. Finally, the biased clip of the plug is more likely to be broken or damaged because it protrudes through an outer surface of the communications card, and the protruding clip may limit the usefulness of the card.
A need therefore exists for a modular jack for a Type III PC card in which the connector plug is contained within a receptacle and the connector plug does not protrude through either the top or bottom surfaces of the PC card.
The modular jack of the present invention advantageously allows communications cards to be connected to standard RJ series plugs without deviating from the Type III PC card size and configuration requirements, even if the plug is inserted into the jack. The modular jack also allows communications cards to be interconnected with various electronic devices and communications systems because it is configured to receive standard RJ series plugs. The modular jack also allows communications cards to be quickly, easily and securely connected and disconnected to desired electronic devices and communications systems. This permits the communications cards to be readily used with portable systems or while traveling. Further, the modular jack requires no changes or modifications to the standard RJ series plugs.
One aspect of the present invention is a modular jack that is mounted to a Type III PC card. Significantly, when the plug is received within the jack, no portion of the plug or modular jack violates the Type III PC card height limitation of 10.5 mm.
Another aspect is a modular jack with a receptacle in the front surface of a modular jack. When the plug is inserted into the receptacle, the plug is contained within a receptacle and no portion of the plug, including the biased clip, extends through another surface of the modular jack. Significantly, because no portion of the plug protrudes through the upper or lower surfaces of the modular jack when the plug is inserted into the jack, the modular jack and the received plug satisfy the 10.5 mm height limitation of a Type III PC card. Advantageously, because no portion of the biased clip protrudes through the upper or lower surfaces of the modular jack, the clip is less likely to be broken or damaged.
Still another aspect is a modular jack that includes a latching area that allows the plug to be removed from the receptacle without depressing the biased clip if sufficient force is applied to the plug. Thus, if sufficient force is applied to the plug or the cable attached to the plug, the latching area allows the plug to be released from the receptacle without breaking the biased clip or pulling the cable out of the plug. Advantageously, if a large force is accidentally applied to the plug or cable, such as the user stepping on the cable or the computer being unexpectedly moved, the latching area allows the plug to be released from the receptacle without damaging the plug or receptacle.
Yet another aspect is a modular jack with one or more receptacles that allow a RJ series plug to be simply and easily connected and disconnected from a Type III PC card without the use of any adaptors, connectors, or any moving parts. Advantageously, the modular jack is relatively inexpensive to construct and assemble because the connector does not contain any complicated structures or movable parts.
Another aspect is a modular jack with a receptacle that is sized and configured to securely hold a RJ series plug within the receptacle while the biased clip is positioned in a partially compressed configuration. Advantageously, because the biased clip remains partially compressed, the biased clip continually pushes the front and lower surfaces of the plug into the receptacle and that causes the contacts in the receptacle to positively engage the corresponding contacts in the plug. This results in improved electrical communication between the plug and the modular jack.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is a modular jack that can be directly attached to a desired electronic device such as a computer. Advantageously, when the plug is received within the modular jack, no portion of the plug or modular has a height that is greater that about 10.5 mm.
Still another aspect of the present invention is a modular jack with a receptacle that is sized and configured to hold a RJ series plug while maintaining an overall modular jack height that is generally equal to or less than 10.5 mm. Significantly, as computers are driven to thinner and thinner profiles, the modular jack can be mounted to a side of the computer.


The present invention relates to disposable absorbent articles comprising a gas bubble (6) to raise the body facing surface (2) of the article towards the wearer especially in the area of liquid discharge. The gas bubble (6) is filled with gas such that it yields to external pressures in order to maintain a comfortable fit of the absorbent article.

The basic problem of achieving an absorbent article which closely contacts the body surface around the liquid discharge area of wearers of such articles has been addressed by various designs heretoforth. However, the designs and features suggested in this respect can be further improved for comfort and convenience in respect to the widely varying surface topography of different wearers. This is underlined by the lack of widely available products having features which raise the body facing surface towards the wearer.
WO-9207535 discloses topsheet raising devices in the form of resilient longitudinal spacing structures. The spacing structure is activated by side pressure from the thighs of the wearer. WO-9014063 discloses a hose-like absorption body which also spaces the topsheet away from the absorbent core thereby producing a void space for additional absorption capacity in an absorbent product. U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,824 discloses a labia-pad which is anatomically conformed by folding and confining the product into a raised shape. None of these three prior art disclosures refers to hermetically enclosed gas bubbles to provide the desired shaping function.
GB-1,462,467 discloses an absorbent pad construction designed for heavy-load bearing bed pads. GB-1,575,363 discloses bed pads or sanitary dressings having a backsheet of particular resiliency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,953 also discloses a particularly soft bed pad construction showing good resiliency. These three documents all refer to a bubble pack type of construction of the impermeable backsheet in order to provide resiliency for the whole of the absorbent article. No particular area in the topsheet is raised to register with any part of the human body according to these disclosures. U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,491 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,232 both relate to activatable gas bubbles designed to provide resiliency and form the absorbent article surface into such a shape that it provides for particular benefits in acquiring bodily exudates. Both documents particularly relate to the separation of feces by providing pockets within the body-facing surface of the absorbent article. These designs have the drawback that they need an activation liquid usually urine. On top of that, the uncertainty in gas amount created raises questions of consistency of design and function.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an absorbent article with a gas bubble which is yielding so as to comfortably conform the body-facing surface of the article to the individual topography of the wearer particularly in the area of liquid discharge.

Disposable absorbent article with self adapting body facing surface topography


The present invention advantageously provides a method and system for the improved isolation and corresponding treatment of tissue targeted for cryogenic or other thermal therapy to increase the thermal efficacy and thermal efficiency of the treatment. In particular, the present invention provides methods and systems for improved thermal treatment of target tissue, such as a pulmonary vein and/or regions of the left atrium by reducing the resistive forces and/or increased thermal energy experienced from blood flow exiting the pulmonary vein into the left atrium during treatment.

Minimally invasive surgical techniques are known for performing medical procedures within the cardio-vascular system. Exemplary known procedures include the steps of passing a small diameter, highly-flexible catheter through one or more blood vessels and into the heart. When positioned as desired, additional features of the catheter are used, in conjunction with associated equipment, to perform all or a portion of a medical treatment, such as vessel occlusion, tissue biopsy, or tissue ablation, among others. Almost always, these procedures are performed while the heart is beating and blood is flowing. Not surprisingly, even though visualization and positioning aids are adequate for general placement of the device, maintaining the device in a selected position and orientation can be difficult as the tissue moves and blood flows, especially during a procedure that must be done relatively quickly.
One such minimally-invasive technique includes the use of catheter based devices, employing the flow of cryogenic working fluids therein, to selectively freeze, or "cold-treat", targeted tissues within the body. Catheter based devices are desirable for various medical and surgical applications in that they are relatively non-invasive and allow for precise treatment of localized discrete tissues that are otherwise inaccessible. Catheters may be easily inserted and navigated through the blood vessels and arteries, allowing non-invasive access to areas of the body with relatively little trauma.
A cryogenic catheter-based ablation system uses the energy transfer derived from thermodynamic changes occurring in the flow of a cryogen therethrough to create a net transfer of heat flow from the target tissue to the device, typically achieved by cooling a portion of the device to very low temperature through conductive and convective heat transfer between the cryogen and target tissue. The quality and magnitude of heat transfer is regulated by the device configuration and control of the cryogen flow regime within the device.
A number of medical conditions may be treated using these ablative techniques or devices. For example, atrial fibrillation is a medical condition resulting from abnormal electrical activity within the heart. This abnormal activity may occur at regions of the heart including the sino-atrial (SA) node, the atrioventricular (AV) node, the bundle of His, or within other areas of cardiac tissue. Moreover, atrial fibrillation may be caused by abnormal activity within an isolated focal center within the heart. These foci can originate within a pulmonary vein, and particularly the superior pulmonary veins. Atrial fibrillation may be treatable by ablation of the abnormal tissue within the left atrium and/or the pulmonary vein. In particular, minimally invasive techniques, such as those described above, use ablation catheters to target the pulmonary vein in order to ablate any identified foci having abnormal electrical activity.
For atrial fibrillation, a cryogenic device is generally positioned at the ostium of a pulmonary vein ("PV") such that any blood flow exiting the PV into the left atrium ("LA") is completely blocked. At this position the cooling of the balloon system may be activated for a sufficient duration to create a desired lesion at the PV-LA junction. During the operation of a medical device, such as a cryogenic catheter, in a therapeutic procedure to treat a blood vessel, the heart or other body organ, its desirable to establish a stable and uniform contact between the thermally-transmissive (i.e., "cold") region of the cryogenic device and the tissue to be treated (e.g., ablated). In those instances where the contact between the thermally-transmissive region of the cryogenic device and the tissue to be treated is non-uniform or instable, the resulting ablation or lesion may be less than optimal.
Difficulties arise in establishing or maintaining optimal positioning and contact between the treatment device and the target tissue. In particular, potential limitations of the cryogenic (or other thermal treatment) technique include the duration of time to create a transmural lesion, and the negative effects the high blood flow from the PV's has on the thermal efficacy and efficiency of the treatment. For example, the blood flow from the PV's may push the ablation device out of the PV since the blood flow is directed from the PV's into the LA in the opposite direction of the balloon placement, which is positioned at the ostium of the PV. Further, the blood contacting and/or flowing past the treatment device or ablation catheter has a temperature of 37° C., which raises the temperature of the treatment device, thereby reducing the thermal efficacy and efficiency of the device when attempting to achieve low temperatures rapidly.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide for the improved isolation and corresponding treatment of tissue targeted for cryogenic or other thermal therapy to increase the thermal efficacy and thermal efficiency of the treatment.


A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell stack (S) formed by stacking multiple unit cells (C) horizontally and having, in the stacked body, manifolds through which to supply and discharge reaction gases to and from each of the unit cells (C); and drainage paths (1A, 1B) extending from an anode-off-gas discharge manifold (M), on both end sides of the fuel cell stack (S) in the stacking direction of the unit cells, respectively.

A fuel cell system described in, for example, Patent Literature 1 is a conventional fuel cell system having a function of discharging resultant water and gases. The fuel cell system of Patent Literature 1 is designed to be mounted to a vehicle and has such a structure that an anode off-gas from a fuel cell stack is introduced into a gas-liquid separator through an off-gas flow path. The anode off-gas contains unreacted hydrogen and resultant water. The gas-liquid separator incorporates an ion exchange filter which partitions the inner space of the gas-liquid separator vertically and a chamber below the ion exchange filter for holding a certain amount of resultant water.
Moreover, the fuel cell system circulates hydrogen separated by the gas-liquid separator to a hydrogen supply system of the fuel cell stack and also drains the resultant water separated by the gas-liquid separator to the outside by utilizing the pressure and flow speed of the hydrogen. In this way, the resultant water is prevented from flowing into the off-gas flow path when the vehicle is tilted.

Fuel cell system and operating method thereof


A dummy active region is formed in which abrading processes are averaged. A semiconductor device is characterized in that an active region for forming an actual device, a device separation region being formed by a trench, and a dummy active region formed substantially in a rectangular shape are included, and the length of the short side of the dummy active region is less than 1 xcexcm.

1. Field of the Invention
The technology of device isolation has been treated with courteous attention as the technology for forming a device isolation region in a semiconductor device. In general, an oxide film embedded in a trench is abraded by Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP), in accordance with the device isolation by the trench. In an abrading process, the speed of abrading the embedded oxide film is different in accordance with the trench pattern thereof. In order to average the total abrading speed in the abrading process, a suitably even dummy active pattern is formed in the region in which an ordinary active region is not formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
However, in accordance with a conventional dummy active pattern, it has been insufficient to average CMP abrasion because of micronizing during the present time.
In order to solve the above-described problem, a semiconductor device of the present invention is characterized in that an active region for forming a device, in fact, a device separation region formed by a trench, and a dummy active region formed substantially in a rectangular shape are included, and the length of the short side of a dummy active region is less than 1 xcexcm.


An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a save mode setting unit, a reference cost obtaining unit, a minimum monetary-sum extraction unit, and a usage volume setting unit. The minimum monetary-sum extraction unit is configured to extract a minimum monetary sum for each tone from reference costs for a plurality of image forming modes. The usage volume setting unit is configured to: obtain a post-reduction cost where a reduced monetary sum by the save mode is subtracted from the minimum monetary sum; and set reference usage volume as usage volumes for the dark color material and the light color material in the save mode, the reference usage volume being obtained based on the reference costs for the image forming modes corresponding to the post-reduction cost.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
There is known an image forming apparatus, such as a printer and a digital multi-functional peripheral, employs, for example, light cyan, light magenta, gray, or a similar color as light ink in addition to cyan, magenta, yellow, and black as dark ink and achieves print of higher image quality.
Typical image forming apparatuses have a plurality of print modes (image forming modes) where usage volume of dark ink and light ink are different for the same tone. The print mode includes, for example, a high image quality mode, a standard mode, and a high speed mode. The high image quality mode relatively consumes much usage volumes of light inks while the standard mode relatively consumes little usage volumes of light inks. The high speed mode does not use light inks and uses darks ink only.
Selecting these print modes reduces usage volumes of light inks. Additionally, replacing the usage volume of light ink by the usage volume of dark ink, image degradation can be reduced while reducing the total ink usage volume.
Some of the typical image forming apparatuses have a function of save mode. The save mode reduces usage volumes of dark/light inks at a specified proportion and controls the proportion of reduction of dark/light inks. This further reduces the total ink usage volume while minimizing image degradation.
However, the save mode does not consider a unit price of dark/light ink. Therefore, even if the total ink usage volume can be reduced, the total ink costs for print may not hardly change.
For a plurality of print modes, for example, as illustrated in FIGS. 12A to 12C and FIG. 13, the total ink usage volume in the high image quality mode may be tremendously increased or decreased compared with the total ink usage volume in the standard mode and the high speed mode.
FIGS. 12A to 12C are graphs illustrating usage volumes of dark/light inks in each print mode. FIG. 13 illustrates extraction of the total ink usage volumes of dark/light inks from the graph in FIGS. 12A to 12C. In FIG. 13, the solid line indicates the total ink usage volume in each ordinary print mode in a mode other than the save mode while the dashed line indicates the total ink usage volume in each print mode in the save mode.
In this case, even if the high image quality mode is set to the save mode, as illustrated by the dashed line in FIG. 13, the total ink usage volume in the high image quality mode may be larger than the total ink usage volume of the ordinary standard mode and high speed mode that are not in the save mode in a region R1. In contrast, even if the standard mode and the high speed mode are set to the save mode, the total ink usage volume may be larger than the total ink usage volume of the ordinary high image quality mode that is not in the save mode in a region R2.
In view of this, even if any of the print modes are set to the save mode, the total ink usage volume is reduced in other print modes not in the save mode depending on a tone. Consequently, this may reduce the total ink cost.

Image forming with save mode for reducing color material cost


A fast heat rise resistor comprising a substrate, a foil bridge on the surface of the substrate, the foil bridge having an elevated portion and a contact portion, the elevated portion above the substrate, the contact portion in contact with the substrate, a conductive layer attached to the contact portion of said foil bridge. The activation energy and/or response time is reduced as the foil bridge is suspended over the substrate. Another aspect of the invention include a method of manufacturing the foil bridge and application to autoignition vehicle airbags.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for a fast heat rise resistor that can be used as a resistive igniter. More particularly, this invention relates to the use of resistive foil and photolithographic production to produce a fast heat rise resistor, the resistor suitable for use as an igniter in autoignition-deployed safety devices.
B. Problems in the Art
There are numerous needs for fast heat rise resistors. One such need relates to the use of a resistor as an igniter used to ignite a pyrotechnic or other explosive material. In these resistive igniter applications, it is desirable that the resistive igniter act quickly for rapid ignition. One such application is in vehicle airbag inflators where it is crucial that an igniter act quickly to ignite a gas-generating pyrotechnic in order to ensure that an air bag is deployed in a timely fashion. As the resistor is driven by current, the heat of the resistor increases to a point where other material such as pyrotechnic material can be ignited. There are numerous other applications of resistive igniters, including in other auto-ignition devices such as seatbelt pretensioners, battery cable disconnects, fuel line shut off devices, roll bars, safety devices, and other applications.
There have been attempts made at a resistive igniter in the prior art. Previous attempts have been made that have used metal wire or film bridges. In metal wire or bridgewire devices, a metal filament also known as a bridgewire is used. Some problems with bridgewire devices involve the difficulties involved in manufacturing bridgewires. In order to predict performance of a bridgewire, there must be uniform thermal and electrical properties. Problems remain in manufacturing bridgewires of the needed uniformity.
Another problem with bridgewire devices is that the response time is too slow or else too much activation energy is required. This is problematic where a fast response time is needed or else there are limited power resources that can not support large activation energies. One example of a situation where there are limited power resources is in a vehicle where a 12 volt battery is used to activate an igniter.
Yet another problem with bridgewire devices involves reliability. In bridgewire devices pyrotechnic powder is pressed against the bridgewire. This process can result in detachment of the bridgewire. Thus there are reliability problems with bridgewires as well.
Other attempts at creating resistive igniters have used metal film bridges that are either thin film or thick film. One problem with a thick film or thin film approach is the increased cost of manufacturing associated with these approaches, and in particular with the thin film approach. Another problem with a metal film approach is that there is contact between the metal film bridge and a substrate. This contact between the metal film bridge and the substrate results in a loss of heat from the metal film bridge to the substrate, resulting in an increase in the amount of time for the metal film bridge to reach a particular temperature or alternatively, an increase in the amount of current required in order for the metal film bridge to reach a particular temperature in a given time.
Another problem with film bridges relates to their reliability. Pyrotechnic powder is pressed against the bridge, however, this powder may become displaced during handling. Thus, the pressed powder may or may not constantly touch the wire or film. Where a liquid pyrotechnic is used, the same contact problems may also arise, as the liquid pyrotechnic may not be in constant contact with the wire or film. These problems result in an igniter that is not reliable.
Thus there is a need for a reliable heat rise resistor which has fast response and can be manufactured in a uniform fashion. There is a further need for a heat rise resistor that can be easily packaged and delivered to customers.
Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an igniter which improves upon the state of the art.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an igniter with a fast response time.
Another object of the invention is to provide an igniter that is reliable.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an igniter that requires decreased activation energy.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an igniter that can be manufactured uniformly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an igniter suitable for use in auto-ignition safety devices.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an igniter suitable for use in an airbag deployment system.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a fast heat rise resistor that does not lose heat to a substrate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fast heat rise resistor and method of making a fast heat rise resistor that can be easily packaged and distributed.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a resistor capable of having all of its sides in contact with a pyrotechnic.
These and other objectives, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for manufacturing a fast heat rise resistor


A method and a mobile terminal for reporting a coordinate point of the touch screen. The method includes: the mobile terminal receiving a touch event of the touch screen; when two touch events are received simultaneously with the coordinate points of one touch event which is called as a first touch event including coordinate points belonging to a border region of the touch screen and all of the coordinate points of the other touch event which is called as a second touch event belonging to a non-border region of the touch screen, the mobile terminal determining a central coordinate point of the first touch event, correcting the central coordinate point to the border side of the touch screen nearest to the central coordinate point according to the second touch event; and taking the corrected coordinate point as a reported coordinate point.

At present, most of the touch screens of mobile terminals are capacitive screens, as shown in FIG. 1. A touch perception module (1) is used to send a touch event of the touch screen perceived to a coordinate point generation module (2) after the user clicks the touch screen with the user's finger; a reception unit (21) in the coordinate point generation module (2) sends the touch event to a coordinate point unit (22) after receiving the touch event; as there are a plurality of coordinate points in the touch event and each coordinate point corresponds to a rather large area on the screen, the coordinate point generation unit (22) takes a coordinate point in a central location (i.e. a central coordinate point) among the coordinates points of the touch event as a reported coordinate point to report according a coordinate point reporting algorithm. When a user performs the touch operation in the central region of the touch screen, the operation is successful. However, when the touch target lies in the border of the touch screen, a problem that the target cannot to be touched may be existed, which causes a phenomenon of reporting points abnormally in a region of the touch screen border arises in the mobile terminal with a touch screen.
To overcome the above problem, the terminal is improved in hardware such as extending the touch screen region, i.e. making the responding region of the touch screen larger than the displaying region of the touch screen. However, this method is required to increase the hardware overhead.

Method for reporting coordinate point of touch screen and mobile terminal


A HCCI engine with a model reference adaptive feedback control system maintains stable HCCI combustion during speed/load transitions by: (1) estimating the maximum rate of pressure rise (MRPR), for each cycle, from an extra-cylinder sensor metric, such as a crankshaft dynamics or knock sensor metric, via statistical vector-to-vector correlation; (2) periodically self-tuning the vector-to-vector correlation; (3) applying knowledge base models to guide cycle-to-cycle adjustments of fuel quantity and other engine parameters, to maintain a target MRPR value.

The prior art has long recognized that several parameters of engine operation influence the initiation of combustion in an HCCI engine. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,482 to Flynn et al., and Aceves, HCCI Combustion: Analysis and Experiments, SAE 2001-01-2077. Such recognized parameters, collectively designated herein as "engine state parameters," include: compression ratio, intake charge temperature, oxygen concentration in the charge air, equivalence ratio, charge air density, and boost pressure. Long lacking, however, was a practical method for adjustment of these and other parameters in a way to control the timing or efficiency of HCCI combustion.
Recently, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,237,532 to Gray et al. provided a method for maintaining stable, efficient HCCI combustion across the operating range of an engine using gasoline-like fuels, through closed-loop feedback control of a cylinder-specific combustion parameter, preferably, the maximum rate of pressure rise (MRPR) inside the cylinder. Gray et al. were the first to teach the use of MRPR for HCCI control, but their method did not overcome the prior art's dependence on the use of in-cylinder pressure transducers for MRPR measurement. Reliance on in-cylinder transducers is a substantial drawback due to (1) their high cost, poor reliability, and short life span, and (2) the heavy computational load associated with the necessary, near-continuous (high-resolution) sampling. The present invention overcomes this limitation in the prior art by providing a method for MRPR estimation based on signals from existing extra-cylinder sensors—production-engine sensors physically located outside the combustion cylinder—such as a crankshaft position sensor or knock sensor, thereby eliminating the need for in-cylinder pressure transducers, and substantially reducing computational load.
The prior art includes methods for estimating some combustion parameters without in-cylinder pressure measurements. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,024 to Rizzoni et al. provides a method for estimating the net output torque of a combustion event, based on crankshaft dynamics and a reconstructed cylinder indicated pressure. Similarly, U.S. Patent Application 2003/0236611 by James et al. describes using measurements of crankshaft acceleration to calculate indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP), output torque, or work per cylinder. These methods, however, are limited to statistical approaches unaided by self-tuning or other intelligent guidance for robustness. Moreover, these methods do not estimate MRPR, nor do they recognize the physical significance of MRPR in characterizing HCCI combustion, thus teaching away from the use of MRPR for HCCI engine control.
The inventors have noted that, once initiated, the HCCI combustion process has a very short duration relative to combustion in a conventional spark-ignition engine; HCCI combustion thus occurs at near-constant cylinder volume. FIG. 2A shows the pressure-volume (PV) diagram for a HCCI engine cycle; the combustion (pressure rise) segment is shown expanded in FIG. 2B. Cylinder pressure rise during HCCI combustion traces approximately a straight line, as a function of cylinder volume, with a sharp, near-vertical slope (FIG. 2B); the same is true when cylinder pressure is plotted as a function of crank angle position (FIG. 2C, PΦ diagram). This feature of the curves in FIG. 2 captures several critical characteristics of HCCI combustion, as noted by the inventors. First, all HCCI events can be described as "quasi-constant volume" combustion. Second, because the maximum rate of pressure rise (MRPR) is a straight-line slope—rather than the point of maximal curvature as is the case for conventional spark-ignition (SI) combustion—it can be used to characterize HCCI burning. Third, the MRPR value is a robust indicator of HCCI combustion status. In particular, MRPR values below a lower limit (around 2 bar/deg) indicate misfire, while values above an upper limit (around 12 bar/deg depending on engine type) indicate knock; between these limits, HCCI combustion is stable, MPRR is proportional to IMEP for any given engine operating range (see FIG. 2D), and MRPR varies in proportion to fuel quantity.
MRPR thus proves to be a uniquely rich source of information about HCCI combustion physics, and is important for HCCI engine transient control: no other single combustion parameter carries the same wealth of information, or captures HCCI combustion status with the same robustness. By way of example, FIG. 2D shows the relationship between MRPR and IMEP (a combustion parameter of considerable focus in the prior art), for different states and speed/load points of a HCCI engine. For a given speed/load point, IMEP and MRPR are highly correlated because of the quasi-constant volume behavior of HCCI combustion. However, while MRPR limits on stable HCCI combustion are fixed across the engine's operating range, the stable-combustion range of IMEP values varies widely depending on engine state. Prior art methods for crankshaft-based estimation of combustion characteristics, however, have focused exclusively on IMEP and similar parameters, and away from MRPR.

Method and system of transient control for homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency


A biometric system comprises an identity proving system with a non-volatile memory for storing biometric verification data for a biometric feature of an individual. The biometric system also includes a first body coupled communication interface configured to transmit the biometric verification data via body coupled communication along or through the body of the individual to a second body coupled communication interface. The biometric system further includes an identity verification system comprising a biometric reader configured to measure the biometric feature of the individual to obtain biometric data. The second body coupled communication interface is configured to receive the biometric verification data via the body coupled communication along or through the body of the individual. The biometric reader is arranged so that the second body coupled communication interface is in contact or close proximity to the individual during measurement of the biometric feature by the biometric reader to allow the receiving, and a biometric data verifier configured to verify the obtained biometric data against the biometric verification data.

Biometrics gain increasing interest as a solution to many security issues. In biometrics, a human being is identified by measuring one or more biometric features of the body. Biometric data are said to identify a person based on "who he is", rather than on "what he has" (such as a smartcard) or "what he knows" (such as a password).
Using a biometric system a prover may identify or authenticate himself to a verifier. When a biometric system is used to find or check the identity of a person, there are two options: In identification the identity of the prover is not a priori known, but based on the measured biometric feature, a search is performed in a database to find a match; In verification, the prover not only allows a measurement of his or her biometric feature but also claims what his or her identity is. Biometric features include fingerprint, iris, retina, palm etc.
An unresolved issue, however, is that when deployed at large scale, a citizen looses privacy as he must reveal his identifying biometric data to his bank, to the government, etc. Each of them will obtain the same measured data, and unless special precautions are taken there is no guarantee that none of these parties will ever misuse the biometric data to impersonate the citizen.
In the article "New Shielding Functions to Enhance Privacy and Prevent Misuse of Biometric Templates" of Jean-Paul Linnartz and Pim Tuyls, introduces helper data generating functions to improve on this aspect; the article is further referred to as 'Linnartz'. During an enrollment phase, a prover Peggy receives a biometric template comprising biometric helper data and verification data.
During a usage phase, Peggy allows Victor to take a, possibly noisy, measurement Y=X+N of her biometric feature X; N represents noise. Victor maps the obtained biometric data to reproducible biometric data under control of the biometric helper data so as to reduce the noise from the obtained biometric data. Victor then applies a cryptographic hash function to the reproducible biometric data to obtain an output U, which is compared to a reference authentication response. Here, X, N, and Y are real, or complex, valued vectors.
US patent application US2006/0274920 from O. Tochikubo et al. describes a personal identification device comprising a finger print sensor and, to allow verification, a scanner that receives fingerprint comparison data from a storage medium mounted on a portable device worn on a finger, a wrist, or an ankle of a user. International patent application WO2010/064162A1 by S. Corroy et al. describes a secure identification system in which a user gets access through an identification device or badge or tag worn on his/her body, which applies the techniques of body coupled communication (BCC) to create a kind of aura around the user. An identification (ID) is communicated to a user interface of the secure identification system through BCC communication, and the user is authenticated by the system through an authentication procedure checking the identity of the user on the basis of an assumed secure BCC communication of the ID.

Biometric system with body coupled communication interface


A hydraulic machine includes: a casing; a differential piston having an upper ring and a lower base, sliding reciprocally in the casing and a cylindrical housing inside the envelope, separating two chambers of the casing; a hydraulic switch conveying liquid to/from the chambers, the switch controlled by movement of the piston and including at least one rod acting on a distribution member that includes an upper valve cooperating with a first seat in the upper ring of the piston and at least one lower valve cooperating with a second seat in the lower base of the piston; and a trigger causing, at the end of the stroke, a sudden change in the position of the switch to reverse the stroke. The lower and upper valve seats accept upper and lower frustoconical portions and a lower frustoconical portion tapering in opposite directions. Also disclosed is a reversible metering pump.

A hydraulic machine of this type is known, for example from the documents EP 0 255 791 B, U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,224 A or EP 1 151 196 A. This hydraulic machine can be used to drive a device for sucking an additive into a main liquid, which, in turn, provides drive for the machine.
However, for this type of hydraulic machine, the provision of an inlet and an outlet is known, each well defined, such that mixing between the additive and the main liquid generally takes place in a chamber called "mixing chamber", just before said mixture is discharged to the outlet. This configuration is effectively preferred since it avoids the mixture passing though the entire casing, this passage possibly causing, if the additive is aggressive or clogging, corrosion and/or clogging of the parts inside the casing. However, in a case where the additive has no corrosive and/or clogging characteristics, or in a case where the parts of the pump are not sensitive to the additive, it may be desirable, when the mixture exits into the dedicated chamber, for the mixture to circulate in the upper chamber then in the lower chamber before reaching the outlet. This configuration effectively enables better mixing between the additive and the main liquid.
This is why it is necessary to be able to use this hydraulic machine such that the arrival of the main liquid is interchangeable with the exit of the liquid mixed with the additive. This way, mixing between the additive and the main liquid still takes place in the mixing chamber but is discharged from the pump, either immediately after mixing without passing through the entire interior of the hydraulic machine, or after having passed through the entire interior of the machine.

Hydraulic machine and reversible metering pump equipped with such a machine


A recordable optical disc (1, 1′, 1″, 100) comprises at least one user data area (12) for storing user data, and at least one controlling data area (6, 8, 10, 11) for storing controlling data necessary for accessing stored user data and/or for recording user data into a user data area (12), wherein at least a part of the physical structure of the optical disc corresponding to at least a part of at least one controlling data area (6, 8, 10, 11) and/or to at least a part of at least one user data area (12) has a modified physical structure (118, 120, 122, 123) which is arranged such that a standard optical disc recorder cannot record user data into at least a part of at least one user data area and/or controlling data area (6, 8, 10, 11).

Standard recordable optical discs like CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVD+Rs or DVD-Rs can be recorded with digital content (e. g. audio content, video content or software content) using any standard CD recorder/DVD recorder. Since illegal copying of digital content and counterfeiting of original recordable optical discs has become a serious problem in the last years, new, effective ways of preventing counterfeiting and illegal copying of digital content are needed.