A system for collecting, storing, and verifying the data pulse train for arm and safing of a nuclear warhead on a submarine using MK 63 or 67 torpedo tubes is provided. The components of the system include a notebook computer operating four software programs. The software programs allow collection of the data pulse train, graphing of the collected data, comparing of the collected data with validated samples, and verifying of the validity of the collected data. The notebook computer operates the system through data acquisition expansion boards and a combat control system interface board connected to a Prearm Load Simulator. Data is also recorded on a strip chart recorder which is connected to the system through the Prearm Load Simulator. An adapter cable connects the system to a digital missile simulator and to the submarine's combat control system via the torpedo tube breech door interface.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of test instrumentation and in particular to testing of weapons interface systems for Tomahawk nuclear cruise missiles.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
During development of the AN/BSY-1 Submarine Combat System (SCS) and, in particular, during the detailed interface testing which is a part of the final certification testing, the Department of Energy determined that the W80 nuclear warhead-to-submarine combat system interface was invalid. At this late stage of development, the Submarine Combat System could not correctly pre-arm and safe the nuclear weapon. As a result, a costly and time consuming redesign was necessary. In this particular instance, the cost to the U.S. Navy for correction of a problem discovered so late in the development cycle was approximately $1.5 million. This cost would have been greatly reduced if the Navy had a capability to verify weapons interface signal earlier in the development life cycle. Over the lifetime of a project, the costs of correcting problems increases exponentially as development progresses and a larger percentage of components become fixed or relied upon by other parts of the system. A system is needed which provides verification of SCS signals at an early stage of development; especially those signals associated with nuclear warheads where redesign efforts are particularly costly. Additionally, in order to perform tests at early development stages, it is necessary to have a portable or transportable test system which can be moved to various development sites. In order to fully capture the data provided by a modern weapons interface, the system must be fast, reliable and automated. The system must also provide permanent storage of test results for documentation purposes.

System for verifying nuclear warhead prearm/safing signals

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The present invention is directed to certain hydropyranopyrrolidine compounds which are useful as neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonists, and inhibitors of tachykinin and in particular substance P. The invention is also concerned with pharmaceutical formations comprising these compounds as active ingredients and the use of the compounds and their formulations in the treatment of certain disorders, including emesis, urinary incontinence, depression, and anxiety.

Substance P is a naturally occurring undecapeptide belonging to the tachykinin family of peptides, the latter being so-named because of their prompt contractile action on extravascular smooth muscle tissue. The tachykinins are distinguished by a conserved carboxyl-terminal sequence. In addition to substance P, the known mammalian tachykinins include neurokinin A and neurokinin B. The current nomenclature designates the receptors for substance P, neurokinin A, and neurokinin B as neurokinin-1 (NK-1), neurokinin-2 (NK-2), and neurokinin-3 (NK-3), respectively.
Tachykinin, and in particular substance P, antagonists are useful in the treatment of clinical conditions which are characterized by the presence of an excess of tachykinin, in particular substance P, activity, including disorders of the central nervous system, nociception and pain, gastrointestinal disorders, disorders of bladder function and respiratory diseases.

Octahydropyrano[3,4-C]pyrrole tachykinin receptor antagonists


This invention provides a plant growth regulatory activity of a new biologically active synthetic molecule methanone-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxy) phenyl, 1-naphthyl, 2-O-4″-ethyl but-2″-enoate. More particularly, the invention relates to the potent plant growth promoting activity of a gallic acid derivative having a structure represented by Formula 1 and a molecular formulae C26H26O7. This invention also provides a novel process for preparation of said molecule from a naturally occurring compound and testing it for growth regulating activity using Bacopa test system developed at CIMAP (Khanuja et al., 2001)

Plant growth substances occupy an important place in the growth and developmental processes of all plant species. The pioneers in plant growth substances, Charles Darwin, Boycen-Jensen, and others, recognized that plant growth phenomenon was under control of some chemical substances produced by the plants and in 1928 F. W. Went successfully demonstrated the existence of growth-regulating substances in plants. These compounds are useful for altering a plant's life processes or structure in some beneficial way so as to enhance yield, improve quality or facilitate harvesting. The plant growth hormones, auxins from oat seedlings, and gibberellins from a fungus, and several secondary plant products such as phenolics, lipids, steroids and terpenoids were shown to be responsible for plant growth and development. One class of plant hormone, auxins, and their synthetic mimics are of particular interest. Auxin-like activity is known to affect a number of plant processes, such as cell division, rooting at the basal end of shoots, shoot elongation, apical dominance, phototropic responses and control of abscission of organs such as buds, flowers, fruits, leaves and the like. Some of the latter elicit growth responses in conjunction with the endogenous growth hormones. Certain synthetic compounds, although different than the natural growth substances, also induce similar biological responses. Synthetic polyhydroxylated steroidal lactones are found to be highly effective plant growth promoting substances (Thompson et al., J. Org. Chem., 44, pp. 5002 to 5004, 1979; Thompson et al.—U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,226). Several oligosaccharins, brassinolides and jasmonates have been reported as non-traditional regulators of plant growth, development and gene expression (Clouse S. D. (1996), Plant J., 10, pp. 1 to 8).
Plant-growth regulators with auxin-like activity comprise an important class of chemicals for use in agriculture. As of 1994, there were approximately 29 compounds with auxin-like activity approved for agricultural use worldwide. Of these compounds, 21 were approved for use in the United States (Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 4th Ed., Kroschwitz et al., Eds., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1994). A particularly widely used synthetic auxin is 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Among its many uses, 2,4-D is sprayed on the foliage of citrus trees in California and Florida (also in citrus growing countries such as Israel, Spain, Morocco, South Africa, etc.) to prevent pre-harvest fruit drop and to increase fruit size.
The agricultural application of exogenous chemicals to food crops is coming under increased scrutiny by many segments of society including the agricultural industry, advocates for agricultural laborers, environmental groups and consumers. In the United States, agricultural industry concerns stem from the fact that plant growth regulators must be officially registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can be used or sold. Additionally, as plant-growth regulators are often applied closer to harvest than are pesticides, the actual practical requirements for their safety are more stringent.
The screening process associated with the official registration is both time-consuming and expensive. This process includes evaluation of a plant-growth regulator's safety hazards to humans, the environment and non-target species. Further, acute and chronic toxicity must be determined. The agricultural industry shoulders a portion of the costs of the pre-registration program in higher prices. Further, the industry typically bears part of the financial burden for re-registering the compound for a particular use. For example, the California citrus industry paid approximately two million dollars to effect the re-registration of 2,4-D as a pre-harvest fruit drop inhibitor. In addition to these financial concerns, the potential toxicity of synthetic plant-growth regulators raises additional concerns regarding the safety of their use.
The concerns of environmental groups, advocates for agricultural laborers and consumers arise from the potential toxicity of plant-growth regulators. For example, auxin mimics such as 2,4-D and related phenoxy acids have moderately acute toxicity and are moderate in their local effects upon the skin or eyes. Results of cytogenic studies in Sweden indicate that, in practice, 2,4-D constitutes a cytogenic hazard to man. Additionally, 2,4-D has been found to exhibit central nervous system toxicity.
In light of their utility in preventing pre-harvest fruit drop and increasing fruit size, coupled with the expense of registration, re-registration and the potential toxicity of auxin mimics, alternatives to the use of synthetic auxins are being actively sought.
The application to plants and soils of natural auxins and natural auxin precursors is a particularly promising alternative to the use of synthetic auxin mimics. For instance, L-tryptophan has been reported to serve as precursor for the microbial formation of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) (e.g., Arshad and Frankenberger, Plant Soil, 133, pp. 1 to 8 (1991)). Further, the synthesis of IAA upon application of tryptophan to soil has been shown to promote plant growth. For instance, growth of Douglas fir was increased by application of tryptophan and inoculation with a fungus capable of producing IAA from tryptophan. When tryptophan was applied to soils under aseptic conditions (i.e., steam-sterilized soil), L-TRP conversion to IAA was not observed (Martens and Frankenberger, Soil Science, 155, pp. 263 to 271 (1993)). Thus, it was concluded that the conversion of tryptophan to IAA was a microbe-mediated process. Certain synthetic compounds, although different than the natural growth substances, also induce similar biological responses. Synthetic polyhydroxylated steroidal lactones are found to be highly effective plant growth promoting substances. Several oligosaccharins, brassinolides and jasmonates have been reported as non-traditional regulators of plant growth, development and gene expression. An efficient and novel plant system as biosensor for detecting the environmental hazards and bioactive molecules through distinct responses has been developed at CIMAP and is being used for testing new molecules for their biological activities including plant growth regulators.

Gallic acid derivative and process of preparing the same

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research


A system for electronically managing calls in a hold queue wherein the hold queue is prioritized into a number of priority categories according to user selectable priority criteria. As an operator becomes available, the system selectively assigns the calls on hold to an available operator in a sequential manner according to the priority category of the calls and the type of hold queue utilized.

Automated telephone systems are now in widespread use among users such as providers of telemarketing, credit collecting and reservation services.
Users of such systems desire to optimize system performance by attempting to ensure nearly 100% operator productivity while minimizing the number of calls which are placed on hold. This concern arises from the fact that customers who are placed on hold will at some point hang up and be lost.
Several prior art methods have been developed to prioritize the order in which calls placed on hold are answered, but all have been met with limited success. These methods include prioritizing the on-hold calls based upon the telephone number dialed. For example, long distance callers who are on hold would be handled before local callers who have been placed on hold. Another method involves prioritizing the on-hold calls strictly by age or the length of time the call has been placed on hold. This method fails to recognize the non-uniformity in the willingness of customers to remain on hold based upon the length of time the caller has been on hold. For example, a customer who has been on hold for 30 or 40 seconds may not be more apt to hang up then a customer who has been on hold for 10 seconds or less. Another example is that customers are more apt to hang up when a message is played during the hold interval. Additionally, such non-uniformity in hold tolerance will vary and change from user to user, and from campaign to campaign at any given user.


A plastic package opener having a body with a generally “V” shaped configured is formed from a memory retention material, by angled first and second legs held together by a portion of material. A sharp edge or blade member is held to an interior surface of one of the legs at an angle to the terminal ends of the legs. A movable blade cover may be provided for safety. A plastic package to be opened is inserted between the open ends of the legs and the blade member brought against the plastic package by squeezing the two legs together and directed across the surface of the plastic package to sever the plastic package and open the same for removal of an item or items held therein.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to opening or severing apparatus and more particularly to a new and improved plastic package opener apparatus which permits reception of the conventional plastic package within the apparatus to allow severing of the plastic package as the apparatus is manually directed across each side of the plastic package.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically a consumer will use a knife, razor blade, scissors, or other type of available blade or sharpened device to open plastic packages, such as blister packs, to get at or obtain the product or products held within the plastic cover or wrapping. This can be an arduous task for almost anyone because of the difficulty in slicing or opening some plastic packages and is particularly hard for the elderly, those with poor eyesight, or those who have limited physical abilities. For them cutting open plastic packaging is difficult and sometimes impossible. Therefore, there exists the need for an improved, easy to use and safe plastic package opener.


An object-oriented DVC application runtime interface (RI) having a number of runtime management and channel objects is provided for assisting running of customized DVC applications incorporated with prepackaged conference control objects that facilitate accesses to conferencing services of GPPC applications. An identical copy of the DVC application RS is to be provided on each system, interposed between the DVC and the GPPC applications, to synchronize A/V rendering as well as data and file channels of the local DVC application to its remote counterpart. The runtime management and channel objects include a Runtime Manager Object, a Channel Manager Object, a pair of Control Input and Output Channel Objects, zero or more pairs of Data Input and Output Channel Objects, and zero or more pairs of File Input and Output Channel Objects for augmenting accesses having repercussion on the remote DVC application, and/or imposes proper end-to-end synchronization on the accesses, before passing the accesses onto the interposed GPPC application. In the presently preferred embodiments, the Runtime Manager Object also automatically exchanges capability information with its counterpart and disables the capabilities of the local DVC application that are unsupported by the connected remote DVC application. Lastly, both data as well as file blocks are sent and received as messages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of data and/or video conferencing (DVC) applications. More specifically, the present invention relates to the development and running of these applications.
2. Background Information
As advances in telecommunication and computing technology continue to bring forth more powerful and yet affordable computer conferencing systems, it has become increasingly viable to apply the technology of DVC to a wide range of business problems. For example, the technology can be applied to allow a person in the process of relocating to a new geographic area to preview homes for sale in the new area, under the guidance of a real estate marketing representative in the new area, while the person is still in the old area. As a further example, the technology can also be applied to allow a west coast investor to remotely review the performance data of a number of financial instruments with his/her financial adviser in New York.
Conventional approaches would develop these DVC applications using any number of well known high level programming languages such as COBOL and C, and/or assembly language, employing various software development techniques such as top down design and data flow analysis. However, it will be costly if each of these DVC applications has to provide their own conferencing services, such as connection management functions, conference management functions and audio and video (A/V) services.
Since a general purpose personal conference (GPPC) application is typically incorporated with these conferencing services, it would be a lot more cost effective if DVC applications can be developed and run in a manner allowing them to exploit the conferencing services of a GPPC application, leaving substantially only the special user interfaces tailored for the special customer sets, and the companion logic to be developed.
Additionally, it is further desirable to allow DVC applications to be independently developed under this more cost effective approach, and yet they can cooperate with each other at runtime, even when the independent development led to DVC applications having different levels of capabilities, such as different number of data and file channels supported for performing data and file transfers.
As will be disclosed in more detail below, the methods and apparatus of the present invention achieve these and other desirable results.
An object-oriented DVC application runtime synchronizer (RS) having a number of runtime management and channel objects is provided for assisting running of customized DVC applications incorporated with prepackaged conference control objects that facilitate accesses to conferencing services of GPPC applications. An identical copy of the DVC application RS is to be provided on each system, interposed between the DVC and the GPPC applications, to synchronize A/V rendering as well as data and file channels of the local DVC application to its remote counterpart, thereby relieving prepackaged conference control objects incorporated in the customized DVC applications from having to provide the applicable synchronization and yet without imposing the responsibilities on the customized DVC applications.
The prepackaged conference control objects are designed to complement the interposing DVC application RS, routing all GPPC application conference service accesses that have repercussion on the remote DVC application through the DVC application RS, which in turn, augments the accesses and/or imposes proper end-to-end synchronization on the accesses, before passing the accesses onto the interposed GPPC application.
The runtime management and channel objects of the DVC application RS of the present invention include a Runtime Manager Object, a Channel Manager Object, a pair of Control Input and Output Channel Objects, zero or more pairs of Data Input and Output Channel Objects, and zero or more pairs of File Input and Output Channel Objects. Both the Runtime and Channel Manager Objects are created at installation time, whereas the Control Input and Output Channel Objects are created at connect time, and the Data and File Input and Output Channel Objects are created on an as needed basis.
The Runtime Manager Object is used to receive all accesses having repercussion on the remote DVC application from the prepackaged conference control objects, augment them with additional accesses to send control messages to the connected remote DVC application, and/or reroute them to ensure data/file blocks being transferred are delivered to the proper data/file channels of the connected remote DVC application, as appropriate.
The Channel Manager Object is used to manage the routing of the additional accesses for sending control messages as well as the re-routing of data and file block transfers. The Channel Manager Object creates the Control Input and Output Channel Objects at connect time, maintains a mapping of the data and file channels to the Data and File Input and Output Channel Objects, and creates the appropriate Data and File Input and Output Channel Objects when their corresponding data and file channels are requested to be open.
The Control Input and Output Channel Objects are used to facilitate the routing of the additional accesses for sending control messages, whereas the Data and File Input and Output Channel Objects are used to facilitate the rerouting of the accesses for data and file block transfers.
Additionally, under the presently preferred embodiments, the two DVC applications may have different level of capabilities, including different number of data and/or file channels. At connect time, the Runtime Manager Object automatically exchanges these information with its counterpart and disables the capabilities of the local DVC application that are unsupported by the connected remote DVC application.
Both data as well as file blocks are sent and received as messages. In one embodiment, each message comprises a message type, message parameters, a sequence number (for multi-block data/file transfers), a buffer/data size and the buffer/data itself. Under this embodiment, the buffer/data of the capability exchange control message comprises the number of DVC application conference control objects incorporated, and the object type and object identification of each instance of a conference control object incorporated.

Method and apparatus for running customized data and/or video conferencing applications employing prepackaged conference control objects utilizing a runtime synchronizer


In order to reduce the circuit size for a chromatic dispersion pre-equalization operation, an optical multilevel signal pre-equalization circuit is provided with: (1) a plurality of look-up tables in which a string of middle codes utilizing a symmetry of a signal constellation of a multilevel code or a string of middle codes represented by polar coordinates is stored in association with a waveform response component; and (2) one or more operation circuits to which the waveform response component corresponding to a multilevel signal to be transmitted is inputted from the plurality of look-up tables, and which outputs a pre-equalized output waveform corresponding to the multilevel signal by operating the waveform response components outputted from different look-up tables.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments discussed herein relate to an optical information transmission technology, such as an optical multilevel signal pre-equalization circuit suitable for transmission and reception of an optical multilevel signal via an optical fiber, an optical multilevel signal pre-equalization transmitter, and a polarization multiplexed pre-equalization transmitter.
2. Related Art
The amount of information that can be transmitted by a single optical fiber (transmission capacity) has been increased to a limit by increasing the number of wavelength channels or the optical signal modulation speed, with the wavelength bandwidth of an optical fiber amplifier having been nearly exhausted. If the transmission capacity of the optical fiber is to be further increased, it is necessary to devise an improved signal modulation system and enable a number of optical signals to be packed in a limited frequency-range, to thereby increase the frequency-range utilization efficiency. For this purpose, utilization of optical multilevel modulation has been considered, and a number of studies have been reported. For example, QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) involving four-level phase modulation is reported in R. A. Griffin, et al., "10 Gb/s Optical Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Key (DQPSK) Transmission using GaAs/AlGaAs Integration," OFC2002, paper PD-FD6, 2002 (hereafter referred to as "Non-patent Document 1"). Long-distance transmission of a 16QAM signal using optical delay detection, which is a type of direct detection, is reported in N. Kikuchi and S. Sasaki, "Highly-sensitive Optical Multilevel Transmission of arbitrary QAM (Quadrature-Amplitude Modulation) Signals with Direct Detection," J. of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2010, pp. 123-130 (hereafter referred to as "Non-patent Document 2"). A 16 QAM signal coherent reception system combining polarization multiplexing is reported in P. J. Winzer, "Spectrally Efficient Long-Haul Optical Networking Using 112-Gb/s Polarization-Multiplexed 16-QAM," Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 28, No. 4, Feb. 15, 2010, pp. 547-556 (hereafter referred to as "Non-patent Document 3"). A system such that a sixteen-level optical multilevel signal is coherently received and then subjected to digital delay detection in a receiver for reception is reported in N. Kikuchi, "Phase-Noise Tolerant Coherent Polarization-Multiplexed 16QAM Transmission with Digital Delay-Detection," Proceeding of ECOC 2011, Geneva, Switzerland, September 2011, Tu.3.A.5 (hereafter referred to as "Non-patent Document 4").
FIG. 1 illustrates a complex phase plane (or a complex plane, a phaser plane, or an IQ plane) used for optical transmission, and signal constellations according to various known modulation systems. In FIG. 1, the signal points of the various optical multilevel signals (complex notation of optical field at decision timing) are plotted on the complex phase plane. FIG. 1A illustrates a signal point on the IQ plane. Each signal point can be indicated by complex Cartesian coordinates (IQ-coordinate) or the polar coordinates expressed by the amplitude r(n) and the phase φ(n) as illustrated. FIG. 1B illustrates quarternary phase shift keying (QPSK) in which two bits of information (00, 01, 11, 10) are transmitted with one symbol by using four values (0, π/2, π, −π/2) as the phase angle φ(n). FIG. 1C illustrates sixteen-level quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) which is widely used for wireless applications. In 16QAM, the signal points are arranged in a lattice, and 4-bits of information can be transmitted with one symbol. FIG. 1D illustrates a signal constellation for a 16QAM signal in which a phase pre-integration process, which is a transmitting side signal processing for cancelling the effect of delay detection, is performed by a system described in the aforementioned Non-patent Documents 2 and 4.
Optical delay detection or delay detection in an electric signal stage is a process for detecting a phase difference by causing interference between two chronologically successive symbols, in which the phase component of an output signal from a delay detector represents a phase difference Δφ between the two chronologically successive symbols. Thus, when a multilevel signal such as the 16QAM signal is used, the signal outputted from a receiving side delay detector has a signal constellation with inter-symbol interference which greatly differs from the original multilevel signal. Further, the amplitude component after delay detection represents the product of the amplitudes of the two chronologically successive symbols.
In order to prevent the development of such inter-symbol interference, Non-patent Document 2 introduces a phase pre-integration process. This is a process for integrating the phase of an optical signal on the transmitting side in advance on a symbol by symbol basis. The process involves substituting the phase of a signal with Σφ(n) without changing the signal amplitude r(n), φ(n) being the phase of each symbol.
The signal constellation for the 16QAM signal after the phase pre-integration process greatly differs from the original signal constellation, as illustrated in FIG. 1D. However, the phase pre-integration (phase adding process) and the delay detection (phase differential) process in the receiver cancel each other such that the phase component of the signal outputted from the delay detector becomes identical to the phase component of the original 16QAM signal. Thus, by combining the phase component and a separately detected amplitude component r(n) in the receiver, the signal constellation of the original 16QAM signal illustrated in FIG. 1C can be reproduced. Accordingly, by using the phase pre-integration process on the transmitting side, the multilevel signal of an arbitrary signal constellation can be utilized even when an optical receiver that uses optical delay detection or delay detection in an electric signal stage is used.
Meanwhile, in ultrahigh-speed optical fiber transmission, phenomena related to the optical fiber or parts used, such as chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion, and bandwidth limitation, pose a significant limitation factor against an increase in transmission speed or transmission distance. Chromatic dispersion (CD) is a phenomenon in which light of different wavelengths is transmitted at different speeds in an optical fiber. The optical spectrum of an optical signal that is modulated at high speed contains different wavelength components, and these components arrive at the receiving end at different times due to the influence of dispersion. As a result, the optical waveform after transmission is known to cause large waveform distortion.
In order to avoid the influence of dispersion, a technology referred to as "chromatic dispersion compensation" (which may be hereafter simply referred to as "dispersion compensation") is being considered. According to chromatic dispersion compensation, which is a technique for preventing optical waveform distortion, an optical device with inverse chromatic dispersion characteristics with respect to the optical fiber used in the transmission path is installed in the optical transmitter or the optical receiver so that the chromatic dispersion characteristics of the optical fiber can be cancelled.
Conventionally, approaches that have been considered have involved a dispersion compensation fiber with chromatic dispersion of the opposite sign from the transmission path, an optical interferometer, an optical circuit, an optical fiber grating, and the like. These approaches, however, require an extra cost for the optical device, and the amount of chromatic dispersion or the amount of variation thereof that can be obtained by the optical device is limited. For these reasons, the application of digital signal processing has been considered in recent years.
Optical pre-equalization (pre-distortion) transmission is a system for implementing such optical field equalization by an electric signal process on the transmitting side. According to the system, an optical field waveform such that an inverse function of chromatic dispersion is applied to the field of an optical signal in advance in the transmitter is generated, and the optical field waveform is transmitted in the optical fiber so as to cancel the influence of chromatic dispersion of the optical fiber itself. While the basic concept of the pre-equalization system has been around for several decades, a digital pre-equalization optical transmitter for implementing pre-equalization by high-speed digital signal processing has been proposed in recent years. The details of the technology are discussed in Killey, R., "Dispersion and nonlinearity compensation using electronic predistortion techniques," Optical Fibre Communications and Electronic Signal Processing, 2005, The IEE Seminar on (Ref. No. 2005-11310) (hereafter referred to as "Non-patent Document 5"), for example. The pre-equalization signal processing discussed in the present specification is a rather a broad term, including the processes of spectral narrowing, which is linear filtering required on the transmitting side for optical multilevel transmission, and interpolation.
FIG. 2 illustrates a basic configuration of a conventional pre-equalization optical multilevel transmitter that pre-equalizes the influence of chromatic dispersion. In a conventional optical multilevel transmitter signal processing circuit 100, an input information signal 101 is inputted to a multilevel encoder 102 and converted into a one-sample/symbol multilevel signal string 103 digitally represented on a quadrature complex plane, as in the 16QAM signal (FIG. 1C). Then, a doubling interpolation circuit 104 converts the multilevel signal string 103 into a 2 samples/symbol multilevel signal string 105 by an over-sampling process. The multilevel signal string 105 is inputted to a pre-equalization circuit 106 that pre-equalizes the influence of chromatic dispersion. The pre-equalization circuit 106 superposes an inverse function of the chromatic dispersion characteristics of the transmission path onto the multilevel signal string 105 through a digital pre-equalization process. The real part and the imaginary part of the multilevel signal 107 after pre-equalization are respectively inputted to linear response compensation circuits 108-1 and 108-2 and nonlinear response compensation circuits 109-1 and 109-2. The linear response compensation circuits 108-1 and 108-2 and the nonlinear response compensation circuits 109-1 and 109-2 perform digital signal processing for providing inverse compensation for linear or nonlinear response degradation of a subsequent driver amplifier or optical modulator. The real part and the imaginary part of a digital multilevel signal generated by the signal processing are inputted to DA converters 110-1 and 110-2, respectively, and are thereby converted into high-speed analog modulation signals 111-1 and 111-2, respectively. The analog modulation signals 111-1 and 111-2 are amplified by driver amplifiers 112-1 and 112-2 to desired amplitudes and then inputted to two modulation input terminals (I, Q) of an IQ optical (field) modulator 115. The IQ optical (field) modulator 115 converts CW (continuous wave) laser light 114 outputted from a laser source 113 into an optical multilevel signal 117 that is pre-equalized for chromatic dispersion, and outputs the optical multilevel signal 117 via an output optical fiber 116.
FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional configuration of a pre-equalization optical multilevel transmitter using a phase pre-integration process. The transmitter side of the system transmits an optical multilevel signal while performing a phase pre-integration process. The receiver side of the system subjects the optical multilevel signal to optical delay detection or coherent detection, and then performs delay detection by digital operation so as to alleviate various degradations associated with optical multilevel transmission. The details of the present system are discussed in Non-patent Documents 2 and 4.
The phase pre-integration process is an operational process that cumulatively adds the phase component (angle) of a multilevel signal on a symbol by symbol basis. However, when the phase pre-integration process is applied to a two-dimensional multilevel signal, such as the 16QAM signal, as is, complex operational processes are required, such as (1) a process for converting the signal point positions expressed by Cartesian coordinates to polar coordinates; (2) a process for adding extracted phase information at high accuracy of 8 to 12 bits, for example; (3) a process for conversion to Cartesian coordinates by re-combing the added signal with amplitude. These processes may be resolved by an operational process using a middle code described in WO 2010/061784 A1 (hereafter referred to as "Patent Document 1"). The phase pre-integration process of FIG. 3 will be described in accordance with a configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1.
FIG. 3A illustrates an internal configuration of a signal processing circuit 120 of the conventional phase pre-integration optical multilevel transmitter. In the case of the signal processing circuit 120, an information signal 101 is inputted to an encoder 121 that uses a middle polar coordinate code, by which the information signal 101 is converted into a polar coordinate multilevel middle code (amplitude N states, phase M states) 122. The polar coordinate multilevel middle code 122 is inputted to a phase pre-integration circuit 123. The phase pre-integration circuit 123 performs a pre-integration operation for sequentially cumulatively adding the middle code of the phase portion, re-combines the middle code with the middle code for the original amplitude portion, and then outputs a middle code (amplitude N states, phase M states) 124 after phase pre-integration. The middle code after phase pre-integration is subjected to Cartesian coordinate conversion by a Cartesian coordinate conversion circuit 125, thereby producing a multilevel signal 126 after phase pre-integration. The subsequent configuration of the transmitter is the same as depicted in FIG. 2, and an optical multilevel signal 127 that has been subjected to phase pre-integration and chromatic dispersion pre-equalization is obtained via the output optical fiber 116.
A first reason for adopting the configuration using the middle code is so that the polar coordinate conversion required for the phase pre-integration process can be omitted by encoding the multilevel signal in polar coordinates from the beginning. A second reason is in order to decrease the amount of subsequent operation by the phase pre-integration circuit 123 or the Cartesian coordinate conversion circuit 125 by significantly limiting the number of states of the multilevel signal (the number of states of amplitude N, the number of states of phase M; N and M being integers on the order of 4 to 32, for example).
FIG. 3B illustrates a conventional configuration of the phase pre-integration circuit 123, in which the inputted polar coordinate multilevel middle code 122 is separated into an amplitude middle code 130 with the number of states N and a phase information signal 131 with the number of states M. The amplitude middle code 130 is delayed by a delay circuit 133-1. The phase information signal 131 is inputted to an integration circuit 132. An adder circuit 136 of the integration circuit 132 adds an inputted phase information signal φi and a phase integrated value Σφi−1 up to one symbol previously, and outputs the result as a phase information signal 134 after pre-integration (Σφi).
The number of states of the phase information signal is M. Thus, the adder circuit 136 can perform the addition by "modulo-M", so that the circuit size required for the adding can be decreased. To the subsequent Cartesian coordinate conversion circuit 125, a multilevel signal with the number of amplitude states N and the number of phase states M is inputted. The Cartesian coordinate conversion circuit 125 may be implemented by using a look-up table (LUT).
FIG. 4A illustrates a 16QAM signal discussed in Patent Document 1 and an example of the middle code thereof. In the present example, the amplitude has three levels, and the phase has sixteen levels. Thus, the amplitude of the middle code is expressed by 2 bits, with 00, 01, and 10 allocated to a minimum value r1, a middle value r2, and a maximum value r3, respectively. The number of states of the phase of the middle code M=16, and the phase of the middle code is expressed by 16 values of 4-bits from 0000 to 1111.
FIG. 4B illustrates a signal constellation after phase pre-integration. In FIG. 4B, the phase state of the 16QAM signal is limited to positions corresponding to integer multiples of 2π/16. The number of phase states before and after phase pre-integration is both M=16. Thus, the middle code with the amplitude of three levels and the phase of sixteen levels can be commonly used before and after phase pre-integration.
FIG. 5 illustrates a configuration in which the conventional chromatic dispersion pre-equalization circuit 106 is implemented by a complex digital FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filter. The complex digital FIR filter 140 is a circuit in which complex delay circuits 141, complex tap multipliers 142, and adders 143 are arranged in ladder form. The response characteristics of the complex tap multipliers 142 are set at d−1 (t), which is the impulse response of an inverse function D−1 (f) of the chromatic dispersion of transmission path. The complex tap multipliers 142 implements a pre-equalization function that convolves the impulse response d−1 (t) with the two-samples/symbol multilevel signal string 105 that has been inputted.
However, this configuration requires one complex multiplier per tap (which is equivalent to four real number multipliers). Further, in this configuration, when the transmission distance is long and the influence of chromatic dispersion is increased, it becomes necessary to take longer impulse response d(t), resulting in the problem that the amount of operation (i.e., circuit size) drastically increases in proportion to the amount of chromatic dispersion.
For example, when the symbol speed of the optical multilevel signal is 28 G symbols/s, the sampling speed of digital signal processing is twice that, i.e., 56 G samples/s, and the transmission distance of the optical fiber is 100 km (with the amount of chromatic dispersion of 1700 ps/nm for normal dispersion fiber), the optical pulse energy amount due to chromatic dispersion in a signal bandwidth of ±56 GHz is about 761 ps=8 symbols. The required number of taps for the FIR filter in this case is twice as many, i.e., 16 taps. Although the number of taps may appear small, the operation speed of an IC circuit for performing these operational processes is on the order of no more than several 100 MHz. Thus, when the FIR filter is configured from 200 or so parallel operations, the number of required real number multipliers will be 16×4×200=12800, thus requiring a very large-sized complex operation circuit.
As a method for alleviating the problem of an increase in circuit size, the pre-equalization circuit for chromatic dispersion may be configured from look-up tables, as illustrated in FIG. 2 of Non-patent Document 5. In the pre-equalization circuit, an ideal optical multilevel signal prior to transmission can be used as an input signal. Further, by utilizing the look-up tables, circuit size can be greatly decreased because the number of states of the field signal that is inputted can be greatly decreased. Namely, assuming a general complex field input, the input field signal would have a number of states on the order of 16 bits of 8 bits for real part and 8 bits for imaginary part (corresponding to 65536 states). However, when the ideal binary field signal prior to transmission is inputted, for example, one bit for mark and space would suffice, so that the circuit size can be decreased to 1/65536. Accordingly, the pre-equalization circuit can be configured by using a memory circuit of a relatively small size.
FIG. 6A illustrates a configuration of such a conventional pre-equalization transmitter. The pre-equalization transmitter includes an optical multilevel transmitter signal processing circuit 150 that uses a look-up table type pre-equalization circuit for pre-equalization of the chromatic dispersion of a binary or multilevel optical signal for transmission. When the information signal 101 to be transmitted is a bit string di, the input signal is inputted to a buffer circuit (FIFO: First In First Out) 151 in which di is extracted from a data string d(i−n+1) for n symbols and inputted to the look-up table type pre-equalization circuit 152.
The look-up table type pre-equalization circuit 152 is provided with an over-sampling process and outputs two time sample points per symbol for two sets of interpolation samples of times 2i and 2i+1, for example, as a complex field signal (two sets of digital data for real part and imaginary part). The reason that the look-up table type pre-equalization circuit 152 can be used is that, when the time length of the digital complex FIR filter is n symbols (the number of taps is 2n when the over-sampling coefficient is two), the waveform of the output complex optical signal of the times 2i and 2i+1 is uniquely determined only by the input data for the n symbols immediately preceding the times. Namely, the same function as an FIR filter can be implemented by creating a look-up table with the output waveforms for the two times as values by using the data for the immediately preceding n symbols as addresses.
FIG. 6B illustrates a configuration of the look-up table type pre-equalization circuit 152 in a case where the input signal di is a binary signal. A data string di−n+1 to di for n bits that have been inputted is utilized as addresses for the n bits, and the real part and the imaginary part of data for timings 2i and 2i+1 are each stored as 8-bit data. In the present example, the size of the look-up table type pre-equalization circuit 152 is (2n×4) bytes. For example, when n=10, the circuit size of the look-up table type pre-equalization circuit 152 only needs to be on the order of as small as 128 bytes. Further, Non-patent Document 5 discusses a configuration such that the look-up table type pre-equalization circuit 152 includes the function of correcting a nonlinear response of the IQ optical (field) modulator 115 or a bandwidth response of a driver circuit.

Optical multilevel signal pre-equalization circuit, optical multilevel signal pre-equalization transmitter, and polarization-multiplexed pre-equalization transmitter


The present invention relates to a method for operating a network comprising a first primary station and a second primary station, wherein the first primary station serves a first cell including at least one first secondary station communicating with the first primary station and wherein the second primary station serves a second cell including at least one second secondary station communicating with the second primary station, the method comprising the steps of (a) the first primary station and the second primary station transmitting payloads in a synchronous manner on at least one set of resources, (b) the first and the second primary stations transmitting control data on the at least one set of resources respectively to the first secondary station and to the second secondary station, wherein the method further comprises (c) at least the first primary station rendering the transmission of control data to the first secondary station orthogonal to the transmission of control data from the second primary station.

In many wireless systems control-channel signalling is needed that indicates the particular time-frequency transmission resources to which the data is mapped, and the format/mode in which the data itself is transmitted. For UMTS LTE Rel-8 downlink communication, the relevant control channel that includes resource allocation and transmission format information is known as Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).
Each PDCCH is transmitted using one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs), where each CCE corresponds to a plurality of sets of four physical resource elements. The number of CCEs used for transmission of a particular PDCCH is determined according to the channel conditions by the primary station, the ENodeB (or eNB) in LTE.
PDCCH transmissions from neighbouring or overlapping cells at the same carrier frequency may interfere with one another. This problem will become especially pronounced if the cells in question are synchronized or nearly synchronized with time-aligned transmissions. Indeed, in this case, the two transmissions of PDCCH may occur exactly at the same time and collides one with another. On the other hand, for some transmission modes, such as CoMP (Co-operative Multi-Point), synchronisation is deemed essential for satisfactory performance. Indeed, Co-operative Multi-Point transmissions are generally MIMO transmissions where antennas from a plurality of cells are used for a single transmission to users.
Ways of mitigating the PDCCH interference are therefore required.
In LTE Release 8 the main mechanism for mitigating the effect of interference on the PDCCH is randomization of the Resource Elements (REs) in the frequency domain (over the system bandwidth) and in the time domain (over the OFDM symbols reserved for control channels).
Existing methods for increasing robustness by randomisation in LTE include:                Increased sparseness of control channels. This can be done e.g. by expanding to 3 OFDM symbols, even if this is not required by PDCCH loading.        Power boosting the PDCCH transmissions. This is effective against PDSCH interference since PDSCH is not power boosted. However, it needs to be combined with "increased sparseness" to be highly efficient.        Increased aggregation level used for PDCCH. This would increase robustness for an individual PDCCH transmission, but would lead to higher interference, so is not likely to be very effective.
However, none of these methods are effective enough, especially in case of fully aligned transmissions, like for a single base station which is serving two or three interfering cells.

Mitigation of control channel interference


A combustion apparatus comprises a pair or more than two pairs of burner groups. Each burner group comprises one regenerator per a plurality of burners. In each pair of burner groups, a first burner group and a second burner group are fired alternately and waste heat produced when the first burner group is fired is stored in a regenerator of the second burner group. The stored waste heat is utilized to preheat the combustion air of the second burner group when the second burner group is fired. Similarly, waste heat produced when the second burner group is fired is stored in a regenerator of the first burner group, and the stored waste heat is utilized to preheat the combustion air of the first burner group when the first burner group is fired.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combustion apparatus and a melting furnace, which includes a continuous furnace and a batch-type furnace, for melting nonferrous metals such as copper, aluminum, zinc and alloy, which comprises more than one pair of regenerative burners where waste heat produced by a first burner is stored in a regenerator of a second burner and the stored waste heat is utilized when the second burner is fired.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been a combustion apparatus for melting and heating metals. The apparatus comprises a regenerative burner including a pair of burners 19, 20. The burners 19, 20 are fired alternately as such that when a first burner 19 is fired, a second burner 20 stores waste heat produced by the first burner 19, and the stored waste heat is used to preheat the combustion air of the burner 20 when the second burner 20 is fired. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the conventional combustion apparatus comprises one regenerator 21 or 22 per one burner 19 or 20, so that, for example, when there are provided eight (four pairs of) burners, the same number, eight, of regenerators need to be installed.
As illustrated in FIG. 7, the conventional combustion apparatus comprises a regulating valve 23 at the upper stream of the regenerator 3 for controlling a volume of combustion air. With an operation of the regulating valve 23, the combustion of the burner 19 or 20 is to be controlled.
Conventionally, there has been a melting furnace for nonferrous metals having a regenerative burner. The regenerative burner comprises a pair of burners, each of which is fired alternately as such that when a first burner is fired, a second burner stores waste heat produced by the first burner. The stored waste heat is used to preheat the combustion air of the second burner when the second burner is fired.
The conventional melting furnace for nonferrous metals will be described in detail referring to FIGS. 8 and 9. The melting furnace comprises a pair of regenerative burners 16, 17, at the side wall 5a of the furnace casing 5, and each burner 16 or 17 is integrated with a regenerator. This melting furnace operates as such that while a first burner 16 is fired, a second burner 17 is unfired but stores the waste heat produced by the first burner 16, as the waste heat is exhausted through a regenerator of the second burner 17. And, when the second burner 17 is fired, combustion air is provided through the regenerator of the second burner 17 and is preheated by the stored waste heat. By use of the waste heat, a thermal efficiency of the burners 16, 17 increases.
However, in the conventional combustion apparatus, each burner 19 or 20 is equipped with its own regenerator 21 or 22, so that when a large number of burners 19, 20 require to be installed in, for example, a continuous furnace 18, the same number of regenerators 21, 22 should also be installed. Therefore, the conventional combustion apparatus requires a much installation space as well as much cost and labor for an installation of the regenerators 21, 22 and a maintenance engineering thereof.
Further, according to the conventional melting furnace for nonferrous metals, each burner 16 or 17 is integrated with its own regenerator and is installed in the side wall 5a of the furnace casing 5. Therefore, an installation space and size of the burners 16, 17 becomes restricted, and as a result of this, a quantity and capacity of the burners 16, 17 are also restricted. Besides, it becomes necessary to enlarge the furnace casing 5 in its size, which induces a higher construction cost.
That is, if the conventional melting furnace is provided with a metal feeding device 14 for feeding aluminum, e.g., as well as an auxiliary apparatus 15, for example a pump, for circulation of the liquid metal at the side wall 5a of the furnace casing 5, in addition to the burners 16, 17 combined with the regenerators, an installation space of the burners 16, 17 is severely restricted. This becomes crucial when the furnace casing 5 is smaller in size. In such a case, it becomes necessary to select limited types of burners among many to install in the restricted small installation space. Also, a number of the burners to be installed is restricted. As a result of this, the burners 16, 17 tend to become unsatisfactory in capacity for efficiently melting and heating the nonferrous metal held in the furnace.
In order to resolve such drawbacks, it is desirable to enlarge the furnace casing 5 in size for broadening the installation space. However, this will bring a new drawback that the construction cost would over exceed.
Further, since the conventional melting furnace for nonferrous metals comprises the burners 16, 17 at the side wall 5a of the furnace casing 5, when the burners 16, 17 are fired, the combustion gas runs onto the surface of the liquid metal 40 in the nearly horizontal angle. Thus, the combustion gas does not wide spread over the surface of the liquid metal 40, heating only a local area of the surface. Besides, the jet flow of the combustion gas impinges on a certain area of the side wall 5a of the furnace. The certain area of the side wall 5a, where the jet flow of the combustion gas impinges on, becomes extremely high in temperature and a mass of nonferrous metal oxide 30 is produced thereabout and is ingrained and accumulated to the side wall 5a. Because of a mass production of the nonferrous metal oxide 30, the yield of melting decreases. At the same time, as the combustion gas impinges on the side wall 5a where the oxide has been accumulated, an operation life of the side wall 5a shortens and thus a maintenance cost thereof arises.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a combustion apparatus comprising one regenerator per a plurality of burners in order to save a installation space of the burners. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a combustion apparatus comprising an air regulating valve at each burner in order to individually control a combustion volume of each burner.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a melting furnace for nonferrous metals comprising burners combined with regenerators on the roof of the furnace in order not to restrict the size, disposition and installation space of the burners, which will increase a heat transfer efficiency, save a construction cost and a production of oxide as well as an increase in a life duration of the side wall 5a and a reduction of maintenance cost.
A combustion apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a pair or more than two pairs of burner groups. Each burner group comprises one regenerator per a plurality of burners. In each pair of burner groups, a first burner group and a second burner group are fired alternately and waste heat produced when the first burner group is fired is stored in a regenerator of the second burner group. The stored waste heat is utilized to preheat the combustion air of the second burner group when the second burner group is fired. Similarly, waste heat produced when the second burner group is fired is stored in a regenerator of the first burner group, and the stored waste heat is utilized to preheat the combustion air of the first burner group when the first burner group is fired.
The combustion apparatus comprises a regulating valve for controlling a volume of combustion air. The valve is installed on the side of each burner.
A melting furnace for nonferrous metals according to the present invention is used for melting any nonferrous metals and for holding the metal in a liquid form. The melting furnace is characterized in that it comprises a pair or more than two pairs of burner groups. Each burner group comprises one regenerator per a plurality of burners. In each pair of burner groups, a first burner group and a second burner group are fired alternately, and waste heat produced when the first burner group is fired is stored in a regenerator of the second burner group. The stored waste heat is utilized to preheat the combustion air of the second burner group when the second burner group is fired. In the same manner, waste heat produced when the second burner group is fired is stored in a regenerator of the first burner group, and the stored waste heat is utilized to preheat the combustion air of the first burner group when the first burner group is fired. The burner groups are installed on the roof of a furnace. High velocity jet flame or combustion gas ejected from each burner is directed right below to impinge on the nonferrous metal or the surface of the liquid metal in the furnace to transfer the heat.
The melting furnace for nonferrous metals according to the present invention is characterized in that each burner group comprises a primary fuel supplying system and a secondary fuel supplying system, as well as a whole required combustion air supplying system. Each burner group is installed on the roof of the furnace as distanced from each other. A supplying ratio of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel is regulated to control the combustion in the furnace for the purpose of controlling the variation of flame and for controlling the temperature distribution in the furnace.
A melting furnace for nonferrous metals is further characterized in that each burner group comprises a primary fuel supplying system and a secondary fuel supplying system, as well as a whole required combustion air supplying system. Each burner group is installed on the roof of the furnace as distanced from each other. A supplying ratio of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel is regulated to control the combustion in the furnace for the purpose of shifting or varying the heat flux and for varying or evening the temperature fields in the furnace.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided one regenerator per a plurality of burners. Therefore, it is possible to drastically save an installation space, cost and labor for installation and the maintenance engineering of regenerators.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the advantage of the first aspect of the invention, each burner is provided with a regulating valve for controlling a volume of a combustion air. Therefore, it becomes possible to control a combustion volume of each individual burner to accurately control the temperature of the furnace or melting furnace.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a melting furnace for nonferrous metals, a group of burners are installed on the roof of a furnace and they eject high velocity jet flame or combustion gas; directly below the roof. Therefore, it is possible to install a desired type of burners. That is, no auxiliary apparatus but a wide space is provided above the furnace casing, so that a desired number and type of burners are selected and installed without any restrictions. Accordingly, it is possible to properly melt the nonferrous metal in the furnace and hold the metal in a liquid form. Because of such advantage, there is no need to enlarge the furnace casing, thus saving a construction cost and labor.
Further, since the high velocity jet flame or combustion gas ejected from the burners impinges on the liquid metal surface at right angles, they spread all over the surface of the liquid metal, evenly heating the whole liquid metal and preventing any local area from overheating. Therefore, a generation of oxide is restrained and the decrease in the yield of melting is improved. Further, jet flows of the combustion gas evenly flow toward a side wall, so that the oxide does not accumulate at a specific area of the side wall. Therefore, the drawback regarding to a decrease of the life duration of the furnace is improved.
Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the advantage of the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to control a supplying ratio of primary fuel and secondary fuel in each burner group, and to selectively change the flame to control the temperature distribution in the furnace. Therefore, it becomes possible to maintain the inside of the furnace a desirable condition.
Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the advantage of the third aspect of the invention, a combustion volume of each burner group is controlled by adjusting a primary fuel and secondary fuel so as to shift or vary the heat flux in the vertical and horizontal directions and to vary or even the temperature fields in the furnace. Therefore, it becomes possible to maintain the inside of the furnace a properly desirable condition.

Combustion apparatus and melting furnace for nonferrous metals


A vehicle computer is programmed to: receive data from the first vehicle sensor indicating at least one signal from a second vehicle. The computer is further programmed to determine that the signal is a permission for the first vehicle to change lanes, and to actuate a change of lane of travel of the first vehicle.

Changing lanes requires an awareness of the other vehicles on the road, and is often desirable while driving. However, safe and effective lane changing can be a problem for current vehicles. For example, a first vehicle wishing to change lanes may have difficulty knowing the intent of surrounding vehicles. Likewise, the first vehicle may be unaware of surrounding vehicles' intentions. These uncertainties can make changing lanes hazardous and difficult.


An electrical circuit assembly comprising: a circuit component, a fabric-based component, and a fastener is disclosed along with methods for fabricating the electrical circuit assembly and for using the electrical circuit assembly. The circuit component may comprise: a substrate layer comprising an integrated circuit disposed on the substrate layer; and a first conductive linkage electrically coupled to the integrated circuit. The fabric-based component may comprise: a fabric layer comprising a first at least one conductive thread; and a second conductive linkage electrically coupled to the first at least one conductive thread. The fastener may be configured to couple the circuit component and the fabric-based component at the first conductive linkage and the second conductive linkage.

The statements in the background of the invention are provided to assist with understanding the invention and its applications and uses, and may not constitute prior art. A challenge the wearable community faces is the ability to connect fabric-based materials to traditional circuit and electromechanical components, such as printed circuit boards (PCBs). Fabric materials have lower temperature tolerance (e.g., <200° F. or 95° C.) compared to electronic devices, metals, solderable connectable materials, or plastic materials; are vulnerable to many common electronic chemicals such as solder and acid/base solutions; and lack the mechanical robustness, such as tensile strength, tear strength, and yield strength that give hardware their distinct solid form-factor.
However, fabric-based materials provide more versatile form-factors, greater flexibility, and higher washing-and-drying tolerance. Furthermore, their ubiquity in today's day-to-day clothing makes fabric-based materials an attractive substrate for building and attaching devices. So far, these distinct properties of the soft-goods (e.g. fabrics) and the hard-goods (e.g. electronics) have created an industrial and manufacturing separation where they are rarely seen in product combinations in the market. Engineers have circumvented this chasm by physically attaching hard-goods onto straps or bands, or by mechanically tying hard-goods into pockets or laces that are then incorporated into a garment. These techniques are considered add-ons, however, rather than direct integration into the fabric substrate. These methods ultimately defeat the purpose of using fabric-based materials, and do not inherit their advantageous properties, such as fabric's flexible form-factor, flexibility, and washing-and-drying tolerance, and instead merely append the hard-good onto the apparel for the sake of aesthetics and function.
The disclosed assemblies and methods continue and expand upon the innovation disclosed in the patents and patent applications that are directed to fabric-based sensors and further render them compatible with traditional hard-goods and a wealth of electromechanical devices. Such patents and patent applications include, for example, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/622,845, filed on Jan. 27, 2018, and entitled "Design, Fabrication, and Use of Wearable Sensors and Controllers in the Shoe to Monitor, Analyze, and Assist in Gait and Other Bodily Movements"; to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/695,004, filed on Jul. 7, 2018, and entitled "Design, Fabrication, and Use of Wearable Sensors for Body Movement and Machine Learning Applications"; to U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 16/237,314 (now issued U.S. Pat. No. 10,378,975) filed on Dec. 31, 2018, and entitled "Systems, Methods, and Devices for Static and Dynamic Body Measurements"; to U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 16/451,166 (now issued U.S. Pat. No. 10,458,866) filed on Jun. 25, 2019, and entitled "Methods of Manufacturing Devices for Static and Dynamic Body Measurements"; to U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 16/573,727 (now issued U.S. Pat. No. 10,605,680) filed on Sep. 17, 2019, and entitled "Devices for Static and Dynamic Body Measurements"; to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/129,599, filed on Dec. 23, 2020, and entitled "Connectors for Integrating Conductive Threads to Non-Compatible Electromechanical Devices"; and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/174,046, filed on Apr. 13, 2021, and entitled "Flexible Surface Electromechanical Devices for Mechanical Sensing and Measurements." The entire disclosures of the patents and patent applications enumerated above are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Conventional systems and methods have failed to combine fabrics weaved with conductive threads and materials with other electromechanical devices for synergistic interfaces or fusion data (the act of combining multiple sensor data to create a new and computed metric). Some embodiments disclosed herein describe the creation of bonds, connectors, junctions, snaps, and other types of electromechanical connecting strategies such that fabric-based sensors and circuitry are backward compatible with existing hardware.
Prior art in this field fail to disclose a thread and fabric-based platform and generally teach away from such solutions, instead focusing on more chemically and mechanically harsh and crude methods. Existing solutions include conductive inks, thin metal sheets, adhesives such as epoxy, or coating entire fabric areas with metallized materials. These methods render known fabrics amenable for industrial standard connecting types, such as creating solder joins or conductive terminals, but ultimately still lose the benefits of the underlying fabric properties such as flexible, machine-washable, and comfortable form-factors.
Overall, there have been no solutions in the market that are able to combine sewn threads (i.e., threads that have penetrated and been weaved into fabric) with traditional electronic components. Moreover, none have been able to solve or achieve desirable use-cases posed, examples of which are set forth below:                a. How to sew conductive threads into fabric such that the threads are exposed on the fabric and capable of interfacing external components?        b. How to control the area of exposure of conductive threads on fabrics such that the area is sufficiently large to provide a stable electrical connection while maintaining a high signal-to-noise ratio?        c. How to work with the right and wrong side (e.g. top/bottom) of fabric and consider connector type strategies if the conductive thread is on the right or wrong side of the fabric?        d. How to electrically connect the bottom interfacing conductive thread with components above it, which are separated by woven fabric or by a series of intermediate layers?        e. How to terminate a conductive thread and join it with an adjacent component, either mechanically, electrically, electromechanically, magnetically, or chemically?        f. Which patterns (e.g., stitching, overlocking, or embroidery patterns) are optimal for securing conductive threads, in addition to connecting components?        g. How to securely bond a conductive thread with an electromechanical component that also protects against tearing, stress, and fraying?        h. How to securely bond a conductive thread with an electromechanical component that is not susceptible to stray mechanical and electrical noise and interference that are due to poor bondage, incompatible material types, or poor mechanical properties that are susceptible to motion noise?        i. How to create a reversible bond with a conductive thread and an electromechanical component (e.g., connectors that may be joined and separated repeatedly), while also considering join integrity such as tearing, stress, and fraying?        j. How may a thread, given its thin yet long dimensions, be bonded with (a) electromechanical components that are smaller than its dimensions (width scales of <1 mm; e.g. connecting threads with ball-grid-array (BGA)); or (b) electromechanical components that are much larger than its size (width scales of >1 cm; e.g. connecting threads with USB cables or solder pads)?
Past solutions have focused on either mechanical bonds (e.g., straps and tapes) or electrochemical bonds (e.g. chemicals that adhere with a conductive material), but no electromechanical or electromechanical-chemical bonds as described in this disclosure. The most ubiquitous solution is mechanical bonds, which involve latching hardware (e.g., accelerometers, also known under the category of inertial measurement units) to straps and have no signal or electrical connection to the underlying fabric. This "pseudo-wearable" is simply appending a device onto a fabric-like substrate.
More embedded, yet conventional solutions involve electrochemical bonds; these solutions have relied on conductive inks, heat-pressed conductive sheets/polymers, conductive adhesives, or entire layers of conductive fabrics. None of these conventional solutions, however, is able to bond individual conductive threads.
These conventional solutions are also less than ideal. For example, conductive inks are unstable and routinely fracture when stretched. An analogy is stretching dried paint, which forms cracks. Conductive inks require harsh chemical processes to formulate the conductive liquid. These liquids contain hazardous polymers and solvents that (1) are difficult to handle without laboratory equipment and filters, (2) are environmentally un-friendly, (3) are expensive, and (4) have a short lifespan on fabrics. Conductive inks are limited to a set number of chemicals that are capable of emulsification and liquification. These may include simple conductive polymers or elements like silver and carbon. More exotic chemicals exist, but they are more dangerous and/or costly. Due to cost and health constraints, chemicals routinely rely on a lower-performing metal/ink mixture.
Further, conductive inks typically act as an interface between the fabric and an adjacent electromechanical device. They are rarely used to directly join components together. For example, deposited and cured inks are either soldered or crimped to another connector such as a wire, and finally onto the desired hardware component. Using conductive inks is a subtractive process. For example, a stencil or template is used where inks are poured uniformly on the surface. The stencil is removed to reveal the areas that are exposed, and material on the stencil is either recycled or discarded. This thrown away excess adds to the cost and slow production life cycle of using conductive inks.
Conductive sheets and textiles are created by depositing conductive material onto a thin substrate, either a plastic or a synthetic fabric material. This process also requires a sophisticated laboratory setup that requires the control of vapor pressures, humidity, vacuum, temperature, and other environmental and chemical factors. Conductive sheets are capable of connecting adjacent terminals only if they lie on the same plane. Conversely, typically in sewing, conductive threads may be either within, above, or below the fabric, which means conductive sheets are only usable if the conductive thread is exposed on the same surface as the conductive sheet. Application of this process requires intense temperature and pressure for proper bondage. The bondage is typically permanent. Finally, the bonding process is also subtractive, where sheets of conductive materials are applied and cut to remove excess.
The chemicals used in conductive adhesives are limited, and therefore produce poor conductors. Conductive adhesives make poor conductive contact and are highly susceptible to mechanical and stray electrical noise. Application of conductive adhesives ruins the underlying fabric properties of the fabric on which they are applied. In particular, applying conductive adhesives to a fabric may cause, for example, solidification or hardening of the fabric material, as well as overall poor aesthetics and a decrease in comfortability. Conductive adhesives are typically applied last and are applied on the top-most layer when all components are set.
It is against this background that the innovative embodiments disclosed herein were developed.

Connectors for integrating conductive threads to non-compatible electromechanical devices


A molded base plate for use in a humidifier and ventilation assembly is disclosed. The base plate is connected to a cover which forms the water chamber of the humidifier. A thermally conductive material is used in the molding process of the base plate so that heat applied to the base plate is conducted into the water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to heated humidifiers, and in particular, to heated humidifiers with water chambers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many individuals suffer from sleep apnea and other related diseases which result in episodic upper airway obstruction during sleep. As a consequence, there is repeated interruption of sleep in the patient. Positive airway pressure (PAP) devices have been developed to treat this disorder. A typical PAP device comprises a flow generator (e.g., a blower) that delivers gas via a delivery conduit to a user interface, such as a mask. It is also known to deliver the PAP pressure as a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a variable airway pressure, such as a bi-level pressure that varies with the patient's respiratory cycle, or an auto-titrating pressure that varies with the monitored condition of the patient. Pressure support therapies are also provided to treat other medical and respiratory disorders, such as Cheynes-Stokes respiration, congestive heart failure, and stroke.
Providing positive airway pressure to such patients is well known in the art. However, it has been found that using dry pressurized air is uncomfortable to the user. Over time, breathing such air will dry out the patient's throat, nasal passage, and mucus membranes resulting in discomfort and pain. In order to overcome this problem many ventilators include a humidifier to add water vapor to the air inhaled by the patient. One such device exemplary of the art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,687 to Dobson et al. ("the '687 patent"). This device includes a ventilator, a passive humidifier, and a delivery conduit. The passive humidifier disclosed in this patent has a reservoir filled with water and a corresponding lid. The humidifier is connected between the outlet of the ventilator and the air delivery conduit. As the patient breaths, air is forced out of the ventilator and passes over water contained in the reservoir. Water vapor is passively entrained with the dry air as the water naturally evaporates within the reservoir. The humidified air then passes through the delivery conduit and inhaled by the patient.
It was found desirable to increase the amount of water vapor entrained with the air. One such device capable of accomplishing this goal is the humidifier described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,722 to Gradon et al. The humidifier disclosed in this patent has a water chamber with a plastic top and a metal bottom. Forming the water chamber from two separate parts allows for easy access to the interior of the chamber and cleaning. The chamber sits on top of a heater plate. Active humidification occurs as the temperature of the heater plate increases above ambient temperature. The heat generated by the heater plate raises the temperature of the water contained in the chamber and thus accelerates the rate of evaporation. Aluminum is often used to form the metal bottom because of its low cost, and high thermal conductivity. The metal bottom is typically formed by stamping a sheet of aluminum. A rubber seal is then overmolded about the metal bottom in order to create a fluid tight seal with the plastic top.
Although such devices have advanced the art, several improvements can still be made. In the case of an aluminum metal bottom, it can become dinged and dented since the material has little shape memory. Secondly, the aluminum metal bottom is used in a humid environment and thus prone to corrosion and pitting. Careful application of anodizing or other similar processes is needed to control the degradation of the metal bottom. Another feature of these devices that could be improved upon is the manufacturing process. Typically, the metal bottom is formed by stamping and cutting a sheet of aluminum. Next, a fluid-tight seal is formed between the metal bottom and the plastic top by overmolding a seal about the metal bottom. The metal bottom is formed by stamping and cutting thin sheet aluminum in multiple steps using a progressive die. The part is then transferred to a second machine for overmolding the seal. This is a time consuming processing method and requires expertise in two very different manufacturing technologies.

Molded water chamber base plate for use in a humidifier and ventilator assembly


Various examples described herein are directed to identifying a particular computing device, such as a computing device having malware. A DNS query may be received with a token identifying an originating computing device. The DNS query may be compared to a list of domain names associated with particular characteristics, such as having malware. The token may be used to identify the originating computing device and perform further actions.

Computing devices may become infected with malware, such as a virus, that can cause untold trouble in a network. For example, if the computing device is infected with malware, the malware may cause the computing device to transmit an unwarranted number of queries via the Internet. Hackers have been known to use such malware to cause legions of computing devices to flood particular websites with many unwarranted requests, thereby rendering the website servers unable to function properly. This is known as a "denial of service" attack. Such attacks are harmful, and there remains an ever-present need to more effectively identify and remove such instances of malware.

Identifying malware devices with domain name system (DNS) queries


An object of the present invention is to provide a banknote processing system capable of easily specifying a banknote processing terminal which accommodates banknotes of a particular currency in a container. In a banknote processing system 1000, a slot machine G10 is configured to read to which currency type an accommodated banknote T belongs and to send a currency type signal to a management server 260 configured to store location information specifying an installation location of each of slot machines G10, to store the slot machine G10 which has sent the currency type signal, in association with a currency type indicated by the currency type signal, to specify the slot machine G10 associated with a predetermined currency type, and to present the installation location of the specified slot machine G10.

Banknote processing devices are, for example, embedded in service equipment, a gaming machine installed in a gaming facility, and a vending machine or a ticket machine installed in a public place, each of which is configured to identify the validity of a banknote inserted into an insertion slot by users, and which provide a service or product in accordance with the value of a banknote which is identified to be valid. Such a banknote processing device is typically arranged to identify the validity of a banknote inserted through the insertion slot and to accommodate a valid banknote in a detachable container (safe). Banknotes are typically collected in such a way that the container accommodating the banknotes is detached from the banknote processing device and another container is attached to it. Such a banknote processing device is connected to, e.g., a gaming machine such as a slot machine. This gaming machine runs a game based on a banknote received by the banknote processing device.
In the banknote processing device, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1, for example, a storage unit is provided in the container to check if an inserted banknote is matched with a banknote actually accommodated in the container. To be more specific, a banknote identification control circuit board is provided in a banknote identifier on the device main body side whereas a banknote container control circuit board is provided on the container side, and these circuit boards are arranged to communicate with each other via a connector terminal. To put it differently, information regarding an inserted banknote is sent from the banknote identification control circuit board to the banknote container control circuit board and the banknote information is stored in the storage unit mounted on the board, with the result that the information of a banknote actually accommodated in the container is stored and managed.


The invention is directed to a housing for a binocular (1) having a hard base body (9) which is encased in a soft outer skin (21). The outer skin (21) is attached with the aid of a latch mechanism.

German patent publication 2,522,738 discloses a binocular which has a stabilized core. The stabilized core includes an ocular tube as well as an objective tube, an image erection system and a fold mechanism. The stabilized core is completely embedded in a soft plastic. This plastic is provided for impact attenuation. The color of the soft plastic can be influenced or determined by admixed materials. A lacquering of the soft plastic is not needed.
From the brochure of Carl Zeiss, binoculars are known, which have a multi-color housing. The sheathing or covering of the housing is attached with adhesive to the base body of the binocular. It is problematic here that the mutually adjoining edges have to be matched very precisely thereby making manufacture very complex. A covering attached defectively with adhesive cannot be easily corrected so that attaching the covering with adhesive is associated with a high number of rejections during manufacture.
It is an object of the invention to provide a housing for a binocular which is so improved that the manufacturing costs are reduced.
The housing of the invention is for a binocular having a base. The housing includes: an outer skin; and, a latching mechanism for securing the outer skin to the base.
The required complexity with respect to manufacture is greatly reduced with the provision of attaching an external skin or covering by means of a latching mechanism with the covering surrounding the housing. This is so because gluing of the external skin is not necessary or necessary only at some points because of this latching mechanism.
It has been advantageous to subdivide the external skin into several component segments. One component segment functions as an ocular protective shroud.
In an advantageous embodiment of the latching mechanism, this latching mechanism has latching elements which are made of a hard material.
It has been shown to be advantageous to connect the latching elements tightly to a base body of the binocular. The latching mechanisms engage in cutouts configured in the base body. In this way, a fixed connection between the external skin and the base bodies of the binocular is established.
This type of assembly of the external skin is especially simple. Here, a removal of a non-fitting external skin is possible wherein sometimes the external skin may have to be cut. This means that an incorrectly assembled or attached external skin can be exchanged. This is especially advantageous because fewer parts have to be rejected as defective during manufacture.
It has been shown to be advantageous to connect structural parts with the external skin, with these structural parts being made of a hard material. These structural parts are preferably molded into the external skin. Latching elements are fixedly connected to the structural parts and the latching elements are preferably configured as one piece with the structural parts. More specifically, the latching mechanism also includes latching elements to connect a structural part of the ocular protective shroud to a structural part of the cover.
It has been shown to be advantageous to manufacture the structural parts as well as the external skin by means of injection molding. This is a simple and cost-effective manufacturing method.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the latching elements of the structural parts latch into cutouts which are formed in the base body. It can also be provided that the latch elements engage through the cutouts formed in the base body and latch at the opposite sides.
An advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that two structural parts are tightly connected to a segment of the outer skin which can be characterized as a cover. The structural parts are hinge-connected to each other by means of the cover which is elastic.


A polysilicon thin film and a manufacturing method thereof, an array substrate and a display device are disclosed. The manufacturing method of the polysilicon thin film comprises the following steps: forming a graphene layer and an amorphous silicon layer which are adjacent; forming polysilicon by way of crystallizing amorphous silicon so as to obtain the polysilicon thin film. The polysilicon thin film manufactured by the method possesses good characteristics.

A polysilicon thin film is a new functional material that has the advantages of both a crystalline silicon material and an amorphous silicon material, and it has the merits of high mobility of a monocrystalline silicon material and the merits of an amorphous silicon material that it can be manufactured in a large area and at low costs simultaneously. Therefore, studying on polysilicon thin film materials draws more and more attentions
A polysilicon thin film is composed of many small grains with different sizes and different crystal orientations. The grain size is generally in nanometer level such as tens to hundreds of nanometers, and the size of large grains may reach microns level. A polysilicon thin film with large grains has a relatively high mobility, which is close to the mobility of a bulk material. The polysilicon thin film has been widely used in manufacture of semiconductor devices, such as polysilicon thin film transistors (TFTs) in the display industry, micro-electromechanical systems, integrated circuits, and it may replace the SOI (Silicon on Insulator) material, or the like. In the display industry, especially in products of AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light-emitting Device) and TFT-LCD (liquid crystal display), in order to improve the performance of display panels, TFTs are usually used for manufacturing driving circuits of pixel and their peripheral areas. For most of the TFTs, polysilicon thin films are used as active layers, and moreover, driving circuits and display elements are both formed on a transparent glass substrate. In each of these cases, it is required that the polysilicon thin film has better performance. Further, the polysilicon thin film has high photosensitivity in the long-wave band, can effectively absorb visible light, and has the stability under illumination, and moreover, it does not have the light-induced degradation phenomenon of the amorphous silicon material, so that it is an ideal material for solar cells.
There are many methods for manufacturing polysilicon thin films in prior art, which including direct deposition methods and indirect crystallization methods. Direct deposition methods include a chemical vapor deposition method, a liquid phase growth method and a hot wire method, etc. Indirect crystallization methods include an excimer laser annealing (ELA) method, a solid phase crystallization method and a metal induced crystallization method, etc. However, the characteristics of the polysilicon thin films formed by above methods are not good because the polysilicon grains are rather small. Currently, in the production of polysilicon thin films, excimer laser annealing method is used most commonly as a low-temperature fabricating technology of polysilicon thin films. However, excimer laser belongs to a kind of pulsed laser and energy density of each pulse will vary somewhat, and so, it is uneasy to control the excimer laser in energy density, which brings about non-uniformity in sizes of final grains. In turn, this results in the fact that polysilicon thin films are not good in homogeneity. Moreover, the produced polysilicon thin films have relatively poor repeatability and stability, and are hard to be crystallized in a large area in manufacturing. There is still a demand for producing high-performance polysilicon materials.

Polysilicon thin film and manufacturing method thereof, array substrate and display device


In an automatic transmission including first and second planetary gear sets and a plurality of friction elements, during an up-shift and a time after the up-shift, a hydraulic pressure of a released friction element is kept at a predetermined value corresponding to the biasing force of a return spring set in the control valve of the friction element for a predetermined time after the end of the up-shift. When a down-shift is carried out immediately after the above-mentioned up-shift, the engagement of the released friction element is rapidly carried out since the hydraulic pressure of the friction element is kept at the predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a shift control of an automatic transmission, and more particularly to a hydraulic control for friction elements during a shift.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional automatic transmission system includes a plurality of friction elements which selectively change the connecting state for a shift. The change of the connecting state of the friction elements is carried out by controlling a hydraulic circuit included in the automatic transmission system. For example, the hydraulic pressure of one friction element (release element) is lowered to zero for setting the friction element at a released state, and the hydraulic pressure of another friction element (apply element) is raised to a predetermined value for setting the another friction element at an engaged state.
However, if the shift taking place in the above mentioned system is a foot-released upshift, after which a downshift is often carried out, it takes a predetermined time to engage the released friction element such that a downshift can take place immediately after the upshift. Accordingly, this may cause a discomfort shock during the downshift.

Method and apparatus for controlling automatic transmission