A cooled furnace wall comprises a furnace shell with an inner and an outer side and cooling plates lining the inner side of the furnace shell. Each of the cooling plates has a plate body and protruding connection pieces for supplying the cooling plate with a coolant. The furnace shell has connection openings therein for interconnecting the connection pieces of adjacent connection plates from the outer side of the furnace shell. At least one of the connection pieces is formed by a tube bend that protrudes from an edge face of the plate body and that has a connection end to extending through one of the connection openings in the furnace shell.

It is well known to line the inner side of a furnace shell of a metallurgical furnace, in particular a blast furnace, with cooling plates. Such a cooling plate, also called "stave", comprises a rectangular, solid plate body with cooling passages therein. Connection pieces, which protrude from the rear side of the cooling plate, debouch into the cooling passages of the cooling plate. These connection pieces are led in a sealed manner through connection openings in the furnace shell. At the outer side of the furnace shell, flexible metal tubes are used to interconnect the connection pieces of adjacent cooling plates and to connect the cooling plates to a cooling water distribution circuit.
The plate body of such a cooling plate is made either from cast iron (in particular modular cast iron) or from copper or a copper alloy, or more recently also from steel. In cooling plates made from cast iron, the cooling passages are generally formed by cast-in U-shaped steel tubes, wherein the ends of a cast-in tube protrude from the rear side of the plate body as connection pieces. In virtually all cooling plates made from copper or steel, however, the cooling passages are directly formed in the solid cooling plate body.
DE 2 907 511 discloses a cooling plate which is made from a forged or rolled block of copper. The cooling passages in the copper block are blind bores produced by mechanical deep-drilling. The openings of these blind bores are sealed off by soldering or welding plugs therein. Connecting bores are drilled from the rear side of the plate into the blind bores, and connection pieces for the coolant feed or coolant return are inserted into these connecting bores and soldered or welded in place.
WO 98/30345 describes a process for manufacturing a cooling plate in which a blank of the cooling plate is produced by continuous casting. Inserts in the continuous-casting mould produce passages running in the casting direction, which form the cooling passages in the finished cooling plate. A plate is separated from the continuously-cast blank by making two cuts transversely with respect to the casting direction, thus forming two end faces, wherein the distance between these two end-faces corresponds to the desired length of the cooling plate. In the next manufacturing step, connection bores are drilled into the plate body perpendicular to its rear surface, so as to open into the through-passages. Thereafter connection pieces are inserted into the connection bores and soldered or welded in place and the end-side openings of the passages are sealed off by soldering or welding plugs therein.
The processes described in DE A 2907511 and in WO 98/30345 both enable high-quality cooling plate bodies to be produced from copper or copper alloys. However, compared to cooling plates with cast-in cooling tubes or compared to mould-cast cooling plates, the finished cooling plates produced by both processes have the drawback of relatively high pressure losses in the transition regions between the connection pieces and the cooling passages.
WO 00/36154 proposes to reduce the pressure losses in copper cooling plates with cast or drilled cooling passages by inserting a shaped piece into a cut-out in the cooling plate body, so as to form a diverting passage with optimised flow conditions for the cooling medium. However, this solution is relatively labour-intensive and results therefore in higher production costs for the cooling plates.


Digital audio data are divided into a plurality of frames, each of which includes a desired number of sub-band samples, which are gradually increased in a range between “16” and “1024”, and are then compressed by way of psychoacoustics analysis and quantization, whereby compressed data are realized with a high compression ratio and small tone-generation latency. The compressed data are decoded by way of inverse quantization and sub-band synthesis, so that decoded data are sequentially written into a memory (e.g., a FIFO memory). Decoding is appropriately turned on or off in response to a presently vacant capacity of the memory.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods for compression and expansion of digital audio data having small latency.
This application claims priority on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-159484, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that methods for compressing digital audio data are realized by way of ADPCM (i.e., Adaptive Differential Pulse-Code Modulation) and LPC (i.e., Linear Predictive Coding) as well as sub-band coding such as MP3 (i.e., MPEG Audio Layer 3) and MPEG Audio AAC (Advanced Audio Coding).
Linear predictive coding methods perform compression on digital audio data in units of samples so that they can start playback (or tone-generation processing) without delays due to expansion (or decoding); hence, they realize small tone-generation latency but not realize a high compression ratio in comparison with sub-band coding methods. Sub-band coding methods perform compression on plural samples in units of frames (or blocks); hence, they realize a high compression ratio in comparison with linear predictive coding methods. However, sub-band coding methods cannot start playback before completion of expansion of all samples included in a top frame; hence, an expansion time becomes longer as the number of samples included in each frame becomes large, which in turn increases tone-generation latency. Documents entitled Japanese Patent No. 2734323 and International Publication No. WO99/29133 teach data compression methods realizing improvements of tone-generation latencies while securing high compression performance.

Method for compression and expansion of digital audio data


A method of detecting catalyst malfunction in a vehicle uses an exhaust gas oxygen sensor downstream of the catalyst. A feedback loop controls the air-fuel ratio as a function of the output signal from the exhaust gas oxygen sensor. The feedback gain is increased from low gain to high gain and then operational parameters are examined. In a first version the amplitude of the exhaust gas oxygen sensor is used as an indication. In a second version, the amplitude of the exhaust gas oxygen sensor reaches a predetermined limit and then the feedback gain is examined. In a third version, limit-cycle operation is reached and the frequency of the limit-cycle is examined with respect to a predetermined frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to diagnostic systems for automobiles.
2. Prior Art
It is known to use a catalyst, such as a three-way catalyst, in the exhaust system of an automobile to reduce various types of emissions. It is also known to attempt to determine the condition of the catalyst through the use of exhaust gas oxygen sensors, such as, for example, a heated exhaust gas oxygen sensor (the HEGO), positioned downstream of the catalyst. It is also known to use such a HEGO sensor to achieve improved performance of the air fuel feedback control system for the vehicle engine. The prior art has taught that HEGO sensors located upstream and downstream of a catalyst can be used to monitor the condition of the catalyst when artificial A/F modulation signals are applied to the engine (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,970). Since the application of such modulating signals is considered intrusive to the operation of the engine, a method for monitoring the catalyst condition by using the characteristics of the normal post-catalyst feedback system without applying any artificial A/F modulation is desired.

Method for detecting catalyst malfunctions


A method of determining the position of the split between uplink and downlink bandwidth, in a point of multipoint radio access system with time division duplex scheme comprising a certain number of user terminals and a base station has been disclosed, wherein there are at least two quality of service classes, a first class for guaranteed services (RT) and a second class for not-guaranteed/best effort services (BE). The MAC layer evaluates and controls a further movement of the split—as that initially determined by a Call Admission Control (CAC)—according to the behavior of uplink and downlink not-guaranteed/best effort queues observed during a certain observation period.

Point-to-multipoint fixed radio access systems consist of one base station, which is the central unit, and multiple User Terminals that exchange data with the base station. Usually a fixed length frame structure is used and, within such frame, uplink and downlink capacity is dynamically allocated.
The layer architecture of these systems consists of a Physical Layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Convergence Layer (CL) and user layers. The main function of MAC layer is the radio resource management. Not all subscriber terminals, which share the upstream period on a demand basis, can transmit at the same time successfully as they can in a dedicated-medium situation. The base station MAC protocol determines who transmits and when, providing the appropriate transmission capacity.
Two basic duplexing methods can be supported by point-to-multipoint radio access systems: Time Division Duplex (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD). The nature of the traffic being carried influences the choice of the duplex scheme.
The FDD provides two-way radio communication using paired radio frequency bands: one band for the transmission in the forward link, the other for the transmission in the reverse direction. For practical reasons, once the bandwidth dedicated to the two channels has been set, an immovable boundary in frequency/bandwidth is consequently set. These paired bands typically are of equal capacity. If the uplink/downlink bandwidth needs vary with time, sometimes the bandwidth will be wasted (low demand), and sometimes it will be inadequate (high demand). So this technique is ideal for symmetric communications in which the information flows in both directions are comparable in terms of capacity.
The TDD transmission technique requires a single carrier for full duplex communications. Transmit/receive separation occurs in the time domain as opposed to the frequency domain. Transmission direction alternates between downlink and uplink using a repetitive frame structure. Within such structure, the capacity of the carrier is divided between downlink and uplink transmission in direct proportion to the desired throughput. A 50% distribution between downlink and uplink time slots results in a symmetric, full duplex throughput. Moving the time boundary between downlink and uplink results in an asymmetric throughput and in an efficient accommodation of the channel requirements for bursty data traffic.
Summarising: FDD can adequately handle traffic that has relatively constant bandwidth requirements in both communication directions. On the other hand, TDD better manages time-varying uplink/downlink traffic because of the nature itself of the duplex scheme, which matches the traffic behaviour.
When the ratio between the allocated downlink frame portion and the uplink one varies in time, the TDD scheme is called dynamic or adaptive. The utilisation of adaptive TDD in fixed radio access systems involves an efficient use of the available spectrum when asymmetric and unpredictable traffic represents a considerable percentage of the traffic load of the system. Such dynamic TDD scheme has been depicted in FIG. 1. It is seen that the frame length comprises a fixed number of slots but that the split between up and downlink traffic varies.
Document "MAC Proposal for IEEE 802.16.1", IEEE 802.16.1mc-00/10 of 2000-02-25 discloses a broadband communication standard proposal that makes use of TDD and various quality of service classes (QoS).
According to the above document, when a fixed radio access system adopts a dynamic TDD scheme, the split between uplink and downlink is a system parameter that is controlled at higher layers and that depends on the adopted Call Admission Control policies within the system. When the TDD split changes this is communicated to the MAC layer from higher layers via the control Service Access Point (SAP). Hence, the split movement is driven by services requesting bandwidth guarantees that the CAC takes care of.
For the above known point to multipoint fixed radio access TDD, the main function of the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer is the radio resource management. The Call Admission Control functionality resides at a higher layer (Network layer).
The Call Admission Control determines periodically the amount of bandwidth devoted to the uplink and downlink transmission. The MAC layer follows the information on the amount of bandwidth devoted to the uplink and downlink transmission coming from the Call Admission Control and allocates the uplink slots frame by frame to the different user terminals and the downlink slots frame by frame to the downlink traffic (traffic from the Base Station towards the user terminals). The Mac layer does its job without modifying the uplink/downlink amount of bandwidth, i.e. the position of the split once having been decided by the Call Admission Control is not moved by the Mac layer.
The known allocation procedure can be summarised by the following steps:    1. Periodically the Call Admission Control (CAC) analyses the guaranteed uplink and downlink traffic.    2. The Call Admission Control (CAC) evaluates the position of the split according to the guaranteed uplink and downlink traffic behaviour (if there have been no significant changes in the traffic the split position remains the same evaluated the period before).    3. The Call Admission Control (CAC) signals the information on the split position to the MAC layer.    4. The Mac layer allocates the resources frame by frame to the User terminals and to the Base station using its scheduling policy but always according to the amount of bandwidth devoted to the uplink and downlink transmission corresponding to the split evaluated at step 2.
The above TDD scheme does not take in consideration, for deciding the downlink/uplink split movement, the behaviour of the Best Effort traffic (or in general not guaranteed traffic). The term Best Effort refers to non real time services, usually-Internet services such as Web Browsing, E-mailing, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and file sharing.
In the last few years, the demand in capacity for the latter type of services has increased substantially. Every category of user now wants Internet access as a basic service and the number of Internet connections continues to rise exponentially. If Internet access is the prime interest for a majority of customers then traffic will be very bursty and the overall downlink/uplink capacity ratio in the system may vary considerably.
In known dynamic TDD systems the bandwidth allocated to the best effort traffic is usually a fixed quantity that reflects the expected load of the Best Effort traffic evaluated only once during the dimensioning phase of the system. In this way the significant and unpredictable variations in time of the Best Effort traffic are not considered, and so it may happen that the downlink suffers of a lack of bandwidth, while the uplink is not using part of its allocated one, or vice versa.
Prior art document U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,836 shows a method for dynamically allocating bandwidth between up and downlink traffic in a TDMA system. The partition, also called split, between up and down-link slots in each frame is regulated, although the total number of slots are remains fixed for every frame. When few users use the system in relation to full capacity, the system operates like fixed partition TDD systems with equal up- and down-link slots in each frame. However, if the traffic in either direction exceeds half the available slots, the location of the split is adapted to the demand. If more than half the available slots are required in both directions, the split is set to half the available slots in both directions. The system adapts a circular interleaving method for separate queues for up and downlink traffic.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,254 shows a system aiming at reducing the runlength of dropped packets or the co-channel interference using adaptive TDD.


A mediation server supplies service selection screen information to a multifunction device. Service selection screens are screens for selecting a target service from a plurality of service-related information. The service selection screen information includes a plurality of target service object corresponding to a plurality of service objects so that the plurality of services are included in the service selection screens. The mediation server acquires selection information indicating the target service and then supplies first setting screen information to the multifunction device. The first setting screen information includes a target service-related information corresponding to the target service so that the target service corresponding to the target service is included in a first setting screen. Then, the mediation server executes mediation communication for mediating provision of the target service.

The present specification discloses a mediation server for mediating provision of a plurality of services from one or more service providing servers to an image processing device, and the image processing device.
It is known a service linking system including a multifunction device and a relay device. When one of plural types of services is selected by a user, the multifunction device executes various communications with the relay device to receive the selected service from a service providing device. For example, the multifunction device sequentially acquires an album owner input UI display command and an album name selection UI display command from the relay device. Accordingly, the multifunction device sequentially displays an album owner input UI and an album name selection UI. Also, the user can execute each setting related to the selected service (for example, input of the album owner name or selection of the album name) in each UI.

Mediation server and image processing device


The present invention addresses a method, apparatus and computer program product for improving slow DCI reliability. Thereby, with regard to a subframe including slow downlink control information, an indication element indicating that the slow downlink control information transmitted in this subframe has the same content as slow downlink control information in the previous subframe or one of the past subframes is generated, and the indication element is transmitted in the same subframe and the same downlink control channel candidate as the slow downlink control information to a user equipment.

Mobile data transmission and data services are constantly making progress, wherein such services provide various communication services, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. In recent years, Long Term Evolution LTE™, and in particular LTE-Advanced™, has been specified, which uses the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network E-UTRAN as radio communication architecture according to 3GPP specification.
Recently, LTE-Advanced Pro system is under discussion (cf. 3GPP LTE Rel. 14/15), wherein one of the issues according to this system is "shortened transmission time interval TTI and processing time for LTE". In this regard, the present invention generally focuses on Latency reduction in such system.
One of the above objectives is to specify support for short physical downlink control channel sPDCCH, i.e. PDCCH for short TTI. In document R1-167082 (3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 meeting #86), a two stage-DCI has been proposed, wherein the downlink control information DCI is split into a slow-DCI and a fast-DCI. The slow DCI is transmitted in the legacy PDCCH once a subframe and determines at least one of the resources used for operation of short TTI in downlink and/or uplink and the resources of sPDCCH, where the fast DCIs are transmitted. Fast DCIs can be transmitted in every short TTI (sTTI) and schedules sPDSCH and sPUSCH.
However, the dependency between the slow DCI and the fast DCI may decrease reliability of the DCI as whole. If a user equipment (UE) does not receive the slow-DCI in a subframe, it cannot receive any sTTI within the subframe neither as e.g. the resources of sPDCCH is not known to the UE.
Therefore, there is a need for a solution that improves reliability of slow-DCI reception.

Improving slow downlink control information reliability


Systems and methods for providing capture functionality according to a security policy are provided. A request to capture content is received from a requesting application at a capture controller. The request is evaluated based on the security policy of the capture controller. Based on the evaluation, a determination is made as to whether the request is to be granted completely, denied, or granted subject to a constraint. Capture of the requested content is initiated via capture hardware or software if the request is granted completely or granted subject to the constraint.

Televisions (TVs) and set-top boxes (STBs) may include video capture functionality that allows a user to capture frames of video from source video. The functionality may have several uses. For example, for an Internet-connected device, the functionality may be used in a video fingerprinting technology to detect the video content being viewed, so that the device can automatically provide access to applications and features related to the video content. The functionality may also be used on a TV or STB to show frozen frames when the user changes from one channel to another. Numerous other uses for video capture functionality exist (e.g., allowing users to capture frames as image files and share them on a social network, allowing captured frames from multiple source videos to be combined in a video mosaic, etc.).
In providing this functionality, hardware and software is often used to capture the video frames and export them out of a video pipeline. In certain systems, the possibility exists for the functionality to be misused or used for illegitimate purposes (e.g., unauthorized copying of copyrighted video content). For example, an untrusted application may repeatedly capture frames of video, thus circumventing security measures of a secure video pipeline.

Method and apparatus for providing audio or video capture functionality according to a security policy


A radio frequency (RF) testing chamber enabled to perform different RF tests using the same ports of the RF testing chamber without reconfiguring port connections to perform the multiple tests. For example, a testing system can determine a total number of RF bands required to perform the different RF tests and combine the total number of RF bands into multiple groups of RF bands. In some instances, each RF band of any group is distinct from any other RF band of any other group, each group only includes a combination of RF bands that are non-interfering among the group, and a total number of the multiple groups is less than or equal to a total number of ports. The testing system can perform the different RF tests without needing to disconnect a source of any of the RF bands that feeds the port of the RF testing chamber.

More and more devices today have radio frequency (RF) wireless circuitry. Examples range from cellular phones or laptop computers to something as innocuous as a car key fob. Wireless devices communicate over open airways and their operation depends upon careful consideration and design of their operating frequency, power level, signaling format, and other technical issues. Since these devices are wireless, design and testing present challenges because of having signals propagating without any physical means of connection. Testing RF wireless communications is especially appropriate to characterizing the performance of a wireless device. However, accurate testing requires reducing or eliminating any noise or interfering signals that would result in erroneous test results.
Generally, RF isolation chambers (also known as Faraday cages or RF cages) provide a clean RF environment for RF testing. In some instances, an RF cage is quite large to enclose not only the device but the entire lab bench and all equipment, including a human operator. However, for the vast majority of RF tests, a benchtop RF shielded test enclosure is an adequate solution. Its small size, array of I/O connectors and RF isolation allows one to test a wireless device in a silent, clean RF environment, assuring that the signals being used and presented are for the device and nothing else.
Test signals are communicated into and out of a RF cage with ports that allow RF test signals to pass through. RF cages can have ports for other signals such as data lines, power lines, or control signals. In general, a port couples to a conductor passing through the RF wall and must be suitably filtered, or the shielding integrity of the enclosure is compromised. The selection of filters depends on variables such as data speed, power current requirements, frequency of device under test, as well as mechanical issues such as cable length, ports used and desired placement. Any wireless device typically undergoes numerous tests, which requires the burdensome and inefficient tasks of disconnecting and reconnecting different combinations of conductors to a limited number of ports.
The drawings, some components and/or operations can be separated into different blocks or combined into a single block when discussing some embodiments of the present technology. Moreover, while the technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the technology to the particular embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the technology is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims.

Performing different radio frequency (RF) tests by using common ports of an RF testing chamber


Provided is a tempered glass, including, on a surface thereof, a compressive stress layer having a compressive stress, and including a tensile stress layer having a tensile stress inside the compressive stress layer, wherein the tempered glass satisfies the following expression (1): DZ/DT<0.65 . . . (1) where DZ represents a zero stress depth (μm) indicating a depth from the surface to a reference position at which a stress becomes zero between the compressive stress layer and the tensile stress layer, and DT represents an alkali metal diffusion depth (μm) indicating a depth of a region layer, which has diffused therein an alkali metal ion that causes the compressive stress, from the surface, and wherein the tempered glass satisfies the following expression (2): CTM<73 . . . (2) where CTM represents a maximum tensile stress (MPa).

Devices such as a cellular phone (in particular, a smartphone), a digital camera, a PDA, a touch panel display, a large-screen television, and contact-less power transfer show a tendency of further prevalence. In those applications, a tempered glass obtained through ion exchange treatment has been used. In addition, in recent years, the use of the tempered glass in exterior components of a digital signage, a mouse, a smartphone, and the like is increasing.
Incidentally, as described above, the tempered glass has been used in a cover glass for a portable device, such as a smart phone, but the cover glass may break at the time of the dropping of the portable device.
Such breakage of the cover glass due to the dropping may occur in various modes. In, for example, Patent Literature 1, reference is made to two breakage modes. One of the modes is a slow cracking mode in which the cover glass cracks at a relatively slow speed with a scratch, which penetrates a compressive stress layer at the time of the application of impact to the glass, for example, in the case of its dropping, as an origin. The other is a non-slow cracking mode in which after the formation of a fracture origin shallower than the depth of the compressive stress layer, fracture is advanced by a large stress and hence a crack rapidly grows. In Patent Literature 1, there is a disclosure of a tempered glass having high resistance to the former, that is, the slow crack.


Technologies are generally described for providing a signcryption scheme. In some examples, a method performed under control of a sender device may include calculating a public key of the sender device based on a system parameter, calculating a temporary public key of the sender device based on the system parameter, calculating a temporary common key of the sender device based on a temporary secret key of the sender device and a public key of a receiver device, calculating a ciphertext from a message based on the temporary common key and generating a signature of the sender device based on an intermediate parameter, the system parameter and the secret key of the sender device. The temporary secret key of the sender device, intermediate parameter and secret key of the sender device are engaged in a non-associative octonion ring.

Signcryption is a public-key primitive that simultaneously performs functions of both digital signature and encryption of a message. Signcryption schemes may provide properties of both digital signatures and encryption schemes in a way that is more efficient than signing and encrypting separately. Recently, demands for both improving security and reducing computational complexity in signcryption schemes have drawn intense scrutiny.

Abstract: In some examples, a method performed under control of a receiver device may include calculating a public key of the receiver device based on a system parameter, calculating a temporary common key of the receiver device based on a temporary public key of the sender device and a secret key of a receiver device, deciphering the ciphertext based on the temporary common keys of receiver device, determining whether the digital signature received is generated by sender device. A temporary public key of the sender device, the secret key of the receiver device and the temporary common keys of the receiver device are engaged in a non-associative octonion ring.


A method for testing the operation of an optical fiber cable in a communication network using an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) instrument includes receiving a range of identifiers of fiber sets to be tested. Identifiers of a first fiber set are displayed. The first fiber set is included in the range and constitutes a next fiber set to be tested. A determination is made whether the first fiber set is connected to the OTDR instrument. In response to determining that the first fiber set is connected to the OTDR instrument, a test of the first fiber set is performed using the OTDR instrument. Identifiers of a second fiber set are displayed. The second fiber set is included in the range and constitutes a next fiber set to be tested.

Optical time domain reflectometers (OTDRs) are used in the telecommunications industry for testing, troubleshooting, and characterizing fiber optic cables to measure fiber cabling properties such as breaks, connector loss, splice loss, fiber attenuation, attenuation coefficients, fiber length, and other parameters that affect the signal transmission quality through the cable.
In testing a fiber with an OTDR, optical pulses are launched into the fiber under test from a pulsed laser diode at a low duty cycle. During the time between the optical pulses transmitted, returned light from the fiber under test is reflected back in the form of backscatter and reflections associated with events, such as connectors, and is then converted to an electrical signal, and processed for display. The signal is displayed as an amplitude in decibels versus a length plot showing a gradually decreasing backscatter energy level with reflective events appearing as pulses on the backscatter.

Optical fiber testing using OTDR instrument


A system and method for providing Feature Group B or Feature Group D access to the public data network for effecting point of sale transactions such as credit card authorization. The credit card authorization device includes a modem and auto-dialing mechanism which is connected by a station line to an originating central office switch. The originating central office switch is connected via Feature Group B or Feature Group D trunks to a designated destination central office including a stored program control (SPC) switch. The destination central office is a functioning central office connected to other central offices by non-Feature Group trunks. The Feature Group trunks are connected by the switch in the destination central office to a designated line which is connected to a line side modem which is connected via the public data network to a host computer for effecting the credit card authorization. The SPC switch at the destination central office converts the Feature Group number on the Feature Group trunk to a line side number for the station containing the line side modem. Common channel signaling and quick start or ground start are preferably utilized to optimize speed.

The evolution of the handling of credit card authorization transactions over the public switched telephone network is described in some detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,292 issued Jan. 3, 1989, to Jerry S. Thomas and assigned to American Express Company of N.Y. A familiarity with the evolution of the public switched telephone network in the United States at the present date is helpful to an understanding of the present invention. The following background description summarizes portions of that discussion in conjunction with FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 which appeared in said U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,292.
The public switched telephone network (PSTN) as it existed before the Bell System break-up, is shown in grossly simplified form in FIG. 1. Each central office 10 provided service over telephone lines 14 to telephone stations 12. Central offices were connected to each other by trunks 16. Trunks are distinguished from telephone lines by the use of heavy lines. Each central office included a switch 8 for effecting connections between lines and lines, and lines and trunks. (Other switching facilities including tandem switches were provided for effecting trunk-trunk interconnections.) In general, a trunk is a 5 communication path in a network which connects two switching systems and tandem switches switch trunk to trunk. A trunk circuit, associated with the connection of a trunk to a switching system, serves to convert between the signal formats used internally in the switching system and those used in the transmission circuit, and it performs logic and sometimes memory functions associated with supervision. A line, on the other hand, is a pair of wires carrying direct current and analog communication signals between a central office and a customer's terminal; a line-side connection is a connection of central of f ice equipment to a line.
As the PSTN grew numerous interfaces and protocols developed and became standard. An interface is a shared boundary defined by common physical interconnection characteristics, signal characteristics, and meanings of interchanged signals. In telephony, the term "signaling" means the transmission of information to establish, monitor, or release connections and provide network control. Lines interfaced to central offices in ways which were distinct from those in which trunks interfaced to central offices. The physical connections were different, and even the number of wires could be different. The signalings were different. A protocol consists of procedures for communication between a sender and a receiver, of supervisory and address information, in order to establish and maintain a communications path. It is an agreed-to set of procedures so that communications between two ends will be intelligible in both directions (transmit and receive).
As time passed and AT&T faced competition from other common carriers (OCCs), the PSTN developed as shown, once again grossly simplified, in FIG. 2. Bell System central offices were still connected by trunks 16 to other central of f ices. An OCC such as MCI or Sprint would provide switches 18 which could be accessed from central office lines. The OCC switches would be interconnected via their own network trunks 24. In order to gain access to a common carrier other than AT&T, a telephone subscriber would be connected over a telephone line to his central office, through his central office and perhaps others, and finally over another telephone line associated with the OCC.
The quality of communications was generally not as good when going through the facilities of an OCC. This was the case even though the trunks actually used by the OCCs were leased from AT&T. The reason was related to the fact that poor performance is attributable most often to the inferior transmission performance on line-side connections. A typical AT&T Bell System call involved two lines 14, one at each end of the overall communication path; all other interfaces along the way involved trunk connections. An OCC, on the other hand, had an additional two line interface, as shown by numerals 20 and 22 in FIG. 2. Because each central office was connected over lines, not trunks, to an OCC switch, there were four line segments in each call, not just two.
In order that the common carriers other than AT&T be able to provide the same superior service following break-up of the Bell System, and in order that equal access to the local exchange users be given to all long distance Interstate Carriers, several access arrangements were made available. These access arrangements are known as Switched Access Services. The term Interexchange Customer or Carrier (IC) is used to denote any subscriber of Switched Access Services, including an Interexchange Carrier.
The geographic areas served by the Bell Operating Companies have been divided into Local Access and Transport Areas (LATAs). A typical LATA is shown in FIG. 3. A LATA is an area within which a Bell Operating Company--an Exchange Carrier (EC) or Local Exchange Carrier (LEC)--may offer telecommunication services. Interchange carriers (ICs) provide services between LATAS. The Interexchange Carriers are, AT&T, MCI, Sprint and others. The specific switched access arrangements offered by the Bell Operating Companies are known as the Feature Groups. An End Office (EO) is a Bell Operating Company switching system within a LATA where customer station loops (lines) are terminated for purposes of interconnection to each other and to trunks; a call may go directly from an End Office or be tandemed through a second office known as an Access Tandem (AT) to reach the IC. A tandem is a switching system in the message network that establishes trunk-to-trunk connections. As shown in FIG. 3, telecommunications within a LATA are handled by an EC, whereas telecommunications from one LATA to another are handled by an IC.
An IC under the present scheme designates a location within a LATA for the connection of its facilities with those of the Bell Operating Company which serves that LATA. There are about two hundred LATAs in the United States, and each of the Bell Operating Companies serves all or portions of multiple LATAs. The location of interconnection designated by the IC is called a Point Of Presence (POP), and typically it is at a building that houses an IC's switching system or facility node. An IC may have more than one POP within a LATA. In FIG. 3 a POP is shown by the numeral 30. An aggregate of one or more IC trunks is shown by the numeral 32. Instead of the POP being connected to a single central office, what usually happens is that it is connected by trunks to an Access Tandem (AT). The AT, shown by the numeral 26 in FIG. 3, is in turn connected to multiple central offices by means of trunks. An Access Tandem is a Bell Operating Company switching system that provides a traffic concentration and distribution function for inter-LATA traffic originating/terminating within a LATA. The AT thus provides the IC with access to more than one End office within the LATA. (A central office is an End Office).
For present purposes, what is important is that the LEC offers the IC a choice of four switched access arrangements called Feature Groups. Each IC, based on its own technical needs and business considerations, selects the access arrangement that it desires. The access arrangement involves a multiplicity of interfaces represented in FIG. 3 by the single trunk 28, it being understood that the drawing is only symbolic and there are in fact as many connections as there are maximum number of simultaneous calls that the IC expects to handle.
Feature Group A is a two-wire line-side connection between the IC and the EC. Feature Group A is not of particular interest because it is a line-side connection and is the only one of the four access arrangements for which the calling party is billed any local tariffed charges, i.e., message units. The other three Feature Groups involve trunk-side connections.
Feature Group B has an associated universal 7-digit (950-0/1XXX) access code and is used for the purpose of originating or terminating calls to or from subscribers. The XXX code is unique to each IC and, most importantly, it is the same throughout the country in all LATAs in which the IC has a presence. Feature Group B access arrangements include trunk signaling, trunk protocols, trunk transmission and trunk testing, and they provide answer and disconnect supervision. There can be two-wire and four-wire trunk terminating equipment, and, in general, there are supplemental features (as there are in the other Feature Groups) which are offered that allow an IC to specify substitutions for, or additions to, the standard arrangements as defined by the appropriate tariff.
Feature Group C exists now but is transitional. AT&T, whose trunk-side connections are presently Feature Group C, will convert to Feature Group D as it becomes available. Feature Group B involves 2-stage dialing, the kind of arrangement which existed before subscribers could select an IC other than AT&T. With an arrangement such as that shown in FIG. 2, a first number is dialed in order to gain access to a line which is connected to the OCC facility, after a connection is established, a second series of numbers are dialed to tell the OCC the personal identification number of the caller (PIN) and the destination of the call. As an option, when the connection is established, Automatic Number Identification (ANI) information may be forwarded to the OCC. Feature Group D, on the other hand, provides true "Equal Access" in that a customer can presubscribe to the long-distance carrier of his choice. By dialing the digit 1, his call will be connected to a Feature Group D trunk at the selected ICs Point Of Presence. There is only one number dialed, that of the destination. While the invention is applicable to Feature Group D service, the illustrative embodiment of the invention is described in terms of Feature Group B service.
Once a caller gains access to an ICs facilities, any subsequent dialing procedures are as specified by the IC for Feature Group A and Feature Group B service. Industry standards exist for the dialing plans for Feature Groups C and D. In-band tone dialing is usually employed, but in any event the EC is transparent to address signaling and data communications between the subscriber and the IC. As far as the interface between the EC and the IC is concerned, the IC can specify the type of supervisory signaling and interface to be used between the Bell Operating Company access facilities and the IC facilities at the ICs point of presence. The signaling options and interfaces that are available vary with the particular feature Group and tariff.
A prior art credit card authorization scheme is shown in FIG. 4. A credit card authorization terminal 30 is connected via an ordinary telephone line 34 to a central office 10. The authorization terminal includes a standard modem 32. At the beginning of the authorization process, the terminal dials a number which is associated with a line connected to a particular Value Added Network (VAN). The connection is established through central office 10. In the VAN 40, line 36 is connected to modem 38. Using the Visa protocol, the two modems communicate with each other. Modem 38 is connected via a digital interface to a Packet Assembler/Disassembler (PAD) 42 or some other multiplexer or concentrator within the VAN. The PAD establishes communication with a host over leased line 44 or some other communication channel.
As described above, the service establishment pays for a local call to the VAN. The VAN charges the credit card company for handling the call. There is no way to reduce the charges paid by the service establishment because a local call through the central office is being placed. It is also apparent that depending upon the location of the VAN in a particular city, the authorization terminals must have different numbers preprogrammed in their automatic dialers.
What is shown in FIG. 5 is a way that a service establishment can be relieved of paying for a local call. Also, the scheme of FIG. 5 must be employed when there is no VAN presence near the credit card authorization terminal. In this case the terminal establishes a call through the dial network 46, and over line 34 and trunk 48 to an AT&T facility 50. The AT&T lines are extended as an 800 call to modems in VAN 40. In this case the service establishment does not pay for the call; AT&T pays the Bell Operating Company. The credit card company picks up all charges of AT&T and the VAN. The arrangement of FIG. 5 is not preferred because of the cost of an 800 call.
The arrangement of FIG. 6 is not known to exist or to have existed but has been hypothecated in the said U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,292 as a kind of system which might be devised by a "telephone man". Lines 14 are connected to authorization terminals and are within the LATA of the Exchange Carrier. Some of the EC trunks, Feature Group B or D, are extended to the Point of Presence of an IC. A switch 54 is provided for extending trunks 28 to their destinations, in this case lines connected to modems and a PAD. Communications originate in the terminal, and a terminating modem in the POP is required to communicate with the modem in the terminal. Modems interface with lines, not trunks. A switch is the standard mechanism for interconnecting lines and trunks. Since only trunks come into the POP, a switch is necessary to connect an incoming trunk to a modem line (just as the switch of a central office connects a trunk and a subscriber line).
This approach allows a terminal to be connected to the host. The service establishment need not be billed for the call because with Feature Group B or D service, the IC pays the EC for each call which is placed. The IC is the only source of billing to the calling party, and with switching equipment having sufficient intelligence, it would be possible for the IC to bill the credit card company for calls placed to its host installation. This FIG. 6 arrangement is stated to be not feasible, however, because of the cost of switch 54. A typical modem is stated to cost in the order of $500. A switch for 100 lines is stated to cost in the order of $200,000. That would make the cost per modem not $500, but $2,500. That is stated to be impractical. And it is further stated there is no apparent way to avoid the use of the switch. There is a modem in each authorization terminal. There must be a modem at the other end of the connection. Modems have line connections. The EC/IC interface is over a Feature group B or D trunk. There is no way that a trunk can be interfaced with a conventional modem. Not only may the number of wires in the trunk be different from the number of wires at the modem input, but the signaling requirements are totally different. A costly switch is stated to be the device which allows a modem line to be connected to a trunk in the hypothecated solution of FIG. 6.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,292 there is proposed an arrangement for authorizing credit card transactions wherein the credit card company obtains a 3-digit Customer Identification Code (CIC) in the manner of an Interexchange Customer or Carrier. At its POP there are provided dedicated, modems and a PAD or: other multiplexer or concentrator which is connected to the host. However, the modems are not conventional modems but are specially designed to provide a trunk-side interface. In the illustrated embodiment in that patent, E & M signaling and T1 interfaces are used. These trunk-side interface modems are stated to be only slightly more expensive than conventional modems. The proffered advantage is a reduction of the cost associated with local telephone calls involved in the transaction.
In the hardware embodiment of this proposal the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) provides Feature Group B service on T1 access facilities using conventional E & M trunk protocol. The T1 link is connected to a conventional 24channel channel bank that includes a T1 trunk hardware interface. As stated the modem is designed to execute a trunk protocol so that at the two ends of the transmission path, namely the LEC and the modem, a trunk protocol is executed. In view of the fact that the modem is provided with a ground start interface the E & M channel bank cards must be modified to provide a ground start interface for the modem. An arrangement to effectuate this proposal is illustrated in FIG. 7 which comprises a combination of FIGS. 3 and 7B from U.S. Pat. No. No. 4,796,292. The channel bank is connected to the Access Tandem where the LEC establishes a trunk connection. The Access Tandem exercises a trunk protocol.

Public switched telephone network access to public data network


This disclosure provides methods and apparatus for wireless power field testing. An apparatus for sensing magnetic field strength of a wireless charging pad is provided. The apparatus includes a plurality of conductive loops each configured to sense a strength of a magnetic field passing through a respective one of the plurality of conductive loops. The apparatus includes at least one pair of terminals configured to be electrically connected to one or more of the plurality of conductive loops and configured to provide a voltage signal having a magnitude proportional to the strength of the magnetic field passing through the one or more of the plurality of conductive loops. In some implementations, the apparatus further includes a multiplexer circuit configured to individually electrically connect each of at least a subset of the plurality of conductive loops to the at least one pair of terminals.

When designing wireless power systems, there are several important tasks to be performed during design and testing including measurement of the total magnetic field density (H) and/or magnetic flux density (B), measurement of field evenness in open coil cases, and monitoring magnetic flux density once a chargeable device has been placed. Testing of the magnetic field density or magnetic flux density has traditionally been performed by moving a loop around the transmitter pad. However, it is difficult to move and place a loop accurately over tens or hundreds of locations on the pad to be measured. It is also difficult to insert a coil under an operating device without disturbing it. As such, there is a need for methods and apparatus for wireless power field testing.

Methods and apparatus for magnetic field strength measurement


Provided is an image forming system capable of specifying an image forming apparatus to be used with minimum operation without requiring input of special information.

In an image forming system in which a terminal apparatus such as a personal computer and the like and an image forming apparatus such as a printer and the like having a printing function are connected via a network, in a case where the image forming apparatus is used from the terminal apparatus, it is necessary to specify an image forming apparatus to be used on the network and install a printer driver corresponding to the specified image forming apparatus in the terminal apparatus.
In a case where many image forming apparatuses are connected to the network, it is not easy to specify the image forming apparatus to be used, and it is necessary to check the model name of the image forming apparatus, and the IP address and apparatus name on the network.
Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which a terminal apparatus receives an identification code for identifying an image forming apparatus and displays a list of only image forming apparatuses having the same identification code (refer, for example, to a printer driver in Patent Literature 1). As a result, the user may easily select a printer to be used, and an appropriate printer driver may be installed.

Image forming system that uses presence confirmation requests and response requests for installation of a printer driver, image forming apparatus and terminal apparatus

Abstract: A terminal apparatus includes a printer searching unit that transmits a response request to an image forming apparatus from which there is a response to a presence confirmation request; an image forming apparatus includes: a response button generating unit that, after receiving the response request, generates a response button; and a printer information transmitting unit that, by operation of the response button, transmits printer information as a response to the response request; and the printer searching unit of the terminal apparatus causes the image forming apparatus from which there is a response to the response request to be highlighted in a display of a network printer list screen.


A steering angle sensor providing an output signal indicating relative position within a full rotation, such as a relative dual track steering sensor, provides a signal to a digital processor coupled to a non-volatile memory for storing retained values of a centered vehicle steer angle, a rotation count and a mounting bias angle. The processor derives three test steer angle values utilizing, respectively, (1) the retained rotation count, (2) one greater than the retained rotation count and (3) one less than the retained rotation count and chooses as an initialized steer angle one of the three test steer angles that differs from the retained value of a centered vehicle steer angle by less than a first calibration value. If such an initialized steer angle is found, the processor verifies that the initialized steer angle differs from an estimated steer angle derived in response to signals from the vehicle yaw rate sensor and lateral acceleration sensor by less than a second calibration value less than the first calibration value and, if so, accepts the verified initialized steer angle as the centered vehicle steer angle. If not, the processor preferably reverts to a full recalibration without use of the retained values in the non-volatile memory. Preferably, the first calibrated value is 180 rotational degrees, so that the initialized steering angle value may be assumed to be within the same rotation as the centered angle.

The technical field of this invention is the determination of a steer angle of a motor vehicle with a steer angle sensor.
The use of steer angle sensors on motor vehicles is increasing due to their use in vehicle dynamic stability systems, steering control systems and other systems requiring a knowledge of vehicle steer angle. Most practical high resolution steer angle sensors are incorporated on the vehicle steer column to detect rotation of the column.
One such sensor is a digital pulse generator such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,160 to Dickinson et al, issued Jan. 5, 1999, as well as many other patents and published documents. This type of sensor outputs pulses corresponding to rotations of the shaft through predetermined angles, with some method of determining the direction of the rotation. These pulses are used to increment a counter in a first direction for one rotational direction and a second and opposite direction for the opposite rotational direction. Such sensors generally provide a relative rotational position only, with no inherent absolute rotational position of the shaft; and they do not generally inherently provide a roll-over signal for multiple rotations. Although the counter contents of a sensor that has been initialized and synchronized may be saved in a non-volatile memory for use when the vehicle is next started, this value is not fully trustworthy due to the fact that the steer angle could have been changed between periods of vehicle use when the change was not detected. Thus, such a sensor must generally be recalibrated at the beginning of each vehicle driving cycle before it will indicate true steer angle. The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,160 describes a method incorporating such a recalibrating or centering function responsive to vehicle yaw rate. But the centering methods described in this patent and others require time to complete, during which systems dependent on a steer angle sensor output are generally not activated.
Another type of steer angle sensor in use on motor vehicles provides an indicated position output. An example is a dual track, resistive sensor. It includes two brushes maintaining a fixed 90 degree separation as they rotate in contact with and relative to a circular, electrically resistive track provided with a fixed DC voltage across opposite diagonal points on the track. The output signals from the sensor are two voltages varying with shaft rotational position but maintaining a fixed 90 degree relationship with each other. Such signals provide an indicated rotational position of the shaft within a range of 360 rotational degrees, as well as rotational direction, that offers the opportunity to modify the method described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5, 857,160 to provide quicker centering of the sensor, in most cases without full recalibration.
The apparatus of the invention provides an accurate centered steering angle signal from a steering angle sensor providing an output signal indicating relative position within a full rotation, such as a relative dual track steering sensor. The apparatus performs a two step process in which the sensor output signal is initialized in the first step and verified in the second step.
The apparatus includes a non-volatile memory for storing retained values of a centered vehicle steer angle, a rotation count and a mounting bias angle and digital and digital processing means responsive to an activating signal to perform the following steps:
(a) deriving three test steer angle values as the sum of the retained value of a mounting bias angle, a value derived from the steer angle signal and a rotation angle derived from, respectively for the three test steer angle values, (1) the retained rotation count, (2) one greater than the retained rotation count and (3) one less than the retained rotation count;
(b) choosing as an initialized steer angle one of the three test steer angles that differs from the retained value of a centered vehicle steer angle by less than a first calibration value; and
(c) verifying that the initialized steer angle chosen in step (b) differs from an estimated steer angle derived in response to signals from the vehicle yaw rate sensor and lateral acceleration sensor in a first process by less than a second calibration value less than the first calibration value and, if so, accepting the verified initialized steer angle as the centered vehicle steer angle.
Preferably, the first calibrated value is 180 rotational degrees, so that the initialized steering angle value may be assumed to be within the same rotation as the centered angle. The second step is thus only a verification of the initialization results and thus provides the benefits of quicker centering of the sensor as compared with the full recalibration process, which does not use the retained values from the non-volatile memory. The recalibration process is preferably retained as a backup in case an initialized and verified steer angle is not found in steps (a) through (c).

Apparatus for determining steer angle of a motor vehicle


A sensor for pressure measurement may include a fabric support, an electrically conductive structure including tracks on the fabric support having resistance variations in response to deformations thereof, and a processor coupled to the electrically conductive structure and configured to sense resistance values of respective tracks of the electrically conductive structure and to provide a signal representative of a pressure difference across opposite faces of the fabric support.

In some applications, there may be a need to determine, in an accurate way, pressure values over rather extensive regions, the surface of which may be of the order of square centimeters or square meters. For example, in some fluidic filters, it is useful to have a measurement of the pressure exerted by the fluid that is treated in order to monitor the operating conditions of the fluid itself. In a different field, the use of pressure sensors incorporated in the innersole of footwear enables data to be obtained regarding the distribution of the weight of the user on the sole of his foot, both for clinical assessments (evaluation and correction of posture and gait) and for other purposes that may be of interest for the user (for example, for providing a pedometer function).
When there are requirements of this sort, usually an array of independent point sensors is employed, which provides information on the pressure exerted in a given and limited area. However, such approaches of this type may not always satisfactory. In many cases, in fact, positioning of discrete sensors is problematical, if not impossible, and in any case more often than not there is the problem of the wired connection with the detection circuitry. In some cases, as in the case of fluidic filters, the very presence of the sensors may cause unacceptable disturbance.