Methods, circuits, and systems are disclosed for automatically detecting connections between RFID tags. In one embodiment, a method is provided that includes periodically placing a charge on a node shared between a first RFID tag and a second RFID tag. The method also comprises sensing a voltage at the node at a time subsequent to the placing of the charge. The method also comprises automatically determining whether a connection exists between the first RFID tag and the second RFID tag based on the sensing of the voltage at the node. The first RFID tag and/or the second RFID tag may include circuitry configured to perform the method.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The technology of the disclosure relates to use of radio-frequency (RF) communications, including communications involving RF identification (RFID) tags or transponders.
2. Technical Background
It is well known to employ radio-frequency (RF) identification (RFID) transponders to identify articles of manufacture. RFID transponders are often referred to as "RFID tags." RFID tags are comprised of an antenna coupled to an integrated circuit (IC). An identification number or other characteristic is stored in the IC or memory coupled to the IC. The identification number can be provided to another system, such as an RFID reader, to provide identification information for a variety of purposes. For example, if an RFID tag is an active device, the RFID tag includes a transmitter that can transmit the identification. If the RFID tag is a passive or semi-passive device, the RFID tag does not include a transmitter. The passive or semi-passive RFID tag includes a receiver that receives a wireless RF signal from a transmitter over an antenna, also known as an interrogation signal. The passive or semi-passive RFID tag can respond to receipt of the interrogation signal, including providing identification information, via backscatter modulation communications, as an example.
One application of RFID tags is in communication systems to provide information regarding communication components, such as connectors and adapters as examples. In this regard, the communication components are RFID-equipped. An RFID reader can be provided as part of an RFID system to receive stored information about the RFID-equipped communication components. The RFID reader can interrogate RFID tags disposed in communication components in the range of the RFID reader to automatically discover communication components present in the RFID system. The RFID reader may provide the identification information regarding the communication components to a host computer system. The RFID tags disposed in two communication components can also exchange identification information when connected together to provide connection information to the RFID reader when interrogated. Thus, it is possible to determine when two particular communication components are connected or joined together and when the connection is separated. However, in order for the RFID reader to discover the communication components present in the RFID system and determine when two particular communication components are connected or separated, a significant number of unique queries must be performed by the RFID reader and each of these queries may involve many commands and responses between the RFID reader and the set of RFID tags.
Passive RFID tags have emerged for tracking all manner of objects as a high-performance alternative to bar codes. They are conceptually simple and inexpensive (as little as pennies per tag) and can be read in locations not having a direct line of sight to the tag, through other materials and at relatively long distances (typically, up to 10 meters). Passive RFID tags operate indefinitely without a dedicated power source, such as a battery, deriving their energy solely from radio waves emitted from a nearby reader. Therefore, passive RFID tags can be made as small, thin, and light as a paper label. Passive RFID tags communicate with adjacent RFID readers by selectively reflecting some of the transmitted energy back to the RFID reader, much the same way as a radar works.
RFID tags offer a unique capability in taking inventory of, and inferring the connectivity of, cable components in data centers. Optical cables are made of dielectric materials and have no means for electrically reading serial numbers and configuration data. All markings must appear in printed symbology, and records of interconnections must be kept by manual means. However, the complexity and reconfigurability of interconnects in patch panels call for automated solutions to configuration discovery and asset management, in the interest of accuracy and productivity.
One previously unsolved problem with RFID tags in the intended application is providing a means for RFID tags to exchange information between connected sets, thereby enabling connectivity to be inferred. With their limited power budget, this presents special challenges. In particular, it is difficult to detect when RFID tags are connected, especially when two RFID tags are connected and one of the two RFID tags is unpowered. In addition, it may be desirable that RFID tags sense connection and disconnection events in near-real-time, as the event itself is significant in the operation of a data center. Operations management needs to know when cabling has been reconfigured, with time stamps for keeping an audit trail and with alarms for erroneous events should they occur.
Thus, a need exists for a low-power, instantaneous way of sensing connection and disconnection events between electronic circuits, such as in RFID tags.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag-to-tag autoconnect discovery, and related methods, circuits, and systems


Artifacts, including parameters are data sets, associated with experiment tasks are stored at an experiment management service. A query specifying a particular value of a parameter and a particular data set is received, and an indication of an experiment result associated with the particular data set and the particular parameter value is provided.

This application claims benefit of priority to U. S. Provisional Application No. 62/940,800 filed Nov. 26, 2019, titled "Experiment Management Service," which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In recent years, more and more large-scale machine learning applications and services are being deployed. Often, such applications are run using distributed sets of interconnected resources, for example in cloud-based data centers, thereby reducing the need for application owners to maintain expensive environments for training and execution of machine learning models at their own premises. In some cases, a sophisticated machine learning-based application or service may involve the use of multiple loosely-coupled repetitive processes or procedures, e.g., respective processes and associated teams may be employed for data collection, data cleansing and transformation, model training and evaluation, model deployment and so on. Often a large amount of effort and time has to be spent in coordinating the efforts of different teams involved, which can lower the overall productivity achieved for machine learning-based applications.
For many complex machine learning tasks, a continuous experimentation technique may be used, involving the iterative execution of numerous trials with different combinations of algorithms, hyper-parameters (which may also be referred to as meta-parameters) and resource configurations before a set of models that meets requirements is eventually found. Developers and data scientists may run hundreds or thousands of model training and tuning experiments, each of which may generate its own set of artifacts such as model versions, results, and so on. Over time, this explosion of data may make it harder to track the best performing models, observations and lessons learnt during the experimentation.
In some cases, related machine learning tasks may be performed using a combination of resources—e.g., preliminary experimentation may be performed using a data scientist's laptop or desktop environment, related tasks may be performed later using a machine learning service of a cloud provider network on behalf of the data scientist's organization, and still other tasks may be performed using a cluster of high-performance machines at the organization's non-cloud premises, and so on. Even within a given provider network, many different services, each presenting their own distinct interfaces, may have to be utilized to perform the experimentation required to solve a particular problem. Organizing and tracking all the data and metadata associated with such experiments remains a non-trivial technical problem.


The invention discloses methods and compositions for killing tumor cells in animals. Through transfer techniques, cancer cells are engineered to express an epitope which is targeted by natural antibodies causing complement destruction of transformed tumor cells that is typically associated with hyperacute xenograft rejection.

A primary barrier to xenotransplantation has been the essentially immediate recognition of carbohydrate epitopes present in the foreign tissue causing hyperacute xenograft rejection (HAR). The reaction begins immediately upon reperfusion, and once initiated destroys the foreign tissue within minutes to a few hours. The presence of HAR in some donor/recipient combinations while not others is postulated to be related to two primary factors, a) the binding of xenoreactive natural antibodies of the recipient to antigens or endothelial cells in the graft and b) the incompatibility of complement regulatory proteins in the transplant with the complement system of the recipient, allowing uncontrolled activation of complement. Greater than 80% of the complement-fixing natural antibodies in human serum recognize a single structure-Gal.alpha.1-3Gal. The synthesis of Gal.alpha.1-3Gal is catalyzed by the enzyme .alpha.1,3 galactosyl transferase.
No such recognition and destruction system exists for recognition of neoplastic cells and has remained the primary hurdle towards identification of an effective strategy for destruction of these cells. The ability to distinguish neoplastic from normal cells on the basis of proliferative behavior has proven limited, and has inspired a search for biochemical characteristics of neoplastic cells that are tumor specific rather than proliferation specific. Unfortunately current molecular genetic studies have failed to support the expectation that such characteristics are a consistent feature of neoplastic cells. Rather these studies suggest that the neoplastic state can be explained without postulating tumor specific functions, but merely the operation of normal proliferation-specific functions at abnormal levels, as a result of changes (sometimes minimal) in the structure of growth-regulatory genes or changes in their number or chromosomal environment. This conclusion suggests that a continued search for highly specific attributes of neoplastic cells cannot be relied upon for a general solution to the problems of cancer therapy. Major reductions in the lethality of cancer will require alternative approaches that do not depend on the natural occurrence of such attributes.
One alternative strategy entails the artificial creation of differences between normal and neoplastic cells through prophylactic use of gene insertion techniques. In other words, manufacturing biochemical differences which can be exploited to systematically and specifically target neoplastic cells for destruction. Gene insertion protocols are used to artificially manufacture biochemical differences in target tumor cells which are then exploited to selectively kill these cells. One system which has received much attention to date is the Herpes Simplex Virus Ganciclovir System.
Transformation of tumor cells with a gene encoding Herpes Simplex Virus thymidine kinase and subsequent treatment with anti-viral agents such as ganciclovir has been previously accomplished and has proven to be operable in vivo both in animals and in humans. See "Gene Therapy for the Treatment of Recurrent Pediatric Malignant Astrocytomas With In Vivo Tumor Transduction With Herpes Simplex Thymidine Kinase Gene/Ganciclovir System", Raffel, C et al., Human Gene Therapy 5 (7) p. 863-90, July 1994.
It is an object of this invention to introduce biochemical differences to tumor cells to allow for their selective killing via a complement mediated, xenoreactive natural antibody immune response.
It is a further object of this invention to provide compositions and methods for selectively killing tumor cells by complement destruction, through regulated expression of .alpha.1,3 galactosyl transferase.
It is a further object of the invention to provide compositions and methods for introduction of heterologous genes to tumor cells.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the description of the invention which follows.

Methods and compositions for inducing complement destruction of tissue


A tilt adjusting apparatus for an optical disc player to adjust a tilt of an optical pickup having adjusting ends positioned on at least first ends of two guide shafts that guide reciprocating motion of the optical pickup, elastic members positioned below the adjusting ends to bias the adjusting ends in a first direction, stoppers positioned on brackets above the adjusting end, to limit adjustment of the adjusting ends in the first direction, and adjusting screws coupled to the stoppers, to adjust the adjusting ends in a second direction opposite the first direction, thereby adjusting the inclination of the guide shafts. The stoppers are sized so that the optical pickup does not contact a lower surface of the disc even during large inclinations of the guide shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc player, and more particularly, to a tilt adjusting apparatus to adjust a tilt of an optical pickup so that a light beam emitted from the optical pickup is perpendicularly incident on a recording surface of a disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an optical disc player records data or reproduces recorded data by irradiating a light beam on an optical recording medium such as a compact disc (CD) or a digital video disc (DVD). To perform the above job, the optical disc player includes a turntable on which a disc is laid, a spindle motor for rotating the turntable, and the optical pickup that performs recording and reproduction of data by irradiating the light beam on the recording surface of the disc.
In such an optical disc player, the light beam emitted from the optical pickup is required to be perpendicularly incident on the recording surface of the disc, to form a spot of the light beam of a correct focus. But due to manufacturing and assembly problems, it is difficult to keep the disc parallel to a main base provided with a guide shaft for guiding the transfer motion of the optical pickup or the spindle motor for supporting and rotating the disc. Since a distance between the disc and the optical pickup changes depending on the movement of the optical pickup, the incident direction of the light beam is not accurately perpendicular to the recording surface of the disc. As described above, if the incident direction of the light beam deviates, the correct spot of the light beam cannot be formed on the recording surface of the disc, and errors may be generated in recording or reproducing data. Thus, the light beam can be made perpendicularly incident on the recording surface of the disc by keeping the disc and the optical pickup parallel to each other, to form a correctly focused spot of the light beam. This is referred to as a tilt adjustment or a skew adjustment.
FIG. 1 shows a main base of an optical disc player with a conventional tilt adjusting apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 1, the optical disc player includes a spindle motor 20 for rotating a disc (not shown), and an optical pickup 30 that performs recording and reproduction of data by irradiating a light beam on a recording surface of the disc. A turntable 22 to accommodate the disc is positioned on an upper portion of the spindle motor 20. The optical pickup 30 includes various optical components such as a pickup base 34 and an objective lens 32 mounted on the pickup base 34. The spindle motor 20 and the optical pickup 30 are assembled onto a main base 10. The main base 10 is installed in a disc tray of the optical disc player or a main frame of a housing. The main base 10 is provided with an opening 12, in which to move the optical pickup 30.
The optical pickup 30 moves along a radial direction of the disc, and irradiates the light beam on the recording surface of the disc. To move the optical pickup 30, the main base 10 is provided with an optical pickup transfer unit 40. The optical pickup transfer unit 40 includes a lead screw 46 to linearly move the optical pickup 30 by its rotation, a driving motor 42, and a connection gear group 44 to transmit power from the driving motor 42 to the lead screw 46. Two guide shafts 51 and 52 are positioned at opposing sides of the optical pickup 30 to guide the reciprocating linear movement of the optical pickup 30.
The main base 10 is provided with a tilt adjusting apparatus for adjusting the tilt of the optical pickup 30. The tilt adjusting apparatus adjusts a distance between the recording surface of the disc and the optical pickup 30 by adjusting the inclinations of the two guide shafts 51 and 52 using two adjusting screws 61 and 62 and two leaf springs, respectively.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure incorporating the guide shaft with the tilt adjusting apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view to explain problems of the conventional tilt adjusting apparatus generated when the guide shafts 51 and 52 shown in
FIG. 2 are over-adjusted. Since the above incorporating structure is the same at both guide shafts 51 and 52, only the incorporating structure of one guide shaft 51 will be described.
Referring now to FIG. 2, an end of the guide shaft 51 closest to the spindle motor 20, a supporting end 51a, is positioned inside the circumference of the disc D, and is inserted into and supported by a supporting groove 14 in the main base 10. Since the supporting groove 14 prevents the supporting end 51a from moving up and down, the supporting end 51a functions as a hinge point when an adjusting end 51b of the guide shaft 51 moves up and down.
The adjusting end 51b of the guide shaft 51 is movably supported by the adjusting screw 61 and the leaf spring 71. The adjusting screw 61 is coupled with a bracket 16 installed at the main base 10, and the lower portion of the adjusting screw 61 contacts an upper surface of the adjusting end 51b of the guide shaft 51. The bracket 16 may be manufactured as part of the main base 10 using standard injection mold technology. In recent optical disk drives, however, the bracket 16 is made of a metallic plate having a thickness of 0.8–1.0 mm, which is incorporated into the main base 10.
A first end of the leaf spring 71 is fixed to a lower surface of the main base 10 by a locking screw 73. A second end of the leaf spring 71 contacts a lower surface of the adjusting end 51b of the guide shaft 51 and applies an elastic force upward. Since the adjusting end 51b of the guide shaft 51 moves up and down by tightening or loosing the adjusting screw 61, the inclination of the guide shaft 51, and thereby the tilt of the optical pickup 30 guided by the guide shaft 51, is adjusted.
In the conventional tilt adjusting apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, the inclination of the guide shaft 51 can be adjusted until an edge of the adjusting end 51b contacts the lower surface of the bracket 16. However, the guide shaft 51 may incline too much, and the optical pickup 30, guided by the guide shaft 51, may contact the lower surface of the disc D. Furthermore, when the bracket 16 coupled with the adjusting screw 61 is made of a thin metal plate as described above, a space between the adjusting end 51b and the bracket 16 is very large, so that the inclination of the guide shaft 51 has to be adjusted in a large portion. Further, in a case where the surface of the disc D is not perfectly planar, and is slightly warped, the above-described problems appear with increased frequency. As described above, when the optical pickup 30 contacts the lower surface of the disc D due to a large inclination of the guide shaft 51, the lower surface of the disc D is damaged, and the smooth rotation of the disc D is disturbed, resulting in an an error generated by the optical pickup 30 in recording and reproducing data.
Recently, as more compact optical disc players have been manufactured, the height thereof is small enough to allow use of optical disc players in portable computers, such as a notebook computer. Thus, since a space between a disc and a main base must be about 1 mm in a slim optical disc player for a portable computer, the above-described problems are frequently generated in the slim optical disc players.
When the inclination of the guide shaft 51 is adjusted as much as possible, the height H1 of the adjusting screw 61 protrudes above the bracket 16 is at a maximum value. A housing cover 90 is necessarily disposed at a position higher than the protruded height H1 of the adjusting screw 61, to prevent interference with the adjusting screw 61, thereby creating a large space between the housing cover 90 and the main base 10. Conventionally, to create a slim optical disc player and reduce the protruded height H1 of the adjusting screw 61, the diameter of the adjusting end 51b was made smaller than that of the guide shaft 51 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, if the diameter of the guide shaft 51 is 3 mm, the diameter of the adjusting end 51b is not bigger than 2 mm. Even though the protruded height H1 of the adjusting screw 61 is reduced, this results in an increase in the space between the adjusting end 51b and the bracket 16, and thereby, an increase in the frequency of appearance of the above-described problems.

Guide shaft tilt adjusting apparatus for optical disc player


A method of detecting an output phase loss (OPHL) for a motor drive detects an abnormal OPHL operation when at least one phase of a three-phase current is continually zero. Each phase of the three-phase current is acquired, sampled, filtered, and compared. Hence, a corresponding zero-current counter value is continually added, and a corresponding abnormal current value is set as logic 1 when a zero-phase current of the three-phase current is continually zero. Finally, an OPHL certified value is set as logic 1 to confirm that the motor driver is operated in the abnormal OPHL operation. Therefore, a direct-current and an alternating-current OPHL can be detected before and after the motor driver is operated, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of detecting a phase loss, and more particularly to a method of detecting an output phase loss (OPHL) for a motor driver.
2. Description of Prior Art
An output phase loss (OPHL) detection for a motor driving system is an important task when the motor is operated under the phase loss condition to produce high current and damage probably coils of the motor because of poor contact of the circuit.
The U.S. Pat. No. 7,161,375 disclosed "Phase-loss detection for rotating field machine" where current of the rotating field machine is calculated and sensed before the machine is started to confirm whether the machine is operated under an phase-loss condition or not. However, there are disadvantages to the disclosed technology, as following:
1. The current vector has to be controlled accurately in a specific direction by a closed-loop control. Hence, the disclosed technology is not applicable to the motor without the closed-loop control.
2. The phase-loss detection is executed before the motor is started and is not executed after the motor is started.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description, drawings and claims.

Method of detecting output phase loss for motor driver


A transmittance testing apparatus includes a frame bearing rod for support, and a light emitter carriage, a DUT carriage and a light receiver carriage supported by the frame bearing rod from bottom up; the light emitter carriage is used for placing a light emitter capable of emitting light, the DUT carriage is used for mounting a touch sensor, a light receiver carriage is used for placing a light receiver facing the DUT carriage. Positions of the light emitter, the touch sensor and the light receiver in the apparatus are fixed with respect to each other Thus, stable and accurate measurement of transmittance can be obtained.

Currently, CA-210 Color Analyzer, commercially available from Konica Minolta Corporation, Japan, is used to manually measure transmittance of a touch sensor in a liquid crystal display (LCD). Generally, the measurement is carried out by means of choosing randomly and testing five points on the touch sensor. However, such manually testing method can not guarantee uniformity of positions and distances between the CA-210 Color Analyzer and the touch sensor, and therefore such testing results are in low accuracy.

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Closed loop control circuit for a variable hydraulic pump the output flow of the pump being variable by control means and the pump including at least two closed loop controllers actuating the control means, wherein at least one hydraulic switching element is provided which automatically connects to the control means the closed loop controller providing the highest or the lowest pressure.

An output flow/pressure closed loop controller 110 is shown in a circuit diagram in FIG. 6 and is illustrated in detail in FIG. 7 using symbols.
The complete output flow of a pump 111 is herein passed through a variable throttle or orifice. For a fixed position of the throttle 2 the pressure drop at the throttle 2 is proportional to the output flow. Therefore the pressure drop can be considered as being indicative for the output flow. The pressure drop (or differential pressure) acts on the two end faces of a first control spool 4 of an output flow closed loop controller (or output flow control valve) 112.
The control spool 4 has a fixed operating position which is reached when a control opening 6 formed by a control edge a of the spool 4 and a wall b of the bore of the housing is about equal in size as an input flow nozzle 7, i.e. when the edge a of the spool 4 is just opening bore b. By dividing the pressure among the input flow nozzle 7 and the variable output flow opening 6 the pressure acting on the control spool can be equal to the pump pressure (with the opening 6 closed) at the most and at least equal to the reservoir pressure (with the opening 6 completely open).
If in this position of the spool 4 there is an equilibrium of forces, the output flow control operates in the stationary range. If the operating pressure determined by the load 3 is less than the pressure set by a spring 12 of a pressure closed loop controller (pressure control valve) 113 and a valve 15, then a control opening 13 of the pressure control valve 113 is closed and is disregarded in the present contemplation. Now, if, for example, the free cross section of the throttle 2 is made smaller, then, with the present output flow, the pressure drop at the variable throttle 2 is increased and the output flow control spool 4 is moved against the increasing force of a compression spring 5. Thus the control opening 6 increases, the hydraulic oil flows with less resistance to the reservoir, and the pressure at a control piston 9 of the pump 112 decreases.
A control piston 10 opposite the control piston 9 then moves a cam ring 11 of the pump 111 towards smaller displacement until the pressure drop at the variable throttle 2 again corresponds to the biasing of the spring 5. When the load pressure increases, the increasing leakage of the pump 111 is regulated until the second or pressure control spool 14 of the pressure closed loop controller 113 opens the control opening 13. The hydraulic oil now flows in parallel to the control opening 6 to the reservoir and the pressure at the control piston 9 decreases causing the pump 111 to decrease its output flow. The pressure at which the pressure closed loop controller 113 opens the control opening (i.e. the cut-off pressure) is determined by controlling the solenoid operated valve 15.
The use of this output flow/pressure closed loop controller enables the exactly repeatable electrical control of the pressure and the output flow. However, both of the closed loop controllers, i.e. the output flow closed loop controller 111 and the pressure closed loop controller 113, are specially designed. The output flow closed loop controller 111 is superimposed to the pressure closed loop controller 113. Both closed loop controllers 111 and 113 are provided with hydraulic oil via one common nozzle 7.
It is therefore disadvantageous in this known output flow/pressure closed loop controller that special components are required. This is particularly true for the output flow control valve 111 and the pressure control valve 113. A rigid arrangement of the system is provided where no standard components can be used. Further, the prior art output flow closed loop controller 110 is less dynamic than a standard pressure closed loop controller, this being particularly prominent in the control-up being slow.

Closed loop control circuit for variable hydraulic pump


Circuitry, embodied in a media subsystem, reproduces a speech or other type of audio signal, and is operable during a time that comfort noise is being generated for storing data from an arriving data packet that contains data representing a beginning of an interval of speech. The circuitry detects that data representing speech has been stored and synchronizes the circuitry to the beginning of the interval of speech by terminating the generation of comfort noise that precedes the interval of speech, and reproduces the speech by decoding the stored data from the data packet and converting the decoded data to an audio speech signal. The arriving data packet contains at least one frame of speech data having a duration of X milliseconds, and the circuitry includes an audio device, such as a DAC or a PCM connection, that requests decoded speech data at a rate given by X/Y milliseconds, where Y is greater than one. By example, the frame of speech data has a duration in the range of about 20 milliseconds to about 60 milliseconds, and an audio device requests decoded speech data at a rate of less than every 10 milliseconds (e.g., every 5 milliseconds). The circuitry may be contained within a wireless communications device, such as a cellular telephone or a personal communicator.

It is well known in packet-based terminals and devices, such as wireless communications terminals (e.g., mobile and cellular telephones or personal communicators), PC-based terminals as well as IP telephony gateways, that an audio device requests data to be converted into audio at regular, fixed intervals. These intervals are not, however, synchronized to the reception of the data packets that contain the audio data. A given packet can contain one or more frames of data, where the length or duration of an audio signal contained within the frame is generally in the range of 20 ms to 30 ms (referred to herein generally as the "frame length", although a temporal measure is intended, not a spatial measure.) After reception, the audio data frame is typically stored into a jitter buffer to await its calculated playout time. The playout time is the time during which the frame of audio data is to be converted to an audio signal, such as by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), then amplified and reproduced for a listener through a speaker or some other type of audio transducer. In the case of gateways and transcoders, the audio is typically sent to a sample-based circuit switched network. In that the audio device requests the frame data at random intervals, relative to the receipt of the audio packets, the data can be stored for a variable amount of time in the jitter buffer. The storage time in the jitter buffer can be shown to be, on average, one half of the duration of the frame, and consists of the desired jitter buffer duration and the undesired synchronization delay. In FIG. 2 this is demonstrated: the packet stays in the jitter buffer first for the desired 10 ms, after which it is playable, the frame, however will be fetched at some time during the next 20 ms, resulting in the undesired average of 10 ms of additional storage time in the jitter buffer.
A problem arises because of the fact that in modern voice terminals and similar devices, such as IP telephony gateways, the audio device is synchronized to some local frequency source. The frequency source may be, for example, an oscillator or a telephone network clock signal. However, in packet-based terminals, the packets containing the voice data arrive at a rate that is independent of and asynchronous to the frequency source that drives the audio device. The difference between the rate of IP packet arrival and the rate at which the audio device requests frames of voice data can create an undesirable and variable "synchronization delay".
In EP 0 921 666 A2 Ward et al. are said to reduce degradation in packetized voice communications that are received by a non-synchronized entity from a packet network by adjusting a depth of storage of a jitter buffer in the receiver. Units of voice sample data are stored in the jitter buffer as they are received. From time to time the rate of extraction of the stored units from the jitter buffer is accelerated by extracting two units, but delivering only one, or is retarded by not extracting a unit, while delivering a substitute unit in its place. This technique is said to control the depth of storage in response to packet reception events such that the delay is minimized, while providing a sufficient amount of delay to smooth the variances between packet reception events.
In WO 01/11832 A1 Nakabayashi describes the use of a receive buffer that stores packets received from a network interface, and a reproduction controller that refers to the state of the receive buffer to carry out a sound reproduction operation. A decoder receives the stored data, and the decoded data is provided to a DAC that is clocked by a reproduce clock. The process is said to prevent to the underflow and overflow of the receive buffer due to clock differences between the transmitter and the receiver, and to prevent packet jitter that results in sound dropouts.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,712 B1 Rosengren describes transmitting packets from an input stream to an output stream. When multiplexing transport streams, packet jitter may be introduced to the extent that decoder buffers can underflow or overflow. To avoid this, a time window is associated with a data packet and position information is provided in the packet concerning the position of the packet within the window.

Method and apparatus for reducing synchronization delay in packet-based voice terminals


A seismic velocity profile in a region of interest in a subsurface formation is determined using at least the following steps.    (a) Activating a seismic source at a location n, thereby exciting a wave in the subsurface formation.    (b) Recording a wave signal trace unm(t) against time t, at a seismic receiver m.    (c) Recording a wave signal trace unk(t) against time t at a seismic receiver k.    (d) Cross correlating the wave signal traces unm(t) and unk(t) to obtain uconvnmnk(t).    (e) Repeating these steps, for different locations n;    (f) Summing uconvnmnk(t) over all locations n, to obtain a signal trace uvsmk(t) which corresponds to the signal received by the seismic receiver k from the virtual source at the position of seismic receiver m;    (g) Deriving the seismic velocity based on the time of first arrival of the wave in uvsmk(t) and the predetermined distance between the seismic receiver m and the seismic receiver k.

A seismic velocity profile in a subsurface formation may be obtained employing the so-called check shot (also known as "well shoot" or "velocity survey") technique. The check shot technique is described in, for instance, on pages 167 and 168 of "Well Logging in non-technical language," by David Earl Johnson and Kathryne E. Pile, published 2002 by PennWell Books, ISBN 0878148256.
A conventional check shot technique includes generating multiple shots from a seismic source located in a selected position, usually close to a wellhead. Shots are detected at different locations along a bore hole extending below the wellhead, by a receiver that is moved along the bore hole.
Alternatively, a set comprising a plurality of receivers may be located in the bore hole, in which case only a single shot would be required.
A complex overburden may lead to erroneous velocity profiles when conventional check-shots and zero-offset vertical seismic profiles (VSP) are used.
When there is a complex transmission medium between the set of seismic sources and the region of interest, such as for example a complex overburden, the extraction of velocity profiles from check shots is a challenging task. First arrival waveforms may be distorted and difficult to pick as a result of the complex transmission medium, and the fastest arrival may not even come along the shortest path between the source and the receiver, thus making it difficult to relate arrival time to velocity.
This could be alleviated by placing the source in the bore hole, or well, so that the travel-path of the first arrival is short and close to a straight line between the source and the receiver. In practice, however, it is cumbersome to place and operate a physical source downhole.
Another difficulty with conventional check shots is that they measure only P-wave velocity from first arrivals. Shear waves, even if emitted from the surface source or generated by P-S conversions in the overburden, arrive later, and are difficult to unravel and pick. Hence a shear wave check shot is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain using conventional check shot techniques.

Method of determining a seismic velocity profile


Different combinations of global motion parameters are estimated for a current frame interpolated to derive local motion vectors for individual image blocks. Image blocks in a reference frame identified by the local motion vectors are compared to the image blocks in the current frame. The estimated global motion parameters that provide the best match between the image blocks in the current frame and the reference frame are selected for encoding the current frame. Selected sub regions of temporally consecutive image frame s can be used in order to release the computational burden for global motion estimation and provide more robust global motion estimation results. A data truncation method can also be used to remove bias caused by foreground moving objects.

Global motion estimation is used in video coding, video analysis, and vision-based applications. The global motion in an image sequence is usually considered as the relative motion of the camera with respect to the image background.
There are a number of global motion modeling methods, which consider some or all of panning, zooming, rotation, affine motion, and perspective motion. Mathematically, these global operations can be described as different transform matrices. However, in the discrete digital image domain, it is usually quite computationally expensive to solve the global motion parameters strictly following the mathematical models, which are well defined for the continuous space.
Some global motion estimation techniques conduct global motion estimation using a motion vector field obtained by a local motion estimation algorithm. Global motion parameters are then derived based on the mathematical models. However, the complexity of local motion estimation is a computational barrier for practical usages.
In another technique, hardware sensors were mounted within a video camera to determine the camera motion. But this hardware implementation is very costly for regular consumer electronics.
Another difficulty in global motion estimation is the existence of independently moving objects that introduce bias to the estimated motion parameters. One technique uses video object masks to remove the moving objects in order to obtain higher robustness. However, it is very difficult to segment the video objects.
Another global motion estimation technique uses a truncated quadratic function to define the error criterion in order to remove the image pixels of moving objects. This method significantly improves the robustness and efficiency. However, the truncation utilizes a pre-fixed threshold, which is not well defined.
One common aspect of the global motion estimation methods mentioned above is that they derive the global motion parameters based on a comparison between two temporally consecutive image frame s using the full content in the images. However, these techniques require large amounts of computational power.
The present invention addresses this and other problems associated with the prior art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for global motion estimation


Disclosure relates to a board block for vehicles. A housing forms an outer appearance of the board block of the present invention. The housing includes a housing body and a housing cover. A interior space is formed in the housing body, and a first connection unit is formed at one side of an upper end of the housing body. The housing cover covers the upper end of the housing body and the first connection unit.

In vehicles, it is necessary to supply and control power to various electric components. In order to collectively supply and control power to various electric components in this way, boxes such as a junction box, a joint box, and a battery box are used. Such a box is configured by integrating components such as fuses and relays, and circuit boards.
In recent years, board blocks which are installed in one box or separately equipped with a function of a box are often used. Such a board block performs substantially the same function as that of one box.
A plurality of printed circuit boards are used in the board block, and the printed circuit boards are disposed generally parallel to each other. In order to dispose the printed circuit boards in parallel, the printed circuit boards should be electrically connected by wires or jumper pins. Further, a structure for fixing the printed circuit boards should be provided separately. Thus, the board block according to the related art is relatively large and has a number of components.
The overall size of the board block can be reduced by extending a terminal for coupling components inserted from the outside of the housing in parallel to surfaces of the printed circuit boards while disposing the printed circuit boards in parallel. Thus, the terminal installed in the printed circuit board to be used for the coupling of components should be bent at the right angle unlike a general one. Since the terminal is bent at the right angle, it has a shape different from that of an existing terminal and should be manufactured separately.
Further, since connection unit for electrical connections of printed circuit boards to the outside cannot but be situated at the same location on a lower surface of the housing in the conventional board block, high current circuit patterns should be formed relatively long in the printed circuit boards. Accordingly, significant amounts of heat are generated in the relatively long high current circuit patterns, and the overall size of the board block increases due to the long printed circuit boards.
Furthermore, if many components are installed around the printed circuit blocks in the board block, it is relatively difficult to dissipate heat generated in the printed circuit boards.
In addition, when a separately manufactured board block is mounted to a box, it is important to firmly fix the board block to the box while the board block is not moved with respect to the box. If the board block is moved with respect to the box, operational reliability of the board block deteriorates.


A pulse step modulator employs a plurality of series connected unit step power amplifier modules. Each module is turned on by a turn-on signal to provide a unit step voltage of a given value. An output circuit is connected to the modules for providing an output voltage to a load and wherein the output voltage is a multiple of the unit step voltages in dependence upon the number of modules that are turned on. The modules are sequentially turned on in a given order and are turned off in the reverse order. An encoder provides turn-on signals with each turn-on signal being applied to a selected one of the modules. The number of turn-on signals provided varies as a function of the magnitude of a time varying input signal. A controller alternately turns enables or disables (in a swapping manner) one of a pair of associated modules as the magnitude of the input signal increases and decreases.

A pulse step modulator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,197. Briefly, a pulse step modulator (PSM) as disclosed in that patent includes a plurality of series connected unit step modules each of which includes an isolated DC voltage source, a remotely controlled switch and a series diode. The switch in each module may be remotely controlled to turn the module on or off. As each module is turned on, it provides a step voltage. As the various modules are turned on in a stepwise fashion, the output voltage will increase in steps from 0 volts to a maximum voltage with the maximum equaling the sum of all of the module DC voltage sources. A lowpass filter at the output may be employed for removing switching noise. An encoder or the like monitors a time varying input signal, such as an audio signal, and turns on one of the unit step modules for each incremental increase in the value of the audio signal. As the audio signal continues to increase in value, the modules are turned on one at a time in a given order. Similarly, as the audio signal decreases in value, the modules are sequentially turned off in the reverse order.
As noted above, when a pulse step modulator is employed in an AM transmitter, the number of modules that are turned on varies with modulation, i.e., the magnitude of the audio signal. Some modules are on almost all of the time. They only turn off at the negative peak of modulation. Some modules are off most of the time, as they only turn on at the positive peak of modulation. Therefore, there is a large difference in the average power dissipation at the various modules that are required for such a pulse step modulator. That is, if such a pulse step modulator has 46 unit step modules, then unit step module 1 will have the largest amount of power dissipation because it is turned on most of the time, whereas unit step module 46 will have very little power dissipation because the module is turned on very seldom. This causes a large difference between these two modules. Thus, the power dissipated by the various modules is unequal.
In an attempt to equalize the loading of the various modules in such a pulse step modulator, the prior art has included a first on-first off system employing a monitor which monitors the operation of the various modules. As the input signal increases in magnitude, the module that has been turned off the longest will be the first to be turned on. Conversely, as the input signal decreases, the module that has been turned on the longest will be the first to be turned off. Such a system is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,944 to A. Furrer. This first on-first off system requires a monitoring circuit for monitoring the operation of various modules and hence, this may add to the cost of such a system.
In the discussion presented thus far, each power amplifier module has one unique address location associated with a modulation level. For example, if 20 modules are turned on, the next module to be turned on is module number 21 and so forth. Based on the magnitude of the input signal being amplified, an appropriate number of power amplifier modules are turned on to synthesize the output signal that is needed. These modules are turned on in a sequential order starting from the bottom of a ladder to the top of a ladder. A small input signal requires enabling only a few of the bottom power amplifier modules. For example, an AM digital step transmitter may be considered as being capable of providing an envelope modulation up to 100%. Therefore, to produce only the carrier power at 0% modulation, this may require 50 RF power amplifiers being turned on. The output per amplifier will vary widely as can be seen from FIG. 2 herein. This figure illustrates, in graphical form, the output power with respect to the number of power amplifier modules employed. With only one amplifier turned on, it is operating at 100% power.
It should be noted that the power supplied by the power amplifier modules is not equal in the prior art. Therefore, the power amplifier usage of this type of system is poor and drives up the cost of the system.


Cruise control system for motor vehicles is provided, which control system has a sensor device for measuring the vehicle's performance characteristics and for measuring the distance to a target ahead of the vehicle, a controller to control the vehicle's speed or acceleration as a function of the measured performance characteristics and distance data, and an input device for a shut-off command to shut off the controller. The control system also has a shut-off function to shut off the controller as a function of other operational commands from the driver, and the controller has a stop function for automatically braking the vehicle to a standstill. The input device for the shut-off command is deactivated if the stop function is active and the vehicle is stationary.

A cruise control system makes it possible to set the vehicle's speed to a desired level selected by the driver. If the sensor device for the vehicle incorporates a distance sensor, for example in the form of a radar sensor, a stereo camera system or the like, the vehicle speed can also be set in such a way that a suitable safety distance to a vehicle ahead is automatically maintained. The input device for the shut-off command, which may, for example, take the form of a control button on the steering wheel or dashboard, allows the driver to deactivate various control functions. Other operational commands from the driver, e.g., pressing the brake pedal, have the effect of deactivating the control functions.
An example of a cruise control system, which is also known as an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) system, is described in "Adaptive Cruise Control Systems—Aspects and Development Trends," by Winner, Witte, Uhler and Lichtenberg, Robert Bosch GmbH, in SAE Technical Papers Series 961010, International Congress and Exposition, Detroit, Feb. 26–29, 1996. Since the available sensor devices do not yet permit complete coverage and safe evaluation of the traffic environment, at present such systems are primarily suitable for relatively stable traffic situations, such as driving on a highway or expressway. In urban traffic, or when driving at low speeds on winding roads, however, the uncertainties in detecting the particular relevant target object could create a risk of accident. For this reason, known ACC systems are designed in such a way that they can be activated only above a certain threshold speed.
Some systems attempt to expand the range of application of the ACC system to the traffic situation described as "stop-and-go," which occurs, for example, in a traffic jam or in slow-moving traffic. This traffic situation, too, is relatively stable and is therefore suitable for automatic distance control. However, the functionality has to be expanded in such way that stopping and preferably also starting may be controlled automatically. On vehicles having automatic transmission, this may be achieved by means of accelerator and brake control signals, which have the same effect as the driver's pressing the accelerator pedal or brake pedal. However, it must be ensured that road safety is not jeopardized by vehicle responses which the driver is not expecting.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cruise control system which makes it possible to automatically brake the vehicle to a standstill and to hold the vehicle in stationary position without jeopardizing road safety.


A protective sheath against radiation, in particular derived from electric field generated by electric cables (1, 2, 3) extending inside the sheath. The sheath includes an electrically insulating plastic outer layer (4) covering an electrically conductive material layer (5), the sheath end including removable connecting elements for connecting the electrically conductive material layer (5) to an electrical conductor (7) designed to be connected to the ground, the sheath enclosing or designed to enclose at least one neutral cable (1), one ground cable (2) and one phase cable (3) connected to an electric power distribution system.

So-called "shielded" cables are known which are used in order to transmit high-frequency telecommunications signals either by means of a copper conductor, or by means of an optical fibre, etc. The shielding is generally produced using a braid made of a conductive metal wire which is separated from the conductive wire or from the optical fibre by a layer of insulating plastic material, and is surrounded on the outside by another layer of insulating plastic material.
At present, protective sheaths, called ICTA, ICTL sheaths, etc., are commonly used in the building industry, the external surface of which is smooth or corrugated in order to give them a certain flexibility whilst reinforcing their resistance to deformation. These sheaths have no shielding against radiation, and in particular against the electric fields.
These protective sheaths receive several electric cables, generally a neutral cable, an earth cable and a phase cable connected to the electric distribution network the frequency of which is usually 50 Hz.
The cables are intended to supply power to various devices or power outlets.
These cables generate an electric field which can interfere with certain devices, or even cause health problems.
The aim of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks by creating a protective sheath against radiation, in particular against the electric field, generated by electric cables of the above type.

Protective sheath against radiation, in particular derived from electric field generated by electric cables


Systems and methods for remote control of a wireless communication device are provided. Remote access to a wireless communication device is obtained through a packet switched mobile terminated data call. The data call can also be originated from the wireless communication device. Authentication and validation procedures facilitate secure remote control access to the wireless communication device by one or more remote control access points. Once a remote control access session has been established, the remote control access point can execute commands on the wireless communication device, including initiating voice calls and scheduling future commands. Additionally, an audio-video teleconference can be initiated using streaming video and voice over IP.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wireless communications and more particularly relates to remote control of wireless communication devices via a wireless communication network.
2. Related Art
Conventional wireless communication devices may only be operated by a local user. This operation is typically through the conventional browser based operating system provided on the device, using the keypad for input or perhaps using voice commands. Some wireless communication devices permit access by a computer program to perform diagnostics or other maintenance related items. Furthermore, wireless communication devices are typically single user devices that do not allow multiple users to access the device.
A significant problem with these conventional devices is that as the devices gain sophistication in software and applications, customer service agents face an increasingly difficult time troubleshooting problems that occur on the devices. Additionally, owners of a wireless communication device often lose or misplace the device and have no ability to contact the missing device. Therefore, what is needed is a system and method that overcomes these significant problems found in conventional wireless communication devices as described above.

System and method for remote control of a wireless handset


A computer system for conducting electronic commerce. The system provides multiple electronic shopping carts for each user. Each electronic shopping cart has an indication of items currently within the electronic shopping cart and billing and shipment information. The system generates a display that identifies each of the electronic shopping carts and sends the generated display to a user computer system. The system then receives a selection of one of the identified electronic shopping carts from the user computer system and receives a selection of an item from the user computer system. In response to receiving the selection of the item, the system adds the item to the selected electronic shopping cart. The system then receives an indication to checkout the items in the selected electronic shopping cart from the user computer system. In response to receiving the indication to checkout, the system ships the items in the selected electronic shopping cart in accordance with the shipment information of the selected electronic shopping cart and bills for the items in the selected electronic shopping cart in accordance with the billing information for the selected electronic shopping cart. The system thus allows a user to select each of the electronic shopping carts for adding items to each electronic shopping cart.

The Internet is increasingly being used to conduct "electronic commerce," because it comprises a vast number of computers and computer networks that are interconnected through communication links which facilitates electronic communications between vendors and purchasers. Electronic commerce refers generally to commercial transactions that are at least partially conducted using the computer systems of the parties to the transactions. For example, a purchaser can use a personal computer to connect via the Internet to a vendor's computer. The purchaser can then interact with the vendor's computer to conduct the transaction. Although many of the commercial transactions that are performed today could be performed via electronic commerce, the acceptance and wide-spread use of electronic commerce depends, in large part, upon the ease-of-use of conducting such electronic commerce. If electronic commerce can be easily conducted, then even the novice computer user will choose to use electronic commerce. Therefore, it is important that techniques be developed to facilitate conducting electronic commerce.
The Internet provides a network that facilitates conducting electronic commerce because it uses standardized techniques for exchanging information.
Many standards have been established for exchanging information over the Internet, such as electronic mail, Gopher, and the World Wide Web ("WWW"). The WWW service allows a server computer system (i.e., Web server or Web site) to send graphical Web pages of information to a remote client computer system. The remote client computer system can then display the Web pages. Each resource (e.g., computer or Web page) of the WWW is uniquely identifiable by a Uniform Resource Locator ("URL"). To view a specific Web page, a client computer system specifies the URL for that Web page in a request (e.g., a HyperText Transfer Protocol ("HTTP") request). The request is forwarded to the Web server that supports that Web page. When that Web server receives the request, it sends that Web page to the client computer system. When the client computer system receives that Web page, it typically displays the Web page using a browser. A browser is typically a special-purpose application program that effects the requesting of Web pages and the displaying of Web pages.
Currently, Web pages are generally defined using HyperText Markup Language ("HTML"). HTML provides a standard set of tags that define how a Web page is to be displayed. When a user indicates to the browser to display a Web page, the browser sends a request to the server computer system to transfer to the client computer system an HTML document that defines the Web page. When the requested HTML document is received by the client computer system, the browser displays the Web page as defined by the HTML document. The HTML document contains various tags that control the displaying of text, graphics, controls, and other features. The HTML document may contain URLs of other Web pages available on that server computer system or other server computer systems.
The World Wide Web portion of the Internet is especially conducive to conducting electronic commerce. Many Web servers have been developed through which vendors can advertise and sell product. The products can include items (e.g., music) that are delivered electronically to the purchaser over the Internet and items (e.g., books) that are delivered through conventional distribution channels (e.g., a common carrier). A server computer system may provide an electronic version of a catalog that lists the items that are available. A user, who is a potential purchaser, may browse through the catalog using a browser and select various items that are to be purchased. When the user has completed selecting the items to be purchased, the server computer system then prompts the user for information to complete the ordering of the items. This purchaser-specific order information may include the purchaser's name, the purchaser's credit card number, and a shipping address for the order. The server computer system then typically confirms the order by sending a confirming Web page to the client computer system and schedules shipment of the items.
The selection from the electronic catalogs of items to be purchased is generally based on a "shopping cart" or "shopping basket" model. When the purchaser selects an item, the server computer system metaphorically adds that item to a shopping cart. The server computer system provides Web pages that allow the purchaser to view and change the quantities of the items in the shopping cart. When the purchaser is satisfied with the items in the shopping cart, the purchaser "checks out" the items that are in the shopping cart. The purchaser may provide billing and shipment information as part of "check out" process. When check out is complete, the items are then shipped in accordance with the shipment information, and the purchaser is billed in accordance with the billing information.
Although the shopping cart model facilitates the purchasing of items via electronic commerce, purchasing items via electronic commerce can still be cumbersome. First, a single purchaser may use different billing and shipment information at different times. For example, when purchasing items for use in the workplace, the purchaser may use a company credit card and the company's shipping address. In contrast, when purchasing items for personal use, the purchaser may use a personal credit card and a home address for shipping. It may be cumbersome to re-enter such information or re-select such information when the purchaser is purchasing for workplace or home use. Second, server computer systems may customize recommendations for items to purchase based on the purchasing or, more generally, access patterns of a user. For example, if a user generally purchases books relating to current politics, then when the user next connects to the server computer system, it may recommend that the user purchase a recently released book on current politics. However, if the purchaser purchases different types of items at work from the types of items purchased at home, then the server computer system may make inappropriate recommendations at certain times. For example, the server computer system may recommend a book on current politics when the user is at work looking for books on computer software.

Method and system for electronic commerce using multiple roles


A flow control valve includes a body having a hollow central section into which a flow control body fits. Three fluid flow ports are defined in the central section in a Y-shaped configuration to include a trunk port and two branch ports, and two flow ports are defined in the flow control body. The flow control body is moved from one orientation fluidically connecting one fluid port to one of the branch ports and the second port to the trunk port and a second orientation fluidically connecting the one fluid port to the trunk port and the second fluid port to the other one of the branch ports. Another form of the flow control valve includes a keystone shaped flow control body. The flow control valve can be used in a fluid circuit connecting a fluid source to various ones of a plurality of fluid flow driven subsystems.

Many workshops include a plurality of fluid-driven systems. Such systems include a shop vacuum, saws, drills, grinders and so forth. These shops generally have a single source of fluid. When each system is used, it must be connected to the fluid source.
Connection of a system to a fluid source can be a difficult procedure in which one system is disconnected from the fluid source and another system is connected to that fluid source. This can be time consuming and may require a worker to stop work to make this disconnection and connection.
Furthermore, once connected, it may be difficult to properly regulate the amount of fluid flowing to the connected system. Still further, it may not be possible to easily connect several systems to a single fluid source while still regulating the amount of fluid flowing to each system.
Accordingly, there is a need for a flow control valve which can be used to efficiently connect a source of fluid to one or several fluid-driven systems, while still providing accurate flow rates for each system. The incorporated application disclosed a flow control valve which effectively overcame the above-mentioned problems. However, there is still room for improvement in this flow control valve.


A greenhouse has an exterior curtain wall structure formed by spaced tubular posts carrying external transparent panels and bottom non-transparent wall panels below a sill with the panels spanning the posts. A plurality of elongate benches is located within the interior at spaced positions along one side wall with the width of the benches being equal to the post spacing to form a modular construction. Each bench has associated with it a respective air handling system for conditioning including a duct which is located partly under the respective bench and a fan in a fan housing at the side wall. From the fan a vertical duct section extends to a flexible tube extending over the bench. An alley is arranged along the opposite wall containing electrical controls mounted in cabinets forming panels for mounting in the span between posts. Air dehumidification, fogging, heating and cooling are provided in the duct under the bench.

Greenhouses used for research and high value production often include complex and expensive climate control systems for controlling air quality including temperature control by heating and cooling as required, and humidity, by de-humidification and humidification as required. Also such greenhouses are generally designed so as to maximize light availability to the growing plants. Such greenhouses therefore may include shades and lighting systems so as to control the light availability.
Up until now such greenhouses have generally been manufactured in the same manner as commercial buildings in that different contractors and suppliers are contracted to assembly the exterior structure, to provide air handling equipment, to provide electrical control systems, to provide shading systems and to provide lighting systems.
Thus the exterior structure is initially constructed using available constructions systems to provide a primarily transparent exterior structure. However the benches for supporting the plants, the air handling system and the remaining components are not necessarily manufactured so as to best fit within the exterior structure. Thus additional design effort is necessary to design and construct each of the separate components to match the structure of the exterior.
The arrangement disclosed hereinafter is designed based upon the concept that the greenhouse be supplied as a complete structure in which the necessary components are arranged and designed each in relation to the others so as to provide an assembly which is expandable in nature and in which each component is best suited to match the structure and arrangement of the remaining components.


A weathering steel made by preparing a molten melt producing an as-cast carbon alloy steel strip with a corrosion index of at least 6.0 comprising, by weight, 0.02%-0.08% carbon, <0.6% silicon, 0.2%-2.0% manganese, <0.03% phosphorus, <0.01% sulfur, <0.01% nitrogen, 0.2%-0.5% copper, 0.01%-0.2% niobium, 0.01%-0.2% vanadium, 0.1%-0.4% chromium, 0.08%-0.25% nickel, <0.01% aluminum, and the remainder iron and impurities. The molten melt is solidified and cooled into a cast strip 4 mm in thickness in a non-oxidizing atmosphere. The strip is hot rolled in an austenitic temperature range above Ar3 to between 10% and 50% reduction, cooled at above 20° C./s and coiled below 700° C. to form a steel strip with a microstructure comprising bainite and acicular ferrite with more than 70% niobium in solid solution. Then, age hardening the strip resulting in a yield strength of at least 550 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.

This invention relates to the making of weathering high strength thin cast strip, and to the method for making such cast strip by a twin roll caster.
Weathering steel is a high strength low alloy steel resistant to atmospheric corrosion. In the presence of moisture and air, low alloy steels oxidize, the rate of which depends on the access of oxygen, moisture and atmospheric contaminants to the metal surface. As the process progresses, the oxide layer forms a barrier to the ingress of oxygen, moisture and contaminants, and the rate of rusting slows down. With weathering steel, the oxidation process is initiated in the same way, but the specific alloying elements in the steel produce a stable protective oxide layer that adheres to the base metal, and is much less porous. The result is a much lower corrosion rate than would be found on ordinary structural steel.
Weathering steels are defined in ASTM A606, Standard Specification for Steel, Sheet and Strip, High Strength, Low-Alloy, Hot Rolled and Cold Rolled with Improved Atmospheric Corrosion Resistance. Weathering steels are supplied in two types: Type 2, which contains at least 0.20% copper based on cast or heat analysis (0.18% minimum Cu for product check); and Type 4, which contains additional alloying elements to provide a corrosion index of at least 6.0 as calculated by ASTM G101, Standard Guide for Estimating the Atmospheric Corrosion Resistance of Low-Alloy Steels, and provides a level of corrosion resistance substantially better than that of carbon steels with or without copper addition.
Weathering steel's yield strength allows cost reduction through the ability to design lighter sections into structures. In the past, high strength weathering low-carbon thin strip has been made by recovery annealing of cold rolled strip. Cold rolling was required to produce the desired thickness. The cold rolled strip was then recovery annealed to improve ductility without significantly reducing the strength. However, the final ductility of the resulting strip still was relatively low and the strip would not achieve total elongation levels over 6%, which is required for structural steels by building codes. Such recovery annealed cold rolled, low-carbon steel was generally suitable only for simple forming operations, e.g., roll forming and bending. To produce this steel strip with higher ductility was not technically feasible in these final strip thicknesses using the cold rolled and recovery annealed manufacturing route.
High strength weathering low-carbon steel strip has also been made by microalloying with elements such as niobium (Nb), vanadium (V), titanium (Ti) or molybdenum (Mo), and hot rolling to achieve the desired thickness and strength level. Additions of nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and silicon (Si) to the microalloying were used to obtain the corrosion-resistance properties. Microalloying required expensive and high levels of niobium, vanadium, titanium or molybdenum and resulted in formation of a bainite-ferrite microstructure typically with 10% to 20% bainite. Alternately, the microalloying could result in formation of a ferrite microstructure with 10% to 20% pearlite.
Hot rolling the strip resulted in the partial precipitation of these alloying elements. As a result, relatively high alloying levels of the Nb, V, Ti or Mo elements were required to provide enough precipitation hardening of the predominately ferritic transformed microstructure to achieve the required strength levels. These high microalloying levels significantly raised the hot rolling loads needed and restricted the thickness range of the hot rolled strip that could be economically and practically produced.
As such, making of high strength low-carbon steel strip less than 4 mm in thickness with microalloying additions of Nb, V, Ti and/or Mo to the base steel chemistry has been very difficult, particularly for wide strip due to the high rolling loads, and not always commercially feasible. For thinner thicknesses of strip, cold rolling was required; however, the high strength of the hot rolled strip made such cold rolling difficult because of the high cold roll loadings required to reduce the thickness of the strip. These high alloying levels also considerably raised the recrystallization annealing temperature needed, requiring expensive to build and difficult to operate annealing lines capable of achieving the high annealing temperature needed for full recrystallization annealing of the cold rolled strip.
Addition of phosphorus is also currently used to improve machining characteristics and atmospheric corrosion resistance in steels. For example, Chinese Patent Application Publications Nos. CN103305759, CN103302255, and CN103305770, all show purposeful addition of phosphorus between 0.07% to 0.22% to improve corrosion resistance of steel composition. However, phosphorus causes embrittlement which reduces toughness and ductility. For example, phosphorus causes temper embrittlement in heat-treated low-alloy steels resulting from segregation of phosphorus and other impurities at prior austenite grain boundaries. Additionally, phosphorus content greater than 0.04% makes weld brittle and increases the tendency to crack. The surface tension of the molten weld metal is lowered, making it difficult to control.
In short, the application of previously known microalloying practices with Ni, V, Ti and/or Mo elements and the purposeful addition of phosphorus to produce high strength weathering low-carbon thin strip are not practicable methods. The high alloying costs, difficulties with high rolling loads in hot rolling and cold rolling, the high recrystallization annealing temperatures required, and phosphorus harmful effects are problems with the existing process for manufacturing high strength weathering steel. As such, there is still a need for developing an economically feasible and effective method to produce high strength weathering or corrosion-resistant thin steel.
Disclosed is a method of making weathering steel comprising the steps of: preparing a molten melt producing an as-cast carbon alloy steel strip less or equal to 4 mm in thickness with a corrosion index of at least 6.0 comprising, by weight, between 0.02% and 0.08% carbon, less than 0.6% silicon, between 0.2% and 2.0% manganese, less than 0.03% phosphorus, less than 0.01% sulfur, less than 0.01% nitrogen, between 0.2% and 0.5% copper, between 0.01% and 0.2% niobium, between 0.01% and 0.2% vanadium, between 0.1% and 0.4% chromium, between 0.08% and 0.25% nickel, less than 0.01% aluminum, and the remainder iron and impurities from making the molten melt; solidifying and cooling the molten melt into a cast strip less than or equal to 4 mm in thickness in a non-oxidizing atmosphere; hot rolling the cast strip in an austenitic temperature range above Ar3 to between 10% and 50% reduction; cooling the hot rolled cast strip at above 20° C. per second; coiling the cast strip below 700° C. to form a steel strip with a microstructure comprising bainite and acicular ferrite with more than 70% niobium in solid solution; and age hardening the steel strip forming an age hardened steel strip having a yield strength of at least 550 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.
The age hardened steel strip may be batch annealed at a temperature greater than 450° C. between 15 and 50 hours. The age hardened steel strip by batch annealing may have a yield strength of at least 700 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.
Alternatively, the age hardened cast strip may be in-line annealed at a temperature between 450° C. and 800° C. for less than 30 minutes. The age hardened steel strip by in-line annealing may have a yield strength of at least 700 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.
Also disclosed is a method of continuously casting weathering steel comprising the steps of: assembling a pair of counter-rotatable casting rolls to form a nip there between through which a thin strip can be casted, and capable of supporting a casting pool of molten metal formed on casting surfaces of the casting rolls above the nip with a pair of confining side dams adjacent the ends of the casting rolls; assembling a delivery system with metal delivery nozzle or nozzles disposed axially above the nip and capable of discharging molten metal to form the casting pool supported on the casting rolls; solidifying the molten metal delivered from the casting pool on the casting surfaces of the casting rolls in a non-oxidizing atmosphere and forming at the nip between the casting rolls a cast strip delivered downwardly that is less than 4 mm in thickness with a corrosion index of at least 6.0 comprising, by weight, of between 0.02% and 0.08% carbon, less than 0.6% silicon, between 0.2% and 2.0% manganese, less than 0.03% phosphorus, less than 0.01% sulfur, less than 0.01% nitrogen, between 0.2% and 0.5% copper, between 0.01% and 0.2% niobium, between 0.01% and 0.2% vanadium, between 0.1% and 0.4% chromium, between 0.08% and 0.25% nickel, less than 0.01% aluminum, and the remainder iron and impurities from melting; hot rolling the cast strip in an austenitic temperature range above Ar3 to between 10% and 50% reduction; cooling the hot rolled cast strip at above 20° C. per second; coiling the cast strip below 700° C. to form a steel strip with a microstructure comprising bainite and acicular ferrite with more than 70% niobium in solid solution; and age hardening the steel strip forming an age hardened steel having a yield strength of at least 550 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.
The age hardened steel strip may be batch annealed at a temperature greater than 450° C. between 15 and 50 hours. The age hardened steel strip by batch annealing may have a yield strength of at least 700 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.
Alternatively, the age hardened cast strip may be in-line annealed at a temperature between 450° C. and 800° C. for less than 30 minutes. The age hardened steel strip by in-line annealing may have a yield strength of at least 700 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.
Also disclosed is a weathering steel made by preparing a molten melt producing an as-cast carbon alloy steel strip less or equal to 4 mm in thickness with a corrosion index of at least 6.0 comprising by weight, between 0.02% and 0.08% carbon, less than 0.6% silicon, between 0.2% and 2.0% manganese, less than 0.03% phosphorus, less than 0.01% sulfur, less than 0.01% nitrogen, between 0.2% and 0.5% copper, between 0.01% and 0.2% niobium, between 0.01% and 0.2% vanadium, between 0.1% and 0.4% chromium, between 0.08% and 0.25% nickel, less than 0.01% aluminum, and the remainder iron and impurities from making the molten melt; solidifying and cooling the molten melt into a cast strip less than or equal to 4 mm in thickness in a non-oxidizing atmosphere; hot rolling the cast strip in an austenitic temperature range above Ara to between 10% and 50% reduction; cooling the hot rolled cast strip at above 20° C. per second; coiling the cast strip below 700° C. to form a steel strip with a microstructure comprising bainite and acicular ferrite with more than 70% niobium in solid solution; and age hardening the steel strip forming an age hardened steel strip having a yield strength of at least 550 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.
Again, the age hardened steel strip may be batch annealed at a temperature greater than 450° C. between 15 and 50 hours. The age hardened steel strip may have a yield strength of at least 700 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%. Alternatively, the age hardened cast strip may be in-line annealed at a temperature between 450° C. and 800° C. for less than 30 minutes. The age hardened steel strip may have a yield strength of at least 700 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.


A bicycle light assembly is electrically connected to a dynamo. The bicycle light assembly has a lamp housing mountable to a portion of the bicycle. An input portion is disposed on the lamp housing and electrically connected to the dynamo for inputting a dynamo output signal and for outputting an input signal. A regulator circuit is electrically connected to the input portion for regulating the input signal to a regulated signal. A light source is electrically connected to the regulator circuit for lighting the periphery and an output portion being disposed on the lamp housing and electrically connected to the regulator circuit for outputting the regulated signal. The output portion has at least one auxiliary electrical output connector for outputting the regulated signal to at least one auxiliary electrical device electrically connected to the at least one auxiliary electrical output connector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a bicycle light assembly. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bicycle head light assembly electrically connected to a dynamo for supplying the output of the dynamo to at least one electrical component coupled to the light assembly.
2. Background Information
Bicycling is becoming an increasingly more popular form of recreation as well as a means of transportation. Moreover, bicycling has become a very popular competitive sport for both amateurs and professionals. Whether the bicycle is used for recreation, transportation or competition, the bicycle industry is constantly improving the various components of the bicycle.
In recent years, bicycles have been equipped with a number of electrical devices in order to meet various requirements by the users. Examples of electrical devices include lights, display devices, cell phone charger, electronic derailleurs and the like. In such a bicycle it is necessary to supply predetermined levels of power to each of the electrical devices. At the same time, it is necessary to deliver the predetermined power signal permanently to such components. While it is possible for each of the number of the above-mentioned electrical components to use batteries, the disadvantage of using batteries is to be seen in the inconvenience to replace them periodically. And even faster as the size and the need for electrical power of the electrical components increase.
Accordingly, there is a significant advantage in supplying each of the electrically components with its required power from a dynamo. However, since the requirement of power of the different electrical components will differ from component to component, a separate dynamo for each electrical component is provided on the bicycle. For example if a light and a cell phone charger are installed on a bicycle, a first dynamo is installed on the bicycle for the light and a second dynamo installed on the bicycle for the cell phone charger. In other words, in some conventional bicycles, a separate dynamo is provided for each of the electrical components as each of the electrical components requires a predetermined level of power. For example the Japanese Utility Model Patent Publication No. 3 094 197 U discloses an electric power supply and charging equipment for a bicycle wherein an electrical component, being one of a cellular phone, a pager, a radio, a personal digital assistant or a rechargeable battery, is directly coupled to a dynamo via a plug terminal and a rectifier transformer. The single dynamo delivers a power signal to the electrical component coupled thereto when it is switched on, which means that it is brought into contact with the wheel of the bicycle.
However, as the amount of the electrical components increases the amount of dynamos required has to be adapted to the plurality of electrical components. The mounting space which is required to mount the plurality of dynamos to the bicycle frame increases correlating with an increase of the weight of the bicycle at all. Actually the amount of electrical components that a rider may use on his bicycle is limited. Since a dynamo is designed to generate electricity through rotation of the bicycle wheel a greater amount of dynamos means a greater burden on the rider when the rider is turning the wheels to cause the dynamos generate power. The greater the burden is on he rider when turning the wheels the more likely it is that instability will result from insufficient power supply from dynamos to the electrical components.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved bicycle light assembly. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Bicycle light assembly with auxiliary output connector


A speech recognition system for processing voice inputs from a user to select a list element from a list or group of list elements. Recognition procedures are carried out on the voice input of the user. One recognition procedure separates the voice input of a whole word into at least one sequence of speech subunits to produce a vocabulary of list elements. Another recognition procedure compares the voice input of the whole word with the vocabulary of list elements.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to speech recognition systems. More particularly, this invention relates to speech recognition systems for a user to select a list element from a list or group of list elements.
2. Related Application
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to German application number 10207895.5, filed on Feb. 23, 2002.
3. Related Art
Many electronic applications have design processes or sequences that are speech-guided or speech-controlled by a user. The electronic applications include destination guidance (navigation) systems for vehicles, telephone and/or address systems, and the like. Vehicles include automobiles, trucks, boats, airplanes, and the like.
In these processes or sequences, a user provides a voice input to a speech recognition unit. The voice input can correspond to a list element that the user desires to select from a list or group of list elements. The speech recognition unit processes the voice input and selects the desired list element in response to the processed voice input.
Speech recognition units typically process a limited number of voice inputs. Many speech recognition units can process only a few thousand words (voice inputs) or list elements. When there are large numbers of list elements, the speech recognition unit may not function or may not function properly without additional conditioning or processing of the voice input. The recognition performance may be too low or insufficient memory may exist. Many applications have an extensive number of list elements, especially when the list comprises most or all of the available list elements. Such applications include destination guidance (navigation) systems and telephone systems. Navigation and telephone systems typically include numerous city and street names. Telephone systems typically include numerous personal names. These applications may have lists with list elements numbering in the tens to hundreds of thousands. In addition, many speech recognition units may not differentiate between similar sounding list elements, especially when there are numerous list elements that sound alike.

System for speech recognition with multi-part recognition


Semiconductor devices are provided. The semiconductor devices include a first fin; a first gate electrode intersecting the first fin; a first elevated source and/or drain on respective sides of the first gate electrode on the first fin; and a first field dielectric film adjacent the first fin. The first field dielectric film includes a first part below a top surface of the first fin and a second part protruding from the first part and above a top surface of the first fin that makes contact with the first elevated source and/or drain.

As one of scaling techniques for increasing the density of integrated circuit devices, a multi-gate transistor has been proposed, in which a fin- or nanowire-shaped multi-channel active pattern (or silicon body) is formed on a substrate and a gate formed on a surface of the multi-channel active pattern.
Since the multi-gate transistor uses a three-dimensional (3D) channel, scaling of the multi-gate transistor is easily achieved. In addition, current controlling capability can be improved even without increasing a gate length of the multi-gate transistor. Further, a short channel effect (SCE), in which an electric potential of a channel region is affected by a drain voltage, can be effectively suppressed.

Semiconductor devices having fin shaped channels