A resource allocation method in a multiuser-multiple-input multiple-output/orthogonal frequency division multiple access (MIMO/OFDMA) system. In the multiuser-MIMO/OFDMA system feedback information is received from terminals. A channel gain and a transmission rate for each user are determined using the feedback information. An average channel gain for each user is computed according to the channel gain. The average number of bits for each user is determined according to the average channel gain. The number of subchannels for each user is computed according to the average number of bits for each user. At least one subchannel is allocated to each user according to the number of subchannels for each user. A modulation scheme for each of the at least one subchannel is determined. The resource allocation method adaptively allocates subchannels and bits according to channel environment, thereby considerably improving frequency use efficiency as well as a power gain.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a mobile communication system, and more particularly to a scheme for optimizing subchannel and bit allocation in a multicarrier-based mobile communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system in the downlink can be broken down to multiple parallel independent single-user MIMO systems. Further, when the orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology is applied to the downlink MIMO system, a multiuser-MIMO/OFDMA system is provided. In this system, data streams for users are multiplexed over space and frequency, and thus the users receive the spatially multiplexed data streams.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating subchannels of a multiuser-multiple-input multiple-output/orthogonal frequency division multiple access (MIMO/OFDMA) system. In the multiuser-MIMO/OFDMA system as illustrated in FIG. 1, there are space division multiple access (SDMA) subchannels in which each user occupies several MIMO subchannels, for each orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier. The users generate MIMO subchannels using the MIMO technologies, and transmit data through the generated MIMO subchannels. A more important feature of a multiuser-MIMO/OFDMA system design is that SDMA channels are allocated to users, and bits are loaded to the MIMO subchannels allocated to a single user for adaptive modulation.
For subchannel and bit allocation, optimal and suboptimal schemes have been proposed to minimize the overall transmission power under the data rate constraint or to maximize a data rate under the transmission power constraint. For a multiuser-multiple-input single-output (MISO)/OFDM system, a bit allocation scheme for maximizing a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) has been proposed. More specifically, a suboptimal scheme that takes into account interference and a data rate in a multiuser-MISO/OFDMA system has been proposed. However, when the data rate constraint is present, there is a drawback that the suboptimal scheme can be applied only to an OFDMA system.

Dynamic subchannel and bit allocation in a multiuser-MIMO/OFDMA system

Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology


In an IC tester of the type in which ICs to be tested are heated by a planar heater plate 50 prior to being tested, a plate-like shutter 70 having windows 71 formed therethrough to expose IC receiving recesses 51 formed in the heater plate 50 is disposed movably over the top face of the heater plate. The arrangement is such that the shutter 70 is shifted by a linear drive source 74 between a position in which the shutter closes the top of the IC receiving recesses 51 and a position in which the shutter exposes the recesses. A controller is provided for actuating the drive source to move the shutter so as to open the IC receiving recesses, whenever a Z-axis drive unit 60 enters into either the operation of dropping off an IC grasped thereby into one of the IC receiving recesses or the operation of picking up an IC from one of the IC receiving recesses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device testing apparatus (commonly known as IC tester) for testing various types of semiconductor devices including semiconductor integrated circuits (commonly called IC), and more particularly to a semiconductor device transporting and handling apparatus (commonly known as handler), connected to the testing apparatus, for transporting various types of semiconductor devices to a test section to test them, and carrying the tested semiconductor devices out of the test section for transport to a desired location.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, many of semiconductor device testing apparatus for testing various types of semiconductor devices including ICs have a semiconductor device transporting and handling apparatus (which will be referred to as handler hereinbelow) connected thereto for transporting semiconductor devices to be tested, i.e. devices under test (commonly called DUT) to the test section to be brought into electrical and mechanical contact with device-testing sockets, and after testing, carrying the tested semiconductor devices out of the test section for transport to a predetermined location. For simplicity of description, the semiconductor device testing apparatus will be described in the following disclosure by taking ICs which are typical of semiconductor devices by example.
First, one example of the semiconductor device testing apparatus of the type to which the present invention is intended to be applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating the general construction of one example of the conventional semiconductor device testing apparatus (which will be referred to as IC tester hereinafter), particularly showing the general construction of the handler. This handler comprises a generally rectangular base plate 10, and first and second X-Y transport units 20 and 30 which are capable of transporting articles in both the X- and Y-axis directions, the first and second X-Y transport units 20 and 30 being disposed on the base plate 10 in longitudinally (in the right to left direction as viewed in the drawing) opposed relation to each other. The longitudinal direction is referred to as X-axis direction herein.
The first X-Y transport unit 20 includes a pair of first parallel X-axis rails 21A, 21B extending for a predetermined length in the X-axis direction over and along the opposite major lateral sides of the base plate 10 from adjacent the left end thereof as viewed in the drawing, a first movable arm 26 spanning the X-axis rails 21A, 21B orthogonally therewith and movably mounted on the rails in the X-axis direction therealong, and a first X-Y carriage 24 mounted on the movable arm 26 for movement therealong in the Y-axis direction.
The second X-Y transport unit 30 includes a pair of second parallel X-axis rails 31A, 31B extending for a predetermined length in the X-axis direction over and along the opposite major lateral sides of the base plate 10 from adjacent the left end thereof as viewed in the drawing, a second movable arm 36 spanning the X-axis rails 31A, 31B orthogonally therewith and movably mounted on the rails in the X direction therealong, and a second X-Y carriage (not shown) mounted on the movable arm 36 for movement therealong in the Y direction.
It will thus be understood that the first X-Y carriage 24 is movable by the first X-Y transport unit 20 constructed as described above to any desired point within the generally rectangular area (A) defined between the pair of first X-axis rails 21A, 21B as shown in dotted lines while the second X-Y carriage is likewise movable by the second X-Y transport unit 30 to any desired point within the generally rectangular area (B) defined between the pair of second X-axis rails 31A, 31B as shown in dotted lines. That is, the area (A) is the region within which the first X-Y transport unit 20 is capable of transporting articles while the area (B) is the transportable region of the second X-Y transport unit 30.
Disposed in the lower portion of the area (A) successively from the right side to the left side as viewed in the drawing are an empty tray storage section 46 for accommodating empty trays stacked one on another, a supply tray 41 loaded with ICs to be tested (ICs under test), two of the sorting trays 42 and 43 for sorting and storing tested ICs on the basis of the test results. The remaining two sorting trays 44 and 45, and a planar heater plate 50 for heating ICs under test to a predetermined temperature are disposed successively from the left to right side in the upper portion of the area (A) as viewed in the drawing. It is needless to say that the arrangement of the trays 41-45, the empty tray storage section 46 and the heater plate 50 and the number of the sorting trays 42-45 are illustrated herein as only one example and that they may be varied as required.
Disposed within the area (B) is the test section TS of the IC tester within which there are mounted IC sockets, although not shown, with which ICs under test are to be put into electrical contact. As the illustrated handler is configured to test two ICs under test at one time, the test section TS is equipped with two sockets.
The illustrated handler is further provided with first and second buffer stages BF1 and BF2, respectively which are reciprocally movable in the X-axis direction between a predetermined position in the area (A) and a predetermined position in the area (B). More specifically, the first buffer stage BF1 is reciprocally movable in the X-axis direction between that section within the area (A) adjacent the right hand side of the heater plate 50 and a predetermined position in the area (B) while the second buffer stages BF2 is reciprocally movable in the X-axis direction between that section within the area (A) adjacent the right hand side of the empty tray storage section 46.
The first buffer stage BF1 performs the function of transferring ICs under test heated to a predetermined temperature from the area (A) to the area (B) while the second buffer stage BF2 acts to carry the tested ICs from the area (B) to the area (A). It is to be understood that the provision of these buffer stages BF1 and BF2 permits the first and second X-Y transport units 20 and 30 to accomplish their transport operations with no interference with each other.
The first X-Y transport unit 20 described above is configured to convey ICs under test to the heater plate 50 for applying a predetermined thermal stress to the ICS, and then perform the operation of transferring the ICs under test heated to a predetermined temperature onto the first buffer stage BF1 and the operation of transferring the tested ICs from the second buffer stage BF2 onto the predetermined sorting trays which tested ICs have been transported from the area (B) to the area (A) by the second buffer stage BF2.
On the other hand, the second X-Y transport unit 30 is configured to perform the operation of transporting ICs under test as conveyed by the first buffer stage BF1 into the area (B) to the test section TS and the operation of transferring the tested ICs from the test section TS onto the second buffer stage BF2.
The heater plate 50 described above may be formed of plate-like metal stock for example, and is provided with a plurality of IC receiving recesses or pockets 51 for accommodating ICs under test. ICs to be tested are transported from the supply tray 41 into these IC receiving recesses 51 by the first X-Y transport unit 20. These IC receiving recesses 51 are typically arrayed in the form of a matrix composed of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns. The heater plate 50 is maintained in an elevated temperature somewhat higher than the temperature to which ICs to be tested are to be applied. The ICs to be tested are thus heated to a predetermined temperature before being transported by means of the first buffer stage BF1 to the test section TS. The first and second X-Y transport units 20 and 30 are each provided with their own Z-axis drive units which perform the operation of picking up ICs out of the trays, the heater plate 50 or the test section TS (sockets) and the operation of dropping off ICs onto the trays, the heater plate 50 or the test section TS.
FIG. 6 illustrates the general construction of one example of the Z-axis drive unit 60 mounted on the first X-Y transport unit 20. As illustrated, the movable arm 26 extending in the Y-axis direction of the first X-Y transport unit 20 comprises a hollow member having a generally C-shaped cross-section, in the hollow interior of which a threaded shaft 22 and a guide shaft 23 likewise extending in the Y-axis direction are housed. Specifically, the threaded shaft 22 and guide shaft 23 extend in the Y-axis direction through the body portion of the first X-Y carriage 24 which is formed with threads engageable with the threads of the threaded shaft 22. The guide shaft 23 has no threads thereon so as to permit sliding movement of the body portion of the first X-Y carriage 24 relative to the guide shaft 23 which in turn acts to stabilize the movement of the X-Y carriage 24 in the Y-axis direction.
With the construction as described above, driven rotation of the threaded shaft 22 will move the first X-Y carriage 24 in the Y-axis direction in a stable manner. It is to be noted that the movement of the X-Y carriage 24 in the X-axis direction is effected by the movement of the movable arm 26 in the X-axis direction.
Extending horizontally (in the X-axis direction as viewed in FIG. 5) from the too of the body portion of the first X-Y carriage 24 is an arm 24A on the underside of which are vertically and downwardly mounted a plurality of (four in this example) first, second, third and fourth air cylinders S1, S2, S3 and S4, respectively, as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6, the second air cylinder S2 is invisible as it is hidden behind the first air cylinder S1. Likewise, the fourth air cylinder S4 is invisible as it is hidden behind the third air cylinder S3. Each of the movable rods of the air cylinders S1, S2, S3 and S4 has a vacuum pick-up head mounted on its lower end.
While in the illustrated example the Z-axis drive unit 60 is adapted to actuate the first and second air cylinders S1 and S2 in a pair and the third and fourth air cylinders S3 and S4 in a pair so as to vacuum attract two ICs at a time thereagainst for transport, this is only an example.
One set of the first and second air cylinders S1 and S2 are employed to transport ICs under test heated to a predetermined temperature in the heater plate 50 to the first buffer stage BF1. In view of this, the vacuum pick-up heads 61 (shown as having ICs under test attracted thereagainst) mounted on the first and second air cylinders S1 and S2 are equipped with heaters (not shown) for maintaining the temperature of the heated ICs under test. The vacuum pick-up heads 62 mounted on the other set of the third and fourth air cylinders S3 and S4 are equipped with no heaters, because they are used to transport ICs at their normal temperature. Specifically, the vacuum pick-up heads 62 are used when transporting ICs from the supply tray 41 to the heater plate 50 and the tested ICs from the second buffer stage BF2 to corresponding one of the sorting trays 42, 43, 44 and 45.
The second carriage, not shown, mounted on the movable arm 36 of the second X-Y transport unit 30 is also provided with a Z-axis drive unit similar in construction to the Z-axis drive unit 60. However, since the second X-Y transport unit 30 is positioned in a mirror-image relation with the first X-Y transport unit 20, the movable arm 36 has a configuration symmetrical with respect to that of the movable arm 26 as shown in FIG. 6 (the movable arm 26 is open on its right-hand side whereas the movable arm 36 is open on its left-hand side), and four air cylinders are mounted on the left side of the movable arm 36. It should be noted that in the second carriage as well, the Z-axis drive unit is adapted to actuate the first and second air cylinders in a pair and the third and fourth air cylinders in a pair so as to vacuum attract two ICs at a time thereagainst for transport. One set of the air cylinders are employed when transporting ICs under test heated to a predetermined temperature from the first buffer stage BF1 to the test section TS. In view of this, the vacuum pick-up heads mounted on these cylinders are equipped with heaters for maintaining the temperature of the heated ICs under test. The vacuum pick-up heads 62 mounted on the other set of air cylinders are equipped with no heaters and are used when transporting ICs at their normal temperature, that is, from the test section TS to the second buffer stage BF1. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art the construction of the Z-axis drive unit may be modified in various ways.
As discussed above, this type of IC tester is configured to heat ICs to be tested to a predetermined temperature in the heater plate 50 and test the ICs while maintained at that predetermined temperature. There is a considerably high demand for the IC tester of the type utilizing a simplified type of heater means such as the heater plate 50 as described above, because of the high initial cost of the IC tester of the type utilizing a constant temperature chamber capable of maintaining ICs under test heated at a predetermined temperature and employing the test section TS enclosed in the constant temperature chamber to effect the testing.
It should be here pointed out that in case the package of an IC to be tested is of a configuration having terminal pins from its four sides or opposed two sides as is the case with the surface-mounted type QFP (Quad Flat Package) or SOP (Small Outline Package) for example, the IC receiving recess 51 in the heater plate 50 may have a bottom 52 raised by a predetermined height as shown in FIG. 7 so as to provide a surface contact between the bottom 52 of the recess 51 and the bottom of the IC package PK and hence a sufficiently large area of contact between the IC package PK and the heater plate 50 in the IC receiving recess 51 to permit the IC to be heated to a desired temperature approximating to the temperature of the heater plate 50.
In contrast, the package of area array IC such as the BGA (Ball Grid Array) package and the CSP (Chip Size Package) has terminals (electrodes) formed over approximately the entire surface area of the mounting side (the bottom surface of the package), so that it is impossible to place that portion of the undersurface of the IC package PK formed with terminals T in direct contact with the bottom surface of the IC receiving recess 51 in the heater plate 50, as seen in FIG. 8. For this reason, the bottom surface of the IC receiving recess 51 is formed with a stepped ledge 53 for supporting the outer margin of that portion of the undersurface of the IC package PK formed with terminals T so as to lift the terminals T off the bottom of the IC receiving recess 51.
However, if the IC receiving recesses 51 were constructed with such stepped ledges 53, the surface areas of contact between the IC packages PK and the heater plate 50 in the IC receiving recesses 51 would be undesirably reduced, resulting in failure to heat the ICs to a desired temperature.
More specifically, while in this type of IC tester it is a common practice to heat ICs under test to 125.degree. C. or over for example, the ultimate temperature that the ICs under test could reach with the IC receiving recesses 51 as constructed as shown in FIG. 8 was limited to around 115.degree. C. if the heater plate 50 had a surface temperature of 130.degree. C., but it was not possible to raise the temperature of the ICs to be tested beyond 125.degree. C.
In view of this while it was proposed to set the surface temperature of the heater plate 50 at a higher level, to that end it required that those parts of the handler to be contacted with the heater plate 50 and the vacuum pick-up heads equipped with heaters have an increased heat resistance, leading undesirably to an increase in the cost of manufacture. In addition, the program for controlling the temperature of the heater plate 50 need be modified, requiring cumbersome operations and time.


A mutual authentication system authenticates a first electronic device and a second electronic device by transmitting authentication data between the first and second electronic devices. In this system, the second electronic device transmits a first authentication data to the first electronic device. In the first electronic device, the legitimacy of the second electronic device is determined based on the first authentication data transmitted from the second electronic device. The first electronic device also transmits a second authentication data, which is used for determining the legitimacy of the first electronic device, to the second electronic device. When the second electronic device is not determined to be legitimate by the first electronic device, the first electronic device does not transmit the second authentication data to the second electronic device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for effecting mutual authentication between a portable electronic device such as an IC card having an IC (integrated circuit) chip enclosed therein and a host device or terminal device.
2. Description of the Related Art,
In Order to increase the security of the data stored on an IC card, the provision of a cipher algorithm within the IC card and the use of this to execute mutual authentication between an external terminal device, such as a host computer, and the IC card was conceived. In this mutual authentication system, first, both the IC card and the terminal device were designed to possess identical key data and identical initial data at a specified timing. Then, using a specified command as the trigger, the result of calculating the key data and the initial data as a parameter is transmitted by one of the IC card and terminal device to the other one as authentication data. The side which receives these authentication data (the IC card) also carries out the calculation of the key data and the initial data as a parameter and executes a comparison between that result and the authentication data which has been transmitted to it. Thus, mutual authentication is carried out by the IC card and the terminal device alternately executing the above.
Thus, after the IC card has determined "the legitimacy of the terminal device" based on the authentication data which have been transmitted from the terminal device, data are transmitted from the IC card to the terminal device so that the terminal device may judge "the legitimacy of the IC card". However, the IC card's authentication data are transmitted to the terminal device regardless of the result of "the legitimacy of the terminal device". Thus, there is a problem in that the authentication data of the IC card were acknowledged even for terminal devices which were not legitimate.
As described above, in prior art mutual authentication systems, after determining the legitimacy based on the authentication data transmitted from a terminal device to an IC card, authentication data were transmitted from the IC card to the terminal device regardless of the result. Thus, there was a problem concerning the security of the authentication data of the IC card.

Mutual authentication system and method which checks the authenticity of a device before transmitting authentication data to the device


A virtual storage system comprises an agent to store a first table to map virtual storage segments to storage locations, and a controller to store a second table and to intermittently cause contents of the first table to be replaced by contents of the second table. During an I/O operation, one of the entries in the first table can be accessed by a host to determine one of the storage locations. Also, a method for performing an I/O operation on a virtual storage segment, defined by first table that maps a storage segment to a first storage location, comprises turning off I/O operations at the first storage location, identifying portions of the virtual storage segment to be effected during a write operation, storing a record of identified portions at a second table not the first table, and writing to portions of the second storage location associated with the identified portions.

In a table driven, virtual storage network, a table maps virtual disk segments to physical storage locations. A key issue in forming the virtual storage network is the selection of a method to map the virtual storage to the actual storage. For example, a virtual storage network can map fixed-sized segments of contiguous blocks in each mapping table entry. For mapping efficiency, these segments need to be fairly large, e.g., on the order of one megabyte of virtual disk data. One problem with using large segments is the relatively long time period needed to copy a large block of the underlying non-virtual storage during the copying or migration of data. During such data movement operations, the data segments being moved cannot be accessed, and any virtual disk input/output (I/O) operations to these segments must be delayed until data movement is finished. Such delay is typically accomplished by setting a state in the mapping table entry to prevent I/O operations to the effected segment during data movement. For large segments, however, the delays can add unacceptably long latencies to the virtual disk I/O operations and adversely affect performance of the storage system.
The problem of undesirably large latencies during data movement operations may be solved by using smaller segments. Unfortunately, the use of smaller data segments increases the costs associated with mapping, such as the overhead of storing and managing a much larger number of map entries. A small data segment configuration also potentially reduces the amount of contiguous data on the non-virtual storage, causing fragmented storage.
An ideal virtual storage system, therefore, has a mapping system that achieves the benefits for both large segment and small segment mapping. In particular, an ideal mapping system would achieve the low administrative cost of larger storage segmentation and the reduced latencies of smaller storage segmentation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Centralized fine-grained enhancements for distributed table driven I/O mapping

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A spark plug includes a metal shell, an insulator, a center electrode, a ground electrode, and a terminal fixed to the insulator. The dimensional parameters in the structure of the spark plug, such as a maximum diameter A of the terminal and a diameter B of the insulator satisfy a dimensional relationship defined through experimental investigation. The structure facilitates an attachment of a plug cap to the spark plug.

Spark plugs generally include a metal shell, an insulator, a center electrode, and a ground electrode.
The metal shell has a threaded portion on outer periphery for fitting the spark plug into a combustion chamber of an engine.
The insulator has a bore formed therein. The insulator is fixed in the metal shell so that a first end thereof protrudes from a first end of the metal shell and a second end thereof protrudes from a second end of the metal shell.
The center electrode is secured in the bore so that a first end thereof protrudes from the first end of the insulator.
The ground electrode is joined to the metal shell. The ground electrode is opposed to the center electrode through a spark gap therebetween.
A terminal is partially inserted in the insulator bore and is fixed on the second end of the insulator. A first end of the terminal is connected to a second end of the center electrode in the bore. A second end of the terminal protrudes from the second end of the insulator so that an ignition coil can connect to the second end of the terminal.
The above mentioned spark plug is inserted into a plug hole of an engine and is fixed to the plug hole with the threaded portion of the metal shell so that the spark gap is disposed in a combustion chamber of the engine.
In recent years, since the engine has been downsized for facilitating installation, it has become more popular to insert the ignition coil, which connects to the spark plug for providing high voltage, into the plug hole.
The terminal and the insulator protruded from the metal shell are inserted into the plug cap of the ignition coil, so that the ignition coil is connected to the spark plug in the plug hole. The ignition coil provides high voltage to the center electrode through the terminal.
It is important to facilitate the attachment of the plug cap to the spark plug. However, the attachment of the plug cap to the spark plug in the plug hole is often not smooth, because the plug cap is attached to the spark plug deep in the plug hole, which is itself narrow.
A spark plug having a small diameter insulator is proposed in Japan unexamined utility model publication No. H5-55489. However, that spark plug does not effectively facilitate the attachment.
Furthermore, there is a large diameter difference between the terminal and the second end side of the insulator, a step portion formed by the diameter difference prevents the plug cap from attaching smoothly. Simply enlarging an inner diameter of the plug cap facilitates the attachment of the plug cap. However, if the contact between the spark plug and the plug cap is insufficient, spark discharge will occur at the second end side of the insulator. Such spark discharge is called flashover. It is an undesirable phenomenon in which spark discharge occurs between the metal shell and the terminal through the clearance formed by the spark plug and the plug cap.


A floor box cover includes a base plate that engages an electrical device and a cover plate connected to the base plate. The cover plate includes a first opening to expose the electrical device and a second opening to receive a lid. A connector is inserted into an aperture in the lid and engages the cover plate to secure the lid within the second opening, causing the lid to conceal the first opening. A connector gasket engages the connector to prevent the connector from being easily removed from the lid. The connector gasket may be compressed within the aperture to seal the aperture when the connector engages the cover plate. A compressible ring gasket may be friction fit within the second opening, and when the connector engages the cover plate, the lid may compress the ring gasket to seal the second opening.

An electrical box, also referred to as a junction or outlet, may accommodate electrical cable terminations and electrical components, such as electrical receptacles, jacks, plugs and other devices. For example, the electrical box may permit electrical cables to connect to electrical components housed within the electrical box. When an electrical box is installed in a floor, the electrical box may be referred to as a floor box. A floor box may include a lid, or cover, to conceal and protect the electrical components included within the floor box. A lid may be secured to the floor box using a latch or other connector, and the lid may be opened or removed from the floor box to permit selective access to the electrical components.


A received television program is blocked out when a rating of the program is not within a scope of a preset rating. The preset rating code can be easily changed with a macro function key. A function of the macro function key is registered, and a rating code corresponding to the registered macro function key is read out. The read-out rating code is compared with a preset rating code. If the read-out rating code is within the scope of the preset rating code, the preset rating code is replaced with the read-out rating code. Otherwise, a user is requested to input user's identification. When the user inputs the user's identification, this user's identification is compared with a registered identification. If the inputted user's identification is identical to the registered identification, the preset rating code is replaced with the read-out rating code. The macro function key can give the user convenience in setting a blocking-out rating code.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for changing a rating code with a macro function key and a receiving apparatus having a function for blocking out a program which can easily change a preset rating code for blocking out the program with the macro to function key.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As children and youngsters increasingly imitate misbehavior and violence learnt from television programs or films and some of them in fact commit crimes, many parents have worried about these phenomena. Whereas a rating system for films has prevented young viewers from watching improper ones, there has been no effective system for television programs.
In the United States, thanks to a recently passed federal regulation, every television set must adopt a discretionary control feature, that is more commonly called a "V-chip" function, that blocks out the outputs of video and audio programs when parents classify a program as improper for their children. Under the regulation, television sets sold in the U.S. market must contain this function by Jan. 1, 2000 (effective as from Jan. 1, 2000).
Various prior arts relating to a discretionary control feature, that is a "V-chip" function, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,554,584; 4,605,964; 4,888,796; 4,930,158; 4,930,160; 5,172,111; 5,195,135; 5,270,822; 5,387,942; 5,485,518; 5,550,575; 5,583,576; 5,569,366; and 5,737,479.
The blocking-out operation for a television program is carried out as follows. A broadcasting station transmits a television signal including an encoded rating signal on line 21 of the 525 horizontal lines. A receiving circuit of a television set extracts and decodes the encoded rating signal on horizontal line 21, to check whether a rating of the decoded program is within or not within a scope of a preset rating by users, or parents. When the program rating is not within the scope of the preset rating, the outputs of video, audio and text data are blocked out, so that the program can not be viewed. On the contrary, when the program rating is within the scope of the preset rating, the program is allowed to be viewed.
In the system with the "V-chip" function, it takes two or three seconds just after the channel change for decoding the rating code from the received television signal of a changed channel and for initiating the blocking-out operation. By repetitively changing the channel, the viewer can watch any television program since the television program of each of switched channels whose rating is not within the scope of the preset rating cannot be blocked out for two or three seconds and the viewer can view the television program of each channel. To get rid of this blank just after the channel change in the blocking-out operation, it is worth adopting a method which unconditionally blocks out the output of the television program till the rating signal is perfectly decoded. However, this method has a problem that blocks out television program even within the scope of the preset rating.
However, to achieve the above described blocking out function, the user has to set the rating code. Accordingly, there is an inconvenience that the user has to select a rating code control mode, input password, and control the rating code with reference to a rating code guide whenever the user changes the rating code.

Method for changing a rating code with a macro function key and receiving apparatus having a function for blocking out a program


A process for producing a purified carboxylic acid having “n+1” carbon atoms comprises feeding a carboxylic acid stream containing a carboxylic acid having “n+1” carbon atoms, a hydrogen halide, a lower boiling point (bp) component, a higher bp component, and others to a first distillation column; separating a lower bp fraction containing part of the lower bp component and a higher bp fraction containing part of the higher bp component in the first column; withdrawing a side stream containing at least the carboxylic acid by side cut from the first column; feeding the side stream to a second distillation column; separating a lower bp fraction containing part of the lower bp component and a higher bp fraction containing part of the higher bp component in the second column; and withdrawing a side stream containing the carboxylic acid by side cut from the second column to recover a purified carboxylic acid; and the process further comprises feeding at least one first component (A) selected from the group consisting of an alcohol, corresponding to the carboxylic acid, having “n” carbon atom(s), and an ester of the alcohol with the carboxylic acid to the first column, and if necessary water. Such a process ensures reduction of the concentration of the hydrogen halide in the purified carboxylic acid.

In a production of acetic acid, when a solution containing water, hydrogen iodide, iodide ion (hereinafter, hydrogen iodide and/or iodide ion are/is sometimes simply referred to as hydrogen iodide), methyl iodide, methyl acetate, acetic acid, and others is distilled and purified, hydrogen iodide is condensed in a distillation column thereof due to interaction between hydrogen iodide and water. Accordingly, even when such a mixture is distilled, hydrogen iodide cannot be efficiently removed, and as a result, it is difficult to sufficiently reduce a concentration of hydrogen iodide in acetic acid as a final product. Moreover, high concentration of hydrogen iodide accelerates corrosion of the distillation column and peripheral equipment.
In order to reduce the concentration of the hydrogen iodide in the distillation column, it is proposed that a component such as methanol is supplied from a middle part or plate of the distillation column to convert hydrogen iodide to methyl iodide. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 40999/1994 (JP-6-40999A, Patent Document 1) discloses a process for the production of acetic acid which the process comprises:
feeding methanol and carbon monoxide to a carbonylation zone in which there is held a liquid reaction composition comprising: a rhodium catalyst; methyl iodide; an iodide salt; water at a concentration of up to about 10% by weight; methyl acetate at a concentration of at least 2% by weight; and acetic acid,
introducing the liquid reaction composition to a flash zone,
recycling the liquid fraction from the flash zone to the reaction zone, and recovering acetic acid product from the flash zone vapor fraction by use of a single distillation zone by:
introducing the vapor fraction from the flash zone into the distillation zone,
removing from the head of the distillation zone a light ends recycle stream, and
removing from the distillation zone an acid product stream having a water concentration of less than 1500 ppm and a propionic acid concentration of less than 500 ppm. This document also describes that the acetic acid product is passed through an ion exchange resin (anion exchange resin) bed to remove iodide contaminants. Incidentally, in Patent Document 1, the product acid stream is withdrawn from the bottom of the distillation zone or the second plate from the bottom of the distillation zone.
Further, this document mentions that the build up of hydrogen iodide component is prevented by introducing a small feed of methanol to the distillation zone, preferably below the feed point of the zone, to convert the hydrogen iodide to methyl iodide which is removed in the light ends recycle stream; up to 5000 ppm hydrogen iodide in the feed can be treated in this way; and by operating the distillation zone at a sufficiently elevated pressure, for the relatively high concentration of methyl acetate in the distillation zone, the hydrogen iodide is converted to methyl iodide which is removed in the light ends recycle stream.
However, even in these processes, hydrogen iodide cannot be effectively eliminated. Moreover, it is not preferred to increase pressure or temperature for converting hydrogen iodide to methyl iodide, because corrosion due to hydrogen iodide is accelerated. Incidentally, even when acetic acid having a water concentration of not more than 1500 ppm is removed, it is impossible to reduce the concentration of hydrogen iodide in the acetic acid to not more than 12 ppm due to affinity between hydrogen iodide and water (e.g., formation of the highest azeotrope). In addition, in order to further reduce the concentration of hydrogen iodide, it is necessary to use an anion exchange resin. As a result, the costs for the treatment increase. Moreover, since the product acid stream is removed at the base of the distillation zone, it is impossible to efficiently separate and recover the entrained rhodium catalyst. In addition, the operating trouble occurs due to blockage, or the quality of product is deteriorated, as well as it is unfavorable in costs. Therefore, it is difficult to conduct these processes industrially. Moreover, in order to avoid the above problems, equipment for separating or recovering the rhodium catalyst is required separately.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 23016/1977 (JP-52-23016A, Patent Document 2) discloses a process for the removal and recovery of iodine-containing components and the drying of acetic acid, which comprises introducing a stream of acetic acid containing water, methyl iodide and hydrogen iodide into an intermediate point of a first distillation zone, removing, as an overhead fraction, from the first distillation zone most of the methyl iodide and portion of water, removing most of the hydrogen iodide from the bottom of the first distillation zone, withdrawing a stream from a middle section of the first distillation zone and introducing the stream into the upper section of a second distillation zone, introducing a stream of methanol into the lower section of the second distillation zone, removing from overhead of the second distillation zone a stream containing the remainder of water and methyl iodide present together with any methyl acetate, and withdrawing at or near the bottom of the second distillation zone a stream of a product acetic acid essentially dry and substantially free of hydrogen iodide and methyl iodide.
This document discloses that, in the process distilling the side cut fraction provided from the first distillation column in the second distillation column to recover acetic acid, the process does not require recycling of a side cut fraction, containing hydrogen iodide, from the second distillation column to the first distillation column since methanol is introduced into the second distillation column and hydrogen iodide is chemically removed.
Such a process does not require condensation of hydrogen iodide in the distillation column and removal of hydrogen iodide by side cut. However, the concentration of hydrogen iodide contained in product acetic acid cannot be sufficiently reduced.
Great Britain Patent No. 1350726 specification (Patent Document 3) discloses a purification process of a monocarboxylic acid component containing water and alkyl halide and/or hydrogen halide contaminants, which the process comprises introducing the monocarboxylic acid component containing water and alkyl halide and/or hydrogen halide contaminants into the upper half of a distillation zone, removing an overhead fraction containing most of water and the alkyl halide, withdrawing a stream from the middle part of the zone and below the point of the introduction of the zone to eliminate most of hydrogen halide present in the zone, and withdrawing a product monocarboxylic acid stream from the bottom part of the zone to obtain a product monocarboxylic acid stream being essentially dry and substantially free from any alkyl halide and hydrogen halide. The document describes that the liquid composition of carboxylic acid having a water content of about 3 to 8% by weight forms a peak of a hydrogen halide concentration at the intermediate part of the distillation column, and if a side stream is withdrawn from the intermediate part of the distillation column, a monocarboxylic acid in which almost all of hydrogen halide is removed can be obtained. Further, the document also discloses that in the case of subjecting a reaction product obtained from a reaction of methanol with carbon monoxide to a flash distillation, followed by introducing a fraction separated by the flash distillation into the distillation column, hydrogen iodide is condensed in a side stream from the intermediate part of the distillation column and removed.
However, in such a process, because of fluctuation of the peak position of hydrogen halide concentration due to variable factors (such as temperature, and pressure) in the distillation step, contamination of an acetic acid as a final product with hydrogen iodide sometimes occurs. Further, due to affinity between hydrogen iodide and water, it is impossible to remarkably reduce the hydrogen iodide concentration in the acetic acid.
Incidentally, WO02/062740 publication (Patent Document 4) discloses a continuous process for producing acetic acid comprising the following steps (a) to (d): (a) a step for reacting methanol with carbon monoxide; (b) a step for withdrawing a stream of a reaction medium from a reactor and vaporizing a portion of the withdrawn medium in a flashing step; (c) a step for distilling the flashed vapor utilizing two distillation columns to form a liquid acetic acid product stream; and (d) a step for removing iodides from the liquid acetic acid product stream such that the product stream has an iodide content of less than 10 ppb iodide by (i) contacting the liquid acetic acid product stream with an anionic ion exchange resin at a temperature of not lower than about 100° C. followed by contacting the resultant stream with a silver or mercury exchanged ion exchange substrate or (ii) contacting the liquid acetic acid product stream with a silver or a mercury exchanged ion exchange substrate at a temperature of not lower than about 50° C. As described above, according to the Patent Document 4, the iodides are removed from the acetic acid product stream with the use of the anionic ion exchange resin and/or a guard bed. However, in such a process, since it is impossible to remove carbonyl impurities having higher boiling points (such as an aldehyde, a carboxylic acid and an ester), a result in a potassium permanganate test which is a standard of a product acetic acid is deteriorated and the quality of the product is lowered. Further, it is difficult to remove higher boiling point components such as metal impurities and sulfate. Therefore, in order to obtain acetic acid satisfying a standard of a product acetic acid, it is necessary to install an incidental equipment for treating an acetic acid stream.
Incidentally, to remove iodides by a silver or mercury exchanged ion exchange resin is based on a monomolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN1) reaction, called as acetolysis, which is well-known in the field of organic chemistry. That is, a substrate iodide (RX) is decomposed into a carbonium ion (R+) and an anion (X−) by solvation of acetic acid (heterolysis), and the generated R+ quickly reacts with acetic acid as a nucleophilic reagent. This SN1 reaction is promoted by Ag, Hg or Cu which can form a coordinate bond together with an unshared electron pair of the leaving group (X).
In the above-mentioned SN1 reaction, the dissociation energy of the bond R—X becomes smaller as the carbon number of the R (or the carbon chain) increases (that is, in the order of CH3, C2H5, C3H7, C4H9 . . . ). For example, the dissociation energy of CH3I and that of C2H5I are 234 kJ/mol and 224 kJ/mol, respectively. Thus, higher iodide gets easily removable by a guard bed.
However, in the case where the R is hydrogen atom, it is known that the dissociation energy of the bond R—X is extremely large. For example, the dissociation energy of hydrogen iodide (HI) is 299 kJ/mol, and it is extremely difficult to separate and remove hydrogen iodide by a guard bed in principle. Moreover, thus obtained acetic acid is industrially and/or commercially insufficient in the light of the quality of the product and the corrosion of the equipment.
Japanese Patent No. 55695/1982 (JP-57-55695B, Patent Document 5) discloses a process for removing iodine from acetic acid, which comprises introducing an acetic acid stream containing iodine as an impurity into a first distillation column intermediate from the both ends thereof, introducing into the first distillation column intermediate from the both ends thereof a hydroxide of an alkali metal, and an acetate of an alkali metal, and/or hypophosphorous acid, withdrawing a product stream overhead from the first distillation column, introducing the product stream into a second distillation column intermediate from the both ends thereof, withdrawing an acetic acid stream substantially free from iodine from the lower part of the second distillation column, and withdrawing an overhead fraction containing iodine from the second distillation column. However, removal of hydrogen iodide by introducing the above reagent such as an alkali metal hydroxide into the first distillation column having a very high concentration of hydrogen iodide requires an extremely amount of the reagent. In addition, the amount of an alkali metal iodide generated by the treatment increases. Therefore, it is environmentally and economically disadvantageous in the light of separation or disposition. Moreover, since a large amount of potassium acetate generated from neutralization between acetic acid and the alkali metal hydroxide comes to be mixed in the product, the yield of acetic acid is deteriorated. Further, in the above-mentioned process, acetic acid is withdrawn as an overhead from the first distillation column. However, in the overhead, the proportions of hydrogen iodide and water are large. In such an environment, methyl iodide is hydrolyzed to generate hydrogen iodide, and the generated hydrogen iodide is allowed to be mixed in a feeding stream to the second distillation column.
[Patent Document 1] JP-6-40999A (Claims, and Paragraph Number [0043])
[Patent Document 2] JP-52-23016A (Claims, page 5, the lower right column, page 7, the lower left column to the lower right column, and Example 1)
[Patent Document 3] Great Britain Patent No. 1350726 specification (Claims, page 2, lines 66 to 76, and Example 1)
[Patent Document 4] WO02/062740 publication (Claim 1)
[Patent Document 5] JP-57-55695B (Claim 1)


Aspects of the present disclosure include systems, methods, computing devices, computer-implemented methods, and the like for modeling and/or simulating performance of a telecommunications network during one or more failure scenarios that reduces computational time and/or power over previous simulation techniques. Modeling and simulating the network may include generating an initial network model from network data information and applying one or more transformations to the initial network model to reduce the size of the model. Following transformation, simulation methods may be applied to the generated network model based on routing characteristics of the components of the network. To reduce the computations utilized to simulate such components and/or routing decisions in the network, one or more simulation algorithms may be applied to the transformed network model to reduce the number of routing decisions simulated.

Modeling the performance of a telecommunication network may aid administrators of the network in configuring the topology of the network to respond to various operating conditions. For example, such a network may experience one or more faults (e.g., a failure of a component of the network, an accidental cut of a communication line, power outage, etc.) or performance issues that could negatively impact one or more customers of the network. To help alleviate or even prevent such impacts, network administrators may model the network, generate a hypothetical fault or outage within the model, and analyze the network performance in response to the hypothetical fault. The analysis may provide information to then proactively configure and/or alter the topology of the network to minimize or prevent future actual outages and the attendant effects on customers of the network. In this manner, modeling and simulation of the network may improve the overall performance and robustness of the network.
As telecommunication networks increase in complexity, modeling and simulation of such networks using conventional techniques has become burdensome in both computational needs and time to perform simulations. For reference, some telecommunication networks may include several thousand components interconnected over hundreds of thousands or millions of potential transmission paths through the network. Simulation of the network, and particularly the entire network, may include modeling each component and transmission path of the network, simulating several fault scenarios on the model, and analyzing the results from each simulation. In the case of large complicated networks, such simulations may take hours or even days to complete due to the large number of variables needed to simulate the large number of network components.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived.

Systems and methods for modeling and optimizing a telecommunications network


The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device that provides improved local dimming. The liquid crystal display device includes: a liquid crystal display panel; a backlight unit divided and driven into a plurality of blocks and supplying light to the liquid crystal display panel; a local dimming value calculator calculating a dimming value of each of the blocks in accordance with input image data; and a backlight dimming controller having a pixel corrector correcting image data on the basis of the dimming values, in which the backlight dimming controller can correct at least some of the dimming values of the blocks calculated by the local dimming value calculator.

The present invention relates to a Liquid crystal display device.
An active matrix liquid crystal display device displays moving images using a thin film transistor (hereafter, referred to as a "TFT") that is a switching element. A liquid crystal display device can be manufactured in a small size, as compared with a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), so it is used for not only a portable information device, an office device, and a display device such as a computer, but also a television. Accordingly, the liquid crystal display device has rapidly replaced the CRT.
A transmissive liquid crystal display device that occupies most of liquid crystal display devices displays an image by modulating light from a backlight unit by controlling an electric field that is applied to a liquid crystal layer. The image quality of a liquid crystal display device depends on a contrast characteristic. Backlight dimming that adjusts the brightness of light sources of a backlight unit in accordance with images has been proposed to improve the contrast characteristic.
Local dimming that is one of the backlight dimming can improve static contrast by partially controlling the luminance of a display surface within one frame period.
The local dimming of the related art separates input digital image data in accordance with virtual blocks separated in a matrix shape on a display surface of a liquid crystal display panel, derives a representative value of the input digital data for each block, and controls the brightness of the light sources of a backlight unit for each block by adjusting a dimming value for each block in accordance with the representative value for each block.
Meanwhile, contrast is more improved when local dimming is performed on an image with many low-frequency components than when local dimming is not performed. However, contrast is less improved when local dimming is performed on an image with many high-frequency components than when local dimming is not performed.


Systems and methods for determining the presence of a wireless network connection point based upon wireless network characteristics. Examples of such characteristics include, but are not limited to: message length, repetition rate and response timing. These types of characteristics are used to differentiate various types of wireless networks from other radio frequency signals within a given band. The output of the locator is compared against desired thresholds to indicate signal strengths roughly corresponding to current wireless networks cards.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to systems and methods for locating a wireless network connection point and, more particularly, to systems and methods for detecting the presence of a wireless network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Portable computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other portable electronic devices are extremely popular in today's modern society. It is extremely important for many people, both professionally and personally, to be able to retrieve, in real time, various types of information. It is often especially important to such people to retrieve various types of messages.
Accordingly, many of these people rely on their portable electronic devices for accessing networks so that they may retrieve information and messages conveniently. Unfortunately, it is currently a time consuming task to power up and log on to a portable computer or electronic device only to find that a wireless network connection point is not available, thus wasting the person's time and wasting power.

Systems and methods for a wireless network connection point locator


A data storage device includes a non-volatile memory device including a memory cell array, where the memory cell array includes a first region and a second region, and a memory controller configured to judge whether a size of data externally provided according to a write request exceeds a reference size, and to control the non-volatile memory device according to a judgment result. When the externally provided data exceeds the reference size, the memory controller controls the non-volatile memory device such that a portion of the externally provided data is stored in the second region via a main program operation and such that a remainder of the externally provided data is stored in the first region via a buffer program operation.

Exemplary embodiments relate to a data storage system, and more particularly, exemplary embodiments relate to a data storage system including non-volatile memory and to a method of operating a data storage system.
Semiconductor memory devices are a vital microelectronic component commonly found in digital logic systems, such as computers, and microprocessor-based applications ranging from satellites to consumer electronics. Therefore, advances in the fabrication of semiconductor memory devices, including process enhancements and circuit-design-related developments that allow scaling to higher memory densities and faster operating speeds, help establish performance standards for other digital logic families.
Semiconductor memory devices generally include volatile memory devices, such as random access memory (RAM) devices, and nonvolatile memory devices. In RAM devices, data is stored by either establishing the logic state of a bistable flip-flop such as in a static random access memory (SRAM), or by charging a capacitor in a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In both SRAM and DRAM devices, data remains stored and may be read as long as the power is applied, but data is lost when the power is turned off.
Mask read-only memory (MROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) nonvolatile memory electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) devices are capable of storing the data, even with the power turned off. The non-volatile memory data storage state may be permanent or reprogrammable, depending upon the fabrication technology used. Non-volatile semiconductor memories are used for store program and microcode storage in a wide variety of applications in the computer, avionics, telecommunications, and consumer electronics industries. A combination of single-chip volatile as well as non-volatile memory storage modes is also available in devices such as non-volatile SRAM (nvRAM) for use in systems that require fast, reprogrammable non-volatile memory. In addition, dozens of special memory architectures have evolved which contain some additional logic circuitry to optimize their performance for application-specific tasks.
Mask read-only memory (MROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM) and erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) nonvolatile memory devices are not free to erase and write on a system level, so it is not easy to update the contents of such memory. On the other hand, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) nonvolatile memory devices are electrically erasable and writable, and may, thus, be readily applied to auxiliary memories or system programming memories that require continuous update.

System including data storage device, and data storage device including first and second memory regions


A new Osteospermum plant particularly distinguished by having flowers with a pink ray floret color and blue disc florets, medium flower size, flowers that stay open under low light conditions and mounded cascading plant habit, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum, botanically known as Osteospermum hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'SAKOST3441'. 'SAKOST3441' originated from a hybridization of proprietary hybrid Osteospermum breeding lines '98071' and '98064' in Aabyhoej, Denmark. The proprietary female parent, '98071' (unpatented) has a white flower color and a cascading plant habit. The proprietary male parent, '98064' (unpatented) has a dark pink flower color and a compact and semi-cascading plant habit.
In May 2001, the two Osteospermum lines '98071' and '98064' were crossed and seeds were obtained. The seeds were sown and 300 plants were grown in pots for evaluation. Out of 300 F1 lines, plant number 38 which has a pink ray floret color with blue disc florets and a mounded cascading plant habit was selected.
In February 2002, plant number 38 was vegetatively propagated by cuttings and re-evaluated in an open field and a greenhouse. Plant number 38 was given the breeder code number '202188' and the stability of the distinct characteristics of this variety was confirmed.
In spring 2005, plants were evaluated again in pots and in an open field The selection was named 'SAKOST3441' and was found to reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.


A reusable bag which is readily closable so that food stuffs such as sandwiches and the like can be transported in a sanitary condition. When the bag is emptied it can be quickly and easily folded into a small, integrally formed pouch for compact storage until the time of reuse. The device is well suited for use as a lunch bag and can be quickly and conveniently folded inwardly of itself into a pouch provided on the bottom of the bag which is so compact that in its folded configuration the device can easily be carried in a pants pocket or in a lady's handbag. When in its folded configuration, the closure itself also provides a convenient handle for carrying the bag.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to foldable bags for carrying articles. More particularly, the invention concerns an easy-to-use foldable bag such as a lunch bag having an integral pouch into which the bag can be conveniently folded for transport and storage.
2. Discussion of the Invention
Various types of lunch and shopping bag configurations have been suggested in the past. Such prior art devices are typically fabricated from paper, plastic or cloth and can be discarded or folded in a loose manner for storage and subsequent use. Certain re-usable type prior art bags are constructed from a nylon material and are provided with fasteners of various types for closing the mouth of the bag. However, the bags, when closed, are difficult to carry and generally no provision is made for retaining the bag in a compact, folded storage configuration when it is not in use.
The carrying bag construction of the present invention provides substantial improvements over prior art shopping and lunch bags. More particularly, when not in use the bags can be tightly folded and conveniently stored within a small pouch that forms an integral part of the bag. The novel storage pouch is arranged so that the bag can be quickly and easily folded inwardly upon itself and inserted into the pouch to form an extremely compact construction that is readily receivable in a pants pocket or purse. Forming a part of the storage pouch is a closure panel which functions to securely close the pouch and to positively maintain the bag in its highly compact, folded transport and storage configuration.
In one form of the invention, a foldable bag, suitable for use as a lunch bag, includes novel closure means for use in closing the mouth of the bag so as to provide sanitary storage for foods such as sandwiches, fruit and the like. Uniquely, the closure also functions as a convenient handle for carrying the lunch bag from place to place. In its unfolded configuration, the bag is large enough to carry a number of articles including sandwiches and the like. However, when folded into its storage configuration, it can easily be transported even in a child's pants pocket.


An invention is disclosed whereby refinery waste emulsion streams such as API slop oils, desalter rag layer emulsions, mud pit sludges and the like having high viscosities and specific gravity approaching that of water can be treated for the recovery of processable oil values which had previously been unavailable by adding a sufficient amount of a light hydrocarbon diluent to the emulsion to lower its overall viscosity and to reduce the specific gravity of the oil phase to less than about 0.92. The diluted emulsions are subjected to flashing at emulsion-breaking conditions after which the oil is recovered from the various streams created in the flashing steps.

In processing crude oil in refinery operations, the presence of intractable emulsions of high specific gravity crude oils often present serious problems leading to oil losses, contamination problems, corrosion, fouling or plugging problems, and expensive environmental treatment/disposal costs. These emulsions can arise during early processing steps at the refinery such as desalting and can also result from the collection of slop oil emulsions from all parts of the refinery. Many produced crude oils contain soluble inorganic salts, such as sodium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride or sulfate. The presence of such salts in a crude oil is very deleterious to the processing of the oil in a refinery, causing severe corrosion, poor cracking yields, plugging and ultimately equipment failure. It is therefore customary to desalt incoming crude at a refinery by mixing the crude with wash water and allowing the water phase to dissolve the salt and be separated in a desalter vessel.
The intractable emulsions of oil, water and solids make adequate separation and oil recovery difficult. Often, the only answer is that such emulsions arising from desalter are periodically discarded as are other intractable emulsions and slop streams throughout the refinery. This results in expensive treating or handling procedures or pollution problems as well as the fact that processable crude oil is also lost with these intractable emulsions and slop streams.
In most cases, complete separation of water from the oil is inhibited by the presence of an envelope of solid or semi-solid material in a thin-film layer around the surface of each individual water droplet. This material may be inorganic, for example as clay platelets, or silica or limestone particles, or it may be organic such as wax-like or bitumen-like particles. These inorganic and organic solids act as emulsion stabilizers. Furthermore, if the oil has a specific gravity approaching that of water and has a high viscosity, the difficulty of separating these types of oil emulsions is further compounded. The high viscosity greatly hampers the effectiveness of separation equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,876 describes a process whereby emulsions can generally be broken by causing a portion of the normally water dispersed phase to flash into vapor by suddenly reducing pressure on the emulsion (flashing) as described in the patent. The flashing action is extremely powerful even when only a small fraction, 10 percent by volume or less, of the dispersed phase is vaporized. The envelope around each droplet is thus shattered so the dispersed phase can be coalesced and separated by gravity, or enhanced gravity forces, when there is a sufficient divergence of specific gravity and a low viscosity. Suitable anti-emulsion chemicals are often added to prevent re-emulsification. The process of the above mentioned patent is successfully operated on a wide variety of intractable emulsion/suspensions, but has been found deficient when the components of the emulsion are not amenable to gravity separation as mentioned above. The patent does not tell one skilled in the art how to deal with the problem of emulsified high specific gravity oil, and only combats high viscosity by heating.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a process whereby the components of slop oil emulsions can be readily separated from each other after the emulsion is broken. It is a further object of this invention to provide a process whereby crude oil may be recovered from intractable refinery emulsions for refining as a product. It is a further object of this invention to provide not only for the maximum recovery of oil from refinery waste emulsions, but to allow for environmentally-benign disposal of solids and aqueous components of such waste.
The foregoing objects and other objects which will become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after considering this description and drawings of how this advantage is accomplished by the following-described invention.

Process for recovering high quality oil from refinery waste emulsions


Disclosed is a flash suppressor for guns which controlledly vents ignited high pressure gas exiting a gun muzzle. The gas is vented essentially radially outward through coils or rings of the suppressor in a 360 flow degree pattern away from a longitudinal axis of the suppressor.

Present flash suppressors consist of a cylindrical element fit onto the muzzle of a gun barrel, the element having a set of apertures encircling a point along the longitudinal axis of the suppressor. When a soldier fires the gun, there occurs a set of elongate radial flashes and a reduced forward flash from the barrel. These flashes center on the muzzle of the gun and, especially at night, allow enemy personnel to use the flashes as directional indicators to accurately estimate the location of the soldier relative to the muzzle.
Our flash suppressor addresses the above problem by channelling the flash into a cloud-like or somewhat spherical space about the gun muzzle, whereby the flash gives less indication of the location of a soldier firing the gun. Our invention comprises a set of spring coils or rings disposed along the suppressor's longitudinal axis, which is in registry with the axis of the gun barrel. The flash vents through spaces between the coils or rings.


A digital radio communication apparatus includes a reception system and a transmission system. The reception system includes a first frequency converter and a quadrature demodulator. The first frequency converter frequency-converts a reception signal and outputs the converted signal as a first IF signal. The quadrature demodulator performs quadrature demodulation of the first IF signal. The transmission system includes a quadrature modulator and a second frequency converter. The quadrature modulator performs quadrature modulation of a transmission signal and outputs the modulated signal as a second IF signal. The second frequency converter frequency-converts the second IF signal and transmits the converted signal. The frequency difference between the first and second IF signals is set to coincide with the frequency interval between a transmission frequency and a reception frequency. The frequency of one of the first and second IF signals is set to be an integer multiple of the frequency of the other IF signal.

The present invention relates to a digital radio communication apparatus and, more particularly, to a communication apparatus such as a digital automobile telephone using a quadrature modulation scheme.
For example, a communication apparatus having the arrangement shown in FIG. 2 is used as a conventional communication apparatus. This arrangement is designed for analog mobile communication. An input signal to a transmission input terminal 31 is modulated by a modulator 27 using a direct modulation scheme. The modulated signal is output from a transmission output terminal 29. The frequency, of a signal received at a reception input terminal 28, corresponding to the frequency interval between transmission and reception frequencies is frequency-converted by a first frequency converter 21 using part of the output from the modulator 27. The resultant signal is used as a first IF signal for reception. The first IF signal is then amplified by a first IF amplifier 22 and is converted into a second IF frequency by a second IF converter 23 using a local oscillation signal from a local oscillator 26. The second IF signal is amplified by a second IF amplifier 24 and is demodulated by a demodulator 25 to obtain an output signal.
In this arrangement, since part of the output from the modulator 27 is used to obtain the first IF signal, an oscillator for generating a local oscillation signal for obtaining the first IF signal is not required.
If a communication apparatus having such an arrangement is applied to a digital radio communication apparatus, the apparatus requires a device capable of directly performing quadrature modulation by using a transmission frequency. An automobile telephone terminal unit requires an inexpensive device which can be operated with low current consumption and demands no adjustment. However, a quadrature modulator which can perform direct modulation and satisfy these requirements is not currently available. Under the circumstances, such a communication apparatus requires a means for performing quadrature modulation at a low frequency and frequency-converting the resultant frequency into a transmission frequency. If, however, an intermediate frequency on the transmission side is simply set regardless of a frequency on the reception side, since the transmission and reception sides have no correlation, a total of four local oscillators, i.e., local oscillators for obtaining IF signals and local oscillators for performing quadrature modulation and demodulation, are required for the transmission and reception sides, respectively, resulting in complication in the circuit arrangement.


An apparatus, system, and method for calibrating an electromagnetic sensor of a vehicle. Calibration is performed by positioning a calibration apparatus at known positions relative to the electromagnetic sensor of the vehicle, and taking measurements with respect to each known position. The calibration apparatus disclosed herein further comprises adjustable components.

Onboard sensors in a vehicle are useful safety devices that are increasingly common. Onboard sensors can provide vehicle operators and passengers with useful information about the surrounding environment, or may provide data to other vehicular systems to enhance the performance of those systems. Electromagnetic sensors make use of reflections of waves in the electromagnetic spectrum to measure distances, positions, and speeds of objects in the vehicle's operating environment.
Sensors require calibration to function properly and to assure accurate measurements. Calibration of sensors on vehicles are typically performed using a diagnostic tool connected to the sensor in conjunction with a specialized calibration tool. Existing calibration tools often take the form of large apparatuses that are immobile, difficult to position properly in relation to the vehicle, difficult to adjust during the calibration process, made using fragile components, and costly. It is therefore desirable for a calibration apparatus that is more compact, easier to position in relation to the vehicle, easier to adjust during the calibration process, composed of more robust materials, and less costly.

Portable apparatus, system, and method for calibrating a vehicular electromagnetic sensor


In an image processing device adapted to restore sub-information from composite image information produced by a composite image producing device which embeds invisible sub-information into visible main image information to produce the composite image information, the frequency components of the sub-information extracted for each of its color components are smoothed, and the optimum one is selected from among the results of the smoothing process performed for each color component of the sub-information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method and devices adapted to embed invisible sub-information (e.g., security information) into visible main image information (e.g., an image of a human face) to produce composite image information and, at a later time, restore the sub-information from the composite image information.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent spread of digital information and the Internet, techniques of digital watermarking, digital signatures and the like have come to be regarded as important in order to prevent forgery or alteration of images. In particular, digital watermarking techniques, in which invisible sub-information is embedded in visible main image information, have been proposed as measures against unauthorized copying, forgery or alteration of identification (ID) cards or photographs having copyright information embedded.
For example, JP-A 2001-268346 (KOKAI) (document 1) and JP-A 2005-184603 (KOKAI) (document 2) each disclose a digital watermarking technique of embedding sub-information by superimposing the sub-information upon main image information utilizing color difference information.
Such a digital watermarking technique, which involves embedding to-be-embedded information, such as sub-information (digital watermarks), into main image information in a invisible form, requires a sub-information restoration process at a later time.
Conventionally, there have been various techniques to restore sub-information. Among these is a frequency filtering technique utilizing frequency domain.
In general, the digital watermarking technique is supposed to handle digital data and hence involves analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion in restoring sub-information (digital watermark information) from a digitally watermarked image restored by an image recorder (a color printer or the like). It is therefore difficult to avoid the occurrence of degradation of the image quality. For this reason, there is a demand for a technique to minimize the degradation of sub-information in restoration.
With the method disclosed in document 2 which involves embedding digital watermarks by superimposing to-be-embedded information on main image information, the restoration of digital watermarks tends to be affected by the color and the frequency distribution of the main image information.

Image processing method and device for restoring sub-information from composite image information


The invention provides a transformer suitable for use in a high frequency semiconductor device, and the transformer can be formed without the use of a conventional core and coils by forming at least two spiral inductors selected from a plurality of spiral inductors on a semiconductor substrate so as to overlap each other substantially in the vertical direction with an interlayer insulator interposed in between.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transformer suitable for use in a semiconductor device, and particularly, to a transformer for use in a high frequency semiconductor device inside a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), and the like, that is used in a fast radio transmission system, and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been described a conventional transformer in a literature, the college text, xe2x80x9cElectromagneticsxe2x80x9d, by Koichi Shimoda and Soshin Ckikazumi, pp. 214, 216. FIG. 1 is a view broadly showing a conventional transformer described in the literature mentioned above. Referring to the figure, the conventional transformer is described hereinafter. Reference numeral 21 denotes a primary coil, 22 a secondary coil, and 23 a core. The primary coil 21 and secondary coil 22 are wound round the core 23.
Now, the operation is described hereinafter. Flow of alternating current in the primary coil 21 causes magnetic fluxes to be induced in the core 23, whereupon an electromotive force is generated in the secondary coil 22 by the agency of the magnetic fluxes induced.
It is an object of the invention to provide a transformer that can be applied to a high frequency semiconductor device, and the like. The transformer can be formed without the use of a conventional core and coils by forming at least two spiral inductors selected from a plurality of spiral inductors on a semiconductor substrate so as to overlap each other substantially in the vertical direction with an interlayer insulator interposed therebetween.
According to the invention, a transformer can be implemented without the use of a core and coils by forming a plurality of spiral inductors on a semiconductor substrate, and by forming at least two spiral inductors selected from the plurality of the spiral inductors so as to overlap each other substantially in the vertical direction to the substrate with an interlayer insulator interposed therebetween such that at least the two spiral inductors are insulated from each other in terms of d.c., but continuous with each other in terms of a high frequency wave.
Further, the transformer with the features described above may be formed wherein at least the two spiral inductors selected from the plurality of the spiral inductors are formed in the shape of a rectangle such that the rectangles overlap each other along the longer sides thereof, so that advantageous effects of mutual inductance can be enhanced by enlarging an area of overlapping portions without enlarging areas of elements.


The apparatus of the present invention provides a means for candling eggs and providing trays of eggs filled with candled eggs and includes a provision wherein infertile eggs are removed from trays of fertile eggs and are replaced with fertile eggs in order to supply a complete array of fertile eggs within the tray. The apparatus includes a conveying means removing trays of eggs from an infeed station to an outfeed station. The trays of eggs supplied at the outfeed station preferably are completely filled with fertile eggs only and usually will be supplied to a processing station such as for inoculation. The apparatus includes four stations with candling performed at the first station by a video camera with infertile eggs moved to an exit hopper at a second station thereadjacent. Initially fertile eggs are also transferred to the second station where they are placed into a buffer tray which is then moved to the third station and provides a source of fertile eggs for replacing of removed infertile eggs from future candled trays. Once the buffer contains eggs a tray will pass in the infeed through the first station, will be candled, and the infertile eggs will be removed and the conveyor will then move this tray of all fertile eggs with a few open egg receiving recesses to the fourth station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention deals with the field of devices utilized for candling eggs. Candling eggs has been performed for many years in order to accurate determine that an egg includes a valuable embryo such that it will ultimately yield a chick. The best manner of making this determination is to pass light through an egg. If the egg is opaque the egg contains an embryo. However, if the egg is clear this is an indication that no embryo has developed and the egg can be otherwise processed or discarded.
Such candling operations have been done manually for many years, however, automated candling systems have recently been developed. Normally it is necessary during manually candling for the candling operator to be positioned above the eggs traveling upon a conveyor with a light below the conveyor passing upwardly through the eggs. With this configuration the observing candler operator is normally located within a dark enclosure above the conveyor to enhance accuracy in candling. Recently automated systems have been developed for candling, however, none disclose the method and apparatus of the present invention which utilizes the analysis of the digital video camera image recorded during candling to allow removal of infertile eggs with a subsequent downstream re-introduction of fertile eggs into the openings provided when the infertile eggs are moved.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the current state-of-the-art the speed of candling is one of the most important considerations necessary and incident to a candling system. Many automated systems use high speed egg movement with multiple observers attempting to remove as many of the clear or infertile eggs which they can locate. Some at tempts have been made to use still photographs for analyzing whether an egg is fertile or infertile. Such systems have proved inadequate especially in view of the high speed egg processing machinery available today.
It is also imperative that the trays of eggs be completely filled with fertile eggs and that no infertile eggs be included therein. This is true because all such eggs are normally fed to an inoculation station where they are inoculated against disease normally within two and four weeks after being dropped and gathered. The inoculation medium and the inoculation step both require time and significant expense and for this reason it is best that eggs being transferred to this inoculation stage be arranged in fully filled rows of fertile only eggs. The present invention provides a means for achieving this desired result not possible heretofore as prior art.

Method and apparatus for candling eggs and filling trays with fertile eggs


The subject technology receives a command to initiate an application. The subject technology, in response to the command, generates a root node related to a root view of a first hierarchy of views representing a user interface (UI). The subject technology generates a child node of the root node for including in the first hierarchy of views, the child node corresponding to a first type of view. The subject technology generates a first child node of the child node for including in the first hierarchy of views, the first child node corresponding to a second type of view. The subject technology generates a graph including nodes, each node corresponding to a different attribute of the UI, wherein the root node, the child node, and the first child node have relationships with respective nodes from the graph.

A given operating system may provide graphics and imaging frameworks for developers to create "views" for graphical user interfaces (GUIs or UIs) of a computer application. User Interfaces (UIs) for software applications have increased in complexity and may be implemented to handle views, animations, videos, windows, frames, events, etc., among other types of graphical-related functionality.

Framework providing application programming interface for user interfaces and animation


The present invention relates to a shape detecting roll rotatable for supporting a traveling rolled material over the width thereof to detect the pressure of the rolled material from portion to portion widthwise thereof and detect the shape of the rolled material by processing the detected pressure by calculation. The roll comprises a plurality of disks (2) arranged axially of the roll concentrically with one another and each having a pressure sensor (1) incorporated in its peripheral portion, a clearance (11) being formed between the side surfaces of peripheral portions of the adjacent disks (2) for preventing the interference between the peripheral portions. The side surfaces of the disk peripheral portions (10) forming the clearance (11) are activated by a reverse electrolytic treatment and thereafter coated with a corrosion-resistant plating. The plating film firmly adheres to the surfaces of the disks, protecting the side surfaces of the disk peripheral portions against corrosion and assuring the roll of high detection accuracy for a prolonged period of time.

A method is known of detecting the shape of traveling rolled materials (mainly rolled strip) widthwise thereof by detecting the pressure of the rolled material from portion to portion widthwise thereof with a rotating roll supporting the rolled material over the width thereof and determining the tension and therefore the elongation of the widthwise portions from the pressure.
Such shape detecting rolls are disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication SHO 56-82424, etc. An example of such roll will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
The illustrated roll comprises a plurality of disks 2 held between a pair of stationary plates 3 on opposite sides and each having a pressure sensor 1 incorporated therein close to its periphery. The disks 1 are arranged axially of the roll concentrically with one another and joined together by tie rods 4. An end member 6 having a projecting roll shaft 5 is fixed to each end of the disk assembly concentrically therewith. The roll shaft 5 is rotatably supported by a bearing.
Each disk 2 has an annular portion 8 positioned inwardly of its peripheral portion and provided on opposite sides thereof with faces 9 for contact with the respective disks adjacent thereto. The pressure sensor 1 is accommodated between the disk peripheral portion 10 and the periphery of the annular portion 8. To assure the pressure sensor 1 of accurate detection, a clearance 11 of about 0.1 mm is provided between the peripheral portions 10 of the adjacent disks for preventing the interference between the peripheral portions 10. A seal groove 12 is formed in each side surface of the peripheral portion 10, and a seal ring 13 is fitted in the seal groove 12 for preventing a coolant or the like from penetrating into the sensor accommodating chamber 14 through the clearance 11. Indicated at 15 in FIG. 3 are holes for reducing GD.sup.2.
Conventionally, the disks 2 are made of SCM material. The disks 2 are plated to obviate the likelihood that the side surfaces of the disk peripheral portions 10 will be corroded to close the clearance 11 if the roll is installed in a line wherein a rolling oil (soluble oil) containing a large amount of water is used or in a seaside area where the roll is exposed to the air containing salt. Thus, the side surfaces of the peripheral portions 10 defining each clearance 11 are coated with a corrosion-resistant plating film.
With the rolling conditions becoming severer in recent years, the pressure detecting roll has been placed into frequent use. To meet the need to give improved abrasion resistance to the roll, steel materials containing large quantities of special components, such as V and Nb, are used for making the disks.
However, if the disk is made of the steel material which permits presence of tough oxides or compounds of special elements, the disk surface can not be fully activated merely by acid pickling or degreasing which is usually conducted as a pretreatment before plating, with the result that the plating is very poor in adhesion and fails to serve for a long period of time.
An object of the present invention, which has been accomplished in view of the above problem, is to provide a shape detecting roll comprising disks which are coated with a corrosion-resistant plating over the side surfaces of the peripheral portions thereof forming a clearance between the adjacent disks, the plating being resistant to peeling regardless of the material used for the disks so as to give high durability to the roll.


Machine readable media, methods, and computing devices are disclosed which establish a protected memory channel between an operating system loader of a user partition and services of a management partition. One computing device includes protected storage, read only memory, firmware, a storage device and a processor. The storage device is to store the virtual machine monitor and an operating system having an operating system loader. The virtual machine monitor is to establish a protected memory channel between the one or more integrity services of a management partition and the operating system loader of a user partition in response to measuring and verifying the operating system loader based upon the manifest. The processor is to execute the code of the read only memory, the firmware, the virtual machine monitor, the operating system, the operating system loader, the management partition, and the user partition.

Rootkits, spyware, and malware operate on the premise of hiding themselves from detection by security software executing on the same platform. Once a rootkit is able to hide itself on the platform, the rootkit can then observe all user activity, capture user data, perform circumvention of user actions, and other malicious activities. There are an increasing number of incidents of rootkits, spyware and malware that hide themselves from the user and execute in the background collecting sensitive information and slowing down the system considerably


A method of driving an image sensor including a plurality of unit pixels, each unit pixel having photoelectric conversion and floating diffusion regions, may include resetting a potential level of the floating diffusion region by a first voltage level, the first voltage level being lower than a power supply voltage; converting incident light into electrical charges in the photoelectric conversion region; and accumulating at least one of collected, first overflowed, and second overflowed electrical charges in the floating diffusion region based on the incident light, the collected electrical charges indicating electrical charges that are collected in the photoelectric conversion region, the first overflowed electrical charges indicating charges overflowed from the photoelectric conversion region within potential well capacity of the floating diffusion region, and the second overflowed electrical charges indicating charges overflowed from the photoelectric conversion region over the potential well capacity of the floating diffusion region.

1. Technical Field
Example embodiments may relate to image sensors. Example embodiments also may relate to methods of driving image sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image sensor receives incident light, converts the incident light into electrical charges, and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the electrical charges. A dynamic range (DR) of the image sensor represents the capability of the image sensor to distinguish various levels of brightness for a pixel between maximum brightness and minimum brightness. As semiconductor process technology continues to develop, various methods have been proposed to increase the dynamic range of the image sensor.

Methods of driving image sensors including unit pixels having photoelectric conversion and floating diffusion regions