The present invention provides a method and system for clock and carrier recovery in a direct sequence spread spectrum communication system. The process involves the receiver receiving a digital signal that has been transmitted by a remote transmitter. The method for joint clock and carrier recovery comprises the following steps. The received signal is down-converted and the signal is then converted to digital form. The signal is de-spread to obtain the phase of the signal constellation. The clock error at the receiver is then estimated from the phase error of the signal constellation by means of an optimal linear estimator. The discrete carrier frequency offset of the received signal is then estimated from the estimated clock error. The optimal linear estimator used here for estimating the clock error is also the maximum likelihood estimator.

The present invention discloses a method and system for clock and carrier recovery in a wireless communication system. More particularly, the present invention discloses a method and system for clock and carrier recovery in a direct sequence spread spectrum communication system.
In a typical wireless spread spectrum data communication system, the transmitter accepts a bit stream from a source and encodes it into a signal constellation point commonly known as a symbol. The signal constellation is a set of message points corresponding to the set of bits to be transmitted. The standard modulation techniques used for forming the symbol are Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) and Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK). A sampled spreading sequence (for example a Barker Sequence) lasting over one symbol period is multiplied by the symbol to be transmitted to generate the samples of the signal to be transmitted in the baseband. The resulting samples are then fed to a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) to generate the baseband analog signal. This analog signal is filtered to meet the required spectral mask and then fed to an up-converter, where a Radio Frequency (RF) carrier is modulated by the analog baseband signal. The output is then filtered and transmitted by means of an antenna. Clocks used for the DAC and the up-converter are derived from a common master clock to avoid non-coherency.
The signal is then transmitted through the channel and is received by the receiver. The signal is subjected to multi-path, thermal noise, co-channel and adjacent channel interferences while traveling through the channel. The receiver, after receiving the waveform, reverses the processing done on the signal at the transmitter to get the original signal that was generated by the signal source. The process involves down-conversion of the received RF signal to the baseband and then sampling the baseband analog signal by an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). The output from the ADC is fed to the baseband processing engine for recovering the bit stream from the received quantized samples. At the receiver also, the clocks for the ADC and the down-converter are derived from a common master oscillator for clock coherency. The received baseband signal has clock and carrier offsets as the transmit and receive clock sources are different. The transmit and receive clocks can vary independently around their nominal values. The clock variation is caused mainly by the crystal frequency drift, which is susceptible to ambient temperature fluctuation, aging and other imperfections. These variations lead to a clock error, which is the difference between the transmit and the receive clocks. This clock error is expressed in terms of a normalized sampling rate error between the transmitter and receiver. The receiver has to estimate and compensate for these offsets in order to successfully decode the bit stream.
As a result of the imperfections and inaccuracies mentioned above, there is an offset in the sampling rates of the transmitter DAC and the receiver ADC. Further, the imperfections in the local oscillators, used for up-conversion and down-conversion respectively, result in a carrier offset. The carrier offset, if left uncompensated, results in a continuous rotation in the signal constellation. This offset needs to be compensated for an error-free decision at the receiver. Thus, clock and carrier recovery is an essential process in the receiver. The receiver needs to estimate and track the clock error in the presence of the imperfections and the fluctuations mentioned in the previous paragraph.
In most of the data communication systems, a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) performs clock and carrier recovery. However, the PLL has its limitations. Traditionally used PLLs suffer from problems like lock-in and pull-in range limitations, and trade-offs between accuracy and convergence time. Analog PLLs also suffer from inflexibility and difficulty in implementation unlike the PLLs implemented in full software i.e. implementation using a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), or in digital hardware i.e. implementation using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Further, the performance accuracy of PLLs is limited by the precision of the analog devices used in the PLL, the device noise and the variation in the performance due to temperature fluctuations and aging. In addition to this, it is difficult to integrate PLLs with digital hardware for single chip implementation.
An all-digital carrier recovery is, therefore, much superior to the analog implementation. The performance of the digital implementation is also superior and more precise because its performance depends only on the noise in the input signal. Most of the schemes in all-digital implementation are based on a digital PLL having a Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO), digital loop filter and digital hardware to generate control signal for input to the NCO.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,276 entitled "All Digital Maximum Likelihood Based Spread Spectrum Receiver" granted to AT&T Bell Laboratories, NJ, USA filed on Sep. 13, 1993 discloses a spread spectrum receiver that uses a NCO to generate phase correction and overall frequency correction of the received signal. The receiver also comprises a digital frequency offset correction device for modifying the digital signal in accordance with a frequency correction term to correct the frequency offset in the received analog signal. In addition to this, WIPO Publication number 2001/50631A2 titled "Carrier Tracking Loop For Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Systems" of Thomson Licensing S.A., France filed on Dec. 22, 2000 discloses a Carrier Tracking Loop (CTL) that is a phase error estimator for receiving the output symbol data. Further, a CTL phase error signal is generated based on the rotation of the spread-spectrum signal, and another CTL is used for generating the counter-rotating signal based on the CTL phase error signal.
Both the patents mentioned above use a NCO in their implementation. These are, therefore, digital translations of the analog counterpart of the PLL. Hence, these implementations also suffer from the traditional built-in problems with PLLs.
Some other methods that use Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) for carrier offset estimation and a frequency synthesizer for correction of LO (Local Oscillator) frequency have been proposed. European Patent number 892,528A2 titled "Carrier recovery for DSSS signals" granted to Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd., Espoo, Finland presents a device and a method for detection of direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) clocks using pseudo-random noise (PN) modulation when offsets are present in the carrier frequency. This is achieved by means of calculations using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).
The disadvantage of using the above-mentioned approach is that it is complex to implement and expensive in terms of the number of calculations needed. Thus, this scheme requires an expensive synthesizer with a fine enough frequency resolution to correct the carrier offset.
From the above discussion, it is apparent that there is a need for an all-digital scheme that is easy to implement and does not require extra digital hardware (such as the NCO, loop filter and the like). Further, the scheme should be easily implemented both in software (for example, using a digital signal processor) and in hardware (for example, using an FPGA or an ASIC). There is also a need for a system that is devoid of complex and expensive operations (like the FFT) and is efficient in correcting the carrier offset without disturbing the local oscillator.

Method and system for maximum likelihood clock and carrier recovery in a direct sequence spread spectrum communication system


The liquid crystal composition of the present invention contains a compound represented by the following Formula (1) and a liquid crystal. In Formula (1), at least one among R1 to R7 is a liquid crystalline substituent, and those among R1 to R7 that are not a liquid crystalline substituent each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent. X and Y each independently represent an alkyl group, a halogen atom, an alkoxy group, or an alkylthio group. Z represents an alkyl group having 3 or more carbon atoms, an acyl group, or an aryl group. A represents an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, or a nitrogen atom. n represents 0 or 1. The liquid crystal device, reflection display material, and light modulating material of the invention contain the liquid crystal composition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to liquid crystal compositions, liquid crystal devices, reflection display materials, light modulating materials, and anthraquinone compounds.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of liquid crystal devices (liquid crystal display devices) have been proposed. Because guest-host type liquid crystal devices use no polarizer, those of reflection type are expected to be bright image displays and those of transmission type are expected to be light modulating materials which are bright when they are transparent. In guest-host type liquid crystal devices, a dichroic dye is dissolved in a liquid crystal, and coloring and decoloring are switched by change in alignment of the dichroic dye synchronized with the movement of the liquid crystal due to an electric field.
The guest-host type device is described for example in "Handbook of Liquid Crystals", written by B. Bahadur, edited by D. Demus, J. Goodby, G. W. Gray, H. W. Spiess, and V. Vill, Vol. 2A, published by Wiley-VCH, 1998, Chapters 3 and 4, pages 257-302. Dichroic dyes used in guest-host type liquid crystal devices are required to exhibit proper absorption properties, a high order parameter, a high solubility in host liquid crystal, durability, or the like.
From the viewpoint of dichroic ratio, solubility and durability, especially azo- and anthraquinone dichroic dyes have been investigated widely. However, azo dichroic dyes are defective in light resistance though they are good with respect to order parameter and solubility.
On the other hand, anthraquinone dyes have low solubility in host liquid crystals though they have high light resistance. In order to reconcile the solubility and the order parameter, many researchers have made various studies, e.g., introduction of a liquid crystalline substituent into an anthraquinone skeleton and increase in compatibility with liquid crystal. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 58-57488, 1-252691, and 62-277471 can be referred to. However, the solubility is still unsatisfactory.

Liquid crystal composition, liquid crystal device, reflection display material, light modulating material, and anthraquinone compound


This invention relates to a catalyst composition of the formula:

Olefin polymerization catalysts are of great use in industry. Hence there is great interest in finding new catalyst compounds, particularly compounds that can be easily supported and or modified by altering the ligands. There also exists the need to reduce catalyst costs by developing catalyst systems that are efficient utilizing simple alkyl aluminums rather than alumoxanes which are traditionally more expensive.
Silica supported chromium tris(amide)/alumoxane olefin polymerization catalysts are found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,399 where calcining at greater than 500° C. is disclosed to reduce polyethylene molecular weight (column 4, line 24). Further the U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,399 examples use Cr(III) tris(trimethylsilyamide) which may or may not react with the support and as noted they found only formation of oligomers if using silica calcined above 500 C. Further in U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,399, comparative example 4, describes a catalyst system with a supported Cr(III) tri(trimethylsilyamide) catalyst activated with triisobutylaluminum yielding an extremely low activity polymerization catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,127 discloses a process for making polyethylene comprising polymerizing ethylene in the presence of a supported catalyst comprising a chromium compound such as a chromium amide, an alumoxane, and an organometallic alkoxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,399 discloses an ethylenic polymerization catalyst comprising a chromium compound, a carrier, alumoxane, and a transition metal compound having a conjugated π (Pi) electron as a ligand, where in the chromium compound is not calcined.
Additional references that are of interest include: JP-11092522 A2 (199-04-06), JP-11228620 (1999 08-24), JP-10338707 (1998-12-22), Enders, M.; Fernandez, P.; Ludwig, G.; Pritzkow, H. Organometallics 2001, 20, 5005-5007, Theopold, K. H.; Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 1998, 15., Karapinka., G. L. U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,853; 1973, Hogan, J. P.; and Banks, R. L. U.S. Pat. No. 2,825,721, 1958.

Catalyst system for olefin polymerization and polymers produced therefrom

Abstract: where    Z—O is a support material, where O is oxygen, preferably Z is Si, Ti, Al, Sn, Fe, Ga, Zr, B, Mg, or Cr;    each X is, independently, N, O, P or S;    each n is, independently, 1 or 2;     each R is, independently, an alkyl group, a substituted alkyl group, an aryl group, or a substituted aryl group, provided at least one R group is an aryl or substituted aryl group.

Abstract: This invention also relates to the use of the above catalyst compound with an aluminum alkyl to polymerize olefins and other monomers.


A tortilla press assembly is provided having an actuating mechanism for actuating the push plate along an actuating axis between a loading position and a forming position. The actuating mechanism includes arm having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion that extends over the base plate. A crank extends between the crank shaft and the vertical portion of the arm to enable the push plate to engage and disengage from dough in a smooth manner to ensure proper formation of a tortilla shell, which can include an embossed pattern.

It is well known that a ball of dough can be molded into various shapes and sizes to produce food products. Traditionally, once the desired dough was properly mixed, the dough was rolled to the proper thickness and then cut into the shape needed to produce the food product. However, this method is labor-intensive and costly with respect to retail food products and restaurant services.
Over the years, machines have been utilized to overcome this problem by mechanically forming dough into the desired thickness and shape. Such machines are known in the art and are generally shown in McCarney U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,914, McCarney U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,167 and McCarney U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,864. These patents are incorporated by reference herein and background information illustrating hand-operated tortilla press assemblies that form a ball of dough into a tortilla shell. These approaches overcame many of the problems in the prior art with respect to producing various sizes of shells by utilizing a ring or disk structure which dictates the peripheral configuration and thickness of the resulting tortilla shell.
Although such prior art approach were generally effective, shortfalls exist. For example is it desirable to improve on the distribution of dough evenly throughout. Moreover, current approaches lacked the ability to provide sharp imprinting of a pattern, design, or mark on to the press dough. In current approaches, attempts to emboss patterns can result in uneven or marred images.
It should be appreciated that there remains a need for a tortilla press that addresses the aforementioned shortcomings. The present invention solves these needs and others.


A method and apparatus for locating and communicating with vehicles is provided, including at least one mobile cellular unit connected to at least one microprocessor and installed within a vehicle. The microprocessor interrogates the mobile cellular unit to obtain location information from an overhead message stream transmitted from cellular telephone transmitter sites. The location is displayed on a display located in the vehicle or the microprocessor periodically instructs the mobile cellular unit to initiate a call to a host controller and, upon receipt of transmitting instructions from the host controller, transmits the location information for display on a screen connected to the host controller.

Historically, in industries utilizing multiple vehicles traveling in various geographical regions, such as in the long haul trucking industry, drivers of the vehicles must periodically communicate with a base or home office to report information such as present location of the vehicle, the number of hours driven and any problems experienced with the vehicle. In such industries where there is a need to determine the geographical location of a vehicle, tracking systems utilizing Loran-C receivers and microwave transmitters have been employed for vehicle location. Use of such equipment tends to be limited solely to locating and tracking the vehicles. In many instances, the only means of locating a vehicle in service consists of the driver of the vehicle stopping, getting out of the vehicle, and calling a report into the home base on a public pay phone. To date, the cellular industry has failed to penetrate the trucking market and other industries where vehicle locating is desired for such reasons as high start-up costs for obtaining terminal equipment and high operating costs.

Vehicle locating and communicating method and apparatus


A packaging structure for depression switches includes an electronic substrate containing at least one switch electrode, a push-on switch located on the electronic substrate to connect the switch electrode to generate a command signal and a sealing member. The push-on switch and the electronic substrate form a first air chamber between them. The sealing member has a fastening portion to seal the push-on switch on the electronic substrate and a second air chamber formed with the electronic substrate to communicate with the first air chamber. By depressing the push-on switch to connect the switch electrode, air held in the first air chamber is squeezed and flows to the second air chamber without escaping.

Metal dome switch is a thin switch widely used on mobile communication devices, input devices of computer systems or IC cards. It usually contains a thin and arched metal blade and can provide metallic characteristics such as electric conductivity and elasticity.
During manufacturing processes to install the metal dome switch on a printed circuit board (PCB in short hereinafter), air often is trapped in the metal dome switch. The trapped air makes depression of the switch difficult and click feeling suffered. Many techniques have been proposed to expel the air trapped in the metal dome switch. References can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,901,834, 6,441,330, 6,531,671, 6,917,007, 6,982,394 and 7,145,092. They mostly have an opening or a conduit formed on the bounding surface between the metal dome switch and the PCB to allow the air to flow out, so that depression quality of the metal dome switch is not affected by the air trapped inside.
However, the conventional techniques mentioned above cannot be used on IC cards embedded with a metal dome switch. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a conventional IC card 1. It has a metal dome switch 2 located on a PCB 3 corresponding to electrodes located thereon. The PCB 3 is evenly coated with an adhesive tape 4 to bond the metal dome switch 2. The electrodes include a peripheral electrode 5 and a trigger electrode 6 located in the peripheral electrode 5. The metal dome switch 2 has the periphery in contact with the peripheral electrode 5 in regular conditions. When the metal dome switch 2 is depressed, the center portion thereof is moved downwards until touching the trigger electrode 6 as shown in FIG. 1B, then a conductive connection is formed between the peripheral electrode 5 and the trigger electrode 6 through the metal dome switch 2 to generate an electric signal. When the depressing force is released, the metal dome switch 2 bounces back to its original position due to metal elasticity, then the connection between the peripheral electrode 5 and trigger electrode 6 is broken. As the metal dome switch 2 and the PCB 3 are integrally sealed in the IC card 1, air also is trapped between the metal dome switch 2 and the PCB 3. Depressing the metal dome switch 2 forcefully, the air will spill to the periphery where the adhesive tape 4 is located, or even pass through the adhesive tape 4, and an air bubble 7 or a gap is formed in the IC card 1 as shown in FIG. 1B. As a result, a packaging and sealing defect occurs. This will cause disintegration of the structure of the IC card 1, and also impact normal function of the PCB 3.

Packaging structure for depression switches


Embodiments of the invention provide a high energy photon detector. A first scintillation crystal is provided. A first plurality of photosensors is on a first face of the first scintillation crystal, wherein the first plurality is at least two. A second scintillation crystal is provided. A second plurality of photosensors is on a first face of the second scintillation crystal, wherein the second plurality is at least two. An optical coupling interface is between a second face of the first scintillation crystal and a second face of the second scintillation crystal, wherein the optical coupling interface provides an optical transmission between the first scintillation crystal and the second scintillation crystal, so that the distribution of scintillation light created in one crystal is allowed to spread into the second crystal.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a diagnostic imaging modality that is used to non-invasively measure the bio-distribution of a radioactive tracer. In PET, a positron emitting bare radioactive isotope or an isotope that has been attached to a chemical molecule is injected into a patient or animal. A positron is emitted by the radioactive isotope and annihilates with an electron producing two photons in opposite directions. Each of the photons has approximately 511 keV of energy, corresponding to the mass of the positron and electron. These two annihilation photons escape the patient and interact in a scanner that is positioned around the patient.
A scanner is made of arrays of high energy photon detectors that convert interactions in the detector into electrical signals that are processed on a computer. An example of a high energy photon detector is a scintillation crystal that is connected to at least one optical photodetector such as a photomultiplier tube. The 511 keV annihilation photon can interact in the high-Z dense scintillation crystal, which in turn emits blue photons that bounce inside of the scintillation crystal. The blue optical photons then hit a photodetector which converts the light into an electrical signal. The electrical signal is then processed by analog and digital electronic circuits and is recorded as an event. The electronics process the signal and record the time, location of the crystal that was hit, and the energy of high energy annihilation photon to storage. In positron emission tomography, the two photons are paired to produce a line-of-response (LOR) of the interaction. These LORs are processed by image reconstruction algorithms to produce 3-D images of the distribution of the radiotracer.

Optical coupling technique for contiguous monolithic scintillation crystal detectors

The Board of Trustess of the Leland Stanford Junior University


An antenna comprises a ground plate which is planar; a first power feed element which is disposed separately from the ground plate by a prescribed distance and which is formed in a prescribed shape; a first parasitic element which is planar and which is formed in a prescribed shape; a first shortcircuit part which electrically connects the first parasitic element and the ground plate; and a power feed part which is electrically connected with the first power feed element, wherein the first power feed element and the first parasitic element are disposed in parallel in part with each other, and the first power feed element and the first parasitic element have multiple resonances by electro magnetic coupling.

A conventional built-in antenna will be described as follows with reference to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. H01-228303. FIG. 8 shows an inverted-F antenna which has been conventionally used as a built-in antenna. The inverted-F antenna is formed of ground plate 104, radiating element 101, shortcircuit part 102 to shortcircuit between ground plate 104 and radiating element 101, and power feed part 103 to feed electric power into the antenna. To broaden the bandwidth of the conventional inverted-F antenna has required either extending the distance between radiating element 101 and ground plate 104 or increasing radiating element 101 in size. However, in the aforementioned inverted-F antenna, when the device having the antenna inside is designed to be thinner, it becomes impossible to secure the distance between ground plate 104 and radiating element 101 because ground plate 104 and a printed circuit board are laid horizontally, thereby making it difficult to broaden the bandwidth.

Antenna and electronic device using the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An implantable cardiac monitoring device includes first and second arms, pivotably attached to one another; electronic circuitry and an associated power source of the device are hermetically sealed in a housing formed by one of the arms. A first electrode is carried by the first arm, a second electrode by the second arm, and a third electrode by one of the two arms. The device further includes a tether element, preferably a strut, pivotably attached between the arms and movable between a folded state and an expanded state. When the strut is in the folded state, the device, in a relatively compact form, can be inserted through a relatively small incision and into subcutaneous tissue, after which, the strut is moved to the expanded state where ends of the arms are spaced apart from one another and supported by the strut, and the three electrodes form dual sensing vectors.

A variety of configurations of electrode arrays, which are known in the art, are useful for monitoring electrical activity of the heart by generating electrocardiograms (ECG's), which characterize cycles of cardiac muscle contraction and relaxation as myocardial cells depolarize and then repolarize. Those skilled in the art are familiar with limb leads and precordial leads, which are attached to a patient's skin for generating far-field ECG's, as well as electrode arrays that are included in subcutaneously implantable cardiac monitoring devices and systems for the same purpose.
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram showing an array of subcutaneously implanted cardiac monitoring electrodes 110, which are configured to create a pair of sensing vectors. FIG. 1B shows portions of two exemplary ECG waveform plots N and I, which may be generated from electrical cardiac signals as sensed by electrodes 110, wherein the sensed signals are projections of the electric force vectors (corresponding to the aforementioned depolarization and repolarization) on each sensing vector of electrodes 110. ECG N represents a typical cardiac cycle, wherein atrial contraction is represented by a P wave, ventricular depolarization by a QRS complex, and ventricular repolarization by a T wave. ECG I represents a cardiac cycle when a portion of the heart muscle may be ischemic as indicated by a deviation in the ST segment. (The ST segment and the deviation therefrom are both indicated with a bold arrow in each plot of FIG. 1B.) A pair of sensing vectors, arranged approximately orthogonal to one another, is preferred in order to reliably detect ST segment deviations, which may be indicative of ischemia in instances of acute myocardial infarction.
FIGS. 2A-B are plan views of two exemplary, prior art implantable medical devices 210, 230, each of which include electrodes 10 arranged in an array similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1A, so as to create a pair of sensing vectors. FIG. 2A illustrates device 210 including a hermetically sealed housing, or can 212, which contains electronic circuitry and an associated power source (not shown), a connector module 214, by which one or more elongate implantable medical electrical leads can be coupled to the circuitry contained within can 212, and electrodes 10 mounted on can 212 or module 214. Those skilled in the art are familiar with implantable pulse generators for cardiac stimulation and sensing, such as device 210, which are typically implanted in a pectoral subcutaneous pocket with the associated electrical leads extending therefrom to either an endocardial location, or an epicardial location. Although the associated electrical leads carry electrodes that may used for monitoring electrical activity of the heart, a far-field ECG generated by subcutaneously located electrodes 10 can provide useful information in a variety of applications. FIG. 2B illustrates device 230, which, like device 210, includes a hermetically sealed housing, or can 232, in which electronic circuitry and a power source are contained, and electrodes 10, all of which are mounted on can 232. Device 230 may be employed solely for cardiac monitoring via electrodes 10 that generate a far-field ECG, for example, from a subcutaneous implant location like that illustrated in FIG. 1A, which is accessed via an incision 15. Those skilled in the art are familiar with other forms of subcutaneously implantable cardiac monitors, for example, the Reveal® device manufactured by Medtronic, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn.
Recent advances in the fabrication of electronics and associated power sources allow for a significant volume reduction of subcutaneous cardiac monitoring devices, for example, allowing for minimally invasive implant through a relatively small incision. Yet, the smaller volume may not accommodate the necessary spacing of electrodes to create a preferred arrangement of a pair of sensing vectors.

Subcutaneous cardiac monitoring devices, systems and methods


The present invention provides a fuel injection pump plunger whereby it is possible to avoid deformation of the timing sleeve 11 in the fact of increased fuel pressure, to ensure no-injection state even with elimination of the furrow, and to prevent secondary injection. It results from the realization that it is possible to replace the furrow with an aperture with which the spill port can connect in line with the movement of the plunger 20, and is wherein an aperture (horizontal aperture 21) is provided below and separate from said inclined lead 10, this aperture 21 being such that it is not only connected with said central fuel passage 8, but in the no-injection position of said control rack 13 allows said spill port 12 to engage either with this aperture 21, with said inclined lead 10, or with both of them, the area of the aperture when they engage being the same as the area of said central fuel passage 8.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel injection pump plunger, and in particular to a fuel injection pump plunger wherein the structure has been improved by eliminating the furrow on the inclined lead.
2. Description of the Related Art
In fuel injection pumps fitted to diesel engines, and particularly in on-line fuel injection pumps, it has hitherto been normal practice to control the amount of fuel injected by creating on the outer periphery of the plunger an inclined lead formed from a spiral groove, and to create a spill port on a timing sleeve in a position which coincides with the position of this inclined lead.
Instances are provided by Japanese Patents S631988!-503076 and H51993!-87011, and by Japanese Utility Model H41992!-100063.
There follows an explanation with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, in which the abovementioned Japanese Utility Model H41992!-100063 is taken as an example. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the principal part of a conventional fuel injection pump 1 at commencement of fuel injection, while FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the principal part at conclusion of fuel injection. The fuel injection pump 1 has a delivery valve housing or pump housing 2 and a plunger barrel 3 located within this pump 2 housing. Inside is formed a fuel reservoir chamber 4.
Between this pump housing 2 and plunger barrel 3 is located a plunger 5 in such a manner that it is capable of rotation and reciprocating motion. Above the plunger 5 is formed a high-pressure fuel pressure chamber or plunger chamber 6, which connects with a delivery valve (not shown in the drawing).
The plunger 5 has a fuel suction and exhaust port 7, a central fuel passage 8 which connects with the fuel suction and exhaust port 7 and runs to the plunger chamber 6, a peripheral furrow 9 which connects with the fuel suction and exhaust port 7, and a peripheral inclined lead 10 which connects with this furrow 9.
A timing sleeve 11 (control sleeve) is fitted externally to the plunger 5. This timing sleeve 11 allows the pre-stroke (the stroke from the bottom dead point of the plunger 5 to commencement of injection) to be modified by permitting vertical motion with the aid of a control rod (not shown in the drawing) so as to alter the position relative to the plunger 5.
A spill port 12 is formed in the timing sleeve 11 in the direction of its radius. This spill port 12 is formed in a position which coincides with that of the inclined lead 10 in the direction of the axis of the plunger 5.
A control rack 13 is provided to allow the plunger 5 to rotate around its axis in relation to the timing sleeve 11, and it is possible for the spill port 12 and the inclined lead 10 to coincide in the direction of the axis of the plunger 5 even if the plunger 5 rotates as a result of the operation of the control rack 13.
In a fuel injection pump 1 of this structure, the lowering of the plunger 5 causes the fuel within the fuel reservoir chamber 4 to be admitted through the fuel suction and exhaust port 7, while its raising causes the fuel suction and exhaust port 7 to close by the action of the lower edge 11A of the timing sleeve 11, thus commencing compression of the fuel (FIG. 5).
When the plunger 5 rises further until the inclined lead 10 coincides with the spill port 12, the plunger chamber 6 and the fuel reservoir chamber 4 connect via the central fuel passage 8, fuel suction and exhaust port 7, furrow 9 and inclined lead 10, with the result that a prescribed amount of fuel spills from the spill port 12 into the fuel reservoir chamber 4, thus concluding fuel injection (FIG. 6). The plunger 5 continues to rise, the furrow 9 protrudes beyond the upper edge 11B of the timing sleeve 11, and as a result fuel spills from this furrow 9 also.
Control of the amount of fuel injected is achieved by operating the control rack 13 to allow the plunger 5 to rotate about its axis and alter the position at which the inclined lead 10 and spill port 12 engage, thus adjusting the effective stroke S of the fuel delivery (FIG. 5).
It is also possible to advance or retard the timing of the fuel injection by operating the timing sleeve 11 up and down in order to adjust the pre-stroke.
FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the principal part showing the relationship between the furrow 9 of the plunger 5 and the spill port 12 of the timing sleeve 11. The purpose of the furrow 9 is to ensure this no-injection state.
In other words, when the plunger 5 is rotated in relation to the timing sleeve 11 and positioned so that the spill port 12 can coincide with the furrow 9, if the plunger 5 is above a prescribed position, the plunger chamber 6 and the fuel reservoir chamber 4 are connected with each other via the central fuel passage 8, fuel suction and exhaust port 7, furrow 9 and spill port 12, and the plunger 5 is unable to implement the action of compressing the fuel. Thus a state of no-injection is achieved, wherein it is possible to halt the fuel delivery function of the fuel injection pump 1 in emergencies and as desired at other times when this is necessary.
Moreover, inasmuch as the area of the passage is greater than the prescribed value, the furrow 9 also has the function of avoiding secondary injection by ensuring that it does not act as a throttle to fuel passing through when fuel spills from the spill port 12.
However, there is a problem in that the timing sleeve 11 becomes deformed as a result of the fact that in order for it to achieve this function the groove 9 occupies a relatively large proportion of the outer periphery of the plunger 5.
In other words, FIG. 8 is an end cross-section of the plunger 5 and the timing sleeve 11. As the drawing shows, the timing sleeve 11 becomes deformed and assumes an elliptical shape (the imaginary line in the drawing) as a result of the pressure of the fuel acting from the central fuel passage 8 of the plunger 5 on the inclined lead 10 and especially on the furrow 9. This tendency is aggravated as the pressure of the fuel injection pump increases, leading to problems of locking between the plunger 5 and the timing sleeve 11, or causing damage to the timing sleeve 11.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel injection pump plunger wherein it is possible to prevent deformation of the timing sleeve in the face of high fuel pressure.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fuel injection pump plunger wherein it is possible to ensure no-injection state even with elimination of the furrow which is the chief cause of deformation of the timing sleeve.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a fuel injection pump plunger wherein it is possible to ensure no-injection state by ensuring the area of the aperture of the spill port in no-injection state, and to avoid secondary injection.


A pair of vibrating arms are arranged side by side in a second direction crossing the first direction, base end sides of which in the first direction are fixed to the base, a pair of inclined surfaces are formed in both sides of the base end of the vibrating arm in the second direction, an end portion in the base end side of an inner inclined surface is connected to an end surface in the tip end side of the base, and an end portion in the base end side of an outer inclined surface is connected to an end surface of the base in the second direction, and the base-end side end portion of the outer inclined surface is arranged closer to the tip end side than the base-end side end portion of the inner inclined surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric vibrating reed and a piezoelectric vibrator.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a cellular phone or a portable information terminal device, a piezoelectric vibrator formed of a crystal or the like is used as a time source, a timing source of a control signal, a reference signal source and so on. As one of these types of piezoelectric vibrators, a piezoelectric vibrator which houses a piezoelectric vibrating reed in a vacuum sealed cavity is known. In the piezoelectric vibrator, a voltage is applied to an excitation electrode formed in vibrating arms, thereby vibrating the vibrating arms with a predetermined resonance frequency.
Incidentally, inclined surfaces (tapers) are formed at base end portions of vibrating arms connecting to a base in the piezoelectric vibrating reed. The effect of improving the strength in the vibrating arms can be expected by this structure.
As disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2008-219066 (Patent Document 1), there is known a type of piezoelectric vibrator in which a pair of support arms are provided so as to extend from a base to which a pair of vibrating arms are connected to both sides of the vibrating arms and the piezoelectric vibrating reed is mounted by the vicinity of tip ends of these support arms. The piezoelectric vibrating reed has a pair of inclined surfaces which are approximately symmetrical with respect to a center line which equally divides the vibrating arm in the width direction at the base end portion of the vibrating arm as shown in FIG. 1 of the document.

Piezoelectric vibrating reed and piezoelectric vibrator


A system and method for servicing aircraft on a flight line away from a maintenance terminal comprises a first set of vehicles for servicing the aircraft directly and a second set of vehicles for servicing the service vehicles. The first set of vehicles requires fuel and oil in order to operate; the second set brings fuel and oil to the first set to make it unnecessary for the first set to halt aircraft servicing in order to return to the terminal. The second set of vehicles includes a trailer with three tanks, one for jet fuel, one for diesel fuel and one for oil. The tanks are placed on a catch basin carried on a trailer. Each has a tapered bottom with a drain and an inlet port at the top with a funnel-shaped collar. Each tank also carries its own transfer hose with a manual pump and has a sight guage, ground cable, lifting rings and lifting handles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to aircraft servicing. More particularly, the present invention is a system and method for servicing aircraft in which some vehicles are used to service the aircraft, and other vehicles refuel and service the servicing vehicles so that the servicing vehicles do not have to leave the flight line.
2. Discussion of Background
Aircraft servicing is well known. When aircraft have returned from a flight, various tasks are performed to prepare the plane for return to the air. In addition to refueling and checking oil levels, the safety systems are reviewed, such as the hydraulic systems that operate the landing gear and controls. For military aircraft, munitions may be replaced.
Civilian aircraft are generally serviced in hangers at airports. Military aircraft are serviced on the flight line, where a row of aircraft are parked away from a maintenance terminal and nearer to the runway, to be ready for mobilization. The distance from the flight line to the maintenance terminals may be as much as one mile.
Servicing of aircraft, particularly military aircraft, is typically done by shuttling service vehicles out to the flight line from the maintenance terminal where they perform the requisite service. Periodically, the servicing vehicles return to the maintenance terminal for themselves to be refueled or for other servicing. These repeated trips take time. Furthermore, if the servicing vehicle needs to be refueled after a sequence of tests using that vehicle has been started, these tests may need to be rested once the servicing vehicle returns.
There remains a need for a more efficient method for servicing aircraft.


An aluminum (Al) alloy wire, which is an extra fine wire having a wire diameter of 0.5 mm or less, contains, in mass %, Mg at 0.03% to 1.5%, Si at 0.02% to 2.0%, at least one element selected from Cu, Fe, Cr, Mn and Zr at a total of 0.1% to 1.0% and the balance being Al and impurities, and has an electrical conductivity of 40% IACS or more, a tensile strength of 150 MPa or more, and an elongation of 5% or more. By producing the extra fine wire from an Al alloy of a specific composition containing Zr, Mn and other specific elements, though the extra fine wire is extra fine, it has a fine structure with a maximum grain size of 50 μm or less and is superior in elongation.

Hitherto, a plurality of electrical wires having a terminal are bundled together and are used in the form of a so-called wire harness in a wiring structure of electrical devices including a transportation device such as a motor vehicle or the like and a control device such as an industrial robot or the like. As the constituting material of a conductor for the electrical wire of the wire harness, copper containing materials such as copper, copper alloy and the like superior in electrical conductivity are mainly used.
Recently, accompanied with the rapid development of high performance and high functionality on motor vehicles, various types of electrical devices, control devices and the like to be mounted in the motor vehicles are increasing, which thereby brings about an increasing trend of electrical wires to be used in the mentioned devices. In the meanwhile, in recent years, in order to improve fuel efficiency of a transportation device such as a motor vehicle or the like so as to respond ecologically to the environment, it is strongly desired to make such transportation device lighter in weight.
As a lightweight solution to the electrical wires, it has been considered to use an aluminum electrical wire in which aluminum having a specific weight of about ⅓ of copper is used as the conductor. However, compared to the copper containing materials, pure aluminum is inferior in both impact resistance and flexing characteristics. Therefore, if a pure aluminum electrical wire is applied, for example, in dynamic locations such as a door section where open and close operations are performed, a section around an engine subjected to vibrations and the like, it is possible that the pure aluminum electrical wire may break earlier than expected. Thereby, the application of pure aluminum electrical wires is limited to wires of vehicular accessories in a static location which is substantially immobile after installation or in a low-temperature location having a temperature from room temperature to no more than 50° C.
Meanwhile, Japanese Patent No. 4646998 (PTL 1) has disclosed the fabrication of an aluminum alloy wire which has a high strength and a high electrical conductivity and is superior in impact resistance by performing a softening treatment on the wire after elongation and the application of the aluminum alloy wire having a high strength and a high toughness as the conductor of electrical wires in vehicular wire harness. Since the aluminum alloy wire is superior in impact resistance, it can be used in the dynamic locations mentioned in the above.

Aluminum alloy wire, and aluminum alloy twisted wire, covered electrical wire and wire harness using the same


Methods and structure for standardized communication between a test operator, a host system, and an embedded system under test. Test program instructions are designed, written for, and executed on, an embedded system under test in accordance with standard API functions for message exchange. Still further, the invention provides for standards in the user interface to select a desired test, to start the test with defined parameters and to present reply and status information to the test operator. These user interactions are defined in a test configuration language of the present invention and preferably incorporated with the executable image file to define an integral test vehicle file. The present invention thereby reduces test sequence development time by providing standard API functions for message exchange between a host system test application and the system under test and provides for standardized user interaction in a flexible, easily maintained design language.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to computer assisted, automated testing systems and procedures and more specifically relates to improved methods and structures for automated testing of embedded systems by providing a standardized user interface and API for communications between the embedded system under test, the test operator and an associated automated test host system.
2. Discussion of Related Art
It is critical in the electronic arts, and other technological arts, to verify design and operation of products and systems prior to volume manufacturing and distribution of such products. Further, as products evolve with enhancements and modifications, it is similarly critical to verify design and operation of the products so modified. In one form of testing, the system or product under test is viewed as a "black box" such that external information or stimuli are provided as inputs to the black box (system under test) and resulting actions or output values are confirmed as proper actions or outputs of the black box in response to appropriately applied stimuli. The internal structure and operation inside the "black box" are not relevant to such testing.
Such "black box" of testing is adequate to verify operation of the system in response to numerous expected environmental circumstances and stimuli. However, such black box testing often is insufficient to apply stressful stimuli outside normal expected ranges of operation.
In view of the weaknesses and limitations of black box testing, other forms of testing (sometimes referred to as "white box" testing) are useful to more effectively verify operation of the system under test in response to a wider range of stimuli including those associated with conditions generated internal to the system under test. Exemplary of such testing approaches is the automated testing of embedded systems. For example, it is common that intelligent I/O controller devices inserted within a host system often possess substantial computational and processing power as integrated circuit chips designed within the intelligent I/O controller. For example, an intelligent I/O controller may include one or more general-purpose processing devices (i.e., CPUs), one or more special-purpose processors (i.e., I/O coprocessors), and substantial amounts of memory for storing code to operate the various processors, variables associated with that operation and buffer memory for buffering user data moving into, or out of, the intelligent I/O controller. To effectively test operation of all of these components often requires that special test programs be designed and loaded into the program memory associated with the intelligent I/O controller so as to enable the various processors within such an intelligent I/O controller to perform tests applying internally generated stimuli.
As presently practiced in the art, no standards exist for development, and operation of such embedded test sequences. Rather, individual test engineers often design unique test cases by producing appropriate test code instructions and developing unique host interfaces for communicating parameters of the test and test results between the host system in use by the test operator and the embedded systems under test. Creation of such a unique interface between systems under test and host systems with which a test operator interacts can create confusion in the style of interaction and hence errors in test procedures. Further, such unique design efforts generate duplicative work by multiple engineers each creating unique embedded test interfaces rather than sharing a common, standard interface.
It is evident from the above discussion that a need exists for improved methods and structures for generating, configuring and operating test sequences especially on embedded systems under test.

Methods and structure for improved testing of embedded systems


Method and apparatus for adjusting an image formation speed with respect to printing data transferred from a digital office device. To that end, an internal temperature and an operation environment of the digital office device are measured. The measured internal temperature and the operation environment are used to calculate a first threshold output sheet number. When the sheet number of the image formation with respect to the transferred printing data exceeds the first threshold output sheet number, the operation environment is used to adjust the image formation speed with respect to the printing data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a digital office device for performing copying, printing, scanning, and so forth. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and a system for checking operating states of a digital office device to control its internal temperature.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, examples of the digital office device include a copy machine, a printer, a scanner, a facsimile, and so forth. The digital office device performs printing of data received from its receiver unit on a printing sheet.
FIG. 1 illustrates a procedure of performing the printing operation in the printer, as an example of a function performed by digital office devices. Hereinafter, the procedure of performing the printing operation in the printer will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1.
In a step S100, the printer determines whether printing data are received. The printer proceeds to a step S102 when it is determined that the printing data are received, and returns to the step S100 when it is determined that the printing data are not received.
In the step S102, the printer performs image formation on the received printing data in a conventional manner. A detailed description of performing the image formation is omitted. In a step S104, the printer measures its internal temperature. In a step S106, the printer compares the measured internal temperature with a predetermined value. The printer returns to the step S102 to continue the image formation when the measured internal temperature is determined to be lower than the predetermined value. However, the printer proceeds to a step S108 when the measured internal temperature is determined to be higher than the predetermined value upon the comparison. In the step S108, the printer stops the image formation on the printing data.
Stopping the image formation may prevent the internal temperature of the printer from drastically increasing. In other words, the image formation or an operation of a sheet feeding device may be stopped for the sake of system stability, which allows the internal temperature of the printer to be reduced.
In FIG. 1, the printer stops the image formation when the internal temperature measured by the printer exceeds the predetermined value. However, the printer may stop the image formation when the number of printing sheet with respect to the printing data for forming the image, which is measured by the printer, exceeds the predetermined value.
However, the method for stopping the image formation with respect to the printing data causes several problems. When the internal temperature of the printer exceeds the predetermined value, it cannot be known for how long the image formation should be stopped so that the internal temperature reduces to a specific temperature. Accordingly, when a user sets a specific stoppage time period in the printer, the printer stops the image formation for the set specific time period. In addition, the user sets the same specific time period regardless of operating environments of printers. As a result, there is a need for dealing with problems in the image formation device including the printer resulting from having such stopping arrangements.

Method and apparatus for adjusting printing velocity in digital office device


Methods are provided for collecting fees for managing and optimizing the profitability of a plurality of physicians in a healthcare practice participating in an insurance network. The methods include establishing a relationship between a healthcare consultation group and the healthcare practice participating in the insurance network to increase the physician's profitability by reducing a risk of not receiving a predetermined reimbursement amount for ancillary medical costs from the insurance network. The methods also include distributing predetermined percentages of savings attributed to the physicians' modified ancillary medical cost management behavior.

In the healthcare industry, as illustrated in FIG. 1, physicians generally organize themselves into practice groups 25 and normally subcontract to an insurance network 30. The insurance network 30 is not limited to traditional insurance networks, i.e., Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, United Healthcare, etc., but also include self insured networks within companies, employers, or other large entities. The insurance network 30 includes a plurality of patients 35 that obtain healthcare services from the plurality of physicians 25 participating in the insurance network 30. The groups of physicians 25 include a plurality of physicians 25 that provide healthcare services to a plurality of patients 35 within a particular geographical area in varying medical fields. The physicians in the healthcare practices 25 are normally compensated a predetermined reimbursement amount by the insurance network 30 for every subscribing patient 35 in the insurance network 30 that is to be treated by the physicians 25.
For example, a physician 25 participating in the insurance network 30 may be reimbursed $80 per month by the insurance network 30 for agreeing to treat a patient 35 in the insurance network 30 and assume the responsibility for a percentage of the ancillary medical costs for that patient 25. As illustrated in FIG. 1, there exists a relationship between the insurance network 30 and the physician practice 25. Likewise, there also exjsts a relationship between the patients 35 and the insurance network 30, and the patients 35 and the physician practices 25. The physician practice 25 normally receives payment for services directly from the patients 35 or though reimbursements from the insurance network 30. The payment that is received from the patient 35 can be in the form of a co-payment or a partial payment for the healiheare services. In order for the physician practice 25 participating in the insurance network 30 to receive the entire reimbursement from the insurance network 30, i.e., the $80 per month for agreeing to treat each patient 35, the physician practice 25 must comply with preselected requirements set by the insurance network 30. These requirements often fall within varying cost centers, such as pharmaceutical, laboratory, anesthesiology, and radiation costs, for example.
In the pharmaceutical area, for example, a wide variety of prescription medications are developed and manufactured to combat similar illnesses. As illustrated in FIG. 1, prescription medication manufacturers 24 sometimes enter into agreements with the insurance network 30. The prescription medication manufacturers 24 sometimes offer rebates to insurance networks 30 if the physician practice 25 prescribes their medications. The prescription medication manufacturers 24 cannot enter into these types of agreements with the physician practices 25, as it would likely be contrary to public policy. The insurance network 30, in turn may enter into an agreement with a pharmacy network 21, such as a pharmacy benefits management (PBM), for example, to encourage the physician practice 25 in the insurance network 30 to prescribe certain medications. The PBM is compensated a profit on the preferred prescription medications, and a portion of the profits are then passed along to the pharmacy 40. The requirements, or preferences, set by the insurance network 30 regarding pharmaceutical costs, for example, include the types of prescription medications that the physicians may prescribe to their patients.
In some instances, the insurance networks provide incentives to the physician practice 25 for prescribing medications upon which, the insurance network 30 receives discounts from prescription medication manufacturers 24. If the physician practice 25 bears any percentage of medication costs for the patient 35 and prescribe medications which differ from those preferred by the insurance network 30, the incentives may be withheld from the physician practice 25, i.e., the physician practice 25 may be paid nothing instead of $10 for the patient 35 in the insurance network 30. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the insurance network 30 monitors the prescriptions that the physician practice 25 participating in the insurance network 30 write through a monitoring relationship developed with pharmacies 40 and pharmacy networks 21. In this monitoring relationship, the pharmacy 40 and the PBM provide claims data to the insurance network 30.
There are many different levels of risk for the physician practice 25 that is associated with this arrangement. If the insurance network 30 assumes the financial responsibility for the patient's 35 healthcare needs, then the physician practice 25 assumes no risk. If, however, the physician practice 25 assumes the financial responsibility for the patient's healthcare needs, i.e., any healthcare costs beyond the reimbursement amount from the insurance network 30, then the physician practice 25 assumes the most risk. Another alternative arrangement is if the financial responsibility for the patient's 35 healthcare needs are shared between the physician practice 25 and the insurance network 30. In such an arrangement, the risk for patient's 35 healthcare costs is shared between the insurance network 30 and the physician practice 25. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the payments between the insurance network 30 and the physician practice 25 can vary depending upon the amount of risk taken by the physician practice 25.
As further illustrated in FIG. 1, patients 35 participating in the insurance network 30 obtain healthcare treatment from the physician practice 25 and pay premiums or insurance payments to the insurance network 30. The medical treatment provided to the patients 35 by the physicians in the physician practice 25 can include prescribing medications. The patients 35, however, obtain the prescription medications from the pharmacy 40 and provide either a full payment or a co-payment for the prescription medications. The patients 35 can then be reimbursed for some or all of the payment for the prescription medications from the insurance network 30.
This arrangement is disadvantageous for the physician practice 25 participating in the insurance network 30 because it requires a great deal of management and organization to follow the requirements of the insurance network 30. The system is even more disadvantageous for the physician practice 25 if it participates in multiple insurance networks 30. Each insurance network 30 maintains a preferred list of prescription medications, for example, that the physician practice 25 may prescribe to the patients 35. Further, each insurance network 30 updates their preferred list of prescription medications on a routine basis. The physician practice 25 in the insurance network 30 generally attempts to spend the majority of their time treating patients 35. The management and organization of the insurance network 30 requirements can be time consuming and eliminate some of the time that a physician practice 25 may normally dedicate to the treatment of patients 35.
Traditionally, there also has been tension between the physician practice 25 and the insurance network 30. The tension can be caused by the insurance network 30 delaying payment to the physician practice 25 with notification of a particular network requirement that has been violated, if any. In addition, the physician practice 25 normally receive very little support from the insurance network 30, such as patient history updates and information on medication costs. Tensions are also sometimes caused by the insurance network's 30 perception that the physician practice 25 over-bills for treatment and does not provide all possible treatment options for patients 35. The physician practice 25 sometimes feel pressured by the insurance network 30 to provide medical treatment to their patients 35 according to the preferences of the insurance network 30 instead of according to their own medical judgments. Of course, the physician practice 25 is free to independently treat the patients 35 in the insurance network 30 based on medical judgment, but the tension between the physician practice 25 and the insurance network 30 still exists.
The physician practice 25 is not bound by the treatment procedures that are preferred by the insurance network 30. Often, however, conflict between the insurance network 30 and the physician practice 25 can arise when the insurance network 30 prefers the physician practice 25 to perform certain medical procedures or prescribe particular medications that are more profitable to the insurance network 30. The physician practice 25 does not have the time necessary to perform exhaustive research necessary to determine if the treatment proposed by the insurance network 30 is feasible, or even safe, to patients 35. Prudent physicians in the physician practice 25 often do not change their treatment practices based simply on information provided by the insurance networks 30.
In the interest of patient safety, physicians in the physician practice 25 should research medical literature to become more educated as to possible benefits of alternative medications. As noted above, however, this takes a great deal of time that can better be used to treat patients 35. In order to conserve the time that might normally be spent on managing and organizing the insurance network 30 requirements, however, some physician practices 35 may hire office managers. This is disadvantageous because an office manager can be extremely costly and will normally need office space. The office space that may be used by the proposed office manager may be an examination room in which the physician would normally treat patients 35. Once again, this cuts down on the number of patients 35 that the physician practice 25 can possibly treat. The office manager also often only manages finances and personnel and has little understanding of physician practices 25 with respect to relationships between insurance networks 30 and physicians' 25 decisions and practices with respect to patients 30.
It has been proposed that the performance of a first healthcare provider can be compared to the performance of a second healthcare provider using a computer program as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,842 titled "Analysis and Reporting of Performance of Service Providers", by Siegrist, Jr. et al. More particularly, a method of monitoring customer satisfaction so as to keep the healthcare providers competitive in many different fields is described. The method described in Siegrist, Jr. et al., however, is disadvantageous to group physicians in organizing and managing healthcare costs that are dependant upon preferred treatment of the insurance network.
Often times, in an effort to become more profitable, a healthcare practice 25 or a self insured employer may study the current relationship between the healthcare practice group 25 and the insurance network 30 or hire a business consultant to analyze this relationship and make recommendations as to how to become more profitable. This, however, is disadvantageous because the business consultant does not have accountability for the results. In other words, the business consultant analyzes the situation, makes a recommendation and collects a fee for the time spent in analyzing the situation. This is normally the end of the relationship between the business consultant and the physician 25. The responsibility for implementation is then shifted to the healthcare practice 25, with some added knowledge provided by the business consultant who has collected a fee and exited the situation, to make the practice more profitable with no assistance.
Hiring a business consultant is also disadvantageous because the healthcare practice 25 has to assume risk for engaging the business consultant to review the healthcare practice 25. This is also disadvantageous because prudent physicians will normally take time to evaluate the expertise of the business consultant if the situation calls for the healthcare practice 25 to assume a risk. This is further disadvantageous because the healthcare practice 25 is left with the responsibility of implementing the suggestions of the business consultant in cases where the consultant merely analyzes the situation and provides information.
When the physician practice 25 is not able to organize and manage medical treatment information in a manner that is preferred by the insurance network 30 in which they participate, there only exist two possible results. Either the physician practice 25 receives lower reimbursements from the insurance network 30, or the insurance network 30 is less profitable. No matter which result occurs, however, the ultimate end result is higher medical costs for patients 35. Therefore, the patients 35 are the real losers in the situations described above.

Methods for collecting fees for healthcare management group


A scan driving circuit includes a shift register configured to sequentially output a first scan signal to scan lines through respective first output lines during a first section of a frame period, a simultaneous switching block configured to simultaneously output a second scan signal to the scan lines through respective second output lines during a second section of the frame period, the first and second periods of the frame period being different from each other, a switching device electrically connected to the second output line, and a repair line across the first output line and the second output line.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a scan driving circuit and a method of repairing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of flat panel display apparatuses capable of reducing weight and volume has been recently developed. Flat panel display apparatuses include liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatuses, field emission display (FED) apparatuses, plasma display panel (PDP) apparatuses, and organic light emitting diode (OLED) display apparatuses.
Among flat panel display apparatuses, OLED display apparatuses display an image using organic light emitting diodes that generate light by a recombination of electrons and holes, and are advantageous due to their fast response speed and low power consumption. OLED display apparatuses include a panel and driving circuits for driving the panel. In the panel, a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines are arranged to cross each other, and pixels including thin film transistors (TFTs) are formed in a region defined by vertically crossing the scan lines and the data lines.
Among the driving circuits, a scan driving circuit for sequentially or simultaneously driving the scan lines includes circuit blocks capable of outputting scan signals to the scan lines. Thus, if a defect occurs in the circuit blocks, the panel is abnormally driven and thus is determined to be defective.

Scan driving circuit and method of repairing the same


An A-D conversion unit performs analog-to-digital conversions on baseband signals. A correlation processing unit carries out a correlation processing. A power computing unit computes the power of correlation values. An inter-signal condition determining unit compares a relationship between the peak of a main signal and the peak of sub-signals to a first condition, and excludes, from combining diversity, baseband signals corresponding to the sub-signals if the relationship does not satisfy the first condition. An intra-signal condition determining unit 30 compares the main signals and sub-signals to a second condition, respectively, and excludes signals from combining diversity if the signals do not satisfy the second condition. A timing adjusting unit adjusts the timing of sub-signals so that the timing thereof comes close to the timing of the main signal. A shift unit shifts the timing of sampled signals corresponding to the sub-signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the timing adjusting technologies, and it particularly relates to timing-adjusting method and apparatus and diversity receiving method and apparatus with which to adjust the timing of a plurality of signals received by a plurality of antennas so as to carry out the diversity reception.
2. Description of the Related Art
In digital radio communication, signals transmitted from a transmitting apparatus travel through radio propagation paths before they are received by a receiving apparatus. The receiving apparatus extracts information symbols, which are the object of transmission, from the signals received. In order to extract such information symbols accurately, the receiving apparatus must carry out extraction with a timing synchronized with the timing of the information symbols sent from the transmitting apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "synchronous timing"). Generally, a receiving apparatus, which is not informed of a synchronous timing from a transmitting apparatus, extracts one from the signals it has received. However, where the signals transmitted between a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus are multi-carrier signals, application of an extraction method of synchronous timing for single-carrier signals may result in an increase in the amount of processing with the increase in the number of carriers. On the other hand, one of the methods for suppressing the amount of processing, which results from the extraction of synchronous timing for multi-carrier signals, is such that the correlation value between the pilot signal contained in the received signals and the pilot signal prepared beforehand is calculated and the timing when the peak of the correlation value is attained is extracted as the synchronous timing (See, for example, Reference (1) in the Related Art List below).
Related Art List
(1) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei8-46659.
To improve the quality of signal transmission, a receiving apparatus may be provided with a plurality of antennas and a plurality of signals received by the plurality of antennas may be subjected to a diversity processing, or sometimes a combining diversity processing. In such a case, timing errors of the respective antennas may add up and, therefore, they are likely to lead to larger timing errors. If the difference in timing between antennas becomes large, the received signals rotates, and a combining diversity processing for the rotated signals may not result in any improvement in the transmission characteristics of signals. With multi-carrier signals, the rotation occurs with the sub-carriers, so that a combined diversity processing between sub-carriers with opposite phases may lead to a worsening of transmission characteristics of signals.

Timing-adjusting method and apparatus, and diversity receiving method and apparatus


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for methods and systems for making structures using an electrospray system while under vacuum. In particular, embodiments of the present disclosure provide for methods and systems for ultra-fast growth of high aspect ratio nano/meso/micro-structures with three dimensional topological complexity and control of phase and composition of the structure formed.

Focused Electron Beam Induced Deposition (FEBID), also referred to as Focused Electron Beam Chemical Vapor Deposition (FEB-CVD), is an emerging additive manufacturing method for "direct writing" of three-dimensional nanostructures from a variety of materials. It was discovered accidentally in 1934 by Steward as an undesirable phenomenon in high resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As a sample is scanned in an SEM chamber, the electron beam dissociates contaminant molecules on the surface to produce reaction products that chemisorb to and form a deposit on the surface. Therefore, looking at any feature in the SEM alters the feature and introduces artifacts due to carbon deposition during sample imaging. This process is undesirable to imaging, and is typically prevented through abrasive chemical treatment of samples prior to imaging; however, such treatment may damage the sample. On the other hand, carbon deposition can also be made useful and applied to direct writing of nanostructures. FEBID has been increasingly used as a nanomanufacturing tool for many applications, ranging from IC mask repair, to electrical interconnect fabrication, and to rapid prototyping of topologically complex opto-electro-mechanical devices.
FEBIP serves as a powerful tool for both additive (FEBID) and subtractive (FEBIE) processing by enabling atom-by-atom and molecule-by-molecule material placement and removal through use of an electron beam. Fundamentally FEBIP methods use delivery of the electron of an appropriate energy as a reactant to the reaction site. There, electrons can participates in chemical structure altering collisions, participate directly in reactions by breaking bonds with the appropriate energy, or act as a more traditional" chemical reagent, participating in (electro)chemical reactions with cations.
FEBID is an additive direct-write means to create 3D nanostructures, bringing the functionality, utility, and flexibility of 3D printing to the nanoscale. FEBID differs from the most common nanoscale direct-write methods in that particles are not mechanically placed or otherwise forced into a location, but the material is grown atom-by-atom or via reaction of an irradiating electron beam with precursor material. For example, dip-pen nanolithography is a method of evenly placing linear organic molecules on a substrate by coating an AFM tip with precursor molecules which diffuse through a liquid bridge between the tip and a substrate to form a chemical bond with the substrate. Nanofiber spinning is essentially a scaled down version of macroscale consumer-grade 3D printing methods, in which a polymer is extruded and stacked to form 3D structures. Therefore it relies on mechanically directed growth via motion of the injection nozzle. FEBID is fundamentally different because growth is mediated through combined effects of precursor concentration and state, and electron irradiation. Electrons reach the deposition site through direct impact and propagation through the precursor, as well as by scattering through an adjacent domain and emerging into the precursor-containing domain. FEBID can therefore be used to create suspended structures as was demonstrated in our work with liquids and using cryogenically condensed organometallics and spin-coated polymers.
Focused Ion Beam Induced Deposition (FIBID) is a similar process to FEBID, and is sometimes preferred over FEBID due to its higher deposition rate in the beam-limited growth regime and improved "as-deposited" deposit purity with respect to co-deposited carbon contaminants. It has, however, the disadvantages of surface damage, ion implantation, and a generally lower resolution. Since both FEBID and FIBID utilize low energy secondary electrons (SE) generated upon interaction of high energy primary electrons (FEBID) or ions (FIBID) with precursor molecules to produce a deposit, there is a significant degree of overlap in the fundamental principles and models describing both deposition processes. Therefore, while the proposed research is focused on FEBID, its implications are much broader and will impact the advances in FIBID, as well.
Subtractive nanofabrication involves directed removal of atoms and molecules from a larger bulk, where the material that remains after processing is the desired structure. For the "direct write" format, simple etching can be performed with thermomechanical AFM tips which impact and penetrate the substrate, leaving behind an indentation. However, the resolution of this method is limited by the size of the probe and control over tip actuation, as well as its suffering from diminishing tip sharpness in the course processing with negative implications to patterning quality especially when applied over large areas. Lithography through FEBIE allows for nanometer-scale precise material etching with high aspect ratios (e.g., poration greater than 1:10 ratio for diameter to depth, as demonstrated in Si). As with FEBID, FEBIE is a very powerful "direct write" technique for material editing, as it does not require mechanical contact or actuation to expose the growth/etch site to the reagents, and it has been successfully demonstrated in many applications.
Despite this progress, new methods for making structures are desired.

Systems and methods of electron beam induced processing


The modular front end forms the front portion of a motor vehicle. The modular front end includes a bulkhead defining a plurality of integrally formed attachment mounts. A drive train assembly carrying at least an engine of the motor vehicle is attached to the bulkhead at the attachment mounts. A crash energy absorption assembly is attached to the attachment mounts on the bulkhead and generally extends around the drive train assembly. An apron assembly is attached to the bulkhead at the attachment mounts and is generally positioned above the drive train assembly and crash energy absorption assembly.

Currently, the front ends of most motor vehicles are built into the vehicle body one piece or component at a time. The installation of literally hundreds of different components in the motor vehicle front end requires the manufacturer to maintain lengthy, complex, and costly assembly lines as well as extensive tooling and fixtures. This complexity is due not only to the high number of parts involved, but also the assembly methods currently used in the automotive industry and the amount of on-line adjusting and repair that is often needed to correct assembly defects. Additionally, the well-known assembly line process is highly labor intensive, again due mainly to the high number of parts and assembly methods currently used in the automotive industry.
Typically, once a painted vehicle body comes to the finish assembly line, hundreds of individual components are assembled to the vehicle body. The numerous individual components are used to complete the suspension system, steering and braking system, power train, cooling system, electrical system, etc. As stated, the individual components comprising these systems are typically added to the vehicle body one-by-one or in small subgroups to finish the assembly of the motor vehicle.
The large number of components required to assemble a motor vehicle requires the assembly line to be extremely long and requires many people to accomplish numerous discreet tasks along the assembly line. This makes the process of motor vehicle assembly unnecessarily slow and complicated and adversely affects the quality and reliability of the motor vehicle when it is completed. Additionally, the confined space within which the workers operate makes on-line service and repair tasks difficult and even dangerous. The overall complexity of the current system for assembling motor vehicles is unnecessarily slow and expensive and there is considerable room for improvement.

Method of assembling a motor vehicle modular front end having a bulkhead assembly


In a method or device for function-monitoring an actuator in a process engineering plant, said actuator comprising a valve and an actuating drive for actuating said valve. A positioner is provided for setting a position of the valve, the positioner comprising a controller module. A predefined activation test signal is generated and applied to the controller module to position the actuator into a predefined function condition. A control signal is generated by the controller module for signalling the actuating drive in accordance with the activation test signal and an output control signal is sensed and monitored as compared to a reference control signal.

The preferred embodiment relates to a method and device for function-monitoring an actuator in a process engineering plant, particularly during operation of the plant, the actuator comprising a valve, an actuating drive, such as a pneumatic actuating drive, for actuating the valve and a positioner for setting the position of the valve.
Particularly the operation of a process engineering plant involving toxic fluids poses a risk to man and his environment that needs to be monitored. For this purpose, use is made of actuators including a safety valve which in an emergency situation automatically assumes a safe position. To comply with stringent safety standards, plant operators always need to be sure of correct functioning of the actuators. This is usually done by a test run of the safety valve to a safe position which with most actuators necessitates shutting down at least part of the plant. Thus on-line monitoring, i.e. during its operation, would be desirable. Function-monitoring for this purpose should take into account as many components of the actuator as possible which are susceptible to failure.
One method of function-monitoring an actuator having a proven record of success is described in the German article entitled "Neues integriertes Diagnosekonzept bei digitalen Stellungsreglern" by Dr. Jörg Kiesbauer as published in the magazine "atp-Automatisierungstechnische Praxis", year 46, 2004, No. 4/2004 involving a novel integrated diagnostic concept for function-monitoring digital positioners. In this arrangement, functioning of the actuator is monitored mainly by making use of a displacement sensor which senses an actual value for comparison with a set point value of the position. When the discrepancy between actual and set point position is prohibitive, malfunctioning of the actuator is signalled.
It is known from experience that the internal friction such as sliding friction particularly with closed-loop control valves and sticking with safety control valves in the actuating drive and in the valve is a parameter providing a strong indication as to functioning performance of the actuator. How good the closed-loop control is depends on the existing friction, i.e. the lower and more uniform the friction, the higher the accuracy in attaining closed-loop control.
With safety valves or shutoff valves the forces needed to position the safety valve into its safe position are usually produced by a preloaded spring or by a source of pneumatic energy. If the safety valve has not been operated for a long time, the valve element is subject to high sticking forces, with the risk of the valve element failing to attain the safe position in an emergency situation, because the sticking forces exceed the driving forces as made available or because the actuator upon overcoming the sticking is caused to over-shoot. The problems involved in known methods of function-monitoring may result in safe operation of the plant being seriously diminished.
Even with closed-loop control valves, which are often positioned, the problem of sticking or uneven friction may occur, making it essential to sense the true displacement of the closed-loop control valve. Once the monitoring procedure has been started, sticking or slipping of the valve element cannot be sensed until the resistance has been overcome and the high drive forces needed for this purpose act on the valve element which inevitably results in an undesirable overshoot of the valve, termed stick/slip.

Method and device for function-monitoring an actuator


A document reading apparatus arranged to reduce inconsistencies in the output signals of its linear image sensor is provided. The document reading apparatus includes a linear image sensor, a light source control circuit, and a light source driver. The light source control circuit has a pulse generator that generates control pulses having a prescribed frequency and a pulse period that is shorter than an accumulation period of the linear image sensor, the accumulation period being indicated by a timing signal that represents the accumulation period and a non-accumulation period. The light source control circuit also has a synchronization output unit that outputs a prescribed number of trigger pulses in synchronization with the timing signal and the control pulses. The light source driver drives the light source in response to the trigger pulses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document reading apparatus that reads a document image and an imaging apparatus such as a scanner, a digital copier, or a facsimile machine that implements this document reading apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional document reading apparatus, inconsistencies in the density representation values of output signals from a linear image sensor representing the same density may be due to, for example, an inconsistency in the initial light level of the light source, a short-term fluctuation of the light level, a long-term degradation of the light level (degradation over time), or an unevenness in sensor sensitivity, in the case of black-and-white image reading. Also, in the case of color image reading, inconsistencies in the output signals representing image density may be due to an inconsistency in the initial color level of the light source, a short-term fluctuation in the color level of the light source, or a long-term fluctuation of the color level of the light source, for example. Further, due to these inconsistencies and fluctuations, the maximum output may be approximately 6˜7 times the minimum output.
Thus, in the conventional art, the above-described inconsistencies are compensated by performing variable gain amplification in an analog signal processing step implemented after the linear image sensor process. However, in the conventional technique, it is difficult to secure a stable density performance in such a wide dynamic range of the image signals, and also, a large load is imposed on the analog signal processing circuit thereby hindering the simplification of the analog signal processing unit.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.10-285338, a technique is disclosed in which the start up time of a document irradiating fluorescent lamp of a scanner is shortened, and after the start up time, the fluorescent lamp is driven with high frequency in order to stabilize the light level. Further, a PWM (pulse width modulation) control is performed upon driving the fluorescent lamp and the amount of light irradiated by the fluorescent lamp is detected with a photodiode. This detection result is compared with a light level standard signal and if it is determined that the amount of light is insufficient, the PWM duty is increased. On the other hand, if the light level is determined to be excessive, the duty is decreased. This up-down fluctuation of the duty is greater during start up than after the start up. The pulse period of the PWM pulse corresponds to the period of a line synchronization signal SYNC. The fluorescent lamp is driven by a high frequency during the earlier half of the accumulation time for a CCD to accumulate signals of one line. The high frequency lighting is turned off during the latter half of the accumulation time.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2001-273996, an apparatus is disclosed in which two discharge lamps each having an inverter for providing a stable irradiation of high luminance light are interchangeably used.
According to the conventional art, when a fluorescent lamp is turned on and off through PWM control of an inverter lighting the lamp, a clock pulse from a counter determining the on pulse width of the PWM pulse and the high frequency high voltage applied to the fluorescent lamp by the inverter are not synchronized, and thereby, even if the duty of the PWM is the same, the amount of light irradiated by the fluorescent lamp within one period is uneven. That is, the amount of exposure is varied for each line.

Document reading apparatus and imaging apparatus implementing same


A turbocharger for an internal combustion engine, the turbocharger being supported by hydrostatic bearings in both a radial and an axial direction by a compressed air supplied from a compressor of the turbocharger and boosted in pressure by a separate boost pump to a high enough pressure to support the rotor of the turbocharger.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a turbocharger, and more specifically to a turbocharger with an oil-free hydrostatic bearing.
Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
A turbocharger is used to compress air supplied to an engine using a hot gas exhaust as a driving force. The engine exhaust drives a turbine that drives a compressor to supply the compressed air to the engine. The performance of the engine is increased due to the compressed air.
Prior art turbochargers require shaft support systems that use oil lubricated bearings which depend on the viscosity of the fluid to provide a hydrodynamic film in the bearing. Components on the shaft typically include a compressor rotor mounted to one end of the shaft and a turbine rotor mounted to the other end of the shaft.
During operation of the turbocharger, significant radial and axial forces are produced by the compressor and the turbine which are reacted into the housing through the radial journal and axial thrust bearings. This is typically accomplished with a pressurized oil lubrication system to both remove heat and reduce rolling resistance. For a turbocharger, the lubrication system requires an oil cooler and a pump to supply sufficient pressure to the bearings while preventing the oil from coking. If oil pressure is lost or if the oil becomes contaminated from the internal combustion (IC) engine, degradation in bearing performance due to loss of lubrication or cooling occurs, leading to catastrophic failure of the turbocharger bearing system. Some advanced high temperature turbochargers utilize an additional coolant system in the bearing housing to further reduce bearing and bearing fluid temperature in order to prevent coking of the oil. A separate bearing lubrication system also adds weight to an aircraft which is critical to such aircraft as an unmanned aero vehicle or UAV.

Turbocharger with oil-free hydrostatic bearing


A method for drawing pie charts illustrating comparative data on the display of a client computer in a client-server environment with horizontal parallel lines each having a height of one pixel. A circular or elliptical pie is first defined in an array of endpoints of a set of horizontal lines from which the pie is constructed. Each slice of the pie is assigned a start angle and a stop angle as a function of the datum that it represents and its proximity to other slices. Pixels on the horizontal lines forming the pie are then tested to define segments of the horizontal lines for inclusion in the slices. The pixels of each line segment are illuminated on the display to form an image of a pie with each slice proportional in area to its respective datum.

The present invention provides a method for displaying a set of numerical data graphically on an Internet web page by creating a pie chart having "slices", each of which is proportional in size to the value of one datum.
More specifically the present invention teaches a method for affixing to a web page instructions for displaying numerical data in pie chart form and for updating the pie chart display in response to changes in the data.
The use of pie charts to make data comparisons is a technique known in the art. Long before the birth of personal computers and of the Internet, pie charts were drawn on paper, blackboards, and the like in order to enable an audience to readily compare numerically measurable attributes such as dollar expenditures and revenues, population distributions, and the like.
In a client-server environment in which the client communicates with the server over the Internet, it has been known to enable the client to transmit data entered on a web page to the server, and to receive back from the server instructions for drawing a pie chart representative of the data on the web page. However, when the client is working offline, i.e., disconnected from the server, the generation of a pie chart to illustrate the data on the web page in an efficient manner has not been possible.
Pie charts are made up of "slices" each of which represents one datum. Each slice has a circular or elliptical arc and two radii connecting the ends of the arc with the center of the circle or ellipse.
Web browsers typically deal with rectangular elements. Web technologies (HTML, CSS) do not provide built-in methods for creating non-rectangular shapes such as pie slices.

Method of producing electronically readable documents with updatable pie charts


A data loss prevention (DLP) manager running on a security virtual machine manages DLP policies for a plurality of guest virtual machines. The DLP manager identifies a startup event of a guest virtual machine, and installs a DLP component in the guest virtual machine. The DLP component communicates with the DLP manager operating within the security virtual machine. The DLP manager also receives file system events from the DLP component, and enforces a response rule associated with the guest virtual machine if the file system event violates a DLP policy.

In computer science, a virtual machine (VM) is a portion of software that, when executed on appropriate hardware, creates an environment allowing the virtualization of an actual physical computer system. Each VM may function as a self-contained platform, running its own operating system (OS) and software applications (processes). Typically, a virtual machine monitor (VMM) manages allocation and virtualization of computer resources and performs context switching, as may be necessary, to cycle between various VMs.
A host machine (e.g., computer or server) is typically enabled to simultaneously run multiple VMs, where each VM may be used by a remote client. The host machine allocates a certain amount of the host's resources to each of the VMs. Each VM is then able to use the allocated resources to execute applications, including operating systems known as guest operating systems. The VMM virtualizes the underlying hardware of the host machine or emulates hardware devices, making the use of the VM transparent to the guest operating system or the remote client that uses the VM.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) in a virtual machine environment requires an agent to be installed on each virtual machine to prevent loss of sensitive data through removable devices (i.e., USB drives, CD/DVD), and network shares. However, ensuring that every VM that gets created has an up-to-date DLP agent is a challenge and an inefficient use of system resources.

System and method for data loss prevention in a virtualized environment