A recording head unit includes a base plate with a cut-out portion (or slot or through hole). A printed circuit board has a memory device attached to it and the printed circuit board is joined to the base plate with the memory device in the cut-out portion. The memory device is thinner than the base plate and fits completely within the cut-out portion, so that it is disposed wholly within the boundaries of the recording head unit. A recording cartridge includes a recording head unit and an ink tank for supplying ink to the recording head unit which are joined together, and a memory device which is substantially enclosed by joining the recording head unit and the ink tank.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording head, an ink tank and a recording head cartridge capable of being loaded into a recording apparatus, such as a printer, a facsimile apparatus or a copying machine, and a recording apparatus having the recording head, the ink tank and the recording head cartridge, and more particularly, to a recording head having a device including or capable of including information on recording conditions, an ink tank, a recording head cartridge, and a recording apparatus loaded with the recording head, the ink tank and the recording head cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ink jet recording method which records by jetting droplets of ink (recording liquid) onto a recording medium, such as paper, has attracted attention and been put into active development and study because it creates virtually no noise while recording and it can record on plain paper at high speed without any special processing such as fixing.
A recording head applicable to such an ink jet recording apparatus is generally provided with a fine liquid jetting outlet (orifice), a liquid path connected to the liquid jetting outlet, an energy acting portion disposed in the liquid path, and a droplet energy generating portion for making liquid in the energy acting portion act.
The energy is generated by, for example, using an electromechanical converter, such as a piezo-electric device, or radiating an electromagnetic wave like a laser beam onto the liquid and jetting droplets of the liquid by a heating action of the laser beam. In particular, an ink jet recording head having an electricity-heat converter as an energy generating means can achieve high-resolution recording since liquid jetting outlets (orifices) for jetting recording droplets to form flying droplets can be arranged densely in such a head. Furthermore, the recent application of IC (semiconductor) technology and micro manufacturing technology have made it possible to provide an ink jet recording head having multiple nozzles, arranged at high density which is capable of being mass-produced, and advantageous in productivity and cost.
Recently, using an ink jet recording head cartridge freely detachable from a recording apparatus, and a plurality of recording head cartridges of different colors for color printing has been suggested.
In the case of an ink jet recording head cartridge detachable from a recording apparatus, characteristics, such as loading conditions of the recording head cartridge into the apparatus, colors and density of ink used in the recording head cartridge, driving conditions of the recording head cartridge and the amount of residual ink, differ with the recording head cartridge (also the ink tank and the head), and it is necessary to change a recording operation in accordance with the characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,898 discloses a recording head cartridge having a memory device for storing information on such characteristics.
The ink jet recording head having a memory device is produced in, for example, the following processes.
FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing the production procedures of a substrate in an ink jet recording head according to the related art.
First, a base plate 111 (a first substrate) made of glass, ceramics, plastic or metal is washed (FIG. 12(a)). Then, as shown in FIG. 12(b), a heater board 112 (a second substrate) on which an ink jet pressure generating device (an ink jet energy generating device for generating energy to be used to form ink droplets), such as a heating element serving as an electricity-heat converter or a piezo-electric device serving as an electromechanical converter, is formed is joined to a predetermined position on the base plate 111 with a UV curing adhesive or the like. After that, a printed circuit board 115 (a third substrate) for electrically connecting the ink jet pressure generating device and the body of a printer is joined onto the base plate 111. Finally, a semiconductor chip 128 (ROM) serving as a memory device for storing, for example, data on the above characteristics is soldered to the side of the printed circuit board 115 opposite to the side connected to the base plate 111 (FIG. 12(d)). The above production processes of a recording head are generally carried out on an automated line represented schematically in FIG. 12(e).
However, according to the construction disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,898, a ROM serving as a memory device is affixed to a housing of an ink jet head cartridge. Such construction has the following problems.
If information stored in the memory device is wrong, the operation of a recording apparatus and the driving state of a recording head are hindered and an image is damaged. In an extreme case, recording will be impossible. When such a delicate memory device thus affixed to the housing of the recording head cartridge is exposed, it can be damaged by direct impact when being transported, from being touched by a user, and so on, when the recording head cartridge is detached from the recording apparatus.
Furthermore, since the ink jet head cartridge contains liquid ink, leakage of the ink in transportation and scattering of the ink in recording may hinder proper operation of the memory device and its peripheral circuits.
On the other hand, there are the following problems in the production of the ink jet head.
When the recording head substrate is produced as shown in FIG. 12, and the semiconductor chip 128 serving as a memory device is soldered after the base plate 111 and the printed circuit board 115 are joined as shown in FIG. 12(d), the semiconductor chip 128 projects from the printed circuit board 115. Therefore, for example, it is difficult to horizontally pile such recording head substrates in a storage device like a magazine in the production process. As a result, the construction required to supply the substrates in an automatic assembly process is complicated. In addition, the projecting semiconductor chip may be caught in the production process, damaged and break down.
When another semiconductor chip is soldered onto the printed circuit board 115, since the heater board 112 is already affixed onto the base plate 111, refuse material arising from the soldering of the semiconductor chip may damage the heater board 112 and block the jetting outlets. Furthermore, the refuse material may move to the ink jet pressure generating device, an electrode and a transistor formed on the heater board 112 after the soldering and cause the leakage of current from the semiconductor, and the refuse material remaining in a liquid path, a liquid chamber and an orifice may make ink jetting unstable or impossible.
In order to prevent the soldering refuse material from soiling the heater board 112, it is necessary to wash the semiconductor chip 128 after soldering. However, since the semiconductor chip 128 and the heater board 112 have been already coupled with each other at the time of soldering, such washing is difficult.

Inkjet recording apparatus with a memory device disposed substantially within boundaries if a recording head unit


A method for automatic particle size analysis of a particle mixture by linear, optoelectronic scanning of a separated particle stream. Particle chord length categories are counted and converted to a particle size distribution. The method takes into account practical considerations such as mixed particle velocities and mixed grain shapes. The exposure time for the linear scanning determines, as a function of the diameter and the velocity of the smallest particle being measured, the number of particles per category size by means of appearance probabilities of recorded chord lengths for corresponding particle sizes. The determination of particle numbers is made using the sequence of the category of the largest particle diameters to the category of the smallest particle diameter, whereby, after each calculation of a particle size category, the number of chord lengths in the length category is corrected.

The invention concerns a procedure for automatic particle size analysis of particle mixtures, specifically with respect to influencing the technical control of producing and processing such mixture.
The determination of particle size distribution of a disperse mixture shall, as a rule, be done quickly and be representative of an overall aggregate. Aside from the known procedures, such as screen analysis and sedimentation, the opto-electronic measuring procedures are gaining more and more importance, since they primarily satisfy requirements concerning automatization capability.
In Patent Specifications DD-WP 260 764 and DD-WP 278 859, procedures are described for the determination of the granulometric condition and/or granulation ratio of grain mixtures, from which a sample is continuously or also intermittently drawn, and where the particles are optically separated and moved, at predetermined, uniform velocity, at right angles, past a CCD line sensor.
In DD-260-764, the particles are scanned, line by line, in chronologically constant succession. The thus signaled widths of the respective particle segments (chords) are classified into categories of different chord lengths. When reaching a set meter number or meter time, the so-called granulation number is ascertained via a calibration function. Involved here is a rapid procedure, by which for each picked-up particle several chord lengths are recorded and included in the evaluation.
With respect to mixtures of narrowly restricted particle sizes, however, this procedure is unsuitable, inasmuch as the selectivity of the calibration function is no longer adequate.
The practical drawbacks of both inventions consist in the requirement for uniform particle velocity during the measuring process. Such condition either requires high technical expenditure, for instance a vacuum measuring cell, or it restricts the measuring area by neglecting the friction, which is admissible only with relatively heavy particles.
The procedure according to DD-WP 260 764 functions only with nearly similar distribution functions and does not provide any information concerning the course of the particle size distribution. Patent specification DD-WP 278-859 requires that each particle is scanned at least once. This results in an extremely high rate of data, which leads to technical measuring problems or which only permits very low throughput of material under test, which prevents on-line operation.
Procedures which are oriented toward more precise evaluation, are based in that static images are produced via opto-electronic devices, which are then evaluated by means of additional costly device elements or mathematical methods.
From DE-PS 2855 583, a procedure is known whereby a sample of a particle mixture drops from an appropriate height and pictures of the particles are recorded during the dropping with a television camera. From the individual, successively projected static images, the surface distribution of the mixture is ascertained on the basis of the measured projection surfaces. Long measuring times preclude wide application.

Procedure for the determination of particle size distribution in particle mixtures


Apparatus and methods for controlling the fluid on a slide are provided. Fluid reduction is accomplished by directing stream(s) of fluid at an edge of the slide, the streams of fluid being at an angle with the slide of less than 90°. The surface tension at the edge of the slide is broken by the stream(s). And, the fluid which is on the slide is drawn or pulled by the streams of liquid, thereby reducing the fluid on the slide to a reproducible, consistent level.

The present invention relates to an automated biological apparatus and, more particularly to a method and apparatus for rinsing a biological sample on a slide.
Processing of biological samples, such as immunohistochemical staining, typically occurs by placing the biological sample on a standard slide. The slides are placed in a staining machine, such as the machine disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/995,052 filed on Dec. 19, 1997, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. An important feature in the processing is the control of the amount of liquid on the slide. During processing, a specific, predetermined amount of liquid on a biological sample is typically desired. However, prior art methods of rinsing or removing the amount of liquid on the slide are inaccurate in the control of the amount of fluid on the slide, have the possibility of disrupting the sample on the slide and/or are complicated in their mechanics. One such method includes sending a stream of liquid from one end of the slide to the other end of the slide via a volume controlling device (i.e., "pushing" the liquid off of the slide). Specifically, the volume controlling device sends streams or jets of liquid onto the section of the slide proximate to the volume controlling device so that the rinse liquid passes over the portion of the slide where the biological sample is placed and off of the distal end. In this manner, the stream of liquid "pushes" the liquid off of the slide. This method, however, may disrupt the biological sample due to the passing of fluid over the biological sample.
Another method to control the amount of fluid on a slide is by rotating the slide so that the liquid runs off by gravity. This method uses a slide holder that allows the rotation of the slide and an air cylinder that pushes a tab on the holder to make it rotate and "tip" the slide over, thus permitting the aqueous to drain off. However, the mechanics required for rotation of the slide may be complicated. Accordingly, it is desirable to have an improved method and apparatus to control the amount of fluid on the top of a slide.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Slide acqueous volume controlling apparatus


To compensate for the variation in the output signal from an encoder due to the variation in the thickness of an endless belt, an apparatus includes: a detector that detects a reference position on the endless belt; a correction-value calculating unit that calculates a correction value for each position on the endless belt based on the thickness; and a target-value calculating unit that adjusts a target value for controlling a driving motor based on the correction value corresponding to a distance from the reference position to the current position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling a driving of an endless belt included in a color image forming apparatus to keep a linear velocity of the endless belt constant.
2. Description of the Related Art
As representative methods of forming a color image, there are a direct transfer system for transferring toner images of different colors formed on plural photoconductors directly onto transfer paper by superimposing the toner images, and an intermediate transfer system for transferring toner images of different colors formed on plural photoconductors onto an intermediate transfer unit by superimposing the toner images and thereafter collectively transferring the toner images onto transfer paper. These systems are called a tandem system since plural photoconductors are disposed opposite to the transfer paper or the intermediate transfer unit. An electrophotographic process of a formation of an electrostatic latent image and a development is carried out for each of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) colors for each photoconductor. According to the direct transfer system, toner images are transferred onto running transfer paper. According to the intermediate transfer system, toner images are transferred onto a running intermediate transfer unit.
A color image forming apparatus of the tandem system using the direct transfer system usually uses an endless belt that runs while supporting the transfer paper. A color image forming apparatus of the tandem system using the intermediate transfer system usually uses an endless belt that receives images from photoconductors and holds these images. Image forming units including four photoconductors are disposed on one running side of the belt. In the color image forming apparatus of the tandem system, superimposing the toner images of different colors in high precision is important for preventing a color drift. In both the transfer systems, to avoid a color drift due to a variation in the speed of the transfer conveyer belt, an encoder is fitted to one of driven axes of plural transfer units, and a rotation speed of a driving roller is feedback controlled according to the variation in the rotation speed of the encoder, as effective control means.
As one of the most general methods of realizing the feedback control, there is a proportional and integral control (PI control). According to the method, a position deviation e(n) is calculated based on a difference between a target angular displacement Ref(n) of the encoder and a detection angular displacement P(n−1) detected by the encoder. The result of the above calculation is lowpass filtered to remove high-frequency noise. A control gain is applied, and a constant standard driving pulse frequency is added, thereby controlling the driving pulse frequency of a driving motor connected to a driving roller. As a result, the encoder is always driven at a target angular displacement.
In the actual control, a counter that counts a rising edge of the output of an encoder pulse and a counter that counts each control period (for example, 1 millisecond) are used to obtain a position deviation from a difference between a calculation result of a target angular displacement that moves during the control period (1 millisecond) and a detection angular displacement that is obtained by acquiring the encoder count value during each control period. When a roller diameter of the driven axis to which the encoder is fitted is φ15.615, a detailed calculation is carried out as follows:e(n)=θ0×q−θ1×ne,where
e(n) [rad]: A position deviation (calculated at the sampling this time);
θ0 [rad]: A move angle per control period (=2π×V×10−3/15.565π [rad]);
θ1 [rad]: A move angle per one pulse of encoder (=2π/p [rad]);
q: A count value of control period timer; and
V: A belt linear velocity [mm/s].
Assume that a control period is 1 millisecond, and resolution of the encoder is 300 pulses per one rotation. A feedback control is carried out to operate the transfer conveyer belt at 162 mm/s. Then the move angles are obtained as follows:θ0=2π×162×10−3/15.615π=0.0207487 [rad]; andθ1=2π/p=2π/300=0.0209439 [rad].
The above calculation is carried out for each control period to obtain position deviations, thereby carrying out the feedback control.
The above method, however, has the following problems. The conveyance speed of the transfer paper changes due to a fine thickness of the conveyer belt. As a result, an image is deviated from an ideal position, which degrades the image quality. Images among plural sheets of recording papers vary, and repetitive positional reproducibility among the recording papers is degraded. When it is assumed that the conveyance speed is determined at the center of the belt thickness at the belt driving position, a belt conveyance speed V is calculated as follows:V=(R+B/2)×ω,where
R: Radius of the driving roller;
B: Thickness of the belt; and
ω: Angular velocity of the driving roller.
However, when a belt thickness B varies, a position of a belt thickness effective line shown in FIG. 21 changes. This is because a belt driving effective radius changes. It is clear that since (R+B/2) in the above expression changes, the belt conveyance speed changes even when angular velocity ω of the driving roller is constant. In other words, even when the driving roller is rotated at a constant angular velocity, the belt conveyance speed changes when the belt thickness varies.
FIG. 22 depicts a model of a belt driving conveyance system. FIG. 23 is a conceptual diagram of a variation in the belt thickness over full circle of the belt when the driving axis is rotated at a constant angular velocity and a variation in the belt conveyance speed. When a thick part of the belt is wound around the driving axis, a belt driving effective radius shown in FIG. 21 increases, and the belt conveyance speed increases. On the other hand, when a thin part of the belt is wound around the driving axis, the belt conveyance speed decreases.
FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining a variation in the belt thickness on the driven axis and a variation in the belt conveyance speed detected in the driven axis when the belt is conveyed at a constant conveyance speed. Even when the belt is conveyed at an ideal speed without a speed variation, when a thick part of the belt is wound around the driven axis, a driven effective radius of the belt increases, and a rotation angular velocity of the driven axis decreases. This is detected as a decrease in the belt conveyance speed. When a thin part of the belt is wound around the driven axis, the rotation angular velocity of the driven axis increases, and this is detected as an increase in the belt conveyance speed. When the belt thickness varies in this manner, when a belt conveyance speed is detected in the rotation angular displacement of the driven axis in the encoder, an error detection component is generated. Therefore, even when the belt is conveyed at a constant speed, the belt conveyance speed is detected as if the speed is varying due to the variation in the belt thickness, in the detection of the rotation angular displacement of the driven axis. Therefore, according to the conventional feedback control of the driven axis, the variation in the belt thickness cannot be controlled.
As one of methods for solving the variation in the belt thickness, the following technique is known. When a driving roller is driven at a constant pulse rate, a speed profile that offsets a speed variation Vh that will occur due to a thickness profile over the whole peripheral direction of a known transfer conveyer belt is measured in advance, based on a position detected according to a belt mark. A driving motor control signal is generated at a modulated pulse rate. The motor is driven based on the generated signal. By driving the transfer conveyer belt via the driving roller, a final speed Vb of the transfer conveyer belt has no variation (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-310897).
However, speed profile data requires data for each control period. Therefore, when the control is carried out in a short period, a large capacity memory is necessary. When the control is carried out in a long period, sufficient effect cannot be obtained from the feedback control. When a belt length is 815 millimeters, when a belt driving speed is 125 mm/s, and when a control period is 1 millisecond, the belt speed is controlled by 6,520 times per one rotation of the belt as follows:815 mm/(125 mm/s×1 ms)=6520 times.
When a data size of the belt thickness per one point is expressed by 16 bits, a memory of 100 kilobits or more is necessary.6520 times×16 bit=104320 bit
Therefore, when the control is carried out using an actual device, a memory for storing a belt thickness profile is additionally necessary as a nonvolatile memory. Even when data is stored as compressed data and when the data is uncompressed in a volatile memory when the power source is turned on, a large capacity memory is necessary. Therefore, in addition to a memory used as a normal work area, a separate memory is necessary, which is unrealistic since the cost is substantially increased.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-310897, the belt thickness needs to be measured as profile data of the belt thickness. The thickness is measured with a laser displacement measuring device. The measured data is input at a product shipment time or by service personnel with an input unit such as an operation panel. However, to measure a variation in the belt thickness of a few micrometers, a high-precision measuring unit is necessary. Furthermore, since data management amount of the measured result and the data amount are large, input errors can occur.

Apparatus for controlling driving of endless belt, and image forming apparatus


A file system includes a plurality of entries, wherein each entry is configured to store an indication of data block locations corresponding to a specified file, and wherein each entry is further configured to store an indication of mirrored data block locations corresponding to the specified file. Each entry may include one or more dirty indicators to identify out-of-sync data blocks. In yet another embodiment, the system may be configured to resynchronize a plurality of instances of data blocks depending upon dirty indicators corresponding to the plurality of instances of data blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data storage and, more particularly, to the mirroring of data.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computers and data processing services become more important to modern business, ensuring the reliability and availability of each individual component resource also becomes increasingly important. Specifically, the storage systems used to store and access data must be faster, cheaper, more fault-tolerant and accessible at all possible times.
One solution is to provide a volume manager operable to manage a plurality of data storage devices for a top-level file system. All the complexity of managing data across multiple devices may be handled by the volume manager, thereby providing the top-level file system with the illusion of a single, high-availability storage device.
For example, a volume manager may manage a mirrored pair of disk drives, wherein the same data is written to both disks. A mirrored pair of disk drives may provide for increased reliability, since in the event of a single disk drive failure, the mirrored disk drive is still operable to provide access to the data. Mirrored disk drives may also provide for increased data throughput, since each disk is capable of simultaneously executing a read or write access. Furthermore, the mirrored disk drives may be network devices located in different areas, thereby providing increased security against damage or theft at a single location.
However, a typical volume manager manages data at the volume level, rather than at a finer level of granularity. Accordingly, when a particular volume is mirrored, the data blocks corresponding to all files stored in that volume are mirrored, regardless of the importance (or desired storage quality) of each individual data file.

Mirrored storage at the file system level


This application provides a planar transformer and a switching power adapter. The planar transformer includes a PCB winding and two magnetic cores. The two magnetic cores wrap two sides of a winding body of the PCB winding to form a closed magnetic loop. A first group of welding points is disposed on a primary-side wire side of the PCB winding, and a second group of welding points is disposed on a secondary-side wire side of the PCB winding. The planar transformer is directly welded to an external circuit board by using the first group of welding points and the second group of welding points. In this way, no pin needs to be welded on the PCB winding board. In addition, the planar transformer can be vertically installed on the external circuit board by using the first group of welding points and the second group of welding points.

A switching power adapter converts an alternating current into a low-voltage direct current and supplies the direct current to a rechargeable battery in a terminal (for example, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a camera), to charge the rechargeable battery.
A planar transformer (or a flat transformer) is a core component for power conversion. A planar transformer uses a small-sized E-type, RM-type, or ring-type ferrite magnetic core and is usually made of a high-frequency power ferrite material. A planar transformer has a relatively low magnetic core loss at high frequencies. To form a magnetic loop of a transformer, a winding is formed through lap winding of a multilayer printed circuit board, and the winding or a copper sheet is lapped on a high-frequency iron core on a plane. A planar transformer has the advantages of low electromagnetic interference (EMI) radiation and small size.
Each planar transformer used in current switching power adapters has a horizontal structure shown in FIG. 1. The planar transformer in FIG. 1 includes a magnetic core 1, a printed circuit board (PCB) 2, and a pin 3 that is welded to the PCB 2, where the PCB is a winding of the transformer. The PCB 2 is connected to a power board in a switching power adapter through the pin 3. The procedure of welding the pin to the PCB is quite complex and the processing costs are high. In addition, the planar transformer of this kind of horizontal structure occupies a large area of the power board, resulting in low space utilization in switching power adapter.

Planar transformer and switching power adapter

Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd.


Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for discovering resources of a distributed computing environment are provided. Embodiments include a management system transmitting an application program interface (API) message to the distributed computing environment. Embodiments also include the management system receiving from the distributed computing environment, a response to the API message and based on the response, identifying a resource of the distributed computing environment.

Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for discovering resources of a distributed computing environment.
Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
Modern computing systems can include a plurality of machines that share resources with each other. In a distributed computing environment, there are thousands of resources that can be entrusted in a distributed computing environment and accessed as a service. These resources are of various types and often belong to various environments of different types and reside on the hardware of the environment.

Discovering resources of a distributed computing environment

International Business Machines Corporation


A wrapped core linking module for accessing system on chip test includes a link control register that stores link control configuration between cores in a scan path of a system on chip according to control signals applied from an outside boundary. A link control register controller controls a shift and update link configuration by activating the link control register. A switch switches the scan path between wrapped cores based on the link control configuration of the link control register. An output logic connects the link control register to a test data out (TDO) of the chip in case of testing on chip or cores of system on chip.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wrapped core linking module (WCLM) for accessing system on chip (SoC) test and, more particularly, to WCLM for systematically accessing a SoC test in which not only IEEE 1149.1 boundary scan but also cores embodied by an IEEE P1500 wrapper maintain compatibility with the IEEE 1149.1 standard and have expandability.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, there were a plurality of proposed methods using the prior test board of the IEEE 1149.1 standard for testing SoC comprising IP cores, which are shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 6.
The structure for accessing SoC test serially connected to test data in (TDI) and test data out (TDO) shown in FIG. 1 is serial connection method of all TAPs between TDI and TDO. The structure always has the maximum length of the scan path because all TAPs are activated in case of test mode. In view of chip level, said structure for accessing SoC test violates the IEEE 1149.1 standard due to the all activated TAPs.
The structure for accessing SoC test with dedicated selection pins shown in FIG. 2 is a method of adding the selection pins, which each pin selects TAP. Due to select TAP1 in the SoC test and one of TAP2 through TAP4 in case of core test, the number of the selection pins increases in proportion to the increasing number of TAP. However, said structure for accessing SoC test with the dedicated selection pins has a problem unable to select a group of TAP.
Also, the processor core with an IEEE 1149.1 and a debugging register shown in FIG. 3 as the method proposed by IBM uses to debug processor core embedding the debugging register.
That is, the method places the processor cores serially connected to the TAPs using an IEEE 1149.1 in SoC and processor core on the scan path in case of test mode so that it is able to access to the debugging register in the processor cores (P1˜P3) The method has a problem disable to check linking line between the processor cores and the boundary scan register, ICBSR, because there is only one test data register between TDI and TDO.
In addition, the structure for accessing SoC test with TLM shown in FIG. 4 as the method proposed by TI is able to dynamically connect all TAPs using TAP linking module. The operation as the default to make TAP1 such as SoC TAP activated places TAP1 on the scan path of TDI and TDO. Thus, it satisfies the IEEE 1149.1 standard in chip level.
If said structure for accessing SoC test with TLM inactivates TAP1 and TAP4 and activates TAP2 and TAP3 for testing core and places them on the scan path of TDI and TDO, it inserts a link_update instruction to the activated TAP1 and SEL signal from TAP1 is applied to TLM in order that TLM updates link configuration. Then the link configuration of TLM is updated by TDI and TMS input.
If the link configuration is updated, enabled ENA (ENA='1') from the TLM applied to TAPs (TAP2 and TAP3) to activate and disabled ENA (ENA='0') from the TLM applied to TAPs (TAP1 and TAP4) to inactivate. TAP2 and TAP3 are placed on the scan path of TDI and TDO so that the linking line between cores can be checked.
At this point, TAP1 and TAP4 excluded in the scan path of TDI and TDO keep the stable RunTest/Idle state. Due to adding SEL and ENA signals and the link_update instruction to each standard TAPs, the architecture of the provided IP and the standard TAP needs to change.
The structure for accessing SoC test with modified TLM shown in FIG. 5 as a method proposed by TI to solve TLM's problem is not necessary to change the architecture of IP core, which is the principle problem of the TLM method proposed by TI. Therefore, the structure for accessing SoC test with modified TLM is able to use the provided IP core and enables the dynamically various links of cores with TAPs.
To obtain this, a module called a state condition expander (SCE) was added in each TAP. The operation of the module as a default activates TAP1 such as SoC TAP and places the TAP1 on the scan path of TDI and TDO. Thus, the operation satisfies the IEEE 1149.1 standard in chip level.
If said structure for accessing SoC test with modified TLM inactivates TAP1 & TAP4 and activates TAP2 & TAP3 for testing cores placed on the scan path of TDI-TDO and applies SEL_TLM='1' of SoC, said TLM is placed on the scan path of TDI-TDO in SoC and then the link configuration of TLM is updated by TDI and TMS inputs.
At this point, all TAPs are on the stable RunTest/Idle state. After updating the link configuration, the activated TAP2 and TAP3 are synchronized with a test bus of SoC and have state transition. TAP1 and TAP4 excluded on the scan path of TDI-TDO keep the stable Run Time/Idle state. If the method is hierarchically used as allocating of additional pins to SoC, the number of pins increases in proportion to the additional pins.
The method of hierarchical TAP (HTAP) shown in FIG. 6 is another method proposed by TI. The HTAP comprises mainly a programmable switch and Snoopy-TAP (SN-TAP).
Said programmable switch provides dynamically various links to TAPs of each core and plays a role of placing on the path of TDI-TDO in SoC. That is, as the compatible 1149.1 TAP of SoC, said programmable switch operates by the 1149.1 standard TAP on a board in chip test. In case of testing core in SoC, said programmable switch plays a role of an intermediary in order that cores of each TAP use a test bus of the SoC.
Said HTAP method solves defects of both the prior TLM method and an ad-hoc method. Because an additional TAP controller of said HTAP method is not necessary for a module to update link configuration between cores as that of a TLM method needed, the power and area overhead of said HTAP method decreases. Said HTAP method changes the mode bit of a control register in SN-TAP as '1' so that the SN-TAP such as SoC TAP enters into the Snoopy state for core test. Thus, said HTAP method enables TMS (TMS='0') when the down edge of TCK in said HTAP method is on the Update-DR state.
Said SN-TAP enters not into the RunTest/Idle state of the 1149.1 standard but into the SN-TL-Reset state, which uses separate state transition besides the state transition of the IEEE 1149.1 standard TAP controller. Thus, the state transition is unnatural in view of state transition of the IEEE 1149.1 standard TAP. Also, It requires for a test engineer to have a clear knowledge about additional operations besides the IEEE 1149.1 standard operation. However, the HTAP method is required to change an 1149.1 standard TAP controller of SoC and it is necessary to have an additional register to control. Also, there was a problem unable to check a linking line between ICBSR and CBSR.

Wrapped core linking module for accessing system on chip test


A method and apparatus for quickly and accurately determining optical wavelengths using multiple features of an optical spectrum produced by an optical element that is configured to produce an optical spectrum having multiple resolvable features. Finding the mean of the measured values of the multiple resolvable features may provide an improved characterizing measurement of the element. Examples of optical elements suitable for use in the present invention include, but are not limited to, super-structured fiber Bragg gratings, multiple fiber Bragg gratings, Fabry-Perot etalons and gas cells.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to determining optical wavelengths. More particularly, this invention relates to determining optical wavelengths using a plurality of resolvable features, such as spectral peaks and troughs, of a multi-component spectrum, such as those produced by multiple Bragg gratings or by a super-structured Bragg grating.
2. Description of the Related Art
Accurately determining the operational wavelength of an optical component such as a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor is often very important. Some applications improve measurement accuracy by performing a statistical analysis (e.g. averaging) on a number of repeated optical measurements of the same device. This however increases the overall measurement time.
An FBG element is an optical element that is usually formed by photo-induced periodic modulation of the refractive index of an optical fiber's core. An FBG element is highly reflective to light having wavelengths within a narrow bandwidth that is centered at a wavelength that is referred to as the Bragg wavelength. Other wavelengths are passed through the FBG without reflection. The Bragg wavelength itself is dependent on physical parameters, such as temperature and strain, that impact on the refractive index. Therefore, FBG elements can be used as sensors to measure such parameters. After proper calibration, the Bragg wavelength is an absolute measure of the physical parameters. While the foregoing has described a single Bragg grating, multiple Bragg gratings or a super structured fiber Bragg grating can be formed at a particular position.
While FBG elements make useful sensors, it is very important to accurately measure the Bragg wavelength. Indeed, an accuracy and repeatability of less than 1 pm can be required.
Bragg wavelengths are found by sweeping light across a bandwidth that includes all of the possible Bragg wavelengths, and by measuring the power (intensity) of the reflected light over time. This is typically performed using optical sensors and optical couplers, a broadband light source, for example an edge-light-emitting diode (ELED) or a superfluorescent fiber source (SFS), and a tunable optical filter, for example a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) tunable fiber Fabry-Perot filter [Kersey, A. D., Berkoff, T. A., and Morey, W. W., "Multiplexed Fiber Bragg Grating Strain-Sensor System With A Fiber Fabry-Perot Wavelength Filter", Optics Letters, Vol. 18, pp. 1370–1372, 1993]. Alternatively, optical sensors and optical couplers can be used with a tunable laser source. For example an external cavity semiconductor laser with a tunable FBG reflector, reference, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,956, issued on Mar. 28, 1995.
A portion of the light from the optical source is coupled to an accurate wavelength reference element, such as a fixed Fabry-Perot wavelength filter, and the transmitted or reflected (as appropriate) light power is also measured over time. By comparing the measured power signal from the sensor elements against that received from the accurate wavelength reference accurate Bragg wavelengths of the FBGs sensors can be determined. Then, by noting the change in the Bragg wavelength from an unstressed condition a physical parameter of interest can be found, e.g., the temperature or pressure proximate the FBG can be determined. Many FBG elements can be located along one or more optical fibers providing multiple sensors to be demodulated by a single instrument.
The ultimate measurement resolution of such systems is limited by a variety of noise sources and by the received optical power from each element. Current measurement systems continue to push both the source and receiver design to their limits; high power lasers, low-noise, high sensitivity receivers, advanced signal processing. Yet one area that has received less attention is in the design of the optical element itself, through which, as shown by this invention, significant performance gains can be realized.

Optical wavelength determination using multiple measurable features


A nonaqueous solvent in a nonaqueous electrolytic solution in a lithium-ion secondary battery 1 contains propylene carbonate (PC), a first compound expressed by formula (I), and a second compound expressed by formula (II). The content of PC in the nonaqueous solvent is at least 10 volume %. The content X [mass %] of the first compound and the content Y [mass %] of the second compound simultaneously satisfy the conditions represented by expressions (1) and (2) [2≦(X+Y)≦8 (1), 0.01≦(Y/X)≦0.30 (2)]. R1 to R6 in formula (I) indicate any of a hydrogen atom and hydrocarbon groups having a carbon number of 1 to 3, whereas R7 and R8 in formula (II) indicate any of a hydrogen atom and hydrocarbon groups having a carbon number of 1 to 3.

Recently, electronic devices, portable electronic devices in particular, have remarkably been evolving, with which development of batteries having a high energy density has been in demand. As such a battery, lithium-ion secondary batteries have widely been employed as power supplies for portable devices because of their very high energy density and the like. A lithium-ion secondary battery is mainly constituted by a cathode, an anode, a separator, and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution, whereas various studies have been made in order to further improve battery characteristics.
For example, preferred as a nonaqueous solvent for the nonaqueous electrolytic solution is one having a relatively low melting point, a relatively high conductivity, a relatively wide potential window (electrochemical window), and a capability of yielding a high ionic conductivity even at a low temperature when an electrolyte is dissolved. From this viewpoint, propylene carbonate has favorably been in use. When provided with a negative electrode (anode) using a carbon material such as highly crystallized graphite as a constituent material, however, propylene carbonate has been problematic in that its decomposition proceeds in a cathode (an electrode which functions as a negative electrode at the time of discharging) at the time of charging in particular.
When the decomposition of propylene carbonate proceeds, a gas is generated, with which the carbon material of the negative electrode peels off, decomposes, etc., thereby causing problems of decrease in capacity and gradual deterioration in battery characteristics such as charging/discharging cycle characteristic while in use. As the decomposition of propylene carbonate progresses, decomposition products are deposited on the negative electrode, which also seems to gradually deteriorate the battery characteristics mentioned above.
Therefore, batteries aimed at restraining the decomposition reaction of propylene from proceeding by adding 1,3-propane sultone or 1,4-butane sultone into a nonaqueous electrolytic solution using at least propylene carbonate as an ingredient of the nonaqueous solvent have been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2000-3724 and 2000-3725).
Also, a battery preventing electrolysis from occurring on the negative electrode surface of propylene carbonate by adding 1,3-propane sultone into a nonaqueous electrolytic solution using a mixed solvent of propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, and diethyl carbonate has been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 11-339850).
Further, batteries aimed at restraining the decomposition reaction of propylene carbonate from progressing by adding vinylene carbonate into a nonaqueous electrolytic solution using at least propylene carbonate as an ingredient of the nonaqueous solvent have been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. HEI 11-67266 and 2000-58125).
Furthermore, a battery aimed at restraining the decomposition reaction of propylene carbonate from progressing by adding 1,3-propane sultone and vinylene carbonate into a nonaqueous electrolytic solution using at least propylene carbonate as an ingredient of the nonaqueous solvent has been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-43895).

Nonaqueous electrolytic solution and lithium-ion secondary battery


A processor provides a configured clock rate setting for use by a peripheral set. The processor receives back from the peripheral set a feedback clock rate setting. The configured clock rate setting and the feedback clock rate setting are compared to detect over-clocking of the processor.

Terms such as clock rate, operating frequency, processor speed, and core rate are often used to describe the performance of a processor. These terms are widely recognized as the megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz) rating of a computer. In general, a higher clock rate means that a processor can perform more instructions per second.
A variety of factors can contribute to selecting a clock rate for a given processor. For instance, slight imperfections and variations during the manufacturing process can have an impact on how quickly and reliably a processor can be operated. In which case, different processors from the same manufacturing process may support different maximum clock rates. Put another way, several processors may appear interchangeable, but they may each be configured to operate at a different clock rate.
Wafer yield rates tend to be lower for faster processors. That is, the percentage of processors that can support a given clock rate setting tends to decrease as the clock rate setting increases. In which case, the manufacturing costs, and sale prices, tend to be higher for faster processors. These higher prices create an incentive for over-clocking.
Over-clocking refers to operating a processor at a higher clock rate than the processor is configured for. For instance, unscrupulous individuals or companies may purchase less expensive, slower processors and repackage them to run at higher clock rates. Often times, these over-clocked processors are re-sold as more expensive, faster processors.
Over-clocking can be problematic for both the processor manufacturer and the end user. Not only does the manufacturer loose revenue by selling the less expensive processor, but the over-clocked processor may not reliably support the higher clock rate, which can erode the manufacturer's reputation for quality. And, not only does the end user overpay for what he or she actually receives, but the end user may be frustrated by less-than-expected reliability.

System and method for over-clocking detection of a processor utilizing a feedback clock rate setting


A corrugated tube includes a corrugated tube main body, a plurality of first extended tabs, and a plurality of second extended tabs. The corrugated tube main body is formed in a tubular shape, has annular projections and annular depressions alternatingly formed along a length direction, and has a slit formed along the length direction. The plurality of first extended tabs is provided at intervals on the corrugated tube main body on one of two lateral edges having the slit therebetween. A first engagement notch is formed on two lateral portions of each of the first extended tabs. The plurality of second extended tabs is provided at intervals on the corrugated tube main body on the other of the two lateral edges having the slit therebetween. A second engagement notch is formed on two lateral portions of each of the second extended tabs and engages with the first engagement notch.

A corrugated tube may be used as a sheath to protect electric wires. A slit is formed in the corrugated tube and the electric wires are placed within the corrugated tube through the slit. In addition, after the electric wires are placed in the corrugated tube, adhesive tape is wound around the corrugated tube, thereby inhibiting the corrugated tube from opening.
However, when a long period of time passes, adhesion of the adhesive tape may deteriorate. Alternatively, a substrate of the adhesive tape may deteriorate and the adhesive tape may break. Therefore, the corrugated tube may open at the slit.
In this regard, a corrugated tube having a lock structure is suggested, as in Patent Literature 1.
In a corrugate disclosed by Patent Literature 1, a lock projection is formed on one of two edges having a slit therebetween. Then, when the slit is closed, the lock projection engages with a closing wall on the other of the two edges and the slit is locked in a sealed state.

Corrugated tube and wire harness with corrugated tube


A method of locating and retrieving data objects on an ad hoc data communication system includes discovering devices comprising the system, identification of discovered devices supporting location and transfer of objects from remote devices, locating a desired data object on the devices of the system, and transferring of the desired object to a destination device.

The present invention relates to data communication systems and, more particularly, to a method for locating and retrieving data objects with an ad hoc data communication system.
Bluetooth is one of several specifications for short and medium range wireless communication systems. Bluetooth radio communication occurs at 2.4 GHz in the unlicensed Instrument, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) frequency band and utilizes frequency hopping to reduce interference and fading. The Bluetooth communication channel can support both data (asynchronous) and voice (synchronous) communications with a bandwidth of 1 Mbps. Bluetooth is intended to provide an interface for almost all types of digital electronic devices and to facilitate a universal bridge to existing data processing networks, such as the Internet.
Bluetooth is intended to permit compatible devices located within range of the radio transceiver to make a wireless connection with minimal direct action by a user. Bluetooth devices can interact with each other in several ways. The simplest scheme involves a point-to-point interaction of two devices where one acts as the master for synchronization purposes and the other as a slave in a network known as a piconet. The Bluetooth specification permits a piconet to include as many as seven active slave devices communicating in a point-to-multipoint topology over the communication channel shared by all of the devices. Two or more independent piconets can combine to form a nonsynchronized network known as a scatternet when a master or slave device of one piconet acts as a slave of the second piconet. The networks envisioned by the Bluetooth specification and other similar wireless communication systems are dynamic, ad hoc networks where clusters of data processing devices spontaneously form connections with each other for the purpose of communicating. Ad hoc networks are commonly characterized by the lack of a central access point or server and by dynamic and random entry and exit of network devices.
File or object transfer between devices is a defining function of a data communication network. The BLUETOOTH SPECIFICATION, Version 1.1, Bluetooth Special Interest Group, includes a FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL, Part K:12, defining the application requirements for file transfers by interoperable Bluetooth devices. The profile defines protocols and procedures to support sharing, browsing and manipulating objects stored on remote devices and transferring objects between devices. However, a device user must manually set up the system and browse the shared objects of each connected device to locate a file or other object of interest. Further, if an object is transferred, the entire object must be transferred in a single session. These are substantial limitations for ad hoc networks of portable devices that may randomly move out of communication range.
Object search and retrieval services are also elements of wired data processing networks. One example is provided by Napstere® Internet information services where a central data base of remotely located user files is maintained for object searching. After locating a desired file by searching the data base, the file may be copied to a networked data processing device by peer to peer communication with the remote device on which the file is located. However, this type of service requires a server which is not available in an ad hoc network of temporarily connected devices and the network must be manually configured to facilitate the object transfer.
A second file location and retrieval protocol available on the Internet defines communication within a peer network or mesh of servants having attributes of a client and a server. Each servant is only aware of servants that are connected to it. Object search requests received by a servant are propagated through the network by passing the request on to all other servants connected to the receiver of the search request. File transfers are made peer to peer by remote devices. While this methodology eliminates the requirement of a central server, the network must be set up before the protocol can be used, limiting its usefulness in conjunction with dynamic ad hoc networks.
What is desired, therefore, is a method, requiring minimal user intervention, to locate and transfer data objects with a dynamic, ad hoc data processing system.

Object search and retrieval service for an ad hoc data communication system


A semiconductor laser device and an image display device that efficiently release a heat from stripe active regions, and operated at a low-consumption current and a low-consumption electric power. A semiconductor laser element includes stripe active regions for emitting laser beams. On a base block, there are formed wirings electrically connected to stripe laser electrodes of the semiconductor laser element, respectively. The stripe laser electrodes corresponding to the stripe active regions are formed in proximity to a first surface of the semiconductor laser element, close to the active regions. An electric current is supplied to the active regions from connecting portions between each of the laser electrodes and the wirings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-performance semiconductor laser device for use in an image display device such as a laser display device, and an image display device incorporated with the semiconductor laser device.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, a large-screened and thin flat panel display device, as represented by plasma display devices or liquid crystal display devices, has been rapidly spread. A laser display device is being developed, as an example of a thin flat panel display device having a larger screen and a larger luminance. A semiconductor laser device with high luminance output and operable at a low-consumption electric power is used as a light source of the laser display device.
Watt-class high-output performance is required for the semiconductor laser device. In view of this, there is used a so-called multi-stripe semiconductor laser element constructed in such a manner that multiple stripe active regions are formed in the identical semiconductor laser element.
In the semiconductor laser device provided with the multi-stripe semiconductor laser element, it is required to uniformly supply a large electric current to multiple stripe electrodes for high-output performance. In view of this, some improvements are proposed by forming a wiring on a base block where the semiconductor laser element is mounted, or forming a wiring on the semiconductor laser element. There is proposed a first conventional art as an example of the improvements. In the first conventional art, electrode wiring patterns are formed independently of each other on a surface of a semiconductor laser element, and the electrode wiring patterns are electrically connected to multi-stripe electrodes, respectively (see e.g. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-321399, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-147453, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-45146). In the first conventional art, the electrode wiring patterns connected to the respective stripe electrodes are electrically connected to a conductive wire by an electrode pad provided in the periphery on the surface of the semiconductor laser element for current supply. In this arrangement, the multi-stripe semiconductor laser device is allowed to emit multiple laser beams.
A second conventional art discloses another multi-stripe semiconductor laser device having a wiring arrangement in the case where multiple electrodes are connected to stripe electrodes individually (see e.g. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-23200). Specifically, the second conventional art discloses an example of wiring pattern configured in such a manner that an electrode pad is provided at a position to avoid contact with a conductive wire, in the case where the electrode pad and the other electrode are connected to each other by the conductive wire.
Since a watt-class high-output performance is required to drive the semiconductor laser device, a large electric current supply is required, which results in a large electric power consumption. As a result of the large electric power consumption, the semiconductor laser device is unduly heated. Unless appropriate cooling is conducted, supply of a larger electric current to the semiconductor laser device is required to maintain the watt-class high-output performance. As the further heating progresses, it may be impossible to secure the watt-class high-output performance of the semiconductor laser device, or the semiconductor laser device may be degraded.
In order to eliminate the above drawbacks, there is proposed a third conventional art. In the third conventional art, a semiconductor laser element or a semiconductor laser array element is mounted in a casing or a housing, and a coolant is allowed to flow in the casing or the housing. The semiconductor laser element or the semiconductor laser array element is prevented from being heated by directly cooling the semiconductor laser element or the semiconductor laser array element by the coolant, followed by drawing the coolant from the casing or a like member(see e.g. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8-116138, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-72549). The third conventional art is directed to enhance cooling effect by directly contacting the coolant with at least one of the surfaces of the semiconductor laser element or the semiconductor laser array element, and keeping cooling the surface by flow of the coolant.
There is proposed a fourth conventional art of cooling, with a coolant, a solid-state laser device incorporated with a semiconductor laser element as an excitation light source (see e.g. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 5-211361 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-202332). Specifically, in the fourth conventional art, a coolant is drawn into a casing or a like member in which the entirety of the solid-state laser device including the semiconductor laser element is accommodated to directly cool the semiconductor laser element as an excitation light source or the solid-state laser device. This arrangement is advantageous in suppressing a temperature rise of the semiconductor laser element or the solid-state laser device, and stably maintaining the high-output performance of the semiconductor laser element or the solid-state laser device.
In the case where the multi-stripe semiconductor laser device is used as a light source of an image display device such as a panel display device, supply of a larger electric current is required, as compared with a case of using the semiconductor laser device in an optical disk device, a printer, or a like device. In driving the multi-stripe semiconductor laser device in the image display device, unless a heat generated in the stripe active regions is rapidly released from the active regions, the laser output may be saturated by the heat, thereby obstructing the high-output performance. Also, since a large electric current is supplied to the stripe active regions, an electric current flowing in a direction parallel to the stripe electrodes may be fluctuated, which may increase an operation current. As a result, another drawback such as unduly increase of an operation electric power may occur. Also, an increased electric current may degrade the semiconductor laser device.
The first and the second conventional arts disclose a wiring method or a conductive wire mounting method to solve the problems relating to mounting a multi-stripe semiconductor laser device. However, there is not disclosed a method for effectively releasing a heat generated in supplying a large electric current to a semiconductor laser device, or a method for uniformly supplying an electric current to stripe active regions.
The third and the fourth conventional arts disclose an approach of directly cooling an emission point of a semiconductor laser element, a laser chip, or a laser bar, but do not disclose an approach of efficiently cooling active regions of a semiconductor laser element. The third and the fourth conventional arts disclose an arrangement of drawing a coolant into a casing or a like member to directly cool a semiconductor laser element, followed by drawing the coolant from the casing or the like member, but do not disclose an arrangement of flowing a coolant to efficiently cool a laser beam emission end of a semiconductor laser element, or active regions for amplifying the laser beams; or an arrangement of efficiently releasing a heat by transferring the heat to a coolant. Further, the third and the fourth conventional arts do not disclose a safety-oriented arrangement of suspending an operation of a semiconductor laser device in the case where the semiconductor laser device is tilted by e.g. tipping over.

Semiconductor laser device, and image display device


Disclosed are a method, a system, and a non-transitory computer readable medium for identifying data entries associated with an entity. A first rule is applied on a plurality of data entries associated with a plurality of entities to obtain a first set of data entries from the plurality of data entries. Each data entry includes corresponding attributes. The first rule is to search for data entries with a first group of attributes. A second rule is applied on the plurality of data entries associated with a plurality of entities to obtain a second set of data entries from the plurality of data entries. The second rule is to search for data entries with a second group of attributes. A third set of data entries associated with a single entity is obtained based on the first set of data entries and the second set of data entries.

The following description is provided to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided is admitted to be prior art.
Proliferation of storage and network devices enables a large amount of data to be exchanged and stored. Large amount of data allows analysis or predictions that were not feasible before. For example, a big data analysis performed on more than millions or billions of data entries enables a prediction of a likelihood of a person defaulting on a mortgage payment through a statistical analysis.
Aggregating data involves performing data cleansing or entity resolution to remove or combine duplicative data entries from different sources. For example, some data entries from different data sources for a single entity are inconsistent, because different data entries are represented in different formats or because typographical errors are introduced during the data entry process. By performing data cleansing, inconsistent data entries for an entity may be corrected or duplicative data entries may be consolidated.
Often, performing data cleansing involves manual review of data entries. However, manually reviewing a large number of data entries (e.g., over 100 million) from various data sources may be inefficient and time consuming. Moreover, performing data analysis on duplicative data entries or data entries with errors may render inaccurate results.
The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings.

Entity resolution based on multiple attributes


A connector with a lever for reducing the force required for connection between the first and second interlocking connectors. The second connector includes a freely-pivoting lever with a pair of connector guide holes. The first connector includes a pair of guide pins. A connector box secured at any given location includes a connector cavity, with an opening on the mating member side, for the first and second connectors. Guide rails are provided in the connector box housing for guiding the first and second connectors. A lever guide is further provided in the housing for guiding the lever according to the movement of second connector. When the first connector member is pressed against the second connector member housed in the housing, the guide holes engage with the guide pins and the force pulls the first connector member to the second connector member according to the moving position of thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector with a lever for connecting mating male-female units with a single action simply and, more particularly, to a connector well suited for an automotive wire harness connection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of lever type connectors, with levers for reducing the force required for a male-female connection between mating connector units, are commonly used today. One such connector is shown in FIG. 8.
This connector includes a mating plug unit 2 for accommodating a plurality of first electrical wires with first terminals (not shown) therein and a receptacle unit 1 for accommodating a plurality of second electrical wires with second terminals (not shown) therein. The first and second electrical wires are electrically connected by engaging the first and second terminals thereof when the plug unit 2 is inserted into the receptacle unit 1.
The receptacle unit 1 is provided with an receptacle space 1a formed on one side surface, exposing the accommodated first terminals therein. The receptacle unit 1 further has lever 3 installed on the side surface of the receptacle opening 1a in a freely pivoting manner, as shown in FIG. 8. The lever 3 has an guide holes 3a in a curved line. The lever 3 further has a guide hole leader 3b engraved on the inner side thereof, facing the first connector 1, between the guide hole 3a and one side edge of the lever 3.
When the plug unit 2 and receptacle unit 1 are engaged with each other, the plug portion 2a is inserted into the receptacle opening 1a as the guide pins 4 are guided into the guide holes 3a by the guide hole leaders 3b. Then, the lever 3 is rotated in the direction of the arrow A, the guide pins 4 are pulled in the direction B by the guide holes 3. Thus, the plug unit 2 is forced to further insert into the receptacle opening 1a, and the first and second terminals accommodated in two units 1 and 2 are connected. The manual force required to connect the units 1 and 2 at this time is less than that required to connect them directly by hand because the basic lever and fulcrum principle applied with the lever 3 reduces the required force.
When connecting this conventional lever type connector, however, the receptacle unit 1 and plug unit 2 must be held by hand and positioned so that the guide pins 4 are located in the guide hole leaders 3b at the end of the guide hole 3a in the initial position shown in FIG. 8, after which time the lever 3 is operated.
In other words, connecting the conventional lever type connector requires an awkward two step operation: positioning the receptacle unit 1 and plug unit 2 in the initial position, and then operating the lever 3 to complete the connection. In addition, the need to hold both two units 1 and 2 by hand increases the difficulty of this operation.


Coherency analysis, such as semblance scan or stacking amplitude, is used to locate diffractors. This is done utilizing traces of a recorded 3-D marine survey with one or more cables. Locations of each diffractor are determined by comparing the lateral coherency of the received amplitudes that each assumed diffractor position generates. Once the diffractors are located, noise energy originating from the diffractors is minimized.

In the field of geophysical prospecting, seismic signals are used to do 3-D seismic surveys of a predetermined area. However, problems arise in the collection of data due to the backscattering of energy from the shallow inhomogeneities or obstacles.
Prior Art at Compagnie Generale de Geophysique:
Compagnie Generale de Geophysique utilizes a process called Deterministic Diffractor Noise Reduction (DDNR) to remove the contribution of diffractor energy from the survey. DDNR involves identifying and picking travel times for each diffractor located at sea bottom. Once travel times are known for a diffractor, then its location can be calculated by assuming a speed of propagation, like 1500 m/s, for the medium. Data can then be flattened using travel times calculated for the diffractor and the flat component of energy (diffraction) can be attenuated using FK filter or Radon transform filter, as it is known in the art.
Prior Art in the Industry:
Fookes et al. ("Practical interference noise elimination in modern marine data processing," Expanded Abstracts, 2003 SEG Annual Meeting) follow a method similar to Compagnie Generale de Geophysique DDNR method mentioned above: pick travel times and find the diffractor location that minimizes the error between calculated travel times and measured travel times. Upon determination of diffractor location, the data is flattened and flat events suppressed.
A use of coherency measurement is using semblance in stacking velocity analysis of seismic data and is done by Taner and Koehler (1969, "Velocity spectra—digital computer derivation and applications of velocity functions," Geophysics, 34, 859-881). The use of other coherency measures than semblance for lateral coherency of events is also possible: energy normalized cross correlation sum, stacking power, or stacking amplitude are other possibilities. Key and Smithson (1990, "New approach to seismic-reflection event detection and velocity determination": GEOPHYSICS, Soc. of Expl. Geophys., 55, 1057-1069.) derived their coherency measure from the eigenvalues of the problem at hand. Gulunay (1991, "High resolution CVS: Generalized covariance measure", 61st Ann. Internat. Mtg: Soc. of Expl. Geophys., 1264-1267) studied the relationship of such coherency measures including the ones derived from semblance. Gonzalez-Serrano and Chon ("Migration velocity analysis in 3-D," Expanded Abstracts, 1984 SEG Annual Meeting), Sicking ("Diffraction semblance for velocity and structure analysis," Expanded Abstracts, 1987 SEG Annual Meeting), and VarWest et al. ("Relation between velocity fields and imaging in the presence of lateral velocity variations," Expanded Abstracts, 1985 SEG Annual Meeting) use semblance analysis for prestack migration velocity determination. Landa et al. ("A method for detection of diffracted waves on common offset sections," Geophysical Prospecting, 35, 359-373, 1987) use semblance analysis to find buried edges in x-z plane that cause diffraction under a 2-D seismic line (shooting and receiving along x direction, shots and receivers at the surface, z=0) using common offset data (x-t). Landa and Keydar ("Seismic monitoring of diffraction images for detection of local heterogeneities," Geophysics, 63, 3, 1093-1100, May 1998) use semblance analysis to detect local heterogeneities (diffractors) buried under a 2-D section (x-z plane) using a source receiver configuration similar to the ones used in 2-D seismic recordings (shooting and receiving along x-z direction, shots and receivers at the surface, z=0). The paper discusses a "D-section" which is similar in concept to semblance scanning; however, D-section is done for diffractor buried in a vertical plane of a complex earth. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,687,618 and 6,546,339 also address the use of semblance scan in geophysical processing using seismic signals.
Two papers by Blonk et al (1994, "Inverse scattering of surface waves: A new look at surface consistency", Geophysics, 59, 6, 963-972 and 1995, "An elastodynamic inverse scattering method for removing scattered surface waves from field data", Geophysics, 60, 6, 1897-1903.) address the issue of finding and removing such diffractors for land data but their method is based on "linearized elastodynamic inverse scattering theory" and involves consideration of temporal frequency, solution of linear systems with tools like conjugate gradient algorithm and is completely different from the time domain amplitude coherency approach of the arrival energy used in this invention.
It is an object of this invention to remove the energy from the survey that is contributed by the diffractor.
It is a further object of the present invention to eliminate the task or necessity of picking of arrival or travel-times or going into complex theoretical calculations as in Blonk et al (1994,1995) papers for determination of diffractor locations.

Method for determination of diffractor locations at sea bottom for the purpose of attenuating such energy


In recent years, the telecommunications industry has witnessed the proliferation of a variety of digital vocoders in order to meet bandwidth demands of different wireline and wireless communication systems. The rapid growth in the diversity of networks and the number of users of such networks is increasing the number of instances where two vocoders are placed in tandem to serve a single connection. Such arrangements of low bit-rate codecs can degrade the quality of the transmitted speech. To overcome this problem the invention provides a novel method and an apparatus for transmitting digitized voice signals in the wireless communications environment. The apparatus is capable of converting a compressed speech signal from one format to another format via an intermediate common format, thus avoiding the necessity to successively de-compress voice data to a PCM type digitization and then recompress the voice data.

In recent years, the telecommunications industry has witnessed the proliferation of a variety of digital vocoders in order to meet bandwidth demands of different wireline and wireless communication systems. The name <<vocoder>> stems from the fact that its applications are specific to the encoding and decoding of voice signals primarily. Vocoders are usually integrated in mobile telephones and the base stations of the communication network. They provide speech compression of a digitized voice signal as well as the reverse transformation. Typically, a voice signal is digitized through one of many quantization techniques. Examples of these techniques are Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM), Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) and Delta Modulation. For the purposes of this description we will refer to PCM as the input format for the vocoder. Thus a vocoder includes an encoder stage that will accept as input a digitized voice signal and output a compressed signal, a possible compression ratio being 8:1. As for the reverse transformation the vocoder is provided with a decoder stage that will accept the compressed speech signal and output a digitized signal, such as PCM samples.
The main advantage of compressing speech is that it uses less of the limited available channel bandwidth for transmission. The main disadvantage is loss of speech quality.
Most modern low bit-rate vocoders are based on the linear prediction model that separates the speech signal into a set of linear prediction coefficients, a residual signal and various other parameters. Generally, the speech can be reconstructed with good quality from these components. However, degradations are introduced when speech is subjected to multiple instances of vocoders.
The rapid growth in the diversity of networks and the number of users of such networks is increasing the number of instances where two vocoders are placed in tandem to serve a single connection. In such a case, a first encoder is used to compress the speech of the first mobile user. The compressed speech is transmitted to a base station serving the local mobile where it is decompressed (converted to PCM format samples). The resulting PCM samples arrive at the base station serving the second mobile terminal, over the digital trunk of the telephone network, where a second encoder is used to compress the input signal for transmission to the second mobile terminal. A speech decoder at the second mobile terminal decompresses the received compressed speech data to synthesize the original speech signal from the first mobile terminal. A specific example of such a case may involve a call made from a wireless terminal operating according to the North American Time Division Multiplexing Access (TDMA) system to a European standard Global System for Mobile (GSM) mobile phone.
In an attempt to eliminate the condition of vocoder tandeming, a method called <<bypass>> has been proposed in the past. The basic idea behind this approach is the provision of a digital signal processor including a vocoder and a bypass mechanism that is invoked when the incoming signal is in a format compatible with the vocoder. In use, the digital signal processor associated with the first base station that receives the RF signal from a first mobile terminal determines, through signaling and control that an identical digital signal processor exists at the second base station associated with the mobile terminal at which the call is directed. The digital signal processor associated with the first base station rather than converting the compressed speech signals into PCM samples invokes the bypass mechanism and outputs the compressed speech in the transport network. The compressed speech signal, when arriving at the digital signal processor associated with the second base station is routed such as to bypass the local vocoder. Decompression of the signal occurs only at the second mobile terminal. The "bypass" approach is described in the international application serial number PCT 95CA704 dated Dec. 13, 1995. The contents of this disclosure are hereby incorporated by reference.
This solution is only valid, though, for identical vocoders. With the rapid expansion of networks, the diversity of vocoders is quickly increasing. The bypass solution is therefore useful only for a small portion of connections involving tandem vocoding.
Thus, there exists a need in the industry for devices capable of improving the voice quality during connections that may include incompatible tandemed vocoders.

Method and apparatus for improving the voice quality of tandemed vocoders


Provided are: a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase; a method for preserving an ascorbic acid oxidase; and a stabilized composition of an ascorbic acid oxidase. A method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase and a method for preserving an ascorbic acid oxidase, each of the methods comprising allowing an ascorbic acid oxidase to coexist with nitrous acid or a salt thereof, or a nitrous acid ester in an aqueous medium; and a stabilized composition of an ascorbic acid oxidase, which comprises an ascorbic acid oxidase being allowed to coexist with nitrous acid or a salt thereof, or a nitrous acid ester in an aqueous medium. The method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase, the method for preserving an ascorbic acid oxidase, and the stabilized composition of an ascorbic acid oxidase according to the present invention are useful for clinical diagnosis and the like.

A clinical test is routinely carried out which involves converting a component to be measured in a biological sample, such as serum, into hydrogen peroxide using an oxidase and measuring the generated hydrogen peroxide to determine the component to be measured. There is often a problem of the influence of interfering substances, such as ascorbic acid and bilirubin, contained in a biological sample, in a method for measuring a component to be measured in the biological sample based on the measurement of hydrogen peroxide. Particularly, ascorbic acid has an extremely strong reduction effect; to avoid the influence thereof, a method involving converting ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbic acid using an ascorbic acid oxidase to suppress the influence of ascorbic acid is often used in a clinical test.
Ascorbic acid oxidase is a blue copper protein having a molecular weight of about 140,000 and converts ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbic acid. To suppress the influence of ascorbic acid, an ascorbic acid oxidase is often contained in a reagent for measuring a component to be measured in a biological sample. However, there is a problem that an ascorbic acid oxidase is unstable and is deactivated during the preservation of the reagent to deteriorate the performance of the reagent.
Against the problem, there are known a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase by adding a compound having both of a metal or a positive basic group and a negative acid group, or a combination of the compound, catalase and/or peroxidase, and an oxidative dye coupler to a solution containing an ascorbic acid oxidase (see patent document 1); a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase by maintaining an ascorbic acid oxidase under lyophilization in the presence of an N-substituted taurine buffer (see patent document 2); a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase by allowing an ascorbic acid oxidase to coexist with one or more selected from skim milk, lactose, sucrose, and soluble starch (see patent document 3); a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase in a solution state by chemically binding an ascorbic acid oxidase to a water-soluble carrier selected from bovine serum albumin, dextran, and polyethylene glycol (see patent document 4); a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase by adding one or more kind of pyruvic acid (and salts thereof) therein (see patent document 5); a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase by adding a sugar alcohol to a solution containing an ascorbic acid oxidase (see patent document 6); a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase by allowing the ascorbic acid oxidase to coexist with a substance selected from 2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one, 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one, 1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-one, and salts thereof (see patent document 7); a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase in a dried state by allowing the ascorbic acid oxidase to coexist with a protein degradation product (see patent document 8); a method for stabilizing an ascorbic acid oxidase by adding an amino acid and an amino acid salt and/or an oligopeptide (see patent document 9), and the like.

Method for stabilizing ascorbic acid oxidase


When a photograph album is generated by laying out images, a background image is set in accordance with the images. Image data sets representing the images are input to background setting means and area ratio calculation means calculates a ratio of an area where a chroma value is not smaller than a predetermined threshold value for an entire area of each image. Setting means finds a ratio of the image data sets whose area ratio is not smaller than a predetermined threshold value to all the image data sets, and sets the background color to white or beige if the ratio is small. If the ratio is large, a hue histogram is generated and the background color is set in accordance with a hue appearing with the largest frequency. Layout means arranges the images on the background to obtain album data. A printer prints the album data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a background image setting method and a background image setting apparatus for setting a color and a pattern used in a background of a photograph album in which images obtained by a digital camera or the like are laid out. The present invention also relates to a computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the background image setting method.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been known systems for reproducing image data by using an output device such as a printer or a monitor. The image data for such a system are obtained by an imaging device such as a digital camera and a digital camcorder, or obtained by reading an image or images recorded on a photographic film with a scanner. Images represented by the image data are not only reproduced but also arranged in a desired layout for generating a photograph album. Such an album may be printed or displayed on a monitor.
Meanwhile, human vision is influenced strongly by a background color. Therefore, when two identical color charts are viewed with different background colors, colors in the charts are recognized as different colors. For this reason, a method has been proposed for changing a background color for an image to be displayed on a monitor (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10 (1998)-145582). In this method, when an image to be printed is displayed on a monitor for confirmation of a finish thereof, a color of a background for the image is changed based on a color of a background for the print and on information regarding a light in which the print is viewed. In this manner, the image displayed on the monitor looks the same as the print viewed in the background color in the light.
A color of a background of a photograph album is generally white or a pale color such as beige. Since an image looks different in different background colors as has been described above, it can be thought that there is a more preferable background color for images to be laid out in a photograph album. Furthermore, a pattern in the background also causes the images in the album to look different.

Method, apparatus and recording medium for setting background image


An observation system to observe a sample mass formed of samples gathering in a container containing the samples and a solution, includes: an entire image pickup unit to image the entire container; a sample mass identification unit to identify a sample mass formed in the container, from a macro observation image obtained by imaging the entire container; a magnifying image pickup unit to magnify and image a part of an area in the container including the sample mass identified by the sample mass identification unit; and a history information storage unit to store position information of the sample mass in association with time and date information, wherein the magnifying image pickup unit magnifies and images a part of an area in the container based on the past position information stored in the history information storage unit, while the sample mass identification unit is executing processing of identifying the sample mass.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an observation system, a recording medium, and a control method of observation system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In culturing cells, if observation can be started concurrently with emergence of a cell mass having a plurality of cells gathering therein and the observation can be conducted sequentially in chronological order, it can be a promising technique to support regenerative medicine, for example. Such observation of cells has been conducted, by using a microscope, for example, when replenishment or replacement of culture fluid in a culture container is required during cell culture, and an image has been picked up as necessary.
However, observation of cells using a microscope requires much expense in time and effort. For example, in order to identify a cell mass having emerged in a container, first, the entire container needs to be observed visually or by using a microscope, and then, a growing state of the individual cell mass needs to be observed under magnification by replacing an objective lens, for example. In micro observation, a narrow field of view causes difficulty in searching a target cell mass, and also causes difficulty in adjusting the cell mass to the field of view. When observing cells, it is preferable to conduct time-lapse observation in which a long-term change is observed from a time of emergence of the cell mass to a time of completion of growth thereof for every predetermined time period. Since the cell mass cannot be observed visually or by using a low-magnification microscope, for example, immediately after seeding of the cell, an observation position needs to be searched and set again several days later.
Further, in observation that is conducted at the time of replenishment or replacement of culture fluid in a culture container usually once in one to three days, it is difficult to conduct observation from a time of emergence of a cell mass, and thus a technique capable of observation of a cell mass from the time of emergence thereof is in high demand. Further, in picking up an image of a cell in each of the cases where the entire container is observed and where a part of the interior of the container is observed under magnification, such a problem that heat generated from illumination and a lens driving system, for example, has effects on growth of the cell arises.
With respect to such observation of cells, a device has been proposed that is configured to save time and effort in switching between the observation of the entire container and the micro observation of a part of the interior of the container, and examples can be found in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications 2009-198709 and 2005-295818.
However, it is not easy to manually detect an observation target cell mass in the entire container. Thus, it is preferable that a macro observation image obtained by picking up an image of the entire container is subjected to image processing, thereby extracting the observation target cell mass, and magnifying the portion of the cell mass, as necessary, and imaging it.
However, in that case, image processing for detecting the observation target cell mass from the macro observation image is complicated and requires processing time of several minutes depending on the number of pixels of the macro observation image.
Further, a plurality of observation target cell masses are usually detected in a single container. Thus, a work of individually detecting those cell masses through image processing and picking up an image of each of them needs to be carried out repeatedly, which causes prolonged observation time.
Thus, such a technique is desired that enables an increase in efficiency of the work of detecting a observation target cell mass in the container and magnifying and picking up an image of a portion of each cell mass.

Observation system, recording medium, and control method of observation system