In a method of processing mailpieces, a digital image of a surface of a current mailpiece is formed for the purpose of using OCR to recognize a recipient postal address for said current mailpiece, and, if it is determined that the recognized recipient address corresponds to an incorrect recipient address, a forwarding address is placed on said surface of the current mailpiece. In addition to said forwarding address, an OCR-detectable mark is placed on the surface of the current mailpiece, which mark indicates that the current mailpiece bears a forwarding address, and also constitutes an index for retrieving said forwarding address from a database.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of processing mailpieces, in which a digital image of a surface of a current mailpiece is formed for the purpose of using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to recognize a recipient postal address for said current mailpiece, and, if it is determined that the recognized recipient address corresponds to an incorrect recipient address, a forwarding address is placed on said surface of the current mailpiece.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Such a method of processing mailpieces, with account being taken of mailpieces that are to be forwarded, is known, for example, from Patent Documents WO2005/049232, EP0949014, and EP0500180. Taking account of mailpieces that are to be forwarded can also be referred to as "readdressing". In a batch of mailpieces to be processed in a sorting machine, it is generally necessary to forward a fraction, of the order of a few percent, of the mailpieces. A mailpiece can need readdressing due to a change of address of the recipient of the mailpiece. The forwarding process is triggered for recipients that have asked the postal operator in charge of the inward sorting to forward their mail.
A conventional sorting process takes place as follows. A batch of mailpieces is put through a machine a first time, i.e. in a first sorting pass, for the purpose of using OCR to recognize the addresses of the recipients, and each mailpiece is directed to a sorting outlet of the machine. At the same time, each mailpiece is assigned a unique identification number that is placed on the surface of the mailpiece in the form of a barcode. During the second sorting pass, i.e. while each mailpiece is passing, for a second time, through the same sorting machine or through some other machine, said bar code is read back so as to retrieve the recipient address for the mailpiece in such a manner as to direct the mailpiece to the corresponding sorting outlet of the machine. If the mailpiece bears a recipient address that is incorrect, e.g. due to a change of address of the recipient about which the postal operator has been informed, then, during the first sorting pass, processing is applied that consists firstly in detecting, during the first sorting pass, that the recipient address recognized by OCR is an incorrect address (by scanning through a list of predetermined incorrect addresses kept by the postal operator and stored in the machine), and in placing a forwarding address (retrieved from the above-mentioned list of addresses or on the basis thereof) on the surface of the mailpiece (e.g. by printing it on a label). While this mailpiece to be forwarded is on its second sorting pass, the bar code is read back from the surface of the mailpiece so as to retrieve the identification number of the mailpiece, which number serves as an index for retrieving the forwarding address from a database so as to direct the mailpiece to the appropriate sorting outlet.
A technique is also known for virtually identifying the mailpieces that consists in deriving digital signatures from the images of the mailpieces, those signatures then serving as unique identifiers for the mailpieces. In that technique, while a mailpiece is undergoing a first sorting pass, and on the basis of the image of the surface of the mailpiece that bears the recipient postal address of the mailpiece, a digital signature (a kind of a graphical fingerprint) is derived that comprises a first component or "image component" representative of physical characteristics of the digital image of the mailpiece and a second component or "postal component" indicating at least the spatial position of the recipient address block present in the image of the mailpiece. These two components should not be correlated relative to each other. In particular, the image component is formed by "global" attributes that are representative of overall physical characteristics taken from the entire set of picture elements (pixels) of the digital image of the mailpiece. The image component is also formed of second attributes or "local" attributes that are representative of local physical characteristics taken from distinct portions of a grid applied over the image of the mailpiece (or of a plurality of different grids).
That digital signature is used as an index for retrieving OCR-recognized address information from a database. While the same mailpiece is undergoing a second sorting pass, an image of the surface of the mailpiece is formed again for the purpose of deriving a current signature that is compared with the candidate signatures recorded during the first sorting pass of the mailpieces. If it is detected that said current signature and a candidate signature match, i.e. coincide, it is then possible to retrieve said address information from said database so as to direct the mailpiece to the appropriate sorting outlet. That technology offers the advantage, in particular, of reducing the operating costs of a postal sorting machine by obviating the need for bar codes as descried in French Patent Document FR-2 841 673.
Unfortunately, in practice, that virtual mailpiece identification technique cannot be used directly in the presence of mailpieces to be forwarded because, between two sorting passes, the surfaces of such mailpieces to be forwarded must be modified by placing forwarding addresses that make it possible for the mailpieces to be delivered on a delivery round or "postman's walk".

Method of processing mailpieces that enables virtual identification of the mailpieces to be used with forwarding


Methods and/or systems are disclosed herein for use in imaging an object including using interferometry while modifying at least one characteristic of the object such as the spatial distribution of the refractive index of the object. The interferometry imaging data may be processed with one or more image processing algorithms that take into account the modification, or change, in the spatial distribution of the refractive index of the object.

The present disclosure relates generally to imaging using interferometry. More particularly, the present disclosure pertains to the use of methods and systems using optical coherence tomography (OCT) for various biological tissue imaging applications including, e.g., tumor detection (e.g., early detection), dental caries detection (e.g., early detection), wounds and/or burnt tissue imaging, etc. Further, such methods and systems using optical coherence tomography may be useful in the following fields: ophthalmology, surgery, cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, and/or dermatology.
OCT has established itself as an important imaging modality for numerous medical and biological applications. Generally, OCT is a sub-surface imaging technique that uses either a low-coherence light source (time-domain systems) or a swept source (frequency-domain systems). OCT has about one to about two orders of magnitude higher resolution than ultrasound imaging and an imaging depth of about 4 to about 6 millimeters. Further, OCT may be implemented using an optical fiber based probe that is mounted on a syringe to image internal body organs (see, e.g., Y. Mao, S. Chang, S. S. Sherif, and C. Flueraru, "Graded-index fiber lens proposed for ultrasmall probes used in biomedical imaging," Applied Optics, 46, pp. 5887-5894 (2007)).
The use of light in OCT techniques may be safer to most biological samples than ionizing radiation like X-rays or gamma rays, and further may allow for spectroscopic characterization of an object, e.g., to detect tumor in tissue (see, e.g., Chengyang Xu, Claudio Vinegoni, Tyler S. Ralston, Wei Luo, Wei Tan, and Stephen A. Boppart, "Spectroscopic spectral-domain optical coherence microscopy," Opt. Lett. 31, 1079-1081 (2006)).
FIG. 1 depicts the image resolution and penetration depth for different biomedical imaging modalities. As shown, a tradeoff may exist between the imaging resolution and penetration depth in sub-surface biomedical imaging applications. In addition to the relatively low cost of OCT, another advantage may be its combination of imaging resolution and penetration depth that may be unattainable by other biomedical imaging modalities.
Further, the ability of OCT to detect microscopic changes in the morphology and composition of tissue may make OCT an ideal non-invasive optical biopsy method for the early detection of cancer (see, e.g., B. E. Bouma and G. J. Tearney, eds., Handbook of Optical Coherence Tomography (Marcel Dekker, New York, 2001)).
Many OCT imaging models only consider single scattered photons (e.g., ballistic photons) inside an object as contributors to the imaging process. While ballistic-photon-based mathematical OCT models may simplify the analysis, it has been demonstrated that multiple-scattered photons, or multiple-scattered light, which are dominant at large depths, may be a fundamental limitation in increasing the imaging depth of OCT in tissue (see, e.g., M. J. Yadlowsky, J. M. Schmitt, and R. F. Bonner, "Multiple scattering in optical coherence microscopy," Appl. Opt. 34, 5699-5707 (1995)). Recent application of OCT imaging for the early detection of breast cancer may represent an area where increased imaging depth may be useful (see, e.g., A. M. Zysk and S. A. Boppart, "Computational methods for analysis of human breast tumor tissue in optical coherence tomography images," Journal of Biomedical Optics 11 (5), 054015 (2006)).
When an optical field is incident on biological tissue, the optical field penetrates the tissue to a depth that depends on the optical properties of biological tissue and the intensity of the field. Biological tissue is typically an inhomogeneous optical medium, and therefore, part of the optical field is reflected. The light that is scattered once inside the tissue is called the single-scattered photons or light; the light that is scattered more than once inside the tissue is called multiple-scattered photons or light. In other words, light that is only scattered by one localized scattering center is called single-scattered light, and light that is scattered by more than one localized scattering center grouped together is known as multiple scattered light.
In OCT imaging, backscattered light, which is the light reflected back to where it came from, may be used to reconstruct the subsurface structure of an object, even though the detected light has both single and multiple-scattered components. As imaging depth increases, the ratio of detected single to multiple-scattered components decreases. As such, multiple scattering of light introduces a loss of contrast in OCT images, reduces the imaging axial resolution, and decreases the imaging depth in biological tissue (see, e.g., Schmitt, J. M., "Optical coherence tomography (OCT): a review," IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics 5(4), 1205-1215 (1999); Schmitt, J. M., and Knüttel, A., "Model of optical coherence tomography of heterogeneous tissue," Journal of the Optical Society of America A 14(6), 1231-1242 (1997); and Fercher, A. F., Drexler, W., Hitzenberger, C. K., and Lasser, T., "Optical coherence tomography-principles and applications," Reports on Progress in Physics 66, 239-303 (2003)).
Several researchers have studied multiple-scattered light in biological tissue to characterize its effects on OCT imaging. For example, Yadlowsky et al. has experimentally classified the directions of multiply scattered light into small and wide angles (see, e.g., Yadlowsky, M. J., Schmitt, J. M., and Bonner, R. F., "Multiple scattering in optical coherence microscopy," Applied Optics 34(25), 5699-5707 (1995)). It was demonstrated that multiple-scattered light with small angles may contribute to backscattered light and may enhance the reflectance of small structures of biological tissue. Further, it was also demonstrated that multiple-scattered light with wide angles may reduce the contrast of subsequent features, and blurred and produced broad haze in OCT images.
Further, for example, Adie et al. quantified multiple-scattering of light using a polarization sensitive OCT system (see, e.g., Adie, S. G., Hillman, T R., and Sampson, D. O., "Detection of multiple scattering in optical coherence tomography using the spatial distribution of Stokes vectors," Optics Express 15(26), 18033-18049 (2007)). It was demonstrated that the correlation of both local polarization states of the backscattered light may characterize the relative presence of both the multiple-scattered and the single-scattered light from biological tissue.
Each of the methods presented by Yadowlsky et al. and Adie et al. are empirical in nature and were performed for specific biological tissue types using time-domain optical coherence tomography rather than swept-source optical coherence tomography.
Further, an ad-hoc attempt to perform time-domain OCT in the presence of continuous-wave (CW) ultrasound in tissue has been previously discussed (see, e.g., J. O. Schenk and M. E. Brezinski, "Ultrasound induced improvement in optical coherence tomography (OCT) resolution," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99, pp. 9761-9764 (2002)). In this ad-hoc attempt, a 7.5-MHz ultrasound transducer was placed approximately in parallel to the OCT beam, and the ultrasound beam was brought into direct contact with the tissue with ultrasound transducing medium. The OCT imaging was performed with the ultrasound beam in three settings: ultrasound off, pulsed ultrasound, and CW ultrasound. The CW ultrasound was performed at a power of 10.6 milliwatts (mW), beam diameter of 0.15 centimeters (cm), and focal length of 2.1 cm. The pulsed ultrasound was performed with an average power of 17.8 mW, beam diameter of 0.24 cm, and a focal length of 2.1 cm. Further, the ultrasound beam was used over 1.5 cm proximal to the focus, resulting in an essentially collimated beam, and the pulse repetition rate was 1.3 milliseconds (ms) with an average pulse intensity of 225 Watts per cm squared.
As reported in this article (i.e., "Ultrasound induced improvement in optical coherence tomography (OCT) resolution"), the presence and absence of a CW ultrasound beam is apparent. More specifically, it can be seen that the noise between scatterers may be reduced in the presence of ultrasound deep within the tissue. The article generally concluded that combining OCT with a parallel ultrasound beam may result in an improvement in resolution through a reduced effect of multiple scattering due to photon-phonon interaction. The techniques described in the article, however, only utilized Time-Domain OCT, and further, the OCT algorithms did not take into consideration, or account for, the effects of the CW ultrasound within the tissue in the processing of imaging data and/or constructing of an image from such imaging data.
An integrated computational imaging system (also referred to as a hybrid imaging system) combines a modified optical imaging system and a digital post-processing step. An integrated computational imaging system is different from a system obtained by cascading a physical imaging system and a digital image processing step. In an integrated computational system, both the physical imaging and digital modules are parts of a single system and the imaging process is divided between them. Thus, in an integrated computational system, the final image is obtained by digitally processing an intermediate detected image. The design flexibility of an integrated computational system could be used to achieve imaging performance that would be otherwise unattainable by any similar conventional system (see, e.g., W. T. Cathey and E. R. Dowski, "New paradigm for imaging systems," Appl. Opt., 41, pp. 6080 (2002)).
One example of an integrated computational imaging system may be described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,031,054 B2 entitled "Methods and Systems for Reducing Depth of Field of Hybrid Imaging Systems" issued on Apr. 18, 2006 to Cathey, Jr. et al., which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Modifying the spatial distribution of the refractive index of an object and imaging the object using interferometry


Disclosed is a clock-based data storage device, which includes a dual pulse generating device and a data starge device having two dynamic nodes for prior chargement/dischargement. The clock-based data storage device includes a dual pulse generating unit which delays a clock signal and then outputs a first clock signal corresponding to inversion of a clock signal and a second clock signal corresponding to the clock signal by using the delayed clock signal when the clock signal shifts, a pull-up wait for outputting a pull-up output signal to an output port, based on the first clock signal outputted from the dual pulse generating unit and an input data signal which has beeb inputted, a pull-down unit for outputting a pull-down output signal to the output port, based on the second clock signal outputted from the dual pulse generating unit and the input data signal inputted which has been inputted, and a latch unit which is disposed between the pull-up and pull-down units, and the output port so as to store at least one output signal outputted from the pull-down unit as well as the pull-down unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clock-based data storage device, and more particularly to a clock-based data storage device, a dual pulse generation device, and a data storage device, which can reduce internal capacitance and improve loading at an output port so that a switching speed increases, and electric power consumption is reduced and is more effectively used.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagrams of a Hybrid Latch Flip Flop (hereinafter, referred to as "HLFF"). With reference to FIG. 1, an HLFF includes a dynamic front port and a static back port. When a clock signal Ck shifts from a high level to a lower level in the HLFF as shown in FIG, 1, input data is transmitted to the front port during delay time of an inverted/delayed clock signal CkDB inverted and delayed by three inverters, a charged or, discharged state or a previous state of the front port is kept, and a prior logic state (pull-up or pull-down) of the back port is kept as it is. When the level of a clock signal Ck shifts from a low level to a high level, the front port dose not receive input data D any more, and the back port transmits the previous logic port to the back port so as to output it.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a conventional Semi-Dynamic Flip Flop (hereinafter, referred to as "SDFF"). With reference to FIG. 2, the SDFF includes a precharge port and an output buffer port. In the SDFF as shown in FIG 2, when input data D is in a logic high state, the precharge port is completely discharged so that output Q becomes a logic high state (pull-up), and when input data D is in a logic low state, the precharge port is charged to be a logic high state so that ouput Q becomes a logic low state (pull-down).
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional HLFF and SDFF as described above include one dynamic node X so that the one dynamic node X is connected with an output transistor p-channel as well as an output transistor N-channel, thereby generating large internal capacitance which always generates regardless of a pull-up and pull-down shift. Accordingly, in the conventional Flip Flop, a switching speed decreases due to the internal large capacitance, which is always generated, power leakage occurs, and an operational speed decreases due to a discharging path in a stack structure of a transistor disposed at an output port.

Clock-based data storage device, dual pulse generation device, and data storage device

Sungkyunkwan University Foundation for Corporate Collaboration


A light source module including a substrate, a plurality of first light emitting diode (LED) chips, and at least one second LED chip is provided. The substrate has an upper surface. The plurality of first LED chips are disposed on the upper surface and electrically connected to the substrate. The second LED chip is disposed on the upper surface and electrically connected to the substrate. A first distance is between a top surface of each of the first LED chips away from the upper surface of the substrate and the upper surface, a second distance is between a top surface of the second LED chip away from the upper surface of the substrate and the upper surface, and the second distance is greater than each of the first distances.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a light source module, and more particularly, to a light source module using a light-emitting diode chip as a light source.
2. Description of Related Art
Due to advantages such as long service life, small size, high shock resistance, low heat generation, and low power consumption, LEDs have been widely applied in indicators or light sources in household equipment and various other equipments. In recent years, LEDs have been developed to have high-power, and therefore the applications thereof have been expanded to road illumination, large outdoor billboards, traffic lights, and similar areas. In the future, LEDs may even become the main illumination light source with both power-saving and environment-protecting functions.
In general, in an LED light source module, a plurality of LED chips is disposed on a substrate in a matrix arrangement. However, lateral light emitted by the LED chip is absorbed by the other adjacent LED chips. As a result, the lateral light emitted by the LED chips cannot be effectively utilized, thereby reducing the optical efficiency of the LED light source module.


A tape printing apparatus arranged to be used with a tape holding case. The case holds a first supply of image receiving tape and a second supply of laminating tape. An opening is provided between the first and second tape supplies. A printing mechanism is arranged to print an image onto the image receiving tape as it traverses the opening. A cutting location is provided where the image receiving tape is cut after an image has been printed thereon. The cutting location and printing mechanism lie on opposite sides of the first and second tape supplies.

Tape printing apparatus of the general type with which the present invention is concerned are disclosed in EP-A-322918 and EP-A-322919 (Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha) and EP-A-0267890 (Varitronics). These printers each include a printing device having a cassette receiving bay for receiving a cassette or tape holding case. In EP-A-0267890, the tape holding case houses ink ribbon and a substrate tape, the latter comprising an upper image receiving layer secured to a backing layer by adhesive. In EP-A-322918 and EP-A-322919, the tape holding case houses an ink ribbon, a transparent image receiving tape and a double sided adhesive tape which is secured at one of its adhesive coated sides to the image tape after printing and which has a backing layer peelable from its other adhesive coated sides. The image is printed on the side of the image receiving tape which is adhered to the adhesive coated tape. Thus, the printed image is covered by a protective layer. With both of these apparatus, the image transfer medium, (ink ribbon) and image receiving tape (substrate) are in the same cassette.
The present applicants have developed a different type of printing apparatus which is described for example in European patent application No. 578372. In this printing apparatus, the substrate tape is similar to that described in EP-A-0267890 but is housed in its own tape holding case whilst the ink ribbon is similarly housed in its own tape holding case.
Reference is also made to JP-A-2204074 which discloses an ink cartridge having removable shafts holding an ink supply.
In all of these cases, the image receiving tape passes in overlap with the ink ribbon through a print zone consisting of a fixed print head and a platen against which the print head can be pressed to cause an image to transfer from the ink ribbon to the image receiving tape. There are many ways of doing this, including dry lettering or dry film impression, but the most usual way at present is by thermal printing where the print head is heated and the heat causes ink from the ink ribbon to be transferred to the image receiving tape.
As discussed above, all of the above mentioned apparatus use a fixed print head. This is disadvantageous when it is desired to print on labels having a relatively large width or where the same apparatus is designed to be used with a number of different widths of tape. In the first situation, the print head would need to be as wide as the maximum width of the tape. Thus with large widths of tape, the fixed print head would also have to be relatively large. Large print heads are relatively expensive and accordingly increase the cost of the apparatus. Additionally, with large print heads, the power required to activate the large number of printing elements on such a print head can be disadvantageous for battery operated arrangements. If the arrangement is mains powered the associated components can be costly. This is a particular problem where a large percentage of the printing elements on the print head are operated at the same time.
In the second situation discussed above, the print head would have to have the same size as the largest width of tape designed to be used with the tape printing apparatus. If such apparatus are only rarely used with the maximum width of tape, the associated additional cost of having a print head capable of printing on large widths of tapes would not be justified.
Accordingly such apparatus would be unnecessarily expensive or would not be arranged to have the flexibility to print on a wide range of different width tapes. The associated disadvantages with a large print head of cost would also be present with this second situation.
A further disadvantage of using a fixed print head is that multiple colour printing can be difficult to implement with a fixed print head as the image receiving tape would have to be moved back and forth past the print head. Alignment of the images in the different colours may be difficult to achieve reliably.

Tape printing apparatus and tape holding case having cooperative surface


A method for filtering a measurement of density of an object is described. The method includes filtering the measurement of the density and preserving a local average of the measurement and additional measurements when performing the filtering.

This invention relates generally to medical imaging systems and methods and more particularly to system and methods for filtering a measurement of density of an object.
Typically, in computed tomography (CT) imaging systems, a gantry includes an X-ray source that emits a fan-shaped beam toward an object, such as a patient. The beam, after being attenuated by the patient, impinges upon an array of radiation detectors. The intensity of the attenuated beam radiation received at the detector array is typically dependent upon the attenuation of the X-ray beam by the patient. Each detector element of the detector array produces a separate electrical signal indicative of the attenuated beam received by each detector element. The electrical signals are transmitted to a data processing unit for analysis which ultimately results in a formation of an image.
Generally, the X-ray source and the detector array are rotated with a gantry within an imaging plane and around the patient. X-ray sources typically include X-ray tubes, which conduct a tube current and emit the X-ray beam at a focal point. X-ray detectors typically include a collimator for collimating X-ray beams received at the detectors, a scintillator for converting X-rays to light energy adjacent the collimator, and photodiodes for receiving the light energy from the adjacent scintillator. The photodiodes convert the light energy into electrical energy that represents projection data. A projection datum at a projection angle θ and a projection displacement t is represented as p(θ,t). A data acquisition system (DAS) receives the projection data from the detectors. One of the CT imaging systems is used to reconstruct a cross-section of the patient object by measuring the projections through the patient.
It is generally difficult to measure the projection datum p(θ,t) directly. Instead, the projection data is obtained by counting a number of photons impinging on the detectors. A measurement λ(θ,t) at the projection angle θ and the projection displacement t is proportional to a number of the photons. The measurement λ(θ,t) is corrupted by various kinds of noises, such as, a photon counting noise often modeled by a Poisson distribution or an additive noise often modeled by a Gaussian distribution. The additive noise is generated from dark current in the DAS, interference noise in cables of the CT imaging systems, and other sources. If an image is reconstructed by applying the measurement λ(θ,t) with the noises, shading artifacts are visible in the image.
Usually an expected value of λ(θ,t) is related to the projection datum by an equation λ(θ,t)=E[λ(θ,t)]=exp(−p(θ,t))λT  (A)
where E denotes an expectation, λ(θ,t) denotes the expected value of λ(θ,t), and λT denotes a number of photons that are impinging on the patient from the x-ray source. In practice, a value of λT may vary with the projection datum p(θ,t). Alternatively, in theory, λT may be presumed to be a constant. The projection datum p(θ,t) may be computed from the expected value of λ(θ,t) by using an equation
                              p                                (                          θ              ,              t                        )                          =                  -                      log                                      (                                                                    λ                    _                                                                          (                                          θ                      ,                      t                                        )                                                                    λ                  r                                            )                                                          (        B        )
where log represents a logarithmic (log10) function. A difficulty in applying equation (B) is that a value of λ(θ,t) is not known because a noisy value of λ(θ,t) is directly measured.
A first approach used to determined the projection datum p(θ, t) is to use an approximation λ(θ,t)≅λ(θ,t). If λ(θ,t) is large, the approximation is useful because a value of a signal within the electrical energy is large compared to the noises. However, when the patient being imaged is dense and/or large, the attenuation may be large, and the value of λ(θ,t) is small. When λ(θ,t) is small, λ(θ,t) may have a large percentage error and/or may be negative. The measurement λ(θ,t) may have a large percentage error and/or may be negative because the additive noise in one of the CT imaging systems becomes significant as compared to the photon counting noise. When λ(θ,t) is negative, the approximation of cannot be used because the logarithm of a negative number cannot be computed in equation B.
A second approach is to obtain a plurality of λ(θ,t)s and average the λ(θ,t)s. The noises in one of the λ(θ,t)s are generally independent of the noises in any of the remaining of the λ(θ,t)s and so by averaging the λ(θ,t)s, the expected value λ(θ,t) is obtained. However, the second approach has a number of disadvantages. A first one of the disadvantages is that the second approach uses a higher amount of time to obtain the λ(θ,t)s than a time used to obtain the measurement λ(θ,t) because λ(θ,t) is measured multiple times. A second of the disadvantages is that the second approach exposes the patient to harmful radiation when the λ(θ,t) is obtained multiple times. The harmful radiation may result in greater health risk to the patient and the health risk is undesirable.
A third approach is to smooth λ(θ,t) with neighboring values, such as λ(θ+1,t) or λ(θ,t+1), of λ(θ,t). The measurement λ(θ,t) and the neighboring values have nearly equal angles. The measurement λ(θ,t) and the neighboring values also have nearly equal displacements. A smoothing filter is applied to λ(θ,t) and the neighboring values to average λ(θ,t) and the neighboring values. The smoothing filter is applied to produce a smoothed version of the measurement λ(θ,t) and the smoothed version is denoted by {circumflex over (λ)}(θ,t). The projection datum p(θ,t) may be obtained by using an approximation λ(θ,t)≅{circumflex over (λ)}(θ,t). The smoothing filter can reduce the noises by averaging but it has flaws. A first one of the flaws is that the smoothing filter may not provide the smoothed version that is positive in value because a group of negative measurements may fall near each other. A second one of the flaws is that averaging λ(θ,t) with the neighboring values tends to blur a resolution of a reconstruction in regions, having high signal-to-noise measurements, that do not require averaging. A third one of the flaws is that a local mean value of a local region may not be preserved, which could lead to shading artifacts in the image.
A Floyd-Steinberg algorithm preserves the local mean value during filtering of the noises. The Floyd-Steinberg algorithm preserves the local mean value by applying binarization. A direct binary search algorithm also preserves the local mean value during filtering of the noises. However, the Floyd-Steinberg error diffusion algorithm and the direct binary search algorithm are generally used for digital halftoning in printing.

Systems and methods for filtering data in a medical imaging system


The present invention relates to a piloting assistance system for an aircraft that is provided with a controller for determining piloting information. The system comprises at least one display system wearable on the head of a pilot, the display system being provided with a left display suitable for being viewed by a left eye of the pilot and a right display suitable for being viewed by a right eye of the pilot, the controller including a first processor for processing the information and a second processor for processing the information, the processors including stored instructions for causing the information to be displayed simultaneously and respectively on the left display and on the right display.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piloting assistance system and to an aircraft including said system.
More particularly, the piloting assistance system lies in the technical field of helmet-mounted devices for displaying information, sometimes referred to as a "helmet display or visor".
It should be observed that the term "piloting assistance system" is used to cover both a system for assisting short-time piloting as such, and also a system for providing assistance in navigating and monitoring the aircraft.
(2) Description of Related Art
Devices are known that present an aircraft pilot with an image representing the environment outside the aircraft, on the basis of night vision or infrared sensors, or when weather conditions are bad, for example. The image is displayed for example on the pilot's helmet-mounted display means, or indeed on so-called "head-up" display means.
It is recalled that when the pilot looks at the outside environment through the windshield of an aircraft, it is common practice to say that the pilot is in a "head-up" position. Conversely, when the pilot is looking at the inside of the cockpit, and in particular at an instrument panel, it is common practice to say that the pilot is in a "head-down" position.
By way of example, the device known under the name "VIGILX®" is known.
That device includes infrared optical cameras for taking a panoramic night image or for use when flying with reduced visibility, in particular.
Furthermore, it is possible to display a digital representation of the environment superimposed on the image as obtained from that device, the digital representation being taken from a digital model of the terrain.
The image may be displayed on a "head-down" screen or indeed it may be projected onto a visor of a helmet.
A device is also known that has a piloting camera with the camera's line of sight being slaved to the position of a pilot's helmet. However, it will be understood that the device is then controlled solely by the movements of the head of only one member of the crew.
It is also common practice to perform a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) for detecting the presence of errors in a signal. Reference may be made to the literature to obtain more information about such a check.
It is also possible to perform such checking, e.g. in order to verify that the image sent to a "head-down" screen or indeed to a helmet visor is not erroneous.
Nevertheless, it should be observed that the calculation needed is relatively complex and lengthy to perform.
Furthermore, the technological background includes in particular the following documents: EP 1 116 210 B1; EP 1 344 021 B1; EP 1 757 906 A2; WO 2005/124685 A1; EP 2 254 039 A1; and EP 1 762 825 A2.
Document EP 1 116 210 B1 describes a flat screen system for displaying data relating to aircraft system parameters, the system having a flat screen and two processors, each interfaced with a graphics color generator.
Document EP 1 344 021 B1 relates to a flat screen display system.
Similarly, document EP 1 757 906 A2 relates to such a system that is provided with a general purpose processor receiving data from on-board sensors and with a graphics processor for generating pixelized images from a video memory, the general purpose processor including an integrity-checking function for verifying at least one pixel of the image.
Document WO 2005/124685 A1 describes a system for verifying the accuracy of an image generated by a display processor, by using a correlator circuit.
Document EP 2 254 039 A1 describes a display module having means for verifying a portion of an image generated by a processor.
Document EP 1 762 825 A2 relates to a flat screen provided with means for verifying the integrity of an image.
Document US 2010/0123839 describes a method serving in particular to produce three-dimensional images.
In that method, an image is produced and information relating to the position of the head of a person is determined. Under such circumstances, the computer determines which light-emitting diodes (LEDs) of a display means should be used for emitting images respectively and sequentially to the left eye and to the right eye.

Piloting assistance system and an aircraft


A high frequency integrated circuit (IC) pad configuration includes a first IC pad, an inductor, and a second IC pad. The first IC pad is directly coupled to input or output a high frequency signal, wherein no electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuitry is directly coupled to the first IC pad. The inductor includes a first node and a second node, wherein the first node of the inductor is directly coupled to the first IC pad, and wherein the inductor has a high impedance with respect to a desired input or desired output impedance of the first IC pad at frequencies of the high frequency signal. The second IC pad is directly coupled to a power connection, to the second node of the inductor, and to an ESD protection circuit, wherein the inductor and the ESD protection circuit of the second IC pad substantially provides ESD protection for the first IC pad.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless communications systems and more particularly to wireless communication devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, et cetera communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
For each wireless communication device to participate in wireless communications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.
As is also known, the receiver is coupled to the antenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna and amplifies then. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the amplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert the amplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF) signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IF signals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filtered signals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filtered signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.
As with any integrated circuit (IC), when a radio transceiver is implemented on an integrated circuit, it must include electro-static discharge (ESD) protection circuitry. As is known, ESD protection circuitry includes reverse coupled diodes between input pins of the IC and ground of the IC, between the input pins of the IC and a power supply connection of the IC, between output pins of the IC and ground of the IC, and between the output pins of the IC and the power supply connection of the IC. The reverse coupled diodes function to route the energy of an ESD event occurring on an input pin or an output pin to ground and/or to the power supply connection of the IC.
For input and output pins of an IC that carry low frequency signals (e.g., in the tens of MHz or below), the parasitic capacitance of the reverse coupled diodes of the ESD protection circuitry does not significantly affect the signals. However, as the frequency of the signals on input and/or output pins increases, the parasitic capacitance and other parasitic components of the diodes begin to adversely affect the signal (i.e., cause distortion of the signal, couple power supply noise into the signal, etc.).
As is further known, a radio frequency integrated circuit (i.e., a radio transceiver implemented on an IC) includes high frequency input and output pins for transceiving radio frequency signals (e.g., signals having a frequency in the hundreds of MHz to the tens of GHz). Since these input and output pins must have ESD protection, the parasitic components of reverse coupled diodes do adversely affect the RF signals.
Therefore, a need exists for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection of RF input and output pins of a radio frequency integrated circuit that does not adversely affect RF signals transceived via the RF input and output connections.

High frequency integrated circuit pad configuration including ESD protection circuitry


The invention relates to a device and a method for the gentle placement of a patient in a defined position. In order to provide a device for the placement of patients which both allows gentle positioning and at the same time holds the patient in a defined position, the device according to the invention comprises a mattress having a surface able to adopt a flexible state, as a result of being subjected to a first control signal, and a rigid state, as a result of being subjected to a second control signal, a cushion which is filled with a fluid, rests on the mattress and comprises a flexible wall in the region of the patient or the body part of the patient resting on the cushion, and a fluid pump which is connected via a valve to the fluid in the cushion and via which the internal pressure and/or the internal volume of the cushion may be adjusted to a predetermined value.

A defined, position in the context of the invention means any position in which the patient is to remain during transport, treatment or the in-patient rest phase. Preferred positions are thus the lying and seated positions, but in principle all other positions are possible to fulfill the respective purpose.
The positioning of patients, both over relatively short periods, for example during transportation in an ambulance, and over relatively long periods, for example during the patient's stay in hospital, is an important factor for a successful treatment.
Gentle positioning of the patient is necessary in particular if problems may occur as a result of the development of pressure sores. The development of pressure sores on exposed body parts (decubitus) generally results in extended stays in hospital and increased treatment costs associated therewith. The problems of the continuous positioning of patients result from the inability of the skin to adapt to the continuous contact with the contact surface. The pressures, shear forces or moisture acting on the skin at specific points damage the skin directly or indirectly. Supply vessels are closed off by external pressure and capillaries are displaced by shear forces, and this may result in undersupplying and ultimately in these skin areas dying out. In addition, the epidermis is softened under the effect of heat and sweat, thus promoting infections.
Placement of the patient in a defined position is, again, crucial for specific treatment methods such as, for example, in modern respiratory therapies. The placement of patients in a defined position is necessary, for example, in the event of burns, injuries of the vertebral column or in respiratory therapies using a rotation bed. Fixing of the body is also necessary in the case of body positions differing from the simple back or stomach position, i.e. in positions which are not neutral with respect to the body's centre of gravity. In addition to the problem of precise therapeutic positioning, there is the further difficulty of the increase in pressure, accompanying any change in position, in the lowermost dependent body parts, with the above-described negative repercussions.
Conventional systems for fixing patients in a defined position, such as, for example, vacuum mattresses, are not suitable, for the reasons described above, for continuous positioning of the patient. Instead, vacuum mattresses are used only for short-term transportation or during an operation.
WO 2005/094369 A2 discloses a method and a device for controlling at least one ventilation parameter of an artificial ventilator for ventilating the lung of the patient in accordance with a plurality of lung positions. The various lung positions are facilitated by using a rotation bed. The patient is fixed on the rotation bed and therefore held in a defined position. One drawback, however, is the fact that gentle positioning of the patient is not facilitated.
A. Paul: More than just pressure reduction—Support surface MiS Activ, Völker World, Issue 17, 2005, pages 7-10, discloses a microstimulation system in which the slatted grid of a conventional mattress was replaced by carrier profiles with active movement elements. The movement elements are controlled by a control unit so that different movement forms on the basis of the so-called basal stimulation can be applied to the patient lying on the mattress. Examples of movement patterns are the "wave", "rotation" or "angled plane". In the "wave" pattern, the movement elements to the right and left of the mattress are activated in parallel. The stimulation pattern resembles a wave running through the bed and gives the patient a perception of movement from head to foot. In the "rotation" pattern, the movement elements right and left are activated in an offset manner. Wave peaks in opposite directions arise which correspond to a rotation. After three cycles, the direction of rotation is reversed. In the "angled plane" pattern, all movement elements of one side are activated simultaneously and thus generate this angled plane. After a selection from three prespecified time intervals, the tilt angle changes to the other side.
One disadvantage of this placement system is the fact that there is no precise fixing facility for the patient to hold the patient in a defined position. Thus in total only movement strokes of a few centimeters are possible. A greater tilt of the mattress could not be considered, in order for example to activate certain lung areas of the patient in a targeted manner.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a device for the positioning of patients both allowing gentle positioning and at the same time holding the patient in a defined position. This object is achieved by the device according to claim 1 and the method according to claim 10.
The device according to the invention for the gentle placement of a patient or of a body part of a patient in a defined position comprises a mattress having a surface able to adopt a flexible state, as a result of being subjected to a first control signal, and a rigid state, as a result of being subjected to a second control signal, a cushion which is filled with a fluid, rests on the mattress and comprises a flexible wall in the region of the patient or the body part of the patient resting on the cushion, and a fluid pump which is connected via a valve to the fluid in the cushion and via which the internal pressure and/or the internal volume of the cushion may be adjusted to a predetermined value.

Device and method for carefully settling a patient in a defined position


Sulfo-estolides and methods of making them are described. Useful methods include acid side bleaching, partial hydrogenation of the fatty acid, pretreatment of the fatty acid to provide color inhibition, acid side hydrolysis of the sulfo-estolides, or conversion of SHP to an essentially fully hydrolyzed product (HSHP) or a partially hydrolyzed product (PHSHP). Formulations and concentrated formulations of automatic dishwasher detergent or machine wash detergent compositions containing sulfo-estolides, among others, are also included.

The present technology, in general, relates to sulfo-estolides. More particularly, the present technology relates to automatic or machine dishwashing compositions of sulfo-estolides derivatives and salts of sulfo-estolides and the various applications and/or processes of utilizing them. Dishwashing detergent compositions suitable for washing dishes, glasses, eating and cooking utensils are extremely difficult to formulate because of the many factors encountered which are not encountered in providing detergent compositions for other uses. Food soil is removed partially by mechanical action of the water jets and partly by physico-chemical action such as wetting, emulsification, adhesion of soiled substrate, alkalinity, oxidation potential, soil suspension and foam control to name a few. Further, compositions must be low-foaming since foam can cause the dishwashing machines not only to overflow but cushions and impedes the mechanical operation of the machine to the extent that performance is measurably decreased. Foam is caused partially by the choice of surfactants used and partially by the accumulation of protein food soils such as egg solids and milk solids that accumulate during the wash cycle that have a tendency to foam. Also, since most dishwashing detergents are composed of inorganic alkaline salts, the fatty food soils become saponified in the hot solution and produce copious foam in the machine, even if the inorganic dishwashing detergent itself does not foam.
Further, recently there exists a challenge for the development of more environmentally friendly or "green" machine dishwashing detergents, as state and federal regulations are restricting the amount and use of phosphates and chlorine in detergents. The desirability of avoiding phosphates in detergents is well recognized, and phosphorus compounds have been banned from laundry detergents for many years, though machine dishwashing detergents have been exempted from phosphate ban on the basis that promote the idea that phosphates are necessary for acceptable washing performance. Phosphorus based compounds, when released into the water sources such as lakes, rivers, and bays, serve as nutrients for plant growth, especially algae growth, resulting in the deterioration of water quality. The algae blooms in lakes and ponds can suffocate plants and animals that live in and around those bodies of water and seriously disrupt the quality of waterways. Further, conventional dishwashing detergent options may also contain chlorine, which the production and use of, ultimately creates toxins which are dangerous for people and the environment. Further, chlorine-based compounds and/or phosphorous-based compounds can be detrimental to the items being washed and lead to wearing and degradation of the dishware items. Therefore, there has been also a challenge in the art for non-foaming green formulations of automatic or machine dishwashing detergents that still provide adequate cleaning capabilities.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Automatic or machine dishwashing compositions of sulfonated estolides and other derivatives of fatty acids and uses thereof


A wedgelock laminated joint is an integral building connection allowing the rapid, accurate, secure jointing of a structural joist with a vertical post. A lock notch is mated by sliding a joist beam tongue through a central receptacle within a post beam until tightly mated, and then secured by placing a wedge into a keyway, which is an upper portion of the post receptacle, and tapping it snugly into the wedge keyway. This creates a sturdy nail free fastening of the floor joist and vertical wall post, easily fastened or unfastened, held fast only by the wedge which is finally secured with a set screw after all the desired number of rib sections are erected, trued and horizontally connected.

On numerous occasions while engaged in experimental aquaculture research and development, there were applications for durable, sturdy, and easily relocatable structures of various sizes. There were no structures like this available. I designed numerous such structures using various means of construction. The use of bolts and brackets were the only readily existing structural fastening methods available for such structures. The harsh, wet and corrosive environment made the use of anything but very expensive structural fiberglass and/or stainless steel bracketing and fastening impractical. I researched old boatbuilding and carpentry methods and found a practical method used by ancient oriental woodworkers who fashioned interlocking joints from large slow growth timbers. The straight tight graining of these old growth trees allowed for the careful and time consuming chiseling out of internal mortise locking joints. The most functional of these were complex and needed the skill of highly trained carpenters as an integral requirement. I discovered that I could directly fabricate locking joints, from available lumber stocks, by sandwiching lock notches and keyways into laminated post and beams.


A method of manufacturing a light-emitting apparatus includes disposing a substrate on a support; disposing a light-emitting package including a light-emitting device on the substrate so as to allow the light-emitting package to be positioned at a target position on the substrate; applying energy to the light-emitting package to make the light-emitting device emit light; and analyzing the light that is emitted from the light-emitting device due to the energy, and determining a position where the light-emitting package is actually disposed. Thus, the light-emitting apparatus may be easily and inexpensively manufactured, and may generate a limited number of spots and provide improved uniform brightness.

Due to its high energy efficiency and small size, a light-emitting diode (LED) has recently been highlighted for use as a light source for a lighting apparatus. Also, LEDs may be used not only in lighting apparatuses but also in flat panel displays, optical communication devices, etc.
A light-emitting module for mounting a light-emitting package on a substrate is used for various products. In this regard, techniques for satisfying various requirements such as spot prevention, uniform brightness, or the like are required.

Method of manufacturing light-emitting apparatus, light-emitting module inspecting apparatus, and method of determining whether light-emitting module meets quality requirement


A system, method, and apparatus for damping vibration in a rotor supported by primary bearings are provided. The system includes a magnetic coupling configured to magnetically engage a rotor supported by one or more primary bearings, and a piston coupled to the magnetic coupling. The system also includes a damper engaging the piston and configured to damp the rotor, wherein the damper is substantially non-load bearing.

Turbomachinery rotors are often designed to operate at rotational speeds at, near, or above at least one of the resonant frequencies of system. Due to residual unbalance, the rotors often exhibit a synchronous response to rotation that tends to increase in amplitude at frequencies nearing the system natural frequencies, especially when the resonances are lightly damped. Further, even when the rotor is operating sufficiently far away from its resonant frequencies, periodic excitation forces may be incident on the rotor, which may have a frequency at or near the resonant frequency of the rotor. The application of such excitation forces may lead to instability in the system, such that the vibration grows and can cause damage to the machinery.
Damper bearings are employed in turbomachinery to provide damping and stiffness to the rotor, thereby supporting the rotor and reducing vibration. Such damper bearings are typically mounted on squeeze film or metal-mesh (i.e., mechanical spring) systems to transmit bearing loads to the bearing supports, while increasing total system damping. One drawback to these traditional damper bearings, however, is that they must be supported by a relatively flexible spring (or equivalent structure). Accordingly, the static load applied by the rotor on this spring introduces rotor eccentricity with respect to the bearing and any other static components. As such, system designers are often required to add additional components to reduce such eccentricity, which adds complexity and additional space requirements to the system.
Active magnetic damper bearings have been proposed to overcome these difficulties by applying variable force to the rotor to control its position in real time. These bearings, however, require a complex system of electromagnets, sensors, sensor wiring, power wiring, power amplifiers, a controller, and a back-up power supply, etc. Even with redundancy components, however, the active nature and complexity of the system increases the likelihood of failure and increases system cost.
What is needed is a damper that does not act as a static rotor-support or centering device but that provides effective damping, without suffering from a significantly increased likelihood of failure and/or cost.

Magnetically-coupled damper for turbomachinery


The present invention concerns an apparatus for making a three-dimensionally curved object, said apparatus comprising a membrane having a moulding surface, which is configurable into a predetermined shape by individually adjusting an array of actuators acting on the surface opposite the moulding surface of said membrane, wherein the membrane is a ferromagnetic membrane and the actuators are provided with magnetic joints at the distal ends of said actuators.

Three-dimensional moulds for making an object with double-curved surfaces are known from e.g. WO 2014/138759 or WO 2012/065614.
From U.S. Pat. No. 7,972,129 a moulding system is known with a backing mould made of a polymer with metal powder therein for improving heat transmission through the mould plate during moulding. These metals are copper or aluminium added as fillers to the polymer to aid the heat transmission.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,321, an apparatus for forming a three-dimensionally curved sheet material is known. The membrane therein may be provided with suction openings to control the curvature of the membrane. Furthermore, the membrane is provided with a skeleton formed by a rectangular grid of battens.
The membrane forms the moulding surface in the double-curved moulding apparatus. In order to achieve the three-dimensional curvatures, i.e. the double curved shape of the moulded object, it is important that the membrane exhibits flexibility. This is achieved to a large degree in the known three-dimensional moulding apparatuses mentioned above, but there is nevertheless a need for improving the flexibility for thereby expanding the field of use of this type of moulding apparatuses.

Method and an apparatus for making a three-dimensional object and a membrane therefore


A method for scheduling tasks with deadline constraints, based on a model of independent periodic tasks and carried out in the user space by means of API POSIX is provided.

User space is a mode of operation for user applications, as opposed to kernel space, which is a supervisor mode of operation that has advanced functionalities having all rights, particularly the one for accessing all the resources of a microprocessor. Manipulation of resources is nevertheless made possible in user space by what are known as API ("Application Programming Interface") functionalities, which themselves rely on the use of peripheral pilots. The development of a solution in user space makes possible and facilitates development of schedulers with time constraints in relation to direct integration into the kernel of the operating system, which is made very difficult by its complexity. Another advantage is that it brings increased stability because an execution error in user space does not have serious consequences for the integrity of the rest of the system.
In order to perform scheduling in user space, the method of the invention relies particularly on the mechanisms defined by the POSIX ("Portable Operating System Interface-X", the "X" expressing the Unix heritage) standard and its extension POSIX.1c, and notably on the POSIX task structure, the POSIX threads ("pthreads") and the POSIX task management APIs. It should be remembered that a process is a program instance that is being executed, a "task" is a division of a process and a "thread" is the accomplishment of a task under Linux by means of the POSIX APIs; a thread or task cannot exist without a process, but there may be a plurality of threads or tasks per process. In this regard, reference may be made to the work by Robert Love "LINUX system programming", O'Reilly, 2007.
Linux is a system in which the management of time is called "shared time", as opposed to "realtime" management. In this type of management, several factors linked to the operation of the system, such as resource sharing, input/output management, interrupts, influence on virtual memory etc., give rise to temporal uncertainties about the execution times of the tasks. Therefore, it is not possible to guarantee a "hard" realtime solution, that is to say one in which the execution of each task is accomplished within strict and inviolable time limits. The realization of the proposed scheduler is nevertheless suitable for what are known as "soft" realtime systems, or systems "with deadline constraints", which accept variations in the processing of the data of the order of no more than one second. This is the case with a large number of realtime applications, for example multimedia applications.
As it is not natively a realtime system, several technical solutions are, however, possible for making the Linux kernel compatible with realtime constraints. The most common solution involves associating therewith an auxiliary realtime kernel having a genuine realtime scheduler (RT Linux, RTAI, XENOMAI). This auxiliary realtime kernel has priority and processes realtime tasks directly. Other (non-realtime) tasks are delegated to the standard Linux kernel, which is considered to be a background task (or job) with lower priority. However, the development of a specific scheduler integrated into the kernel is very difficult because it requires in-depth knowledge of the kernel and involves heavy kernel development, with all the complexity and instability that that brings. Moreover, realtime Linux extensions are supported by a smaller number of platforms. The proposed solution allows implementation in user space that is therefore simpler, more stable and can be applied to any platform supporting a standard Linux kernel. This approach does not allow hard realtime constraints to be guaranteed, but considerably simplifies the development of a scheduler while being suitable for soft realtime applications (the great majority of applications).

Method for scheduling with deadline constraints, in particular in Linux, carried out in user space

Centre National De La Recherche Scientfique


A method of determining the time to failure of parallel electro migration test structures is described. The method generally includes the steps of: measuring the resistance of the complete structure; calculating the resistance of the n individual parallel structures from the measured resistance; calculating the resistance of the complete structure after the failure of m individual parallel structures, for m=1 to n; and recording the time of failure for each m as the time when the resistance is approximately the value predicted for m fails.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Electro migration tests are used as a backend test in fabrication plants to determine the reliability of metal interconnects. Commonly, electro migration is performed at a package level (EM), or electro migration is performed at the wafer level (WLEM).
In either case, multiple test sites are required for testing to ensure sufficient time to fail data can be gathered to access the reliability of the process. The necessity to use multiple test sites increases the number of hours of testing and therefore the expense of testing. Reducing the number of sites needed to obtain similar results would result in significant cost and time savings.
During electro migration testing, the resistance of the structure under test is monitored while the structure is stressed. Stressing of the structure involves the use of a constant temperature and forcing a constant current through the structure.

Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co. Pte. Ltd.


A hybrid crude oil and methods of making the same using man-made or natural petroleum-based waste stream products. The hybrid crude oil is composed of an oil-based solution and petroleum-based coatings that were extracted from a petroleum-containing material. This hybrid crude oil is created by elevating the temperature of the oil-based solution to or above an elevated temperature, i.e., the melting or phase-change temperature of the petroleum-based coating so that it can become liquified and dissolve into the oil-based solution and create the hybrid crude oil. The petroleum-containing material is submerged into the heated oil-based solution to cause the petroleum-based coatings to dissolve into the heated oil-based solution at the elevated temperature. The liquid oil-based solution at the elevated temperature creates an environmental seal to the petroleum-based coatings to protect them from burning, carburizing, or degrading, until the liquid oil-based solution is capable of providing the necessary thermal energy for the phase change of the petroleum-based coating from a solid state to a liquid state. At which time, the petroleum-based coatings safely phase-changes into a liquid and dissolves into the oil-based solution, creating the hybrid crude oil.

The following discussion proceeds with the exemplary petroleum-based material of asphalt, although it is to be understood that other petroleum-based, petroleum-containing and organic materials exist which are either desirous of being recycled or in certain instances, desirous of being mined and abstracted from their native and virgin environment. Accordingly, the present invention contemplates and includes all such petroleum-based, petroleum-containing and other organic materials within its scope.
Asphalt is a universal raw material used for roadways, parking lots and other surface treatments. The asphalt material is generally a composition of minerals including aggregate and sand or stone dust and an asphalt binder. Additionally, novel asphalt mixtures include various substitutes for the aggregate (coarse and fine) including: glass that been reduced in size, used tires, and other reclaimed materials. The asphalt binder is basically the glue that binds the mineral or aggregate ingredients such that they are solid under normal operating or environmental temperatures but liquid or semi-liquid under elevated temperatures, such as 300-400° F. Another product related to the commonly known term as asphalt is roofing shingles, composed of similar components including aggregate, asphalt binder, and fiberglass.
A typical asphalt composition contains a general ratio of materials as follows: coarse aggregate including minerals or stone, that have been reduced in size, having particle sizes in the range from about ⅛ to 1 inch, or 70-85% of volume, fine aggregate including compositions of stone dust that has been reduced in size, glass that has been reduced in size, sand or other small sized filler, or 10-20% of volume, asphalt binder, a blend of petroleum refinery product (byproduct) that can be further modified to achieve certain asphalt mixtures or grades, about 10% of volume, and miscellaneous ingredients including trapped air (voids) and moisture. A typical asphalt mixture is the blending of the coarse and fine aggregate with the asphalt binder. However, in the blending process, some trapped air is normally also included. The amount of trapped air and the coating and bonding of the asphalt binder to the aggregate determines the quality and grade of the final asphalt product. As these materials are mixed, the asphalt composition is subjected to elevated temperature (about 300-400° F.) and uniformly mixed such that a uniform blending of components is achieved. This hot mixture is bonded by the phase change of the asphalt binder from a semi-liquid to a solid as the mixture cools to a lower temperature or ambient temperature. As the semi-liquid asphalt binder coats the coarse and fine aggregates, the final asphalt mixture is blended to meet the requirements of the needed final product.
Certain asphalt mixtures are required to meet Department of Transportation specifications based upon application location, environmental and temperature ranges and other requirements. The various grades of asphalt are based upon the aggregate size (coarse and fine), content and percentages of the added components including binder. These asphalt grades created by their respective asphalt binders, screened aggregate particle sizes, compaction forces on the mixture and vibratory rolling to further orientate the final asphalt composition prior to solidification.
As the asphalt is applied to a surface and rolled so that the final flat surface is achieved, other variables are introduced that can affect asphalt quality. These variables or conditions include surface temperatures, asphalt temperatures, application thicknesses and other application variables that may affect the final grade of the asphalt achieved. The asphalt binder applied is a form of thermoplastic that solidifies as the temperature is reduced from the asphalt blending temperature (300-400° F.) to the final product application temperatures (−60 to 160° F.). These temperature ranges affect the temperature change rate or thermal gradient of the solidification process and this affects the final product compaction ratio, density and mechanical properties. The final asphalt product performance factors are based upon these components, the mixture ratios and application methods.
The asphalt binder is phase changed from a solid at ambient temperatures to a semi liquid or liquid state at elevated temperatures (a plastic state or high viscosity state) that coats the coarse and fine aggregates and fills the voids of the mixture. Aggregate uniformity coating issues occur with the semi liquid asphalt binder because it cannot be thoroughly liquid. After a certain elevation in temperature, the asphalt binder burns or degrades. This aggregate coating capability is an important aspect of achieving higher grade asphalts. It would be desirable to coat the aggregate in an improved manner.
Once an asphalt mixture is applied and rolled onto a desired surface (roadway, parking lot driveway, etc.), the lower temperature of the contact surface changes the asphalt binder back from a semi-liquid state to a solid. This becomes the desired asphalt final product. The coarse and fine aggregate compositions, mixture ratios and asphalt binder blends may further improve the asphalt mixture and final asphalt product properties that may provide an improved life cycle, operating temperature exposure characteristics, weight load bearing properties, surface coefficient of friction characteristics and other desired properties.
The current methods for recycling asphalt typically take certain percentages of "millings" or scrapped/salvaged asphalt from an existing, aged or degraded asphalt surface and blend a small percentage of these millings into a virgin mixture of asphalt (a blend of 25% millings to 75% virgin asphalt is a normal practice). These recycling methods provide a means of recovering small percentages of the "used" or "salvaged" asphalt for recycling back into a new asphalt. As a general rule, approximately 10-30% of millings can remixed with virgin asphalt. This is because the new asphalt mixture is degraded with the addition of aged millings because it does not blend as uniformly as virgin materials. This practice is not allowed in some jurisdictions (approximately 22 States have banned this process) because the new asphalt mixture (with the recycled asphalt content) is inferior. This is likely the result of the aged asphalt having asphalt binder in a crystalline or solid state that cannot phase change or liquefy as the virgin asphalt binder and thus cannot completely blend into the mixture. This yields a lower grade asphalt mixture that has limited use such applications as parking lots and driveways.
Elseifi et al., U.S. Patent Publication 2014/0299018, generally describe a process for separating constituents of an asphalt-based material including at least asphalt and one solid non-asphalt material by shredding the asphalt-based material to form a shredded material mass. Next, an asphalt binder at an elevated temperature is added to absorb the recoverable asphalt binder from the shredded material. This produces a 30-40% increase in the binder volume, i.e., the recovered binder from the shredded material.
Kotefski et al., U.S. Ser. No. 15/355,487, filed Nov. 18, 2016, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, generally teach methods to reclaim or recycle asphalt or asphalt components to produce reusable asphalt or asphalt components by adding the asphalt or asphalt components to a solution at a temperature higher than the melting temperature of the asphalt binder. The solution may be at least 300° F., 325° F., 350° F. or 400° F. or so, and the solution may be an oil or petroleum based solution or any other suitable solution in which the asphalt binder is soluble. In some instances, the solution may be virgin motor oil or recycled motor oil or used motor oil. It is desirable to provide new and improved methods to reclaim or recycle asphalt to produce reusable asphalt and asphalt components. Preferably, reusable asphalt and asphalt components that have the same physical properties of virgin asphalt. Specifically, the aggregate or minerals of the asphalt are not physically altered in size, shape, or profile.
Franzen et al., U.S. Ser. No. 13/833,091, filed on Mar. 15, 2013, generally describe a method of creating a processed asphalt suspension composition where the asphalt shingle material is reduced down to a particular size fine enough to effectively reuse the recycled shingle material into a new mixture of this recycled shingle material and the addition of virgin asphalt or an asphalt suspension composition. That is, the granules, fiberglass or other mineral components in the asphalt shingles are reduced to a mesh fine enough to be incorporated into newly manufactured products. Basically, Franzen starts the process by grinding both the asphalt with the various minerals and filler materials, to form a recycled shingle material of approximately 1 cm in size, which is then added to, and mixed with hot virgin asphalt.
The mixture is then sent to a wet grinding process to both reduce the particle size of the mineral particles but to fully incorporate the asphalt from the recycled ground shingle material into the virgin asphalt. The wet grinding process further reduces the size of the mineral particles to 200 microns from the initial reduction of 1 cm. This wet grinding process is a mechanical deformation means of reducing, crushing or pulverizing the mineral components of the recycled shingle material down to a size of 200 microns and well as a means of incorporating the asphalt from the recycled ground shingle material into the virgin asphalt. The wet grinding process creates a new mixture of ground shingle material and virgin asphalt, termed a processed asphalt suspension. The processed asphalt suspension is a mixture of the pulverized recycled single material and additional virgin asphalt or an asphalt paste containing pulverized minerals. However, Franzen's process, as representative of conventional processes, does not permit the mining, that is the retrieval, removal, or recovery of the original (i.e., initial or native) constituent components of the asphalt shingle material, in terms of size, shape, or profile.
It is also desirable to provide further improved methods to reclaim or recycle asphalt or asphalt components to produce reusable asphalt or asphalt components, petroleum-based, petroleum-containing, and organic materials that are either desirous of being recycled or in certain instances, desirous of being mined and abstracted from their native or virgin environment, organic materials, collectively referred to herein as petroleum-containing materials. These petroleum-containing materials include, for example: roofing shingles, pavement asphalt, tar sands, oil sands, shale, contaminated soils, and other petroleum-containing materials.
Crude oil is a natural product provided by various reserves on earth. This natural product can be processed or distilled into byproducts, such as gasoline, kerosene, plastics, asphalt for roofing shingles, asphalt binder for asphalt pavement, and numerous other products. While gasoline and kerosene are burned as a fuel source, plastics, asphalt for roofing shingles, and asphalt binder for asphalt pavement become waste stream products after their useful life. Each of these exemplary waste stream products creates a manmade pollution or waste stream on a continuous basis because crude oil or petroleum-based byproducts are a needed commodity and continue to be in great demand by consumers.
Oil does not dissolve in water. It lasts a long time and sticks to everything from beach sand to bird feathers. Oil and petroleum products are toxic to people, wildlife, and plants. One quart of motor oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of water, and one gallon of gasoline can pollute 750,000 gallons of water. Oil that leaks from cars onto roads and driveways is washed into storm drains, and then usually flows directly into a lake or stream. Used motor oil is the largest single source of oil pollution in lakes, streams, and rivers. Americans spill 180 million gallons of used oil each year into the nation's waters. This is about 16 times the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez in Alaska. Reference is made to https://www.mass.gov/guides/education-in-nonpoint-source-pollution-prevention.
To date, and prior to the advent of the present invention, there has been no complete (or substantially complete) reclamation or recycling solution for these waste stream products. The waste stream products are created by the industry but after their useful life they become an unneeded waste stream that create significant ecological, environmental, or pollution issues.
The major sources of crude oil-based waste streams are generated by following industries:                a) Plastics industry has a plastics waste stream comprised of various plastics.        b) Roofing industry has a roofing waste stream composed of asphalt roofing shingles or commonly called roofing shingles, which is a composition of asphalt (or asphalt binder), fiberglass, and stones or aggregates as a solid composition.        c) Asphalt pavement industry has an asphalt pavement or millings waste stream which is a solid composition of asphalt binder and various sized aggregates, minerals, glass, and sands.
Each of these industries offers partial solutions for the reclamation of their respective used products or waste stream products. Globally, the recycling of these waste stream products is a serious concern because the partial reclamation processes are not entirely adequate, and are prone to creating an environmental and pollution catastrophe. Specifically, in the asphalt pavement industry approximately 25% of used asphalt pavement or millings can re-mixed with virgin asphalt pavement and the balance becomes a waste stream product. A similar scenario occurs with the roofing shingles because they too, offer low reclamation or recycling percentages.

Hybrid crude oil and methods of making the same using petroleum-based waste stream products


A combined game system includes a plurality of portable game machines and a video game machine. The portable game machines are connected to the video game machine through communication cables, and the video game machine is in turn connected to a display. Each portable game machine has an LCD and an operating device to process a unit according to key input information to the operating device and a program of a portable game. The LCD displays a discrete picture based on the unit information. Simultaneously, the unit information is transmitted to the video game machine. The video game machine processes the unit information based on which a common picture is displayed on the display.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to combined game systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel combined game system having a plurality of portable game machines each having a discrete display and connected to a video game machine in connection with a display, thereby enabling a common interactive game to play on these portable and video game machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are game systems using portable and other video game machines as disclosed in a first prior art (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. H4-266781; corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,073) and a second prior art (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. S60-119977).
Meanwhile, the second prior art discloses a game system having a slave unit connected to a master so that a game program for the slave can be executed by the master, thereby displaying the slave""s game on a master""s larger display screen.
However, the first prior art provides for nothing more than displaying a branch message on the portable game machines to allow an option thereof on the portable game machines. Accordingly, such a game cannot be played on the portable game machines that the portable game machines are allowed to independently proceed the game while administered by the video game machine (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cinteractive gamexe2x80x9d).
Also, in the second prior art the master merely performs a role of the slave, and hence does not allow an interactive game to play on the slave and master.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel combined game system.
Another object of the invention is to provide a combined game system of a portable and video game machines enabling an interactive game to play thereon.
A combined video game system according to a first invention is a combined game system connected through connection means with a video game machine connected to a common display and portable game machines having a discrete display, the portable game machine comprising: an operating means for outputting an operation signal depending upon an operation for a game; first game program storing means storing a game program of an own portable game; first processing means for generating first display data to be displayed on the discrete display based on an output of the operating means and the portable game program, and for processes unit information required for an interactive game with the video game machine; and transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving the unit information to and from the video game machine; the video game management comprising: second game program storing means storing an operation program for the video game machine and a program for the interactive game; temporary storage means for temporarily storing unit information transmitted to and receiving from the portable game machine through the connection means and the transmitting/receiving means, and an output of the operating means; and second processing means for generating second display data to be displayed on the common display based on the program stored in the second game program storing means, and generating display data for the interactive game to be displayed on the common display, in response to the unit information stored in the temporary storing means and received from the portable game machine and an output of the operating means of the portable game machine; and wherein the video game machine and the portable game machines interact to execute one interactive game.
A combined game system according to a second invention is a combined game system connected, through connection means, with a video game machine having a first storage medium storing a first game program and connected to a display and portable game machines of two or more in number having a second storage medium storing a second game program, the video game machine including a first processor to process program stored in the first information storage medium and a first data storage means; the portable game machine including a second processor to process a program stored in the second information storage medium, second data storage means and operating means; the first information storage medium including at least, a first program of storing a display control program to display a game picture which is to be displayed on the display by the video game machine and is common between the portable game machines; a second program of storing transfer control program to transfer data to and from the portable game machines; and a third program of storing write program to temporarily store data transferred from the portable game machines to corresponding areas in the first data storage means to the portable game machines; the second information storage means storing a fourth program of storing an operation state determining program to determine an operation state based on an operation of the operating means; a fifth program of storing a display control program to display a game picture to be displayed on the portable game machines based on an operation state determined by the fourth program; and a sixth program of storing a transfer control program to perform data transfer to and from the video game machine; and wherein the video game machine and the portable game machines can interact to execute an interactive game.
In the first invention, the video game machine is connected to a common-pictured display while the portable game machines have respective discrete-pictured display. If the operating means of the portable game machine is operated, an operation signal is transmitted to the first processing means. The first processing means processes each unit according to the operation signal and portable game program. Specifically, calculation is made for each unit to move or act according to the operation signal, obtaining unit information. Meanwhile, the portable game machines display respective discrete pictures, and causes the transmitting/receiving means to transmit unit information to the video game machine. The video game machine stores the unit information received from the portable game machines into the temporary storing means. According to the unit information, the second processing means architects a common picture and displays it on the common display.
Where a plurality of portable game machines are connected to the video game machine, each player operates the operating means of his or her portable game machine whereby the video game machine processes a unit concerned. That is, both the common picture and the discrete pictures of the portable game machines are varied in accordance with operation of the operating means. The common display displays a common picture to provide common information between the players while the discrete displays each display a related discrete picture to one player with secrecy.
The temporary storing means of the video game machine is formed with a discrete storage area for the portable game machine, in order to temporarily store therein the unit information processed by the second processing means and to be transmitted to each portable game machine and/or the unit information received from each portable game machine.
In the second invention, a first storage medium such as a game cartridge is loaded onto the video game machine while second storage mediums are loaded onto the video game machines. The first processor of the video game machine processes a first program thereby displaying a common game picture between the portable game machine on the display. The first and second processor execute a second program and a sixth program. This transmits an operation state of the operating means of the portable game machine to the video game machine, and the unit information changed depending on the operation state is sent back to the portable game machine. Consequently, the execution of a fifth program by the second processor provides display of a discrete picture according to the unit information sent back from the video game machine. Meanwhile, the execution of the first program by the video game machine provides display of a common picture on the display. In this manner, one interactive game can be executed by interaction between the video game machine and the portable game machines.
According to the present invention, one interactive game can be enjoyed on the combined game system of the portable and video game machines. In such a case, the discrete picture displayed on the discrete display on the portable game machine is secretive to other players. The common display displays information permitted to be known to other players while the discrete displays display discrete pictures not to be known to the other players. This makes it possible to enjoy such an interactive game as a card game, horse race game, or other role playing games, in a competitive fashion.
The above described objects and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Combined game system of portable and video game machines


An inkjet head may include a main-body block, which may include a reservoir configured to store ink, an ink supply port configured to supply the ink to the reservoir, and a plurality of nozzles in fluid communication with the reservoir via an ink flow path. The inkjet head may include a supply valve mechanism attached to the main-body block and configured to selectively set the ink supply port in one of a sealed state and an open state. The inkjet head may further include an attachment unit configured to be removably attached to the main-body block. The attachment unit may include a supply channel configured to supply the ink to the ink supply port. The supply valve mechanism may set the ink supply port in the sealed state when the attachment unit is detached from the main-body block, and set the ink supply port in the open state when the attachment unit is attached to the main-body block.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present application relates to inkjet heads that eject ink onto recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known inkjet head installed in an inkjet printer that performs printing by ejecting ink droplets onto a recording medium is provided with a channel unit and a reservoir unit. Specifically, the channel unit has a common ink chamber and individual ink channels extending from the common ink chamber to nozzles, and the reservoir unit has an ink reservoir communicating with the common ink chamber and an ink supply port that supplies ink to the ink reservoir. In the inkjet head, the ink is supplied to the ink reservoir of the reservoir unit via an ink tube connected to the ink supply port.
When storing or transporting the above-described inkjet head by itself, the ink supply port thereof needs to be sealed to inhibit the ink from drying out or from leaking through the ink supply port. On the other hand, when using the inkjet head by attaching it to the printer, the ink supply port needs to be opened for ink supply. Therefore, when storing or transporting the above-described inkjet head by itself, the ink supply port is sealed with a detachable sealing member.
For this reason, when inspecting the above-described inkjet head during the manufacturing process thereof or when shipping the inkjet head, the sealing member needs to be checked in addition to the components constituting the inkjet head, resulting in complicated quality control.