Geophysical data processing is remotely controlled and monitored over a wide-area network such as the Internet. A customer using a client computer builds geophysical data processing flows (concatenations of geophysical data processing modules or filters) and enters parameter values required for flow execution. The flow descriptions and associated parameter values are then transferred from the client to a geophysical data processing server, for example a parallel supercomputer. The flows (jobs) are executed on the server, typically over periods ranging from hours to weeks. Intermediate or partial results are made available to the customer for visualization before the processing of a flow is complete. The customer can then modify the flow before its complete execution. Data-entry windows are automatically generated for geophysical processing modules by parsing the source code of the modules. The automatic generation of data-entry windows allows relatively simple integration of new seismic interpretation packages with a given graphical user interface.

This disclosure contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner, 3DGeo Development Inc., has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records of any country, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever.
3DGeo and INSP are trademarks of 3DGeo Development, Inc. Sun and Java are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Other products and services are trademarks of their respective owners.
This invention relates to geophysical data processing, communication over wide area networks and graphical user interfaces, and in particular to systems and methods providing remote access and automated dialog-building for geophysical data processing applications.
Computer-intensive processing of reflection seismic data is the main tool for imaging the Earth""s subsurface to identify hydrocarbon reservoirs and determine rock and fluid properties. Seismic data is recorded at the earth""s surface or in wells, and an accurate model of the underlying geologic structure is constructed by processing the data. In the past decade, 3-D seismic processing has shown far superior cost-effectiveness than conventional 2-D seismic processing. However, the reconstruction of accurate 3-D images of the subsurface requires the handling of a huge amount of seismic data (on the order of terabytes for a single modern marine 3-D survey) and the application of computer-intensive imaging algorithms. Even today, only large-scale parallel computers can image modern marine surveys with the most sophisticated algorithms within a useful turn-around time. Indeed, the use of large-scale parallel computers for seismic processing has achieved such technical and economical success that the geophysical market accounts for the largest commercial market for scientific high-performance computing.
Unfortunately, many exploration organizations have no direct access to high-end seismic imaging technologies because they lack the resources to acquire and maintain the necessary hardware and software. The cost of the required computing and data-storage facilities is still quite high, although it keeps going down. However, in perspective, even more problematic is the large investment in application development and system maintenance that the effective use of these computational facilities requires. These costs are not decreasing, they are actually increasing with the level of complexity and sophistication of the imaging applications. Many existing commercial packages are targeted to run effectively on workstations, not on large parallel systems, and thus are ineffective for the high-end applications. As a result, only the central processing departments of large oil companies (e.g. Exxon-Mobil, Shell, BP-Amoco) can afford to employ large-scale parallel computers for imaging 3-D seismic data. The rest of the exploration industry outsources large 3-D seismic imaging projects to outside service companies (e.g. Schlumberger, Western Geophysical).
According to this outsourcing model, the data are physically sent on tape to the service companies, who process the data with little input from the oil companies, and then deliver the final images after several months. This service model has been historically successful for exploring areas with relatively simple geology, but it has proven inadequate for exploring areas with complex geology, where most of the still undiscovered hydrocarbon reservoirs are yet to be found. In such areas, the data must often be imaged by applying 3-D prestack depth migration, instead of simpler and more traditional time imaging procedures. Depth imaging is potentially much more accurate than time imaging, but it is also less robust with respect to some of the processing parameters. In particular, depth imaging needs an accurate interval velocity function to properly focus the reflections. Because the velocity function cannot be uniquely determined from the data alone, a priori geological information must be taken into account, and the final results are greatly enhanced when geologists work closely with the processing team. However, in the typical interaction between service companies and oil companies, the geologist cannot be involved in the processing because of the physical distance and the difficulties caused by the old traditional service model.
According to one aspect, the present invention provides systems and methods allowing remote access/control of geophysical data processing servers over wide area networks. In particular, the present invention provides systems and methods allowing remote evaluation of intermediate (partial) results of geophysical data processing, and remote cessation of the processing if the intermediate results are not satisfactory. According to another aspect, the present invention provides systems and methods allowing the automatic generation of user data-entry (dialog) displays for geophysical data processing modules by parsing at least part of the source code of the modules.
The present invention provides a computer-implemented geophysical data processing method comprising the steps of: automatically determining a user data-entry requirement for a geophysical data processing module, by parsing an input source file for the module; generating a user data-entry display (e.g. a window) according to the data-entry requirement, for requesting a set of input parameter values from a user; accepting the set of input parameter values from the user; and employing the module to process a geophysical data set using the set of input parameter values.
The present invention also provides a computer-implemented geophysical data processing method comprising the steps of: establishing a geophysical data processing flow on a geophysical data processing server, the data processing flow generating an intermediate result of geophysical data processing performed on a geophysical data set; and accessing the intermediate result from a client connected to the server over a wide-area network, for evaluating the intermediate result.
The present invention further provides a computer-implemented client geophysical data processing method comprising the steps of: generating a display of a geophysical data processing workgroup, the workgroup including a set of projects and a set of geophysical data processing modules, each project including at least one geophysical data set and at least one geophysical data processing flow, the at least one processing flow including a concatenation of geophysical data processing modules; in response to a user selection of the at least one flow from the display of the workgroup, generating a display of the concatenation of data processing modules of the at least one processing flow; in response to a set of flow editing user commands, modifying the flow; after the modifying, sending a description of the flow to a geophysical data processing server over a wide area network; accepting from a user a set of parameter values for at least one module of the flow; sending the set of parameter values to the server over the wide area network; directing an execution of the flow on the server, the execution employing the set of parameter values; and retrieving a result of the execution for visualization.

Remote access and automated dialog building for seismic processing


A heelless instrument pedal device includes a bottom board and a pedal board. The bottom board is in connection with an instrument support and has two pivotal connection elements protruding upwards with a ball shape. The rear bottom surface of the pedal board has a pivotal connection base corresponding to the pivotal connection elements. The pedal board is connected to the pivotal connection elements on the bottom board using the pivotal connection base. Thus, the pedal board can swing in the direction of the force applied by the user's foot. The front end of the pedal board has a linking element, so that the linking element moves as the pedal board swings with respect to the pivotal connection elements.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an instrument pedal device and, in particular, to a heelless instrument pedal device of a lower production cost.
2. Related Art
A conventional instrument pedal device, as shown in FIG. 6, consists of a bottom board 1 whose front is connected to the bottom side of an instrument support 2. The rear end of the bottom board 1 is further provided with a heel pedal 3. A pedal 4 is pivotally connected with the heel pedal 3 by its rear end and a pivotal axle 5. The front end of the pedal 4 is connected with a chain 6 so that its front end goes upwards. Therefore, the pedal can swing in the direction of the forced applied by the user.
However, the above-mentioned conventional instrument pedal device uses the pivotal axle 5 to go through the pedal 4 and the heel pedal 3 simultaneously. Therefore, it has a higher requirement for the precision. This does not increase the manufacturing time, but also has to take into account the structural strength of the pivotal axle 5. This is why most instrument pedal devices on the market are made of aluminum or other metal materials. It is thus difficult to reduce the production cost. Besides, after being used for a certain time, the pivotal axle 5 of the conventional instrument pedal device is eroded to have a gap. This produces noises or makes the operation less smooth.
In view of the foregoing, the inventor of the invention provides a solution for the above-mentioned problems in the prior art.


A mechanism is provided for software discovery in an environment with heterogeneous machine groups may be provided. A group comprising computing systems that have similar software program installations is defined. A first scan procedure is performed by scanning each computing system of the group using a first software signature catalogue to identify installed programs. Software signatures of identified installed programs are added to a base installation software catalogue. A second scan procedure is performed by scanning the group of computing systems using the base installation software catalogue to identify installed software programs.

The invention relates generally to a method for software discovery in an environment with heterogeneous machine groups. The invention relates further to a system for software discovery in an environment with heterogeneous machine groups, a computing system, a data processing program, and a computer program product.
Software asset management systems provide detailed information about all installed software on computing systems, based on registry/file system scans. Software inventory scans are typically based on information from a software catalogue, which is a collection of discovery signatures for all possible software programs. Such software discovery catalogues can be very extensive due to the number of different software products on the market, not only current but also historical, as well as many different signature types which may be used to discover the same or different product releases.
Every time a software inventory scan is scheduled, all that data in the file system has to be processed and all signatures have to be evaluated. This may consume many resources of the scanned computing systems and may take large amounts of time. The workload generated by the scan procedures may not be available for productive processing.
Another negative effect of such full software scans is that the amount of data returned to a software asset management server may be quite large; in order to aggregate that data many software asset management server resources are additionally required. Moreover, additional network traffic is generated.
There are several disclosures related to a method for software discovery. For example, document U.S. Pat. No. 8,539,445 B2 discloses a method and a corresponding system for discovering software products on a plurality of computers. The discovery method can populate a software catalogue without the manual intervention of an administrator.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 8,438,543 B2 discloses a solution for discovering shared components of software products installed on a data processing system. In order to achieve this result, for each software product the corresponding software components are aggregated into groups; each group includes software components that must be linked by a corresponding relationship, such as a co-location in the same operating system image. This way, it is possible to assign a software component—e.g., a library—available on the system to its software product even when it may be used by more of them.
However, there continues to be a need to address the problem of large overhead when discovering software based on a software catalogue having software signatures.

Software discovery in an environment with heterogeneous machine groups

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods, apparatus, and systems are provided for caching. A caching process is automatically modified in response to update eligibility and an interference relation for a plurality of threads. Data is read into a cache, and a reference to the data is provided to a plurality of threads. An initial thread receives a signal from a last thread once the last thread has the reference to the data. The initial thread, in response to the signal, modifies the data and updates changes to the data within the cache and then sends another signal to a next thread, indicating that the next thread may now perform a volatile operation on the data within the cache.

A unique challenge of packet processing is to maintain stability while maximizing throughput and minimizing latency for the worse-case traffic scenarios. On the other hand, the latency associated with a single external memory access within network processors is usually larger than a worse-case service time. Consequently, modern network processors are usually implemented with a highly parallel architecture with multiple processors. Each processor can support a plurality of processing threads (applications).
Additionally, network applications may also be highly parallel and are usually multi-threaded and/or multi-processed for purposes of hiding long memory access latencies. Whenever a new packet arrives at a network processor a series of tasks (e.g., receipt of the packet, routing table look-up, enqueuing, etc.) is performed on that packet by a new thread within the network processor. However, updates associated with the global data or the packet for packet processing have to be performed in a pre-defined thread order and in an atomic fashion in order to ensure that the integrity of the packet's processing is maintained amongst multiple competing threads that may update the data or the packet.
To ensure packet-processing integrity, an ordered section or update process for the global data or the packet is typically implemented within network processors. In this process, packets are distributed to a chain of threads in an order in which the packets are received. Each thread has to wait for a signal from a previous thread before entering its ordered section update process; after the signal is received, the waiting thread can read the data or the packet, modify it, and write it back to memory, and then send a signal of completion to a next waiting thread.
This process creates latencies for non-volatile operations, such as the latency associated with read operations that cannot be hidden even with a multithreaded and/or multiprocessing environment.


A compact, high sensitive, multi-wavelength spectral analyzer capable of simultaneously obtaining a spectral distribution of extremely weak radiation such as bioluminescence, chemiluminescence, extremely weak fluorescence caused by excitation light, Raman scattered light, etc. with an extremely high luminosity and without wavelength scanning. The spectral analyzer comprises a spectroscope and a high sensitive one- or two-dimensional photodetector. The spectroscope includes an entrance slit, a collimator lens of high luminosity disposed such that a focal point of the collimator lens is coincident with the entrance slit to convert light emerging therefrom into parallel rays, a reflection diffraction grating that diffracts the parallel rays from the collimator lens to produce spectra, and an imaging lens that focuses the parallel rays diffracted by the reflection diffraction grating on an image plane thereof to form a spectral image. The photodetector is disposed on the image plane of the imaging lens.

The present invention relates to a high sensitive multi-wavelength spectral analyzer which is capable of spectral analysis of extremely weak radiation over a spectral range of from the visible region to the infrared region, for example, bioluminescence, chemiluminescence, extremely weak fluorescence caused by excitation light, Raman scattered light, etc.
Recently, attention has been attracted to extremely weak radiation such as bioluminescence, chemiluminescence, extremely weak fluorescence caused by excitation light, Raman scattered light, etc. For spectral analysis of such extremely weak radiation, it is desirable to carry out measurement with minimal loss of light. For this purpose, it is preferable to use an optical system of high luminosity which enables a large exit solid angle to be obtained so as to increase the utilization of light flux (i.e., throughput), and arrange a detection system having the simultaneous photometry (i.e., multiplex) advantage that a multiplicity of wavelengths are measured at a time. More specifically, it is necessary to employ optical systems of high luminosity for both collimator and condenser systems and use a high sensitive multi-wavelength spectral analyzer arranged by adopting the design idea of a polychromator that is capable of multi-wavelength spectral analysis by simultaneously measuring a multiplicity of wavelengths in an observation wavelength region without performing wavelength scanning. However, there has heretofore been no spectral analyzer that meets the requirements. The conventional spectroscope employing a diffraction grating is basically a monochromator, and therefore it needs an entrance slit and an exit slit indispensably and hence necessitates wavelength scanning. During the wavelength scanning, rays of light other than the light that is taken out through the exit slit are discarded. Thus, this type of conventional spectroscope has no multiplex advantage.
In addition, the prior art is not designed so that a one- or two-dimensional light distribution detector for detecting a spectral distribution is disposed at the exit plane. Accordingly, when the exit slit is merely replaced with a detector, the wavelength region within which simultaneous photometry can be effected is narrow, and there are also problems concerning focal plane, aberration and so forth. Further, since both the collimator and condenser systems employ reflecting mirrors in an off-axis state, the spectral line image is curved owing to the off-axis arrangement and aberration, so that the f-number cannot be made very small. Thus, there has been a limitation on the luminosity of the spectroscope; no spectroscope of f3 or less has been put to practical use.
A spectroscope with f1 has recently been developed which employs a parabolic mirror as a reflecting mirror used in the prior art. However, since the converging mirror (parabolic mirror) is employed in an off-axis state, the spectral line image is curved, so that it is difficult to obtain an accurate spectral distribution with a one- or two-dimensional light distribution detector. In addition, since the detecting surface of the detector must be cooled in order to realize high-sensitivity measurement, a relatively thick vacuum chamber for heat insulation needs to be disposed in front of the photoelectric surface of the one- or two-dimensional photodetector, as a means for preventing moisture condensation on the detecting surface, so that it is necessary to increase the focal length of the converging parabolic mirror.
Further, a polychromator that employs a concave diffraction grating and a detector array has been put on sale recently. However, since there are limitations on the diameter and curvature radius of the concave diffraction grating, the light-gathering capability is limited, so that no adequate luminosity can be obtained.
In the meantime, it has been proposed to utilize a static interference spectroscopy employing a triangle common path interferometer, a quadrangle common path interferometer, a birefringent polarization interferometer, etc. for spectral analysis of extremely weak radiation. However, examination of this prior art presents a question about the statement that these interferometers have higher luminosity than that of conventional spectroscopes because there is no limitation on the area of the surface of a luminous sample. In addition, although these interferometers have an optical system which provides a higher luminosity than that of the conventional spectroscopes, the high luminosity is not characteristic of the interferometer, but it is owing to the use of lenses of higher luminosity in places of mirrors. Since the width of the detector array is smaller than that of the diffraction grating in the present state of art, the size of these widths determines the resolving power of each individual spectroscopic system, and therefore the resolving power of the static interference spectroscopy is inferior to that of the spectroscopes. With regard to energy, in the spectroscopes if the entrance slit width is enlarged, the resolving power lowers, but energy can be increased instead, whereas, in the static interference spectroscopy the contract deteriorates, resulting in no advantageous effect.
Thus, with the conventional spectroscopes or spectroscopic methods, it has heretofore been difficult to effect spectral analysis of extremely weak radiation such as bioluminescence, chemiluminescence, extremely weak fluorescence caused by excitation light, Raman scattered light, etc., particularly difficult to obtain simultaneously a spectral distribution of a multiplicity of wavelengths.

High sensitive multi-wavelength spectral analyzer


A dishwasher includes a main sump that holds the main wash fluid supply, and a separate sump formed in the bottom wall of the tub away from the main sump. The separate sump holds a concentrated wash fluid supply. The separate sump supplies wash fluid for washing periods in which a highly concentrated chemistry mixture is desired.

A dishwasher machine is a domestic appliance into which dishes and other cooking and eating wares (e.g., plates, bowls, glasses, flatware, pots, pans, bowls, etcetera) are placed to be washed. During a wash cycle, a sump in the bottom of the dishwasher tub fills with water. A heating element inside the tub heats the water. Detergent released from a dispenser mixes with the heated water. Sprayers circulate the water and detergent mixture over the dishes. The wash cycle is followed by a rinse cycle, in which the sprayers circulate clean water over the dishes. At the end of each cycle, the used liquid is drained from the tub.
Some dishwashers have multiple washing and rinsing periods within a complete wash cycle. For example, some dishwashers provide washing periods in which wash liquid is directed to a specific area of the tub, such as an area where heavily soiled pots and dishes tend to be located.

Dishwasher with separate sump for concentrated fluid supply


A content measuring apparatus has a light source for irradiating near infrared light on a leaf, a light intensity detecting device for receiving transmitted light from the leaf, an operation means for calculating the light absorbance of the leaf from the intensity of transmitted light and computing a content percent of the leaf based on a content percent estimation equation. The light source includes light emitting elements which are disposed so as to have predetermined angles with respect to a diffuse reflectance plate coated with mat paint, a light reflection path which shades direct light from the light emitting elements, is arranged in a vertical direction at a substantial center of the diffuse reflectance plate and conducts the reflected light from the diffuse reflectance plate, light reflection path also being coated with mat paint, and a diffuse transmittance plate which is provided at a light radiating side of the reflected light path for making the reflected light uniform whereby the radiation light from the diffuse transmittance plate is irradiated on the leaf. In fabricating the device, the mechanical process for forming a sphere surface as required in an integration sphere can be dispensed with so that the cost for fabrication is low, and the variations in the light intensity are no larger than those in the integration sphere.

(1). Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a content measuring apparatus of a portable type, and more particularly to an apparatus for measuring contents of plant leaf which are in relation to the growth thereof.
(2). Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the content of nitrogen has been estimated from the content of chlorophyll by such methods as making an assumption of the content of nitrogen by the comparison of the color of a leaf with a color scale, or measuring the content of chlorophyll contained in a leaf by calculating the light intensity of the red rays and the infrared rays from the light transmitted upon the light being irradiated on the leaf to be measured. Also, the fertilizer application rate has been judged so as to be in accord with the estimated content of nitrogen and the plant growing periods. Particularly, in the case of rice crop, the subsequent fertilizer application time and rate judged from the estimated nitrogen content are important points in order to ensure that the rice plant does not undergo the falling down and yet the best yield of grains is achieved.
In using the method wherein the color of the leaf is compared with the color scale, the problems are not only in the requiring of experiences but also in frequent incorrect results of judgment because the color of the leaf to the human eyes may be different depending on any weather conditions or the location and the direction of the sun light, on any differences in observation, that is, whether it is partial observation or total observation, and on the observation angle. However, because this prior art method is simple and that the color scale is inexpensive, it is true that its utilization factor is high.
A chlorophyll measuring device which substitutes for the color scale has been developed. The measuring principle of a typical chlorophyll meter may be apparent from FIG. 1 in which the leave 50 to be measured is subjected to the irradiation of light from a light source 51 and the light transmitted is measured and in which, by a dichroic mirror 52, the measurement is made of the intensity of transmitted light of the red light region (received by a light receiving diode 53) which is affected by the chlorophyll content and the intensity of the transmitted light of the infrared light region (which is received by a light receiving diode 54) which is not affected by the chlorophyll content. By calculating the light intensity difference therebetween, the estimation is made of the chlorophyll concentration per unit area without the leaf being destructed. However, in practice, the estimation of the nitrogen concentration is premised on the assumption that the chlorophyll concentration and the nitrogen concentration are on a proportional relationship, and this estimation is being utilized for the fertilizer application rate to a plant.
One of the inventors together with two others have developed and proposed in Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. Hei 8-15141 a content percent measuring device for leaves of a plant with which the nitrogen content therein can be measured in a simple manner. This is explained with reference to FIG. 2. Shown in FIG. 2 is an optical measurement section 60 which is the main constituent element of the content percent measuring device for leaves of a plant, in which the light emitting means 62 for irradiating near infrared light of a predetermined wavelength onto a leaf 61 to be measured comprises a near infrared light emitting element 63 which is constituted by an element such as a light emitting diode (LED), and a narrow band filter 64 which permits the passing of only the near infrared light of a predetermined wavelength. There are provided leave holding means 66A and 66B which hold between them in planar the leaf 61 such that the near infrared light may be uniformly irradiated on the surface of the leaf 61 and which are provided with measuring windows 65A and 65B for measuring the transmitted light and the reflected light from the leaf 61. The measuring window 65B of the leave holding means 66B and the light emitting means 62 are communicated with each other by an integration sphere 67. That is, the light emitting means 62 is fixed to the integration sphere 67 so as to permit the light to be irradiated and dispersed within the integration sphere 67, and the integration sphere 67 is provided with an opening 68 which communicates with the measuring window 65B and an opening 70 at which a reflected light receiving means 69 constituted by a silicon photodiode is fixed.
As to the operation of the content percent measuring device for leaves constructed as above, the near infrared light irradiated from the light emitting means 62 is dispersed in the integration sphere 67 and is then irradiated on the surface of the leaf 61 from the measuring window 65B. Also, the light reflected from the leave 61 is dispersed in the integration sphere 67 and then is received by the reflected light receiving means 69. Further, the portion of the near infrared light that has been irradiated on the leaf 61 and transmitted therethrough is received as transmitted light by a transmitted light receiving means 71 which is constituted by a silicon photodiode fixed at the measuring window 65A side of the leave holding means 66.
In the use of the integration sphere having the above configuration, the advantages are that it is possible to increase the light intensity of the light source and that, in the case where the number of wavelengths used for measuring has become large for securing the measurement precision, the light of all the wavelengths is uniformly irradiated on the leave irrespective of the light emitting locations. However, in fabricating the integration sphere 67, its inside is given a spherical treatment, its spherical surface Is given a matte treatment and, thereafter, it is finished by gold plating so that the fabrication cost is unavoidably high.

Content measuring apparatus for plant leaf


A uniform coating of radar-absorbing material (RAM) is produced on small or intricate parts by suspending the part in a vessel, slowing filling the vessel with RAM slurry without turbulence from the bottom up, subsequently draining the slurry slowly without turbulence to leave a coating of RAM on the part, and repeating the process until a coating of sufficient thickness is obtained.

In many military applications, there is a strong need to make aircraft, vehicles and other objects, including their component parts, as invisible to radar as possible. A number of techniques for accomplishing this purpose are well known. One such technique is to coat metallic parts with a ceramic radar-absorbing material.
Conventionally, the ceramic RAM is suspended in particulate form in a wet slurry which is sprayed onto the substrate of the part to be processed. Although this process is easy to use and is performable with readily available equipment, and has proven generally suitable for its intended purpose, it possesses inherent deficiencies which detract from its overall effectiveness and desirability. Specifically, the spray process has several disadvantages: for one, coatings of small, complex parts or parts with small internal diameters are difficult to obtain consistently; secondly, the spray process does not lend itself well to automation because variables such as coating thickness are difficult to control; and thirdly, a sprayed coating sometimes has difficulty adhering to the part with the result that electromagnetic performance is degraded.
Furthermore, because the slurry is a mixture of heavy and light particulates, it is important to maintain the slurry in a homogenous consistency. This can be done by maintaining the slurry in an agitated and/or flowing state, which keeps the heavier particles in suspension.
Other prior art methods include the following:
Nishio et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,222 describes a method of ceramic coating in which the workpiece is dipped into a ceramic solution;
Van 'T Veen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,299 shows apparatus for applying a micropore coating to a ceramic substrate, in which the workpiece is moved with respect to the ceramic suspension. This is undesirable because movement of the part can disrupt the uncured coating.
Reed et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,454 shows a coating process in which an alumina slurry is forced though a workpiece by a vacuum.
In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, it is desirable to provide a process which will uniformly coat parts regardless of their size or complexity, and will not be subject to the inherent inconsistencies arising from variations in spray patterns and from non-homogenity of the slurry. In this regard, although the prior art has recognized to a limited extent the nature of this problem, the proposed solutions have, to date, been ineffective in providing a satisfactory remedy.


According to one embodiment, a display device which displays an image in a display area based on a pixel signal is provided. The display device includes a first substrate, a second substrate opposed to the first substrate, a first electrode arranged in the first substrate and overlapping a frame area outside the display area, second electrodes arranged in the second substrate and overlapping the display area, and a touch detection driver configured to output a drive signal to the first electrode and detect contact or proximity of an object with the frame area based on electrostatic capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrodes.

Recently, electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have been widespread. Such an electronic device adopts a display device having a touch detection function (hereinafter referred to as a display device with a touch detection function).
The display device with the touch detection function can detect contact or proximity, etc., of an object (external proximal object) such as a finger or a pen, for example, with a display area (active area).
In the meantime, a frame area is provided around the display area of the display device with the touch detection function.
To effectively use the frame area, it is considered helpful to realize the touch detection function in the frame area and detect contact or proximity, etc., of an object also in the frame area.

Display device including an electrode overlapping a frame area outside the display area


A forward biasing protection circuit is provided. More specifically, there is provided a device comprising a transistor, a resistive element coupled to the body terminal of the transistor, and a clamping element coupled in parallel to the resistive element and configured to limit a voltage between the source terminal and the body terminal of the transistor. A method of manufacturing the forward biasing protection circuit is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to integrated circuits implementing transistors that have been forward biased between the source region and the body to increase the depth of the induced channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
As most people are aware, an integrated circuit is a highly miniaturized electronic circuit that is typically designed on a semiconductive substrate. Over the last 10 years, there has been considerable attention paid to designing smaller, lower-power integrated circuits. These smaller, lower-power integrated circuits are often used in portable electronic devices that rely on battery power, such as cellular phones and laptop computers. As circuit designers research new ways to lower the power consumption of integrated circuits, they are constantly confronted with new challenges that need to be overcome in order to create the integrated circuits that will be part of the next generation computer, cellular phone, or camera.
The fundamental building block of the modern integrated circuit is the transistor. Transistors are most often created on a substrate composed of a silicon semiconductor, but they may be created using any one of a number of different semiconductors. Silicon transistors are created by altering the electrical properties of silicon by adding other materials called "dopants" to the silicon. This process is known as doping. In n-type doping, dopants are added to the silicon to provide extra electrons that do not bond with the silicon. These free electrons make n-type silicon an excellent conductor. In p-type doping, silicon is doped with elements that cause an empty space, known as a "hole," to develop in the silicon. Because these holes readily accept electrons from other silicon atoms, p-type silicon is typically also a good conductor.
Even though p-type silicon and n-type silicon are each good conductors, they are not always good conductors when joined. These junctions, called p-n junctions, are essential one way streets for current—allowing it to flow in one direction across the junction but not in the other direction. When current can flow across the p-n junction, it is said to be "forward-biased," and when current can not flow across the p-n junction, it is considered to be "reverse-biased."
A transistor is created by combining two p-n junctions. For example, a transistor might be arranged as either NPN or PNP. In this arrangement, a relatively small current (or voltage, depending on the type of transistor) applied to the center layer will essentially "open up" the transistor and permit a much greater current to flow across the transistor as a whole. In this fashion, transistors can act as switches or as amplifiers.
While there are numerous types of transistors, metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors ("MOSFETs") have been particularly popular over the past few years. One example of this type of MOSFET is known as an n-channel enhancement type MOSFET or NMOS transistor. The NMOS transistor is created by forming two heavily doped n-type regions in a p-type semiconductive substrate (i.e. NPN). These two n-type regions form regions known as the source and drain regions. Next, a thin layer of an oxide insulator may be grown on the surface of the substrate and metal or another conductor may be deposited on this oxide to create a gate region. Terminals are then attached to the source region, the drain region, the gate region, and the p-type semi-conductive substrate (also known as "the body") to create a semiconductor device with four terminals: the source ("S") terminal, the drain ("D") terminal, the gate ("G") terminal, and the body ("B") terminal.
A voltage Vgs placed between the gate terminal and the source terminal of the NMOS transistor will create an electrical field in the semiconductive substrate below the gate terminal. This electrical field causes mobile electrons in the source region, the drain region, and the substrate to accumulate and form an n-type conductive channel in the p-type substrate. This conductive channel is known as the "induced channel." This n-type induced channel effectively connects the source and drain regions together and allows current to flow from the drain to the source (i.e. opening up the transistor). The voltage Vgs that is sufficient to cause enough electrons to accumulate in the channel to form an induced channel (i.e. to open up the channel) is known as the "threshold voltage."
A related type of MOSFET, known as p-channel enhancement type MOSFET or PMOS, is created on an n-type substrate with source and drain regions composed of p-type regions (i.e. PNP). PMOS transistors operate very similarly to NMOS transistors except that the threshold voltage is negative and current flows from the source terminal to the drain terminal.
As stated above, MOSFETs have four terminals: the source, the drain, the gate, and the body. Of these, the body terminal is the least well-known. This is the case because in most early applications, the body terminal was electrically coupled to the source terminal. Connecting the source and body regions together creates a constant reverse bias on the p-n junction between the body and the channel. Because current can not flow across this reverse biased p-n junction, no current could flow into the body, and thus the body typically did not affect the operation of the transistor.
Unfortunately, this same concept does not always apply when there are multiple integrated circuits sharing a single body as with an integrated circuit. Because there are many transistors connected to the same body, it is no longer certain that connecting the source region to the body will create a constant reverse bias. One method of ensuring that the reverse bias is maintained is to connect the body to the most negative power supply in the NMOS MOSFET or the most positive power supply in a PMOS MOSFET. However, this large reverse bias can reduce the depth of the induced channel. Disadvantageously, as the channel becomes shallower, the amount of current that can flow through the induced channel is reduced even though the voltage Vgs stays constant. This phenomenon is known as the "body effect." In order to counter the body effect, the voltage Vgs may be increased. Years ago when power consumption was not a top priority for circuit designers, increasing Vgs did not present a serious problem. In recent years, however, with the rapid growth of mobile technologies that rely on battery power, scientists and engineers have searched for a way to maintain or increase the induced channel current (i.e. deepen the induced channel current) without increasing the voltage Vgs.
One recent method to increase the channel current without increasing the voltage Vgs is to forward bias the p-n junction between the source terminal and the body terminal. In accordance with these techniques, the PMOS body is usually biased lower than the source terminal voltage and the NMOS body is usually biased higher than the source terminal voltage. The forward biasing increases the channel depth, which permits the transistor to conduct more current for a given voltage Vgs. A channel that can conduct more current can be used to make the transistor operate faster on the same voltage or to reduce the size of the transistor without sacrificing performance.
Unfortunately, forward-biasing the source to body p-n junction can have unintended effects on the circuit. Foremost amongst these effects is the potential for body leakage current. As previously discussed, when a p-n junction is forward biased, it is essentially opened up to the flow of current. This may permit the current flowing across the channel to "leak" into the body of the transistor. Because this leakage current reduces the amount of current that flows between the source and the drain, it can have an adverse affect on the performance of the transistor. This is especially the case if the transistor is driving a particularly small load, and the current across the transistor is relatively small. For larger currents, some leakage current may be permitted to maximize the potential induced channel current, but if this leakage current is not limited in some fashion, its effects can overshadow the potential increase in induced channel current. A circuit that can minimize leakage current for small loads and clamp leakage current for higher loads is desirable.
Embodiments of the present invention may address one or more of the problems set forth above.


A digital communication system is disclosed which is unique in that it modulates a sinusoidal carrier with a discrete cosine segment, a zero slope level segment, and combinations thereof. The discrete cosine segments may contain different time and amplitude values. The discrete cosine segments may be combined with each other or with zero slope level segments in order to effectively modulate the sinusoidal carrier. Rather than employing the use of filters for controlling instantaneous voltage changes, the present communication system forces the bit edges of the discrete cosine segments to occur at the zero slope points of a cosine wave, where no voltage changes occur. The communication system utilizes direct digital synthesis in order to create a carrier signal which closely represents sinusoidal carrier signal. The present communication system may be used in conjunction with various conventional methods such as phase-shift keying and amplitude-shift keying. A demodulator device is also disclosed for demodulating the carrier signal in order to recover the original base band signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital communication systems in which electrical signals are varied to create discrete symbols that can be transmitted efficiently over electrical wires, fiber optic cable, or propagated over the airwaves to convey information digitally. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a very narrow bandwidth digital data communications technique in which the electromagnetic carrier signal is created from discrete cosine segments that represent the digital data to be transmitted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Digital modulation is well known and commonly used to transmit information over a communications channel by altering certain aspects of a carrier signal. In digital modulation, the carrier signal is altered so that discrete states are created with very little chance for ambiguity between the states. Each discrete state must be different and unique from the other discrete states in order to be reliably detected at the receiving end. The discrete states correspond to one or more binary bits of data. Accordingly, the resulting modulated carrier has improved immunity to noise when compared to similar analog modulated carriers representing continuous signal transitions with no discrete states.
Carrier signals for digital modulation are typically based on sinusoidal waveforms because such waveforms require the least amount of bandwidth. There exists three classical forms of digital sinusoidal modulation: amplitude-shift keying (ASK), frequency-shift keying (FSK), and phase-shift keying (PSK). Improvements have been made in digital sinusoidal modulation, however all of the improvements been based on the three classical techniques previously mentioned. In ASK, the amplitude of the carrier signal is varied or shifted in response to changes in the digital data. In FSK, the frequency of the carrier signal is varied or shifted in response to changes in the digital data. In PSK, the phase of the carrier signal is varied or shifted in response to changes in the digital data.
There are also certain disadvantages associated with the classical modulation techniques. For example, ASK is especially susceptible to atmospheric noise and fading. FSK requires that an associated receiver detect two discrete frequencies before the frequency can be acquired and detected. This presents delays due to of the additional time required to receive the several cycles of each frequency. PSK requires complex receiver circuitry in order to detect phase changes. Furthermore, elaborate filtering is necessary to control spurious outputs resulting from the discontinuities associated with the phase changes.
One disadvantage, however, is common to all of the classical modulation techniques and their derivative improvements. This is the use of fixed time slots for varying the characteristics of the carrier signal. When fixed time slots are used, variations in the carrier signal occur at random points along the sinusoidal waveform, thus resulting in spurious frequencies and expanding the modulation bandwidth. Complex filtering becomes necessary in order to reduce the amplitude of these spurious frequencies. As the bit rate increases, the variations in the carrier signal occur more frequently, thus posing a challenging demodulation task.
It is well known that the amount of spurious output generated by the variation of a sinusoidal waveform is dependant upon the instantaneous value of the slope of the waveform when the change occurs. Thus, a change which occurs at exactly the midpoint or highest kinetic energy point of the waveform generates the greatest amount of spurious output because the slope value is at its maximum. If the change occurs at exactly the peak of the waveform however, the least amount of spurious output is generated because the slope value is at its minimum, i.e., zero kinetic energy.
Representation of discrete states of digital data is accomplished through various base band encoding techniques. FIG. 20 illustrates various base band encoding techniques. In NRZ-Level encoding 210, digital code is produced by instantaneously shifting voltage levels at fixed bit time intervals so that two unique binary symbols are represented, a one and a zero. Thus, a one is represented by one level, while a zero is represented by the other level. The NRZ-Mark digital code 212 is produced by instantaneously shifting voltage levels at fixed bit intervals only when a one is transmitted and not changing levels when a zero is transmitted. The RZ digital code 214 is produced by instantaneously shifting voltage levels at half bit-time intervals when a one is transmitted and not changing levels when a zero is transmitted. A BI-PHASE-Level digital code 216 is produced by instantaneously shifting voltage levels at half bit-time intervals so that a one is a high level during the first half of the bit time and a zero is a high level during the second half of the bit time. The NRZ-4Level digital code 218 is produced by shifting voltage levels instantaneously after two bit-time intervals. A one-one is transmitted by the top level, a one-zero is transmitted by the next lower level, a zero-one is transmitted by the next lower level, and a zero-zero is transmitted by the bottom level. By encoding two bit times into one symbol, NRZ-4Level encoding reduces the effective transitioning rate in half. Similarly, three bit times could be encoded into NRZ-8Level encoding to reduce the transitioning rate by one third. Multi-level encoding suffers from a drawback in that it necessitates a more complex receiver to detect and recover the transmitted symbol.
The prior art creates transitions at fixed bit times when encoding digital symbols. These transitions occur at the bit edges and remain steady until the next bit edge, thus requiring the transmission of a step function or rectangular pulse. The rectangular pulse or step function generates spurious energy components at frequencies from zero to infinity. Consequently, frequency multiplexing of data over a communications channel cannot be performed unless the instantaneous voltage transitions of the rectangular pulse are filtered to remove unwanted energy components throughout the frequency spectrum. The rectangular pulse and its corresponding bandwidth are shown in FIG. 21.
As an example, consider data transmitted at 1000 bits/second. The bit time T would be 1/1000 of a second, or 1 millisecond. The first frequency null would occur at 1/T or 1000 Hz and energy components would extend from zero Hz to infinity. When the rectangular pulse is used to modulate a sinusoidal carrier, the negative frequency spectrum would also be translated up in frequency and the null to null bandwidth would be 2/T or 2000 Hz. However, only the main energy lobe is absolutely necessary to recover the transmitted data. Furthermore, it is desirable to reduce the modulation bandwidth by eliminating frequency energy outside this primary lobe.
In order to transmit the maximum amount of data over a given digital communications channel, a small bandwidth and high bit rates are required. For example, more data can be transmitted over a frequency multiplexed communications channel, such as those used in satellite links, when data communication techniques are used which have narrow bandwidth requirements per carrier signal while still providing high data rates.
Much development work has gone into ways of minimizing the bandwidth of the rectangular pulse. In the prior art, the instantaneous transitions at the bit edges are smoothed by passing the rectangular pulse through filters. While the filtering process removes many of the unwanted frequencies outside of the main modulation lobe, it also removes some of the energy which helps in the symbol recovery process. Thus, a delicate balancing act must be made in choosing a filter suitable for reducing the bandwidth while not seriously degrading the modulation information contained within the symbol. It has been shown by Nyquist and others that the band limited rectangular pulse has an ideal shape after filtering which is called the sin x/x or sinc pulse.
A filtered rectangular pulse which closely approximates the ideal sinc pulse shape is commonly used to modulate a high frequency sinusoidal carrier, thus producing an upconverted frequency multiplexed communication channel which can transmit numerous messages simultaneously. Each digitally encoded base band signal is subsequently modulated with a carefully chosen local oscillator frequency in order to pack the greatest number of carrier signals within a given communications channel.
Recovery of individual carrier signals is accomplished through the use of a carefully created local oscillator capable of downconverting the carrier signal to the original digitally encoded base band signal. Due to the pulse filtering during the modulation process, the received base band signal has an "eye pattern" associated with it. This eye pattern is the result of the vertical edges of the rectangular pulse being filtered and the shape of the "eye" opening is based on the sinc pulse shape.
Conventional demodulation of the data in the two symbol case is accomplished by using a zero voltage reference. A measurement is made at the center of the bit time in order to determine whether the received symbol is above or below this zero voltage level. It is important to base the decision of which bit was received precisely at the midpoint of the bit time because the least amount of ambiguity exists between symbols at the midpoint of the bit time. Furthermore, the decision of which symbol is received is complicated by interference and noise that is present to some degree in all communications channels. The interference and noise causes the eye opening to close, thus making it critical to choose the optimum point for symbol decision making.
Further reductions in the bandwidth can be gained when more than two symbols are utilized. The number of symbols increases as a power of 2. For example, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, and 1024 symbols are used in modern communications systems. To achieve a large number of unique and distinctive symbols, changes in carrier phase and amplitude are typically used. To go from 2 to 4 symbols gives a reduction of 2 in bandwidth. Eight symbols reduce bandwidth by one third, sixteen symbols reduces bandwidth by one fourth and so on. The penalty for increasing the number of symbols is the increased difficulty in determining which symbol was actually received.
When the binary case of two symbols is used, there is only one voltage reference needed to determine if the eye pattern is above or below the reference. However, when many symbols are used to reduce bandwidth, a corresponding increase in symbol amplitude and phase references are needed. This is further complicated by the fact that interference and noise are always present in the channel, resulting in a greater possibility of making an incorrect symbol decision when an increased number of symbols are used.
The prior art discloses various digital modulation and symbol encoding techniques. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,824 issued on Mar. 6, 1984 to Dellande et al. discloses a communication system which generates an output signal of a selected primary frequency having digital data bits serially modulated thereon. The system utilizes a hybrid differential phase-shift keyed (DPSK) modulation. The improved DPSK modulation is frequency modulation of a phase encoded signal. A controller is used to control a frequency generator means which is used to shift the frequency of the output signal between primary and secondary frequencies. The controller and frequency generator means provide a modulated output signal which is D.C. balanced bit by bit and has substantially reduced harmonic energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,823 issued on Jan. 14, 1986 to Stahler discloses a modulation system wherein a carrier signal is modulated by an input signal having a variable amplitude. The amplitude of the input signal is sampled every predetermined fractional cycle of the modulated signal. The carrier signal is modulated in response to the sampled amplitude of the input signal. This provides a modulated signal having an amplitude and duration which are inversely proportional to each other, but related to the sampled amplitude of the input signal, for each predetermined fractional cycle. The signal is subsequently demodulated by zero-crossing detection, peak-amplitude detection, or a combination of both. The system is self-clocking, does not produce discontinuous phase or amplitude changes, and does not introduce DC components.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,022 issued on Jun. 17, 1986 to Stoner discloses a system for communicating digital data over a limited bandwidth transmission link. The system utilizes modulator means for receiving an input digital signal and generating a corresponding frequency shift keyed signal having high-frequency and low-frequency signals with in-phase signal transitions at frequency shifts. Demodulator means are provided for receiving and demodulating the frequency shift signal in order to generate an output digital signal corresponding to the input digital signal. The demodulator means includes a zero-crossing detector in order to recover the frequency-shift keyed signal received. The system includes a transition detector for detecting transitions in the binary logic state on an input digital signal and generating a transition indicator signal in response thereto. A frequency-shift key having an oscillator capable of generating high and low frequency signals is used to provide substantially in-phase signal shifts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,628 issued on May 17, 1988 to McDavid et al. discloses a symbol generator for phase modulated systems. The symbol modulator produces a filtered analog waveform for use in phase modulating a carrier. The symbol generator includes a memory for storing digital representations of analog waveform segments at predetermined addressable locations. Each segment corresponds to the cross-correlation of a predetermined filter function with a predetermined number of data bits in the data stream. The data stream is converted to an address for the memory to output a digital value to a digital to analog converter. The output of the digital to analog converter includes an in-phase and quadrature-phase components which are directed to a sample and hold circuit for generating the analog signals. The waveform segments are then sequentially assembled and directed to a vector modulator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,987 issued on Oct. 3, 1989 to Kawase discloses a binary signal modulator having a circuitry for sampling a binary signal at a predetermined sampling frequency. A modulating circuit responsive to the sampled binary signal is used for generating a modulated signal whose rising and decaying timings are respectively determined by the start end times of the binary signal. The rising and decaying timings of the modulated signal are defined as predetermined functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,620 issued on Jan. 30, 1990 to Paradise discloses a continuous phase shift modulation system with improved spectrum control. The inventive method includes the step of determining, in advance, whether successive pulses are to have the same or different polarities for each of the in-phase and quadrature components. If successive components are to have the same polarity, then a continuous transition modulation signal between the successive pulses is provided in place of adjacent portions of the successive half-cosine pulses. The modulation of the other component is adjusted during the time of the continuous modulation signal so as to maintain a desirable constant amplitude characteristic.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,046 issued on Nov. 1, 1994 to Kaewell, Jr. et al. discloses a modulator capable of providing a fractional sample or symbol time. The modulator employs a decimation counter responsive to a clock having a frequency of M/N * symbol clock, where M is an interpolation factor and N is a decimation factor. The modulator uses this frequency to generate a data symbol clock to select frequency shift key (FSK) symbols from a sampled data array. A multiplier receives and multiplies the FSK symbols by a weighing factor which is determined by the decimation counter. The modulator allows digital modulations which consist of a non-integer number of samples per symbol time to be synthesized in an efficient manner. The modulator is also capable of producing fractional sample and symbol modulations in order to allow support of modulations with various symbol rates by hardware platforms which contain fixed digital to analog sampling clocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,584 issued on Apr. 11, 1995 to Erisman discloses a time shift keying digital communication system. The system utilizes a digital modulation technique which is unique in that fixed time slots are not used to vary the characteristics of the carrier signal. Instead, variations in the time slots are used to transfer the digital information. The modulation is created by synthesizing a carrier waveform capable of varying the time it takes for each peak to occur. The peaks of the carrier signal are tightly controlled to occur at exact discrete time slots corresponding to the base band digital signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,230 issued on Jan. 2, 1996 to Chang et al. discloses a phase modulator circuit and a method for generating an output signal having individually positionable edges. The phase modulator includes a programmable pulse generator for producing an output signal and a control value source for delivering a sequence of control values to the generator. The control values determine the time between successive output pulses. Succeeding control values are provided in response to the edges of the output signal and each next control value in the sequence is made available to the programmable pulse generator within the time between successive edges of the output.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,219 issued on Apr. 30, 1996 to Ham discloses a method and apparatus for transmitting information at a high rate by using an undermodulated frequency shift keyed signal. The transmission rate is independent of the data content and the system requires no zero crossing detectors. The apparatus also includes a demodulator which combines non-linear processing circuitry with a conventional demodulator.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


An abstract query is received for querying data sources for a combined hierarchical dimension having at least one hierarchy. The abstract query is mapped into data source specific queries by generating context expressions according to the at least one hierarchy. The data source specific queries are executed in an order according to the at least one hierarchy to produce value results for the combined hierarchical dimension.

Business Intelligence generally refers to software tools used to improve business enterprise decision-making. These tools are commonly applied to financial, human resource, marketing, sales, customer, and supplier analyses. More specifically, these tools can include reporting and analysis tools to present information, content delivery infrastructure systems to deliver and manage reports and analytics, data warehousing systems to cleanse and consolidate information from disparate sources, and database management systems ("DBMS") that are used to organize, store, retrieve, and manage data in databases, such as relational, Online Transaction Processing ("OLTP") and Online Analytic Processing ("OLAP") databases.
In many organizations data is stored in multiple data sources that are not readily compatible. Each type of data source may be used for different purposes, with, in general. OLTP databases used to store transaction-oriented data, relational databases used to store and organize data according to data relations, and OLAP databases used to store data requiring analytical processing. For example, organizational data for a sales department may be distributed among an OLTP database for storing real-time sales transactions, a relational database for storing data pertaining to customers, and an OLAP database for storing sales history data according to product, geographical regions, and time period. Retrieving sales data for analysis may therefore require multiple queries to multiple databases.
The efficacy of a query in producing a result often depends on the storage structure of the underlying data source. Because OLAP databases are designed to store multi-dimensional data in summarized or aggregated form, they can respond quickly. OLTP and relational databases may have to process tens of thousands of individual records to answer the same query.
Using the sales example above, consider a marketing manager trying to learn why the sales of a certain product were not profitable during a given time period. The manager may browse an OLAP data cube to narrow the profitability problem down to the most detailed information in the cube. The manager may learn that during one specific month, the product's profitability was significantly low in the West Coast region. If the manager were to use an OLTP or relational database to answer the same query, the sales transactions for all customers stored in the database would have to be added before determining which region was responsible for the low profits.
Now suppose the manager wants to investigate which customers and sales representatives were involved in the West Coast transactions during the low profit period. Since the OLAP database only provides aggregated data, raw data items that have not been included in the aggregation would necessarily require the manager to query the OLTP and/or relational databases.
These databases are, therefore, complimentary. A user must be able to navigate between them to solve business problems. For example, a user must be able to "drill-down" from one database to another to acquire more details on a specific data object. Conversely, a user must also be able to "drill-up" from one database to another to reduce the level of detail regarding the object. In doing so, it would be advantageous to insulate the user from the complexities of the underlying data sources.
Currently-available DBMSs tend to provide limited drill-through and drill-up capabilities. For example, OLAP servers such as Analysis Services provided by Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., Essbase Analytics provided by Hyperion Solutions Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., and Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer provided by Oracle Corp. of Redwood Shores, Calif., support only the simplest drill-through scenarios between two OLAP and relational data sources with proprietary API or query language extensions. Drill-through is performed only to a raw SQL table without reaching more basic reporting levels. Some configurations may even require that drill-through results be a part of the OLAP data cube, thereby increasing the cube complexity and data size as the cube must include additional attributes and measures. In addition, these OLAP servers may also pose security risks due to a lack of user access control over drill-through capabilities.
Because of these limitations, users have not been able to leverage the complimentary aspects of the different data sources to their full advantage. There is no business intelligence tool available today, that, either alone or working in tandem, offers users full navigation between multiple data sources without limitation on the number and type of data sources. There also is no business intelligence tool that provides full transparency of execution when performing drill-down or drill-up actions. As a result, managing the data needs of a business enterprise that deals with large amounts of data spread across multiple data sources with different storage structures can be, at best, cumbersome.

System and method for processing queries for combined hierarchical dimensions


A cantilever type probe comprising a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever containing a piezoelectric material provided between driving electrodes for driving a cantilever, a probe formed thereon and a drawing electrode for a probe provided along the surface where a probe is formed, wherein there is provided a shielding electrode for electrically isolating the probe and the drawing electrode from the driving electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cantilever type probe used in a scanning tunnel microscope (STM) and an information recording and reproducing apparatus utilizing the principle of scanning tunneling microscopy.
The present invention also relates to a scanning tunnel microscope and an information processing apparatus which can perform recording, reproducing and erasing of information.
2. Related Background Art
Recently, there has been developed a scanning tunnel microscope with a resolving power on the atomic or molecular order. The concept of STM has been applied to analyze surface structures and to measure surface roughness and the like.
The scanning tunnel microscope (hereinafter abbreviated as STM) is based on the phenomenon that tunnel current changes exponentially dependent upon the distance between a conductive probe and a conductive specimen when they are made to approach each other at a distance of about 1 nm with a voltage applied therebetween.
An image of the surface of a specimen can be obtained utilizing the change of tunnel current caused by the atomic arrangement or uneven structure of the surface of the specimen when a probe, which has a very sharp tip formed by electrolytic polishing and the like, is scanned two-dimensionally while keeping the distance between the probe and the surface of the specimen, which comprises conductive material, constant [G. Binnig et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. Vol 49 (1982) 57]. Moreover, there has been proposed an apparatus capable of high density recording and reproduction by utilizing the principle of STM and a medium which has a surface having a fine, uneven structure or with electrically different portions.
In such an apparatus, it is necessary to scan the specimen using a probe in a range of several nm to several .mu.m. A piezoelectric element is used as a moving mechanism. As examples of such a moving mechanism, there are the tripod type and the cylindrical type. The Tripod type mechanism is one which combines three piezoelectric elements which are perpendicular to each another along the x, y and z directions and a probe which is located on the intersecting point of the three elements.
A cylindrical type mechanism utilizes one end having divided electrodes provided around the peripheral surface of a cylindrical piezoelectric element. A probe is provided on the other end of the divided electrodes which is able to scan, which makes the cylinder bend corresponding to each divided electrode.
Lately, attempts have been made to form a fine cantilever type probe by employing micromechanical techniques utilizing semiconductor processing.
FIG. 12 shows an example of a prior art piezoelectric bimorph cantilever formed on a silicon (Si) substrate by employing a micromechanical technique in accordance with the Proceedings of 4th International Conference on STM/STS, page 317.
FIG. 12(a) is a perspective view of such a cantilever.
The cantilever is formed on a silicon substrate by laminating divided electrodes 4a and 4b, ZnO piezoelectric material 5, common electrode 3, ZnO piezoelectric material 5 and divided electrodes 2a and 2b in this order, followed by removing a part of the silicon substrate under the cantilever by anisotropic etching.
The metal probe 7, which is provided on one end of the piezoelectric bimorph cantilever by adhering or the like, can detect tunnel current through a drawing electrode 6.
FIG. 12(b) is a sectional view of the cantilever. The cantilever can be moved three-dimensionally and independently by controlling voltages applied on four regions of piezoelectric material which comprise two regions sandwiched between upper divided electrodes 2a and 2b and common electrode 3 and two regions sandwiched between lower divided electrodes 4a, 4b and common electrode 3.
FIG. 13 (a), (b) and (c) are illustrations showing motions of a prior art cantilever in driving by changing combinations of regions to which voltages are applied within four regions of piezoelectric material divided by pair of divided electrodes.
FIG. 13(a) shows the motion of a cantilever which can move probe 7 toward the y-direction shown in FIG. 12(a) when voltages with the same phase are applied so that four regions can contract simultaneously. FIG. 13(b) shows the motion of a cantilever which can move probe 7 toward the x-direction shown in FIG. 12(a) when an upper and lower region in the right side in FIG. 13(b) stretch and an upper and a lower region in the left side contract. FIG. 13(c) shows the motion of cantilever which can move probe 7 toward the z-direction shown in FIG. 12(a) when a right and a left region in the upper side contract and a right and a left region in the lower side stretch.
In the prior art, however, there has been a problem in that noises by control voltage are induced in probe 7 and drawing electrode 6, because the drawing electrode 6 for probe 7 is placed adjacent to the driving electrodes of the piezoelectric bimorph. Accordingly, noises are overlapped on the fine tunnel current detected, which makes it difficult to obtain precise STM images.
Moreover, in the prior art, there has been a problem that probe 7 runs into a sample surface and the probe is damaged because a feedback control to maintain the distance between the probe and sample is subject to such overlapping noises.

Cantilever type probe, scanning tunnel microscope and information processing apparatus using the same


A circuit breaker with a completely electromagnetic type overcurrent tripping device has a flexibility for changes in the production schedule of the overcurrent tripping device. An overcurrent tripping device for each pole is integrally housed in a common unit case, which is then inserted into a case of the circuit breaker. In this case, a yoke of the overcurrent tripping device is combined with an oil dash pot inserted into a coil, and the combined parts are pressed and fixed in the unit case without soldering. Thus, the coil, which is changed depending on the rated current, and the yoke and oil dash pot which are common products, can be separately stored prior to assembly, thereby enabling flexible responses to changes in the production schedule. In addition, the yoke and the oil dash pot need not be soldered and are fixed individually to the unit case, thereby reducing the number of assembly operations.

The present invention relates to a circuit breaker, such as a wiring breaker or an earth leakage breaker, in which a switch mechanism and an overcurrent tripping device are incorporated in a molded container, and in particular, to a circuit breaker with a completely electromagnetic type overcurrent tripping device.
FIG. 12 is a vertical cross sectional view of a conventional example of a three-pole circuit breaker (earth leakage breaker). In FIG. 12, the circuit breaker is integrally formed in a molded container consisting of a case 1 and a cover 2. In the ON-condition of the circuit breaker as shown in the figure, a current path is formed of a fixed contact 4 integral with a power terminal 3; a movable contact 5 that contacts the fixed contact 4 via a fixed contact point 4a and a movable contact point 5a; a flexible lead 6, one end of which is connected to the movable contact 5 by spot welding; a lead plate 7 to which the other end of the lead 6 is connected by spot welding; a relay plate 9 to which the lead plate 7 is tightened with a screw 8; a coil 11 of the overcurrent tripping device 10, one end of which is connected to the relay plate 9 by soldering; and a load terminal 12 to which the coil 11 is connected by soldering. The lead for each pole penetrates through a zero-phase current transformer (ZCT) 13, and causes a secondary output to be produced in the ZCT 13 when a leakage occurs. A leakage detection circuit for amplifying the secondary output to output a tripping signal is mounted on a print board 14, and a power line 15 from the print board is spot-welded to the lead plate 7 together with the lead 6.
The movable contact 5 is rotatably retained at the right end of FIG. 12, and subjected to a clockwise force by a contact spring 16 formed of a compression spring, while the movable contact 5 is also pressed downward onto the fixed contact 4 by a switch mechanism 17. The switch mechanism 17 is explained in brief. The switch mechanism 17 comprises a handle 19 supported by the case 1 via a support shaft 18; a link 20 to which one end of an arm 19a of the handle 19 is coupled; a pressing rod 21, one end of which is connected to the other end of the link 20 and the other end of which contacts the movable contact 5 and is guided in a vertical sliding motion, as in FIG. 12, along a groove in the case 1; a latch 22, one end of which is coupled to the support shaft 18; and a link 23 that connects the latch 22 and the link 20 together.
In the condition that the circuit breaker is turned on as shown in the figure, the link 20 is subjected to a clockwise rotating force via the pressing rod 21 under the force of the contact spring 16, while the latch 22 is simultaneously subjected to a clockwise rotating force via the link 23, with its tip locked by a claw 24a of a trip bar 24 to prevent its rotation. The trip bar 24 is rotatably supported by the case 1 via an insulating bar 24b that extends over each pole, and a tripping arm 24c is provided so as to correspond to the overcurrent tripping device 10 for each pole. The claw 24a is integrally installed opposite to the tripping arm 24c of a central pole.
FIG. 13 is a side view for showing the completely electromagnetic type overcurrent tripping device 10. In FIG. 13, an oil dash pot 26 inserted into the coil 11 is coupled by soldering to one leg of a yoke 25 formed of a magnetic plate bent like the character "L" in such a way that the oil dash pot penetrates through the yoke 25, with an armature 27 rotatably supported by the tip of the other leg of the yoke. The armature 27 is held by a return spring 28 installed between the armature 27 and the yoke 25 as shown in the figure, and is opposed to an electromagnetic pole 29 at the head of the oil dash pot 26. One end of the coil 11 penetrates through the yoke 25 and is soldered to the relay plate 9, whereas the other end is soldered to the load terminal 12. The oil dash pot 26 adjusts a tripping operation time in a well known manner, and comprises a non-magnetic cylinder, in which an oil is filled and in which a plunger is sealed together with a braking spring.
The main circuit section of the circuit breaker is assembled as follows. The lead 6 is connected to the movable contact 5, and the lead plate 7 with the power line 15 connected thereto is connected to the other end of the lead 6. The movable contact 5 is installed into the case 1 with the fixed contact 4 attached thereto, the lead 6 is passed through the ZCT 13, and the lead plate 7 is fitted and held in a groove (not shown) in the case 1. Then, the relay plate 9 of the overcurrent tripping device 10 assembled as shown in FIG. 13 is placed on the lead plate 7, and the screw 8 is applied in a screw hole (not shown) in the relay plate 9 through a through hole (not shown) in the lead plate 7. The screw 8 is tightened from the bottom of the case 1 (the bottom of FIG. 12) via a window hole (not shown). The other end of the power line 15 is subsequently soldered to the print board 14.
In this circuit breaker, when the tip 19b of the handle 19 is rotated from the ON state shown in FIG. 12 to the position shown by the broken line, the pressing rod 21 is raised via the link 20 to cause the movable contact 5 to be opened to the position shown by the broken line, under the action of the contact spring 16, i.e. OFF operation.
On the other hand, when a main circuit current becomes excessive and thus the armature 27 is attracted to the electromagnetic pole 29, the trip bar 24 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction via the tripping arm 24c, thereby releasing the latch 22 locked by the claw 24a to rotate the latch in the clockwise direction. Consequently, the link 23 is displaced to the position shown by the broken line, while the pressing bar 21 is simultaneously raised to open the movable contact 5 (tripping operation). If leakage occurs to cause the main circuit current to become unbalanced, a secondary output is generated by the ZCT 13, causing a tripping signal to be sent out from the earth leakage detection circuit to a tripping coil unit (not shown). The tripping coil unit causes the trip bar 24 to be driven to generate a tripping operation.
These conventional circuit breakers have the following problems.
(1) The coil of the overcurrent tripping device is changed depending on the rated current. Since, however, the yoke and the oil dash pot are soldered and coupled together via the coil, the use of the yoke and oil dash pot common to different rated currents is limited by the coil (the rate current), resulting in an inflexible production schedule.
(2) Since the overcurrent tripping device is screwed and fixed to the case for each pole, a large amount of time and labor is required to assemble the circuit breaker.
(3) Since the main circuit conductor or lead is disposed in the lower part of the overcurrent tripping device, it must be connected to an overcurrent tripping device from the rear side of the case, thereby degrading workability. Connection of the power line to the earth leakage detection circuit also degrades workability.
It is thus an object of this invention to solve these problems by providing a circuit breaker incorporating in a molded container formed of a case and a cover, a switch mechanism; and an overcurrent tripping device that acts on a latch for the switch mechanism to generate a tripping operation and in which an oil dash pot inserted into a coil is combined with an L-shaped yoke supporting an armature and a return spring.


The invention relates to hydrazide compounds and their use in medicine, particularly in treating and/or preventing infections caused by a fungus.

The discovery of penicillin ushered in the "antibiotic era" and the ability to cure infections which were previously often fatal.
The advantages offered by antibiotics in the treatment of infectious diseases are compromised due to the increase in the number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Antimicrobial resistance makes it difficult and more expensive to treat a variety of common infections, causing delays in effective treatment, or in worst cases, inability to provide appropriate therapy. The predictable consequences of resistance are increased morbidity, prolonged illness, a greater risk of complications, and higher mortality rates. The economic burden includes loss of productivity (loss in income, diminished worker productivity, time spent by family) and increased cost of diagnostics and treatment (consultation, infrastructure, screening, cost of equipment, drugs . . . ). It has been reported that every year 25000 patients die in the European Union from a bacterial infection which is multiresistant to the presently existing drugs.
The problem of resistance also covers the major pathogenic fungi and yeasts, encompassing fungal infections, with ever increasing due to their behavior as typical opportunistic. To date, fungal infections continue to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality very high, and may reach up to 100% in some disseminated infections.
In addition, although already exists in the market more than 20 anti-HIV drugs, there is a need of new types of antiviral drugs to palliate the new resistances.
The requirements for new antibiotic, antifungal and antiviral molecules are in accordance with current problem of drug and multidrug resistance. It is an increasingly serious threat to global public health that drug resistance is present in all parts of the world. There are now very few effective drugs available to treat recently emerged multidrug resistant infections.
There is still a need in the state of the art to identify suitable, effective new compounds for the prevention and/or treatment of infections.

HORITZONTS TECNOLOGICS HUNGARY KORLÁTOLT FELELOSSÉGU TÁRSASÁG


Faucets are provided with joystick type control handles. The joysticks are provided with springs outside the main valve housing either between the joystick handle and lever stick, or between the joystick handle and an associated ball. In the latter case the ball retains a sliding disk.

The present invention relates to plumbing valves such as faucets. More particularly it relates to such valves which are controlled by a joystick type handle control.
A wide variety of plumbing control valves are known which use a single lever handle to control volume and mixing. Typically the handle extends through the top or front of a valve housing with its inner end linked to sliding and/or rotating plates or other control structures. The outer end of the handle is designed to be gripped by the consumer. See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,798,530, 2,850,042, 3,512,547, 3,548,878, 3,693,660, 4,357,957, 4,916,966, 5,095,934, 6,209,581 and 6,286,808.
However, a problem with many of these designs is that pressure on the control handle during actuation can eventually cause the handle connection to loosen, which can allow the handle to inadvertently actuate or wobble. Further, over time some of these devices require a relatively large force to cause movement of the valve components, which can expedite degradation of valve internal components. Even where this is not the case, many of these designs are undesirably susceptible to wear and tear.
Still other of these designs do not effectively preclude environmental water, soap and dirt from entering the valve. Again, this can adversely affect performance.
In other developments, there have been some attempts to provide such control handles which mimic the aesthetic appearance and feel of an aviation or video game joystick. However, existing prior art designs suffer from one or more deficiencies (e.g. those noted above).
In still other developments there have been attempts to mount faucets in hidden enclosures associated with lavatories. For example, Kohler Co. markets a Purist™ bathroom cabinet in which the outlet for its faucet is integrated inside the cabinet. However, that system uses a conventional control handle to control outlet flow.
Thus, a need still exists for improved single handle plumbing valves, particularly those which present a joystick-type feel and appearance and/or which are capable of being integrated into cabinets and other box-like housings.

Plumbing valve with stick control handle


This disclosure describes methods, systems, and computer-program products for determining classification rules to use within a fraud detection system The classification rules are determined by accessing distributional data representing a distribution of historical transactional events over a multivariate observational sample space defined with respect to multiple transactional variables. Each of the transactional events is represented by data with respect to each of the variables, and the distributional data is organized with respect to multi-dimensional subspaces of the sample space. A classification rule that references at least one of the subspaces is accessed, and the rule is modified using local optimization applied using the distributional data. A pending transaction is classified based on the modified classification rule and the transactional data.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to the efficient detection and classification of unauthorized transactional activity through the analysis of transactional data.
Banks, financial institutions, and other entities frequently employ algorithms to detect unauthorized, risky, or suspicious activity affecting client accounts. Sometimes, these algorithms monitor client accounts individually by analyzing data observations that are gathered when activity involving the account occurs. A sample of historical data observations can be referenced to determine typical user behavior, including account usage trends and patterns. Data generated to represent fraudulent transactions or transaction requests can also be gathered and analyzed to determine criminal behaviors, patterns, strategies, targets, or any other past information which may be used to better ascertain fraud likelihoods and risks, and classify newly occurring transactional activity.
When new transactional activity occurs, recent or real-time transactional data can be analyzed in search of information revealing that the activity is similar to other activity known to have been fraudulent or unauthorized. When such information is detected, appropriate security measures may be implemented to protect the account, as dictated by the level of risk ascertained from the information.

Rule optimization for classification and detection


This mechanism comprises a date runner, a months satellite with five teeth on a pitch for twelve, secured to the date runner, a fixed planetary toothset and a drive member for driving the date runner comprising two drive fingers, the first intersecting the path of the toothset of the date runner, the second intersecting the path of the toothset of the months satellite. The latter is connected to the planetary toothset by a second satellite secured to it and the number of teeth of which is equal to a multiple of twelve, the number of teeth of the planetary toothset being chosen so that one of the five teeth of the months satellite is aligned with the axes of the satellites, of the drive member and of the date runner on the 30th of each month comprising less than 31 days.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an annual date mechanism for a timepiece movement comprising a 31-toothed date runner, a jumper in mesh with its toothset, a months satellite, the rotation pin of which is secured to this date runner and which comprises five driving teeth of a toothset on a pitch for twelve for the months comprising less than 31 days, a fixed planetary toothset coaxial with the date runner and in a direct-drive relationship with the months satellite and a drive member for driving the date runner in a driving relationship with the hours wheel of the timepiece movement and comprising two drive fingers, the first intersecting the path of the toothset of the date runner, the second intersecting the path of the toothset of the months satellite when its axis of revolution is aligned with those of the planetary toothset, of the drive member and of the date runner.
2. Description of Related Art
Such an annual date mechanism, associated with a perpetual calendar mechanism, is described in EP 1 351 104. This mechanism comprises a months satellite the pivot pin of which is secured to a date wheel which makes one revolution per month. This months satellite has twelve teeth, seven of which are truncated and five of which are not. The twelve teeth of this satellite mesh with a fixed 7-tooth planetary toothset coaxial with the date wheel.
During the year, for each revolution of the date wheel, the toothset of the months satellite occupies a different position when its axis of pivoting is aligned with the axis of the planetary toothset and the axis of pivoting of a wheel which makes one revolution every twenty-four hours in order to drive the date wheel. For this purpose, this twenty-four hour wheel has twenty-four teeth, twenty of which are truncated and of the other four, one is a normal drive tooth which meshes with the date wheel once per day and another is an annual correction tooth, offset parallel with its axis of rotation, to come into mesh with one of the five un-truncated teeth of the months satellite each time the month contains less than thirty-one days.
When the month comprises less than 31 days, one of the five un-truncated teeth of the months satellite covers one of the teeth of the data wheel and is situated in the path of a correcting tooth of the wheel which makes one revolution in twenty-four hours so that by turning, the correction tooth of this wheel, offset parallel to its axis of rotation, causes the months satellite to turn, which satellite, being in mesh with the fixed planetary toothset, causes the date wheel to turn before the normal driving finger driving this twenty-four hour wheel causes the date wheel to turn by one step, as it does on each rotation, so that the date wheel is moved by two steps for one revolution of the twenty-four-hour wheel.
This mechanism has the advantage of avoiding the cams and lever devices like those described in CH 685 585 or in EP 987 609, which use energy, are tricky to develop and are therefore not very reliable.
Although the design is tempting, this mechanism does, however, exhibit a substantial disadvantage stemming from the fact that the months satellite works on a first pitch circle with the fixed planetary toothset, whereas it works on a second pitch circle, larger than the first, with the drive teeth of the twenty-four hour wheel. This larger pitch diameter is needed to prevent the drive teeth of the twenty-four hour wheel from being able to mesh with the truncated teeth of the months satellite. In consequence, the penetration between the teeth of the twenty-four hour wheel in the toothset of the months satellite is shallow, and the magnitude of the drive angle is small. Such a mechanism is not therefore very reliable and at the very least is extremely difficult to optimize, leading to item by item readjustment.
An additional disadvantage with this solution stems from the fact that when the axis of revolution of the months satellite is aligned with the respective axes of revolution of the planetary toothset and of the twenty-four hour wheel, the satellite lies between them, which means that this satellite is driven on part of its toothset situated furthest from the center of the date wheel by the twenty-four-hour wheel situated on the outside of this date wheel, reducing the drive angle to a minimum, the penetration and the drive angle already being small because the pitch diameter between this twenty-four-hour wheel and the months satellite is enlarged with respect to the pitch diameter between this satellite and the planetary toothset. Production and development of such a mechanism is therefore problematic and its reliability is poor.
It can therefore be concluded from this that, in spite of there being a solution which is the subject of EP 1 351 104, no credible alternative to the current date mechanisms that employ cams and levers has yet been proposed.

Annual data mechanism for a timepiece movement


Firing-readiness diagnostics in an electronic pyrotechnic device such as an electronic detonator or an electronic blasting system thereof. The diagnostics may include a check for any incompatible attached devices, a resistance or continuity check of an ignition element, and/or a capacitance check of a firing capacitor.

The present invention is directed generally to electronic pyrotechnic devices, and more particularly, to firing-readiness diagnostics in an electronic pyrotechnic device such as an electronic detonator.
Prior art electronic blasting systems have not employed firing-readiness diagnostics of even critical parts of the electronic detonators such as the firing capacitors and ignition element. The prior art systems therefore have not permitted the detection and replacement of any detonators that have faulty firing capacitors or ignition elements prior to firing.

Firing-readiness diagnostic of a pyrotechnic device such as an electronic detonator