There are two classes of scheduling policy: a first class in which a completion of data transfer requested by a data transfer request within a deadline for completing the requested data transfer, specified for the request, is a primary key factor in determining an order of processing, and a second class in which a reduction of amounts of mechanical actions of a storage device required in carrying out the data transfer requested by the request is a primary key factor in determining the order of processing. Data transfer requests with respect to the storage device are sequentially accepted. Each data transfer request is classified into the second class while the current time has not yet exceeded a time earlier by a certain time than the deadline. Each data transfer request is classified into the first class after the current time has already exceeded the time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control scheme of a request processing device for processing data transfer requests issued to a storage device that requires large mechanical actions such as a media exchanger.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, data transfer requests issued to a storage device are entered into queues once and then processed in an order according to a scheduling policy specific to that storage device. Policies often used as the scheduling policy of the storage device include FIFO (First In First Out) and SCAN. FIFO is a policy for processing requests in an order of issue times of requests, whereas SCAN is a policy specific to a disk device in which a moving direction of a head is restricted to one direction, and requests are processed in such an order that a request that accesses a closest track in that direction is processed first.
However, in the storage device incorporated within a real time system, there are cases where a deadline is set for a processing of each data transfer request. In such cases, the scheduling policy called EDF (Earliest Deadline First) is often employed. This is a policy in which requests are processed in such an order that a request with the earliest deadline is processed first.
Also, in the case of handling a series of data transfer requests that should be processed periodically, it is possible to employ a policy called RM (Rate Monotonic). Each request sequence to be handled by RM has its unique period, such that one request is issued and processed within one period. RM is a policy in which a plurality of request sequences are handled simultaneously in such an order that a request belonging to a sequence with a shortest period is processed first.
FIFO is used in cases where a response time for a request is important, and SCAN is used in cases where an overall transfer performance is important. On the other hand, EDF or RM is often used in cases where there is a need to guarantee that a processing of each periodic data transfer request will be completed within its period. However, even in such cases, FIFO or SCAN can be used if a special condition that all data transfer requests have an equal period holds.
Here, in the case of using tapes as a storage medium that is a target of data transfer or the case of using a plurality of storage media while exchanging them by a media exchanger, an overhead in the case of random accesses becomes very large. For this reason, the transfer efficiency becomes poor because the overhead time until the start of the data transfer becomes relatively longer than the time required for actually transferring data. In addition, the amount of actions by mechanical parts is large so that there is a need to take the durability of the mechanical parts into consideration.
As a scheme for carrying out the data transfer in the storage device using tapes or a media exchanger, the following schemes have been proposed so far.
(1) A data transfer with deadline is not handled. Namely, the time division multiple access using a policy that can guarantee deadlines such as EDF or RM is abandoned, and a policy that can reduce the number of tape movements or media exchanges such as SCAN is employed.
(2) A data transfer with deadline is not handled in the case of carrying out the time division multiple access that requires media exchanges. Namely, while the data transfer with deadline is to be carried out for some file, a medium that stores this file is left in a drive while this file is in use. However, in this scheme, in order to access a file stored in another medium, it is necessary to wait for the end of the use of the currently used file.
(3) The time division multiple access using a policy that can guarantee deadlines such as EDF or RM is simply carried out. In this scheme, it is possible to handle data transfer with deadline, but the scheduling for reducing the number of tape movements or media exchanges is impossible.
(4) An amount of data transfer is increased in the case of carrying out the time division multiple access using EDF or RM. Since the transfer time and the transfer period become longer in proportion to the data transfer amount, it is possible to relatively reduce the number of tape movements or media exchanges, but the wait time also becomes longer in proportion to the data transfer amount in this scheme.
Note that there also exists a scheme which has a superior random access performance than tapes or a media exchanger and which uses a cache disk in a form of a hard disk whose capacity can be increased beyond that of a memory. In the case of actually carrying out the periodic data transfer using a cache disk, it is customary to use a scheme in which all files with high utilization frequencies are cached into the cache disk and the time division multiple access is permitted only for those files which are entirely cached in the cache disk. As for those files which are not cached in the cache disk, any one of the four schemes described above have to be employed.
As described, according to the conventional schemes, in the case of carrying out the periodic data transfer from the storage device using tapes or a media exchanger, it has been unavoidable to increase the wait time until the periodic data transfer starts when a scheme for reducing the amount of mechanical actions is employed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Data transfer request processing scheme for reducing mechanical actions in data storage system


A stereoscopic image generating device includes: a brightness calculation unit that, on an image that is photographed using a stereo adapter, obtains the brightness representative value of the first area where neither of two beams from the object is incident; a threshold value determining unit that obtains a threshold value based on the brightness representative value; and an object area extracting unit that extracts two sets of pixels having brightness value higher than the threshold value on the image, as a second area where one of the two beams is incident and a third area where the another of the two beams is incident, and produces a stereoscopic image by a pair of a first partial image that is cut out from the second area, and a second partial image that is cut out from the third area.

Heretofore, research for producing three-dimensional images has been made. As one method of producing a three-dimensional image, a method of displaying two images of an object photographed from different directions side by side, and showing these two images to the viewer's left eye and right eye respectively, has been known. A pair of images used in this method is referred to as a stereoscopic image.
To generate a stereoscopic image, a stereo adapter that is attached to the front plane of the imaging lens of a monocular camera and forms two images when an object is viewed from different directions in the left half and the right half of the imaging plane of the camera, is known (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-36229 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-101666). The stereo adapter has two pairs of two mirrors, which are, for example, arranged to be line-symmetric with respect to the center of the stereo adapter in the horizontal direction, so that the camera is able to form images of an object which see the object from two different directions. Inner mirrors included in the mirror pairs are located in the front plane of the imaging lens, and are arranged such that the reflecting planes are directed toward the imaging lens and tilted in the horizontal direction with respect to the optical axis of the imaging lens. Then, the inner mirrors guide the beams from the object, and reflected by outer mirrors included in the mirror pairs to the imaging lens. The outer mirrors are arranged in the horizontal direction with respect to the imaging lens and further on the outer side than the inner mirrors, and the reflecting planes of the outer mirrors are directed toward the object. By this means, images of the object, when the object is viewed from the positions of the outer mirrors, are formed in the left half and right half on the imaging plane of the imaging lens. Consequently, by cutting out the areas where images of the object are captured from the left half and right half of an image acquired by photographing the object using a stereo adapter, and making these areas the left-eye image and right-eye image, a stereoscopic image is acquired.
When photographing an object using a stereo adapter, since the size of the two inner mirrors inside the stereo adapter is smaller than the photographing range of the imaging lens, vignetting of light occurs by the housing of the stereo adapter. Due to the vignetting, there is a poorly illuminated area in the focal plane of the imaging lens, and, as a result, there is a dark area in an image generated by photographing an object using a stereo adapter. Note that, for ease of explanation, a dark area that is produced by vignetting on an image will be hereinafter referred to as "vignetting area". Then, when a vignetting area is included in part of a left-eye image or a right-eye image, a dark area is included in part of a three-dimensional image that is produced using the left-eye image and right-eye image, and therefore the quality of the three-dimensional produced image is reduced. Therefore, a technology for setting in advance the areas for cutting the left-eye and right-eye images from an image generated by photographing an object using a stereo adapter, such that vignetting area is not included in the left-eye-image and right-eye image, is disclosed (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-129186, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-45328).
However, every time the stereo adapter is attached to the lens barrel of the camera, the mounting position of the stereo adapter with respect to the lens may shift. Then, when the mounting position of the stereo adapter shifts, the position of the vignetting area on the image also shifts. Consequently, depending on the mounting position of the stereo adapter, a part of the vignetting area may be superimposed on the areas from which the left-eye and right-eye images are cut.
On the other hand, determining whether or not vignetting occurs by a wide converter attached to the front plane of an imaging lens based on whether or not the brightness values of the four corners of an image are equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value, is disclosed (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-314834). Further, dividing an image into a plurality of blocks and determining whether or not vignetting occurs by blocking the light from a flash device by a lens barrel, based on the distribution of blocks having brightness equal to or lower than a threshold value, is disclosed (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-41741). Furthermore, this patent literature discloses changing the threshold value depending on photographing conditions such as the amount of light emitted, and so on.
However, the brightness in a vignetting area changes depending on the brightness of the object or its surroundings and so on. This is, for example, because a part of stray light having entered into the housing of the stereo adapter may be reflected inside the housing and arrive at the imaging lens, and the amount of stray light also varies depending on the brightness of the object and so on. Consequently, even if the threshold value is changed in accordance with the photographing conditions, it may not be possible to accurately identify the vignetting area and the areas where beams from the object are incident.
On the other hand, using the level of pixel values in an ineffective pixel area where light is not incident due to vignetting as a black level brightness value, and correcting the values of pixels in the light-concentrated range of an optical system, is disclosed (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-160561).
However, with the technology described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-160561, no consideration is given to the fact that the position of the vignetting area may shift due to the shift of the mounting position of the stereo adapter. Consequently, depending on the mounting position of the stereo adapter, part of the image of the object or its surroundings may be captured in the ineffective pixel area that is set in advance. Then, the brightness values of the pixels where the image of the object or its surroundings is captured become higher than the brightness values of pixels in the vignetting area. As a result, even if the technology described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-160561 is used to remove the vignetting area from an image generated by photographing an object using a stereo adapter, it may not be possible to obtain the brightness value of the vignetting area accurately.

Stereoscopic image generating device and stereoscopic image generating method


An optical switch element, methods form making an optical switch element and optical switches containing the optical switch element. The optical switch element includes a housing containing a longitudinal channel therein having a channel axis defined along a length of the longitudinal channel. An elongate shuttle having a mirrored surface on at least one end thereof is disposed in the longitudinal channel for lateral movement substantially transverse to the channel axis between a first latch position and a second latch position. The shuttle contains a rare earth magnet for interacting with first and second magnetic coils in the housing to cause movement of the shuttle between the first latch position and the second latch position. At least one shuttle guide is provided for guiding movement of the shuttle between the first latch position and the second latch position.

Over the past decade, a variety of optical switch technologies were developed by the photonic industry for telecommunication applications such as network protection, network restoration, equipment and device redundancy, performance monitoring, research and development, spectral interferometry, and the like. Other applications for optical switches include medical, aerospace, national defense, and other manufacturing and industrial industries. Despite the growing demand for optical switches, virtually none of technologies have been commercially exploited due to reliability, scalability, optical performance, cost, and long term performance problems associated with design tolerances required for manufacturing and assembling optical switches and optical switch containing devices.
A number of the foregoing applications for optical switches require switch assembly tolerances that are beyond the level of achievability for mass production of such switches. For example, for critical switching applications, optical switches must be optically clear so that the insertion loss is less than about 0.5 dB, the temperature dependence loss is less than 0.1 dB at −40° to +85° C., the polarization dependence loss must be less than 0.05 dB, the low wavelength dependent loss must range from 1250 to 1650 nanometers, and there must be a low wavelength dependent loss for multi-mode switching.
From an operational reliability point of view, the optical switches must maintain operability during long term dormancy and storage at temperatures cycling from −40° to +85° C., remain operable during extreme shock at vibration episodes, be capable of operation for tens of millions of switching cycles, have a resistance to humidity above about 85% relative humidity, have a repeatability within 0.01 dB over a life time which may include tens of millions of cycles, or one cycle after a prolonged dormant period of standby use. Other important characteristics of optical switches are that they have switching times of less than about 5 milliseconds, very low operating current, low voltage, and low power requirements, power-off latching, and multi-mode or single mode capabilities.
Many of the foregoing parameters are extremely difficult or impossible to achieve without a radical change in optical switch technology. In view of the foregoing, there is a continuing need for improved optical switches that can be mass produced at relatively low cost and in relatively high yields.
With regard to the foregoing, the disclosure provides an optical switch element, methods for manufacturing an optical switch element, and optical switch devices containing the optical switch element. The optical switch element includes, a housing containing a longitudinal channel therein having a channel axis defined along a length of the longitudinal channel. The longitudinal channel contains a first machined surface on a first side of the channel, a second surface on an opposite side of the channel from the first surface, a first magnetic coil adjacent the first surface of the channel and a second magnetic coil adjacent the second surface of the channel. An elongate shuttle having a mirrored surface on at least one end thereof is disposed in the longitudinal channel for lateral movement substantially transverse to the channel axis between a first latch position adjacent the first machined surface and a second latch position adjacent the second surface. The shuttle includes a rare earth magnet for interacting with the first and second magnetic coils to cause movement of the shuttle between the first latch position and the second latch position. At least one shuttle guide is provided for guiding movement of the shuttle between the first latch position and the second latch position.
In another embodiment, the disclosure provides a method for manufacturing an optical switch element for an optical switching. The method includes providing an elongate housing including a channel portion and a cover plate portion. An elongate channel is machined in the channel portion of the housing. The elongate channel has a channel axis defined along a length thereof and has a first machine surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. A first magnetic coil is included in the housing adjacent the first surface. A second magnetic coil is included in the housing adjacent the second surface. A planar surface is machined on the cover plate portion to provide a first latch surface. An elongate substantially rectangular shuttle containing a mirrored surface on at least one end is disposed in the elongate channel for lateral movement transverse to the channel axis. The shuttle contains a rare earth magnet for interacting with the first and second magnetic coils. At least one shuttle guide is installed in the housing for translational movement of the shuttle thereon. The cover plate portion is fixedly attached to the channel portion to provide the optical switch element.
An advantage of embodiments of the disclosure is that the body and shuttle components of an optical switch element are capable of manufacturing and assembly without the need for multiple six-axes alignment steps. In a conventional optical switch element, the shuttle is cylindrical and slides longitudinally along a longitudinal axis of an elongate, cylindrical channel in the switch element housing. Accordingly, in such a device, six axes are articulated in order to achieve low insertion loss, with virtually no excess loss due to misalignment along any of the six axes.
In the switch elements of the disclosed embodiments, the shuttle moves in a single Y or X-axis orthogonal to a Z-axis, to a latch position on a machined, substantially planar surface of the housing channel. One or more guides are provided for translational movement of the shuttle thereon along the X-axis and for alignment of the shuttle along the Z-axis. The pitch, roll, and yaw of the device are permanently fixed by mating a machined, substantially planar surface of the shuttle with a machined, substantially planar surface of the housing channel.


We describe ultra-short, short, and intermediate duration neuromuscular blocking compounds, reversible by cysteine or similar compounds, that are bisquaternary diesters of chlorofumaric, fumaric, or maleic acids where the quaternary groups are very different, creating a highly asymmetrical molecule where one quaternary includes an isoquinolinium ring system and the other includes a morpholinium, piperidinium, piperazinium, or pyrrolidinium system, pharmaceutical compositions, methods to use such compounds and compositions, and kits.

Neuromuscular blocking agents are commonly given intravenously during general anesthesia to relax the muscles, intubate the trachea and facilitate controlled ventilation.
At present, two types (classes) of neuromuscular blocking agents predominate in clinical practice:
(1) Neuromuscular blocking agents of intermediate duration. Examples are rocuronium, vecuronium, and cisatracurium. This type of agent is commonly given by repetitive bolus for maintenance of neuromuscular blockade, and may also be given in high dosage to facilitate intubation of the trachea. Recovery from neuromuscular blockade is relatively slow and commonly requires antagonism (reversal) by administration of an anticholinesterase, such as neostigmine, at the end of the anesthesia, to restore normal function within a reasonably short time (10-15 min).
(2) Neuromuscular blocking agents of short or ultra-short duration. Examples are mivacurium (short) and succinylcholine (ultra-short). This type of agent commonly displays a fast onset of effect and is given to facilitate intubation of the trachea. A second convenient and safe usage is for maintenance of blockade by continuous infusion, where spontaneous recovery occurs rapidly on discontinuation of the infusion.
Both the above classes of neuromuscular blocking agents have disadvantages. Slow recovery from the intermediate-duration agents requires administration of the antagonist neostigmine. The relatively slow onset of blockade of this type (class) of neuromuscular blocking agents requires high dosage to enable tracheal intubation within 60-90 seconds. This high dosage lengthens blockade considerably, to as much as one to three hours or more, during which time the block may be too deep to be antagonized by neostigmine.
The short and ultra-short acting agents mivacurium and succinylcholine are both metabolized by pseudocholinesterase, an enzyme system which may be abnormal for a wide variety of reasons; in such cases, the blockade produced by these drugs is markedly prolonged.
Though it is still in common usage because of its fast onset which facilitates early (60 sec) intubation of the trachea, succinylcholine has many other well-known undesirable side-effects such as cardiac arrhythmias and muscle pain, and the drug is a triggering agent for the often fatal malignant hyperthermia syndrome. One of the disadvantages of mivacurium is its histamine releasing property which, though relatively weak, requires improvement such that it is reduced or abolished entirely. Further, the onset of mivacurium-induced block is comparatively slow vis-a-vis succinylcholine.

Asymmetrical reversible neuromuscular blocking agents of ultra-short, short, or intermediate duration


A speed-adjustable self-propelled four-wheel-drive walk-behind lawn mower is provided. The lawn mower may include a cutting deck, an engine installed on the cutting deck including an engine shaft, and a cutting blade installed inside the cutting deck. The lawn mower further includes a first transmission box and a second transmission box. The lawn mower includes an engine pulley installed on the engine shaft, a first combined pulley in communication with the first transmission box, and a second combined pulley in communication with the second transmission box. The lawn mower includes a belt connecting the first combined pulley, the second combined pulley, and the engine pulley. The belt is configured to transmit, via the engine pulley, a driving force from the engine to the first combined pulley and the second combined pulley to rotate the first transmission box and the second transmission box.

Lawn mowers are widely used nowadays and manufactures tend to create new types of lawn mowers or change the structure of existing lawn mowers to make them fit customer needs. Various techniques can be applied in conventional lawn mowers to adjust a walking speed. For example, the walking speed can be adjusted by using tension of belts that transmit driving force from the engine to the transmission box. Specifically, the speed adjustment can be achieved by adjusting the belt tension so that a lower belt tension is used to cause higher belt slippage and, hence, result in a lower walking speed. A higher belt tension can be used to cause lower belt slippage and, hence, result in a higher walking speed.
However, this type of speed adjustment is not accurate due to the adjustable speed range being very limited and the walking speed not being stable. In particular, under the same belt tension, the ground friction can change as the lawn mower moves through different surface areas. This can result in the walking speed changing because the belt slippage is defined by the ground friction and not by the belt tension. In addition, adjusting the speed of a front transmission box or a rear transmission separately with two separate belts cannot ensure the same tension of both belts, which may result in different speeds on front wheels and rear wheels so that the lawn mower cannot move smoothly. As the adjustable range of the belt tension is small, the resulting speed range is rather small as well.

Speed-adjustable self-propelled four-wheel-drive walk-behind lawn mower


A guided fuse is provided for installation on a projectile at its nose. The fuse includes a conical frustrum housing, a pair of control panels rotatably connected to pivotable knuckles, and a pair of drag panels disposed on hinges. Each of the control panels releases on command from stowage to deployment. Stowage configuration disposes each control and drag panel to conform against the housing, whereas deployment configuration separately splays the control and drag panels radially outward from the housing. In response to maneuver commands, each control panel turns on one of the knuckles along a radial control axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The control panels turn together either the same angular direction or the opposite angular direction. The control and drag panels form a cruciform pattern along the exterior. The fuse delivers torque from an actuator activated by the controller to the knuckles in response release and/or maneuver commands, and to the hinges in response to release command.

The invention relates generally to a guided fuse. In particular, this invention relates to a warhead fuse having control surfaces to controllably adjust the weapon's trajectory toward an intended target.
The Army and Navy possess large stockpiles of conventional munitions. The Navy has approximately two-hundred-thousand 5-inch conventional rounds, whereas the Army and Marines together have nearly 10 million, 155 mm and 105 mm projectiles. The latter services are generally satisfied with the range and lethality of these munitions against a wide variety of target types given accurate delivery and proper fusing.
However, the accuracy, as measured by the circular error of probability (CEP) for Army and Navy projectiles is several hundred meters. Due to this inaccuracy, hundreds of rounds and tens of minutes may be necessary to neutralize even a single threat. This expenditure consumes lethal-force resources and prolongs exposure of launch platforms to hostile action, as well as tax resupply networks with burdensome logistic demands.

Guided fuse with variable incidence panels

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A monitoring system is described that is comprised of a processing system and a database system. The database system is configured to store identities for a plurality of channels in the communication network. The processing system identifies an error on a first channel of the plurality of channels. The processing system identifies a second channel of the plurality of channels that is adjacent to the first channel based on the database system and determines if an error occurs on the second channel. The processing system identifies a third channel of the plurality of channels based on database system and determines if an error occurs on the third channel. The processing system identifies polarization-mode dispersion based on determining the error occurs on the second channel and determining the error does not occur on the third channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communications, and in particular, to systems and methods for identification of polarization-mode dispersion on a communication network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Polarization-Mode Dispersion (PMD) is a dynamic pulse broadening phenomena. In a single-mode optical fiber, optical pulses propagating down the fiber will separate into two orthogonal modes of polarization that travel at different speeds. The relative amplitudes of these two pulses are determined by the state of polarization of the input pulse relative to the fiber's input principal states of polarization (PSP). The separation into the two orthogonal modes is caused by the non-uniformity of the core diameter of the fiber. This non-uniformity of the core diameter may be a result of imperfections in manufacturing, ambient temperatures, stress on the fiber, and/or movement of the fiber.
If the core has a perfectly circular cross-section, then both modes travel at the same speed over the same distance. Otherwise, one mode travels slower than the other mode resulting in a difference in group velocities (an effect called birefringence). Like chromatic dispersion, the difference in velocities between polarization modes is wavelength dependent. For PMD, the difference in velocity is also time dependent. The difference in propagation time, Δτ, experienced by the two polarization modes at a given wavelength is referred to as the differential group delay (DGD) with units in picoseconds (ps). It is well known that Δτ obeys a Maxwellian distribution. When the DGD in a fiber becomes excessively large, the receiver is unable to distinguish between a zero bit and a one bit, and bit errors occur eventually resulting in a PMD-induced outage.
PMD is a time varying stochastic effect. Identification, measurement, and compensation for PMD are difficult because of the time varying stochastic nature of PMD. A fiber operator may have an outage on a fiber that is unknowingly caused by PMD. Due to the time varying stochastic nature of PMD, the outage may resolve itself Thus, the fiber operator may have trouble tickets that are closed or left unresolved even after extensive activity by maintenance employees. PMD has traditionally been identified through direct measurement of PMD or other analog characteristics of the optical signal. Some prior systems have identified, measured, and compensated for PMD by measurement of DGD, PSP, or other control variables. One such system is disclosed in a pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/500,092, entitled "Method And Apparatus To Compensate For Polarization Mode Dispersion," filed on Feb. 8, 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference. Other prior systems monitor eye openings of the optical signal or perform other analog measurements of the optical signal to identify PMD. Another prior system measures the PMD, measures a bit error rate (BER), and correlates the PMD and BER to isolate errors due to the PMD. This system is disclosed in a pending United States Patent Application, entitled "Correlating Polarization Mode Dispersion and Bit Error Rate," filed on Apr. 25, 2000 and having Ser. No. 09/558,448. One problem with these prior systems is the cost of identifying, measuring, and compensating for PMD can be expensive. What is needed is a system to monitor a communication system and identify PMD that is accurate and cost effective.

Identification of polarization-mode dispersion on a communication network


A carrier bag for transporting granular foods and the like. The bag includes two main panels connected by two side panels. One of the side panels includes a bellows having a fold line and a folding zone that is defined by the immediate area surrounding the fold line. The bag also includes a top edge which defines an opening to the bag. The opening is closed by adhering together the two main panels close to and along the entire length of the top edge. Finally, a pull-tab is provided that is integrally formed with the bellows and projects out from the top edge.

A particularly advantageous application of the invention lies in the packaging granular foods such as pet food pellets.
In order to close presently-known bags, the superposed panels of the bags are sewn together along their top edges.
The main drawback of such bags is that they are rather difficult to open.
To open them, it is necessary first to pull on a rip cord with which the panels are sewn together, and then to grasp one of the panels to separate it from the other.
It is difficult to pull the cord out of the stitching, and doing so takes a certain amount of time.
Moreover, once the cord has been removed, it is not easy to grasp one of the two panels at the superposed edges.
To make that known type of bag easier to open, a notch has been provided in the top edge of one of the two panels, making it easier to take hold of said panel and separate it from the other.
However, the notch does not make it possible to avoid the operation of pulling out the cord with which the panels are sewn together, and this remains a major difficulty in opening the bag.
Document EP 580 989 discloses packaging in the form of bag having a reinforced bottom, in particular for packaging liquid, which bag has a tab projecting from its sealed top edge, the tab extending across the entire width of a bellows and serving to locate a cutting-out zone for opening the bellows. Such a bag can only be opened by being cut and that requires a cutting tool to be used.
Finally, document U.S. 27838 discloses packaging having an opening notch that enables a package to be opened by tearing it.

Unisabi Specialites Alimentaires pour Animaux


An arcade game accepts player selection of a specific prize before the game is started. Preferably, the difficulty level of the game is proportional to the value of the selected prize. In addition, the difficulty level of the game is preferably proportional to the number of monetary units inserted into the machine by the player, such that the game becomes less difficult as the player inserts additional monetary units into the machine. The machine preferably dispenses the selected prize to the player when the player inserts monetary units into the machine equivalent to the value of the prize.

The field of invention is arcade games.
One type of arcade game that is popular in family amusement centers around the country is the redemption game. A redemption game in one in which the player is awarded with tickets, tokens or other items redeemable for prizes. Such prizes are typically displayed at a central location, and are given to players who collect enough tickets to redeem them for a desired prize. Such games, and the prizes associated with them, are commonly seen in locations such as family amusement centers and in pizza restaurants oriented toward children. A problem with the redemption game is the lack of excitement associated with winning tickets, tokens or other items redeemable for prizes. It is less exciting to win a paper stub than an actual item. Thus, players may be lured to seek excitement elsewhere, resulting in lost revenue for the owner of the redemption game. Another problem is the need to set up and administer an area for redemption of tickets or tokens for gifts. A person must be present to monitor the goods and to perform the redemption, and storage space for the goods is required. Another problem is the potential for counterfeiting tickets, or passing off tickets from other sources as those redeemable for goods. The tickets dispensed from the redemption game typically do not contain security features, rendering them liable to counterfeiting. Further, inattention or carelessness of the attendant can allow other types of tickets to be passed off as redeemable ones, allowing an unscrupulous player to obtain a higher-value item than he or she is legitimately entitled to.
In an attempt to overcome the problems of redemption games, prize games were introduced, which dispense prizes directly from the game machine itself. Typically, such machines include a game of skill wherein the player controls some aspect of the game, such as the apparent motion of a light around a circle of lightbulbs, or the motion of a coin through the apparatus, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,108 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,138. The player selects a location to stop the apparent motion of the light with a controller switch, and wins the prize, if any, corresponding to the selected final location of the light. One problem with this prize game is that the difficulty level is uniform across the prizes, and is therefore not proportional to the value of the prize. Thus, a player may be as likely to win a low-value prize, such as an eraser or gum, as a high-value prize, such as a portable radio or disposable camera. This may be frustrating to the player, who would prefer to play for a high-value prize, and for the owner of the machine, who is substantially as likely to give away high-value items as low-value ones. The owner may attempt to compensate by inserting more low-value prizes into the machine; however, a machine filled with low-value prizes is less likely to attract players, and thus less likely to generate revenue for the owner.
Another problem with known prize games is the lack of visibility into the difficulty level by the player. The difficulty level is typically invisible to the player before he or she begins play, and may remain invisible to the player even during and after play. For example, in some known prize games involving moving lights in a pattern of light bulbs, the light always moves at substantially the same speed. As the light moves in front of the prize, the player attempts to stop the light and win the prize. Because the light moves at substantially the same speed at all times, it is in front of the prize for a fixed amount of time; for example, 100 milliseconds. However, it is known to adjust the difficulty level of the game by providing a time less than the time the light is in front of the prize in which the player must select the light. For example, if the light is in front of the prize from 100 milliseconds, the game machine may be set to allow the light to continue past the prize unless the player stops the light in 70 milliseconds, or 50 milliseconds, or another time period less than 100 milliseconds which is preset by the owner of the machine. The player never has any visibility into the source of the difficulty, and may eventually grow disenchanted with the prize game, as the player never understands why he or she always seems to lose, and has no idea how to improve his or her skills at the prize game.
Another problem with known prize games is the invariability of the difficulty level. Typically, the difficulty level is preset by the owner at a certain level, and is constant for all players of the prize game. The preset may only be changed by the owner of the prize game, typically by removing a portion of the machine and manually resetting one or more DIP switches within the machine itself. Because the difficulty level is typically the same across all prizes in the machine, the preset difficulty level has the effect of making the prize game more generous, or more stingy, with every prize in the prize game.
In one aspect of a preferred embodiment, the game accepts player selection of a specific prize before the game is started.
In another aspect of a preferred embodiment, the difficulty level of the game is proportional to the value of the selected prize.
In another aspect of a preferred embodiment, the difficulty level of the game is proportional to the value inserted into the machine by the player, such that the game becomes less difficult as the player inserts additional value into the machine. In a further aspect of a preferred embodiment, the machine dispenses the prize to the player when the player inserts monetary units into the machine equivalent to the value of the prize.


An electric-resistance-welded steel pipe with high strength. The pipe consists essentially of (a) 0.05 to 0.30 wt. % C, (b) 0.6 to 2.0 wt. % Mn, (c) 0.03 to 0.70 wt. % Si, (d) (i) 0.5 wt. % or less Mo by itself or (ii) 0.5 wt. % or less Mo with 1.2 wt. % or less Cr or (iii) 0.5 wt. % or less Mo with 0.1 wt. % or less V or (iv) 0.1 wt. % or less V and (e) the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities. The steel pipe has a martensitic phase in an amount of 60 to 100% and has a tensile strength of 120 to 170 kgf/mm.sup.2. The steel pipe is useful as an impact bar for the inside of an automobile door.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric-resistance-welded steel pipe with high strength for a door impact bar used for cars, and more particularly to an electric-resistance-welded steel pipe with high-strength for an impact bar used for the inside of an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In regard to doors for vehicles such as automobiles, a reinforcing material made of steel or the like applied to the inside of a door to secure the safety of passengers in a car when another car crashes into the side of the car and to lighten the car weight. This reinforcement material is referred to as a door impact bar. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 197525/90 discloses a reinforcement material of a tube or a reinforcement material having a tensile strength of from 60 to 100 kgf/mm.sup.2 after stress relief annealing at a low temperature.
It is undesirable, however, to use the prior art reinforcement material as the door impact bar. The reinforcement material having a tensile strength of from 60 to 100 kgf/mm.sup.2 is insufficient for the door impact bar. Even though only this tensile strength is improved, properties effective for the door impact bar cannot be obtained.

Electric-resistance-welded steel pipe with high strength


A sealing system for a rotatable fluid conduit coupling or swivel, in particular a swivel for the off-shore oil and gas exploitation or the like, the coupling comprising an inner or first part, an outer or second part concentrically surrounding the first part, an annular chamber formed by the opposite outer and/or inner walls of the inner and outer parts respectively, the chamber being connected to a fluid conduit in the first part and a fluid conduit in the second part, and a clearance between the parts on either side of the chamber which clearances each are sealed by at least one sealing ring located in an annular recess in one and/or the other of the opposite walls forming the clearance, the sealing ring being of resilient low friction material and of the type which allows flexing of the seal lips under over pressure in the clearance from the side of the chamber beyond the pressure behind the sealing ring, the improvement being that in the recess the sealing ring cooperates with or has been provided with means which limit the degree of flexible deformation in case reverse pressure occurs over the sealing ring.

The well known swivels have large dimensions and the fluids which have to pass may have high pressures and sometimes high temperatures. Failure of the sealing systems must be avoided because leakage means pollution and repair means interruption of the transfer of fluids, which effects make repair of the sealing system extremely expensive.
It is therefore common practice to provide the swivel on either side of the chamber between the mutually rotatable parts with a plurality of sealing rings. In many cases, these sealing rings are of the type which is U-shaped or V-shaped in cross section and has flexible legs accordingly, one of which legs engages the surface of one part of the swivel and the other engages the opposite face of a recess provided in the other part of the swivel. In case seal materials are applied which do not provide the required stiffness for sealing, spring energisers may be provided. The sealing rings are turned towards the chamber so that fluid leaking through the clearance between the two parts presses the parts or legs of the sealing ring apart and in contact with the surfaces, upon which sealing has to take place.
Sealing rings of this type seal only in one direction. Consequently, if there is a reverse pressure, the sealing may collapse.
If only a single sealing ring is provided on either side of the chamber, leakage may still occur which is the reason why swivels normally have a second sealing ring spaced apart from the first one so that any leakage passing the first sealing ring is dealt with by a second sealing ring.
Leakage has as the consequence that after some time the pressure in the clearance between the two sealing rings becomes substantially equal to the pressure in the chamber to which the main conduits of the fluid transfer system are connected.
The fluid passing the swivel may be a liquid such as oil, a gas, or a mixture of gas and liquid.
A pressure-drop at the fluid chamber side has the consequence that liquid which did leak beyond the first sealing ring and eventually is present between the two sealing rings, is pressurised by swivel contraction and thus forced to flow in the opposite direction, thereby passing the first sealing ring which may result in a collapse of the first sealing ring. The collapse can take place under varying pressure conditions which may result in permanent deformation of the sealing ring and this has the consequence that, as soon as the pressure conditions are returned to normal, the sealing ring no longer seals properly.
For sealing of gas swivels and/or for ensuring lubrication of the pressure carrying seal member, an additional seal may be provided closest to the fluid with its sealing lips toward the pressure carrying seal so that an over pressurised lubricating barrier liquid can be injected in between. A pressure drop in the barrier liquid due to a seal or hydraulic system failure will also result in a reverse pressure on the seal and collapse of the seal consequently.


A process is provided for operating a thermotherapy device with a bed surface (10) and with discharge channels for conditioned air in the longitudinal direction of the bed surface (10) and on the foot side (3) thereof as well as with an exhaust unit (11) above the bed surface (10). The air being discharged from the discharge channels is directed towards the exhaust unit (11) such that the discharge angle α changes continuously as a function of the distance between the exhaust unit (11) and the site of the discharge flow from the discharge channels, the elevation angle β changes continuously as a function of the distance between the exhaust unit (11) and the site of the discharge flow from the discharge channels, and the value of the velocity of the discharge flow changes continuously as a function of the site of the discharge flow from the discharge channels.

Contrary to closed incubators, open thermotherapy devices for prematurely born and newborn patients offer a substantially better access for care and therapy procedures at the patient. Open thermotherapy devices are also called open patient care units. However, the tempering and conditioning that is right for the patient represents a technical challenge that continues to exist in such thermotherapy devices.
According to DE 103 20 195 B4 or DE 10 2004 016 080 A1, the microclimate above the bed surface of an open thermotherapy device is brought about by air flows from discharge channels along the sides of the bed surface. To minimize the energy expenditure, the air flows are returned or recirculated especially through an exhaust device arranged fittingly on the head side above the bed surface.
Regardless of whether one-layer or two-layer air flows are used on the particular sides of the bed surface, the discharge flows are directed at a constant angle to the bed surface and/or at a constant angle to the head-side exhaust. Moreover, the velocity distributions of the air flows along the particular discharge channels remain constant. Due to the constant angles and constant velocities in the course of the sides of the bed surface, shears develop between the individual air flows, which lead to turbulence and consequently to an extensive instability of the microclimate. In addition, the constant velocity in terms of direction and value leads to a discharge flow that is directed inhomogeneously towards the exhaust device.

Process for operating an open thermotherapy device


A delay apparatus for a delay locked loop includes a plurality of delay devices that are formed by modeling a plurality of signal processing structures through which a delay locked loop clock output from a delay locked loop reaches an output circuit of a semiconductor memory apparatus from an output terminal of the delay locked loop. At least one of the plurality of delay devices is composed of a variable delay device in which a delay time varies according to a change in operation voltage.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a delay locked loop. More particularly, the present invention relates to a delay apparatus for a delay locked loop that compensates for time required when a clock output by a delay locked loop reaches a data output terminal of a semiconductor memory apparatus.
2. Related Art
In general, a delay locked loop (DLL) synchronizes a phase of an external clock CLK supplied from the outside of a semiconductor memory apparatus and a phase of an internal clock iclk used inside the semiconductor memory apparatus.
The phase of the external clock CLK and the phase of the internal clock iclk are synchronized with each other by the following method. The delay locked loop buffers the external clock CLK and generates the internal clock iclk. The delay locked loop allows the internal clock iclk to pass through a delay apparatus that constitutes a predetermined signal processing time. The delay locked loop allows the internal clock iclk having passed through the delay apparatus to be fed back so as to synchronize the internal clock iclk with the external clock CLK. At this time, the delay locked loop repeatedly performs the above-described process. When the internal clock iclk is synchronized with the external clock CLK, the delay locked loop outputs delay locked loop clocks fclk and rclk.
The delay locked loop clock fclk is synchronized with a falling edge of the external clock CLK, and the delay locked loop clock rclk is synchronized with a rising edge of the external clock CLK.
A general delay apparatus includes an inverter chain or resistors and capacitors that are alternately or repeatedly disposed. A delay apparatus according to the related art for the delay locked loop includes modeling delay devices that are formed by modeling signal processing structures through which a delay locked loop clock reaches an output terminal of a semiconductor memory apparatus from an output terminal of the delay locked loop. The modeling delay devices may be provided at the ends of the delay locked loop.
That is, the delay apparatus for the delay locked loop according to the related art constitutes various signal processing structures through which the delay locked loop clock reaches the output terminal of the semiconductor memory apparatus from the output terminal of the delay locked loop.
For example, in the case of the modeling delay device that models a buffer, the modeling delay device is constructed similarly to the buffer. The modeling delay device has an unchangeable delay time.
The number of modeling delay devices may be changed according to the number of signal processing structures through which the delay locked loop clock reaches the output terminal of the semiconductor memory apparatus from the output terminal of the delay locked loop.
As such, the reason the number of modeling delay devices is determined according to the number of signal processing structures is to delay the delay locked loop clock by an actual signal processing delay time.
During the operation of the semiconductor memory apparatus that uses the delay locked loop, the supplied operation voltage may be changed.
As described above, the delay apparatus for the delay locked loop according to the related art delays and outputs the input signal by the locked delay time regardless of the change in the operation voltage.
However, in accordance with the change in the operation voltage, the delay apparatus for the delay locked loop according to the related art needs to output the phase locked loop clock in a state where the phase of the phase locked loop clock is shifted to the right side or the left side as compared with a normal phase. In this case, the phase difference departs from a predetermined range due to the phase shift, which causes an erroneous operation in the semiconductor memory apparatus.


A method for making optical preforms of optical elements without residual stress or distortion is provided. In this method, an optical material is supplied between upper and lower molds. The upper mold has a plurality of recesses arranged in a predetermined pitch, and each recess corresponds to a first surface shape of the optical element. The lower mold has a plurality of recesses facing the recesses of the upper mold and each recess of the lower mold corresponds to a second surface shape of the optical element. The supplied optical material is pressed between the upper and lower molds to be a set of optical preforms. The set of optical preforms is processed by die punching or tool cutting to separate each optical preform from the set of optical preforms. Each optical preform is used for producing an optical element by further pressing. Alternatively, optical element can be formed directly by the press molding process.

The present invention relates to a method for making optical elements such as lenses or prisms, and optical preforms of the optical elements, by press molding.
One example of a method for making such preforms in the prior art is disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent application (Tokkai Hei) 5-177725. This method uses injection molding of molten plastic pellets to make the optical preforms as explained below.
FIG. 17 shows a cross section of an injection molder used for making optical preforms in the prior art. Plastic pellets 51 are supplied into the hopper 50 and transferred to the heating cylinder 53. The plastic pellets are heated and melted by the heating cylinder 53 and the screw 54. Molten resin is injected from the tip nozzle 55 of the heating cylinder 53 into the mold 59, and reaches cavities 63 corresponding to an outer shape of an optical element through a sprue 60, runners 61 and gates 62. The temperature of the mold 59 is controlled at approximately softening temperature. In FIG. 17, numeral 52 is an injection cylinder, 56 is a fixing die plate, 57 is a moving die plate, and 58 is a closing cylinder.
The mold 59 is opened and a molded piece is taken out of the mold after the mold has been cooled. As seen in FIGS. 18A and 18B, the molded piece has a center sprue portion 64, and a plurality of runner portions 65 extend radially from the center sprue portion 64. At the tip of each runner portion 65, an optical preform 67 is connected via a gate portion 66. A plurality of optical performs 67 are obtained by separating them from the molded piece at the gates.
Optical preforms are pressed to make optical elements in such a way as explained below. FIG. 19 illustrates a section of a press mold and an optical element when the pressing is performed. Numeral 68 is an upper mold, 69 is a lower mold, and 70 is a drum mold. Numeral 71 is an optical element obtained by press molding, 72 is a part of press head having heating and pressing mechanisms, and 73 is a part of a press stage having a heating mechanism. FIG. 20 shows a process chart for pressing an optical preform to make an optical element using press molds mentioned above. In this chart, the temperature of the optical element is shown in (a), and the pressure given by the press head is shown in (b).
An optical preform made from an optical material (e.g., polycarbonate) by injection molding into a shape similar to an optical element is placed in a cavity defined by the upper, lower and drum molds 68, 69, 70. These molds are controlled at a temperature above the softening temperature and below the glass transition point. When the temperature of the optical preform goes up to a constant temperature between the softening temperature and the glass transition point as shown in (a) of FIG. 20, the press head 72 is forced downward such that the upper mold 68 gives the optical preform the pressure of approximately 100 kg/cm.sup.2 for predetermined time. Then the pressure is released and the molds are cooled down to the softening temperature. After that, the upper mold is released and the pressed optical preform, i.e., the optical element 71 is taken out.
In the manufacturing process of optical preforms by injection molding in the prior art, surface sink, jetting, weld line or residual stress should be suppressed by controlling the conditions of injection molding. However, residual stress and distortion in the gate portion are difficult to eliminate completely by controlling the conditions of injection molding. Therefore, the optical preforms made by injection molding in the prior art have residual stress and distortion partially. It is difficult to make an optical element having good optical performance using such an optical preform having residual stress and distortion in the gate portion.
In addition, cost reduction in the process of making optical preforms by injection molding is difficult, because the number of products obtained in one shot is limited. Moreover, there is a difficulty in manufacturing smaller optical elements as the gate diameter has a lower limit due to a fluidity of the optical material.
Molds for a injection molder have a tendency to have a complicated structure for gaining a good fluidity of the optical material, and it is very expensive due to a labor cost for designing and trial manufacture of a proper mold structure. In addition, the wasted portion of the optical material in the injection mold is rather large. These disadvantages in the injection mold cause an extremely high cost for manufacturing optical preforms in the prior art.

Method for making optical preforms and optical elements by press

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to problems of maintenance of elastomeric members. According to the invention, the elastomeric member is provided with at least one elastomeric layer 1 disposed between two rigid strength members 2. In addition, the elastomeric member is provided with graduations 5 located on its visible surface 7, presenting an angle of inclination relative to the rigid strength members 2, thus making it possible to evaluate and monitor propagation of a crack 6 merely by inspecting it visually.

Amongst the members mentioned above, document FR 2 497 173, to which reference can be made for further details on this topic, discloses a laminated spherical stop for retaining and hinging a blade to the hub of a rotor for a rotary-wing aircraft. This stop comprises a central portion made up of a stack of alternating layers of flexible material, e.g. elastomer material, and rigid strength members in the form of spherical caps. The stack is arranged between an outer radial support secured to the hub, where "outer" is relative to the axis of the rotor, and inner radial support secured to the root portion of the corresponding blade.
More generally, the elastomeric member presents one of the following two structures. In a first embodiment, particularly suitable for the frequency adapters for a rotor of a rotary-wing aircraft, the elastomer layers are plane sheets, each bonded between two strength members in the form of plates. In a second embodiment, each elastomer layer is tubular and is bonded between an internal strength member and an external strength member which are likewise tubular.
In both cases, the elastomer is stressed in shear by the relative movement between two supports each fixed to a respective one of the two members of the rotor, i.e. to two adjacent blades or to a blade and the hub, between which relative lagging movements need to be damped.
When the elastomeric member is integrated in a laminated stop for retaining and hinging a blade on the hub of a rotor, the elastomer layers of the stop are stressed in shear by the lagging movements, and also by the pitch and flapping movements that are transmitted by the blade to the radially-inner support of the stop. In addition, the elastomer layers are also subjected to stress in compression by the centrifugal forces acting on the blade while the rotor is rotating. In operation, the elastomer is thus pressed dynamically at the frequency of rotation of the rotor, in flapping, in lagging, and above all in pitch.
The mechanical stresses exerted on the elastomer layers of the elastomeric member, regardless of the use to which it is put (laminated stop, frequency adapter, laminated spherical joint, etc.), can lead to cracks forming therein, parallel to the rigid strength members, which will lead in the end to the rigid strength members separating or to the elastomer splitting, and it is even possible for the elastomer to split into two portions. This drawback is particularly significant insofar as proper operation of the elastomeric member depends on good bonding between the various layers. Manufacturers of members of this type have consequently been led to set up separation criteria, based on the lengths of cracks that are visible from the outside, in order to determine when the time has come to replace a laminated stop that has cracks.
Measuring the lengths of cracks requires the use of tools, and in particular of a ruler. That method is particularly difficult to implement, given the generally difficult conditions of access to the elastomeric members because of the large number of components in the vicinity of said members, thereby considerably increasing the length of time required for maintenance operations.

Elastomeric member provided with monitoring means


The method and system for TV user profile data prediction and modeling allows accurate and narrowly focused behavioral clustering. A client-side system classifies television consumers into representative user profiles. The profiles target individual user advertising and program preference category groups. A contextual behavioral profiling system determines the user's monitor behavior and content preferences, and the system may be continually updated with user information. A behavioral model database is queried by various system modules. The programming, including targeted advertising for television and interactive television is based on the profile data prediction, modeling and preference determination. The system is enabled to present a complete program sequence to the viewer based on the preference determination and stored programming. The latter is referred to as automatic program sequence (virtual channel) creation and the virtual channel can be presented as a separate channel in an electronic programming guide (EPG).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention lies in the field of interactive television programming. Specifically, the invention pertains to a method and system for TV user profile data prediction and modeling, to a method and system for program and/or advertisement program preference determination, to a method and system for targeted advertising for television and interactive television based on the profile data prediction, modeling and preference determination, and to a method and system with which a complete program sequence can be presented to the viewer based on the preference determination and stored programming. The latter will be referred to as automatic program sequence (Virtual Channel) creation and the virtual channel will be presented as a separate channel in the electronic programming guide (EPG).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Systems and methods to target advertising in interactive television are known. The prior art systems and methods generally target advertising through a statistically sampled, program driven mechanism. Advertising for television is priced in accordance with the rating of a certain program and time slot. Advertisements must be placed so that they reach the intended target audience. The more audience a certain program delivers, and the more clearly focused that audience is with regard to the demographic information, the higher the price for placing the advertisement. By far the most popular TV ratings system currently in use in the United States is Nielsen Media Research. The Nielsen ratings and share system is based on a 5000 member national sample and approximately 50 local market samples. The information gleaned from the national sample is based on a measurement of which program is watched at a certain time in a given television household and by which members of the household. The latter information is determined via so-called People Meters that are installed in the sample households and via which the viewers indicate when they are watching TV at a certain time by pushing a button individually assigned to them. The national sample utilizes rather crude demographic information to define preference ratings for the program determination. The results are published via ratings that are defined relative to the statistical universe (e.g., all television households, male 20 to 40 years, etc.) and by shares. The latter represent a percentage of the universe members watching a given program at the time of its broadcast. A slightly more accurate system, referred to as the Portable People Meter, is currently being tested in a limited local television market by Arbitron. The Portable People Meter is a pager-sized electronic transceiver that records a person's television usage via inaudible codes that are superimposed on television programs. At the end of the day, the transceiver is placed on a base station, from which the recorded information is then sent to a central data processing facility.
In the context of TV user profile data prediction and modeling, the prior art methods and systems do not use program arrival and departure frequency and click timing as preference indicators. Preference ratings in the context of programming predictions are thus rather rudimentary. Since prior art systems do not model transitions, sequential program behavior, and temporal program utilization in a general predictive architecture, they are unable to predict a user's preference based on sophisticated content and temporal relationships.
By not assessing when there is adequate evidence to infer a preference, known methods tend to incorrectly predict user preferences, or they may wait too long before building higher confidence. Known classification methods require that all feature dimensions of a sample be correlated to the observation, and then assume a Gaussian distribution parameterization to describe group clusters. However, this is inaccurate as the data are not generally subject to normal distribution.
In the context of program or advertising program preference determination, the prior art methods do not have an automatic user input, and thus no method of learning which metrics best predict a certain user's preference. Further, if preference ratings are available for a given demographic group, they are only stationarily weighted and no dynamic weighting adjustment is effected.
In the context of targeted advertising for television and interactive television, the prior art methods principally use demographic information, not contextual behavioral information as part of the user targeting profile. This reduces targeting performance in non-demographically classifiable consumer groups, and demographic inferring accuracy.

System, method, and software application for targeted advertising via behavioral model clustering, and preference programming based on behavioral model clusters


Snap fastener part comprising an axis (30), a coupling means (10) for coupling with a complementary coupling means of the other snap fastener part, a fixing means (14) for fixing the coupling means (10) to a carrier material (32), a cap (12) for covering the coupling means (10) on a side facing away from the carrier material (32) and a protrusion (28) on the side of the coupling means (10) facing away from the carrier material (32), said protrusion (28) encircling the axis (30), the fixing means (14) comprising at least one leg (16, 18, 20, 22, 24) which engages behind the coupling means (10) on the side facing away from the carrier material (32) when assembled and which is placed between the surface of the coupling means (10) facing away from the carver material (32) and the cap (12). According to the invention the protrusion (28) is broken by the leg (16, 18, 20, 22, 24) and the surface of the protection facing away from the carrier material (32) is flush with the surface of the leg (16, 18, 20, 22, 24) facing away from the carrier material or surmounts it.

Snap fastener parts of the aforementioned kind are known, for example, from DE 33 12 974 A1. According to this document, the clamping means has six legs. The cap is supported by the legs since the legs cover the protrusion on the side facing away from the carrier material. Therefore the cap is only supported in axial direction in six places, but not between said places.
The lacking support of the cap between the legs of the clamping means may result in deformation of the cap, especially when pressure is exerted on the snap fastener while ironing or mangling the piece of clothing to which the snap fastener is mounted. This especially applies when using industrial washing plants with de-watering presses and ironing or mangling machines.
It is an object of the invention to improve the snap fastener part of the aforementioned kind in such a way that any unintentional deformation of the cap is not to be feared any longer.


A dynamic on-die termination circuit for a read-only node is disclosed herein.

Operating frequencies of processors are progressively increasing. In order to take advantage of these high frequencies, computer systems attempt to transmit signals along their buses and between system components at comparable frequencies.
When transmitting and receiving data at high frequencies between system components, such as between integrated circuits, some difficulties are encountered. Buses behave like transmission lines, where impedance mismatches lead to signal reflection and interference effects, such as ring-backs and overshoots. Maintaining signal quality over interconnections thus typically require termination of transmission lines (e.g., buses) with matching impedances to minimize signal reflections.


A system and method to securely create, distribute, install and execute selected features of software on wireless devices combines three different types of licenses, a validation license, a digital rights management (DRM) license, and a feature license with a software application. Each of these three licenses work independent of each other, where the validation license helps prevent malicious code from executing on wireless devices, the DRM license prevents unauthorized copying of the software application and the feature license securely enables or disables specific features of the software application. The system also allows a wireless device to unwrap a DRM protected software application, to validate the software application, to enforce DRM usage rules and to execute selected features of the software application.

Over the last decades usage of wireless devices has increased exponentially. In the mobile societies of developed countries, wireless phones are a necessity not only for busy professionals but for average consumers as well. For example, in metropolitan areas of Europe, Japan, Korea, United States and several other developed countries, wireless phones are fast replacing traditional phones as the primary means of communication. Latest models of wireless phones such as Motorola T720i, are used for not only voice communication, but also for various data communication applications, such as exchanging e-mails, photographs, surfing the Internet, etc. Other wireless communication devices such as personal data assistants (PDA) are also widely used for data communication applications mentioned above.
Such widespread usage of wireless devices has become possible due to a number of technological developments, including availability of low cost and compact memory that can be used to store large amounts of data, low cost and compact micro-processors, etc. The growth of wireless devices capable of holding larger and larger amounts of data and processing a wide variety of applications has resulted in a big demand for software that can be used on wireless devices. Typically, a user of a wireless device buys the wireless device that is loaded with a number of applications or other software by the manufacturer and/or an operator of a wireless communication service. For example, the Motorola T720i wireless phone comes with an Internet browser that is compatible with the wireless access protocol (WAP) version 1.2.1. Alternatively, a user can buy a wireless device software application at a software store and install it on a wireless device using a universal serial bus (USB) connector that allows the wireless device to communicate with a computer.
While, installing a software application on a wireless device using a USB is widely in use today, it is quite inconvenient for a user, as it requires the user to physically buy the software on a computer readable medium such as a compact disc and to connect the wireless device to a computer. This method of installing software on wireless devices is also inefficient because it does not use the wireless communication capabilities of such wireless devices. Moreover, if a software application has more than one feature, the software developer will have to design different packages with different features enabled. For example, a business software application may include a word processing feature, a spreadsheet feature and a database feature, where each combination of these features will have to be sold in different packages. Moreover, once a software package is purchased by a user, it is hard to prevent multiple unauthorized usage of the software package.
For the reasons mentioned above, it is much more advantageous to deliver software to a wireless device by using a wireless communication method. Wireless distribution of wireless device software allows a direct channel of software sales to be developed between users of wireless devices and wireless software developers. Such a sales method results in reduction of intermediary expenses such as creating and distributing software on compact discs or other media, commission costs that a software developer has to pay to a software sales store, warehousing costs for compact discs, wastage of unsold software packages, etc. Moreover, wireless distribution of software allows a developer to distribute not only software but also manuals, help guides, tutorials, etc., directly to a user as per the user's needs. For example, a software developer can remotely debug a software application distributed to a wireless device, etc.
However, such method of software delivery has to address a number of security issues to avoid unauthorized downloading of such software. For example, one may make unauthorized copies of a wireless device software application when a transmission of such wireless device software was received by a number of other wireless devices which may not have purchased such wireless device software. Alternatively, a user may download features of a software package that such a user may not have purchased. Illegal copying of software can drastically reduce potential business opportunities. Also, a software package distributed via a wireless medium may contain important business or personal information, such as a consumer's credit card number, etc., which needs to be secured against unauthorized downloading by a third person. In an extreme case, a hacker or a competitor may attack a wireless distribution network and change content of the software being distributed to the end users. These and other problems mandate that a secure distribution network be established for efficient distribution of wireless software.

Methods and apparatus for managing secured software for a wireless device


Reduced voltage switching of a main switch in flyback power converters. Example embodiments are methods including: driving a primary current with a first polarity in a primary winding of a transformer, and a secondary winding of the transformer arranged for flyback operation; creating, by the primary current, a charge voltage on an auxiliary winding of the transformer; charging, by the charge voltage, a capacitance coupled to the auxiliary winding; ceasing the driving of the primary current and discharging an energy in a field associated with the secondary winding to provide an output voltage of the power converter; inducing a primary current with a second polarity in the primary winding by coupling the capacitance to the auxiliary winding; and reducing voltage across a main switch coupled to the primary winding, the reducing by the primary current with the second polarity.

Active clamp circuits in flyback power converters use two electrical switches in the primary circuit: a primary switch; and a clamp switch that selectively couples a clamp circuit to the switch node of the primary circuit. Based on a resonance with magnetizing inductance of the primary winding, a capacitance of the clamp circuit, and a parasitic drain-to-source capacitance of the primary switch, it is possible to discharge the parasitic capacitance of the primary switch prior to the next energy storage cycle. In other words, zero-volt switching (ZVS) may be achieved using active clamp circuits. ZVS reduces switching losses, and also reduces electromagnetic interference signals.

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC


A roll stamper which molds a substrate resin sheet into an information recording media by continuously transferring preformat patterns on the substrate resin sheet, and a production process therefor. The preformat pattern on the roll stamper has a value of b/a of greater than 1 when the length of the preformat pattern in a direction parallel to the direction in which the resin sheet is transported is defined as a and the length in a direction perpendicular thereto as b.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a roll stamper for continuously producing substrates for information recording media by forming preformats on a resin sheet. It also relates to a process for producing the roll stamper.
2. Related Background Art
Preformats such as track grooves or address pits are formed on substrates for information recording media such as optical disks. As a method of continuously mass-producing such substrates, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 56-86721 discloses a method in which a thermoplastic synthetic resin sheet is heated and softened using an infrared lamp and thereafter signals in the form of grooves or pits are transferred using a molding roll.
The roll stamper used in such a method is prepared by sticking a flat-plate thin stamper on a mirror-finished roll substrate with an adhesive or the like or mechanically fastening the stamper on the substrate by means of a jig or the like, or by directly forming a preformat pattern on the body of a roll substrate.
As the preformat pattern formed on the roll stamper is used a preformat pattern similar to those used in conventional methods in which the substrate is formed sheet by sheet as in the injection process, the compression process and the photopolymerization process (hereinafter "2P process"), which pattern is substantially circular, for example, in the case of a disk.
With regard to the accuracy of the preformat pattern provided on the stamper used in the conventional injection process, compression process or a 2P process, tracking errors tend to occur unless a deviation from a circle is controlled to be not more than 100 .mu.m in the case of the disk.
When preformats are, however, continuously formed on a resin sheet, a relatively large pressure is applied to the roll stamper or shrinkage may occur with the cooling of resin, in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the resin sheet is transported. Hence, in the case where the roll stamper on which the above substantially circular pattern has been formed is used, there is the problem that the preformat transferred onto the resin sheet causes a lowering of transfer accuracy, specifically, a lowering of the circularity or roundness. In particular, in the case of recording media like optical disks on which fine patterns are formed and information with a high density is recorded and reproduced, the lowering of the roundness may cause errors such as tracking-off.
This is also a problem in the case of molding a substrate for an optical card by a roll stamper, particularly resulting in a problem that the optical card substrate will become a defective product out of the specification due to the change in track pitch of the preformat pattern by shrinkage of the resin sheet, and it has been desired to have a countermeasure against the deformation of the preformat pattern accompanied with shrinkage of the resin sheet, particularly shrinkage in a direction vertical with respect to the conveying direction of the sheet.

Roller stamper for molding a substrate sheet to become an information recording medium


A method of monitoring the accuracy with which patterns are written includes the steps of: disposing in an exposure zone a monitor pattern zone for monitoring accuracy; partitioning the monitor pattern zone into a plurality of fields so that the fields overlap each other; forming checking patterns where the plurality of fields overlap each other; and measuring an alignment accuracy in the checking patterns by exposing the plurality of fields to an electron beam and inspecting the exposed field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of monitoring the accuracy with which a photomask is transferred or the accuracy with which a pattern is directly written onto a wafer, the photomask and the wafer being used for manufacturing semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
When semiconductor devices such as ICs are manufactured, a photo-lithography technique is used to form patterns. As the degree of integration of semiconductor devices has increased in recent years, manufacturing processes for semiconductor devices have become complex, and there has been a demand that accuracy of photomasks, such as pattern accuracy and overlay accuracy, be improved. For this reason, an electron beam exposure system has been employed which easily processes patterns and is capable of rapidly and highly accurately forming patterns on a photomask. Various types of electron beam exposure systems have been employed. Instead of an exposure system using a conventional spot beam raster scan method, an exposure system using a variable shaped beam vector scan method has been employed, which method can form patterns more accurately than the conventional method.
An exposure method based on the variable shaped beam vector scan method will now be described. As shown in FIG. 9, a photomask 21 has a plurality of chip portions 23. Each chip portion 23 is partitioned into small zones or fields 30 of a predetermined size, as depicted in FIG. 10. The small zones 30 in the chip portions 23 are exposed one after another, and thus all of the chip portions 23 are exposed, whereby the entire surface of the photomask 21 is consequently patterned.
As shown in FIG. 11, each field 30 is partitioned further into small zones or shots 31. The chip portions 23 are exposed shot-by-shot. Each field 30 is usually partitioned into rectangular shots 32, however, a trapezoidal FIG. 33 may also be formed due to an oblique pattern or other factors. In such a case, to precisely form the oblique portion of the trapezoidal FIG. 33, as shown in FIG. 12, the trapezoidal FIG. 33 is partitioned further into small rectangular shots 34, which are exposed one by one so that a part of one rectangular shot 34 is overlapped by a part of another rectangular shot 34.
Thus, pattern data in one chip portion 23 is divided into a large number of fields 30, and pattern data in one field 30 is further divided into a large number of shots 31. These fields 30 and shots 31 are then exposed. For this reason, the stitching accuracy between adjacent fields 30 within each chip portion 23 and the dimensional accuracy of patterns within the fields 30 in which the shots 31 are combined, become crucial to the operation of electron beam exposure systems. Thus it is required to maintain these accuracies at a level which is as high as possible.
However, because there has hitherto been no method of measuring and inspecting the accuracy with which patterns are written (hereinafter referred to as a writing accuracy), it is difficult to control pattern formation with high accuracy, thus making it difficult to improve the yield of products.

Method of monitoring accuracy with which patterns are written


A system and method for user authentication utilizing PKI credentials and user credentials on an electronic device comprising a mobile communication device, smart phone, a computer or other computing device.

The Lion™ operating system is the operating system typically installed on Apple computers such as the Mac™ and the Macbook™ devices. iOS (known as the iPhone™ Operating System) is a mobile operating system from Apple Inc. The iOS operating system was originally developed for the iPhone™ device. It has since been extended to other Apple devices such as the iPod™ touch device and the iPad™ tablet.
Windows™ is the operating system from Microsoft Corporation typically installed on the vast majority of personal computers.
Microsoft Corporation also has its Windows Phone™ operating system for mobile communication device platforms. Other operating systems for mobile device platforms include BlackBerry™ OS from Research In Motion and Android from Google.
Under the typical operating system, a device can be configured with user credentials, such as a user identifier, i.e. user id, and/or a password. In known manner, the user credentials provide an authentication mechanism for allowing a user to gain access to the device.
Similarly, the operating systems for other mobile devices or computing devices include a mechanism for configuring user credentials.
It will be appreciated that while such an authentication mechanism provides a layer of security, once the user credentials are compromised the device is exposed to a potentially malicious user or system.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improvement in the art.

Method and system for user authentication for computing devices utilizing PKI and other user credentials


A method and apparatus are provided for converting electromagnetic radiation directly into electricity. The method aligns a plurality of ferromagnetic nanocrystals to produce an aggregate magnetic field; utilizes an electrical coil in the aggregate magnetic field; and alternately directs and removes radiant energy from the ferromagnetic nanocrystals such that the aggregate magnetic field decays and regenerates to produce a current in the electrical coil. The apparatus includes either a distribution or a stackup of ferro-magnetic nanocrystals and an electrical coil, the combination of the nanocrystals and the electrical coil operating with energy derived from the source of radiant energy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the direct conversion of radiant energy into electricity, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for producing electricity by causing a magnetic field to alternatingly decay and regenerate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Historically, electricity has been produced by using a generator device to move an electrical coil and a magnetic field relative to one another. Such methods require mechanical moving parts which can wear out or break down and create an interruption in providing electrical power to components.
Various methods have been proposed to directly convert an energy source directly into electricity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,829 issued to Gurusprasad, for example, discloses a magnetic mechanical heat engine for converting heat into electricity using electromotive force induced by demagnetization. The heat engine utilizes a magnetic medium which is magnetized by means of a magnetic field produced by an external electrical coil. However, operation of the apparatus disclosed in Gurusprasad '829 requires that the magnetic medium be brought into and out of thermal contact with a heat source, which thus necessitates moving parts and reduces the efficiency of the apparatus.
What is needed is an apparatus for efficiently converting energy directly into electricity.

Method and apparatus for converting energy to electricity


A process of forming a double strand cleavage in DNA includes providing a reaction mixture containing double stranded DNA having a break in a first strand defining a target site in a second strand. The method continues by adding to the reaction mixture a photoreactive lysine conjugate selected from a lysine-enediyne conjugate, a lysine-acetylene conjugate or a combination thereof, for a time sufficient for the lysine conjugate to bind to the DNA adjacent the target site. The reaction mixture is then irradiated with electromagnetic radiation sufficient to photoactivate the lysine conjugate to cleave the second strand adjacent the target site.

Restriction enzyme and siRNA technologies exist for site-specific knockout of genes. These two technologies are limited to one kind of targeted molecule. The presently described system is more flexible and provides an alternative method for directing the site-specific modification of nucleic acids, particularly DNA.
Aside from the common double helix, DNA forms a wide range of structural motifs, such as hairpin loops, triplex, tetraplex, bulged structures, as well as nicks and gaps. The individual structural features of these motifs make them potential candidates for specific targeting. Among these structural elements, nicks and gaps are promising for the development of sequence-specific DNA cleavage, since they already feature a break in the phosphate backbone of DNA.
Cleavage of the phosphate backbone of DNA can be caused by chemical reagents such as radicals and by radiation damage. In order to survive, cells developed enzymatic mechanisms for the repair which work efficiently on single strand (ss) damage. Any further cleavage on the opposite strand at the damage site leads to double stranded (ds) cleavage, which is hard to repair. Ds cleavage requires either a bifunctional reagent or detection and targeting of the damaged site. The only literature example of the latter is a complex natural antibiotic, bleomycin.

Site-specific cleavage of nucleic acids by photoreactive conjugates

Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.