A developing device forms an image by developing an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor rotating about a rotation axis. The developing device includes a housing having an opening opposite the photoreceptor, a developing sleeve disposed inside the housing, a magnetic body disposed in a central portion of the developing sleeve and not in no-magnet portions thereof at both sides of the central portion, and seal members supported by the housing. Each of the seal members shields either one of portions of the photoreceptor that are located opposite the no-magnet portions and is in surface contact with either one of end portions of the photoreceptor farther from a center of the photoreceptor than the no-magnet portions. Each of the seal members includes, at an end thereof closer to the center of the photoreceptor than the other end thereof, a non-contact portion that is not in contact with the photoreceptor.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing device that develops an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor, and to an image forming apparatus including the developing device.
(2) Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus that employs electrophotographic method is generally provided with a developing device that develops, using toner, an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor drum. The toner image formed on the photoreceptor drum by the developing device is transferred to, and subsequently thermally fixed on a recording sheet.
The developing device includes a cylindrical developing sleeve located opposite and in parallel with the photoreceptor drum, and a cylindrical magnetic body fitted in the developing sleeve so as to be coaxial. The magnetic body is fixed so as not to rotate. The magnetic body is provided with magnetic poles at a plurality of positions along the circumferential direction thereof. The magnetic poles each extend along an axial direction (i.e., a direction along the axis). The developing sleeve rotates about the magnetic body in a predetermined direction.
With respect to the above-mentioned developing device, the developing sleeve rotates to transport magnetic toner stored in the developing device to a position opposite the photoreceptor drum, where the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor drum is developed with the toner. In this way, a toner image is formed on the photoreceptor drum.
Each end portion of the developing sleeve in the axial direction is a portion in which the magnetic body does not exist (hereinafter, referred to as a "no-magnet portion"). Toner is not transported to the no-magnet portions of the developing sleeve. Accordingly, toner image is not formed on portions of the photoreceptor drum which are opposite the no-magnet portions. Note that toner image is not formed on a portion on each end portion of the photoreceptor drum. Hereinafter, the portion is referred to as a "non-image-formation portion".
Some image forming apparatuses of this type are constituted to allow for transferring a maximum-size toner image formed on the photoreceptor drum onto a recording sheet having a size larger than the maximum size, so as to form an image on the recording sheet without a margin.
For example, when the maximum-size a toner image formed on the photoreceptor drum by the developing device is A3 size, the toner image on the photoreceptor drum is transferred to and fixed onto a recording sheet having a size larger than A3 size. The size larger than A3 size is generally referred to as "enlarged A3 size".
Marks indicating the positions of the corners of a recording sheet of A3 size are formed using toner on the photoreceptor drum simultaneously with a toner image of A3 size. These marks are generally referred to as "printer's marks". The toner image formed on the photoreceptor drum is transferred to and fixed on a recording sheet of enlarged A3 size with a margin formed along the periphery of the recording sheet.
The recording sheet of enlarged A3 size on which a toner image has been fixed is cut according to the "printer's marks". Thus, the peripheral margin of the recording sheet is removed, and the size of the recording sheet is reduced to a predetermined size (i.e., A3 size). Note that, hereinafter, the printing of a predetermined size on which a toner image is formed without margin along the periphery of the recording sheet as described above is referred to as a "marginless printing".
As described above, when a toner image of A3 size is formed on the photoreceptor drum, toner may be transported on a portion of the developing sleeve that borders the no-magnet portion. The magnetic body does not exist in the no-magnet portion. Therefore, smaller amount of magnetic force acts on the toner on the boundary portion adjacent to the no-magnet portion of the developing sleeve. Consequently, there is a risk that a portion of the toner on the boundary portion under the effect of the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the developing sleeve is scattered to the no-magnet portion on which magnetic force does not act, and sticks to the non-image-formation portion of the photoreceptor drum.
The toner sticking to the non-image-formation portion is not transferred to a recording sheet of A3 size, but may be transferred to the peripheral margin of a recording sheet of enlarged A3 size. The peripheral margin of a recording sheet of enlarged A3 size having a toner image formed thereon is cut off after the recording sheet is printed out, and a "marginless printing" of A3 size is obtained. However, if a user happens to see the toner sticking to the margin of the recording sheet before the margin is cut off, the user may have a concern that some problem has occurred in the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it is preferable that toner is prevented from sticking to the margin of a recording sheet of enlarged A3 size.
A developing device generally includes seal members so as to prevent leakage of toner to the outside of the developing device from the ends of a developing sleeve in the axial direction thereof. Each of the seal members is pressed against, and in surface contact with, either one of end portions of a photoreceptor drum. Some proposals have been made to prevent toner from sticking to the non-image-formation portion of the photoreceptor drum by using the seal member as described above.
According to these proposals, each of the seal members is pressed against either one of end portions of a photoreceptor drum, and shields a non-image-formation portion of the photoreceptor drum from toner. The non-image-formation portion is the portion that faces the no-magnet portion of the developing sleeve. One of end surfaces of each of the seal members that is on the inner side of the developing device (i.e., closer to the center of the developing sleeve in the axial direction) is located in the vicinity of either one of the ends of the magnetic body in the axial direction, and is in contact with the non-image-formation portion of the photoreceptor drum.
According to the above-described structure, even when a portion of the toner transported on the developing sleeve is scattered between the non-magnetic portions of the developing sleeve and the non-image-formation portions of the photoreceptor drum, the scattered toner sticks to the tip surfaces of the seal members and portions of the surfaces of the seal member that are opposite the non-magnetic portion. Accordingly, there is no risk that toner sticks to the non-image-formation portions of the photoreceptor drum that are covered by the seal members.
However, the tip surfaces of the seal members are in contact with the non-image-formation portions of the photoreceptor drum. Therefore, toner sticking to the tip surfaces of the seal members may be brought into contact with the non-image-formation portions of the photoreceptor drum. There is a risk that the toner brought into contact with the non-image-formation portions may subsequently stick to the non-image-formation portions in a stripe pattern as a result of the rotation of the photoreceptor drum, and the toner is transferred to a recording sheet of enlarged A3 size simultaneously with a toner image.
When the toner is transferred to the peripheral margin of the recording sheet of enlarged A3 size in a stripe pattern, it is highly probable that a user recognizes the stripe pattern, and the user may have a concern that something is wrong.

Developing device and image forming apparatus having seal member with non-contact portion


An ablation catheter comprises an elongated catheter body; at least one ablation element disposed in a distal portion which is adjacent the distal end of the catheter body; an illumination optical element disposed in the distal portion, the illumination optical element being light-transmissive to emit light from the illumination optical element to the targeted tissue region; and a collection optical element disposed in the distal portion, the collection optical element being light-transmissive to collect one or more of returned, backscattered or newly excited light from the targeted tissue region. The illumination or excitation optical element and the collection optical element are axially spaced from one another and axially optically isolated from one another within the distal portion to substantially prevent light from traveling between the illumination optical element and the collection optical element along a path within the distal portion.

The present invention relates generally to ablation devices and, more specifically, to optical feedback radiofrequency (RF) ablators and ablator tips.
Proposed optical-feedback catheters such as those of Biosense-Webster mainly employ an RF catheter in which the thermally ablative RF tip is also capable of the optical detection of the thermal lesions the RF tip forms. See, e.g., US2008/0119694, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The thermally ablative RF tip has a hollow RF electrode and the outer RF electrode surface is electrically conducting and therefore can deliver RF ablation by electrical contact to target tissue. Inside the hollow metal-coated or metal-walled RF tip electrode are two radially isolated optical elements or chambers, each of which is connected to a separate optical fiber running along the catheter lumen to the proximal catheter handle. The first fiber delivers optically broadband illumination light to the first tip optical cavity (the emission cavity) from which the light emits into nearby tissue through a number of optical vias bridging the tissue and the emission optical element. Thus the emission optical element acts to omni-directionally spray or distribute emanating broadband excitation light from the numerous optical emission vias into the contacting tissue. Note that the omni-directional 360 degree optical output assures that tissue which contacts only one side face of the tip (which is typical) will be illuminated without requiring axial tip rotation. A second optically isolated element in the RF tip is the optical reception element. It is optically coupled to the tissue by a second separate set of interspersed optical vias which receive backscattered light from tissues (i.e., received light which comprises incoming backscattered illumination light). The optical reception element is coupled to the second optical fiber which is used to route incoming backscattered light from the tip back to the catheter handle and to an optical sensor such as an optical spectrometer. The received or backscattered light spectrum is wavelength-scanned by the spectrometer looking for amplitude changes at various wavelengths particularly those corresponding to changing optical absorption or scattering mechanisms in the tissue. Thus, for example, thermal ablation lesions reduce water content in tissue so that optical reflectance or backscattering is affected at one or more wavelengths sensitive to water content. Optical spectroscopy has been used for real time assessment of RF cardiac tissue ablation. See Stavros G. Demos & Shiva Shararch, "Real Time Assessment of RF Cardiac Tissue Ablation with Optical Spectroscopy," Optics Express, Vol. 16, No. 19 (Sep. 15, 2008), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Note that RF ablations are usually done on target tissue either contacting the side of the RF tip or contacting the end (forward looking end) of the RF tip. Thus most preferably, by omni-directional performance, is meant optical lesion detection of RF lesions both radially (sideways at any rotational angle between 0 and 360 degrees) and forwardly such as with the tip sitting roughly perpendicular to the tissue target or at a tilted angle thereto such as between 0 and 60 degrees.
It has been considered advantageous if not required to optically isolate the two optical elements and their respective sets of optical vias. The argument for this is so as not to saturate the optical receiver (the wavelength spectrometer) with ingoing light which would otherwise travel within the tip directly from the emission fiber to the collection fiber without ever having been emitted from the tip and tissue-scattered. In order to optically isolate the two elements and their respective via sets yet still have omni-directional emanation and reception, the tip is configured to have the emission element within the reception element and it is isolated from it by a radial opaque wall or film. Thus the emission vias, although they pass through the outer reception element, do not dump light directly into the reception element. The reception element vias pass light into the outer annular reception element so that they never penetrate the interior emission element. This arrangement totally isolates the outgoing and incoming optical paths so that reception signal/noise ratio is maximal per such an argument.
A significant drawback of that double walled optical element tip design and interspersed yet isolated optical via sets is that it is very hard to make in terms of difficulty and manufacturing yield and typically requires a double shell structure wherein penetrating optical vias must all be each individually optically isolated. Another problem is that the cumulative area of the emanation optical vias and the cumulative area of the reception optical vias are each quite small; otherwise, the metal shell has too many holes in it to be mechanically sound. The prior art proposed designs such as this also make it difficult to provide a saline irrigated (cooled) RF electrode unless irrigation flow paths double as optical paths. This is considered a limit on the number and scope of possible product designs and not necessarily a technical issue.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Optical feedback RF ablator and ablator tip


A method of selecting a scanning sequence of a laser beam in a selective laser solidification process, in which one or more objects are formed layer-by-layer by, repeatedly, depositing a layer of powder on a powder bed and scanning a plurality of laser beams over the deposited powder to selectively solidify the powder layers, wherein a gas flow is passed over the powder bed in a gas flow direction. The method including selecting a scanning sequence for the plurality of laser beams to include the simultaneous exposure of an upstream point together with a downstream point located downstream of a flow of debris carried from the upstream point by the gas flow, the downstream and upstream points selected for simultaneous exposure based upon the downstream point being within a maximum separation distance from the upstream point.

Additive manufacturing or rapid prototyping methods for producing objects comprise layer-by-layer solidification of a material, such as a metal powder material, using a laser beam. A powder layer is deposited on a powder bed in a build chamber and a laser beam is scanned across portions of the powder layer that correspond to a cross-section of the object being constructed. The laser beam melts or sinters the powder to form a solidified layer. After selective solidification of a layer, the powder bed is lowered by a thickness of the newly solidified layer and a further layer of powder is spread over the surface and solidified, as required. In a single build, more than one object can be built, the objects spaced apart in the powder bed.
During the melting or sintering process, debris (e.g. condensate, unsolidified particles of powder etc) is produced within the build chamber. It is known to introduce a gas flow through the build chamber in an attempt to remove debris from the chamber in the gas flow. For example, the M280 model of machine produced by EOS GmbH, Munich, Germany comprises a series of gas outlet nozzles located to the rear of the powder bed that pass a flow of gas to a series of exhaust vents that are located at the front of the powder bed. In this manner, a planar layer of gas flow is created at the surface of the powder bed. A similar arrangement is provided in Renishaw's RenAM 500Q machine (with gas flow form side-to-side), which melts selected areas of the powder bed using four independently steerable laser beams. WO2014/125258 A2, WO2014/125280 A2, WO2014/154878 A1 and EP2786858 A1 disclose methods wherein a scanning strategy for a laser beam is based upon a direction of a gas flow through the build chamber. At least in WO2014/125258 A2, WO2014/125280 A2 and WO2014/154878 A1 it is taught to process the powder bed in a direction opposed to the gas flow direction.

Selective laser solidification apparatus and method


An exemplary liquid crystal display (200) includes a liquid crystal (LC) panel (210), a gate driving circuit (220) for scanning the liquid crystal panel, a data driving circuit (230) for providing a plurality of gradation voltages to the liquid crystal panel, an photo sensor (250) configured for measuring a frequency and a luminance of ambient light and generating a measurement signal, a timing control circuit (240) configured for controlling the gate driving circuit and the data driving circuit, and a backlight module driving circuit (270) for driving a light source (260) to emit light beams for illuminating the liquid crystal panel. One of the timing control circuit and the backlight module driving circuit is configured for receiving the measurement signal and adjusting a refresh rate and a luminance of the LC panel according to the frequency and the luminance of the ambient light.

An active matrix LCD device has the advantages of portability, low power consumption, and low radiation, and has been widely used in various portable information products such as notebooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), video cameras and the like. Furthermore, the active matrix LCD device is considered by many to have the potential to completely replace CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors and televisions.
FIG. 7 is an abbreviated block diagram of certain parts of a typical active matrix LCD. The LCD 100 includes a liquid crystal (LC) panel 110, a gate driving circuit 120, a data driving circuit 130, and a timing control circuit 140, a light source 160, and a backlight module driving circuit 170. The backlight module driving circuit 170 drives the light source 160 to emit light beams for illuminating the LC panel 110. The timing control circuit 140 is used to control the gate driving circuit 120 and the data driving circuit 130. The gate driving circuit 120 provides a plurality of scanning signals to the LC panel 110. The data driving circuit 130 provides a plurality of gradation voltages to the LC panel 110 when the LC panel 110 is scanned.
An image shown on a display screen of the active matrix LCD 100 is refreshed (i.e. replaced by a new identical image) at a predetermined frequency. In particular, the LCD 100 normally works with a predetermined refresh rate such as sixty hertz, seventy-five hertz, or another similar refresh rate. When a frequency of ambient light is changed from a first frequency such as fifty-five hertz to a second frequency such as seventy-five hertz, the LCD 100 does not adjust the refresh rate thereof to adapt to the frequency of the ambient light. Thus a user may find that his or her eyes easily become tired.
What is needed, therefore, is an LCD that can overcome the above-described deficiency.

Liquid crystal display and driving method thereof for adjusting refresh rate and luminance according to that of ambient light


A viewing shield for use on a telephone front wall for preventing observation of the dialing pad by individuals other than the caller. The viewing shield includes side walls that are located in close proximity to and on opposite sides of the dialing pad. The side walls are attached to a back wall section which is, in turn, attached to the telephone front face wall. The viewing shield side walls extend away from the dialing pad and telephone front wall and curve toward one another. An access opening is provided between the two side walls wherethrough the caller may reach the dialing pad with his fingers and enter the desired numbers.

Telephones have now been in use in public places for quite some time. These public telephones quite often require coins to make a telephone call therefrom. A call is generally made by placing coins in a slot in the phone and, thereafter, dialing the desired telephone number. In the past, rotary-type dial pads were common whereas now most phones are equipped with touch-tone type dialing pads.
More recently, access to public telephones has become available through the use of credit card numbers. Rather than requiring coins for making a telephone call, both local and long distance telephone line carriers are providing credit card numbers to their customers for their use in making calls and through which the customer's account is billed. In this regard, the individual having a credit card number need only dial his/her credit card number on the telephone dialing pad thereby gaining access to the telephone lines and making his/her telephone call. The individual making the call is, thereafter, billed for the cost of the telephone call in a monthly or some other timely statement.
Unfortunately, there are those unscrupulous thieves who obtain another's telephone credit card number and, thereafter, use it for their own unauthorized benefit. Once another's telephone credit card number is obtained without the card owner's knowledge, numerous telephone calls can be made at the expense of the telephone credit card holder or the telephone line carriers. In fact, the credit card number owner/holder quite often doesn't know that his/her credit card number has become known to others until after a statement is received showing the telephone calls not made by the credit card holder. Unfortunately, even though the credit card number can be canceled at that time, the damage has already been done. In addition, catching the thief is literally impossible.
More often than not, a thief learns of another's telephone credit card number by looking over one's shoulder as the credit card number is punched into a telephone dial pad. In fact, some thieves have been known to use binoculars to view from a distance the use of another's credit card number.
Accordingly, a need exists for a reliable means of preventing thieves from stealing one's credit card number while, nevertheless, allowing the credit card holder to use his/her credit card number. This need is especially present for telephones located in public places.

Viewing shield for a telephone dialing pad


A redundant array of independent disk (RAID) memory storage system comprising data storage blocks arranged in a first plurality of data rows and a second plurality of data columns, wherein parity data is stored in additionally defined parity blocks, and wherein numbers of data blocks in respective columns are different, to accommodate the additional diagonal parity data block that the geometry of the system requires. The system is suitable for an SSD array in which sequential disk readout is not required.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a method and apparatus for secure data storage in RAID memory devices and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to such a method and apparatus which conforms to the requirements of the RAID 6 specification for data recovery following two disk failures.
Raid is an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, and is a system for storing data on multiple disks in which redundancy of data storage between the disks ensures recovery of the data in the event of failure. This is achieved by combining multiple disk drive components into a logical unit, where data is distributed across the drives in one of several ways called RAID levels.
RAID is now used as an umbrella term for computer data storage schemes that can divide and replicate data among multiple physical disk drives. The terms disks and drives will be used interchangeably henceforth. The physical disks are said to be in a RAID array, which is accessed by the operating system as one single disk. The different schemes or architectures are named by the word RAID followed by a number (e.g., RAID 0, RAID 1). Each scheme provides a different balance between two key goals: increasing data reliability and increasing input/output performance.
The most basic form of RAID—a building block for the other levels but not used for data protection, is Raid 0, which has high performance but no redundancy. The data is spread evenly between N disks. RAID 0 gives maximum performance since data retrieval is carried out on all N disks in parallel. However each data item is stored exactly once so disk failure always loses some data.
RAID 1 requires mirroring of all the data. Capacity drops by 50% since all data is stored twice, but excellent performance is still achieved since the data is still spread between disks in the same way, allowing for parallel reads. RAID 1 can support failure of one of each pair of disks, however the price is the loss of half of the capacity. Although multiple disk failures can be tolerated, only one failure is possible per mirrored pair without loss of data.
In greater detail, RAID 1 is mirroring. Mirroring comprises writing each block of data to two disks, D0 and D1, and reconstructing a disk by copying its mirror disk upon failure. This method requires performing two disk writes per user write, and consumes an overhead of 100% in capacity. Its rebuild requires performing reads and writes in proportion to the size of the failed disk, without additional computation penalties. Additionally, reading data which resided on the failed disk while in degraded mode requires a single disk read, just as under a normal system operation.
In general, RAID-1 protects from single disk failure. It may protect from more than one failure if no two failed disks are part of the same pair, known as a "RAID group". RAID-1 may also be implemented in "n-way mirroring" mode to protect against any n−1 disk failures. An example is RAID 1.3 which introduced three way mirroring, so that any two disks could fail and all the data could still be recovered. The cost however is that there is only 33% utilization of the disks.
A requirement thus became apparent, to somehow develop a system that allowed for the system to recover all data after the failure of any disk at the cost of a more reasonable overhead, and as a result RAID 4 was developed.
RAID 4 uses a parity bit to allow data recovery following failure of a bit. In RAID 4 data is written over a series of N disks and then a parity bit is set on the N+1 disk. Thus if N is 9, then data is written to 9 disks, and on the tenth, a parity of the nine bits is written. If one disk fails the parity allows for recovery of the lost bit. The failure problem is solved without any major loss of capacity. The utilization rate is 90%. However the tenth disk has to be changed with every change of every single bit on any of the nine disks, thus causing a system bottleneck.
In greater detail, a RAID-4 group contains k data disks and a single parity disk. Each block i in the parity disk P contains the XOR of the blocks at location i in each of the data disks. Reconstructing a failed disk is done by computing the parity of the remaining k disks. The capacity overhead is 1/k. This method contains two types of user writes—full stripe writes known as "encode" and partial stripe modifications known as "update". When encoding a full stripe, an additional disk write must be performed for every k user writes, and k−1 XORs must be performed to calculate the parity. When modifying a single block in the stripe, two disk reads and two disk writes must be performed, as well as two XORs to compute the new parity value. The rebuild of a failed block requires reading k blocks, performing k−1 XORs, and writing the computed value. Reading data which resided on the failed disk while in degraded mode also requires k disk reads and k−1 XOR computations. RAID-4, like RAID-1, protects from a single disk failure.
RAID 5 solves the bottleneck problem of RAID 4 in that parity stripes are spread over all the disks. Thus, although some parity bit somewhere has to be changed with every single change in the data, the changes are spread over all the disks and no bottleneck develops.
However RAID 5 still only allows for a single disk failure.
In order to combine the multiple disk failure of RAID 1.3 with the high utilization rates of RAID 4 and 5, and in addition to avoid system bottlenecks, Raid 6 was specified to use an N+2 parity scheme that allows failure of two disks. RAID 6 defines block-level striping with double distributed parity and provides fault tolerance of two drive failures, so that the array continues to operate with up to two failed drives, irrespective of which two drives fail. Larger RAID disk groups become more practical, especially for high-availability systems. This becomes increasingly important as large-capacity drives lengthen the time needed to recover from the failure of a single drive. Following loss of a drive, single-parity RAID levels are as vulnerable to data loss as a RAID 0 array until the failed drive is replaced and its data rebuilt, but of course the larger the drive, the longer the rebuild takes, causing a large vulnerability interval. The double parity provided by RAID 6 gives time to rebuild the array without the data being at risk if a single additional drive fails before the rebuild is complete.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates a general scheme for RAID-6. RAID-6 is similar to RAID-4 and RAID-5, and can be seen as an extension of these schemes. The main difference is that RAID-6 schemes can tolerate up to two disk failures. The implementation of RAID-6 is not well defined, and several coding schemes are known. RAID-6 is herein defined as any N+2 coding scheme which tolerates double disk failure, while user data is kept in the clear. This additional requirement assures that user reads are not affected by the RAID scheme under normal system operation. The different possible coding schemes vary in performance with respect to various parameters and typical parameters are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1Raid 6 Parameters Prior Art.ParameterOptimal ValueCapacity2/kOverheadUpdate Overhead2 Writes3 Reads3 XORsRebuild Overheadk/2 Reads(1st disk failure)k − 1 XORsRebuild Overheadk/2 Reads(2nd disk failure)k − 1 XORsFailed Disks2Supported
With reference to Table 1, we now describe the main parameters used to measure such a RAID scheme, alongside their optimal values. The first parameter is capacity overhead. The optimal scheme includes two redundancy disks (which may or may not be parity based) for every k data disks, thus reaching a capacity overhead of 2/k. It should be noted, that based on statistical considerations of double disk failure, under a RAID-6 scheme k can easily be set to be twice as large as under RAID-5, thus keeping the same capacity overhead ratio.
When updating a certain block in a stripe, we are interested in the number of IOs required and the number of calculations that must be performed. The optimal is three reads, three writes and three XORs.
RAID-6 rebuild includes two different processes—rebuilding after one disk failure, and rebuilding after two disk failures. After a single disk failure, the optimal number of reads needed is k/2, as opposed to k reads in RAID-4. Such optimal performance requires codes which permit reading partial columns, by taking advantage of both redundancy blocks of the stripe, as described in greater detail hereinbelow. The minimal number of XORs required is k−1. After the second disk failure, rebuilding a failed block, on average, requires reading k/2 blocks, performing k−1 XORs, and writing the computed value. It should be noted that this does not imply that rebuilding a specific block can be done efficiently, since the rebuilding of one block may depend upon the rebuilding of a different block.
In order to prevent bottlenecks, RAID-6 may also be implemented in the manner of RAID-5, where redundancy information is spread on the various disks in a well-balanced manner.
The specification for RAID 6 does not specify how the data recovery is to be achieved and each storage manufacturer embodies RAID 6 in a different way.
Several RAID-6 schemes have been proposed and used in practice. One solution is to use the Reed Solomon error correction code, which is expensive to calculate.
Another possibility is with parity bits. N Data disks are supported by two redundancy disks p1 and p2, each one holding a different parity bit. Again, if all the parity bits are on the same two disks then the bottleneck becomes a problem. However the problem can be solved by use of distributed parity stripes over N+2 disks as was specified in RAID 5.
The following describes two such coding schemes which are based on parity calculations of rows and diagonals in a matrix of blocks. These two codes are known as Even/Odd and RDP. They both add a second parity disk, labeled Q, which contains blocks that hold the parity of diagonals of the data blocks. P, as before, contains blocks that hold the parities of rows of blocks. Note that in both schemes, it is advantageous to work with a block size which is smaller than the native page size, for the examples in this section we assume the native page size is 4 KB, and that the block size is 1 KB. Each stripe contains four rows, and thus the four blocks present on each disk form a single native page. It is assumed that pages are read and written using a single disk operation.

Method and system for storing data in raid memory devices


A male coupler for a guidewire, the guidewire having a hollow walled tube, the male coupler comprising a connector section, coupled with the guidewire, a portion of the connector section having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the hollow tube, at least one conducting ring coupled with the connector section where the diameter of the connector section is smaller the diameter of the guidewire, wherein the diameter of connector section and the at least one conducting ring substantially equals the diameter of the guidewire.

Guidewires are employed in noninvasive operations, for example, to enable a physician to navigate to a desired location within the lumen of the body of a patient, and then insert a catheter to the desired location, with the aid of the guidewire. Such guidewires are known in the art. One type of guidewire includes a sensor positioned in its tip. The sensor is connected with a pair of wires which pass along the guidewire. The wires are connected to a male connector coupled with the guidewire. The male connector connects with a female connector. The female connector is connected to medical equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,052 to Akerfeldt et al., entitled "Guide Wire Having a Male Connector" is directed towards a guidewire which includes a corewire. Electrical leads are connected to the sensor at the distal end of the guidewire. The electrical leads extend along the length of the corewire over a thin flexible sheet partially wrapped around the corewire. The flexible sheet has a wider portion at the proximal end of the guidewire. The electrical leads connect to conductive strips formed on the wider portion of the flexible sheet. The electrical leads and the conductive strips form the general shape of "a flag pole with a flag." The wide portion of the flexible sheet, with the conductive strips are wrapped around the proximal end of the corewire, thereby forming cylindrical shaped contacts.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,336, to Akerfeldt, entitled "Female so Connector" is directed towards a female connector for a guidewire including an insulating hollow housing containing three hollow contact members having the shape of a cylinder. The housing includes an opening for inserting a male connector of a guidewire and three contact seats. The housing further includes means for securing a male connector of a guidewire in the female connector. The hollow contact members are disposed on the contact seats. An interface cable is connected to the contact members. A male connector is inserted into the opening of the housing and is secured in place by the means for securing. The contact members provide electrical contact with the male connector.


An automated funds management system and in particular a system and a method to at least ensure the payment of guaranteed minimum income benefit (“GMIB”) based on the automated sector based allocation of funds in a variable annuity. A contract holder's profile data is evaluated and a profile score is computed based on the evaluated profile data. The GMIB payment stream value is computed based on the available profile data and the assigned profile score. An appropriate asset class percentage allocation of contract holder funds is recommended based on the assigned profile score and the computed GMIB payment stream value. Appropriate subaccounts are identified based on the defined asset class percentage allocation of contract holder funds, GMIB payment stream value, and/or profile score. The changes in the value of at least one market index are captured and based on a pre-determined change in the value of at least one market index, at least a portion of the invested contract holder funds are reallocated into relatively better performing market sector based subaccounts.

Annuities are tax-deferred savings vehicles packaged as an insurance product. They are used to provide periodic, regular payments to an investor, who is alternatively known as the contract holder. Annuities are majorly of two types: fixed annuities and variable annuities. In a variable annuity, the initial investment is allocated to subaccounts that are then invested in stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit and the like depending upon the type of subaccount chosen. Usually, the subaccount is selected based on the level of risk and return desired from the annuity. The account value of a variable annuity will vary depending on the performance of the investment options (i.e., the subaccounts) the contract holder has chosen. Consequently, the amount of the benefit payments to the contract holder can vary depending on the performance of the subaccount investments. Insurance companies offer riders for sale that if purchased by the contract holder, will guarantee a minimum level of benefit payment (e.g., a percentage of the invested amount such as 5% or 6%) as long as the other conditions of the annuity contract are followed by the contract holder (e.g., only 5% is withdrawn in a contract year).
In a scenario in which the performance trend of the financial markets is generally positive, it is likely the value of investment options in the subaccounts of the variable annuity will appreciate, and the contract holder will get good return on the invested amount. However, in a down-market scenario where the contract holder has not purchased a guarantee-bearing rider, the account value of the investment options can, absent adjustments, diminish and thereby depredate the account value presenting the risk that the contract holder can lose the principal investment made into a variable annuity.
The known methods and systems for reducing the downside investment risk involved in purchasing a variable annuity product focus mainly on protecting the principal investment by making corrective adjustments to the subaccount investments only after the account value has diminished during negative market conditions. By monitoring the depreciation of the variable annuity's overall account value to determine when to make corrective adjustments during negative market conditions, these known methods and systems manage only the magnitude of the loss in the investment. That is, in most cases these known methods and systems make adjustments toward a more conservative or passive investment portfolio comprising mostly of bonds, certificate deposits, fixed deposits that provide for fixed and/or lower rate of return during negative market conditions.
Other known methods and systems provide for adjustments within the investment portfolio of the variable annuity in order to ensure payment of the Guaranteed Minimum Income Benefit ("GMIB") amount at the expense of other goals of the investment product. For example, an investment product may include a strategy whereby the initial investment is split with the intention of having a set of subaccounts designated for ensuring the payment to the contract holder of a benefit stream and a second set of subaccounts the objective of which is to provide a benefit to designated beneficiaries. However, in down markets, changes are made to the investments in the portfolio to the advantage of the first set of subaccounts when the account value of the annuity falls below the level required to meet the guaranty to the contract holder or the account value falls below a certain defined threshold level. In summary, these methods and systems make changes to the investment portfolios that are entirely dependent on the account value of the variable annuity product. Thus, in spite of trending negative market conditions, the corrective adjustments are not timely actuated within the account portfolio in order to ensure safety of the contract holder funds until after there is an actual, realizable downward movement of the account value.
In certain other scenarios manual intervention is required by the insurance company and/or the financial representative associated with the investment portfolio in order to initiate corrective adjustments when notice is taken that the account value of the variable annuity product is below the amount required to support the GMIB payment stream and/or has diminished below a certain, defined threshold level. That is, the insurance company or the contract owner's financial representative helps the contract holder seek safety for the contract holder's account value by entering manually the transactions required to move the funds into different subaccount investments. The foregoing situation leads to the immediate realization of a financial loss for the contract holder, because the corrective adjustments are initiated only after the account value of the variable annuity product has diminished in value.
It is not uncommon, during negative market conditions, for the market experts and wealth managers to recommend that an investor stay invested in a given portfolio mix in the hope that the market sectors in which the investor's funds have been invested will recover from a current downturn. Further, during positive market conditions, typical recommendations are made to stay invested in the exposed portfolio to further benefit from the market boom. Many times the aforementioned investment recommendations are made without accounting for risk factors in a growing portfolio or even the believed-to-be safer haven of the more conservative portfolio. We believe a better method and system can be designed to account for specific sectors that are doing comparatively better than those sectors in which the contract holder funds are currently invested or to which they have been moved in down-market conditions.
Moreover, as the contract holder approaches retirement, traditional advice involves the recommendation to move the contract holder's investments toward passive funds for management via a conservative portfolio for more reliable, short-term returns. This passive investment strategy, while reliable over time, can preclude the contract holder from taking advantage of sustained positive market conditions. Furthermore, where the contract holder has not been able to achieve critical financial goals (e.g., buying a house in a more desirable location, funding a child's education) prior to retirement due to sustained negative market conditions, loss of income and the like, such strategies force the contract holder to compromise on the dollar and time value one can attribute in realizing the pending financial goals.
The above-described methods and systems depend on fluctuations in the account value of the variable annuity as the trigger to make adjustments to the underlying investments to mitigate, and not avoid, the level of depreciation in the account value of the variable annuity product. Moreover, the adjustments often take place only when the account value of the variable annuity product has drastically diminished to a level below that which is required to support the GMIB payment stream.
In such existing, account-value-dependent methods and systems, the changes to the investment portfolio are not directly related to the increase or decrease in the value of a market index. The known methods and systems do not account for and take advantage of the upward or downward trends in a particular market sector and/or market indices in order to proactively safeguard, or provide benefit to, the account value of the variable annuity product.
Accordingly, the present disclosure describes an automated funds management system and method, and, in particular, a system and method for ensuring the payment of a guaranteed benefit stream based on the automated, sector-based allocation of funds in a variable annuity.

System and method for automated funds management


A flame-retardant thermoplastic elastomer compound is disclosed having polyphenylene ether, a hydrogenated styrene block copolymer, at least one solid non-halogenated phosphorus containing flame retardant, and a nucleated olefinic polymer. The compound has a before-aging tensile elongation of >200% and an after-aging tensile elongation residual of at least 75%, according to the UL 62 test, which makes it useful as an insulation layer, a jacketing layer, or both for protected electrical lines such as alternating current wire and cable products, accessory cables, and variety of injection molded electrical or electronic parts.

The world of polymers has progressed rapidly to transform material science from wood and metals of the 19th Century to the use of thermoset polymers of the mid-20th Century to the use of thermoplastic polymers of later 20th Century.
Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) combine the benefits of elastomeric properties of thermoset polymers, such as vulcanized rubber, with the processing properties of thermoplastic polymers.
Thermoplastic elastomers presently are prepared from fossil-fuel derived polymer resins, such as styrene block copolymers (SBCs), thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPV), thermoplastic olefins (TPO), copolyesters (COPE), thermoplastic urethanes (TPU), copolyamide (COPA), and most recently olefin block copolymers (OBCs).
Recently thermoplastic elastomers have included polyphenylene ether (PPE). Two examples are found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,838,503 (Yin et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,465 (Sato). But the formulations disclosed in these two patents apparently do not have sufficient elongation to satisfy Underwriters' Laboratory Test 62 (UL 62), which requires, among other things, more than 200% tensile elongation before aging and retention of more than 75% of that tensile elongation after aging at 121° C. for 168 hours or preferably at 136° C. for 168 hours.

Flame retardant thermoplastic elastomers


A premanufactured dental model base, and method, for supporting a cast dental model. The dental model base may be selectively connected to an articulator attachment plate which is adaptable for connecting the dental model base to a metal articulator. The same dental model base, at a user's option, may also be connected to a disposable articulator through a groove in the base that engages a disposable articulator tongue or by connecting a disposable articulator ball directly to a socket in the base. Thus, the dental model base may be conveniently used with either a metal articulator or a disposable articulator. In one embodiment, a concave socket at one end of the dental model base may engage an articulator ball or may engage the articulator attachment plate such that the attachment plate is detachably connected to the dental model base.

This invention relates generally to a dental model base assembly and more particularly to such an assembly in which a premanufactured dental base may, at the option of a technician, be attached either to a disposable dental articulator or to a metal articulator.
Damaged teeth may be repaired or replaced by crowns, bridge inlays or other common dental prosthesis. A successful repair requires accurate alignment and visual uniformity of the repaired tooth with the patient's other teeth. Typically, a model is made of the patient's teeth and the prosthesis is fitted to the model and adjusted to achieve proper alignment and visual uniformity.
The model is typically formed by having a patient bite into a pliant casting material which cures to create a mold cavity having a negative impression of the patient's teeth and gums. The mold can be of all or any portion of the patient's gum line. A castable material is then poured into the negative impression to create a stone replica or dental model of the patient's teeth and gums.
To facilitate prosthesis development, the replica of the damaged tooth or teeth is severed from the remainder of the dental model. In one prior art system, severability is achieved by positioning the knurled end of a tapered dowel pin in the uncured stone material in correspondence with the damaged tooth or teeth. The dowel pin or pins must be carefully aligned and held in position which requires skill and time. Once the casting of the gum and teeth has hardened, the cured dental model is positioned adjacent an uncured dental model base which is held in a dental base mold. The tapered portion of the dowel pins protruding from the dental model are positioned in the uncured dental model base. To prevent bonding of the damaged tooth model with the dental model base, wax may be placed between the base and the dental model and around the tapered portion of the dowel pins associated with the damaged tooth model.
Once the dental model base has cured, a saw cut on each side of the damaged tooth model is made down to the dental model base which allows removal of the damaged tooth model and the attached dowel from the rest of the dental model.
After the damaged tooth model is removed, the prosthesis can be fitted and adjusted without the spacial limitations encountered when the damaged tooth model is joined to the full dental model. After the prosthesis is made and attached to the dental model segment, the tapered dowel attached to the dental model segment is guided into its respective aperture in the dental model base which guides the dental model segment to its position in the dental model. Alignment and visual conformity are then assessed.
Alignment is ascertained by evaluating the registration of the repaired tooth with the dental model of the patient's opposing teeth. This is achieved by connecting the upper and lower dental model to an articulator. If the prosthesis is out of alignment or does not visually conform to the rest of the patient's teeth, the dental model segment containing the damaged tooth can be removed, adjusted and returned to the dental model base. This process is repeated until proper alignment and visual conformity is achieved. Thus, the model of the damaged tooth may be removed and inserted into the base repeatedly. This repeated removal and reinsertion can damage the fit of the tapered portion of the dowel pin within the cast dental model base which decreases the accuracy of the alignment procedure.
Several plastic dental model bases exist. Examples are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,489. These plastic bases facilitate mounting a cast dental model and overcome some of the difficulties inherent in cast dental model bases. However, plastic bases must also be attached to articulators.
The Vertex® articulator is one disposable articulator typically used to check the alignment of repaired teeth. The Vertex® articulator has a ball and socket joint that permits alignment of the articulator with dental model bases supporting a variety of different dental models. The Vertex® articulator socket member is formed with a tongue opposite the socket. The tongue is typically glued to a slot in the rear portion of the cast dental model bases. The Vertex® articulator may also be glued to slots formed in plastic dental model bases. An example is depicted in FIG. 9 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,489.
Other common articulators are metal and the dental model is attached semi-permanently by applying a bonding agent, such as plaster, to the dental model base and the articulator. An example is depicted in FIG. 15 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,489. While metal articulators may be separated at the hinge, protruding portions of the articulator obstruct access to the dental model from certain directions. A technician may prefer using one type of articulator in certain circumstances and the other when the circumstances are different.


A hot stamp material is provided which includes a base; an inner release layer; an intermediate layer composed at least one gold and silver coating and an outer adhesive layer composed of edible material, wherein the inner release layer together with the intermediate layer and the outer layer are laminated on the base. According to a feature of the present invention, the hot stamp material can further include an additional color layer. The color layer may interposed between the inner release layer and the intermediate layer or between the intermediate layer and the outer adhesive layer or on both sides of the intermediate layer.

The present invention is directed to a hot stamp material, which is useful for hot stamping foods. The hot stamp material can also be used for hot stamping beverages and other liquid material by means of a water-soluble edible film stamped with the hot stamp material.
Previously described hot stamp materials which utilize one of gold and silver material include a base film, a release layer, a film of gold or silver, which is vapor-deposited on the base film and an adhesive layer, which are sequentially laminated.
Conventional hot stamping methods encompass stamping a substrate with the hot stamp material, such that the gold or silver film is generally released from the base film. The release of the gold or silver film, in turn, causes the adhesive layer, which is generally coated on the gold or silver film, to undergo a conformational change. The resulting conformational change, in turn, enables the adhesive layer to effectively attach the gold or silver film to the underlying substrate. The gold or silver film is thus hot-stamped.
However, conventional hot stamps can not be used to hot stamp foods and beverages, due, in part, to the toxicity of the adhesive layer. Accordingly, the inherent toxicity of the adhesive layer, makes conventional hot stamping material uneatable and toxic to mammals including humans. As such, prior art hot stamp materials are not useful for hot stamping edible items for consumption by mammals including humans, such as, food and beverages. The toxicity of previously described adhesive layers included in conventional hot stamp materials derives from the various thermoplastic synthetic resins and organic solvents, which are essential components of conventional hot stamping materials.
Accordingly, conventional hot stamping materials can not be used to hot stamp intricate gold or silver prints or designs onto edible items.
In recent years, characters, patterns or designs composed of gold etc. have found widespread use in decorating various substrates. The increased demand for decorative hot stamps useful for decorating edible substrates has created a need for a hot stamp material useful for decorating edible food items including beverages.
Previous attempts at stamping intricate designs and patterns composed of gold and silver onto edible items have so far been unsuccessful. One such method for hot stamping intricate characters, patterns and designs onto edible items, e.g., beverages, proposes cutting the design of interest by means of a sharp blade or object from a sheet of beaten or rolled gold foil. This step is then followed by floating the design in a beverage.
Unfortunately, this method is both costly and labor intensive. Due to the extensive manual labor involved in practicing this method, the overall cost of hot stamping edible items is greatly increased with an attendant decrease in the overall production of the desired method.
The prior art method is also not suitable to quickly form complex or small and fine characters, patterns or designs. Additionally, the prior art method is also unsuitable for mass production. The present invention aims to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Method for producing imprinted edible material


A filter assembly configured to be incorporated into an exhaust treatment device, the filter assembly comprising: a plurality of channel frames secured to each other, each channel frame defining a perimeter for supporting a filter element, the perimeter surrounding a portion of the filter element.

The present invention relates to particulate filters for diesel exhaust systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to particulate filter assemblies that can be incorporated into diesel exhaust treatment devices.
Because regulatory agencies have recently mandated the reduction of particulate emissions in diesel engines, there has been increased activity in the development of diesel particulate filters, that is, exhaust emission filters for diesel engines. The role of a typical diesel particulate filter is to trap and remove the particulate components of the diesel exhaust stream, which include diesel soot and aerosols such as ash particulates, metallic abrasion particles, sulfates, and silicates, to prevent their discharge from the tailpipe.
Diesel particulate filters (DPF) should provide long-term operation without diminishing the filtration efficiency of the filter and performance of the engine. Factors related to the performance of diesel particulate filters include but are not limited to high temperatures (e.g., up to 1400° C.), capability to store soot and ash, pressure loss, low thermal mass, stability, and durability. In addition, manufacturing costs and assembly volume are important considerations.
The filtration is achieved by a porous structure (e.g., filter media) that allows transmission of the fluid phase but stops or captures diesel particulate matter larger than a threshold particle size. Variations in the filter's efficiency are a function of the pore size of the filter media and particle size of the diesel particulate matter thus, every filter has a finite capacity, and as the flow through a diesel particulate filter decreases exhaust backpressure increases, which in some instances is undesirable. Due to the low bulk density of diesel particulates, diesel particulate filters can quickly accumulate load on the engine, the trapped particulate material is burned from the filter by continuous or periodic oxidation in the process of regeneration.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a filter assembly that can vary in geometry and is capable of having accumulated particles removed therefrom.


An electrical connector having a plurality of connector units each having a pair of columns of edge coupled differential signal pairs separated by a ground shield terminal. The ground shield terminals each face a different signal pair of terminals in an adjacent column. Notwithstanding the different size and configurations of the ground and signal terminals, the terminals have mounting tail portions that are disposed in a uniform array different from the arrangement of the body portions of the terminals of the connector unit. The mounting tail portions are of a reduced length which benefit the electrical performance of the connector where it meets its supporting circuit board.

The present invention relates generally to high speed connectors, and more particularly to high speed backplane connectors, with reduced crosstalk and improved performance.
High speed connectors are used in many data transmission applications particularly in the telecommunications industry. Signal integrity is an important concern in the area of high speed and data transmission for components need to reliably transmit data signals. The high speed data transmission market has also been driving toward reduced size components and increased signal density.
High speed data transmission is utilized in telecommunications to transmit data received from a data storage reservoir or a component transmitter and such transmission most commonly occurs in routers and servers. As the trend of the industry drives toward reduced size, the signal terminals in high speed connectors must be reduced in size and to accomplish any significant reduction in size, the terminals of the connectors must be spaced closer together. As signal terminal are positioned closer together, signal interference occurs between closely spaced signal terminals especially between pairs of adjacent differential signal terminals. This is referred to in the art as crosstalk and it occurs when the electrical fields of signal terminals abut each other and intermix. At high speeds the signal of one differential signal pair may influence and thereby cross-couple to an adjacent or nearby differential signal pair. This affects signal integrity of the entire signal transmission system. The reduction of crosstalk in high speed data systems is a key goal in the design of high speed connectors.
Previously, reduction of crosstalk was accomplished primarily by the use of shields positioned between adjacent sets of differential signal terminals. These shields were relatively large metal plates that act as an electrical reference point, or barrier, between rows or columns of differential signal terminals. These shields add significant cost to the connector and also increase the size of the connector. The shields may act as large capacitive plates to increase the coupling of the connector and thereby lower the impedance of the connector system. If the impedance is lowered because of the shields, care must be taken to ensure that it does not exceed or fall below a desired value at that location in the connector system. The use of shields to reduce crosstalk in a connector system requires the system designer to take into account their effect on impedance and their effect on the size of the connector.
Some have tried to eliminate the use of shields and rely upon individual ground terminals that are identical in shape and dimension to that of the differential signal terminals with which they are associated. However, the use of ground terminals the same size as the signal terminals leads to problems in coupling which may drive up the system impedance. The use of ground terminals similarly sized to that of the signal terminals requires careful consideration to spacing of all the terminals of the connector system throughout the length of the terminals. In the mating interface of high speed connector, impedance and crosstalk may be controlled due to the large amounts of metal that both sets of contacts present. It becomes difficult to match the impedance within the body of the connector and along the body portions of the terminals in that the terminal body portions have different configurations and spacing than do the contact portions of the terminals.
Notwithstanding the problems associated with the design of the terminals in high-speed connectors, the terminal launch area, i.e., the tail portions of the connector terminals, remains a concern to high speed connector designers, for in order to obtain maximum performance from a press fit mounting pin, the pin must be of a desired length and often takes up most if not all of the depth of the circuit board via into which it is inserted. These pins, when large in number, require a large press-in force. Large press-in forces may inadvertently lead to damage of the terminal tails or other parts of the connector.
The present invention is therefore directed to a high speed connector that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and which uses extremely short length compliant pins as mounting portions of its connector terminals.

Short length compliant pin, particularly suitable with backplane connectors


A method operating a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) memory can be provided by accessing specified training parameters used to train a Deep Neural Network (DNN) using a GPU with a local GPU memory, the specified training parameters including at least a specified batch size of samples configured to train the DNN. A sub-batch size of the samples can be defined that is less than or equal to the specified batch size of samples in response to determining that an available size of the local GPU memory is insufficient to store all data associated with training the DNN using one batch of the samples. Instructions configured to train the DNN using the sub-batch size can be defined so that an accuracy of the DNN trained using the sub-batch size is about equal to an accuracy of the DNN trained using the specified batch size of the samples.

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have shown great promise in numerous machine learning applications, such as image processing, object detection, speech recognition, natural language processing. A variety of DNNs have been developed (e.g., VGG-Net, GoogLeNet, U-Net, residual networks (ResNet), fully convolutional networks (FCN), etc.), that target different applications. A number of software frameworks have also been developed to implement deep learning, e.g., Caffe, Tensor-Flow, Theano, Torch, etc., which have greatly facilitated the development and applications of DNNs.
Studies have demonstrated that increasing the scale of neural networks (NNs) can significantly improve the accuracy of NN results. These results have largely promoted the investigation of scaling up NNs. Some DNNs have hundreds of or even over 1000 layers. Such large-scale DNNs have raised significant challenges on conducting DNN training efficiency. Thanks to the tremendous computational efficiency offered by graphics processing units (GPUs), training large-scale DNNs has become feasible in recent years. Nowadays, almost all the existing deep learning frameworks support DNN training on GPUs, by invoking GPU libraries such as cuBLAS and cuDNN based on the compute unified device architecture (CUDA).
Although the computational performance of current GPUs has been increasing steadily, the GPU memory size can still be a major obstacle which may restrict the maximum scale of DNNs that can be trained on GPUs. During DNN training weights, activations, temporary data, and any workspace in the GPU memory, pose a high memory usage requirement. The memory usage of state-of-the-art DNNs can easily reach tens of or even over 100 gigabytes, which greatly exceed the memory size of current high-end GPUs. If a DNN cannot fit into the given GPUs' memory, usually one has to reduce the scale of the network (e.g., using a network with fewer layers and/or parameters), which can cause undesirable accuracy loss.
A number of approaches have been investigated to reduce memory usage for DNN training: network pruning, precision reduction, output re-computation, static memory allocation, batch partitioning, and out-of-core training. Among these, network pruning and precision reduction can lead to accuracy loss, and output re-computation can lead to high performance (i.e., training time) degradation. The last three approaches do not incur any accuracy loss, where out-of-core training offers higher memory usage reduction than static memory allocation. Following the idea of out-of-core training, NVIDIA recently proposed vDNN, where data that are not being used are offloaded to the host memory, and are dynamically prefetched into GPU memory when required. vDNN does not incur any accuracy loss, but is rather brute-force (simply offloading the outputs of all layers or all convolutional layers). Batch partitioning is very efficient for memory usage reduction, but existing DNN frameworks which support batch partitioning just leave the setting of the partitioning to users, which cannot guarantee the best partitioning.

Methods of operating a graphics processing unit (GPU) to train a deep neural network using a GPU local memory and related articles of manufacture


Selecting one of a plurality of direct inward dialing numbers for dialing an international number preceded by a direct inward dialing number is disclosed. A destination phone number to be dialed by a wireless device is initially received at the wireless device. It is then determined that the destination phone number is an international destination phone number. In response to the determination that the destination phone number is an international destination phone number, one direct inward dialing number is selected from among a plurality of direct inward dialing numbers. The selected one direct inward dialing number connects the wireless device to a server. Next, the wireless device dials the one selected direct inward dialing number and determines that a connection between the wireless device and the server has been established. Finally, the international destination phone number is forwarded to the server.

Calling cards and international cellular calling plans typically require an international caller to dial a separate phone number, such as a local or toll-free phone number, before dialing an international phone number. These local or toll-free phone numbers provide a less costly method to place international phone calls by connecting callers to an exchange that can subsequently connect the caller to a destination associated with the desired international phone number. However, reliance on a single direct local or toll-free phone number can cause congestion at the corresponding exchange, thus preventing the caller from being able to complete the international call or resulting in a low quality connection.
Therefore, a new method and system for utilizing direct inward dialing numbers to connect the wireless device to the destination associated with the international telephone number to increase the likelihood of the international caller successfully connecting to the international destination is needed.

Device and process for selecting one of a plurality of direct inward dialing numbers


A gyrostabilizer system that counteracts the natural rolling motion of a small boat or vessel. The invention constitutes an improvement in prior art systems of this type in that the system weighs less because it has a much lighter rotor made of composite materials spinning at much higher speeds. The gyrostabilizer system includes a lightweight rotor spinning at very high speeds to attain a large angular momentum. The mass of the rotor is concentrated away from the spin axis of the rotor to maximize angular momentum while minimizing weight. The rotor is mounted in a frame that, in turn, is mounted on gimbals so that the frame can be rotated about an axis that is normal to the longitudinal roll axis of the vessel. When the rotor is rotated about the gimbals, a torque is created that opposes the torque created by the sea and reduces the rolling motion of the vessel. The rotor may be mounted in an evacuated chamber to reduce air drag. Rotation of the rotor frame around the gimbal axis is controlled by an active servo system using information provided by roll angular position and angular velocity sensors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and devices for stabilizing boats and small ships. More particularly, the present invention relates to gyroscopic stabilizers positioned in boats and configured to counteract rolling motion caused by waves and ship wakes. The gyroscopic stabilizer of the present invention is an active stabilization device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A rolling boat is uncomfortable and can cause people and animals to experience motion sickness. A device that can create an anti-roll torque can be used to oppose this motion. The difficulty with creating such a device is that a boat is not resting on or in a solid medium that can be used as a base to create an anti-rolling moment. One solution to this problem is to use a large gyroscope to stabilize the boat. A gyroscope is a rotor spinning at a high speed around its spin axis, mounted in a frame that can be moved as the user wishes. When the spinning wheel is turned around an axis (gimbal axis) that is at right angles to its spin axis, a torque is generated around a third axis that is perpendicular to both the spin axis and the turning axis. A gyrostabilizer creates a torque or moment that reduces rolling motion. The gyrostabilizer has a rotor whose spin axis is nominally vertical. The rotor frame is mounted on gimbals so that the rotor can rotate about a transverse, side-to-side axis, but the frame is fastened to the vessel so that the system is constrained to roll from side to side with the boat. With proper selection of the spin and gimbal axes, a torque can be created to oppose roll motion.
Gyroscopic stabilizers (gyrostabilizers) were first used to stabilize very large ships and yachts almost a century ago, and their ability to resist rolling motion (side to side rotation) is well understood. In 1913, the Sperry Gyroscope Company installed a 5-ton gyrostabilizer on the USS Worden, a 700-ton destroyer. Although the device performed as expected, the Navy stopped installing gyrostabilizers at the onset of WW I. Some gyrostabilizers were installed on private yachts in the first part of the 20th century, but other methods of stabilization supplanted gyrostabilizers in the yacht market.
The heart of a gyrostabilizer is a rotor spinning at high speeds. The rotor has three important characteristics:
Weight. The rotor is the heaviest component in the gyrostabilizer machine.
Angular Momentum. The angular (spinning) momentum of the rotor determines its ability to stabilize a yacht or small craft
Kinetic Energy. The kinetic energy stored in the spinning rotor determines how long it takes to start and stop the machine.
The moment of inertia of the rotor depends on both its mass and its mass distribution. The farther mass is located from the spin axis, the higher the moment of inertia that results from the mass. The more the mass of rotor is distributed toward the outer rim of the wheel, the higher the ratio of moment of inertia to its mass.The angular momentum of the rotor is the rotor's moment of inertia multiplied by its angular speed, and a rotor with high angular momentum can create a large anti-rolling torque. To create a lightweight rotor with a high angular momentum, the designer has to rotate it at high speeds.The kinetic energy of a spinning rotor is proportional to its moment of inertia and to the square of its speed. The time required to start or stop the rotor is roughly proportional to its full-speed energy, or to the square of its rotation rate.
When a gyroscope is turned around an axis, called the gimbal axis, which is approximately at right angles to its spin axis, it creates a torque around a third axis, orthogonal to the first two. To create an anti-rolling gyrostabilizer, the spin axis is nominally vertical, and the spinning rotor is tipped forward or backwards on a gimbal axis in the boat. The result is a torque orthogonal to both the spin axis and the gimbal axis. Nominally this torque is aligned with the boat's roll axis, and therefore can be utilized as an anti-rolling torque. The strength of this torque depends on the angle formed by the spin axis and the gimbal axis. Assuming that the boat rotation is primarily around its roll axis, and that rotation around the boat's pitch axis is small enough to be ignored, as the tip angle increases, the included angle decreases and the anti-rolling torque decreases. Accordingly, the maximum anti-rolling restoring torque will be limited to the based on maximum gimbal angles of plus or minus ninety-degrees.
Summarizing the tradeoffs described above:
A high-speed rotor can be lighter than a low-speed rotor.
Low speed rotors can startup and shutdown using less power than high-speed rotors.
The minimum moment of inertia of the rotor is determined by the maximum anti-roll torque required by the boat. This is determined by the size of the boat and the size of the waves or wakes.
Apart from the very large scale passive gyrostabilizer developed by Sperry for Navy vessels of World War I, systems designed to stabilize vessels usually rely upon actuated appendages, such as fins, interceptors or submerged foils, to counteract the rolling effects caused by waves and wakes. Fins, interceptors, and foils all depend on significant forward motion for their anti-roll forces, and are inefficient at low speeds. Prior gyroscope-related anti-rolling systems have either been too massive for relatively smaller vessels, such as yachts, or have been confined to use as a sensing system in combination with a structural element or elements that actually do the stabilizing. There is presently an unfilled need for an effective stabilization system deployable in boats and small ships, especially boats and small ships that are stationary or moving at low speeds.


Systems and methods are provided for obtaining and providing one or more resources for an investigation to be conducted remotely from a server. Resources needed to conduct an investigation may include one or more portions of a database and/or one or more functionalities of a data analysis platform. Based on the investigation to be conducted (e.g., type of investigation, location of investigation, personnel involved, etc.), a computing system may obtain different amounts/types of resources from the server. The investigation may be conducted via a web application that runs on the computing system. The web application may access the resources obtained from the server. The results of the investigation may be sent by the computing system to the server. The computing system may receive updates from the server. The computing system may act as a server for other remote systems that are conducting investigations.

Under conventional approaches, a client application for conducting investigations may be deployed on a mobile device. The client application may need to access resources hosted on a server to conduct the investigation. If the connection between the client application and the server is lost or poor, the user may be unable to obtain the resources necessary to conduct the investigation. As a result, a user's ability to conduct the investigation may be limited by the availability of sufficient connection/bandwidth between the client application and the server.

Conducting investigations under limited connectivity


A bit error rate is improved and, at the same time, an aging change due to thermal fluctuation is decreased. In one embodiment, a magnetic recording medium has first, second, third, and fourth magnetic layers stacked over the underlayer film on a substrate. The product (Brt2) of the residual magnetic flux density and film thickness of the second magnetic layer is smaller than the product (Brt3) of the residual magnetic flux density and film thickness of the third magnetic layer. The second magnetic layer has a thickness larger than that of the third magnetic layer and is anti-ferromagnetically coupled with the first magnetic layer by way of the first non-magnetic intermediate layer. The fourth magnetic layer is formed by way of a second non-magnetic intermediate layer above the third magnetic layer. The product (Brt4) of the residual magnetic flux density and film thickness of the fourth magnetic layer is from about 47% to 52% of the product (Brt_total) of the residual magnetic flux density and film thickness of the entire magnetic layers in a state of residual magnetization with the external magnetic field removed.

The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium capable of recording a great amount of information and, more in particular, it relates to a magnetic recording medium suitable for high-density magnetic recording.
There has been an increasing demand for magnetic storage apparatus typically represented by magnetic disk apparatus with a greater capacity. In order to cope with the demand, a development has been required for a magnetic head with high sensitivity and a recording medium capable of obtaining high signal output-to-noise ratio (S/N).
Generally, a recording medium comprises a first underlayer referred to as a seed layer formed over a substrate, a second underlayer of a body-centered cubic structure comprising a chromium alloy, a magnetic layer and a protective layer comprising carbon as a main component. An alloy having a hexagonal close-packed structure comprising cobalt as a main component is used for the magnetic layer.
To improve S/N, it is effective to crystallographically orient a magnetic layer such that the (11.0) plane or (10.0) plane is substantially in parallel with the surface of a substrate and direct the c-axis of the hexagonal close packed structure as an axis of easy magnetization in the direction within the plane of the film. It is known that the crystallographic orientation of the magnetic layer can be controlled by the seed layer and such orientation can be obtained by using tantalum (Ta) or W—Co alloy, etc. for the seed layer. Further, it has been known that the magnetic characteristic in the circumferential direction can be improved by applying mechanical texturing to the surface of the substrate and introducing magnetic anisotropy in the circumferential direction.
For the improvement of S/N, it is effective to adopt a multi-layered structure for the magnetic layer, refine the crystal grain size or decrease Brt which is a product of the residual magnetic flux density Br and the film thickness (t) of a magnetic layer. Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-56923) proposes a magnetic recording medium in which an underlayer is disposed on a substrate. The document describes that a stacked magnetic film comprising at least two magnetic layers of different compositions in contact with each other is disposed on the underlayer as a multi-layered structure by way of a non-magnetic layer such as one made of ruthenium. It further proposes a magnetic recording medium including an underlayer over a substrate and a magnetic recording layer formed thereabove in which the magnetic recording layer has a multi-layered structure vertically separated by an intermediate layer. The intermediate layer is formed of one of materials selected from the group consisting of Ru, Rh, Ir, and alloys thereof selected from the range of from 0.2 to 0.4 nm and from 1.0 to 1.7 nm, and the magnetization directions of the magnetic recording layers separated vertically by the intermediate layer are in parallel with each other. Use of the magnetic recording medium described above provides a magnetic recording medium having a magnetic recording layer of a multi-layered structure intended for reducing noise while maintaining magnetic characteristic having thermal stability.
Since an extreme miniaturization of the crystal grains used for the magnetic recording layer or large reduction of the Brt results in the degradation of the thermal stability, the reduction of noise is limited. In recent years, an anti-ferromagnetically coupled (AFC) medium to be described later has been proposed as a technique capable of compatibilizing the thermal stability and the noise reduction. This is a dual layered structure of two anti-ferromagnetically coupled magnetic layers by way of an Ru intermediate layer which can set the Brt lower while maintaining the thickness of the large ferromagnetic film as it is, compared with a medium comprising a single layered magnetic layer. Accordingly, this could reduce the medium noise while maintaining the thermal stability.
Further, with an aim of providing a magnetic recording medium which is favorable in the thermal fluctuation characteristic (thermal stability) and favorable in the read/write characteristic such as coercivity squareness (S), pulse width, overwrite characteristic, medium noise (S/N ratio), etc. Patent Document 2, (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-355716) for example, proposes a magnetic recording medium. This magnetic recording medium comprises an underlayer, a first magnetic layer, a first intermediate layer, a second magnetic layer, a second intermediate layer, a third magnetic layer, a protective layer, and a lubricant layer which are formed in this order above the substrate. In addition, each of the third magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer comprises a cobalt (Co)-based alloy containing at least platinum (Pt), chromium (Cr), and boron (B). The concentration of platinum contained in the second magnetic layer is less than the concentration of platinum contained in the third magnetic layer and, at the same time, platinum contained in the third magnetic layer is 15 at. % or less. The concentration of chromium contained in the third magnetic layer is 15 at. % or more and 18 at. % or less, and the concentration of boron contained in the third magnetic layer is 7 at. % or more and 10 at. % or less.

Magnetic recording medium for high density recording

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A rubber-modified asphalt composition is provided. The rubber includes at least a polydiene and may further include vinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbon monomer contributed units. The rubber is cured by a bismaleimide. The present composition demonstrates improvements in the softening point of the asphalt composition.

This invention relates to asphalt compositions. More specifically, this invention relates to rubber-modified asphalt compositions with an improved softening point.
Asphalt has become an important material for building and repairing roads. It is also used in applications such as roofing and weather sealing. The estimated annual use of asphalt in the United States alone is over 13 million kilograms.
The addition of rubber to asphalt can improve properties such as crack resistance, softening points, viscosity, tensile strength, elongation, toughness, and tenacity. It has also been shown that curing agents can be used to further improve asphalt properties. Curing agents often used in asphalt compositions are phenolic resins and elemental sulfur. However, phenolic resins require long curing times and elemental sulfur must typically be used in large quantities.
It would therefore be desirable to find a better curing agent for rubber-modified asphalt compositions which is capable of overcoming the above-mentioned problems of typical curing agents while still improving the physical characteristics (e.g. softening point) of asphalt compositions.
In one embodiment, an asphalt composition is provided. The asphalt composition includes at least a rubber, asphalt, and a bismaleimide curing agent. The rubber includes at least polydiene, and may include additional monomer units such as vinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons. In another embodiment, a method for producing an asphalt composition is provided.
Asphalt compositions containing rubbers cured with bismaleimides exhibit beneficial properties. For example, the use of a bismaleimide curing agent results in improvements to the softening point of the asphalt composition while maintaining desirable tenacity levels. As known to the skilled artisan, tenacity levels represent the asphalt""s strength, toughness, and durability, and is a measure of the resilience of the asphalt at room temperature. The softening point of the present asphalt compositions is between about 35 and 120xc2x0 C., preferably between about 45 and 95xc2x0 C.
The present asphalt composition includes at least a rubber, asphalt, and a bismaleimide curing agent. The rubber is preferably a polydiene, and may include additional monomer units such as vinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons.
The preferred rubber is at least a polydiene. Exemplary diene contributed monomer units include 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, 1,4-pentadiene, and 1,3-pentadiene. Preferred diene contributed monomer units are 1,3-butadiene and isoprene. The rubber may include monomer units contributed from more than one diene molecule. For example, the rubber may be a poly(1,3-butadiene-co-isoprene).
In addition, the rubber may also contain additional monomer contributed units. Exemplary monomer contributed units include vinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons. Suitable vinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons include styrene, xcex1-methylstyrene, 1-vinylnphthalene, 2-vinylnaphthalene, 1-xcex1-methyl vinylnaphthalene, 2xcex1-methyl vinylnaphthalene, as well as alkyl cycloalkyl, aryl, alkaryl, and aralkyl derivatives thereof, and di-or tri-vinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons. A preferred vinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbon is styrene.
The rubber is preferably any of styrene-butadiene diblock polymers, as well as any styrene-butadiene, polybutadiene, polyisoprene, styrene-isoprene block or random polymers, styrene-butadiene block or random polymers, and mixtures thereof The rubber compositions may optionally be vinyl-modified to create high vinyl conjugated diene monomer units. A 1,2-microstructure controlling agent or randomizing modifier may be used to control the vinyl content in the conjugated diene contributed monomer units. Suitable modifiers include hexamethylphosphoric acid triamide, N,N,Nxe2x80x2,Nxe2x80x2-tetramethylethylene diamine, ethylene glyclol dimethyl ethyer, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, triethylene gylcol dimethyl ether, tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran (THF), 1,4-diazabicyclo [2.2.2] octane, diethyl ethyer, triethylamine, tri-n-butylphosphine, p-dioxane, 1,2-dimethyoxy ethane, dimethyl ether, methyl ethyl ether, ethyl propyl ether, di-n-propyl ether, di-n-octyl ether, anisole, dibenzyl ether, diphenyl ether, dimethylethylamine, bis-oxalanyl propane, tri-n-propyl amine, trimethyl amine, triethyl amine, N,N-dimethyl aniline, N-ethylpiperidine, N-methyl-N-ethyl aniline, N-methylmorpholine, tetramethylenediamine, oligomeric oxolanyl propanes, 2,2-bis-(4-methyl dioxane), and bistetrahydrofuryl propane. One or more vinyl modifiers may be used. As the modifier charge increases, the percentage of 1,2-microstructure (vinyl content) increases in the conjugated diene contributed monomer units. Vinyl-modified conjugated diene polymers and trans-cis conjugated diene polymers are equally applicable in the present invention.
The rubber compositions may also be further functionalized to contain different organic functional groups useful in the formation of the present asphalt composition. Suitable functional groups include carboxy, hydroxy, formyl, amino, halo, and alkyl. Amino functionalized rubbers are especially preferred due to their increased ability to interact with bismaleimides.
The rubber composition is preferably cured with a bismaleimide. Importantly, however, the present invention contemplates curing the rubber with a bismaleimide prior to or after combining it with asphalt. Suitable bismaleimides for use as rubber curing agents are represented by either of the following formulas:
wherein R1 may be an aromatic group, a aliphatic group, a cycloaliphatic group, or an aliphatic group containing siloxane. However, any bismaleimide known to the skilled artisan may be employed inthe present asphalt compositions.
Bismaleimides may be prepared by a variety of techniques. One method of preparation entails formation of the maleamic acid via reaction of the corresponding primary amine with maleic anhydride, followed by dehydrative closure of the maleamic acid with acetic anhydride.
A variety of other approaches may also be employed. For example, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) closes maleamic acids. With DCC, the product is exclusively isomaleimide. However in the presence of suitable isomerizing agents, such as 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt), the product is almost solely the maleimide. The function of the HOBt could allow the closure to proceed via the HOBt ester of the maleamic acid (formed via the agency of DCC) which presumably closes preferentially to the maleimide.
Suitable bismaleimides formed by the outlined methods or available commercially include N,Nxe2x80x2-ethylene-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-butylene-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-phenylene-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-hexamethylene-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-4,4xe2x80x2-diphenyl methane-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-4,4xe2x80x2-diphenyl ether-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-4,4xe2x80x2-diphenyl sulfone-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-4,4xe2x80x2-dicyclohexyl methane-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-xylylene-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-diphenyl cyclohexane-bis-maleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-(m-phenylene)bismaleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-(p-phenylene)-bismaleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-(p-tolylene)bismaleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-(methylenedi-p-phenylene)-bismaleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-(oxydi-p-phenylene)bismaleimide, xcex1,xcex1,-bis-(4-phenylene)-bismaleimide, N,Nxe2x80x2-(m-xylylene)bis-citraconimide, xcex1,xcex1-bis-(4-maleimidophenyl)-meta-diisopropylbenzene, and mixtures thereof.
Asphalts, as the term is use herein, include cementitious materials in which the predominating constituents are bitumens that occur in nature or are obtained in petroleum processing. Bitumen is a term which encompasses cementitious substances, natural or manufactured, composed principally of high molecular weight hydrocarbons, of which asphalts, tars, pitches, and asphalitites are typical. Asphalts are often classified as solids, semisolids, or liquids. They are often defined as the manufactured materials that are produced during petroleum processing. Asphalts characteristically contain very high molecular weight molecular polar species, called asphaltenes, which are soluble in carbon disulfide, pyridine, aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and THF. Asphalts produced from the refining of petroleum have been used primarily in paving and roofing applications.
When asphalt polymer blends are prepared for use, given portions of polymer are blended into the molten asphalt at a specified temperature in conjunction with, or prior to, the addition of a curing agent. The rubber is dissolved in molten asphalt at temperatures greater than about 120xc2x0 C. The rubber may be added to the asphalt in a range of about 1 to 50 parts by weight (pbw) rubber per 100 pbw asphalt, preferably in a range of about 2 to 25 pbw, and most preferably in a range of about 4 to 14 pbw. After the rubber has fully dissolved, at least one bismaleimide curing agent is added to the composition. Alternatively, the curing agent(s) may be added to the molten asphalt simultaneously with the rubber. The curing agent is preferably added in amounts between about 0.5 and 3 wt % of the total composition, more preferably between about 0.25 and 2 wt % of the total composition. After mixing, for example between about 25 and 400 minutes, more preferably between about 50 and 300 minutes, a homogeneous mixture is obtained. The mixing temperature is preferably between about 145 and 205xc2x0 C., most preferably between about 160 and 193xc2x0 C.

Asphalt composition comprising bismaleimides


A method and system for providing television programming content and interactive data services is provided. In one embodiment, the interactive content is displayed on the television concurrently with television programming content and facilitates game play between viewers. The game may be scored for each viewer based on selection data from the viewer and event data that is determined by events occurring in the television programming content. In addition, the interactive content may present a message that conveys an incentive to the viewer to take some action such as actuating a button when a particular commercial is presented thereby allowing the service provider and advertisers to determine how many, and which, viewers watched a particular commercial. In addition, the interactive content (including the incentives) can be presented to viewers when the programming content is stored on a digital video recorder and subsequently presented thereby presenting incentives to viewers to watch commercials that were recorded as part of the television programming content.

With the advent of Digital Television (DTV) comes the ability to create interactive TV (ITV) programming. The "old" analogue set-top box cable units are being phased out and replaced by more robust digital units. Digital cable head-ends and their supporting infrastructure have made it possible to create and deploy TV applications. These applications allow the viewer to purchase movies on demand, record TV programs, etc.
Television broadcast and cable systems have largely been broadcast systems in which all the users receive the same content and cannot interact with the received content. However, it would be desirable to combine interactive content with television programming to allow the user to receive content with which the user can interact. In addition, by making the interactive content supplementary to the television programming, it may be possible to increase the number of users who watch the televisions program.
In many instances users who are watching a television program often consider the commercials as an opportunity to visit the bathroom, leave the viewing area to get food, or perform some other task other than watching the commercial. Additionally, many users record television programming with a digital video recorder (e.g., Tivo®) and later watch the programming at the user's convenience. When watching a recorded program, many users simply fast forward through the commercials without watching them. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide the uses with an incentive to watch the commercials.
In addition, with broadcast systems, advertisers who purchase slots for television commercials have no means of knowing how many users watched their commercial. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide to provide advertisers with an indication of the number of users (and which users) watched their commercials.
One or more embodiments of the present invention may provide these and other advantages over the prior art.

System and method for providing supplementary interactive content