An exercise machine comprises a resistance device and a power supplier. The resistance device provides a resistance and comprises an axle. The power supplier comprises one or more conducting rings arranged at a side or respectively arranged at a side of the resistance device. The conducting rings are coaxially coupled with the axle and are capable of rotating about the axle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exercise machine, and more particularly relates to an exercise machine providing power supplier.
2. Description of Related Art
Various exercise machines, such as elliptical trainers, steppers, or stationary bikes, typically have a driving wheel. The user of the exercise machine exerts a force to the driving wheel via hands or feet, so that different muscles can be built.
For different sizes of users or different training intensities, the exercise machines usually employ an adjustment mechanism to adjust positions. This can typically be done by an electrically-driven device. However, the layout of the power supply to the electrically driving device will be a problem to be resolved due to the space limitation or operation of components or due to other reasons.


A standard physical medium 1320 as loaded into library unit 1080 even in the absence of any load request from a host computer 1020 is regarded as a spare physical medium 1330 for use when the standard physical medium 1320 is under malfunction, and such medium is put in a spare media storage space 1340 while eliminating issuance of any notice to the host computer 1020. Whereby, in a computer system with redundancy configuration, it becomes possible to prevent the host computer from making use of any spare physical media.

The present invention relates generally to storage device systems with increased usability adaptable for use with hand-carriable storage media. More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to memory device systems with redundancy at respective constituent elements for improvement of usability.
In computer systems a document known as Patterson""s paper has been known as one of the prior art documents most pertinent to the invention.
A.C.M. SIGMOD Conference Proceeding, xe2x80x9cA Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)xe2x80x9d by D. Patterson et al., Chicago, Ill., Jun. 1-3, 1988 at pp. 109-116.
The Patterson paper discloses therein one technique relating to data distribution/layout on disk arrays.
Disk array is a mechanism for attainment of high performance with increased reliability of disk systems. In such disk array, enhanced performance may be attainable by forcing processor devices to recognize a plurality of physical disks as a single xe2x80x9cvirtualxe2x80x9d disk device. On the other hand, for achievement of higher reliability, redundant data for use in recovering data as accidentally destructed upon occurrence of failure or malfunction in data storage disk devices is prestored in a separate disk device(s). Generally, one segment of data used as a unit for read/write operations of disk devices is called the xe2x80x9crecordxe2x80x9d among those skilled in the art; in this respect, the Patterson paper has proposed several record layout methods. Note here that where disk arrays are employed, it can happen in some cases that the xe2x80x9crecordxe2x80x9d acting as the read/write unit when viewed from the host computer is different in data length from the xe2x80x9crecordxe2x80x9d as actually recorded in disk devices, namely, a record as stored at a single sector of disks. The former will be referred to as xe2x80x9clogical record,xe2x80x9d whist the latter as xe2x80x9cphysical recordxe2x80x9d hereinafter. Now, record layout methods as disclosed in Patterson""s paper will be explained below.
One typical record layout scheme is to store logical recordsxe2x80x94i.e. those records as viewed from the processor device sidexe2x80x94in a way such that these are subdivided for storage into a preselected number (say xe2x80x9cmxe2x80x9d; here m is the integer greater than or equal to 1) of physical records on disk devices. This approach will be called the xe2x80x9cdivisional layoutxe2x80x9d method. With such a divisional layout scheme, the same effect may be obtainable as would be attained when the data transfer rate is virtually increased by m times because of the capability of transferring a single logical record between or among m disk devices operatively associated therewith. Then, a redundant data preparation method in the divisional record layout scheme will be explained as follows. In the divisional layout, for m physical records as divided from a logical record, a plurality ofxe2x80x94xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d where n is the integer more than 1xe2x80x94redundant data items are prepared for storage in respective disk devices as a single physical record with respect to one disk device (n records as a whole). Hereinafter, those physical records storing therein certain data directly accessible by the processor device for reading/writing will be referred to as xe2x80x9cdata recordsxe2x80x9d whereas other physical records storing redundant data as xe2x80x9cparity records.xe2x80x9d Further, a combination of m data records and n parity records as organized together into a group will be called the xe2x80x9cparity group.xe2x80x9d Typically, if n parity records are within the parity group, data of such parity group may be recovered even upon occurrence of operation failures or disturbances in disk devices as far as the number thereof is less than or equal to n.
Another Patterson""s record layout scheme proposed is to store a logical record acting as the read/write unit as looked at from the processor device functionally supervising disk devices as a single physical record, i.e. a single data record. This approach will be called the xe2x80x9cnon-divisional layoutxe2x80x9d scheme hereinafter. Accordingly, logical records are equivalent to data records. (Since respective physical records are assigned with either data records or parity records, the physical records will not always remain exactly equal to logical records. In other words, while a single logical record is one physical record, it is not always true that one physical is a single logical record and can be a parity record in several cases.) One noticeable feature of the non-divisional layout scheme lies in that read/write processings are executable for every one of respective disk devices. (With the divisional layout scheme, it should be required that plural disk devices be exclusively dedicated or xe2x80x9cslavedxe2x80x9d during execution of read/write operations.) As a consequence, with the non-divisional layout scheme, it becomes possible to improve the multiplexibility or xe2x80x9cmulti-taskingxe2x80x9d offerability of read/write processings to be executed within disk arrays, which in turn leads to capability of achieving enhanced performance. With this non-divisional layout scheme also, n parity records are prepared from m data records for storage in disk devices. Note however that while the divisional layout scheme is designed to use a collection of data records within a parity group to form a single logical record as viewed from the processor device, the non-divisional layout scheme treats a respective one of data records as if it were a complete independent logical record when looking at from the processor device.
In computer systems, magnetic tape drives or optical storage drives or equivalents thereto are frequently employable as data storage devices other than the disk devices. Especially in recent years, digital versatile disks (dvds) are becoming more important in the manufacture of advanced computer systems. One significant feature of these storage devices of the types mentioned above is that storage media or record carrier bodies are separated in structure from read/write (R/W) devices operatively associated therewith, and that one storage medium is loaded into any desired R/W device for permitting execution of reading data therefrom or writing data thereinto. These media are generally known as hand-carriable media. In large-scaled computer systems a library unit is introduced in order to readily accomplish management of an extremely great number of carriable storage media. The library may include, in addition to storage media and R/W devices, a containment or xe2x80x9crackxe2x80x9d structure for housing therein an increased number of storage media, and a computer-controlled robot module for carrying and delivering storage media between the rack and R/Ws. In the computer systems with such library architecture, an appropriate library management software unit is typically provided on a supervisory or xe2x80x9chostxe2x80x9d computer used. The library management in this case is for managing the system to monitor or xe2x80x9cwatchxe2x80x9d which type of storage medium is present to store what kind of information. To this end, an ordinary approach upon loading a new storage medium or media is to let the host computer become aware of occurrence of such new media loading event by sending a corresponding notice thereto.
Recently, data to be processed by computer systems increases in scale more and more; thus, achievement of its usability and maintenance flexibilityxe2x80x94this may also be called xe2x80x9cavailabilityxe2x80x9d among those skilled in the computer artxe2x80x94is required more strictly. Therefore, in storage device systems including the aforesaid carriable recording media also, it remains effective to attain enhanced usability by incorporating therein the concepts as proposed by the Patterson paper discussed supra.
One prior known architecture applying such concepts to carriable storage media is described, for example, in Alan E. Bell (IBM Research Division), DVD Applications, COMDEX ""96, Nov. 20, 1996. This Bell document has proposed redundant arrays of inexpensive libraries (RAIL) with redundancy employing a combination of plural sets of currently available standard libraries including dvds, R/W devices, robot modules, and others.
With regard to data recovery/restore technology, one typical prior art technique of repairing destructive data is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,656 wherein a storage device system having multiple disk arrays with redundancy is configured such that upon occurrence of operation failure or malfunction in one disk device, resultant destructive data is restored for writing on a spare disk device(s) under management of the entire system, rather than on the individual one of disk arrays in a way independent of one another.
The disk array technology with redundancy configuration as proposed by the Patterson""s paper stated previously may also be applicable to the library unit using carriable media. When this is done, those disk drive units constituting a disk array may correspond to carriable media and R/W devices, each of which is with redundancy configuration.
In the library unit with such redundancy configuration, it might be obvious and natural in view of the inherent structure of library unit that spare carriable storage media are provided inside the library unit for future alternative use when any one of xe2x80x9cnativexe2x80x9d carriable media malfunctions. This in turn means that such spare carriable media are inherently the ones that will be used in a manner such that the library unit makes use of them independently of the host computer.
Where such spare carriable media are also loaded into the library unit, a need arises to avoid notifying library management part of the host computer of occurrence of storage media loading events. This is required because of the fact that otherwise, the host computer can behave badly to attempt to use such spare media for data storage, which would result in lack of necessary storage media for use in restoring destructive data on a malfunctioning carriable media in accidental operation failure events.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved data storage method and apparatus capable of avoiding the problems faced with the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide a data storage distribution scheme adaptable for use in computer-controlled library unit with redundancy configuration capable of increasing performance and efficiency as well as reliability.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide library unit with redundancy capable of increasing usability by, upon loading a spare carriable storage medium, temporarily eliminating notifying a host computer of loading the spare storage medium thereinto.
It is a further object of the invention to provide library unit with redundancy capable of maximizing usability by forcing the host computer to ignore any notification as sent thereto upon loading spare storage media thereinto.
To attain the foregoing objects the present invention disclosed and claimed herein provides library unit including standard carriable storage media which stores therein one of data to be sent to or written from a host computer and redundancy data generatable from the data. The apparatus also includes a spare carriable storage medium for use upon occurrence of malfunction of the standard storage medium. A specific device is provided for recognizing spare carriable storage media as mere spare ones. The device is operable to eliminate issuance of a notice or report to the host computer when the spare carriable storage medium is loaded thereinto. Elimination of issuing to the host computer any notice indicating occurrence of spare media loading events may enable the host computer to be kept silent about occurrence of such events.
In accordance with one aspect of the instant invention, library unit includes standard carriable storage media for storage of one of data to be transferred to or written from a host computer and redundancy data generatable from the data. A spare carriable storage medium is employed for use device responsive to instructions from the host computer for performing data recording and reproduction operations. The apparatus further includes a media loader device for loading a standard physical medium storing therein data as written by the physical R/W device along with redundancy data of the data and a spare physical medium for use upon occurrence of malfunction of one or several of the standard physical media. A rack is provided in the apparatus, which has a standard media storage space for storing a physical medium loaded and a spare media storage space. The media carrying robot is configured to store into the rack the spare physical medium as loaded into the media loader device. A device is provided for distinguishing the loaded spare physical medium from the standard physical media.
In accordance with other aspect of the invention, a computer system including a host computer arranged to instruct its associated library unit or unit to load more than one carriable storage medium into it, any spare carriable storage media as loaded thereinto may be regarded as mere spare storage media without the need for receipt of instructions from the host computer while simultaneously preventing any relevant report from being sent to the host computer even after completion of such media loading. Alternatively, even where such report could be issued to the host computer, let the computer ignore this report.
In a computer system with its library unit as designed to report to the host computer that a carriable storage media has been loaded thereinto every time this event takes place, users are permitted to manually designate a spare carriable media-loading mode thus enabling recognition of any one of those carriable media loaded in the spare media loading mode as a mere spare one while rendering the host computer kept silent about occurrence of such media loading events. Or alternatively, although reporting to the host computer that such is a spare medium, let the computer recognize it as the spare one and then ignore this report.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Library system storing removable storage media


The invention relates to a method for carrying out the precise trimming of a lens (1), whereby the lens is held between two clamping plates (2, 3) in a given position and the grinding of the periphery of the lens (1) is controlled along a trajectory, the last programmed part of which corresponds to the form (8) desired for the lens. The method comprises a first scanning under weak clamping conditions of a number of points on one face of the lens with scanning of the coordinates of the points (8), forming the trace on said face of the mounting circle, a second scanning, with a significant level of clamping which corresponds to that used on trimming the lens of a second number of points on said face of the lens, an approximate mathematical representation of the face of the lens for each of the two clamping conditions, a calculation of the coordinates for the deformation of the contour of the lens on said face of the lens in the second clamping condition to correct the last programmed part of the grinding trajectory.

A lens for spectacles, regardless of whether or not it is a correcting lens, comes from a part possessing all of the optical qualities required for its use, and in particular an optical center referred to as the center of the lens. This part generally has a circular outline of a diameter that is large enough for all possible peripheral shapes corresponding to the immense variety of rims that exist in the spectacle frame market to be inscribed therein.
Trimming is a machining operation which consists in causing the outline of the lens to match the shape of the frame that is to receive it. This peripheral machining makes use of tooling in which the lens is clamped in the vicinity of its center between two accessories for holding it and generally for enabling the lens to be turned about an axis passing through the lens, while the desired outline is obtained using a grinding wheel, generally in two stages.
The lens clamping accessories are in the form of pads which, on being pressed against the concave and convex faces of the lens, give rise to stresses and deformations in the lens. The outline is therefore machined on a deformed lens under stress which, on being released, will take up a shape that is different, and will therefore have an outline that is different from the outline that was machined.
In order to process small lenses of oblong shape while ensuring that the lens is rotated correctly during trimming, it is necessary to use pads of oblong shape. It is not advisable, and is in any event ineffective, to apply strong pressure with a circularly symmetrical pad of small size. Unfortunately, the asymmetrical clamping that results from using oblong pads inevitably gives rise to deformation of the lens.

Essilor International (Compagnie Generale d'Optique)


Unexpired pictorial calendars are produced by adherently attaching calendar stickers (8) to bound pages (16). The pages (16) are printed with artwork (18). The artwork (18) is viewed with the calendar information (12) printed on the calendar stickers (8). The calendar stickers (8) have an adhesive (14) for attachment to the pages (16). Expired pictorial calendars can be renewed for future use by covering expired calendar information with the calendar stickers (8). Also, bound artwork from any source can be converted into a pictorial calendar.

Pictorial calendars show photographs or other artwork with calendar information. A typical format for such calendars is to display a photograph with calendar information for each month of the year. A one year calendar may have 12 photographs for the 12 months of the year. Of course, a single photograph or multiple photographs can be displayed with each month, multiple months, or fractional months. Artwork for pictorial calendars is selected to be entertaining, informative, or aesthetically pleasing. The term artwork is defined to include photographs, drawings, printed text and any other printed matter that is desired for display with calendar information.
Generally, the artwork is of excellent quality. Some calendar owners like the artwork so much that they save their old pictorial calendars. However, most pictorial calendars are thrown away upon expiration of the calendar information. This is done even though the artwork may still be in good condition and results in needless waste production. The waste problem is significant since tens of millions of pictorial calendars are published annually. Inks in the artwork exacerbate the paper recycling problem: the paper must be de-inked before recycling.
Calendar companies tend to think of their products as being completely disposable. The calendar companies select captivating artwork. The customers are expected to view each item of artwork for one month. Then, at year end, the customers are expected to throw the pictorial calendars away and buy new ones. This is ironic. The artwork in some calendars are reproductions of great paintings or other things of beauty, yet calendar companies seem to believe that the appeal of the artwork is lost after one month of viewing. Furthermore, pictorial calendars are expensive.
Allowing the use of the artwork in pictorial calendars to be limited by the calendar information is illogical. Usually, the cost of printing the artwork is greater than the cost of printing the calendar information. So, why let the calendar information limit the use the artwork? The answer is: no one has devised a practical way to reuse the artwork with updated calendar information. The disclosed invention provides a solution to this problem. Specifically, the present invention allows production of updated pictorial calendars from expired pictorial calendars or from any other bound artwork.
Although methods of reusing the artwork as pictorial calendars have been unavailable, there are alternative uses for the artwork. Rassi in 1990 U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,042 reviews methods of using calendar artwork after expiration of the calendar information. Calendars exist for which the artwork can be detached and used as postcards as in 1988 U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,624 to Holec. Some calendars are made to be used as picture books or handbooks after expiration of the calendar information, as in Rassi 1990 U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,042 and Esslinger 1958 U.S. Pat. No. 2,831,279. Alternatively, calendar bindings can be removed and the artwork displayed as simply artwork without calendar information.
These options are inadequate. They cannot accommodate the diverse sizes of artwork used for pictorial calendars. They are impractical for the number of pages typical for pictorial calendars. They require too much space for storage or display. Nor are they easily retrofitable for existing expired pictorial calendars.
The disclosed invention overcomes the deficiencies of the other options by permitting reuse of pictorial calendar artwork as renewed pictorial calendars.
The limited choice in artwork is another problem related to conventional pictorial calendars. Calendar themes such as animals, famous people, cars, etc. are published annually from which customers can choose. But no methods exist for conveniently converting one's own artwork into pictorial calendars that are reusable for multiple years. Limited solutions are available. For example, combination calendars and picture frames exist. Personally selected artwork can be put into the frame, and the calendar information is replaceable. However, only one item of artwork is held in the frame and replacing the artwork can be tedious. Alternatively, personally selected artwork can be printed with calendar information. But, here again, the problem of reusing the artwork remains.
The present invention will solve this problem. The invention allows personal photograph albums or any other personal artwork to be converted into pictorial calendars that can be reused for as many years as the artwork will last. In essence, a truly personal pictorial calendar is obtainable with this invention; each photograph can be personally selected and reused repeatedly.

Method and materials for calendar fabrication renewal


The invention aims to provide a drug having an activity on inhibiting a decrease in pain threshold. Since a κ-opioid receptor agonist effectively inhibits the decrease in pain threshold, it is useful as an inhibitor of pain threshold decrease.

As an opioid receptor, three opioid receptors, μ-, κ- and δ-opioid receptors have been known (K. K. Mikusu, Opioid no Subete, 25-36 (1999)). The μ-opioid receptor is distributed in the cerebral cortex, amygdaloid nucleus and the like, and main agonists are morphine, codeine and the like. The κ-opioid receptor is distributed in the hypothalamus, spinal cord and the like, and its agonists are ketocyclazocine and the like. The δ-opioid receptor is distributed in the extrapyramidal system, and its agonists are enkephalin and the like. The μ-opioid receptor agonist typified by morphine and codeine has an excellent analgesic activity, but its dependence on the body and mind is strong, and it involves side effects such as complication of constipation.
Meanwhile, the κ-opioid receptor agonist is characterized in that it does not exhibit dependence unlike morphine, and trans-2-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N-methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)cyclohexyl]acetamide (U-50488), 2,2-diphenyl-N-[2-(3-(S)-hydroxy-1-pyrrolidinyl)-1-(S)-phenylethyl]Methylacetamide (Asimadoline) and the like are known (K. K. Mikusu, "Opioid no Subete", 25-36 (1999), K. K. Mikusu, "Opioid no Subete", 213-232 (1999)).
Pain is roughly classified into acute pain and chronic pain. The acute pain is pain accompanied by tissue disorders, and causal association with tissue disorders is clear. Meanwhile, the chronic pain is pain which continues even after curing tissue disorders, and no clear organic cause has been found out. However, it has been reported that a plastic change of a descending inhibition system participates in development of the chronic pain (K. K. Mikusu, "Opioid Chiryo", 246-253 (2000)). When pain is prolonged, a pain threshold is gradually decreased, and pain is felt also due to an action, a tactile sense or the like which has not given a feel of pain. The pain threshold here referred to indicates a sensitivity of pain. More specifically, it indicates the minimum level of stimulation which gives a feel of pain.
Accordingly, the decrease in pain threshold increases the sensitivity of pain, and amplifies the same. Therefore, when the decrease in pain threshold can be inhibited, it is possible to effectively treat the chronic pain. Japan J. Pharmacol., 57, 243-250 (1991) reports that neurotropin, an agent for treating chronic pain can inhibit a decrease in pain threshold by activating a descending inhibition system. However, its chronic pain-inhibiting effect is not necessarily satisfactory.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Disclosed herein are novel composition and methods for altering the proliferation of a cell. Included are wild-type and mutant hKIS polypeptides along with cyclin kinase inhibitors containing mutations that prevent their inhibition with serine/threonine kinases.

It is known that transitions between phases of the cell cycle are catalyzed by a family of cyclin-dependent kinases (Nurs, 1990; Hartwell et al, 1974). In many cells, transit through G1 of the cell cycle and entry into S phase requires a binding and activation of cyclin/cyclin-dependent kinase complexes (CDK), predominantly cyclin D-cdk4,6 and cyclin E-cdk2 (Sherr, 1994; Sherr, 1996).
The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs) are naturally-occurring gene products which inhibit cyclin-CDK activity and phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (Rb), resulting in G1/S growth arrest (D. O. Morgan, 1995; Sherr and Roberts, 1995). CKIs directly implicated in CDK regulation are p21cip1/Waf1 (Xiong et al., 1993; Harper et al., 1993), p27Kip1 (Pyoshima and Hunter, 1994; Polyak et al., 1994; Coats et al., 1996), and p16/p15INK4 (Serrano et al., 1993).
The ability of CKIs to arrest cells in G1 have made the proteins of particular use in gene therapy techniques for treating diseases or disorders associated with cell proliferation, such as cancer and leukemias, psoriasis, bone diseases, fibroproliferative disorders, atherosclerosis, restenosis, and chronic inflammation. However, very little is known about the regulation of these very important proteins in vivo.

The Regents of the University of Michigan


A method for the active roll stabilization of a vehicle (50) by way of a roll stabilizer (30). The roll stabilizer (30) includes a stabilizer rod (32), a stabilizer housing (34) and a stabilizer motor (36), arranged inside the stabilizer housing (34), so that a first end of the stabilizer rod (32) is connected at to a wheel (52) of the vehicle and at a second end thereof is mounted to be rotated by way of the stabilizer motor (36). The method including the steps of obtaining a first set-point value of a rod torque of the stabilizer rod (32); obtaining a second set-point value of a motor rotation angle of the stabilizer motor (36); limiting the second set-point value based on an absolute value and/or a gradient of the first set-point value; and inputting the second set-point value into a control sequence (20) as a guide magnitude.

The stability of a vehicle plays a decisive part where safety and driving comfort are concerned. Particularly in the case of vehicles of tall size categories such as SUVs and buses, when the vehicle drives round a curve it tends to roll because of its high center of gravity. Bumps in the road can also lead to instability.
From the prior art roll stabilizers are known, which comprise a tubular connection between two wheels of the front or rear axle. Into the tubular connection is fitted a motor, which is controlled in such manner as to counteract the rolling of the vehicle by relative rotation between two stabilizer tubes respectively associated with the two wheels. Control of the motor is often based on a regulating method.
In the known roll stabilizers the regulating methods used with them are liable to the disadvantage that there is no guarantee that the synchronous machine built into the roll stabilizer will always operate within a defined working range as regards its motor torque and running speed. For example there is no way of preventing the stabilizer motor from operating with a high motor torque and at a high running speed at one and the same time.

Active roll stabilization with improved control by means of a set point limitation


A method and services network element are provided that provide for queued admissions control in a wireless communication system by receiving a bearer establishment request associated with a user equipment, determining that a cell where the user equipment is located is congested, in response to determining that the cell is congested, creating a bearer establishment request record (BERR) associated with the user equipment and the bearer establishment request, wherein the BERR comprises priority information associated with the BERR, and adding the BERR to a queue, wherein the queue is associated with a cell serving the user equipment, wherein the BERR is positioned in the queue based on the priority information, and wherein bearer establishment requests associated with BERRs in the queue are submitted based on a position of the BERRs in the queue.

Resource management is a key component of mission critical Push-to-Talk (PTT) systems. There is an expectation that PTT systems can manage wireless resources and grant calls if the required resources are available and queue calls if the required resources are not. Further, there is an expectation that PTT communication should be available via broadband systems, such as a 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) LTE (Long Term Evolution) communication system. In this environment, a call controller is no longer tightly coupled to a radio access network (RAN), making resource management more difficult. This is especially true when individual unicast bearers need to be established for each broadband subscriber.
Some broadband cellular radio systems, such as systems that operate pursuant to the 3GPP LTE and WiMAX (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16) standards, use a Quality of Service (QoS) resource management approach in which a request for establishment of a Guaranteed Bitrate (GBR) bearer in a cell is either admitted or denied. However, the standards do not provide a capability for maintaining a queue of pending requests for radio frequency (RF) channel resources, instead providing that blocked calls are cleared from the system. This "Blocked Calls Cleared" (Erlang-B) approach is generally adequate for handling telephone calls. A call establishment request which occurs when no resources are available is provided a "fast busy signal," which is also known as a "reorder" indication. By contrast, a PTT voice call establishment request in a trunked radio system, when no resources are available, has traditionally been placed in a queue of pending requests. This is referred to as a "Blocked Calls Queued" (Erlang-C) approach. Further, 3GPP LTE manages resource congestion by using an Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP) preemption mechanism, which allows a higher priority call to preempt an existing lower priority call. However, such preemption may be more objectionable to end users than would incurring extra delay while the call is being established.
It is difficult to add queuing functionality for blocked calls to a standard 3GPP LTE cellular system for several reasons. The 3GPP LTE cellular standards do not define a method which would allow an eNodeB base station to indicate when channel capacity has become available in one of its RF cells that could be used to establish a new GBR bearer. Further, there is the additional challenge that independent LTE Application Function (AF) network elements, using separate LTE Policy and Charging Rule Functions (PCRFs), could compete for resources in a single congested LTE cell. There is no standardized LTE protocol which would allow independent AFs to coordinate their resource requests so that a single common queue of pending requests for resources in a congested cell could be maintained.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. Those skilled in the art will further recognize that references to specific implementation embodiments such as "circuitry" may equally be accomplished via replacement with software instruction executions either on general purpose computing apparatus (e.g., CPU) or specialized processing apparatus (e.g., DSP). It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

Method and apparatus for queued admissions control in a wireless communication system


A browser is disclosed that provides for browsing a hierarchical dataset including potentially millions of nodes. The hierarchical dataset may be located on a machine that is remote to the machine hosting the browser. Through selective, intelligent fetching and local cache management of sparse portions of the hierarchical dataset, the browser provides consistent and predictable response times for displaying a randomly-selected node in the context of proximate nodes in the hierarchy.

There are several approaches for browsing data maintained by a remote machine. When browsing small sets of remote data, the browser may be able to download and cache the entire dataset at the beginning of browsing so that no further data retrieval is necessary during the browsing session. However, with datasets having on the order of a million entries, the entire dataset may be too large to fit in a local cache. Even if the dataset fits in a local cache, retrieving the entire data set when only a small portion of the dataset is to be accessed may be inefficient. A common approach of loading data only as the user scrolls down doesn't allow any area of the hierarchy to be displayed without first loading all prior nodes.
Fetching and cache management strategies may be used to access data stored locally that has been retrieved from remotely stored datasets. In one example, a browser provides a scrolling interface for browsing "linear" data. "Linear data" as used herein refers to data items that have a relative ordering (such as chronological, alphabetical, or numerical). The relative ordering indicates which data items are immediately next to other data items. The lists of data are displayed according to that relative order.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Components in block diagrams and operations in flow diagrams may be added, removed, modified, or combined. Functionality described in relation to one component/operation may instead be implemented by another component/operation. Accordingly, the specific components/operations illustrated and/or described herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of any of the claims.

Ability to browse and randomly access a large hierarchy in near constant time in a stateless application


A method and apparatus for reducing power consumption in a mobile terminal having a receiver for receiving a time multiplexed message distributed over a plurality of time slots by receiving a first subset of the plurality of time slots so as to receive a first portion of the time multiplexed message corresponding to the first subset of the plurality of time slots. The mobile terminal then determines from the first portion of the time multiplexed message if additional time slots of the time multiplexed message need to be received by the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal receives a second subset of the plurality of time slots so as to receive a second portion of the time multiplexed message if the mobile terminal determines from the first portion that additional portions of the time multiplexed message are to be received by the mobile terminal. This first portion of the message is preferably independently decodeable from the remainder of the message.

Public cellular networks (public land mobile networks) are commonly employed to provide voice and data communications to a plurality of subscribers. For example, analog cellular radiotelephone systems, such as designated AMPS, ETACS, NMT-450, and NMT-900, have been deployed successfully throughout the world. More recently, digital cellular radiotelephone systems such as designated IS-54B in North America and the pan-European GSM system have been introduced. These systems, and others, are described, for example, in the book titled Cellular Radio Systems by Balston, et al., published by Artech House, Norwood, Mass., 1993.
Traditional analog radiotelephone systems generally employ a system referred to as frequency division multiple access (FDMA) to create communications channels. As a practical matter well-known to those skilled in the art, radiotelephone communications signals, being modulated waveforms, typically are communicated over predetermined frequency bands in a spectrum of carrier frequencies. These discrete frequency bands serve as channels over which cellular radiotelephones communicate with a cell, through the base station or satellite serving the cell. In the United States, for example, Federal authorities have allocated to cellular communications a block of the UHF frequency spectrum further subdivided into pairs of narrow frequency bands, a system designated EIA-553 or IS-19B. Channel pairing results from the frequency duplex arrangement wherein the transmit and receive frequencies in each pair are offset by 45 MHZ. At present there are 832, 30-kHz wide, radio channels allocated to cellular mobile communications in the United States.
The limitations on the number of available frequency bands present several challenges as the number of subscribers increases. Increasing the number of subscribers in a cellular radiotelephone system generally requires more efficient utilization of the limited available frequency spectrum in order to provide more total channels while maintaining communications quality. This challenge is heightened because subscribers may not be uniformly distributed among cells in the system. More channels may be needed for particular cells to handle potentially higher local subscriber densities at any given time. For example, a cell in an urban area might conceivably contain hundreds or thousands of subscribers at any one time, easily exhausting the number of frequency bands available in the cell.
For these reasons, conventional cellular systems employ frequency reuse to increase potential channel capacity in each cell and increase spectral efficiency. Frequency reuse involves allocating frequency bands to each cell, with cells employing the same frequencies geographically separated to allow radiotelephones in different cells to simultaneously use the same frequency without interfering with each other. By so doing, many thousands of subscribers may be served by a system of only several hundred frequency bands.
Another technique which may further increase channel capacity and spectral efficiency is time division multiple access (TDMA). A TDMA system may be implemented by subdividing the frequency bands employed in conventional FDMA systems into sequential time slots. Although communication on frequency bands typically occur on a common TDMA frame that includes a plurality of time slots, communications on each frequency band may occur according to a unique TDMA frame, with time slots unique to that band. Examples of systems employing TDMA are the dual analog/digital IS-54B standard employed in the United States, in which each of the original frequency bands of EIA-553 is subdivided into 3 time slots, and the European GSM standard, which divides each of its frequency bands into 8 time slots. In these TDMA systems, each user communicates with the base station using bursts of digital data transmitted during the user's assigned time slots.
A channel in a TDMA system typically includes one or more time slots on one or more frequency bands. As discussed above, traffic channels are used to communicate voice, data or other information between users, for example, between a mobile terminal such as a radiotelephone and a network base station. In this manner, each traffic channel forms one direction of the duplex communications link established by the system from one user to another. Traffic channels typically are dynamically assigned by the system when and where needed. In addition, systems such as the European GSM system, may "frequency hop" traffic channels, i.e., randomly switch the frequency band on which a particular traffic channel is transmitted. Frequency hopping reduces the probability of interference events between channels, using interferer diversity and averaging to increase overall communications quality.
Typically included in the dedicated control channels transmitted in a cell are forward control channels which are used to broadcast control information in a cell of the wide area cellular network to radiotelephones which may seek to access the network. The control information broadcast on a forward control channel may include such things as the cell's identification, an associated network identification, system timing information and other information needed to access the wide area cellular network from a radiotelephone.
Forward control channels, such as the Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) of the GSM standard, typically are transmitted on a dedicated frequency band in each cell. A radiotelephone seeking access to a system generally "listens" to a control channel in standby mode, and is unsynchronized to a base station or satellite until it captures a base station or satellite control channel. In order to prevent undue interference between control channels in neighboring cells, frequency reuse is conventionally employed, with different dedicated frequency bands being used for the control channel in neighboring cells, according to a frequency reuse pattern that guarantees a minimum separation between cochannel cells. Frequency hopping, which might allow denser reuse of control channel frequency bands, is typically not employed because an unsynchronized radiotelephone generally would have difficulty capturing a frequency-hopped control channel due to lack of a reference point for the frequency hopping sequence employed.
Because a mobile terminal must "listen" to the control channel even when not in use for a communication, the mobile terminal must expend energy. Management of energy expenditures are, therefore, critical to extend the operational duration of either a battery or rechargeable power source in a mobile terminal. Thus, many mobile terminals enter a "sleep mode" when not originating or receiving a call. However, in the sleep mode the mobile terminal must still monitor a paging channel to avoid missing an incoming call. To maximize sleep mode efficiency, the mobile station should be able to detect whether the received messages are relevant messages or irrelevant messages as early as possible in the receive processing so as to avoid as many signal processing steps as possible. Once an irrelevant message is detected, the mobile station can immediately return to sleep. To appreciate the possible power savings from an early detection of irrelevant pages, consider a typical page channel in which a paging message is sent once per second. This means that there are 60*60*24=86,400 page messages sent to the mobile terminal each day. If, for example, only 1% of these messages are relevant, the mobile station can avoid processing 99% of the page messages if it can detect the irrelevant messages. Thus, the mobile terminal effectively can be in sleep mode for the majority of the message reception time of the terminal.
However, currently in order to determine if a message is relevant, the entire message must be received and, at least partially, processed. This receipt process alone requires the mobile terminal to expend unnecessary energy if the message is irrelevant. Accordingly, in view of the above discussion there exists a need for further developments in power conservation in mobile terminals.

Methods and systems for reduced power operation of cellular mobile terminals


A jetting opening for jetting a washer fluid is formed on a jet fitted under pressure in a nozzle body installed on a hood of a vehicle. The jetting opening is formed on a bottom of cross-shaped grooves formed at a front part of the jet. The jetting opening is slot-shaped and extends in a lengthwise direction thereof and communicates with the domed portion positioned at a front portion of a fluid passage for feeding the washer fluid to the jet. The area of the jetting opening is reduced by a reducing portion positioned at the center of the jetting opening in the lengthwise direction thereof. Both sides of the reducing portion are symmetrical with respect to a line passing through the center of the reducing portion and extending in the lengthwise direction of the reducing portion. Thus, the jetting opening is gourd-shaped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washer nozzle and a washer apparatus for a vehicle for jetting a washer fluid to a predetermined part of a windshield glass of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Normally, on a hood of a vehicle, there is provided a pair of right-hand and left-hand washer nozzles for jetting a washer fluid to a front windshield glass of the vehicle for wiping the front windshield glass with wiper blades. The washer nozzles are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publications Nos. 64-2540 and 2-58139, Laid-Open Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-57452, and Laid-Open Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-86295.
As the type of the washer nozzle, a fluidics type, flat spray type, and jet type are known. In the washer nozzle of the fluidics type, the washer fluid is sprayed on the front windshield glass at a uniform density. The washer nozzle of this type has a disadvantage that the washer fluid sprayed on the front windshield glass obstructs the visual field of a vehicle driver. The washer nozzle of the flat spray type has been developed to overcome the disadvantage of the fluidics type. In the washer nozzle of the flat spray type, the atomized washer fluid is sprayed on the center part of the washer fluid-sprayed region at a density lower than that at both sides in the washer fluid-sprayed region. The washer nozzles of these two types have an advantage that the washer fluid is jetted widely on the front windshield glass, but have a disadvantage that the washer fluid is sprayed on the front windshield glass at a decreased percentage during a high-speed running of the vehicle because wind which strikes the front windshield glass blows off the sprayed washer fluid. The washer nozzle of the jet type has an advantage that the washer fluid is jetted to an elevated position of the front windshield glass even when the vehicle is running at a high speed, but has a disadvantage that the washer fluid cannot be sprayed widely on the front windshield glass.
In the washer nozzle of the flat type, the front part of the channel of the nozzle body, through which the washer fluid flows is domed, and a slot-shaped jetting opening is formed in one direction on the domed portion. The domed surface allows the washer fluid flowing through the channel to be collected at the center of front part of the channel. Thus, the atomized washer fluid is jetted from the jetting opening in a predetermined jet angle in the lengthwise direction thereof. The atomized washer fluid is sprayed on the center part of the front windshield glass at a density lower than that at the both sides thereof.
In the washer nozzle of the flat type, the atomized washer fluid is sprayed on the center part of the front windshield glass at a density lower than that at the both sides thereof, and yet the density of the atomized washer fluid is not so low as to allow the driver to secure the visual field. Further, wind causes the height of the washer fluid-sprayed position to be much lower when the vehicle is running at a high speed. Thus, the part of the front windshield glass corresponding to the visual field cannot be cleaned sufficiently.

Washer nozzle and washer apparatus for vehicle


Disclosed are a resource configuration method and device, and a computer storage medium, for enabling configuration of a remaining minimum system information control resource set to be more flexibly when the remaining minimum system information control resource set and an associated synchronous information block occupy a same beam by means of frequency division multiplexing, so as to be applicable to more application scenarios. The resource configuration method provided by the present application comprises: determining that a remaining minimum system information control resource set and an associated synchronous information block occupy a same beam by means of frequency division multiplexing; and determining configuration parameters of the remaining minimum system information control resource set and the associated synchronous information block, wherein the configuration parameters of the remaining minimum system information control resource set associated with the synchronous information blocks in each synchronous information block burst set are the same.

The Minimum System Information (MSI) is the system information necessary for a terminal to make the initial access, wherein a part of the minimum system information is transmitted through the New Radio (NR)-Physical Broadcasting Channel (PBCH), which is called NR-PBCH for short, while the Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI) is transmitted through the NR-PDSCH. In addition, the NR-PDSCH for transmitting the RMSI is scheduled by the NR-PDCCH. This NR-PDCCH (used to schedule the NR-PDSCH canving the RMSI) is indicated by the configuration information of the RMSI Control Resource Set (CORESET), wherein the configuration information of the RMSI CORESET is transmitted over the NR-PBCH. As discussed in the current standard, the maximum bit width of the configuration information of the RMSI CORESET is 8 bits.
Each RMSI CORESET is associated with one Synchronization SignalPhysical Broadcast Channel block (SS/PBCH block, also referred to as SSB). The RMSI CORESET and the SS/PBCH block have two multiplexing modes, namely Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) or Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), wherein the RMSI CORESET associated with the SS/PBCH block may occupy the same number of symbols as this SS/PBCH block in the time domain during frequency division multiplexing. The frequency domain multiplexing scheme may enables the RMSI CORESET and the associated SS/PBCH block to be transmitted on the same beam, which is very suitable for the analog beam scanning mode.

Resource configuration method and device, and computer storage medium

China Academy of Telecommunications Technology


A vehicle door assembly is provided. The door assembly is located on vehicle and includes at least first and second doors each movable between open and closed positions. A door slide assembly is coupled to the vehicle and comprises a traversing segments assembly. The traversing segments assembly includes first and second segments which are movable in first and second directions. The first door is coupled to the first segment and the second door is coupled to the second segment. Movement of the first door causes movement of the first segment in the first direction which causes movement of the second door in the second direction between open and closed positions.

Access doors on vehicles such as delivery vehicles are well known. Such doors conventionally use roll-up type, hinged or single sliding doors. For a myriad of reasons, such doors may not be the most suitable design for an operator. For example, most delivery vehicles employ a roll-up type cargo door so the vehicle can be backed up directly to a loading dock without, first, having to open the door. Conventional hinged or single sliding doors like those used on mini-vans are not suitable for such activity. Roll-up type doors, however, have the disadvantage of being cumbersome to operate, latch and lock. Often, the roll-up doors carry water and contaminants into the storage compartment when rolled-up causing potential harm to the cargo. It would, thus, be beneficial to provide a door assembly that provides the advantages of roll-up type doors, while eliminating the disadvantages.
Accordingly, one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a vehicle comprising a door assembly and a door slide assembly. The door assembly is located on the vehicle and comprises first and second doors. The first and second doors are movable between open and closed positions relative to the vehicle. The door slide assembly is coupled to the vehicle and comprises a traversing segments assembly. The traversing segments assembly comprises first and second segments which are movable in first and second directions. The first door is coupled to the first segment and the second door is coupled to the second segment. Movement of the first door causes movement of the first segment in the first direction which causes movement of the second door in the second direction between open and closed positions.
The above and other illustrative embodiments may also comprise: movement of the first door causing movement of the first segment in the second direction causing movement of the second door in the first direction; the door slide assembly further comprising first and second brackets, wherein the first bracket being coupled to the first door and the first segment of the traversing segments assembly, and wherein the second bracket being coupled to the second door and the second segment of the traversing segments assembly; movement in the first direction being axially opposite movement in the second direction such that when a force is applied to the first segment of the traversing segments assembly in the first direction, the second segment is moved in the axially opposite second direction; the first segment of the traversing segments assembly being spaced apart from and movable substantially parallel to the second segment of the traversing segments assembly; the traversing segment assembly comprising a cord having coupled ends and drawn about at least one pulley wheel, wherein the cord comprises the first and second segments such that as the first segment moves in the first direction, the second segment is moved in the second direction; and a first force being applied to the first door which moves the first segment in the first direction which moves the second segment in the second direction moving both the first and second doors to an open position, and wherein a second force being applied to the first door which moves the first segment in the second direction moves the second segment in the first direction moving both the first and second doors to a closed position.
Another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure provides a vehicle comprising first and second doors, and a movable member assembly. The first and second doors are movable with respect to each other. The movable member assembly comprises first and second members each movable in first and second directions. The first member is movable in the first direction when the second member is movable in the second direction. The first door is also coupled to and movable with the first member and the second door is coupled to and movable with the second member. Accordingly, movement of the first door in the first direction moves the second door in the second direction.
The above and other illustrative embodiments may also comprise: movement of the first door in the second direction moves the second door in the first direction; the first and second doors each being attached to a respective rail, wherein each rail being movable along a longitudinally extending track; the movable member assembly comprising a cord having coupled ends and drawn between a plurality of pulley wheels, and wherein the cord forms the first and second members such that as the first member moves in the first direction, the second member is moved in the second direction; a bracket coupled to the first door and attached to the first member to move the door in the first direction when the first member is moved in the first direction, and a second bracket coupled to the second door and attached to the second member to move the door in the second direction when the second member is moved in the second direction; and a first force being applied to the first door that moves the first member in the first direction which moves the second member in the second direction moving both the first and second doors to an open position, and wherein a second force is applied to the first door, it moves the first member in the second direction which moves the second member in the first direction moving both the first and second doors to a closed position.
Another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure provides a vehicle which comprises first and second doors and a pulley system. The first and second doors are each movable with respect to each other. The pulley system comprises first and second spaced apart pulley wheels, and a pulley cord disposed about each of the pulley wheels defining a first side and second side of the pulley system. Movement of the pulley cord on the first side in a first direction moves the pulley cord on the second side in a second direction. The first door is coupled to the pulley cable on the first side and the second door is coupled to the pulley cable on the second side. Accordingly, movement of the first door moves the pulley cord on the first side in the first direction causing the pulley cord on the second side to move in the second direction to move the second door in the second direction.
The above and other illustrative embodiments may also comprise: movement of the first door in the second direction moves the second door in the first direction; the first and second doors are each attached to a respective rail, wherein each rail is movable long a longitudinally extending track; a first force being applied to the first door which moves the first side of the cable moving the cable in first direction which moves the second side of the cable in the second direction moving both the first and second doors to an open position, and wherein a second force is applied to the first door to move the first side of the cable in the second direction which moves the second side of the cable in the first direction moving both the first and second doors to a closed position.
Another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure provides a vehicle comprising first and second doors each movable with respect to each other between open and closed positions; a means for moving the first door to the open position; and a means for moving the second door to the open position as the first door is moved to the open position.
The above and other illustrative embodiments may also comprise a means for moving the first door to the closed position and a means for moving the second door to the closed position as the first door is moved to the closed position.
Another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure provides a vehicle comprising a plurality of doors such that a force applied to one of the plurality of doors moves the door engages at least one other of the plurality of doors to cause the other of the plurality of doors to move as well, for opening and closing the doors.
Additional features and advantages of the vehicle door assembly will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the illustrated embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the vehicle door assembly as presently perceived.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplification set out herein illustrates embodiments of the vehicle door assembly, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the vehicle door assembly in any manner.


The present invention relates to the production of HPO lyase proteins in hosts via recombinant expression of said proteins. Recombinant HPO lyase proteins, DNA sequences encoding these proteins, vectors containing these DNA sequences and hosts containing these vectors are provided, along with methods for recombinantly producing such proteins, DNA sequences, vectors and hosts. Also provided are processes for producing green note compounds.

"Green notes" are volatile flavor and fragrance molecules present in a wide variety of plant leaves, vegetables and fruits characterized in organoleptic terms as fresh "green" and grassy. These compounds are produced by the plant from the degradation of unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acid). In FIG. 1 the formation of a variety of linolenic acid degradation products is summarized.
Degradation of polyunsaturated fatty acids starts by the oxygenation at cis--cis double bonds of polyunsaturated fatty acids. This reaction is catalyzed by lipoxygenase (EC 220.127.116.11)-enzymes which are present in plants, animals and microorganisms. The oxygenated products, fatty acid hydroperoxides, are precursors for many important hormones (e.g. prostaglandins, lipoxins, jasmonic acid, traumatic acid) and flavor/fragrance molecules (e.g., cis-3-hexenol, 1-octen-3-ol). In plants, cleavage of the hydroperoxides occurs through the action of specific hydroperoxide lyases.
Commercial production of natural "green note" compounds is currently achieved by fractional distillation of essential oils such as mint oil or by the combined action of lipoxygenase and hydroperoxide lyase on unsaturated fatty acids using plant material from different sources.
However, these processes have the drawbacks that they provide low yields and/or depend on specific plant materials.


A miniature monolithic optical demultiplexer that comprises a dispersive optical element and a wavelength filter array. The miniature monolithic optical DWDM demultiplexer can be fabricated using micro- and nano-scale techniques common to the semiconductor industry. The operating principles and some characteristics of the DWDM demultiplexer are described. The device will be useful in the field of optical communication as a component within networks that perform all of the necessary switching, adding, dropping, and manipulating of optical signals entirely in the optical domain. With the inclusion of additional components, exemplary optical communication devices that can be built using the DWDM demultiplexer include optical add/drop multiplexers (OADM), Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) routers, tunable filters, optical cross connects, and the like.

This invention relates generally to optical communication systems and components. More particularly, the invention relates to optical systems comprising micro- and nano-scale optical structures and components built from and upon monolithic substrates.
In the field of telecommunication, it is recognized that optical communication components and systems, which use light waves and beams to carry information, offer many considerable advantages over conventional copper wire-based communication systems that carry information in the form of electrical signals. One advantage is the significantly greater amount of information that can be carried by a physical connection employing a single fiber optic strand as compared to a copper wire circuit.
To optimize the amount of information that can be transmitted along a single optical fiber, the technique known as Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) is now being implemented. The use of DWDM is accelerating at a rapid pace, due to the development of essential network components such as optical fiber, infrared laser transmitters, fiber amplifiers, and the like. However, the rate of growth of DWDM networks is currently limited in part by the availability of low-cost mass produced components that provide acceptable reliability and resistance to environmental effects, such as, vibration, mechanical stresses, and temperature fluctuations.
In these optical telecommunications systems, information is transmitted in the form of infrared light signals that originate at laser sources. Each laser source is tuned to emit an infrared light beam comprising a narrow band of wavelengths (or, equivalently, frequencies) centered at a primary frequency. As used herein, the word xe2x80x9ccolorxe2x80x9d describes a characteristic band of wavelengths centered around a specific primary wavelength as emitted by a telecommunications laser. Information is encoded in each infrared beam by temporally modulating the laser power. Each primary frequency corresponds to a value specified by the standard International Telecommunication Union (ITU) grid. The ITU standard specifies transmission frequencies that are spaced at 100 GHz intervals, although a reduction to 50 or 25 GHz is anticipated as the technology evolves.
In DWDM, many distinct colors of infrared light may be transmitted simultaneously along a single optical fiber, each color carrying information that is distinct from information carried by other colors. Devices called multiplexers physically superimpose the light beams from several colors thereby creating multi-color light beams wherein each color carries its encoded information. The combined information is transmitted some distance. At a terminus of the transmission path, demultiplexers physically separate or disperse the multiple colors received from a single optical fiber onto multiple output fibers, each output fiber carrying a single color, thereby permitting the information carried by each color to be directed to its intended destination.
The ideal demultiplexer will direct all of the incoming light of each color onto its corresponding output optical fiber. However, in actual demultiplexer devices the color separation is generally imperfectxe2x80x94not all of the light of each color entering the demultiplexer is transmitted into each respective output beam, and a portion of the light from each color is transmitted into the paths of neighboring beams. This leakage causes undesirable performance effects such as crosstalk and insertion loss that must be limited in magnitude for the device to be practical.
At present, demultiplexing is often accomplished utilizing devices based upon either diffraction gratings or precision interference filters. Neither type of device is amenable to cost-effective mass production while maintaining acceptable performance.
For filter-based demultiplexers, such as those described in T. E. Stern, K. Bola, Multiwavelength Optical Networks, A Layered Approach, Addison Wesley, 1999, each filter must be manufactured separately from the others using multilayer vapor deposition techniques. The filters are then installed manually or robotically in an optical substrate and aligned to project light onto individual output optical fibers. Achieving and maintaining optical alignment in spite of thermal and mechanical stresses confounds attempts to reliably mass produce these devices, adding to the production cost and diminishing long-term reliability and resistance to environmental influences. Furthermore, the filters are frequently operated in a serial configuration, such that one color is transmitted through one filter while all other colors are reflected to the next, and so on. In this configuration, the insertion loss accumulates so that the last transmitted color has significantly higher loss than earlier colors.
Grating-based devices offer the advantage of being parallel rather than serial demultiplexers, and therefore have improved insertion loss uniformity. However, to achieve acceptable crosstalk, the optical components within grating-based devices must be several centimeters in size. Therefore, like filter-based devices, grating-based demultiplexers are difficult to align and maintain aligned. Low-cost mass production of reliable devices remains elusively difficult.
Recently, demultiplexers based on arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) have been introduced commercially. These small, thin monolithic devices, generally fabricated from silicon-based or InP-based wafer substrates, offer promise as low-cost components that can be mass produced. Nevertheless, despite more than a decade of intense development of AWG technology, and the emergence of several companies offering AWG products, the performance specifications achieved by production AWGs remain several orders of magnitude worse than theoretical predictions.
Monolithic demultiplexer devices based on waveguide gratings etched into wafers of semiconductor materials such as InP have been described in recent patent and technical literature. These devices also offer potential as low-cost mass-producible components but, like AWGs, have not yet achieved acceptable performance specifications. In particular, etched waveguide gratings demonstrated to date suffer from excessive crosstalk due to the small size and imperfections in fabrication of the grating structure.
The invention, in one embodiment, provides a miniature monolithic optical wavelength demultiplexer comprising an assembly of optical components built on a monolithic platform.
In one aspect, the invention relates to a miniature monolithic optical demultiplexer that includes a wavelength dispersing optical element that receives a multi-color light beam and separates the light spatially, providing a plurality of substantially single color optical beams, each substantially single color optical beam containing primarily a single color different from that of the other substantially single color optical beams. In some embodiments, a small portion of the light from other colors can remain in a substantially single-color optical beam after passing through the wavelength dispersing optical element. The demultiplexer also includes a wavelength filter array having at least one wavelength filter element. Each wavelength filter element receives one of the plurality of substantially single color optical beams and removes therefrom the portions of light from colors other than the primary color of that beam, thereby providing a purified single color output beam substantially free of light from other colors.
In some embodiments, one or more of the substrate, the wavelength dispersive optical element, and the wavelength filter array comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of silicon, silicon monoxide, silicon dioxide, silicon-germanium alloys, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and indium phosphide. In other embodiments, different materials can be employed. In one embodiment, the demultiplexer is preferably made from materials that are amenable to semiconductor fabrication processes.
In one embodiment, at least one of the wavelength dispersive optical element and the wavelength filter array elements comprises an optical waveguide. In one embodiment, at least one of the wavelength dispersive optical element and the wavelength filter array elements comprises a miniature free-space optical element. With regard to the invention, the term xe2x80x9cfree-spacexe2x80x9d refers to optical systems or components in which light travels in a fluid, such as air, or in a vacuum, rather than through a solid waveguide material.
In some embodiments, the demultiplexer can further comprise an input optical structure that receives the input beam. The input optical structure can comprise at least one material selected from the group consisting of silicon, silicon monoxide, silicon dioxide, silicon-germanium alloys, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and indium phosphide. The input optical structure can comprise an optical waveguide, or a miniature free-space optical element. In some embodiments, the miniature monolithic optical demulitplexer further comprises an optical waveguide that communicates the input beam from an external source.
In some embodiments, the demulitplexer further comprises an array of output optical structures having at least one output element, said at least one output element transmitting an output beam. The array of output optical structures can comprise optical waveguides, or miniature free-space optical elements. The array of output optical structures can comprise at least one material selected from the group consisting of silicon, silicon monoxide, silicon dioxide, silicon-germanium alloys, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and indium phosphide.
The demulitplexer can further comprise an optical waveguide that communicates the output beam from said output element to a photodiode.
In one embodiment, each color comprises a narrow band of wavelengths centered on a primary wavelength, which can be designated by the International Telecommunications Union as one of a set of discrete wavelengths to be utilized for optical telecommunications.
In some embodiments, the wavelength dispersive optical element is a selected one of a prism, a grating, or a grism. In some embodiments, the wavelength filter array is a selected one of an array of interference filters, an array of waveguide Bragg gratings, an array of Fabry-Perot interferometers, an array of resonantly-coupled waveguide structures, or an array of waveguide ring resonators.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a method of demultiplexing an optical beam having a plurality of spatially overlapping colors. The method comprises providing an assembly of miniature optical elements, the assembly comprising a monolithic substrate, a wavelength dispersive optical element fabricated on said monolithic substrate, and a wavelength filter array fabricated on said monolithic substrate. In addition, the method comprises receiving an input beam having a plurality of spatially overlapping distinct colors, dispersing the input beam, by use of the wavelength dispersive optical element, into a plurality of spatially-separated substantially single color optical beams, each beam containing primarily a single color that is different than the color of the other substantially single color optical beams, and filtering said at least one of the substantially single-color optical beams and removing therefrom colors other than the designated primary color of that beam, thereby providing at least one purified single-color output beam, said output beam being substantially free of other colors.
In some embodiments, the input beam is received from an optical waveguide external to said assembly. In some embodiments, the output beam is transmitted to an optical waveguide external to said assembly.
In yet another aspect, the invention features a method of fabricating a miniature monolithic optical demultiplexer. The method comprises utilizing semiconductor fabrication methods to create a wavelength dispersive element and an array of wavelength filtering elements upon a monolithic substrate, the combination of the wavelength dispersive element and the array of wavelength filtering elements providing a miniature monolithic optical demultiplexer. In some embodiments, the wavelength dispersive optical element and the wavelength filter array are formed by semiconductor fabrication processes. In some embodiments, the method further comprises fabricating an input optical structure by semiconductor fabrication processes. In some embodiments, the method further comprises fabricating an output optical structure by semiconductor fabrication processes.
The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and from the claims.

Miniature monolithic optical demultiplexer


A method for curing a resin includes the steps of placing the resin into a reaction vessel, drawing a vacuum in the reaction vessel, positioning the reaction vessel in a gaseous coupling fluid, and applying ultrasonic energy to the coupling fluid.

Synthetic resins, such as epoxy resins, polyester resins and the like, are commonly used as adhesives for bonding two substrates together. However, synthetic resins are also combined with appropriate substrates, such as fibers, glass, metals and wood, to form composite materials. Such composite materials find application in a variety of fields and industries. For example, synthetic resin-based composite materials are used in the aerospace industry to form parts, propellers, tails, wings and fuselages.
Composite materials typically are formed by preparing the synthetic resin (e.g., mixing a polymer with a catalyst), combining the substrate with the synthetic resin, molding the substrate and resin mixture into the desired shape, and curing the molded substrate and resin mixture until it achieves the desired physical properties. Once cured, the resulting composite material may be removed from the mold, at which point it is ready for use, packaging or further processing.
Common molding techniques include vacuum bag molding, pressure bag molding and autoclave molding. In vacuum bag molding, a mold or form, such as a two-sided mold, is filled with the substrate and resin mixture and placed into a vacuum bag. Then, a vacuum is drawn in the vacuum bag to urge the substrate and resin mixture into the various nooks and crannies of the mold. The vacuum bag is then sealed and cured.
Various techniques have been presented for curing synthetic resin. Most commonly, heat is used to cure resins. For example, sealed vacuum bags may be cured in an oven for a predetermined amount of time. However, alternative techniques for curing synthetic resins include the application of high pressure, whether alone or in combination with heat, as well as exposure to ultraviolet light.
Despite the advances in the field of synthetic resin curing and composite material formation, those skilled in the art continue to seek new techniques for curing synthetic resins and forming composite materials.


A capture and distribution method for coordinating commands produced by input/output devices of a first and a second remote client associated with the same computer session running on a host computer, implements the following operations from the host computer: sending the same sequence of identifiable time marks to each remote client; receiving and temporarily storing the commands coming from the first and second remote clients for a storage duration, each command being associated with a coordination datum linking an instant at which the command was produced to a time mark; sequencing the commands received during the storage duration according to their associated coordination datum; and successively delivering the sequenced commands to the computer session.

Document US2017228851 describes a configuration of a computer system of the cloud computing type in which the interface devices (screen, keyboard, controller, etc.) are at a distance from the processing and storage part of the computer session.
The interface devices are located in close proximity to the user and form a remote client. The processing and storage components that make up the host computer are located in a separate hosting location that is generally far apart from the remote client.
The user computer session runs on the host computer, and the host computer and the remote client respectively exchange session information and command data through a computer network, for example, the internet network to which they are both connected. This session information can thus include images and sounds that are intended to be reproduced on the remote client side, as well as command information, such as instructions issued from the host computer, which are intended to be communicated to the remote client, which, in turn, shares data produced by the input/output devices such as display, sound, and command data. In this way, the presence of a high-performance physical computer is emulated for the user without the need to directly own or have access to such equipment.
Certain computer applications require or can benefit from the ability on the part of a user to share a computer session with at least one other participant. For example, this may involve sharing the images produced by the computer session and displaying them on the screen of the remote client with this other participant. It may also involve sharing or giving control of the session to this other participant, with whom they can interact by way of their keyboard and mouse, for example.
This is particularly the case in online games where a group of players may wish to share their respective screens with each other in order to have a greater overview of the environment in which they are playing. This may also be the case in the field of remote education, where a teacher may wish to have access to the images displayed on his student's screen and possibly take control of the session in order to guide or correct him, for example.
Regardless of the application justifying the need for sharing of the information of a computer session, a plurality of remote clients may interact with the same computer session at the same time by sending commands to the host computer. In this situation, the host computer receives the commands sent by each remote client (cursor movement, mouse click, etc.) and decodes them and injects them into the session according to their order of arrival so that they can be processed by the application(s) being hosted in this session.
Every remote client suffers from a latency, a delay in communication with the host computer, that depends on a number of factors, notably on the quality of internet network, and therefore generally differs from that of another remote client. Consequently, the session information sent by the host computer to the clients of the same computer session is not received at the same instant by these clients in an absolute time frame.
This difference in latency can lead to situations in which a command of a remote client that has reacted more quickly than another client to the appearance of session information (the displaying of a new screen image, for example) is received by the host computer, and hence processed by the session, later than that of the other client.
As an example, FIG. 3 shows a chronogram of information exchanges between a host computer and a first and a second remote client.
In this figure, three session information items, e.g., three successive screen images I1, I2, and I3, are produced by the computer session. These three session information items are sent by the host computer 1 to the remote clients 4 and 4′ at times t01, t02, t03, respectively. The first remote client 4 receives the information I1, I2, I3 at times t11, t12, t13, respectively. The second remote client 4′, whose latency is greater than that of the first remote client 4, receives this information I1, I2, I3 at times t11′, t12′, t13′, respectively, where t11′>t11, t12′>t12, and t13′>t13. Here, since the second remote client 4′ is suffering from very high latency, it receives the first piece of information I1 after the first client 4 has received the third piece of information I3.
The user of the remote client 4, upon receiving the first piece of information I1, issues two instructions by means of the input/output devices of the first remote client 4, two successive mouse clicks, for example, which are designated as a and b in FIG. 3 and carried out at times ta and tb, respectively. Likewise, the user of the second remote client 4′, upon receiving the first piece of information I1, performs two instructions by means of the input/output devices of the second remote client 4′, which are designated as a′ and b′ and carried out at times ta′ and tb′, respectively.
In this illustration, the first remote client 4 issues the first instruction a between the reception of the information I1 and I2 and issues the second instruction between the reception of the information I2 and I3. The second remote client 4′, more reactive, issues the two instructions between the reception of the information I1 and I2. More particularly, it issues the two instructions a′, b′ more quickly than the first instruction a of the first remote client 4 after receiving the first piece of information I1.
Each of the instructions, constituting command data, is supplied by each remote client 4, 4′ to the host computer 1, which receives these data and supplies them to the computer session. The instants at which the instructions a, b, a′, b′ are received by the host computer 1 are denoted t0a, t0b, t0a′, t0b′, respectively.
The host computer supplies the command data to the session in the order in which it arrives, and the computer session thus processes the commands in the order a, b, a′, b′. This order does not reflect the actual reaction time of each remote client 4, 4′ following receipt of a session information item. In particular, this order reflects the latency phenomena that can affect each client.
It is therefore understood that the variability of the latency can result in processing distortion when the host computer receives the commands supplied by the various clients. This processing distortion is likely to disrupt the proper use of the same computer session by a plurality of remote clients.
Document US20110053686 relates to a method for synchronizing game sequences among a plurality of network game devices. In the computer architecture of this document, each gaming device runs its own computer session. The aim of the document is to streamline the storage of gaming devices so that data received from other devices belonging to completed gaming sequences is not mistakenly stored or processed, and to synchronize the transition from one gaming sequence to the next for all gaming devices.

Capture and broadcast process to coordinate orders produced by two remote customers associated with the same computer session


A process is disclosed for the manufacture of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane and 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane, hexafluoropropene and/or 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane. The process involves (a) reacting HF, Cl2, and at least one halopropene of the formula CX3CCl═CClX (where each X is independently F or Cl) to produce a product comprising CF3CCl2CF3 and CF3CClFCClF2; (b) reacting CF3CCl2CF3 and CF3CClFCClF2 produced in (a) with hydrogen, optionally in the presence of HF, to produce a product comprising CF3CH2CF3 and at least one of CHF2CHFCF3, CF3CF═CF2 and CF3CFHCF3; and (c) recovering from the product produced in (b), CF3CH2CF3 and at least one of CHF2CHFCF3, CF3CF═CF2 and CF3CFHCF3. In (a), the CF3CCl2CF3 and CF3CClFCClF2 are produced in the presence of a chlorofluorination catalyst including (i) a crystalline alpha-chromium oxide where at least 0.05 atom % of the chromium atoms in the alpha-chromium oxide lattice are replaced by divalent copper, and/or (ii) a chromium-containing composition of (i) which has been treated with a fluorinating agent.

A number of chlorine-containing halocarbons are considered to be detrimental toward the Earth's ozone layer. There is a worldwide effort to develop materials having lower ozone depletion potential that can serve as effective replacements. For example, the hydrofluorocarbon, 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a) is being used as a replacement for dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12) in refrigeration systems. There is a need for manufacturing processes that provide halogenated hydrocarbons that contain less chlorine or no chlorine. The production of hydrofluorocarbons (i.e., compounds containing only carbon, hydrogen and fluorine), has been the subject of considerable interest to provide environmentally desirable products for use as solvents, blowing agents, refrigerants, cleaning agents, aerosol propellants, heat transfer media, dielectrics, fire extinguishants and power cycle working fluids. There is also interest in developing alternative processes for the manufacture of fluoroolefins from such hydrofluorocarbons. For example, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane and 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane have utility as fire extinguishants and 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane has utility as a refrigerant. Further, they can also serve as suitable starting materials for the preparation of fluoroolefins. For example, hexafluoropropene is a useful monomer for preparation of fluoropolymers.

Process or the preparation of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-propane and at least one of 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane, hexafluoropropane and 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane


A computer system is used to host a virtual reality universe process in which multiple avatars are independently controlled in response to client input. The host provides coordinated motion information for defining coordinated movement between designated portions of multiple avatars, and an application responsive to detect conditions triggering a coordinated movement sequence between two or more avatars. During coordinated movement, user commands for controlling avatar movement may be in part used normally and in part ignored or otherwise processed to cause the involved avatars to respond in part to respective client input and in part to predefined coordinated movement information. Thus, users may be assisted with executing coordinated movement between multiple avatars.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to virtual environments such as used in computer gaming, and in particular for games that simulate an actual 3-D environment and allow for simultaneous participation of multiple players.
2. Description of Related Art
Various simulation games are known in which a 3-D physical world (actual or fantasy) is simulated. Games of this type are sometimes referred to as "virtual reality" or "virtual reality universe" (VRU) games. In known VRU games, an actual or fantasy universe is simulated within a computer memory. Multiple players may participate in a in the game through a computer network, such as a local area network or a wide area network. Each player selects an "avatar," often a three-dimensional figure of a man, woman, or other being, to represent them in the VRU environment. As used herein, "avatar" means an image representing a user in a multi-user virtual reality (VR) space, or VR-like space. Players send inputs to a VRU engine to move their avatars around the VRU environment, and are able to cause interaction between their avatars and objects in the VRU. For example, a player's avatar may interact with an automated entity or person, simulated static objects, or avatars operated by other players.
The VRU may take the form of at least one area or environment which is a virtual-reality three-dimensional map existing in a computer memory, consisting of elements that may include but are not limited to representations of rooms, outdoor areas, exotic environments, objects, people, animals, robots, avatars, robot avatars, time elements, additional spatial elements, and activities. Users establish a presence in the VRU by creating or using an avatar, which is a three-dimensional representative of the user in the VRU, and which can be navigated by the user around various environments in the VRU. A view or views of the VRU are displayed to the user using a client computer display and user interface software as known in the art. Each user provides input to a computer controlling the VRU using an input device connected to a local node or client, which is in turn connected to the networked computer system. The VRU is shared by all players and participants, using elements from the common memory.
Essentially, the computer system generates 3-D, real-time, transient animation of avatars and other objects that includes responses to user inputs, such as move right, left, etc. For example, avatars may be limited to simply observing the environment or area. But usually, avatars can interact with some or all of: other avatars, objects, the environment (e.g., walls, floors, roads, lakes, etc.), and automated or robotic avatars within at least one environment. Interactions by one avatar with any other avatar, object, the environment or automated or robotic avatars may, in some cases, but need not, result in outcomes that may effect or otherwise be observed or experienced by other avatars, objects, the environment, and automated or robotic avatars within the at least one environment of the VRU.
Current VRU's limit the ways in which avatars controlled by different remote players can interact with one another. Each avatar is independently animated by remote operators, and interaction is limited to a sequence of "act-wait-react." After one avatar in an interactive scene acts, such as by speaking or moving, interaction requires processing a response from the other avatar in the scene. Because of lag times introduced by computer systems, and operator reaction time for processing computer input and providing output to a computer interface, interactions via remote avatars proceed more slowly than interactions between natural persons in the same physical space. In addition, current VRU environments are not capable of simulating all sensory inputs that occur in a real environment, and thus, subtle sensory cues that may help guide natural human interactions absent. The lack of some sensory cues, in addition to timing lag, hinders realistic interactions via avatars and may even render practicably impossible many types of complex physical interactions that are readily performed in person.
For example, relatively simple actions such as gestures or unilateral touching may be easily simulated in current VRU environments, but avatars are not able to engage in activities that require coordinated movement in ways that simulate human behavior. For example, it would be very difficult if not impossible for avatars controlled by independent participants to engage in highly coordinated activities such as ballroom dance or team sports. Even a relatively simple coordinated gesture, such as a simulated handshake, requires coordinated movement. The limitations of current VRU spaces and user interfaces make such activities cumbersome and laughable, at best. Nevertheless, many users may desire to observe their chosen avatar engaging in coordinated motion with other avatars. For example, the player who has chosen the Princess avatar may wish to see the Princess waltz with the Prince Charming avatar, or the player who has chosen the star quarterback may wish to execute football plays with his favorite running backs. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a VRU space that operates to permit coordinated motion of independently-controlled avatars.

Animation control method for multiple participants