Brake pipe connection to a brake hose includes a fixing bushing through which the brake hose is inserted through a first side and a brake pipe through a second side. The brake pipe includes an external diameter DT, a wall thickness eT, and a connection end. The brake hose includes an internal diameter dH that is less than the external diameter DT of the brake pipe. The connection end includes a built-in pipette which is housed on the inside of the fixing bushing and inserted in the brake hose. The built-in pipette is formed by the stretching of the connection end to obtain an external diameter of the pipette DP that is less than the external diameter DT of the brake pipe, a pipette wall thickness eP that is less than the wall thickness eT of the brake pipe, and a pipette length LP.

The components to be mounted in the motor vehicles driven in roads, such as motorcycles and automobiles, have to comply with strict regulations which guarantee their maximum safety and reliability.
Hydraulic brake lines, among others, are components whose performance in the vehicle has a direct impact on its safety and reliability. Hydraulic brake lines, also known as brake lines, consist of a hydraulic circuit capable of pressurized fluid transmission between the different components forming a brake system, such as for example between the master cylinder and the ABS system, between the ABS set and the brake caliper or directly between the master cylinder and the brake caliper. The hydraulic brake lines usually comprise brake pipes, brake hoses and union terminals to the aforementioned equipment or other equipment. The combination of brake pipes and brake hoses allows reducing the efforts of the hydraulic brake lines itself and the vibrations transmitted to the different components of the vehicle, as well as allowing the movement of certain components of the vehicle. Precisely, one of the inconveniences of the hydraulic brake lines is found in the connections between brake pipes and brake hoses.
The present invention refers to a brake pipe connection to a brake hose, for the configuration of a hydraulic brake line, pursuant to DIN 74234, SAE J1401 and FMVSS 106 regulations. Particularly, the connection is especially suitable for brake hoses of an internal diameter of approximately 3.175 mm (⅛″) connected to brake pipes with a larger external diameter than the said internal diameter. One of the most widely used pipes in hydraulic brake lines is the one known as bundy tube. This bundy tube is made mainly of steel coated in a copper layer. Additionally, it can also be zinc coated with an additional polymeric coating to improve its corrosion resistance. The bundy tube is highly rigid and, therefore, it has less expansion volume when hydraulic fluids circulate through it at a very high pressure.
The difficulty posed by the brake pipe connection to a brake hose focuses mainly on the strict compliance with the choking or constriction requirements of the aforementioned regulations. Specifically, said regulations require that once assembled both tubes need to have a section for the passage of hydraulic fluid with a nominal internal diameter higher than 64% of the nominal internal diameter of the brake pipe, along the entire course of the hydraulic circuit.
Nowadays, the connection of a brake pipe to a brake hose of an internal diameter of approximately 3.175 mm (⅛″), pursuant to DIN 74234, SAE J1401 and FMVSS 106 regulations, can be performed in the following ways.
The first of them requires the use of an independent connection pipette. Said pipette has an external diameter which coincides, considering certain allowances, with the internal diameter of the brake hose. The connection also requires the use of a fixing bushing capable of housing the connection pipette inside it and receiving both the brake pipe and the brake hose through its ends. The assembly process begins with the insertion of the brake pipe in the bushing enabled to that end. Next, the bushing end is pressed to keep it together with the pipe, so that any of the components may move during the welding stage. The welding is carried out by capillarity inside a furnace and it requires a previous supply of copper between the brake pipe and the bushing end. The welding serves to guarantee the tightness of the connection between the brake pipe and the bushing and to make sure that the union is not destroyed when the assembly is subjected to certain traction forces. After the welding is performed, there is an electrolytic coating stage needed to avoid corrosion. The pipette is later inserted on the inside of the bushing, thus communicating the inlet hole in the brake pipe for the hydraulic fluid with the inlet hole in the pipette. After that, the brake hose is inserted in the other end of the bushing until the pipette is inserted under pressure on the inside of the brake hose, thus communicating the inlet hole in the pipette with the inlet hole in the brake hose. Finally, the rest of the bushing is pressed to increase the brake hose fixing and guaranteeing the tightness of the connection. This connection mode is normally used in steel braided hoses.
In the second connection mode known the pipette is not independent but it is integrated in fixing bushing itself. In spite of this noticeable difference, the assembly process coincides with the previously described one, the only difference being that it is not necessary to insert the pipette in the bushing as it is integrated therein. This connection mode is normally used in rubber hoses.
The main problems of the aforementioned processes are found in the welding and electrolytic coating stages.
As regards the inconveniences of the welding stage, once the brake pipe is inserted in the bushing end and said end is pressed so that both elements are kept together, it is put in the furnace to carry out the said welding stage. Since the bushing and the brake pipe are joined together, the welding stage makes it inevitable to put considerably large pieces in the furnace, according to the configuration required by the hydraulic brake line. Said pieces are hard and uncomfortable to manipulate and process, besides considerable increasing the welding time, and therefore the efficiency of the processes is reduced, as a smaller number of pieces can be fitted in the furnace than when the pieces have a smaller volume. Furthermore, bigger furnaces are also needed, which increases power consumption. Another inconvenience of the welding stage is that it does not allow using brake pipes with polymeric coating since putting them in the furnace would destroy said coating. The brake pipes with polymeric coatings, besides offering an excellent corrosion resistance, do not leave any residue when handled, and the end forming and brake pipe bending processes are therefore cleaner. Since the brake pipe with polymeric coating cannot be used, an electrolytic coating stage becomes necessary.
As regards the inconveniences of the electrolytic coating stage, it poses the same problems previously described regarding the welding stage, insofar as the uncomfortable handling of considerably large pieces through the electrolytic coating and efficiency reduction of the process. Besides, the corrosion resistance provided by the electrolytic coating is noticeably lower than the corrosion resistance offered by the polymeric coating, which also features a more reliable quality control through simple visual verification.
The present invention satisfactorily solves the aforementioned problems thanks to an assembly procedure, which is much more efficient and less expensive than the aforementioned processes, does not need the welding and electrolytic coating stages, enables to use brake pipes with polymeric coating and is based on a connection that integrates the connection pipette at the end of the brake pipe.


A power switching cell, and associated multi-level converter, include an input port capable of receiving a switching control signal, an input transistor linked by the gate to the input port, and by the source to a reference voltage, a self-biasing circuit comprising a self-biasing transistor linked by the gate to the drain of the input transistor, and a resistor connected in parallel between the gate and the source of the self-biasing transistor, and in series between the drain of the input transistor and the source of the self-biasing transistor, a power transistor, linked by the gate to the source of the self-biasing transistor and by the drain to a power supply voltage, and an isolating transistor linked by the gate and by the source to the gate and to the source of the power transistor, and by the drain to the output port of the cell.

The dynamic management of the biasing of the RF amplifiers in a transmission chain, so as to follow the variations of the envelope of the signal to be amplified, is a major issue in modern communication systems, because it makes it possible to operate the amplifiers at the point of operation that maximizes electrical efficiencies.
FIGS. 1a to 1d illustrate the issues of this management.
FIG. 1a is a simplified representation of a transmission chain in a standard piece of equipment. A baseband-modulated signal, whose amplitude varies over time, is transposed to a carrier frequency by a radio chain 110, then amplified by a power amplifier 111.
The amplifier 111 is powered/biased by a DC voltage generator 112, the transmitted signal is the signal 113.
FIG. 1b simplistically illustrates the level of the transmitted signal 113, and the energy dissipated by the amplifier. Since the bias voltage 112 of the amplifier is direct, the energy 114 consumed by the amplifier is constant, and is so independently of the power variations of the signal 113. The level of the bias voltage of the amplifier is then dimensioned relative to the maximum power level of the signal to be transmitted. When the level of the transmitted signal does not reach its maximum value, the power difference 115 is then lost and dissipated as heat, which is synonymous with an unnecessary expenditure of energy and heating of the component.
FIG. 1c is a simplified representation of a transmission chain in a piece of equipment configured to conduct the tracking of the envelope of a signal to be transmitted.
Just as in the case presented in FIG. 1a, the signal is baseband-modulated then transposed to carrier frequency by a radio chain 120, and finally amplified by a power amplifier 121.
The difference with respect to FIG. 1a is that the bias voltage generator 122 for the power amplifier follows the power variations of the signal 123 transmitted.
FIG. 1d illustrates the effects of controlling the bias voltage of the amplifier, in the case of the transmission of a signal with non-constant amplitude. This voltage 124 varies so as to follow the variations of the signal to be transmitted 123. Thus, the power dissipated as heat 125 is reduced to the minimum, which makes it possible to save energy in the transmission device.
These savings are all the greater when the transmitted power level is great, which is why the dynamic management of the biasing of the amplifiers is a solution of interest in power microwave electronics.
Techniques for the dynamic management of the bias voltage of amplifiers have been known for several years, but their implementation has occurred only recently, primarily for two reasons:
the development of transistors in GaN (gallium nitride) technology finally makes it possible to technically consider these solutions,
the increasingly widespread development of wireless telecommunication systems, for which the architectures of conventional amplifiers have low electrical efficiencies, have been the subject of significant research efforts with a view to economies that can be realized in terms of electrical consumption.
The dynamic bias management systems are composed, among other things, of voltage modulators, which are themselves composed of one or more switched-mode power supplies, the bandwidth of which needs to be at least equal to that of the envelope of the RF signals to be amplified.
One key element of these switched-mode power supplies lies in the power switching cell, which makes it possible to switch, at its output, a power signal as a function of a low-power control signal applied to its input. This cell must more particularly satisfy two criteria: speed of switching and low electrical consumption.
To produce a switched-mode power supply from these switching cells, two major families of techniques are known:
The so-called pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques, which consist in modulating a power supply voltage by a logic signal whose frequency varies as a function of the output voltage value sought. To operate optimally, the logic signal must have a frequency at least 5 or 10 times greater than the sampling frequency of the signal to be transmitted. A single cell is then required. The resulting signal from this cell is a series of pulses for which the voltage is equal to the initial voltage, these pulses being more or less wide depending on the output voltage sought. The signal is then filtered by a low-pass filter, so as to obtain a signal whose level is a function of the width of the pulses. Many variants of these pulse width modulation techniques exist, such as, for example, the use of a triangular logic signal, or control by hysteresis.
The so-called multi-level switch techniques, which consist in connecting in parallel several cells delivering a voltage of different levels, each of the cells having a distinct output level. The frequency of the switchings is then less great than in the preceding case.
The multi-level converters have the advantage of considerably reducing the needs of the cells in terms of switching speed, and do not demand the addition of a complex and bulky reconstruction filter, nor do they demand the implementation of a complex system for temporal alignment of the bias voltage with the signal to be transmitted. However, they have the drawback of requiring more switching cells (one for each voltage level), and therefore more substrate surface. Both solutions therefore have their respective advantages and can prove more or less advantageous depending on the applications sought.

COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES


The present disclosure provides a battery heat exchange system which comprises a liquid feeding mechanism, a heat exchange mechanism and a liquid draining mechanism. The liquid feeding mechanism provides a circulating liquid. The heat exchange mechanism is connected with the liquid feeding mechanism and comprises a plurality of heat exchange units and a plurality of connecting units; each heat exchange unit is used to heat or cool a corresponding battery module, and the plurality of connecting units are used to connect the heat exchange units together in series-parallel. The liquid draining mechanism is connected with the heat exchange mechanism, and the circulating liquid provided by the liquid feeding mechanism flows through the heat exchange mechanism and then is drained from the liquid draining mechanism.

With the development of new energy vehicles, the requirement for the new energy vehicles is higher and higher, and the focuses of people's attention are driving mileage, working performance and working life of the new energy vehicles. In order to satisfy the demand of customers, battery manufacturers usually make the power battery bigger and bigger, the number of battery modules is larger and larger, which makes the heat of battery generated in the working process dissipated difficultly in time and heating the battery at low temperature slower and slower, especially in rapidly charging process, the quantity of heat is increased sharply and heat accumulation is more serious. How to control the working temperature of battery module composed of a large number of batteries and the temperature variations of each battery within a reasonable range, make the battery function the performance and slow down attenuation of the working life of the battery are the key technical problems to be resolved urgently in promoting new energy vehicles.
When the number of power batteries in the new energy vehicle is relatively larger, the quantity of heat usually accumulates easily in the working process, and air cooling way cannot satisfy the demand of the heat manage system, especially, after a rapid charging function is added, it requires that the heat manage system has better cooling ability, so the heat manage system needs to control the temperature of the battery by liquid cooling.
After batteries are assembled to form battery modules, the temperature of each battery module is usually controlled by an independent cooling unit, and at present, the cooling units mostly are connected together in series or in parallel, but the connection in series will make the pressure of the heat manage system drop excessively, cause the heat of the circulating liquid to accumulate in the flowing process and make heat exchange efficiency low; the connection in parallel will make the quantity of the circulating liquid in each cooling unit is small, which make heat exchange effect poor. When the number of battery modules is larger, the battery modules may be arranged in a multi-layer structure, which makes the heat manage system more complex.

CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED


Disclosed are a method and system for transferring data objects from a server to a client in a distributed computing system. The disclosed method comprises the steps of: receiving, at the server, a request from the client for the data object; determining whether a cached copy of the requested object retained by the client is the same as a current version of the requested object retained by the server, wherein the cached copy and the current version are stored in a compressed form; and transmitting the current version of the requested object from the server to the client in the compressed form if the cached copy of the requested object is not the same as the current version of the requested object. The step of determining whether a cached copy of the requested object retained by the client is the same as a current version of the requested object comprises comparing a first relatively unique number computed on the basis of the current version of the requested object with a second relatively unique number computed on the basis of the cached copy of the requested object. The cached copy of the requested object is assumed to be the same as the current version of the requested object if the first relatively unique number is equal to the second relatively unique number.

Transferring large data objects across a data communications link is a problem for multimedia/imaging applications utilized in client/server distributed computing systems (such as the Internet's World Wide Web). One attempt at solving this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,781, Jan. 30, 1990, titled "System And Method For Using Cached Data At A Local Node After Re-Opening A File At A Remote Node In A Distributed Networking Environment." In this system, the client processing system employs a client cache within its operating system to store data files. Utilizing the client cache minimizes the number of reads and writes that must be effected over the network to the server processing system where the file physically resides. This system prevents a process in the client processing system from accessing data in the client cache that has been modified at another node in the network by testing blocks of data in the client cache for "validity" by using modification times measured by the server processing system. In this approach, a cached file is considered invalid if its time stamp is different from the time stamp of the corresponding server file.
Another approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,728, Feb. 20, 1996, titled "System And Methods For Optimized Access In A Multi-User Environment." In this system, what is sometimes called a "dirty bit" is set periodically in the server file, and the client operates on a copy residing in a local rapid-access memory until the server file is again marked as being invalid.
One shortcoming inherent in the prior art is that the decision as to whether the cached copy of a requested data object is "valid" is made on the basis of factors not directly related to the content of the data object itself, which could lead to inefficient operation of the system in certain situations. For example, identical data objects could have different timestamps, and thus the approach disclosed in the '781 patent could result in another copy of a requested object being sent to the client even though the locally-cached object is perfectly valid in that it is the same as the current object retained by the server. Accordingly, a primary goal of the present invention is to provide an improved system for operating a distributed network wherein large data objects must be transmitted across a communications link of limited bandwidth.

Methods and apparatus for efficient caching in a distributed environment


A computer-implemented method, implemented by one or more computers including hardware and software. The method includes determining whether a computer system contains data subject to a protection policy; in response to a determination that the computer system contains data or information subject to said protection policy, determining whether the data is already subject to protection according to said protection policy; and in response to said determining, that the computer system contains data or information that is not already subject to protection according to said protection policy, applying or implementing the protection policy on the data or information.

Corporate computer networks may have hundreds or even thousands of data directories and connected databases spread over numerous computers. Oftentimes, the databases may be created by each department or group within the company, with little understanding of or adherence to privacy protocols or policies required for the storage of sensitive data. In addition, different types of databases may be implemented by different groups at different times, leading to inconsistencies in corporate network structures. Databases also may be duplicated, or data may be exported from one database to another, adding to the fragmentation of the corporate network and the data it may store.
In some cases, users may create ad hoc databases, e.g., in the form of text files or spreadsheets or the like, and these may include potentially sensitive data such as data that should be restricted based on policies and/or statutes or regulations.
This poses a challenge for system administrators and, in particular, database administrators charged with managing databases and sensitive data across large networks.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of automatically discovering data on computers on a computer network that should be subject to restrictions (e.g., privacy restrictions). And there is a need for provisioning of restrictions on potentially sensitive data that is discovered on a computer network.
There is a need for a system and method for automatically discovering databases and data files on computers on a network, for scanning the databases and files for sensitive data, and for the provisioning of privacy policies to the databases and files to protect the sensitive data per industry standards.

System and method for the discovery and protection of sensitive data


A drill includes a tip-forming front end having at least two straight cutting edges and at least two chip flutes extending from the tip end towards a rear end. Each cutting edge includes an inner portion disposed near a center line of the drill, and an outer portion disposed farther from the center line. The peripheral end of each cutting edge is in the form of a smoothly curved nose portion protruding radially with respect to the center line. The nose portion is formed by several circular segments having mutually different radii (R1, R2, R3). Adjacent ones of the radii are of different size.

The flutes of, e.g., a twist drill, have two important functions, viz. on the one hand the forming of chips (including chipbreaking) and on the other hand the removal of these formed chips. The chip formation occurs in a space immediately behind each cutting edge, regardless of whether the edge is formed by a sharpening of the drill top as such, or by a separate cutting insert which is fastened on the tip, mechanically or, by, e.g., brazing. In this front space of a flute, the initially bandlike material that is separated off by the cutting edge from a workpiece, is forced to curl and break, thus creating separate chips with a particular form and size.
When designing drills of the abovementioned type there is often difficulty in achieving desired high cutting speeds since thermal cracks often appear at the active cutting corner where such thermal cracks usually appear.
It is a first object of the invention to accomplish a new type of drill that enables achieving higher cutting speeds during metal drilling.
It is a second object of the invention to accomplish a new type if drill wherein the inserts have such optimized formation that high cutting speed becomes possible without impairing the surface finish of the hole wall in the hole to be drilled.
It is a third object to provide a drill wherein the drill inserts have been given such optimized formation that increased cutting speed becomes possible during drilling while maintaining good lifetime of the drilling tool.
These and other objects are being achieved by means of a drill that has been given the characterizing features that are outlined in the appending claims.

Drill with improved cutting insert formation


An atomization chamber apparatus used for aircraft pesticide delivery, which has an open ended walled chamber, divided into left and right sections, each having outer and inner segments, each segment having a top and a bottom wall, the outer segments having a same radius concave upper wall and a convex lower wall, while the inner segments have a same radius convex radius upper wall and a concave lower wall. A nozzle injector connectable to a fluid pesticide source is laterally disposed in an inner segment. The nozzle is chosen such that exiting pesticide will not impact the chamber walls, and the radii of the segments are chosen such that the speed of pesticide atomization by the incoming air is slowed down to reduce fines upon pesticide impact, and the speed of the pesticide air mixture on exiting the chamber is increased to substantially match the airspeed of the aircraft.

Agricultural applicators are committed to the management of chemical drift and take responsibility on a daily basis for making good decisions in the field.
Aerial services provided by fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters are used to fight forest or grassland fires, feed fish, melt snow and control pests that threaten human health in addition to agricultural functions such as seeding crops or the application of pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, bactericide, germicide, microbicide, larvicide, defoliants, and fertilizers to food and fiber crops. In United States agriculture, about one half of the crop production materials applied are delivered to the target by air. Aircrafts can cover large areas very quickly without disturbing either the soil or crops. Aircrafts also can operate when fields are too wet for ground application methods. This is important because some pests and/or diseases can do serious damage in just a few days and also because ground application methods can contribute to soil compaction and/or physically damage the crop.
A 1994 survey by the National Agricultural Aviation Association found that there are approximately 2500 agricultural pilot/operators in the United States who fly approximately 3,000 aircrafts. Each of these aircrafts treated an average of ˜50,000 acres per year, representing a total of roughly 1.5 million acres. Most of the operators who returned the survey expected to expand their enterprises either with larger capacity aircraft or by increasing the hours each aircraft would be operated. All of the operators responding applied liquid materials, with herbicides representing 78% and fertilizers the remaining 22% of the materials applied. Nationwide, over 70% of these operators applied dry materials.
Material that drifts offsite is material that is not applied to the target crop or pest and represents wasted time and wasted material as well as wasted fuel. The drifting offsite results in increased costs for both the farmer and applicator and subsequently to the public and consumer. Materials such as herbicides and defoliants, for example that drift offsite can be a serious financial liability, particularly if surrounding crops suffer actual crop damage or off-label residues become present on the crop that should not have been sprayed. Environmental concerns for air and water quality protection and for animal habitat maintenance and endangered species protection make off-target spray drift an issue of high concern. Drift into/onto protected or particularly sensitive areas present a serious financial liability for the applicator, as well as an environmental issue.
Offsite spray drift is also a concern to the city dweller. As suburban populations spread into formerly rural and agricultural areas, buffer zones and/or no spray zones between populated and agricultural areas will increase in number and in total acreage. The imposition of buffer and no spray zones increases the difficulty for aerial applicators to do their job. The more complaints that are registered and more lawsuits filed, the more likely that additional regulations and/or restrictions on sprayers will be enacted, yet again affecting the cost of food.
The majority of agricultural materials are applied as a liquid solution from a nozzle-atomizer unit, also called a nozzle injector. The nozzle-atomizer must perform two functions. First, it must discharge the solution at a controlled and metered rate to provide appropriate coverage and accurate dosage for the material being applied and the crop/pest being treated/targeted. Second, the nozzle-atomizer must break the solution into appropriately sized drops for dispersal onto the target. Most nozzle-atomizers in use on agricultural sprayers produce a simultaneous range of drop sizes approximating a Gaussian or bell curve distribution range, which may be somewhat skewed towards smaller drops. It has not been determined that the production of a single-size drop would produce the most desirable coverage of plant surfaces, but it is widely understood that narrowed spectrum, which eliminates both the smallest and largest drops in the range, would be a desirable improvement in nozzle-atomizer [injector] design. By concentrating the drop size in a narrower range, the smallest, most drift-prone (fines) and the largest drops that produce poor coverage would be reduced significantly. Fines constitute that portion of the total spray that is likely to drift off and away from the intended target due to the smallness of the size of the drops of sprayed liquid.
Most nozzles utilize traditional designs, hydraulic pressure, fan, cone dispersion, solid stream, or rotary screen type design factors. These nozzles, when used on an aircraft, be it fixed wing or helicopter, release the spray solution into the airstream and utilize both the nozzle and air shear for atomization. Applicant, who has been in the field of aerial spraying for 30 years, has seen minimal advances in nozzle design with respect to the reduction of fines for spray drift control for aircraft over the last 15–20 years.
In most situations, aerial applicators have simply been using "off-the-shelf" nozzles, originally designed for ground applications and not specifically for aircrafts. Newer, more advanced nozzles are more convenient in actual use and can be changed more easily. Applicators have been creative in combining nozzles, nozzle orientation, spray pressure, and also have paid attention to environmental conditions, to obtain satisfactory application patterns to minimize offsite drift.
Ground application is slow and costly in man hours, particularly on large acreage, and is also very weather and condition dependent. Ground rigs simply cannot operate in fields when they are wet from either rain or irrigation.
Therefore to increase speed of application, aerial methods have been employed for many years. Early air applications were carried out by biplanes applying materials in dust form, DDT applicators became known as "crop dusters". Compared to ground-based spray methods, both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters are much faster. Both helicopters and aircrafts are cost-effective in large-acreage or "narrow window" situations. Unfortunately, as air speed increases, so does the percentage of driftable fine droplets <200μ. Air shear "shatters" the droplets into "fines" and as air speed increases, so does turbulence, thus increasing the percentage of fines. Propeller turbulence (prop wash) in fixed-wing aircraft creates additional problems.
There is a need therefore to develop a method of dispensing agricultural materials in a dependable manner from a fixed-wing aircraft that will produce an appropriate size range of droplets, with a reduced percentage of fines <200μ, (driftable fines). The achieving of this goal will greatly reduce the potential for offsite spray drift.
There is also a need for an apparatus that be used to deliver various chemical agents to the target site which will minimize the formation of fines, that is drops of liquid that are smaller than 200 micron units.
These and other problems associated with on target confined delivery are addressed by this invention which employs a venturi chamber having two sections, a left section and a right section, each of which section is divided into two segments. The two segments of each section have mirror image upper and lower walls. The outer segment has a convex radius upper wall and a concave radius lower wall, while the inner segment has a convex radius upper wall and a concave radius lower wall. Each segment's upper and lower wall are substantially and same radius. The sidewalls of each section may be flat, or arcuate or other convenient shape, so long as uniform throughout the apparatus.
The invention accordingly comprises the device possessing the features, properties, the selection of components which are amplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims. For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Reverse venturi atomization chamber and the use thereof


A wire harness continuity inspection method includes: specifying a first certain electrical wire and a second certain electrical wire of which one end is connected to the other end of the first certain electrical wire, described in the first region-based connector/wiring information, and regarding them as a single electrical wire; referring to auxiliary device-based wiring information to obtain a first terminal of a first electrical component and a second terminal of a second electrical component connected by a circuit line, which are described in the auxiliary device-based wiring information; referring to the region-based connector/wiring information to specify a first electrical wire of which one end is connected to the first terminal of the first electrical component, described in the region-based connector/wiring information; and determining whether the terminal connected to the other end of the first electrical wire is identical to the second terminal of the second electrical component.

When designing wire harnesses arranged in a certain vehicle, it is necessary to prepare a design drawing showing connections of electrical wires constituting the wire harnesses. Hereinafter, a procedure of designing wire harnesses will be described.
When designing wire harnesses arranged in a certain vehicle, two specifications of auxiliary device-based wiring information and an auxiliary device specification table of the vehicle are necessary. First, auxiliary device-based wiring information and an actual wiring diagram prepared based on the auxiliary device-based wiring information will be described. In the past, the auxiliary device-based wiring information and the actual wiring diagram have been designed by CAD (Computer Aided Design) (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
The auxiliary device-based wiring information is prepared for each of the systems mounted in a vehicle and individually driven, such as a head lamp system, an airbag system, an air-conditioning system, an engine control system, and an ABS system. In order to drive the system, it is necessary to connect electrical components (for example, a battery, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit), and a driving machine) constituting the system by a signal line, a power line, and a ground line. The auxiliary device-based wiring information includes circuit line connection information showing which terminals of which electrical component, the starting point and the terminating point of each of the electrical wires of these signal line, power line, and ground line are connected to, and which electrical wires the signal line, the power line, and the ground line are connected to, and auxiliary device information on an auxiliary device that connects the electrical wires of the signal line, the power line, and the ground line to the electrical component. Since the auxiliary device-based wiring information mainly aims to show a circuit diagram of a system made up of a plurality of electrical components, information on electrical wires is not included therein.
Thus, an actual wiring diagram in which information on the electrical wires is added to the auxiliary device-based wiring information is prepared. The actual wiring diagram is one in which the information on the electrical wires is added to the information on the circuit lines connecting electrical components, described in the auxiliary device-based wiring information, and which is divided into respective regions (an engine compartment, a vehicle interior wall, or a trunk; hereinafter these regions will be referred to as subdivided regions) where wire harnesses can be arranged, dividing a vehicle space into respective functions. For example, when a circuit line described in the auxiliary device-based wiring information extends over a plurality of subdivided regions to be connected to a plurality of electrical components, information on terminals or connectors connected to the terminals of the electrical component at the starting point and the terminating points of the circuit line is described in the actual wiring diagram. Moreover, information on respective electrical wires positioned in the subdivided regions (since wire harnesses are arranged in respective subdivided regions, it is necessary to connect the terminals of a plurality of electrical components by connecting the electrical wires of the respective subdivided regions) is also described in the actual wiring diagram. Furthermore, information on auxiliary devices such as a connector, a JB ((Electric) Junction Block or Junction Box), or a JC (Joint Connector) for connecting the end portions of electrical wires positioned in the respective subdivided regions (when the end portions of an electrical wire are connected by welding or butt-joining, information of this fact) is described in the actual wiring diagram. The actual wiring diagram in which the information on electrical wires is described in this way is prepared for each system mounted in the vehicle.
Subsequently, an auxiliary device specification table will be described.
In the auxiliary device specification table, the configuration (a part number of the wire harness, a combination of specifications applicable to the wire harness, identification information of applicable vehicles in which the wire harness can be arranged, and arrangeable subdivided regions of the applied vehicle) of general-purpose wire harnesses is described in a matrix form for each wire harness.
Subsequently, region-based connector/wiring information is prepared based on the actual wiring diagram and the auxiliary device specification table prepared in this way. The region-based connector/wiring information describes wire harnesses arrangeable in each subdivided region of a target vehicle while including the electrical wires described in the actual wiring diagram (that is, while enabling all systems mounted in the vehicle to be driven). When creating the region-based connector/wiring information, a wire harness arrangeable in the subdivided region is schematically specified from the auxiliary device specification table through the subsequent step. First, a specification code necessary for driving all systems in the subdivided region is specified by referring to the actual wiring diagram of all systems mounted in the vehicle. A wire harness including a combination of all specification codes is specified by referring to the specified specification codes. This step is executed with respect to all subdivided regions, whereby wire harnesses arrangeable in each subdivided region of the target vehicle are specified.
After performing a region-based connector/wiring information creating step of creating the region-based connector/wiring information, a validity determining step of determining whether the description of the auxiliary device-based wiring information is identical to the description of the region-based connector/wiring information is performed. That is, it is determined whether the starting point and the terminating point of a circuit line connecting electrical components, described in the auxiliary device-based wiring information are identical to the starting point and the terminating point of connections of electrical wires connecting electrical components, described in the region-based connector/wiring information.

Wire harness continuity inspection device, wire harness continuity inspection program, and wire harness continuity inspection method


There is disclosed a mechanical coupling for two rebars. The coupling includes a first extremity disposed on a first of the two rebars, and a second extremity disposed on a second of the two rebars. Each of the first and second extremities are machined to effect an interlocking, form-fit connection between the two rebars, wherein the form-fit connection prevents separation of the extremities and inhibits axial displacement of the two rebars with respect to each other. The coupling further includes a covering disposed about the two extremities when the extremities are interconnected via the interlocking, form-fit connection. Also disclosed and described is a related method.

Reinforced concrete is very frequently employed in large-scale construction projects, such as roads, bridges, large buildings and containers for hazardous materials. Reinforcing bars, or "rebars", set within the concrete are used to compensate for inherent weaknesses of concrete in tension. Typically, the rebars have a similar coefficient of thermal expansion as the surrounding concrete, to avoid or mitigate any internal thermal stresses.
Typically, rebars are formed from untreated carbon steel, which is vulnerable to corrosion from a variety of sources include salts such as sodium chloride (e.g., which itself may derive from a maritime environment or the use of deicing salts). Thus, steel rebars may require surface treatment prior to installation, adding unneeded complexity. Further, their general use may be limited or even proscribed in some specific applications (e.g., in hospitals with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facilities). For these and other reasons, the use of non-metallic materials in rebars, such as a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) in rebars has gained traction.
Generally, FRP and other non-metallic rebars present significant advantages for builders and constructors when compared to steel rebars. However, there still remain challenges in the course of their everyday, practical use. For instance, a cumbersome process is frequently encountered when joining FRP or other non-metallic rebars end-to-end, whether in a context of pre-cast (or modular) concrete panels, or cast-in-place concrete at a work site. Conventional arrangements present problems such as rebar cage congestion, corrosion, and over-reliance on transferring tensile forces through the concrete rather than through the rebars themselves. As such, there is a need for a quick and reliable manner of joining together FRP (or other non-metallic) rebars.

Mechanical couplings for reinforcing bars


A device and a method of responding to a received interrupt event received by a communication device is provided. The method comprises accessing data associated with a calendar application and/or a location application to determine a current state of availability of a user of the device using data; determining whether a response action is to be sent in response to the event when the device is note available; and sending the response action. The device incorporates modules to perform the method.

The world has grown accustomed to mobile telephonic devices (MTD) such as cell phones and phone-based Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). These devices function in a wireless network where one or more such devices communicate using voice or data to each other or to external services. Services can include making external phone calls to land-line voice networks, making phone calls to other cell phones, leaving or retrieving voice mail message or exchanging data messages, such as e-mails, text messages, pages and others.
There can be issues with responding to senders of communications to such devices. There is a perception that users of such devices are always accessible and are always connected to emails, voicemails etc. If a sender of an urgent communication is expecting (either rightly or wrongly) an immediate response and if the recipient cannot currently monitor for receipt of such a communication, (e.g. because he is in a meeting), then the recipient will not be able to respond to the sender. Prior art auto-response systems, like "vacation"-type responses for emails provide limited response capabilities and they lack flexibility with the content, format and medium used for the response.
There is a need to address the deficiencies in the prior art.

System and method for automatically responding to a received communication


In one embodiment, a system for validating one or more data blocks in a document derived from another document includes one or more processors collectively operable to (1) access a number of first values in a predetermined portion of a source document; (2) apply a code-generating algorithm to the first values to generate a first code representing the first values; (3) access a number of second values in a predetermined portion of a document derived from the source document, the predetermined portion of the derived document corresponding to the predetermined portion of the source document; (4) apply the code-generating algorithm to the second values to generate a second code representing the second values. If the first code matches the second code, it can be assumed that within a predefined probability the derived document was accurately derived from the source document in that the second values match the first values.

Documents are commonly used to present information to a reader. For example, spreadsheets may be used to organize data into a visually attractive and consolidated format. The contents of a document such as a spreadsheet are often assumed to be valid and accurate. However, errors may occur when text or data, such as numeric or text data, is entered into a document, such as when a new document is derived by copying data blocks from an existing document. Errors may be entered due to typographical errors, phonetic errors, mathematical errors, or other sources of error. In other cases, errors may be generated during transmittal of a document via a network or other connection. These and other sources of errors in document data may cause problems for systems or persons relying on the accuracy of such text or data.

Validating one or more data blocks in a computer-implemented document derived from another computer-implemented document


The present invention provides a GaN based DHFET that helps confine the 2DEG to the channel layer, and reduces the 2DHG. The present invention provides a GaN DHFET having a channel layer comprising GaN and a buffer layer comprising AlxGa1−xN. The Al content in the buffer layer is specifically chosen based on the thickness of the channel layer using a graph. By choosing the Al content in the buffer layer and thickness of the channel layer in accordance with the graph provided in the present invention, the ability of the buffer layer to help confine the 2DEG to the channel layer is improved.

Heterojunction field-effect transistors (HFETs) are commonly used for applications requiring low noise and high power. These transistors typically contain a channel layer surrounded by a barrier layer and a buffer layer. Generally, there are two types of HFETs: single-heterojunction field-effect transistors (SHFETs) and double-heterojunction field-effect transistors (DHFETs). In SHFETs, the buffer layer and channel layer are comprised of the same material, and the barrier layer is comprised of a different material. The channel/barrier interface is the single heterojunction in this structure. In DHFETs the buffer layer and barrier layer are comprised of different materials than the channel layer. Thus, the buffer/channel and channel/barrier interfaces are both heterojunctions. The key feature of a HFET is that the channel/barrier heterojunction induces a highly conductive, two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the channel near the interface.
Shown in FIG. 1 is a typical structure for a HFET. The HFET comprises a substrate 1, and a nucleation layer 3. The substrate 1 typically comprises GaN, AlGaN, SiC, diamond, sapphire, AlN, BN, or LiGaO2. A buffer layer 5 is located on the nucleation layer 3 followed by a channel layer 7 and then a barrier layer 9. The nucleation layer 3 provides a crystallographic transition between the substrate 1 and the buffer layer 5, which may have different crystal structures. The channel layer 7 allows electrons in the channel to flow between the ohmic metal contacts 13, which typically act as the source and drain of the HFET.
The barrier layer 9 induces a highly conductive, two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the channel layer 7 near the interface with the barrier layer 9 and also acts as an insulator between the gate 15 and the channel layer 7. When electrons "spill" from the channel layer 7 into the buffer layer 5, the performance of the transistor is reduced; thus, confinement of electrons in the channel layer 7 is highly desirable. The barrier layer 9 is located on the channel layer 7. A cap layer 11 is also provided on a portion of the barrier layer 9. The cap layer 11 helps prevent oxide and other impurities from damaging the barrier layer 9 during processing. Ohmic metal contacts 13 are also provided. The ohmic contacts 13 are annealed at a high temperature such that they diffuse into the cap layer 11 and barrier layer 9, where they contact the channel layer 7.
The following will describe some typical HFETs making reference to the above description and the HFET structure shown in FIG. 1. GaN-based single-heterojunction field-effect transistors (SHFET) are commonly used in the design of GaN HFETs. In a GaN-based SHFET the nucleation layer 3 comprises AlN or AlGaN. The buffer layer 5 comprises GaN, the channel layer 7 comprises GaN, and the barrier layer 9 comprises AlGaN. FIG. 2 is a band-edge diagram depicting the conduction band of a GaN-based SHFET where the buffer layer 5 comprises GaN, the channel layer 7 comprises GaN and the barrier layer 9 comprises Al0.28Ga0.72N. Because the bandgap of AlGaN is larger than that of GaN, there is a band-edge discontinuity at the interface between the barrier layer 9 and channel layer 7. The nature of this discontinuity is such that a potential energy well for electrons is formed in the channel layer 7 near the barrier layer 9. Electrons are confined to the channel layer 7 and a 2DEG is formed. It is important to note that because AlGaN and GaN have different lattice parameters, the interface between these materials is strained. This strain results in positive polarization charges at the channel layer 7 and barrier layer 9 interface. These charges intensify the sharp band-edge discontinuity at the interface between the barrier layer 9 and channel layer 7, further confining electrons to the 2DEG. However, the interface between the channel layer 7 and buffer layer 5 is not a heterointerface; thus there are no differences in bandgap or positive polarization charges and the conduction band is continuous. As a result, it is easy for so-called "hot electrons" to spill into the buffer layer 5 from the channel layer 7. "Hot electrons" are electrons that have sufficient energy to escape the attractive pull of the potential energy well at the interface between the channel layer 7 and barrier layer 9. They are typically present in high-electric field regions of the channel layer 7. The hot electron effect occurs because electron energy-relaxation time is typically significantly longer than their momentum relaxation time. These electrons have sufficient energy to move into another region, such as the buffer layer 5, ultimately degrading the performance of the SHFET.
The confinement of the 2DEG in the channel layer 7 can be improved by using a double-heterojunction structure in which the buffer layer 5 comprises a material having a wider bandgap than that of the channel layer 7. For example, in InP-based HFETs (so called because the device layers are grown on InP substrates), double-heterojunction field effect transistors (DHFETs) have been utilized. DHFETs are also discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,320 and in Loi. D. Nguyen et al., IEEE Transaction on Electron Devices, vol. 39, pp 2007–2014 (1992). A band-edge diagram of an InP-based DHFET where the buffer layer 5 comprises Al0.48In0.52As, the channel layer 7 comprises In0.53Ga0.47As and the barrier layer 9 comprises Al0.48In0.52As is shown in FIG. 3. As can be seen, the sharp band-edge discontinuities which exist at the interface between the barrier layer 9 and channel layer 7, as well as at the interface between the channel layer 7 and buffer layer 5, help confine the 2DEG to the channel layer 7. Similar results have also been attainable using other wide-gap materials such as GaAs and narrower-gap materials such as InAs. However, InP-, GaAs- and InAs-based materials do not provide the advantages of using GaN-based materials. For example, GaN-based materials have much larger bandgaps than InP-, GaAs-, or InAs-based transistors which allow a higher voltage to be applied to the transistor before entering breakdown.
Designs for DHFETs implemented in GaN-based materials have mimicked designs for DHFETs implemented in InP-, GaAs-, and InAs-based materials. One attempt at demonstrating such an analogous device is discussed in N. Maeda et al., physica status solidi (b) pp. 727–731 (1999). Shown in FIG. 4 is a band-edge diagram of a GaN-based DHFET. The buffer layer 5 comprises Al0.095Ga0.905N, the channel layer 7 comprises GaN and the channel layer 9 comprises Al0.28Ga0.72N. In general though, the buffer layer 5 comprises AlxGa1−xN, the channel layer 7 comprises GaN, and the barrier layer 9 comprises AlGaN, where x is typically in the range of 15%<x<50%. Such a structure is discussed in U.S. Pat. 5,929,467. This Al concentration yields an AlGaN alloy with a bandgap much larger than that of the GaN of the channel layer 7 (just as the bandgap of the Al0.48In0.52As buffer layer is much larger than that of the In0.53Ga0.47As channel layer in InP-based DHFETs). However, such attempts to mimic the 2DEG confinement in GaN, in a manner similar InP-, GaAs- and InAs-DHFETs have proven unsuccessful.
These GaN DHFETs contain large polarization charges at the interface between the buffer layer 5 and channel layer 7. These charges result in exceptionally large electric fields at that interface which cause the valence band edge on the channel layer 7 side to rise above the Fermi level at the interface, as shown in FIG. 4. As a result, a two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) forms at the interface of the channel layer 7 and buffer layer 5. The 2DHG increases the capacitance of the DHFET, which reduces the performance of the transistor. Furthermore, the 2DHG is poorly controlled by the voltage at the gate 15, and because hole mobility is significantly lower than electron mobility, the frequency response of the DHFET is significantly limited.
As a result, there is a need for a HFET that provides the bandgap characteristics of GaN-based HFETs, confines the 2DEG to the channel layer, and reduces the 2DHG.


A multi-axes gyroscope, a single axis gyroscope and a three axis accelerometer are formed on a single semiconductor substrate, along with and MPU. The gyroscopes provide sensing for rotation about three mutually orthogonal axes and the accelerometer provides sensing of acceleration along the three axes. The MPU controls and drives the gyroscopes and accelerometer and provides a continuous indication of position.

In the past, gyroscopes and gyroscopic devices were constructed of relatively large and expensive electromagnetic devices. These electromagnetic devices incorporated coils and position sensors mounted for relatively high speed, continuous rotational movement.
Eventually, micromechanical rate gyros were developed which included components formed by semiconductor processing techniques. While these devices are relatively small and utilize vibrational motion rather than continuous rotary motion, they are relatively insensitive and costly to manufacture.
Generally, the micromechanical rate gyros are constructed with a central mass, which because of the size of the gyro is very small and requires some very heavy material such as gold to provide sufficient mass. The central mass is mounted in a gimbal structure including mutually orthogonal flexible axes, with the mass and gimbal structure generally lying in a common plane. The central mass and inner mounting gimbal are oscillated or vibrated about a first of the orthogonal axes and rotational movement about an axis perpendicular to the common plane produces vibrational movement about the other of the orthogonal axes, due to the Coriolis, or gyroscopic, effect.
The described micromechanical rate gyro has several problems. Specifically, the centrally mounted mass is expensive and difficult to manufacture. It is difficult to achieve a large enough mass to provide sufficient inertia for good sensitivity and this construction reduces sensing capacitor sensitivity by increasing the distance between capacitive plates. Also, if the mass is offset even slightly within the gimballed mounting a noticeable sensitivity to cross-axis acceleration is produced. Second, the amount of vibrational movement is limited by the fact that the planar constructed gimbal system is mounted adjacent to a planar surface and increasing the distance between the gimbal system and the planar surface substantially increases the size of the device, which reduces sensitivity due to increased capacitor spacing as well as increasing the cost and complexity of construction. Further, by constructing the device so that the input axis is perpendicular to the common plane, the device is limited to a single axis device. Since the device only senses movement about a single axis, three of the devices must be mounted with the input axes in a mutually orthogonal relationship to sense movement in all directions.
In attempts to reduce the size and cost of accelerometers, some of the prior art devices have been constructed using semiconductor manufacturing techniques. These devices generally consist of a plate, formed of metal or the like, which is mounted for pivotal movement on a substrate. The plate is positioned parallel to a planar surface of the substrate and forms one or more capacitances therewith. When the plate moves, due to an acceleration force thereon, the capacitances change. This change is sensed by connected electronic circuits and converted to a signal representative of the acceleration.
Gyroscopes and accelerometers are useful in inertial guidance packages to sense movement, or acceleration, of a vehicle in all directions. From this information the position of the vehicle can be determined at all times. Gyroscopes and accelerometers, such as those described above, are manufactured as a single axis device. To obtain an indication of movement in all directions, three of the prior art gyroscopes and/or accelerometers must be positioned so that the sensitive axes are mutually orthogonal. This means that the final package is still relatively large since one or more of the gyroscopes and/or accelerometers must be positioned at an angle to the others and the entire package can never be formed as a single planar package. Further, since each gyroscope and/or accelerometer is constructed on a separate semiconductor substrate, signals must be communicated between chips and, it is a well known fact, that large amounts of power are required to amplify, buffer and communicate signals between chips and noise is induced which reduces the sensitivity of the system.

Integrated monolithic gyroscopes/accelerometers with logic circuits


Electron beam phase gratings have phase profiles that produce a diffracted beam having a Gaussian or other selected intensity profile. Phase profiles can also be selected to correct or compensate electron lens aberrations. Typically, a low diffraction order produces a suitable phase profile, and other orders are discarded.

Electron beams used in instrumentation such as scanning electron microscopes, transmission electron microscopes, microprobes, etc. exhibit numerous deficiencies that limit the performance of these instruments. For example, electron beams are generally defined by apertures with hard edges, usually circular. Diffraction from these hard-edge apertures results in a beam profile known as an Airy disc, which can result in an undesirable point spread function (PSF) for the instrument. For applications where a tightly focused electron beam is used to form an image, it may be desirable to use a probe beam that has a different intensity profile, such as that described by a Gaussian distribution. In optical devices this is usually achieved using a Gaussian aperture. Such an aperture will not work for electron optical systems, however, due to incohorent scattering within the aperture material. In addition, electron beam optical systems typically exhibit aberrations that limit elecron beam focussing and imaging.

Device and method for creating Gaussian aberration-corrected electron beams

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Commerce

The Regents of the University of California


A method, computer program product, and computing system for receiving a request to perform an action on an object within a storage system and may determine whether the action is valid for performing on the object based upon, at least in part, one or more conditions associated with performing the action and one or more parameters of a validation annotation associated with the one or more conditions. In response to determining that the action is valid, the action may be performed on the object. In response to determining that the action is invalid, one or more errors may be generated based upon, at least in part, the one or more parameters of the validation annotation associated with the one or more conditions.

Storing and safeguarding electronic content may be beneficial in modern business and elsewhere. Accordingly, various methodologies may be employed to protect and distribute such electronic content.
When interacting with objects of a storage system, certain actions may be permitted and other actions may be blocked. Conventional processing of actions include complicated validation state machines with many compounding conditions or states. Over time, as new requirements arise, validation processing may incur a performance penalty and may become difficult to manage in a storage system code base since sharing of states for different action requests have different criteria for what actions are allowed. In these conventional techniques, the order of the placement of the validation states may also be important and add to the level of complexity and cost of implementation. In addition, the conventional processing of the validation conditions results in an immediate exit from the state machine without evaluating other potential blocking conditions so multiple blocking conditions are only identified one at a time. This results in frustration for the requester making multiple requests to identify all validation errors.
Furthermore, it is difficult to correlate the actions and blocking conditions in the code base and to share validation checks at the same time since the procedural implementation results in lots of conditionals and code bloat. Adding to and/or modifying the monolithic validation state of conventional validation state machines may become more precarious as more requirements are implemented.

System and method for validating actions to be performed on a storage system objects


The present invention pertains to a packet switch. The packet switch is comprised of a global shared-memory queue having M storage addresses in which respective packets are stored, where M.gtoreq.3 and is an integer. The packet switch is also comprised of a presentation network having N input ports for receiving packets and providing the respective packets to desired addresses in the queue, where N.gtoreq.3 and is an integer. The queue is in communication with the presentation network for receiving the packets. The packet switch is also comprised of a distribution network having J input ports, where J.gtoreq.1, for receiving packets from the queue and providing them to the desired output ports. The distribution network is in communication with the queue. There is also means for ordering packets received by the presentation network such that packets received sequentially by the presentation network are caused to be provided by the presentation network to consecutive addresses in the queue. In a preferred embodiment, M=N=J, the ordering means includes a fetch-and-add circuit in communication with the queue such that it identifies addresses free for storage of packets being received by the presentation switch, and causes the packets being received by the presentation network to be placed into consecutive addresses free for storage; and the presentation network and the distribution network are each a .OMEGA. switch. In an even more preferred embodiment, the packet switch has multicast capability.

ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) is the recommended transport technique for BISDN (Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network) to carry various traffics, such as video, voice, and data, by CCITT, an international standard body. ATM provides a flexible bandwidth, fast and dynamic reconfiguration of calls, service independency, and efficient multiplexing of bursty traffics. An ideal ATM switch is able to accommodate bursty traffic arising from various heterogeneous BISDN services without incurring intolerable delay and high hardware complexity.
Buffers are required in the packet switch for the temporary storage of transmitted packets. Buffering is primarily required for external and internal resource conflicts. An example of an external resource conflict occurs when two packets are to be transmitted on the same output port. In this case, typically one packet is transmitted and one is buffered. Internal conflicts occur when two packets require the same internal source, e.g. a wire internal to the switch.
Current switch designs incorporate either discrete input buffers, discrete output buffers, or internal buffering [M. G. Hluchy; and M. J. Karol, "Queuing in High-Performance Packet Switching", IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. SAC-6, pp. 1587-1597, Dec. 1988]. For discrete input buffers, a queue is associated with each input port. Arriving packets are inserted at the bottom of the queue. The top packet is removed if no internal or external conflicts arise with other packets in he switch. Output buffering associates a similar queue with each output port. Internal buffering associates discrete buffers with internal switch structures, or stages. Results from previous studies (K. Lutz, "Considerations on ATM switching techniques," International Journal of Digital and Analog Cabled Systems, vol. 1, pp. 237-243, 1988; A. Eckberg and T. Hou, "Effects of output buffer sharing on buffer requirements in an ATDM packet switch," in Proc. of INFOCOM '88, (New Orleans, La.), IEEE, Mar. 1988, pp. 459-466; H. Kim and A. Leon-Garcia, "A multistage ATM switch with interstage buffers," International Journal of Digital Analog Cabled Systems, vol. 2, pp. 289-301, Dec. 1989; H. Kim and A. Leon-Garcia, "Comparative performance study of ATM switches," in preparation for the Proceedings of the IEEE, 1990) indicate that sharing a common buffer lowers the packet loss probability of the switch dramatically. The improvement is expected to be even greater for bursty traffics.
The size and number of buffers utilized in the packet switch can have significant effects on its cost and performance. Large and high numbers of buffers have detrimental effects on complexity and cost. In addition, large buffers can significantly increase the delay required to transmit a packet from the switch. Small, discrete buffers can result in dropped packets due to buffer overflow. It is desirable to require buffers of small size, whose numbers grow linearly with the number of switch inputs or outputs.
Output buffering switches have the best performance in terms of throughput and packet delay under uniform traffic patterns. However, their high hardware complexity led to the study of input queuing switch structures which have lower hardware complexity (J. Hui and E. Arthurs, "A broadband packet switch for integrated transport," IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. SAC-5, pp. 1264-1273, Oct. 1987.). In the present invention, a non-blocking input queuing switch architecture with a shared-memory input queue is presented. The simple shared-memory input queue allows the input ports to share a common buffer, thus absorbing bursty traffic without increased packet loss. Furthermore, the switch ensures that the packets are transmitted in the order that they are received, eliminating the resequencing problem at the end-user.


A surgical image capture and display system includes a handheld image capture and pointing device and a display assembly. An image is captured by an image sensor of the handheld device and displayed on the display assembly. The image sensor detects light emitted by one or more beacons of the display assembly. The system determines, based on the light emitted by the one or more beacons, a position or orientation of the handheld device relative to the display assembly. The system updates display of a graphical user interface comprising the image on the display assembly in accordance with the determined position or orientation of the handheld device.

Capturing and displaying medical and surgical images is integral to many medical and surgical procedures. According to known techniques, medical images and videos may be captured by image sensors of one or more cameras and then displayed on computer monitors or dedicated display screens. According to known techniques, medical images and videos may be manipulated using a mouse, keyboard, or touch-screen controls.

Systems and methods for capturing, displaying, and manipulating medical images and videos


A method for determining a distance to an object using an amplitude modulated continuous wave range imaging device includes emitting a modulated illumination signal. The modulated illumination signal is modulated with a pseudo random code. An image sensor is modulated based on the pseudo random code to capture a plurality of samples of the modulated illumination signal reflected from the object. A phase shift between the plurality of samples and the modulated illumination signal is determined.

Range imaging systems, also referred to as range cameras, range imaging cameras or ranging devices, determine both distance and intensity for objects in a scene to be imaged. One common type of range imaging camera utilizes Amplitude Modulated Continuous Wave ("AMCW") technology.
As discussed in more detail below, a range imaging camera utilizing AMCW technology typically uses a light source to emit an intensity modulated illumination signal to illuminate a scene to be imaged. The signal is then reflected back to the range imaging camera by objects within the scene. Multiple images of the reflected light are then captured by a specialized sensor chip, such as a CMOS image sensor. A processor is then used to compare these multiple images to each other and to the emitted intensity modulated illumination signal to determine phase changes in the intensity modulation of the light. These phase changes are then analyzed to determine the distance between the objects and the range imaging camera, as well as to determine the size, shape and location of the objects in the scene. Range imaging cameras are therefore very useful in many varied applications such as automotive safety and control systems, multimedia user interfaces, and image segmentation and surface profiling.
Effective determination of the range between a range imaging camera and an object to be imaged depends on the phase difference between the intensity modulated illumination signal and the received signal. Because the image sensor is generally modulated with the illumination signal, as light travels away from a range imaging camera, that light begins to slip out of phase with the modulation of the image sensor. Consequently, the shorter the distance traveled by the light, the more in-phase the light will be. In other words, light reflected from objects close to the range imaging camera have an intensity modulation that is close to in phase with the modulation of the range imaging camera, while light reflected from distant objects has an intensity modulation that is out of phase with the range imaging camera. While the same signal is commonly used to modulate both the illumination signal and the image sensor, different signals may be used in some situations to achieve similar results.
As with a digital photograph, the captured images will typically be formed by an array of pixels, with objects in the scene being effectively mapped onto the pixel array. Unlike a typical digital image, the pixels captured by a range imaging camera will record not only the illumination intensity (which may include the color) of the light reflected from an object in a scene, but also a phase of the modulation envelope. Accordingly, each of the pixels in a captured image will have a phase component that is based on the light reflected back to that pixel by objects in the scene. Furthermore, pixels that correspond to areas of the scene that do not have objects in them will not receive a reflected signal, but will only receive ambient light or light reflected from another source (such as the sun) or multi-path modulated light (emitted light reflecting off other objects in the scene creating an undesired interfering signal). Typical range imaging camera sensors include background or DC rejection circuitry that allows more efficient use of the sensor's dynamic range for capturing the modulated light, therefore, background light is effectively ignored by the sensor.
While there are many ways to implement typical range imaging cameras, FIG. 1 has been provided to show a simplified version of one such range imaging camera. As shown in FIG. 1, a typical AMCW range imaging camera 100 may include a signalling device 101 to emit an intensity modulated illumination signal, e.g., a laser diode or a light emitting diode, towards a scene to be imaged and an image sensor 102 to capture images using the portions of the emitted signal that are reflected back to the system 100 from the objects within the scene. A processor 103 then compares the emitted signal with captured images to determine the intensity and the phase shift for each pixel in the captured image. By doing so, the processor is able to determine the distance objects in the scene are from the system 100. The system 100 may optionally contain an input device 104 to control the system 100, a display 105, and a memory 106; or these devices 104, 105, and 106, may be in the form of a separate computer system connected by an interface cable. These devices may be chosen from among any of the known devices for performing such functions. There are many known ways of modulating the signalling device 101 and the image sensor 102. For example, the signalling device may simply be a light source that is cycled on and off very quickly, while the image sensor 102 may be modulated using a high speed shutter or by controlling the gain or sensitivity of image sensor. The processor 103 may also include a signal generator, or a similar device, to assist in modulating the signalling device 101 and the image sensor 102. However, a signal generator may also be separately provided.
FIG. 2 depicts a simplified functional diagram of the standard range imaging camera described above with reference to FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the intensity modulation envelope of the illumination signal emitted from the signaling device 101 is shown as a sinusoidal wave shape, but is also typically modulated as a square wave. The signal is then reflected from various objects 21, 22, and 23 within the scene being imaged. As shown in FIG. 2, the light reflected back to the image sensor 102 will travel different distances based on the relative distances of the objects 21, 22, and 23 reflecting the light. This will result in the received light's modulation having different phases based on the distance traveled. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the amplitude of the waveform will also change based on the distance traveled and surface scattering properties of the objects.
FIG. 11 shows a schematic view of components employed to provide a known range sensing system. While this schematic diagram shows a shutter being used to modulate the image sensor, it is noted that various sensors may be used which do not require the use of a shutter for this purpose.
Methods for analyzing signal measurements are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,541,255 to Billmers et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,391,505 to Dorrington, U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,199 to Phillips et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,993 to Ball et al., all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. Also, see International Publication No. 2004/090568 to Dorrington, International Publication No. 2006/031130 to Carnegie et al., and International Publication No. 2009/051499 to Payne et al., all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Conventional range imaging cameras, however, do not perform well in certain conditions. For example, when the air between a conventional range imaging camera and an object to be imaged is not clear, such as when fog or smoke is present, or where imaging is performed through glass or plastic windows, the conventional range imaging camera may not be able to accurately determine the distance to the object. In particular, particles or debris suspended in the air may result in the illumination signal from the conventional range imaging camera being partially reflected back, which may then result in an inaccurate distance determination.


A single element hemispherical light detector that employs the concept of constructed occlusion to improve its uniformity of detection response across a large range of incident angles, and that incorporates a deflector to provide detection response to low incidence angles. The hemispherical light detector uses one active element or photodiode to achieve a substantially uniform response within a sector of a hemisphere.

The present invention relates generally to light detectors that are relatively insensitive to the angle of incident light over a predetermined spherical sector and, more particularly, to light detectors that uniformly detect light from any direction in a hemisphere and provide a measurement of the light's intensity.
A planar photodiode is an example of a light detector that is sensitive to the angle of incident light. The photodiode's planar or flat surface exhibits a maximum cross-sectional area to light that is incident at an angle normal to the flat surface. However, as the angle of incident light increases from the normal, the cross-sectional area of the flat surface decreases as a function of the cosine of the angle. Accordingly, the planar photodiode's response is related to the angle of the incident light by the angle's cosine.
Further, photodiodes, like most photodetectors, suffer from an additional effect that depends on the angle of the incident light called Fresnel reflection. Fresnel reflection generally occurs whenever light travels through a surface between two materials having different indices of refraction, for example, air and glass or silicon. As the incident light angle increases from the normal, the Fresnel reflection also increases, which decreases the amount of light actually entering the detector.
Currently known hemispherical light detectors generally employ either a translucent diffuser or a multi-element detector system. The translucent diffuser is a sheet of translucent material placed over the photodiode's surface. Incident light passes through the translucent sheet and is diffused over a large angle, a portion of which is intersected by the photodiode. The translucent diffuser can be made of many materials including ground glass, acrylics, or Teflon. However, the translucent diffuser fails to eliminate the cosine effect discussed above and, because the photodiode intercepts only a portion of the diffused light, it is generally inefficient. Multi-element detectors employ several photodiode elements that are each configured to cover a predetermined spherical sector. Coverage over a larger spherical sector is obtained by combining the signals from the several detectors. While multi-element detector systems are capable of providing hemispherical coverage, their reliance upon multiple elements dramatically increases the cost and complexity of the system. The effectiveness of the multi-element detector systems is also lessened due to non-uniformities which occur from transitions from one element to the next.
Accordingly, there is a need for a light detector which is relatively insensitive to the angle incidence of a light source in a relatively simple and cost effective manner. The present invention satisfies this need.

Single element hemispherical light detector