A novel weatherproof electrical component enclosure incorporates swappable internal module configurations for several types of network devices, wherein each internal module embodies standardized dimensions and standardized attachment elements for seamless internal device swap in-and-out compatibilities within the same weatherproof enclosure. Examples of novel swappable internal modules for the novel weatherproof electrical component enclosure include a fanned Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) switch, a fan-less PoE switch, a network router, and a wireless base station, all of which are simply swappable in and out of the weatherproof enclosure. The novel weatherproof electrical component enclosure also uniquely incorporates a customer's component hotel space as a weatherproof storage of customer-specific private accessory devices, in addition to housing factory-packaged original equipment which the weatherproof electrical component enclosure is originally designed to encase. The swappable modularity of internal components in the weatherproof enclosure reduces outdoor network equipment design constraints, manufacturing costs, and network implementation and maintenance costs.

Today's wireless Internet service provider (WISP) data network and other telecommunications applications increasingly focus on providing a ubiquitous availability of their services in both indoor and outdoor environments. Examples of such WISP applications providing ubiquitous availability include, but are not limited to, IEEE 802.11-related wireless local area networks (WLAN), IEEE 802.16-related wireless wide area networks (wireless WAN), 4G and 5G cellular communication networks, radio-frequency identification (RFID) applications, and IEEE 802.3 at/af-based Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) network switches or routers integrated into such data networks. As a result, many data network and telecommunication equipment that were mostly installed indoors in the past are now increasingly required to be installed in outdoor environments.
Installing network and telecommunication equipment outdoors bring significant reliability and safety challenges to a network and/or telecommunication equipment manufacturer. Because a network and/or telecommunication equipment installed in an outdoor environment is typically not operating in a temperature-controlled and/or a waterproof building, the outdoor-installed equipment is expected to withstand wind, external debris (e.g. dusts, insects, and etc), and dramatically varying seasonal temperatures and humidity for its expected operating life.
A conventional way of designing an outdoor electrical equipment involves a weatherproof enclosure containing all or most electronic, networking, and/or telecommunication components inside. The weatherproof enclosure is typically designed with specialized watertight or splash-proof electrical connectors for data and/or power cable connections. The specialized watertight or splash-proof electrical connectors are designed to keep external elements and water out of the electronic, networking, and/or telecommunication components.
A significant drawback to the conventional weatherproof enclosure design is a high cost of manufacturing and assembly of the specialized watertight or splash-proof electrical connectors. For example, conventional electrical input and output connectors on an exterior surface of a weatherproof enclosure are specialized watertight or splash-proof electrical connectors with rubberized watertight jacks. These specialized watertight or splash-proof electrical connectors add significant part and assembly costs to an outdoor electrical equipment. Furthermore, the specialized watertight or splash-proof electrical connectors bring design constraints and complexity to an outdoor electrical equipment because they take up a larger space than indoor jacks and typically require a careful alignment planning and even a specialized printed circuit board (PCB's).
Furthermore, each conventional weatherproof enclosure is typically optimized for a particular electronic component and does not provide convenient swappable modularity of its internal electrical components. For example, it may be cumbersome or difficult to repurpose a conventional outdoor network switch enclosure as an outdoor network router enclosure or an outdoor base station enclosure, because the internal configurations and dimensions are customized at the design stage to accommodate circuit board placements, attachment bars, screws, and other electronic components only for the network switch device. The lack of swappable component modularity inside conventional weatherproof enclosures necessitates device-specific custom weatherproof enclosure design and manufacturing in the telecommunication industry, which drives up the cost of outdoor network equipment while making ad hoc (i.e. "on-the-fly") onsite equipment changes or swaps difficult during onsite network implementations.
Moreover, conventional weatherproof enclosures typically only accommodate manufacturer application-specific dimensions that are necessary to contain the manufacturer's electrical equipment for a particular outdoor communication application. As a result, existing weatherproof enclosure designs are unable to provide a desired flexibility of storing customers' private accessory devices in the same weatherproof casing on an ad hoc basis during network implementations or maintenance.
Therefore, it may be beneficial to devise a novel weatherproof electrical component enclosure that incorporates swappable internal module configurations for several types of network devices, wherein each module embodies standardized dimensions and attachment elements for seamless internal device swap compatibility within the same weatherproof enclosure.
Furthermore, it may also be beneficial to devise a novel weatherproof electrical component enclosure that flexibly expands the weatherproofing protection to customer-added aftermarket electrical devices in the same weatherproof enclosure during network implementations or maintenance.
In addition, it may also be beneficial to devise a novel weatherproof electrical component enclosure that can reduce outdoor network equipment design constraints, manufacturing costs, and network implementation and maintenance costs.

Weatherproof electrical component enclosure with swappable fanned and fan-less internal modules


Provided are photoluminescence spectroscopy systems and methods for identifying and quantifying impurities in a semiconductor sample. In some embodiments, the systems and methods comprise a defocused collimated laser beam illuminating a first sample surface, and collection by a collection lens of photoluminescence from a sample edge at the intersection of the first surface with a substantially orthogonal second surface, wherein the first sample surface is oriented from about 0° to 90° with respect to a position parallel to the collection lens.

The electronic structure of a semiconductor material can be investigated by photoluminescence imaging or photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques. In such techniques, a laser is directed onto a semiconductor sample, such as single crystalline silicon. If a photon emitted from the laser has energy greater than the band gap energy of the sample, then it can be absorbed by the semiconductor and excite electrons directly from the full valence band to the empty conduction band, leaving behind electron "holes" in the valence band. Delocalized pairing of free electrons in the conduction band with holes in the valence band gives rise to electron-hole pairs. If electrostatic forces within an electron-hole pair are sufficient to cause binding of the electron to the hole, an exciton is formed. At low temperatures, non-equilibrium electrons, holes, and excitons can stably bind into a plasma that can undergo condensation to form an electron-hole droplet (EHD).
Excited electrons in the conduction band can return to equilibrium by losing their excess energy and recombining with the valence band. This process of electron-hole pair/exciton annihilation can be studied to yield information about a semiconductor sample, including information about impurities that may be contained therein. In one type of recombination event, exciton decay and recombination occurs at a free lattice site (free exciton) and results in the spontaneous emission of a photon having a wavelength corresponding to the energy released. The released photon is observable by photoluminescence analysis, the spectrum of which provides information about the intrinsic semiconductor.
In another type of recombination event, the decaying electron can become loosely bound at an impurity that provides donor or acceptor bands that are within the band gap energy but are distinct from the valence and conduction bands of the intrinsic semiconductor material. The impurity band can absorb the energy associated with the initial decay of the electron from the conduction band to the impurity band and dissipate it as a phonon. Electrostatic forces between the bound electron and a free hole can cause binding of the electron to the hole to form a bound exciton. Decay of the exciton and recombination of the electron with the valence band is associated with emission of a photon that can be observed by photoluminescence analysis, the resulting spectrum providing information characteristic of the impurity. For example, the shape and intensity of the bound exciton peak can be used to determine the impurity density.
At low temperature, photoluminescence spectra show distinct recombination phenomena—recombination of a bound electron in the impurity band with a free hole, giving rise to a bound exciton peak (BE peak), and recombination of a free electron in the intrinsic semiconductor with a free hole, giving rise to a free exciton peak (FE peak). The wavelength of observed photon emissions depends on the type of recombination center within the sample and whether or not phonons are associated with the recombination process. Most peaks of interest are phonon-assisted emissions, wherein intensity at a given wavelength is related to the number of sites within the sample that are responsible for that emission. Because concentration of an electrically active impurity is proportional to the ratio of the intensities of the BE and FE peaks, photoluminescence analysis is a powerful method for the non-destructive analysis of shallow impurities within a sample.
While photoluminescence analysis is a powerful method for analysis of impurities, its accuracy and sensitivity are complicated by peaks associated with the EHD. Exciton density within a sample increases with increasing intensity of the incident laser, and once a critical exciton density is reached, the EHD can form. Recombination events within the EHD give off characteristic luminescence that results in a broad peak underlying and interfering with the BE and FE peaks in the transverse optical (TO) phonon region of the spectrum (8757-8889 cm−1/1142-1125 nm). Moreover, because the EHD peak intensifies and shifts to lower energies with increasing excitation intensity, the interference becomes more pronounced with increasing laser power. Thus, it is often difficult to accurately determine the ratio of BE to FE emissions due to interference from the EHD peak, particularly interference between the EHD and BE peaks. Conventional methods of overcoming the difficulties in resolving the BE and FE peaks from the EHD peaks often involve varying excitation energy, such as operating a laser at lower excitation energies, use of extended data collection periods, use of differing laser wavelengths, or a combination thereof. For example, one conventional approach is to run an instrument at low excitation energies in order to minimize the EHD effect. However, this approach reduces the signal-to-noise in the BE and FE emissions, which makes it difficult to effectively measure impurities in high purity semiconductor materials. Another conventional example for measuring semiconductor materials with low levels of impurities and avoiding the EHD is to take longer instrument scans. However, this approach can be a hindrance for efficiently testing large numbers of samples.
In the silicon industry, two principal types of instruments are used for photoluminescence analysis of impurities—dispersive infrared instruments operating under high sample excitation conditions, and Fourier transform instruments operating under low sample excitation conditions. As practiced, both techniques involve "straight-on" collection of emitted photons from silicon samples, wherein the sample is oriented at a position that is parallel to the collection optics. In this orientation, the silicon sample is illuminated by the laser and the emitted photons are collected from the front surface of the sample by a collection lens having a lens focal point at the front surface.
In summary, conventional photoluminescence analysis can be generalized as having four primary steps: (i) excitation of the front surface of a semiconductor sample with a laser at low temperature, said laser operating at either a fixed or variable power to achieve resolution of BE and FE peaks from EHD peaks in resultant spectra; (ii) emission of photons from the sample, said photons being characteristic of BE, FE, and EHD recombination events; (iii) detection of photons emitted from the front surface of the sample by collection optics that are oriented parallel to the sample; and (iv) analysis of the resultant spectra to determine information about the impurities. Such conventional methods and apparatuses are highly sensitive and can typically identify impurity densities of low parts-per-trillion ("ppt") atoms within the crystal lattice. Nevertheless, there remains a need in the art for more sensitive techniques and apparatuses for identifying and quantifying impurities in semiconductor materials.

Applying edge-on photoluminescence to measure bulk impurities of semiconductor materials


A method for correcting a camera by using a plurality of pattern members placed on the ground of a vehicle enables receiving pattern information of a plurality of pattern members by using a plurality of cameras disposed on the circumference of a vehicle being driven, calculating a first parameter on the basis of the pattern information, calculating trajectory information of the vehicle by using the pattern information, and calculating a second parameter by correcting the first parameter on the basis of the trajectory information of the vehicle.

Vehicles are all devices that drive a wheel to be driven so as to transport people or cargo. A typical example of the vehicles is an automobile.
Vehicles may be classified into internal combustion engine vehicles, external combustion engine vehicles, gas turbine vehicles, and electric vehicles according to types of motors used for the vehicles.
An electric vehicle may be a vehicle that uses electricity as an energy source to drive an electric motor and may be classified into a pure electric vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), and a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCEV).
Recently, for the safety and convenience of drivers and pedestrians, development and commercialization of smart vehicles has been actively conducted. An intelligent vehicle is the most advanced vehicle in which information technology (IT) is converged and provides optimal transportation efficiency through interlocking with the intelligent transportation system as well as introduction of an advanced system of the vehicle itself. Specifically, the intelligent vehicle performs an automatic driving function, an adaptive cruise control (ACC), an obstacle detection, a collision detection, provision of a precise map, setting of a route to a destination, and provision of a position for a major place to maximize the safety and convenience of drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
As described above, an around view control device is drawing attention as one of devices for maximizing the safety and convenience of the drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
The around view control device provides an around view image around the vehicle by using cameras, and the driver may view the surroundings of the vehicle in real time through the around view image.
Since the around view image is generated by synthesizing images of the cameras acquired in different directions, matching between the adjacent images is very important.
However, a vehicle manufactured by the vehicle manufacturer does not undergo camera correction, leading to a problem of mismatch between the adjacent images. The state in which the match is failed means mismatch.
As described above, when the match between the images is failed, a correction operation of the cameras is required.

Method and device for correcting vehicle view cameras


A battery capacity indicating device includes a plurality of switching parts connected in parallel to a battery, each of which outputs a controlling signal corresponding to a predetermined voltage range when a voltage across the battery terminals falls within the predetermined voltage range, with at least one of the predetermined voltage ranges having finite upper and lower limits; a controlling part for receiving the output controlling signal among other controlling signals and generating from the received controlling signals a displaying signal corresponding to a display range into which the voltage falls; and a displaying part for generating a display indication representative of the display range. A battery capacity indicating method is provided wherein the displaying signals corresponding to the controlling signals are output when they are applied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery and, more particularly, to a device and method for determining the charge capacity of a battery within predetermined quantitative ranges and displaying the determined value using 7-segment light emitting diode (LED) display modules.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical device for indicating the capacity (or voltage) of a battery displays one or two colored LEDs to indicate the charge status (i.e., voltage level) of the battery. With such a device a user cannot know the present capacity of the battery. Accordingly, the user cannot accurately anticipate when the battery will become exhausted or, if the battery is being charged, estimate the time required to fully charge it.
Various approaches have been proposed to address the problem of providing a quantitative indication of the existing charge in a battery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,414 shows a device with a plurality of comparators and an indicator connected to the output of each comparator. The comparators indicate the battery voltage level relative to different reference levels, and thus the device provides an indication of the battery's remaining charge. But the design of this system may require relatively expensive integrated circuits to implement and does not allow easy modification to enhance existing functions or to add new ones.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,675, on the other hand, proposes an alternative solution using diodes and LEDs. The disclosed system here does not involve sophisticated comparator circuitry and still provides a quantitative indication of remaining battery capacity. On the other hand, it requires a large number of discrete components in an arrangement that makes modification or addition of functions awkward. This circuit also measures battery voltage by an indirect method (equivalent internal resistance) and generates an analog indicating output signal not easily adapted to digital display means.
I have therefore found that a need exists for an improved battery charge indicating device and method. Such an invention would provide a quantitative indication of remaining charge in a battery but would have a flexible design readily adaptable to improvement of and addition to its functional capabilities without requiring expensive and delicate integrated components. This system would also include detection means with output readily amenable to digital processing and would provide a flexible and easily-read display means. It also desirably would allow implementation with inexpensive, standard components or in configurations suitable for harsh or unusual use environments.

Device and method for detecting and displaying charge capacity of a battery


A person region information extraction unit (101) detects a person region where a person appearing in a video belongs, and generates person region information describing information of the person region. An accompanying person determination unit (102) identifies at least one accompanying person accompanying a tracking target person among persons included in the person region information based on the person region information and information specifying a tracking target person, and generates accompanying person information describing the accompanying person. A distinctive person selection unit (103) selects a distinctive person having a salient feature using the person region information among the accompanying person specified by the accompanying person information, and generates distinctive person information describing the distinctive person. A person tracking unit (104) calculates a tracking result for the distinctive person based on the person region information and the distinctive person information.

Techniques to track a person using a video taken by a surveillance camera are disclosed in recent years. As one example of a person tracking method, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method of tracking a person based on a color feature of a person.
FIG. 9 shows an exemplary embodiment of the person tracking system disclosed in Patent Literature 1. The person tracking system includes a person region extraction means 1, a voxel generation means 2, a person color feature extraction means 3, and a person tracking means 4.
The person region extraction means 1 extracts a person region from a surveillance video and outputs a person region extraction result to the voxel generation means 2. The voxel generation means 2 generates voxel information from the person region extraction result output from the person region extraction means 1 and outputs the generated voxel information to the person color feature extraction means 3. The person color feature extracting means 3 extracts a person color feature from the voxel information output from the voxel generation means 2 and the surveillance video and outputs the extracted person color feature to the person tracking means 4. The person tracking means 4 tracks a person using the person color feature output from the person color feature extracting means 3 and outputs a person tracking result.
The operation of the person tracking system shown in FIG. 9 is described in detail.
The person region extraction means 1 extracts a person region from a surveillance video input from a camera using a background subtraction method. Then, the person region extraction means 1 outputs the extracted person region extraction result to the voxel generation means 2.
The voxel generation means 2 generates voxels based on the input person region extraction result. The input person region extraction result is acquired by a plurality of cameras. The voxel generation means 2 projects the input person region extraction result onto the three-dimensional space using a volume intersection method and thereby generates voxels that represent the position of a person in the space. The voxel generation means 2 outputs the generated voxels to the person color feature extracting means 3.
The person color feature extracting means 3 acquires the distribution of colors of a person from toe to tip in the vertical direction as a person color feature based on the generated voxels and the surveillance camera video. Specifically, the person color feature extracting means 3 calculates the average of colors for each height of the voxel, normalizes the result by height, and thereby calculates the person color feature. Although the color feature is basically determined by the color of clothes the person is wearing, the value obtained by calculating the average of colors in all directions at the same height is used. The person color feature extracting means 3 thereby achieves the extraction of the color feature that is robust against variation of the way the clothes look depending on the direction.
The person tracking means 4 compares the obtained person color feature with a person color feature obtained in the past and thereby determines the similarity. The person tracking means 4 calculates the relationship between the voxels calculated in the past and the voxels calculated most recently in accordance with the determination result. Consequently, the person tracking means 4 calculates a person tracking result associating the past person extraction result and the current extraction result.

Person tracking device, person tracking method, and non-transitory computer readable medium storing person tracking program


A circulation system for bodies of water. In one set of embodiments for larger bodies of water, modified horizontal plate designs are provided at the entrance of the draft hose. The plate designs have sections that pivot downwardly as the flotation platform and depending draft hose are rapidly raised in high wave conditions to let the water escape downwardly out of the hose. Adaptations to the floats for the elongated arms of the platform are also made to essentially eliminate the creation of any damaging torques on them from high waves. Another set of embodiments are particularly adapted for smaller systems in municipal water tanks for thorough mixing of the water and treatment to kill undesirable ammonia oxidizing bacteria and prevent or at least inhibit their return.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of circulation systems for ponds, lakes, municipal tanks, and other bodies of water. It particularly relates to the field of such circulation systems for relatively large and deep bodies of water in which high waves may periodically develop. It also relates to circulation systems for smaller and shallower bodies of water such as in municipal or similar water tanks and containers.
2. Discussion of the Background
One group of improvements of the present invention has particular application to larger and deeper bodies of water that may develop large waves (e.g., 4-6 feet high or more). Circulation systems for such bodies that float on the surface of the water must then rise vertically the height of each wave and often must do so very quickly (e.g., within a few seconds or less). Typical circulation systems have a draft hose attached to a flotation platform floating on the surface. The hose extends downwardly (e.g., 20-50 feet or more) into the body of water and can have a diameter on the order of 3 feet. In operation, such circulation systems are drawing a large volume of water up the draft hose and as the flotation platform rises with each wave, the attached draft hose must also rise with it.
In many such circulation systems, it is desirable to control the direction and level of the water being drawn into the bottom of the draft hose by providing a horizontal plate or other structure adjacent the inlet to the hose. However, a problem can occur that the large volume of water in the hose cannot quickly escape back out of the restricted bottom or inlet of the hose as it is lifted with a wave. Consequently, great stresses are put on the flotation platform and hose of the system as the flotation platform rises with each wave and attempts to pull up with it the very heavy hose full of water. In extreme cases, the stresses can damage or even destroy the flotation platform as well as the hose and other parts of the system. As indicated above, the primary cause of the problem in such systems is that the column of water in the hose cannot escape fast enough out the restricted bottom of the hose, particularly in high seas with waves cresting at 4-6 feet or more every few second or so.
Larger and deeper bodies of water which may develop high and violent waves can also present problems to the float arrangements for such circulation systems. That is, many systems have floats that are essentially rigidly attached to elongated arms extending outwardly of the central platform of the system. The floats commonly extend downwardly from the ends of the arms and serve to suspend or support the platform via its arms on the surface of the water. Under normal conditions with gentle waves, such float arrangements work fine as there is enough time for the water to move around the floats without exerting any large side forces on the arms. However, when high winds or other elements develop, the waves can become quite high and violent. In these situations, there can be large forces exerted on the floats from the water pushing against them. The side forces on the floats then translate into a twisting force or torque on the elongated arms fixedly attached to them and the platform. This twisting of the float arms can eventually fatigue them to the point of failure. In extreme cases, the side forces may even snap or otherwise damage the arms so they do not support the platform properly atop the water.
Other improvements of the present invention have particular applications to municipal drinking and similar tanks of water. Such tanks or other containers for potable water have special needs and requirements. For example, it is desirable that all of the water in the tank be thoroughly or uniformly mixed so there are essentially no dead spots, including in any corners and along the walls and floor of the tank. Such mixing is preferably accomplished relatively quickly by the circulation system and maintained so over extended periods of operation. It is also desirable that the circulation system be designed to easily and quickly inject disinfectants such as chlorine and chloramines into the circulating water.
With these and other problems and desired characteristics in mind, the adaptations of the present inventions were developed.

Water circulation systems for ponds, lakes, municipal tanks, and other bodies of water


To reduce the number of operations required for estimating a transmitted data sequence using a Viterbi algorithm, a method and apparatus are provided for (a) storing a plurality of sampled values of an incoming signal in a shift register in a predetermined interval; (b) receiving a plurality of the sampled values from the shift register, and estimating channel responses, at a current time point, of a plurality of first signal sequences which are derived from the plurality of sampled values and each of the length of which is reduced by deleting at least one sampled data at the oldest time point; (c) receiving the channel responses estimated at (b) and checking to see if each of the estimated channel responses is determinate, producing a first signal sequence if an estimated channel response of a first signal sequence is found determinate, and producing an estimated channel response as a first signal sequence at a time point preceding the current time point in the event that the estimated channel response of the first signal sequence is found indeterminate; (d) storing the first signal sequences produced at (c), and producing an estimated channel response which has been stored at a time point preceding the current time point; and (e) determining a plurality of branch metrics using the estimated channel response obtained at (c) and an original first signal sequence before the original first signal sequence is reduced in length.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for correctly estimating or equalizing data sequences and more specifically to a method and apparatus which is capable of following rapid changes in channel characteristics with a very small number of data processing steps. The present invention is well suited for use in mobile communications systems for example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art of radio communications that a receiver using maximum-likelihood sequence estimation exhibits an extremely low error rate, particularly in the case of intersymbol interference. This maximum-likelihood sequence estimation technique is disclosed in an article published in IEEE Transaction on Information Theory Vol. IT-18, No 3, May 1972 entitled "Maximum-Likelihood Sequence Estimation of Digital Sequences in the Presence of Intersymbol Interference" by G. D. Forney Jr (prior art paper 1).
In order to meet the situation wherein channel impulse responses vary with respect to time, an adaptive maximum-likelihood receiver has been proposed and disclosed in an article published in IEEE Transactions on Communications Vol. Com-22, No. 5. May 5, 1974 entitled "Adaptive Maximum-Likelihood Receive for Carrier-Modulated Data-Transmission Systems" by Gottfried Ungerboeck (prior art paper 2). This type of apparatus and method utilizes a known training sequence, which is previously sent to a receiver in order to enable initial estimation of channel response of later data transmission. Following this, a decision sequence is generated from a sequence estimator with a predetermined delay using an adaptive algorithm. However, this arrangement algorithm is unable to follow very rapid changes in channel characteristics.

Method and arrangement for estimating data sequences transmsitted using Viterbi algorithm


The present application is directed towards systems and methods for monitoring and maintaining consistency of a configuration across a plurality of cores or packet engines in a multi-core system. A configuration manager handles communication of configuration commands to a plurality of cores or packet engines. If a command executes successfully on a first packet engine but fails on a second packet engine, the configuration manager may communicate an undo command to the first packet engine. Successful execution of the undo command may restore the packet engines to a consistent configuration.

An appliance may be deployed in a network to filter, compress, accelerate, or otherwise process network communications. While some appliances include a predetermined or hardwired configuration, others have the capability to receive configuration commands from a user or administrator to customize various features, filters, policies, or services of the device. Where an appliance only has a single processor or single core, a configuration command may be loaded and executed on that core. Failures in executing the command, due to syntax errors, lack of memory, programming bugs, or other reasons, may be communicated to the user or administrator. Accordingly, whether the command succeeded or failed to execute, the user or administrator knows the current "live" configuration of the appliance. Thus, the user or administrator can determine what further commands to send.
However, this may not be true in a multi-core appliance. Because a command may succeed on a first core and fail on a second core, the appliance may have an inconsistent configuration between multiple cores. A further command sent by the user or administrator may execute differently on the cores due to the inconsistent configuration, complicating the inconsistency.

Systems and methods for monitoring and maintaining consistency of a configuration


The invention relates to a PTO brake control system. There is a need for an improved and safe PTO brake control system. A PTO may be put into a driven and a non-driven condition an is braked by a PTO brake. A PTO brake control system includes a vehicle speed sensor and an ECU for controlling the PTO brake. The ECU deactivates the PTO brake when the vehicle is stationary and the PTO is not driven. This allows the PTO to be manually rotated to facilitate coupling of the PTO to an implement.

Agricultural vehicles, such as tractors or agricultural draft vehicles, which have a PTO transmission or a PTO for driving mounted or towed working equipment are conventionally equipped with PTO brakes which are intended to prevent unintentional rotation of the PTO, for example by the PTO drive itself or by the working equipment. For example, when the vehicle is stationary with the engine running and a PTO speed pre-selected, the PTO is switched off, or put into a non-driven condition. At the same time, the PTO brake is activated. When the PTO is switched on again, the PTO brake is disconnected or deactivated.
Conventionally, a PTO speed is pre-selected. Although it is possible to set a neutral position for the PTO or to put the PTO speed to "neutral", it is often the case that a operator forgets to do this, and so the PTO brake is activated when the operator leaves the driver's cab of the vehicle while the engine is running, for example to hook up working equipment and connect it to the PTO. In this case, it is not usually possible to insert the PTO when the working equipment is hooked up, because the PTO or a PTO journal cannot be manually rotated in order to put it in a suitable insertion position with the PTO brake activated. To insert the PTO, the operator must first switch the PTO speed to "neutral" again, inside the vehicle, so that the PTO is deactivated. This can be awkward and unproductive, because the devices mounted are becoming heavier and heavier, and because this disrupts and interrupts hooking up operation.


A power supply system for EV and a control method thereof are provided, the system including a high voltage battery formed with a plurality of battery cells and generating a power driving source to a motor of the EV, and a low voltage battery generating a power driving source for electrical load, and an OBC (On-Board-Charger) selectively charging a high voltage battery or a low voltage battery using an externally-supplied AC power source based on an output voltage level of the low voltage battery.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a power supply system for electric vehicle and control method thereof, and more particularly to a power supply system for electric vehicle configured to selectively charge a high voltage battery or a low voltage battery using an external AC power source, and a control method of a power supply system for electric vehicle.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The information disclosed in this Discussion of the Related Art section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the present disclosure and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
In recent years, with the aim for reducing CO2 discharge in an attempt to prevent global warming and air pollution, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) that are provided with a secondary battery and that use both an engine and a motor as a power source, have become increasingly popular, and electric vehicles (EVs) that are provided with a secondary battery and that emit no exhaust gas are also starting to attract attention, where an electric motor is driven by electricity to operate the EV, and the battery supplies electricity to the electric motor.
EVs generally refer to those which utilize electricity for power to a large extent, and typical EVs include an HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), and an EV (Electric Vehicle).
Generally, a power system of an EV includes a main battery (high voltage battery) supplying a driving power to a driving motor, a BMS (Battery Management System), a sub-battery (low voltage battery) providing a driving power to other vehicular electronic equipment and a host of electric devices.
An inverter may act as an intermediary between battery and electric motor. That is, an inverter converts a high DC (direct current) voltage generated by the main battery (high voltage battery) to an AC (alternating current) signal to control a motor. A low voltage DC-DC Converter (LDC) converts electric power of a high voltage battery into a direct current. That is, the LDC switches a direct current to an alternating current, boosts or drops the alternating current using coil, transformer, capacitance, etc., rectifies the resulting alternating current to a direct current and supplies electricity suitable for voltages used in respective electrical loads. In further details, the LDC converts the high voltage generated by the main battery (high voltage battery) to a low voltage, and outputs the low voltage to charge the sub-battery (low voltage battery).
Meanwhile, charging of a main battery may be implemented by connecting a charging plug installed at a battery charging station to an EV. In a case an AC power is supplied from outside by connection of the charging plug, an OBC (On-Board Charger) mounted inside the EV converts an AC power to a high DC voltage to charge the main battery.
The OBC is one of electrical equipment receiving a driving power from a sub-battery, such that if the sub-battery is discharged, the OBC may not be normally driven. As a result, if the sub-battery is discharged, the OBC cannot operate, such that even if an AC power is supplied through a charging plug, the main battery cannot be charged, whereby the EV cannot be supplied with a driving power to disadvantageously make the EV inoperable.
Another disadvantage is that the conventional OBC can charge only the main battery using an AC power and cannot charge the sub-battery, such that a user must inconveniently prepare a separate charging equipment to charge the sub-battery.

Power supply system for electric vehicle and control method thereof


The present invention relates to a new stereoselective process for the synthesis of 17(α)-17-acetyl-17-hydroxy-estr-4-en-3-one of formula (I), as well as to the new intermediates of the process. The 17(α)-17-acetyl-17-hydroxy-estr-4-en-3-one (gestonorone) is an important intermediate in the synthesis of the active ingredients having progestogen activity—such as gestonorone capronate and nomegestroi acetate. Formulas (I), (II) and (III).

The 17(α)-17-acetyl-17-hydroxy-estr-4-en-3-one (hereafter: gestonorone) is an important intermediate in the synthesis of the active ingredients having progestogen activity—such as gestonorone capronate and nomegestrol acetate. There are various known processes in the literature for its synthesis. The first was described in 1953 (MXX762308, U.S. Pat. No. 2,781,365; GB 762,308). In this process the gestonorone was synthesized starting from 17-acetyl-3-hydroxy-estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraene via a derivative of 17β-acetyl-17α-hydroxy-3-methoxy-estra-1,3,5(10)-triene protected in position 20 with ethylene ketal.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,003 the gestonorone is synthesized starting from estron-3-alkyl ether (FIG. 1.). The pregnane side-chain in position 17 is synthesized in a complicated and time-consuming 7-step process. The oxo group in position 20 is protected as ethylene ketal, then the necessary transformations are carried out on the A-ring.
The estron-3-alkyl ether is ethynylated in position 17, the 17 hydroxyl group of the obtained compound is acylated and the ethynyl group is brominated with N-bromo-acetamide in an organic solvent in the presence of tert-butanol and water. In the next debromination reaction the 17α-acetyl-3-alkoxy-17β-hydroxy-gona-1,3,5(10)-trien-17β-yl-acetate is formed in the presence of zinc and acetic acid, which is then reduced with calcium metal in liquid ammonia. The isopregnane side-chain of the obtained compound is isomerized in acetic acid in the presence of zinc at reflux temperature for 24 h. The hydroxyl group in position 17 is introduced the following way: the oxo group in position 20 is transformed into enol acetate with acetic anhydride in the presence of catalytic amount of p-toluenesulfonic acid and the formed Δ17(20)-double bond is oxidized with perbenzoic acid. Finally the oxo group in position 20 is transformed into ethylene ketal with ethylene glycol in the presence of catalytic amount of p-toluenesulfonic acid. The next two reaction steps are carried out as described in point 1, the derivative of 17β-acetyl-17α-hydroxy-3-methoxy-estra-1,3,5(10)-triene protected in position 20 with ethylene ketal is reduced with lithium metal in liquid ammonia and the obtained compound is transformed into gestonorone with acid hydrolysis.
According to the U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,435 17-cyano-17-hydroxy-3-methoxy-estra-2,5(10)-diene (a mixture of isomers/diastereomers) is synthesized starting from 3-methoxy-estra-2,5(10)-dien-17-one with acetone cyanohydrin, which is acylated with acetic anhydride in pyridine (FIG. 2.). The synthesis of cyanohydrin is also described starting from 19-nor-androsten-dione.
During the two processes below the 17α-hydroxy-pregnane side-chain is synthesized starting from estr-4-en-3-one or an estr-4-en-3-one derivatives.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,615 the synthesis of the 17α-hydroxy-pregnane derivatives is described (FIG. 3.). The pregnane side-chain is synthesized via the sulfite ester derivatives of 17α-ethynyl-17β-hydroxy steroids the following way: the ethynyl group is transformed into pregnane side-chain via hydration in the presence of mercury salt. The disadvantage of the process is the use of environmental pollutant mercury salt.
In the Chinese article published in Journal of Central South University of Technology (English Edition) (2004), 11(3), 300-303 estr-4-en-3-on-17-cyanohydrine is synthesized from estr-4-en-3,17-dione with potassium cyanide in aqueous methanol, then the oxo group of the obtained product is protected as ketal using ethylene glycol and boron trifluoride as catalyst. The tertiary hydroxy! group is protected with butyl vinyl ether and the pregnane side-chain is formed with methyl lithium in diethyl ether as solvent. The protective groups are removed with hydrochloric acid hydrolysis. The overall yield of the six-step process is 63% (FIG. 4.).

Process for the production of 19-norpregn-4-en-3,20-dione-17α-ol(gestonorone) and intermediates therefor


A combination of optimized layouts using a defect voting technique and the etched quartz approach is used to obtain a high probability of obtaining defect-free printing masks, or reticles 10. The defect voting technique as used herein refers to a technique whereby multiple patterns are overlaid in such a way as to get a partial etch each time. Voting the phase shifter layers reduces the probability of defect printability from the reticle onto a semiconductor wafer. Modeling, using SPLAT, shows the effect of the phase transitions on defect printability, along with the probability of defects 16, 20, 24 printing using the voting technique. Thus, while the mask may not be free of defects, these defects do not print on the wafer.

Phase shift mask technology approaches have been discussed thoroughly in the literature; the original work was begun by M. D. Levenson et al, "Improving Resolution in Photolithography with a Phase-Shifting Mask", IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. ED-29, No. 12, pp. 1828-1836 (Dec. 1982). Various design and process developments have been discussed covering a wide range of materials and positive or negative design layout approaches. The advantages and disadvantages for the various approaches are summarized in Table 1. Table 2 identifies the advantages and disadvantages of positive (light field) layouts versus negative or dark field layouts.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Phase Shift Mask Making Process Comparison. Subtractive Additive Mask Making Process Etched Quartz Spin-ons Deposited ______________________________________ Index mismatch problem No Yes Yes Low defect material Yes No Maybe Wall angle of shifter is important On alternating shifter Yes No No On rim shifter Yes Yes Yes On chromeless Yes Yes Yes All phase strategies Yes Yes** Yes** possible Etch stop layer possible Yes* Yes Yes Shifter thickness uniformly good Prior to etch Yes Maybe Maybe After etch Yes Maybe Maybe ______________________________________ Notes: *Etch step possible using new blanks **Selfaligned rims are not possible
TABLE 2 ______________________________________ Phase Shift Mask Layout Comparison. Positive Negative Design Layout Tone Masks Tone Masks ______________________________________ Requires multiphase transitions On memory core Yes No On logic periphery Yes Yes On logic Yes Yes G-line resists available Yes Yes I-lines resists available Yes Maybe Deep-UV resists available Yes Yes Production experience Yes No ______________________________________
A need remains for providing a process for making a mask that is substantially defect-free. As used herein, the term "defect-free" indicates a low probability of the actual defects on the mask, or reticle, printing as defects on the semiconductor wafer.

Voting technique for the manufacture of defect-free printing phase shift lithography


A circumcision tool having an outer jaw having front, rear, and medial blade passage channels; front and rear pluralities of skin fasteners; outer front and outer rear staple inserts releasably holding the front and rear pluralities of skin fasteners within the front and rear blade passage channels; front, rear, and medial blades, the medial blade having a cutting edge; slide tracks connecting the front, rear, and medial blades to the outer jaw; a cam connected operatively to the front, rear, and medial blades, for inwardly moving the front, rear, and medial blades toward the front, rear, and medial blade passage channels in alignments with the front and rear pluralities of skin fasteners, and in alignment of the medial blade with the medial blade passage channel; an inner jaw; and a vice grips actuator connected to the inner and outer jaws for alternatively retracting and splaying the inner and outer jaws.

Where an adult male's penile foreskin is in its prepuce configuration as a glans protecting membrane (with the foreskin's mucocutaneous zone or layer annularly underlying the foreskin's outer skin layer), an annulus is formed and defined, such annulus normally being flexibly closed and being outwardly expandable. The inner periphery of such annulus comprises the outer periphery of the male's penile glans. Since the skin defining the outer periphery of such annulus is mucocutaneous, the environment within such annulus is typically warm and moist, and often undesirably promotes growth and reproduction of colonies of bacterial pathogens such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Treponema pallidum or viral pathogens such as human immune deficiency virus and human papillomavirus. Such pathogens tend to be undesirably transmitted to other persons via sexual contact or such pathogens may directly infect the host through tears within the foreskin.
The male's penile foreskin is commonly known to be surgically excised or amputated. Reasons for performing male foreskin circumcision operations are numerous, including social and religious practices, attempts to lessen risks of transmission of pathogens to sexual partners, and relatively medically necessary excisions of foreskins which are in fact infected with HIV. In a known mode of performing a surgical circumcision operation, a circumferentially extending incision or circumcising cut is extended about the male's penile foreskin, such incision passing completely through both the foreskin's outer skin and underlying mucocutaneous layers to form a pair of incised skin edges. In the event such incised skin edges are held in close proximity with each other during healing, the skin sections naturally graft to each other to form a renewed and integral outer skin surface which lacks the excised or amputated foreskin layers, and which no longer forms an annulus about the glans. In order to effectively hold such incised skin edges in close proximity during healing, skin staples or stitches are commonly used.
Utilizing a scalpel for making a circumcising incision, followed by closing the incision through use of skin staples or stitches is typically mechanically cumbersome and complex, and is typically complicated by continuous hemorrhaging during placement of stitching or staples along the incision. From and after the identification of the HIV virus in 1981, such known procedures for surgical circumcisions have been viewed as posing a heightened risk to the surgeon. Direct tactile manipulations of surgical tools such as scalpels, needles, and sutures have always been accompanied by a risk of cutting or piercing the surgeon's fingers, resulting in transmission of a patient's blood bourne pathogens to the surgeon. Where the pathogen is HIV which directly resides within a foreskin being excised, the heightened risk to the surgeon includes a prospect of being afflicted with AIDS which has a high fatality rate. The instant inventive tool performs all skin cutting and skin piercing steps at a tool front end, and allows the surgeon's hands and fingers to reside at the tool's rearward end during the skin cutting and skin piercing steps. Thus, the tool, in addition to simplifying the circumcision procedure and reducing hemorrhaging, advantageously acts as a buffer against transmissions of blood bourne pathogens from the patient to the surgeon by allowing the surgeon's hands and fingers to remain removed from skin cutting and piercing structures.
Accordingly, the instant inventive circumcision tool solves or ameliorates the problems, difficulties, and deficiencies discussed above, by providing tool structures for automatically stapling the male's foreskin along parallel circumferential lines to create a hemorrhage free circumferential incision zone, and by automatically and substantially simultaneously circumferentially incising the foreskin within such zone.


A tracking device includes an imaging part for repeatedly acquiring image data on a subject image, a tracking processing part for setting a tracking position based on first image data to perform tracking processing on a subject in the tracking position based on second image data, and a relative distance information calculating part for calculating relative distance information using (1) a determined information about a distance to the tracking position and (2) a determined information about a distance to a surrounding area around the tracking position. When the tracking processing part determines that another subject in the surrounding area is located at the closer range than the subject in the tracking position, the tracking processing part prohibits tracking processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tracking device and a tracking method for tracking a subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a picture of a moving body is taken or a moving image is taken, there has been known a technique for performing autofocus control (AF) and automatic exposure control (AE) to follow a specific subject. Tracking processing is used to follow such a specific subject.
During tracking, if a tracking target becomes obstructed, the tracking target may be lost or a wrong target may be tracked. To address this problem, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-065193 teaches that, in tracking processing using brightness information, when a correlation value of a subsequent image with respect to a tracking target area (a reference image in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-065193) set for a certain image is equal to or less than a preset reference value, it is temporarily determined that the subsequent image has no correlation with the reference image. Such processing is performed when the tracking target is obstructed to prevent erroneously determining that an obstruction is to be the tracking target.

Tracking device and tracking method for prohibiting a tracking operation when a tracked subject is obstructed


The invention relates to an evaluation method for mapping the myocardium of a patient, in particular the automated, functional evaluation, for instance the heart perfusion, in angiographic series with the steps: recording a series of angiographic recordings directly after administering a contrast agent to the patient; determining a reference area in an angiographic recording; determining a trend pattern of the contrast agent as a reference curve within the reference area from the series of angiographic recordings; obtaining trend patterns of the contrast agent from all areas of the angiographic recordings; determining the correlation between the trend patterns and the reference curve as a measure for the interrelationship between statistical variables, comparison with stored reference curve; comparison of the correlation coefficient with a threshold value; and reproduction of a marker identifying the myocardium.

The publications for angiographic heart perfusion analyses which have sporadically become known over the last few years essentially focus on the problem of "identifying the myocardium". This can either be obtained morphologically from an individual 2D angiographic frame or from the entire series by means of analyzing the temporal information. If the myocardium is found from a frame, it can be tracked along the time axis. If the myocardium is sought directly from the time information, the change in gray scale value enrichment and the movement must be separated from one another accordingly. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. None of the above is currently acknowledged as standard.

Evaluation method for mapping the myocardium of a patient


A method for generating an interrupt signal for a media access controller (MAC) in communication with a computer host and an external network is disclosed. The method includes steps of asserting an interrupt signal to the computer host when at least one data packet is to be transferred from a memory, performing a corresponding interrupt service of the computer host in response to the interrupt signal for freeing a memory space occupied by the data packet being transferred from the memory, and deasserting the interrupt signal until the corresponding interrupt service is finished and a predetermined delay period is up. In addition, a media access controller (MAC) is also disclosed. The MAC includes a timer for counting a predetermined delay period after the interrupt service has been finished.

Please refer to FIG. 1 which is a schematic block diagram illustrating a typical internal structure of a personal computer in communication with an external network. The personal computer includes a microprocessor 10, a north bridge chip 11, a south bridge chip 12, a memory 111 and a network interface card 121. The memory 111 is connected to the north bridge chip 11. The network interface card 121 is connected to the north bridge chip 11 via a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus. The network interface card 121 includes a media access controller (MAC) 1211 and a physical layer device (PHY) 1212. In some configurations, the MAC 1211 could be directly integrated into the south bridge chip 12. The PHY 1212 is used for connecting to an external network.
When transceiving data packets, the MAC 1211 issues interrupt signals to the microprocessor 10 for interrupting hardware. The microprocessor 10 suspends the proceeding job to perform an interrupt service routine (ISR) for the driver of the MAC 1211. FIG. 2A is a schematic waveform diagram illustrating concerned signals of the MAC 1211 and its driver when receiving data packets. When the data receiving signal RxDV is at a high level, it represents that the MAC is receiving data packets. When the data receiving signal RxDV switches from the high level to a low level, it represents that one data packet is completely received. Meanwhile, the interrupt signal INTA is outputted as a low-level pulse signal and the register value of the perfect Rx interrupt mask (PRXM) is switched from logic "1" into logic "0". The microprocessor 10 proceeds the ISR and the defer procedure code (DPC) operations in response to the interrupt signal INTA to allow the operating system (OS) to process the data packet, which is received by the MAC 1211 and stored in the memory 111, and release the occupied memory space. After finishing the DPC operation, a section of program codes EnableINT is executed to recover the mask for the register value of the PRXM from logic "0" back to logic "1". Thus, another interrupt signal can be generated upon completing receiving the data packet.
FIG. 2B is a schematic waveform diagram illustrating concerned signals of the MAC 1211 and its driver when transmitting out data packets. When the data transmitting signal TxDV is at a high level, it represents that the MAC is transmitting out data packets. When the data transmitting signal TxDV switches from the high level to a low level, it represents that the transmission of one data packet is finished. Meanwhile, the interrupt signal INTA is outputted as a low-level pulse signal, and the register value of the perfect Tx interrupt mask (PTXM) is switched from logic "1" into logic "0". The microprocessor 10 proceeds the ISR and the defer procedure code (DPC) operations to allow the operating system (OS) to free the memory space occupied by the transmitted data packet. After finishing the DPC operation, likewise, a section of program codes EnableINT is executed to recover the mask for the register value of the PTXM form logic "0" back to logic "1". Thus, another interrupt signal can be generated when finishing a new the data packet transmission.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the MAC 1211 asserts the interrupt signal, i.e. INTA of the low-level pulse signal, whenever one data packet is received or transmitted. It results in that the operation resource of the microprocessor 10 is frequently occupied. In addition, particularly for the wideband network, the data flow between the system and the MAC is huge. Hence, the microprocessor is frequently interrupted, so the operation resource of the microprocessor 10 will be frequently occupied to deteriorate the performance of the system. Moreover, in some operating systems, a hang-up situation is likely to occur due to frequent hardware interruption.
Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to timely generate an interrupt signal so as to deal with the above situations encountered in the prior art.

Method for generating interrupt signal and media access controller utilizing the same


A modular computing system that includes an enclosure, a rack mounted inside the enclosure and a plurality of modular bricks. The modular bricks each include electronic components and are supported by the rack. The computing system further includes a floor tile supporting the enclosure. The floor tile includes a plurality of fans that exchange air with each of the modular bricks to cool the electronic components in each modular brick.

Modern computer systems typically generate a great deal of heat in a very small space. Some computer systems use air cooling techniques to draw heat away from critical components in the computer system. Air cooling is used on computers ranging from personal computers and laptops to minicomputer and mainframe systems. Air cooling systems typically use fans, or some other air moving device, to move air across electrical components in the computer system.
In conventional computer systems, fans are mounted inside of the system being cooled in order to either suck air from, or force air into, the computer system. Computer systems are continually being developed that pack more devices in smaller spaces such that there is a great deal of heat generated per unit volume. The cooling systems in such systems typically need to exchange large volumes of air to ensure that an adequate amount of heat is removed from the system. Failure to exchange adequate amounts of air can cause overheating that results in system error or failure.
Some computer systems are modular in that they are formed of one or more bricks that fit into a rack. Each brick typically contains its own electronics and fans to cool the electronics. The fans occupy valuable space within each brick that may otherwise be taken up by heat sinks and/or additional electronics. In addition, since the fans are positioned within each brick maintenance and/or replacement of a failed fan must typically be performed by qualified technicians because of potential physical and electrical dangers. The fans within each brick are also powered by currents that generate unwanted electromagnetic interference within the brick.
Thus, what is needed is a computer system and method for efficiently exchanging air with modular bricks in a brick-based computer system. The computer system and method should reduce downtime due to fan failure while at the same time exchanging adequate amounts of air through each modular brick. It would also be desirable if such a system and method utilized no space within each brick and permitted fan replacement by non-technical workers while the electronics system was running.

External fan and method for exchanging air with modular bricks in a computer system


A semiconductor memory device for performing a refresh operation comprises a memory cell array, a driving control unit, a word line driving unit, a sense amplifier driving unit and a sense amplifier. The memory cell array comprising a plurality of cells stores data. The driving control unit receives a row address and a plurality of command signals to output a word line control signal and a sense amplifier control signal, and sets an enable period of the sense amplifier control signal in response to a refresh signal. The word line driving unit receives the word line control signal to drive a word line. The sense amplifier driving unit receives the sense amplifier control signal to drive a sense amplifier. The sense amplifier senses and amplifies data of the bit line in response to an output signal from the sense amplifier driving unit. In the semiconductor memory device, sensing time is increased at a self-refresh mode, thereby reducing self-refresh current and improving refresh characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor memory device for performing a refresh operation and a refresh method thereof, and more specifically, to a technology of reducing self-refresh current and improving refresh characteristics by increasing sensing time only at a self-refresh mode.
2. Background of the Invention
In general, a semiconductor memory device to store data in a plurality of memory cells or to read the stored data comprises a plurality of bit lines, a plurality of word lines, circuits for selecting the bit lines or word lines and a plurality of sense amplifiers.
A DRAM of the memory devices comprises a selective transistor and a storage capacitor to improve integration density. However, since charges stored in the storage capacitor are leaked through the selective transistor in the DRAM, a periodical refresh operation is required to recharge the leakaged charges. This refresh operation is divided into an auto-refresh mode and a self-refresh mode.
FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating a row active operation of a conventional semiconductor memory device.
When data of the cell is at a high level, charges stored in the cell are shared in a bit line BL1 if a word line WL is activated. Thereafter, the bit line BL1 rises higher than a bit line bar /BL1 by a delta voltage dV1, the bit line BL1 is amplified to a core voltage VCORE level by a sense amplifier enable signal SAEN, and the bit line bar /BL1 is amplified to a ground voltage VSS level.
On the other hand, when data of the cell is at a low level, charges stored in the cell are shared in a bit line BL0 if a word line WL is activated. Thereafter, a bit line bar /BL0 falls lower than the bit line BL0 by a delta voltage dV0, the bit line bar /BL0 is amplified to the ground voltage VSS level by a sense amplifier, and the bit line BL0 is amplified to the core voltage VCORE level. Here, the delta voltages dV0 and dV1 are required to be higher than an off-set voltage of the sense amplifier.
However, when the sufficient delta voltages dV0 and dV1 are not secured in the operation of the semiconductor memory device, a sense amplifier enable signal is enabled in a state where the delta voltages dV0 and dV1 are lower than the off-set voltage of the sense amplifier. As a result, the sense amplifier cannot perform the precise data amplification operation.
In order to secure the sufficient delta voltages dV0 and dV1, sensing time to when the sense amplifier is driven from when the word line WL is enabled is required to be increased.
However, the sensing time is designed in consideration of the operating margin and the operating speed when the sufficient dV1 is obtained from the cell data. As a result, if the sensing time is increased both at the normal mode and at the refresh mode, the operating speed of the semiconductor memory device is reduced and power consumption is increased.

Semiconductor memory device for performing refresh operation and refresh method thereof


Ceramic blades and fabrication methods thereof. A ceramic blade comprises a ceramic body having two sides and an edge. A coating layer is applied on the two sides and the edge, wherein the ceramic body is formed using a scraper to create substantially flat surface and to prevent residual stress damage.

The invention relates to ceramic blades and fabrication methods thereof, and more particularly, to ceramic blades with nano-structured photocatalysis thereon and fabrication methods thereof.
Ceramic blades typically exhibit excellent mechanical characteristics such as high hardness, anti-corrosion capability, wear resistance, and suitability for a variety of applications such as of cutting tools, fruit knifes, pen knifes and razors.
Conventional ceramic blades are formed as green ceramic bodies by molding or injection and subsequently sintered. Since the ceramic bodies are quite thick, further machining treatments such as cutting and polishing are required to thin the ceramic bodies and create edges. However, machining treatments may cause surface roughness and defects such as induced residual stress.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,786, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a ceramic blade formed by injection. Injection alone, however, cannot directly form a thin blade, thereby applications of the injected ceramic blade are restricted.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,121,660, 5,048,191, and 5,056,227 the entirety of which are hereby incorporated by reference, disclose ceramic blades mechanically treated by, for example, grinding and polishing, to reach a desired thickness. Mechanical treatments may, however, cause surface roughness and induced residual stress. Thus, an additional protective layer is required to increase strength and toughness. These mechanical treatments and extra process may, however, increase production complexity and cost.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A portable display stand for removable attachment of fixtures for the display of merchandise is disclosed. The display stand features a hinged vertical support panel sub-assembly, including top and bottom panel segments, to reduce size and promote portability. Slideable pin locks within top or bottom braces for the top and bottom panel segments slide out from a disengaged position and lock in the engaged position, stabilizing the top and bottom panel segments relative to each other, for assembly. The hinged connection between the braces for the top and bottom panel segments promotes fast alignment during assembly. Assembly of the vertical support panel sub-assembly and the first and second leg sub-assemblies occurs without tools. The display stand disassembles into three (maximum) portable sub-assemblies that may be transported in a carrying case, and may be reassembled without tools in less than a minute.

1. Technical Field
This invention is related to display stands, and, more particularly, to lightweight, portable display stands that may be readily assembled and disassembled without tools.
2. Prior Art
Display stands for exhibiting, among other things, merchandise or other items (together "merchandise") have been in wide use for many years. Various types of display stands are commonly seen in retail stores such as supermarkets, hardware stores, discount stores, and a multitude of other locations. Display stands may be permanent, semi-permanent, or temporary in nature.
Display stands typically include a perforated, slotted, or gridded support panel configuration that is oriented in a vertical direction, with the front of the panel facing the intended viewers. Perforated, slotted, or gridded vertical panels commonly include slatwall, gridwall, slatgrid, pegboard, or other designs for vertical support panels.
Removable fixtures for exhibiting or displaying merchandise include hooks, braces, shelves, or brackets that are adapted to fit into the perforations, slots, or grids of, or wrap around the support features of, the vertical support panel in a manner wherein the hooks, braces, shelves, or brackets are supported by the vertical support panel. The removable fixtures generally extend more or less outwardly from the front of the vertical support panel. The removable fixtures may be used to exhibit or display the merchandise itself (such as when a hook fits through a hole in the products' packaging to support the package on the hook). Removable fixtures may also, in turn, support shelving, baskets, or other associated support fixtures or accessories (together "accessories") that may be utilized to display merchandise.
The removable fixtures are commonly designed to be removable and re-arrangeable on the front of the vertical support panel of the display stand so as to promote flexibility in changing or refashioning the arrangement and appearance of merchandise displays.
While some display stands are permanent or semi-permanent, there is often a desire for at least some display stands at a given location to be temporary or portable, or both, in order to promote flexibility in the re-arrangement of the layout and configuration of display stands within the floorspace in that given location, or in multiple locations. Temporary and portable display stands are especially useful in promoting that flexibility.
Temporary and portable display stands are also especially desirable in environments where merchandise display stands are to be set up quickly, sometimes in locations far from the display stands' owner's usual location, displayed for a relatively short time, and then disassembled and removed quickly from that location, sometimes for transport and re-assembly elsewhere, and sometimes for transport and storage (short-term or long-term). The desirability of such temporary and portable display stands, for example, would exist for some display stands used at trade shows, craft shows, art shows, or conventions (together "trade shows"). In those instances, it is often very desirable that display stands be highly portable, be capable of being quickly and easily assembled (very preferably without tools, and with the display stand having minimal parts, to avoid separation and loss of or damage to or by those parts), be lightweight, be sturdy (to withstand the impact of the high volume of people accessing the displayed items at a trade show), be capable of being quickly and easily disassembled, and be easily and neatly packable, storable, and transportable in stored form. It is an unfortunate correspondence that prior art display stands that have been designed to promote portability and have lightweight structures generally are less sturdy, are prone to having many separable parts, and are often difficult to assemble or disassemble quickly (and require tools for such assembly and disassembly).

Portable display stand having foldable one-piece vertical support panel that is capable of tool-free assembly and disassembly


Creating a denture by using the patient's mouth as an intra-oral articulator by use of an upper and/or lower dental impression tray for creating the impression of the edentulous mouth, the trays having platforms or support surfaces which magnetically hold a main frame therebetween. The orientation of the main frame is adjustable and lockable with respect to the lower tray all while within the mouth. Once the main frame is located and locked in place, artificial teeth formed with holding wax and a rearwardly extending fork are slid into a slot of the main frame and also locked. The wax holding the artificial teeth is then melted to integrate the teeth with formed respective upper and lower custom trays.

As many individuals age they can become partially or completely edentulous i.e., they lose one or more teeth and, yet, gum tissue remains. This can be caused by a wide array of issues, including periodontal disease, tooth decay, improper nutrition, simple decay, developmental defects, genetic defects, and/or or trauma or other factors, presenting alone or in combination. When this occurs, individuals lose some or all of their teeth and should be fitted with one or more replacement teeth or a complete set of false teeth or bridges, implants, partial or full dentures, etc. (hereinafter often collectively referred to as "dentures" but it should be understood that the term is meant to be inclusive of everything and anything which a dentist may select to remediate a patient's tooth or teeth, i.e., within the normal range of dentistry) to replace those having been decayed or lost. To remediate and solve this issue, patients or individuals in need often get dentures, which are prosthetic, false (often acrylic or porcelain) teeth constructed to replace missing teeth. Removable, partial dentures are used when an individual has lost only some teeth, and a complete set of dentures, or dental implants, can be used when an individual is substantially or fully edentulous. The process, in the past, is done by a qualified and licensed dental practitioner and often requires more than a single dental appointment for first taking appropriate molds, sending the same to a lab, and then fitting the same into the patient's mouth. This is time consuming, expensive, possibly embarrassing to the patient until the dentures are provided, inconvenient to the patient, and often results in compromise in quality of end product. It is believed that a one-time, possibly single visit to the dentist's office, which will allow a fully or partially edentulous patient to go from a state of edentulousness to beautiful smile with a partial or complete set of dentures would be a boon to the patient, to the dentist, and to the dental manufacturer supplying the various components.
The present invention discloses the individual components, an integrated system, and a comprehensive method for preparing a set of dentures—partial or full—possibly in a single visit by using the patient's own mouth as the holding chamber or cavity for the molds and teeth to be used in the formation of dentures. In effect, the present invention provides a device for allowing the patient's own oral cavity to serve as the articulator for preparation of the dentures. Stated differently, by providing a new device, a "main frame" or articulator, which is used within the patient's mouth, dentures can be made to fit in a single visit to the dentist. The cost savings, time savings, comfort to the patient, the dentist's profitability, etc. are all maximized. This is a primary goal of the present invention.
Finished dentures are preferably composite or acrylic-molded teeth fit which are integrated into an acrylic set of gums which, as a unit, uppers and lowers, are then adhered or form fit into the mouth of a patient, fitting on the gums of the patient. These replacement teeth will be located precisely where the patient's original tooth or teeth have been lost, removed or destroyed. Of course, the new tooth or teeth are meant to match the patient's original tooth or teeth or to provide an enhanced set of teeth, all to provide a suitable smile with suitably shaped and colored teeth for the patient's mouth, complexion, smile lines, etc. For purposes of this disclosure, all types of dental procedures made possible by the present invention, namely full dentures, partial dentures, implant retention, and others, will often be hereinafter referred to collectively as "dentures."

Components, system and method for making dentures in a single visit


The vehicle lamp includes a reflector; a light source; and a lens plate having an inner surface facing the reflector and provided with optical elements for deflecting light beams reflected from the reflector. Each of the optical elements is constructed so that the light beams passing therethrough are deflected in each case in a horizontal direction and/or a vertical direction so as to produce a prescribed light distribution identical for all optical elements. Each of the optical elements is subdivided into a number of subprisms having flat surfaces extending tangentially to an envelope of an inner surface of theoptical element. Each of the subprisms is assigned to a region of the light distribution and has a surface determined by an amount of light assigned to the region of the light distribution.

The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp. More particularly it relates to a vehicle lamp which has a reflector, a light source, a lens plate, an optical element for deflecting light beams reflected from the reflector.
Such a vehicle lamp is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 3,336,178. This vehicle lamp has a reflector in which a light source is inserted and whose light exit opening is covered by a lens plate. On its inner surface pointing towards the reflector, the lens plate has optically active elements in the form of cylindrical lenses. The light beams reflected from the reflector are deflected by the cylindrical lenses in order to produce a light distribution closely approaching a prescribed light distribution. Because of the cross-sectional shape of the cylindrical lenses in the form of a curve of conical section, and of the scattering effect characteristic of the respective curve of conical section, the prescribed light distribution cannot be achieved. The production of a desired symmetrical light distribution is impossible, in particular, in lamps with an inclined and/or swivelled lens plate, the light maximum of the light distribution produced by such lamps rather being laterally displaced.


Systems and methods are disclosed for automating asphalt mix design by running one or more tests on the mix design using computer controlled equipment; digitally collecting data for each run using the computer controlled equipment; and selecting an optimum mix based on the collected data.

The invention relates to Superpave Asphalt Mix design.
The design of asphalt paving mixes mainly involves selecting and proportioning materials to obtain the desired properties in the finished construction. The overall objective for the design of asphalt paving mixes is to determine an economical blend of binder and gradation of aggregates, within the limits of the project specifications, and an asphalt paving mixture that yields a mix having: sufficient asphalt to ensure a durable pavement; sufficient mix stability to satisfy the demands of traffic without distortion or displacement; sufficient voids in the total compacted mix to allow for a slight amount of additional compaction under traffic loading without flushing, bleeding, and loss of stability, yet low enough to minimize the intrusion of harmful air and moisture; and sufficient workability to permit efficient placement of the mix without segregation.
From October 1987 through March 1993, a DOT program known as Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) conducted research effort to develop new ways to specify, test, and design asphalt materials. The final product of the SHRP asphalt research program is a system referred to as Superpave, which stands for Superior Performing Asphalt Pavements. It represents an improved system for specifying the components of asphalt concrete, asphalt mixture design and analysis, and asphalt pavement performance prediction.
Superpave mix design is a structured approach consisting of the following four steps:
selection of materials,
selection of design aggregate structure,
selection of design asphalt binder content, and
evaluation of moisture susceptibility.
The selection of materials is accomplished by first selecting a Performance Grade asphalt binder for the project climate and traffic conditions. Superpave binders are designated with a high and low temperature grade, such as PG 64–22. For this binder, "64" is the high temperature grade and is the 7-day maximum pavement design temperature in degrees centigrade for the project. The low temperature grade, "−22," is the minimum pavement design temperature in degrees centigrade. Both high and low temperature grades are established in 6-degree increments. Thus, the binder grade is an indication of the project-specific temperature extremes for which the asphalt mixture is being designed.
In addition to climate, traffic speed and traffic level may also influence Superpave binder selection. A project with slow moving or stationary traffic would require a binder with one or two higher temperature grades than would otherwise be selected on the basis of climate alone. Projects with very high traffic levels in excess of 30 million 80 kN equivalent single axle loads would also require an increase in high temperature binder grade.

Systems and methods for automating asphalt mix design


A flexible belt-shape garment to be use around the torso of a person requiring a gastrostomy tube to be nourished is disclosed. The garment comprises a totally flexible main elongated body having an upper end, a lower end a first lateral side and a second lateral side, an outer surface and an inner surface intended to be in contact with the patient's body. It also comprises an aperture or opening in cooperative action with a flap cover that creates an internal pocket when close, wherein the gastrostomy tube is safely stored; a second mechanism for covering the internal pocket by overlapping the closed cover flap with of one of the lateral sides of the main body and optional ties or laces that are wrap around the installed belt and tie up for maximizing the protection of the gastrostomy tube and the stoma area.

The present invention relates to medical dressings or medical garments for use on patients who have had gastrostomy procedure. More particularly, the invention is directed to a flexible belt-shape garment for use around the torso of a person requiring feeding means such as a gastrostomy tube or G-tube, in order to provide storing, protection and safety to the said feeding means and the area surrounding the same.
Gastrostomy is a well know surgical procedure performed on patients that temporarily or permanently require to be fed directly through a tube connected to the stomach. Among the reasons requiring a patient to be subjected to a gastrostomy procedure are conditions such as birth defects of the mouth, esophagus or stomach. Similarly, other patients requiring the said procedure are those suffering from conditions such as neuromuscular conditions that cause people to eat very slowly due to the shape of their mouth or a weakness affecting their chewing and swallowing muscles as well as obstructions of the stomach outlet into the small intestine caused by different reasons such as peptic ulcers or tumor.
The main objective of the gastrostomy process is the insertion of the feeding means through the abdomen wall and into the stomach via an external opening called stoma. Generally speaking, the feeding means comprises a feeding tube, known as G-tube, through which food or nutrients are introduced to the patient's stomach and through which fluids may also be vented from the patient's stomach.
Among the risks of the procedure are the infections, bleeding and accidental dislodgment of the tube. Thus, there is a need to maintain the G-tube and the stoma area clean, protected and manageable. It would be helpful and advantageous to provide a cover belt-shape and flexible garment having three security measures to store, hide and protect the G-tube and stoma area of the patient once it is wrapped around the patient's torso. It would be further advantageous to provide a belt like garment that is made of soft, flexible materials, easy to wear, inexpensive, washable and reusable.


The present disclosure relates to a data transmission method and apparatus, and belongs to the field of Internet technology. The method includes: determining whether a to-be-sent video data packet exists each time a preset data sending cycle is reached; if the to-be-sent video data packet does not exist, selecting at least one video data packet, a number of times the at least one video data packet has been sent satisfying a preset sending-times condition and total data volume of the at least one video data packet satisfying a preset expected data-volume condition, from sent video data packets based on a number of times each of the sent video data packets has been sent, and determining a filling data packet according to selected video data packet; and sending the filling data packet to a receiving terminal.

With the development of science and technology, the real-time transmission technology has stepped into people's lives. A sending terminal may continuously capture an environmental video by a video capturing device, process the environmental video by encoding, compressing, packaging or the like to obtain a real-time transport protocol (RTP) data packet, and then send the RTP data packet immediately to a receiving terminal through a transmission network based on the RTP. Since each RTP data packet carries a corresponding serial number, the receiving terminal may determine whether packet loss occurs based on whether the serial number is discontinued. If the packet loss occurs, the sending terminal may send the serial number corresponding to the RTP data packet with the packet loss to the sending terminal, and the sending terminal retransmits the RTP data packet with the packet loss based on the serial number. However, this back-and-forth process takes a rather long time. The method for solving this problem may be that the sending terminal generates redundant data for recovering the RTP data packet, and sends the redundant data together with the RTP data packet to the receiving terminal. Thus, when the packet loss occurs, the receiving terminal may recover the RTP data packet with the packet loss based on the redundant data, which eliminates the time consumed by the back-and-forth process. However, an additional bandwidth is required for transmitting the redundant data.

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd.


Performance information can be utilized for comparison of resolving an external object reference through a linking module against accessing the external object directly (“relocation processing”). With the performance information, a determination of whether performing relocation processing on a runtime linked external object reference provides improved runtime performance sufficient to outweigh the runtime linking overhead incurred from the relocation processing is made. If the improvement in runtime performance is sufficient, then the runtime linked external object reference, or the code section that includes the reference, is marked to indicate that relocation processing should be applied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computers. More specifically, the present invention relates to optimization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Executable files may include external object references to be linked at runtime. Some files or objects that are linked at runtime instead of during compile time include dynamically linked libraries, shared objects, and relocatable modules. The runtime linked objects are maintained separately from executable files that reference the runtime linked objects. A runtime linker/loader, embodied within an executable file or operating environment, finds runtime linked objects that are referenced in the executable file and loads the objects into execution space.
A link-editor can provide facilities for keeping segments that include external object references read-only. Keeping these segments as read-only causes each cross-module call or external data reference to be done through an extra redirection, such as a table, followed by a loading of the object's address. Keeping code segments as read-only code segments and calling external objects with redirection (or indirection) introduces application runtime overhead for external object function calls and external data references. Instead of calling external objects with redirection, the reference to the external object may be resolved directly ("relocation processing"). However, relocation processing introduces runtime linking overhead that may outweigh the redirection overhead. Accordingly, a technique is desired that intelligently processes external object references of a code unit to be resolved either directly or indirectly.

Intelligent processing of external object references for dynamic linking


A device for destacking books, brochures, or similar cubic printed products (2), wherein said device comprises a separating belt (6) that is powered by a controllable drive and serves for the cyclic separation of the respective bottom printed product (2a) from the stack (3a), lateral boundaries (8a, b) that can be adjusted to the respective format and position the stack (3a) on the separating belt (6), a height-adjustable retaining element (9) that forms a passage for the respective printed product (2a) to be separated, a support (10) in the infeed region of the separating belt (6) in order to support the rear edge of the printed product (2) lying on top of the bottom printed product during the separation of the bottom printed product (2a), and a feeding belt (5) that is arranged upstream of the separating belt (6) and serves for delivering the next stack (3b) into the separating position. In order to reliably and flawlessly separate, in particular, thick book blocks with a small format from high stacks, the destacking device (1) features at least one supporting element (15a, b) that is arranged at a defined distance behind the stack (3a) and can be moved out of the transport path during the delivery of the next stack (3b). The supporting element automatically moves out of the transport path during the delivery of the next stack (3b).

The present disclose pertains to a device for destacking books, brochures, book blocks or similar cubic printed products.
Destacking devices are used for separating stacked products such as books, brochures, book blocks or the like and delivering said products to a processing machine.
Known book block feeders feature a stacking tunnel for accommodating book blocks that are delivered individually or in stacks from a reservoir, e.g., an accumulating roller conveyor, wherein the stacking tunnel features an intermediate feeder in the form of supports that are oriented in the delivery direction and can be laterally moved out of the stacking tunnel in order to vertically set down the book blocks. The respective bottom book block in the stacking tunnel is pushed forward and transferred from a delivery conveyor to the infeed conveyor of the next machine. The systems are complicated and the infeed and the delivery of the book blocks inherently take place at different heights.
A destacking device of this type in the form of a book block feeder with constant infeed and delivery height is known from DE 198 11 635 A1, wherein the book block feeder comprises an endless separating belt with a non-skid surface that is powered by a frequency-controlled drive and successively receives the book block stacks, lateral boundaries for the book block stacks and a height-adjustable retaining element that forms a passage for the respective bottom book block to be separated. The retaining element can be inclined in the transport direction in order to appropriately alleviate the load on the book block to be separated and thusly improve the functional reliability during the separation.
The infeed of the separating belt is provided with a support plate for supporting the rear edge of the book block lying on the bottom book block relative to the separating belt while the bottom book block is pulled out. The aforementioned retaining element can be positioned relative to the separating belt in accordance with the format length of the book block. A feeding belt driven in a cyclic fashion is also assigned to the separating belt in order to deliver the next stack as far as the retaining element situated in the separating position of the separating belt.
The destacking device disclosed in DE 198 11 635 A1 makes it possible to quickly and easily destack book block stacks. However, when processing thick book blocks with a small format, the residual stack lying on the bottom book block may fall over rearward when the bottom book block is pulled out of a high stack.

Device for destacking cubic printed products


Tunable optical filters using whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonators-are described. The WGM optical resonator in a filter exhibits an electro-optical effect and hence is tunable by applying a control electrical signal.

This application relates to optical filters based on optical resonators and cavities.
Optical filters have a wide range of applications. One type of commonly used optical filters is optical bandpass filters where optical spectral components within a spectral window transmit through the filter while other spectral components outside the spectral window are rejected. Optical resonators such as Fabry-Perot resonators may be used as such bandpass filters.
An optical whispering-gallery-mode ("WGM") resonator is a special optical resonator and supports a special set of resonator modes known as whispering gallery ("WG") modes. These WG modes represent optical fields confined in an interior region close to the surface of the resonator due to the total internal reflection at the boundary. Microspheres with diameters from few tens of microns to several hundreds of microns have been used to form compact optical WGM resonators. Such spherical resonators include at least a portion of the sphere that comprises the sphere's equator. The resonator dimension is generally much larger than the wavelength of light so that the optical loss due to the finite curvature of the resonators is small. As a result, a high quality factor, Q, may be achieved in such resonators. Some microspheres with sub-millimeter dimensions have been demonstrated to exhibit very high quality factors for light waves, e.g., ranging from 103 to 109 for quartz microspheres. Hence, optical energy, once coupled into a whispering gallery mode, can circulate within the WGM resonator with a long photon life time. Such hi-Q WGM resonators may be used in many optical applications, including optical filtering.

Tunable optical filters having electro-optic whispering-gallery-mode resonators