A determination is made as to whether a first channel is communicatively coupled to a communication network. The first communication channel is configured to preferentially transmit emergency messages to the communication network. When the first communication channel is not communicatively coupled to the communication network, a second communication channel and at least one configuration parameter to configure the second communication channel are determined. The second communication channel is configured with the determined at least one parameter. An emergency message is transmitted over the configured second communication channel.

Various types of emergencies or other types of occasions that require some type of assistance may occur when operating a motor vehicle. For example, the vehicle may be involved in an accident, the vehicle may run out of gas, a mechanical breakdown may occur, or the driver may become lost or otherwise disoriented to mention just a few examples. In such situations, it becomes desirable to summon assistance from the authorities, a family member, or some business (e.g., a towing service), to name a few examples.
Cellular telephone or other types of wireless devices have been used where the driver can make a call and summon the appropriate assistance. Unfortunately, with these types of approaches, the ability of the driver to make the call or contact is presumed. In other words, if the driver becomes disabled, injured, or is otherwise unable to make the call, no assistance can be obtained. In addition, there may be areas where cellular communication coverage is inadequate or non-existent thereby making it impossible to request assistance by that method. Other communication methods may exhibit similar location-sensitive impairments.
In other previous approaches, an emergency communication system is integrated with the car. In these approaches, if a sensor detects that the car has become involved in an accident or is otherwise in need of assistance, then the system automatically contacts a call center. Once the call center has been contacted, personnel at the call center can request emergency assistance and dispatch this assistance to the vehicle.
Unfortunately, these previous call center emergency assistance approaches suffer from several disadvantages. For example, the emergency system may utilize a particular communication technology, which may become unusable at the location where the assistance is needed. In these situations, the emergency system is unable to communicate with the call center and the emergency assistance is never sent. This causes user inconvenience at a minimum and can also risk the life and/or safety of the user in many circumstances.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

System and method for emergency reporting


Information relevant to a state of a tissue in a subject (state information) is provided with technology reducing the amount of memory and computation necessary at the time of extracting the information. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted towards a subject, a transmission wave transmitted through the subject or a reflection wave reflected on the subject is received. A reception signal is generated on the basis of the transmission wave or the reflection wave. A tissue region candidate, of a region indicating a tissue of the subject, is set on the basis of the reception signal. State information, which is information relevant to a state of the tissue in the tissue region candidate, is calculated on the basis of the reception signal and the tissue region candidate. An ultrasonic image reflecting the state information is generated on the basis of the state information and displayed.

There is a technology described in "Evaluation of directional reflectivity characteristics as new modality for 3D Ultrasound Computer Tomography" (Non-Patent Document 1), as an ultrasonic imaging apparatus in which an ultrasonic wave is transmitted with respect to a subject such as a biological body from an oscillator, the ultrasonic wave reflected on the subject, or the ultrasonic wave transmitted through the subject is received, and information relevant to the subject is measured. In Non-Patent Document 1, a method is described in which reflection properties are calculated by utilizing that the reflection properties at each reflection point on a boundary of the subject or in the subject depend on a texture of a structure and a boundary surface of the subject, in an ultrasonic imaging apparatus (an ultrasonic computed tomography (CT) apparatus) in which oscillators are three-dimensionally arranged. In addition, a possibility of distinguishing the state of the boundary of the subject and the interior tissue from the reflection properties is mentioned.

Ultrasonic CT apparatus and ultrasonic imaging method


A method of managing connections in a mobile communications network, the method comprising: transmitting over a connection from a network entity to a mobile device natural traffic and keepalive messages at a frequency determined by at least one keepalive parameter; at the mobile device, monitoring receipt of natural traffic and keepalive messages, and in the event of inadequate natural traffic and missing keepalive messages, closing the connection; and dynamically adjusting the at least one keepalive parameter for subsequent transmission of keepalive messages from the network entity so as to maintain the connection at a minimum frequency of keepalive messages.

In second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) wireless networks, mobile terminals (referred to herein as mobile devices) can in principle create regular transport control protocol (TCP)/internet protocol (IP) socket connections to servers on the internet. These connections are treated by the internet as though they are broadly similar to wired connections. However, connections in a wireless network have specific requirements which render them distinct from wired connections. The term "wireless network" used herein includes within its scope conventional cellular networks, and also any kind of network where at least one of the relevant connections is wireless whether cellular or not.
When considering use of the internet, client/server applications are very common and following the ability of mobile devices to create TCP/IP sockets, these kind of applications have become increasingly common in wireless networks as well. To date however, the most usual scenario is that the client is executed on the mobile terminal or device and the server is executed on a computer on the internet. In principle this does not create too much of a difficulty even in a wireless network, because the nature of a client application is normally that it will send a message that demand a response after which it is happy for the connection to remain quiescent until it needs to send another message. Management of connections of this type can be handled using existing mobile device technology.
However, there is a trend in mobile computing to put web servers/web services (or any kind of other services/servers) on the mobile devices themselves and make them accessible to the public internet. In a fixed network environment, the only problem to solve is that of running the server on the mobile device. In a wireless environment however, a TCP/IP connection behaves differently than it does in a fixed network. One reason for this is that network operators optimise and fine tune their network settings, and this often involves connections with very infrequent traffic becoming unreliable. In such as case, the internet end may send a packet and not receive any notification about it having been delivered, and the mobile end may not receive the packet either. At the moment, operators are able to perform such optimisation because the most widespread use of wireless TCP/IP connections consist almost entirely of the mobile end being the client, and therefore the connections being short lived (and managed at the mobile end).
However, when implementing a server or other kind of application on the mobile end which requires to be accessible at all times, there is a need to provide a connectivity solution to avoid the problem that idle connections—that is, connections that have been successfully created and used but over which no traffic has occurred for some period of time, go stale. This staleness may not manifest itself either to the mobile end or the internet end, with the effect that they remain totally unaware that data send over that connection has not reached the other end. Clearly when this happens the system does not work in its intended way.
It is a requirement therefore to minimise the effect of stale connections in a wireless network. This can be done by transmitting keepalive messages from the internet end to the mobile end on a regular basis. However, this has implications. Keeping a connection alive is costly, both in terms of battery consumption at the mobile end and network traffic. Therefore, it is not desirable to transmit keepalive messages too frequently in the case where less infrequent keepalive messages would still maintain the connection open when necessary.
It is a first aim of the present invention to allow for maintenance of a connection using keepalive messages without unnecessarily straining the battery consumption or network traffic requirements.
Another associated problem is that operators use different cellular settings for managing traffic connections. Moreover, the same operator may have different network settings in different cells. It is also possible that some cells simply have broken settings—that is they have a completely different characteristic to other cells. This further complicates the management of the transmission of keepalive messages because, even once set for a particular situation, they may well need to be altered to take into account differing operator settings.
It is therefore a second aim of aspects of the invention to solve this problem.

Managing connections in a wireless communications network


An epicardial screw-in lead is disclosed which includes an elongated lead body, an electrode housing at a distal end of the lead body for stimulating cardiac tissue, and a helical fixation screw within the electrode housing which can be extended to affix the electrode housing to the cardiac tissue. Preferably at least a portion of the helical fixation screw is electrically active. A lead implantation kit is also disclosed that can include the screw-in lead, a screwdriver tipped stylet for activating the screw, and a flexible guiding sheath for directing the tip of the stylet to the electrode housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to an epicardial implantable screw-in lead, and more particularly, to an epicardial pacing lead for left ventricular placement to effect bi-ventricular pacing of the heart.
2. Background of the Related Art
Implantable cardiac stimulation leads, including endocardial leads, are well known in the art. In general, these devices have an elongated flexible body with an electrode at one end for contacting cardiac tissue and a connector at the other end for mating with an automated stimulation device, namely a pacemaker.
Epicardial implantable pacing leads currently in use are amenable to flexible placement outside the heart, i.e., the left ventricle easily can be reached from the outside. However, the placement of epicardial leads into the myocardium often requires open heart surgery. Another disadvantage of placing leads epicardially is the increased pacing threshold caused by the fatty tissue layer outside the myocardium. Such increased threshold reduces the battery life of the pacemaker, creating the need for more frequent replacement of the battery or the pacemaker itself.
Pacing threshold is lowered when leads are placed endocardially. Another advantage of such placement of the leads, particularly when used in the coronary sinus or left ventricle for bi-ventricular pacing (resynchronization), is that it does not require open heart surgery. A particularly useful coronary sinus lead is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2003/0023295. However, the anatomy of the coronary sinus makes endocardial placement of the leads very difficult. In addition, endocardial left ventricular placement (transseptal approach from the right atrium) can be dangerous for patients, since any blood that arises could go directly into the blood circulation of the brain. Furthermore, transseptal approach requires a hole to be punctured into the septum to reach the left ventricle towards the left atrium. This could cause severe trauma to the patient.
When an endocardial lead has been implanted in the heart, either by active or passive fixation, it has been determined that the cardiac tissue at the site of implantation will react favorably to the lead in the presence of a therapeutic drug, for example, a steroid. Consequently, cardiac leads have been designed with means for delivering a therapeutic drug to the cardiac tissue at the implantation site. A particularly useful drug delivery device is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2003/0093138, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference into the subject application. This device includes an insulating tube 26 that is formed from a compound that includes an elastomeric material and a therapeutic drug. In use, suitable drugs such as steroids elute from the elastomer over time, having a desirable effect on surrounding cardiac tissue. A distal end of the lead body is provided with a plurality of flexible tines to keep the lead tip firmly anchored within the cardiac tissue.
An example of a myocardial pacing lead is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,107, wherein an electrode 9 and a portion of the lead body penetrate the epicardium for direct stimulation of the myocardium. The lead includes two sets of opposing tines 3 and 7, the first row of tines 3 anchoring on the inside wall of the epicardium, and the second row of tines 7 preventing excessive penetration into the myocardium, thereby maintaining the electrode 9 in contact with the myocardium.
Another type of pacing lead is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,946, in which an epicardial pacing lead stylet is used to control a helical fixation screw which is rotated to engage the epicardial tissue of the heart. The stylet 30 is threaded through the lead, which is formed of a multifilar insulated coiled conductor, and configured such that a wedged tip 30b of the stylet 30 engages a complex gear set 50. The wedged tip 30b rotates the gear set 50, which drives the helical fixation screw 42 into the epicardial tissue. At fixation, a ring electrode 38 rests against epicardial tissue, the electrode being secured to the pacing site by the helical fixation screw 42. In the '946 patent, electrical stimulation is applied exclusively through the ring electrode 38; no electrical stimulation is effected through the helical fixation screw itself. Moreover, control of the screw is effected through a complex gear arrangement, and further requires a rotatable stylet to be internally threaded through the coiled conductor of the lead to transmit torque to the gears.
It would be beneficial to provide an epicardial screw-in lead that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art. More particularly, it would be beneficial to provide an epicardial screw-in lead in which electrical stimulation is incorporated into the lead's fixation mechanism. Moreover, control of the screw preferably is provided in a simplified arrangement, while permitting the stylet to be positioned outside the lead.


A soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element and a method for fabricating the soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element. To practice the method, there is first provided a substrate. There is formed over the substrate a dielectric layer which has a first surface of the dielectric layer and a second surface of the dielectric layer opposite the first surface of the dielectric layer. The is also formed over the substrate a magnetoresistive (MR) layer in contact with the first surface of the dielectric layer. Similarly, there is also formed over the substrate a soft adjacent layer (SAL) in contact with the second surface of the dielectric layer, where the magnetoresistive (MR) layer, the soft adjacent layer (SAL) and the dielectric layer are planar and preferably at least substantially co-extensive. The invention contemplates a soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element formed employing the method of the invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for fabricating magnetic sensor elements. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods for fabricating soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
The recent and continuing advances in computer and information technology have been made possible not only by the correlating advances in the functionality, reliability and speed of semiconductor integrated circuits, but also by the correlating advances in the storage density and reliability of direct access storage devices (DASDs) employed in digitally encoded magnetic data storage and retrieval.
Storage density of direct access storage devices (DASDs) is typically measured as areal storage density of a magnetic data storage medium formed upon a rotating magnetic data storage disk within a direct access storage device (DASD) magnetic data storage enclosure. The areal storage density of the magnetic data storage medium is defined largely by the track width, the track spacing and the linear magnetic domain density within the magnetic data storage medium. The track width, the track spacing and the linear magnetic domain density within the magnetic data storage medium are in turn determined by several principal factors, including but not limited to: (1) the magnetic read-write characteristics of a magnetic read-write head employed in reading and writing digitally encoded magnetic data from and into the magnetic data storage medium; (2) the magnetic domain characteristics of the magnetic data storage medium; and (3) the separation distance of the magnetic read-write head from the magnetic data storage medium.
With regard to the magnetic read-write characteristics of magnetic read-write heads employed in reading and writing digitally encoded magnetic data from and into a magnetic data storage medium, it is known in the art of magnetic read-write head fabrication that magnetoresistive (MR) read-write heads are generally superior to other types of magnetic read-write heads when employed in retrieving digitally encoded magnetic data from a magnetic data storage medium. In that regard, magnetoresistive (MR) read-write heads are generally regarded as superior since magnetoresistive (MR) read-write heads are known in the art to provide high output digital read signal amplitudes, with good linear resolution, independent of the relative velocity of a magnetic data storage medium with respect to a magnetoresistive (MR) read-write head.
In order to optimize signal amplitude and performance of a magnetoresistive (MR) read-write head, it is known in the art of magnetoresistive (MR) read-write head fabrication to employ at least either: (1) a longitudinal magnetic biasing to a magnetoresistive (MR) layer within a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element within the magnetoresistive (MR) read-write head (in order to provide noise free operation of the magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element); or (2) a transverse magnetic biasing to the magnetoresistive (MR) layer within the magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element within the magnetoresistive (MR) read-write head (in order to provide a linear response of the magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element). Longitudinal magnetic biasing is typically provided through antiferromagnetic coupling of patterned antiferromagnetic material layers contacting opposite ends of the magnetoresistive (MR) layer within the magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element, while transverse magnetic biasing is typically provided through forming either in contact with or separated from the magnetoresistive (MR) layer by a conductor spacer layer a soft adjacent layer (SAL) of soft magnetic material, typically at least substantially co-extensive with the magnetoresistive (MR) layer within the magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element.
While transverse magnetically biased soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements provide generally enhanced linearity and performance with respect to otherwise equivalent magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements absent soft adjacent layer (SAL) transverse magnetic biasing, soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements are not formed entirely without problems. In particular, soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements when conventionally fabricated with a conductor spacer layer or soft adjacent layer (SAL) contacting a magnetoresistive (MR) layer within the soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element suffer from problems including but not limited to: (1) current shunting through either one or both of the conductor spacer layer and the soft adjacent layer (SAL) (which leads to reduced signal amplitude of the magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element); and (2) thermal annealing induced elemental interdiffusion of the conductor spacer layer or the soft adjacent layer (SAL) with the magnetoresistive (MR) layer (which similarly also leads to reduced signal amplitude of the magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element). It is thus towards the goal of fabricating soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements which simultaneously avoid: (1) current shunting into conductor spacer layers or soft adjacent layers (SALs) adjoining magnetoresistive (MR) layers within the soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements; and (2) thermal annealing induced elemental interdiffusion of conductor spacer layers or soft adjacent layers (SALs) adjoining magnetoresistive (MR) layers within those soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements, that the present invention is generally directed.
Various soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements have been disclosed in the art of magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element fabrication.
For example, Beaulieu et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,751 disclose a soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element comprising a magnetoresistive (MR) layer separated from a soft adjacent layer (SAL) by a dielectric layer. The soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element provides for independent electrical biasing of the soft adjacent layer (SAL) with respect to the magnetoresistive (MR) layer.
In addition, Bajorek et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,489 disclose a soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element comprising a magnetoresistive (MR) layer separated from a soft adjacent layer (SAL) by a relatively high resistivity conductor layer. The soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element so formed avoids dielectric breakdown problems and spurious signal problems observed within the soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element disclosed by Beaulieu et al.
Further, Krounbi et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,708 discloses a soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element comprising a magnetoresistive (MR) layer having a central region separated from a soft adjacent layer (SAL) by a tantalum spacer layer, while a pair of end regions of the magnetoresistive (MR) layer contact the soft adjacent layer (SAL). The magnetoresistive (MR) layer is further longitudinally magnetically biased employing patterned antiferromagnetic longitudinal magnetic bias layers coupled with the end regions of the magnetoresistive (MR) layer.
Yet further, Fontana Jr., et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,619 disclose a soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element comprising a magnetoresistive (MR) layer separated from a soft adjacent layer (SAL) by a spacer layer formed from a nichrome alloy or a nichrome alloy doped with chromium oxide. Within the soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element so formed, the resistivity of the spacer layer may be variably adjusted.
Finally, Nix et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,892 disclose a soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element comprising a magnetoresistive (MR) layer having a permanent magnet layer formed at each of its ends, where the magnetoresistive (MR) layer and the permanent magnet layers are separated by a tantalum or titanium spacer layer from a soft adjacent layer (SAL). The soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element so formed has a natural magnetic flux closure design.
Desirable in the art of soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element fabrication are additional soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements which avoid: (1) signal amplitude degradation due to current shunting of conductor spacer layers or soft adjacent layers (SALs) contacting magnetoresistive (MR) layers within those soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements; and (2) signal amplitude degradation due to thermal annealing induced elemental interdiffusion of magnetoresistive (MR) layers with conductor spacer layers or soft adjacent layers (SALs) contacting those magnetoresistive (MR) layers within those soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements. More desirable in the art are soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements which achieve the foregoing objects while simultaneously being readily manufacturable. Most desirable in the art are soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements which achieve the foregoing objects while being readily manufacturable and avoiding problems as inherent within the soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor elements as disclosed by Beaulieu et al. and discussed within Bajorek et al., above. The teachings of Beaulieu et al. and Bajorek et al. are incorporated herein fully by reference. It is towards the foregoing goals that the present invention is more specifically directed.

Soft adjacent layer (SAL) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor element with electrically insulated soft adjacent layer (SAL)


An apparatus to prevent formation of a vortex has a ring-shaped gasket having a bottom surface and a top surface; and a blade assembly mounted on the top surface and comprising a center portion and plural blades of a defined height. Each of the blades extend from the center portion to the top surface, with each pair of the plural blades defining a filter based at least in part on spacing between the pair of plural blades.

Chemical dispensing is important in many industries. For municipalities, chemical dispensing in the form of brine solutions or anti-freeze material on roads helps to prevent freezing to prevent unsafe road conditions such as ice build-up. In agriculture, self-propelled and/or towed spraying equipment are used to dispense various products onto a field that foster the growth of crops and/or hinder or prevent infestation of pests or weeds or other plants that are obstacles to efficient and productive harvesting.
Focusing on agricultural spraying equipment, before spraying operations are initiated, liquid or powder chemicals are transferred from an eductor, or similarly, inductor hopper, to a main tank. During filling of the main tank with fresh water, a plumbing system (e.g., venturi system) creates a suction effect in the eductor to draw out the chemicals. Due to the shape of the eductor and suction volume, a vortex may occur in the eductor. This vortex creates certain conditions in the plumbing system, including the tank, which may have negative consequences on the productivity of the spraying operation. For instance, the vortex may provide air in the plumbing system and/or foam in the tank, which may cause failures in tank volume measurements and/or provide a negative effect on rinse operations.
One solution, disclosed in EP 2946664, appears to reveal (see, e.g., FIG. 1) pin-shaped vortex break elements of any one of various cross sections (e.g., round, oval, polygonal, etc., as disclosed in paragraph [0016]) that preferably are structured to be much larger in length dimension than cross section (paragraph [0013]) that are disposed towards the bottom volume of a chemical dispenser container (e.g., drainage area, as described in the abstract). The break elements appear to permit the formation of a vortex initially to enable mixing of chemicals while also enabling the cleaning of the break elements. The break elements appear to progressively break the whirlpool or vortex action as the chemical swirls to the drain (see, e.g., paragraph [0013]). Other approaches are desired to provide cost effective solutions and/or solutions where the eductors operate according to a different design or parameters of operation.

Vortex prevention adapter and related systems


A position controller includes a position control part that calculates a speed command on the basis of a difference between a position command and a rotation position of a motor, a PI control part that calculates a torque command on the basis of a speed difference between the speed command and a feedback speed, an observer that generates the feedback speed on the basis of the torque command and a rotation speed of the motor, a phase lead compensator that generates a phase lead compensation signal of the torque command on the basis of the speed command, and an adder that generates a new torque command by adding the phase lead compensation signal of the torque command to the torque command.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a position controller that causes a feedback position signal to follow a position command.
2. Description of Related Art
When a position controller uses a motor to control driving of a machine, the position controller provides a P-PI (Proportional-Proportional-Integral) minor loop control system which carries out speed control with PI (Proportional-Integral) control by feeding back a rotation speed of the motor, and position control with P (Proportional) control by feeding back a rotation position of the motor.
The position controller improves a response characteristic of a speed control loop by increasing the gain of the PI control of the speed control, and then improves a follow-up characteristic to a position command and a suppression characteristic to a disturbance by increasing a gain of the P control of the position control.
The control system used herein always involves a time delay of calculation and a phase delay of a current loop. Hence, in order to cut high-frequency noise, mechanical vibration, etc., it is necessary to additionally provide an element (delay element) that generates a phase delay, such as a low-pass filter or a notch filter. The position controller having the phase delay of the delay element, however, cannot increase the gain of the PI control of the speed control, resulting in the follow-up characteristic for the position command and the suppression characteristic for the disturbance being poor.
For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-33066, an observer that can compensate the phase delay of the delay element is used, so as to improve the follow-up characteristic for the position command and the suppression characteristic for the disturbance.


A method and system for providing a magnetic memory. The magnetic memory includes magnetic storage cells in an array, bit lines, and source lines. Each magnetic storage cell includes at least one magnetic element. The magnetic element(s) are programmable by write currents driven through the magnetic element(s). Each magnetic element has free and pinned layer(s) and a dominant spacer. The magnetic memory is configured such that either the read current(s) flow from the free layer(s) to the dominant spacer if the maximum low resistance state read current divided by the minimum low resistance state write current is greater than the maximum high resistance state read current divided by the minimum high resistance state write current or the read current(s) flow from the dominant spacer to the free layer(s) if the maximum low resistance state read current divided by the minimum low resistance state write current is less than the maximum high resistance state read current divided by the minimum high resistance state write current.

FIG. 1 depicts a small portion of a conventional magnetic random access memory (MRAM) 1. The conventional MRAM 1 includes a magnetic storage cell 10 having a conventional magnetic element 12 that is typically a conventional magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) 12, and a conventional read selection transistor 14. Also depicted are a conventional write word line 16, a conventional read word line 18, and a conventional bit line 20. Data is stored in the conventional magnetic element 12 by programming the conventional magnetic element to be in a high resistance state or a low resistance state. This programming is typically performed by applying magnetic fields from current pulses flowing in both the conventional bit line 20 and the conventional write word line 16. The conventional magnetic element 12 is read by activating the read selection transistor 14 using the read word line 18 and driving a read current through the conventional magnetic element.
FIG. 2 depicts a larger portion of a conventional MRAM array 30 which uses multiple conventional memory cells, such as the conventional magnetic storage cell 10 depicted in FIG. 1. Referring back to FIG. 2, the conventional magnetic storage cells 10 are arranged in rows and columns. The conventional magnetic storage cells 10 are still associated with conventional read word lines 18, conventional write word lines 16, and conventional bit lines 20. Also depicted are bit line selector 32, word line selector 34, first digit line selector 36, second digit line selector 38, bit and ground line selector 40, differential current sensor with current sources 42, comparator 44, reference column 46 having storage cells 10′ corresponding to the storage cells 10 and bit line 22 corresponding to the bit lines 20, and switches 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, and 58. The conventional read word lines 18 are connected to the word line selector 34. Each conventional write word line 16, which may also be termed a digit line, is connected to first and second digit line selectors 36 and 38, respectively. Read word lines 18, and write word lines 16 run horizontally, while bit lines 20, which also serve as data lines, run vertically. The bit lines 20 are connected to first and second bit line selectors 32 and 40. The transistor switches 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, and 58, at the ends of the lines 16, 18, 20, and 22 connect the lines 16, 18, 20, and 22 to voltage sources, such as the power supply or ground.
During a write operation, a conventional bit line 20 supplying a portion of the magnetic field required for switching (termed the switching field) the magnetic element 12 is activated. In addition, a corresponding horizontal, conventional write word line 16 supplying remaining portion of the switching field is activated. Ideally, neither the magnetic field generated using the bit line 20 (bit line field), nor the magnetic field generated by the write word line 16 (digit line field) is alone sufficient to program any conventional magnetic element 12. However, in combination the bit line 20 and the write word line 16 can generate the switching field at their cross point. Consequently, a selected conventional magnetic element 12 can be written.
During a read operation, a conventional read word line 18 and a conventional bit line 20 containing the magnetic element to be read are activated. Only the conventional magnetic storage cell 10 at the cross point between the activated bit line 20 and the activated read word line 18 is read. The resistance state of the conventional magnetic storage cell being read is compared to the reference cell 10′ by the differential current sensor 42 and the comparator 44, which compares the two current signals and produces an output Vout for memory state "1" or "0".
One of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the conventional MRAM 30 using the conventional magnetic storage cell 10 has several drawbacks. During writing, magnetic storage cells 10 along the same conventional bit line 20 or the conventional write word line 16 as the magnetic storage cell 10 being written are also exposed to the bit line or digit line fields. These fields, coupled with a large distribution in the switching fields for conventional magnetic storage cells 10 in a large memory array 30, can cause unintentional error writing. As a result, performance of the conventional MRAM 10 suffers. This problem may be solved by using an advanced architecture called toggle writing. However, toggle writing requires much higher magnetic field, which utilizes a significantly higher current. This significantly increases the power consumption of the MRAM 10. Moreover, toggle writing requires a read verification prior to actual writing, thus making the total access time longer, making it unattractive for high speed embedded applications. The current generation memory cell size for conventional MRAM including toggle writing MRAM is close to 40F2 with F being the lithography critical dimension. They are competitive with semiconductor memory SRAM in density, yet MRAM may cost more since they use five to seven more masks than SRAM.
Furthermore, for the conventional magnetic element 12 written using an applied field, the current required to generate the switching field increases as the width of the conventional magnetic element 12 decreased. Consequently, power consumption is greatly increased, particularly for a smaller magnetic element 12 in a higher density memory. This increased power consumption is undesirable. A major drawback for conventional MRAM, including toggle writing MRAM, is its switching current scaling property. Consequently, another mechanism for providing an MRAM is desired.
FIG. 3 depicts a small portion of a conventional spin transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) 70. The STT-RAM 70 includes a conventional magnetic storage cell 80 including a conventional magnetic element 82 and a selection device 84 that is preferably an isolation transistor 84, word line 86, bit line 88, and source line 90. The word line 86 is oriented perpendicular to the bit line 88. However, the source line 90 is typically either parallel or perpendicular to the bit line 88, depending on specific architecture used for the STT-RAM 70.
The conventional magnetic element is typically a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) and is configured to be changeable between high and low resistance states by driving a spin polarized current through the conventional MTJ 82. The spin polarized current changes state of the conventional MTJ 82 using spin transfer torque switching effect. Typically, this is achieved by ensuring that the MTJ 82 has a sufficiently small cross-sectional area and that the layers of the MTJ have particular thicknesses. When the current density is sufficient, the current carriers driven through the conventional magnetic element 82 may impart sufficient torque to change the state of the conventional magnetic element 82. When a write current is driven in one direction, the state may be changed from a low resistance state to a high resistance state. When the write current is driven in the opposite direction, the state may be changed from a high resistance state to a low resistance state.
In order to program the conventional storage cell 80, the bit line 88 and the word line 86 are activated. A current is driven between the source line 90 and the bit line 88. To program the conventional MTJ 82 to a first state, a high voltage is supplied to the bit line 88 and a low voltage, such as ground, is supplied to the source line 90. Thus, the write current passes from the bit line 88 to the conventional MTJ 82 and then the source line 90. To program the conventional MTJ 82 to a second state, a high voltage is supplied to the source line 90 and a low voltage, such as ground, is supplied to the bit line 88. Thus, the write current passes from the source line 90 to the conventional MTJ 82, and then the bit line 88.
For a read operation, the bit line 88 and the word line 86 are activated. Consequently, the selection device 84 is turned on. A read current is driven through the conventional magnetic element 82. The read current may be provided by a differential current sensor analogous to the differential current sensor 42 depicted in FIG. 2. Referring back to FIG. 3, the read current is thus provided to the bit line 88, which may have its bias voltage clamped. As a result, a high magnetoresistive signal can be obtained during sensing. In some conventional spin RAM, a reference cell (not shown in FIG. 3) may be used. In such a conventional spin RAM, a portion of the read current is provided to the conventional magnetic storage cell 80 being read and a portion of the current is provided to the reference cell. Thus, the current being sensed during a read operation is the difference between a constant supply current and the current that actually flows through the MTJ element. A comparator that is analogous to the comparator 44 of FIG. 2, compares the output of the differential current sensor to determine the state of the conventional magnetic storage cell 80. Thus, the conventional magnetic storage cell 80 can be programmed and read.
Thus, the conventional spin RAM 70 utilizes a write current driven through the magnetic element 82 in order to program data to the conventional magnetic storage cell 80. Thus, the conventional spin RAM 70 uses a more localized phenomenon in programming the conventional magnetic element 82. Furthermore, for smaller magnetic elements 82 and, therefore, higher memory densities, the conventional spin RAM 70 uses a lower current.
FIG. 4 is a graph 92 depicting a comparison between the write current for the conventional magnetic field switched MRAM 30 and for the conventional STT-RAM 70. Note that the write current for toggle writing MRAM is higher than the current in FIG. 4. For a conventional magnetic MTJ 12/82 having width less than two hundred nanometers, the current required for the conventional STT-RAM 70 is lower than that for conventional MRAM 30 and keeps decreasing as width decreases, of example for future generation technology. This is in contrast to the conventional MRAM 30, which has a write current that increases as the dimensions of the conventional MTJ 12 shrinks. Toggle writing for the conventional MRAM 30 requires even higher writing currents than conventional MRAM. Higher writing current means higher power consumption, larger memory cell and memory chip size and more reliability problems such as electro-migration. Thus STT-RAM 70 has the desired current scaling trend. Moreover, unlike conventional MRAM 30, the conventional STT-RAM 70 does not suffer from a half select write disturb problem because the conventional STT-RAM 70 is written by a current flowing only through the cell 80 being written.
FIG. 5 is a graph 94 depicting write and read current distributions. Although the conventional STT-RAM 70 does not have a half select write disturb problem, there may be read disturb issues which may be illustrated in FIG. 5. The current distribution 96 is a write current distribution for switching the antiparallel (high resistance) state of the magnetic element 82 to the parallel (low resistance) state of the magnetic element 82. The current distribution 95 is a write current distribution for switching from the parallel state of the conventional magnetic element 82 to the antiparallel state of the conventional magnetic element 82. The current distribution 97 is the read current distribution for the parallel or low resistance state. The current distribution 98 is the read current distribution for the antiparallel or high resistance state. In addition, a conventional STT-RAM 70 has not one, but many magnetic storage cells 80. Process variations may cause the write and read currents of the magnetic elements 82 within a conventional spin RAM 70 to have a distribution range. Consequently, the distributions 95, 96, 97, and 98 are depicted as having a range. Moreover, each write current distribution 95 and 96 has a minimum write current I1 and I2, respectively. In general, most memory cells may be written at write currents above the currents I1 or I2. Furthermore, each read current distribution 97 and 98 has a maximum read current I3 and I4, respectively. Most cells can be read for read currents less than I3 or I4. However, it may be noted that there may be a few magnetic storage cells 80 that may not be written to the antiparallel state at currents outside of the distribution 95 as well as magnetic storage cells 80 that may not be written to the parallel state even at currents outside of the distribution 96. These magnetic storage cells 80 are called tail distribution bits, or outliers. In general, the difference between the maximum reading current 13 or 14 and the minimum writing current I1 or I2 represents the reading and writing margin.
High speed memory operation requires high read current difference between the two different memory states. The state of the art magnetic element 82 has a magnetoresistance (MR) ratio of approximately one hundred to one hundred fifty percent at an operating voltage range of approximately one hundred fifty to five hundred millivolts. Therefore, high read current difference comes from a high read current and a high MR ratio. As discussed above, a smaller transistor 84 would require a lower STT-RAM write current. Consequently, the difference between write currents 95 and 96 and read currents 97 and 98 is narrowed for higher density STT-RAMs 70 having smaller cell 80 sizes as well as for higher speed and larger read signals. In addition to process variation caused distribution, thermal effects may also cause variations in read and/or write currents. During the full life of a Mega- to Giga-bits memory chip operation, even a much lower read current 97 or 98 may accidentally switching or writing a bit due to thermal assisted switching. Consequently, the write and read margins may be even smaller. Thus, the possibility of data being compromised during a read operation might be even further increased.
In addition to reduced write and read margins for the conventional STT-RAM 70, to realize the potential benefits of the conventional STT-RAM 70 and allow this technology to be competitive with general semiconductor memory such as SRAM, DRAM and Flash, a number of parameters are desired to be optimized for STT-RAM. The writing current of conventional STT-RAM 70 is desired to be reduced further. A lower write current allows a smaller isolation transistor 84 per magnetic storage cell 80 to control the write current. Consequently, a smaller magnetic storage cell 80, and a higher density memory may be provided.
Accordingly, what is desired is a method and system for providing and utilizing memory cells employing spin transfer based switching with improved read and write margin, or reduced reading current induced accidental writing error. The present invention addresses such a need.

Current driven switching of magnetic storage cells utilizing spin transfer and magnetic memories using such cells having enhanced read and write margins


Traction sheave elevator in which the drive machinery together with the traction sheave is placed in the elevator shaft. The hoisting ropes go upward from the traction sheave. In the cross-section of the elevator shaft, the vertical projections of the elevator car, counterweight and the traction sheave of the drive machinery are separate from each other.

One of the objectives in the development of elevators has been an efficient and economic utilization of building space. In conventional traction sheave elevators, the machine room or other space designed for housing the drive machinery of the elevator takes up a considerable portion of the building space needed for the elevator. The problem is not only the amount of space required by the drive machinery, but also its placement. There are many different solutions for placing the machine room, but generally they involve a significant restriction in the design of the building, at least in respect of space utilization or appearance. For example, a side drive elevator with machine room below requires a machine room or machine space placed beside the shaft, generally on the lowest floor of the building. Being a special space, the machine room generally increases the building costs.
In recent times, an elevator solution based on a flat machinery with a disc-type motor allowing the machine room to be omitted has been presented. An elevator with machinery below and employing a disc-type motor is presented in EP application publication 0 631 968 A2, in which the path of the counterweight lies above the machinery. Therefore, the minimum shaft height will be the sum of the height of the machinery and the length of the counterweight path plus the required safety distances.


An electronic circuit includes a primary magnetoresistance element for providing a first output signal proportional to a magnetic field. The primary magnetoresistance element has a primary maximum response axis. The primary magnetoresistance element also has a hysteresis characteristic. The electronic circuit also includes a reset conductor disposed proximate to the magnetoresistance element. The electronic circuit also includes a secondary magnetic field sensing element for providing a second output signal proportional to a magnetic field. The secondary magnetic field sensing element has a secondary maximum response axis, which, in some embodiments, is substantially perpendicular to the primary maximum response axis. In operation, the primary magnetoresistance is reset in accordance with an excessive magnetic field sensed by the secondary magnetic field sensing element.

As is known, there are a variety of types of magnetic field sensing elements, including, but not limited to, Hall effect elements, magnetoresistance elements, and magnetotransistors. As is also known, there are different types of Hall effect elements, for example, a planar Hall element, and a vertical Hall element. As is also known, there are different types of magnetoresistance elements, for example, a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) element, an anisotropic magnetoresistance element (AMR), a tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) element, and a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ).
Hall effect elements generate an output voltage proportional to a magnetic field. In contrast, magnetoresistance elements change resistance in proportion to a magnetic field. In a circuit, an electrical current can be directed through the magnetoresistance element, thereby generating a voltage output signal proportional to the magnetic field.
Magnetoresistance elements tend to have a hysteresis characteristic with regard to resistance versus applied magnetic field. Different types of magnetoresistance elements can have different hysteresis characteristics, some of which are described below.
The hysteresis characteristic can result in an uncertainty as to a magnetic field being sensed by the magnetoresistance element. In other words, at different times, the magnetoresistance element can have two different resistances when exposed to the same external magnetic field.
Magnetic field sensors, i.e., circuits that use magnetic field sensing elements, are used in a variety of applications, including, but not limited to, a current sensor that senses a magnetic field generated by a current flowing in a current-carrying conductor, a magnetic switch that senses the proximity of a ferromagnetic object, a rotation detector that senses passing ferromagnetic articles, for example magnetic domains of a ring magnet, and a magnetic field sensor that senses a magnetic field density of a magnetic field.
As is known in the art, a conventional magnetic field sensor, e.g., a current sensor, can be arranged in either an open loop or a closed loop configuration. An "open loop" current sensor includes a magnetic field sensing element in proximity to a current-carrying, or primary, conductor. The current sensor provides an output signal proportional to the magnetic field generated by current passing through the primary conductor.
A "closed loop" current sensor additionally includes a secondary conductor in proximity to the magnetic field sensing element. A current is passed through the secondary conductor in order to generate a magnetic field that opposes and cancels the magnetic field generated by a current passing through the primary conductor. Thus, the magnetic field in the vicinity of the magnetic field sensing element is substantially zero. The current passed through the secondary conductor is proportional to the magnetic field in the primary conductor and thus, to the primary current. The closed loop configuration generally provides improved accuracy over the open loop configuration. This is because the effect of the above-described hysteresis characteristic associated with the magnetic field sensing element, and in particular, associated with a magnetoresistance element, is eliminated in many situations by maintaining the magnetic field on the magnetic field sensing element to be approximately zero. The closed loop configuration also generally provides improved linearity in comparison with the open loop configuration, as well as increased dynamic range.
Though the closed loop arrangement can eliminate the effect of the hysteresis characteristic in many situations, the closed loop arrangement is unable to eliminate the effect of the hysteresis characteristic in some situations. For example, if the magnetic field experienced by the magnetic field sensing element is very large, and large enough that the closed loop arrangement is unable to fully oppose the magnetic field generated by current carried by the primary conductor, then the magnetic field sensing element, and in particular, the magnetoresistance element, may saturate, and the hysteresis characteristic may thereafter result in the above-described uncertainty of the sensed magnetic field.
Furthermore, the above-described closed loop arrangement includes circuit components, for example, amplifiers, which have delay times. Therefore, due to the time delay, a rapid transient in the magnetic field experienced by the magnetic field sensing element may not be fully opposed by the feedback circuit. Thus, in this situation also, the magnetic field sensing element, and in particular, the magnetoresistance element, may saturate, and the hysteresis characteristic may thereafter result in the above-described uncertainty of the sensed magnetic field.
It will be appreciated that a temporary large magnetic field experienced by a magnetoresistance element, which is generally aligned with a maximum response axis of the magnetoresistance element, can saturate the magnetoresistance element, and therefore can cause the above-described uncertainty of a sensed magnetic field thereafter. However, it should also be appreciated that a temporary large magnetic field experienced by a magnetoresistance element, which is generally not aligned with a maximum response axis of the magnetoresistance element, for example, which is perpendicular to the magnetoresistance element, can also cause an offset to the resistance of the magnetoresistance element thereafter, and therefore can cause the above-described uncertainty of a sensed magnetic field.
Various parameters characterize the performance of magnetic field sensors, e.g., current sensors, including sensitivity and linearity. Sensitivity is related to a change in the resistance of the magnetoresistance element or the change in output voltage from the Hall effect element in response to a change in magnetic field. Linearity is related to the degree to which the resistance of the magnetoresistance element or the output voltage from the Hall effect element varies in direct proportion to the magnetic field.
In general, it is known that many types of magnetoresistance elements have a greater sensitivity than a Hall effect element. However, it is also known that many types of magnetoresistance elements have a hysteresis characteristic that can result in a greater uncertainty in a sensed magnetic field than a Hall effect element.
It would be desirable to provide a sensor (e.g., a current sensor) using a magnetoresistance element, and therefore, capable of a relatively high sensitivity, but for which the uncertainty of the sensed magnetic field (e.g., of the sensed current) due to a hysteresis characteristic is reduced.
While current sensors using magnetoresistance elements are described as examples above, it will be appreciated that conventional external magnetic field sensors and also conventional electrical signal isolators that use magnetoresistance elements suffer from the same disadvantages due to the hysteresis characteristic. It would, therefore, also be desirable to provide an external magnetic field sensor and also an electrical signal isolator using a respective magnetoresistance element, and therefore, capable of a relatively high sensitivity, but for which the uncertainty of the sensed magnetic field due to a hysteresis characteristic is reduced.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic circuit and method for resetting a magnetoresistance element


A computer-implemented modeling system comprising a storage medium, an interface, an output device, and a processor. The storage medium to store executable instructions for providing a modeling environment using the system, the modeling environment supporting model development. The interface to receive an input instruction and create an executable instruction, where the user interaction represents the input instruction and instructs the modeling environment to perform one or more of: an analyzing operation, an editing operation, or a navigating operation. The output device to output at least one of: a tactile output representing tactile feedback, or a haptic output representing haptic feedback; and a processor to execute the executable instructions to provide the modeling environment, process the executable instruction using the modeling environment, and generate an output instruction, where the output instruction is used by an output device for generating the tactile output or the haptic output.

Conventional computer user interfaces may rely heavily on visual output to convey information to a user. Visual output may include displayed text, color, motion, and/or symbols. However, excessive use of visual outputs may easily overload the user interface, especially when there may be a large amount of information being simultaneously displayed to the user. An overloaded user interface may make it difficult for a user to efficiently interpret the type and/or amount of information being conveyed. Conversely, a user interface which displays too little information may require a user to spend a large amount of time searching for important information.

User interface for a modeling environment


A chip testing solution having two separate contacts: one to provide current and one to measure voltage. One contact acts as the force and other as sense, and with its unique short wipe stroke technology enables the electrical connection from the contact terminal of the device under test (DUT) to the loadboard without fail even after prolonged insertion/testing of the devices. The two contacts are in close proximity, but electrically isolated from each other. Each contact is made to electrically touch a single conductive lead/pad on the DUT thus forming a test connection. The two contacts; one on front and other on back, wiping on the lead/pads will generally be a “sense” probe, and a “force” used for making a Kelvin connection. The short contact is connected to the loadboard by means of an additional contact known as “interposer” extending through and top of the tall contact base body.

An electrical connection to the loadboard is basically accomplished during a single insertion/compression of the device under test on to the contact pins by applying a certain amount of force. The conductive pads/leads of the device under tests generally form a layer of oxides that need to be broken through to make a successful connection and testing of the DUT. In addition to the natural oxide barriers, there are residual organic materials that remain on the surface of the conductive leads/pads. These migration of the oxides to the contact tip of the test pin acts as a thin insulating layer that makes it very difficult to achieve and maintain very low contact resistances on testing thus, negatively affects test results and ultimately reducing device yields.
Most of the time the device under test (DUT) undergoes testing with spring actuated probes or vertical probing, where the mentioned residues will remain imposed on to the contact tip of the pin resulting it to very high contact resistance leading to poor test yields. There is too the trend of testing the DUT that are plated with NiPd/NiPdAu on the contact leads/pads which are often considered as the hard contact surface and the probes that test this surface contact often experience premature wearing of the contact tip.
For devices aimed at Kelvin testing, there are known in the art cantilever type, where one of the contacts is formed as a cantilever, and sandwich types, where both contacts are sandwiched over an electrical insulator. With both these types, there is minimal wiping action on the pad/lead of the chip. With the sandwich type, the width of the contacts is very thin, thus making it structurally weak and prone to breakage. Also with the sandwich type, assembly for fine pitching is difficult.
It is highly challenging to test a multi row quad flat no lead device using normal test solutions such as cantilever pins or rigid pins contact methods. The conventional multi row QFN pads generally forms a pattern of chessboard, where the first row and second row are placed at certain distance to each other. The testing of such multi raw QFN is made possible through the "double decking" of the short pin over a tall pin by means of an interposer contact to load board.
What is needed is an improved chip testing solution that overcomes the above problems for a Kelvin testing solution as well as for multi-row chip testing.

Multiple rigid contact solution for IC testing


The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for inducing an immune response in a human or animal, comprising dendritic cells loaded with at least five cancer/testis antigen and no lineage specific differentiation antigens or substantially no lineage specific differentiation antigens provided from at least one cancer cell line, as well as to isolated cell lines expressing a multiplicity of cancer testis antigens and no differentiation antigens, and to a method of inducing an immune response in a human or animal using the composition of the invention.

Advanced cancers represent one of the major causes of human death. No effective methods of treatment have been suggested so far. Cancer immunotherapy aims at destroying tumor cells by immunological mechanisms. Immunotherapy compared to conventional methods of cancer therapy like surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, is much less toxic, and no serious complications have been described so far. In addition, immunotherapy has the potency to work at different stages of disease. At initial stages it could be a good supplementary treatment to surgical removal of primary tumors, aiming to prevent development of disseminated disease. At advanced stages of disease it could be the only means of treatment, as conventional methods are often ineffective.
The main function of the immune system is to identify and destroy foreign substances (antigens) that invade the organism. The immune system is able to discriminate "self" from "non-self", and under normal conditions only to develop an immune response against foreign or "non-self" antigens. Even though cancer cells originate from the organisms own cells they are treated as foreign by the natural immune system. However, this natural immune response is not strong enough in order to block the appearance and growth of the tumor. The task of immunotherapy is to increase the ability of the immune system to recognize tumor cells and to develop effective mechanisms of tumor elimination. The two main questions in any specific immunotherapy are which antigens to target and to find the optimal antigen presentation to the immune system.
Tumor associated antigens (TAA) recognized by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is the most efficient component to be targeted among known effector mechanisms in anti-tumor immunity. There are two major types of TAA: unique antigens, present only in very few tumors and therefore not useful as general targets, and shared or common TAA, present in many tumors. Three major groups of shared antigens are currently considered as potential targets for immunotherapy and have all been shown to induce generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The three groups are: Cancer/testis antigens (CT antigens), Tumor over-expressed antigens, and Lineage-specific differentiation antigens.
CT antigens are encoded by cancer or germ line specific genes, representing one of the largest groups of shared tumor-associated antigens. CT antigens were originally discovered in melanomas but have also been found in many other human malignancies. Among normal tissue they are only expressed in testis and in some cases in placenta. Normal cells expressing these antigens lack expression of MHC molecules and therefore these antigens are normally not accessible for recognition by T lymphocytes.
This makes CT antigens very attractive targets for specific cancer immunotherapy. Recent clinical trials have demonstrated tumor regression in a significant number of melanomas and bladder cancer patients by targeting of one specific CT antigen ((Nishiyama et al 2001, Clin. Cancer Res., v. 7, pp. 23-31; Thurner et al., 1999, J. Exp. Med., v. 190, pp. 1669-1678)). CT antigen recognition by T cells has only been reported for some CT antigens and the corresponding peptide epitopes determined. However, all CT antigens could be considered potential targets for immunotherapy. A correlation of the expression of MAGE-A antigens and tumor progression has been found in a number of malignancies ((Brasseur et al., 1995, Int. J. Cancer, v. 63, pp. 375-380; Eura et al., 1995, Int. J. Cancer, v. 64, pp. 304-308; Katano et al., 1997, J. Surg. Oncol., v. 64, pp. 195-201; Patard et al., 1995, Int. J. Cancer, v. 64, pp. 60-64)). Another group of CT antigens, the MAGE-B antigens, shows a significantly lower tumor-specific expression than the MAGE-A antigens. A third group, the MAGE-C antigens, displays an expression pattern that resembles the pattern of the MAGE-A antigens. No CTL response against MAGE-C antigens has been reported yet.
Several non-MAGE proteins with the characteristics of CT antigens have been described. One of them, NY-ESO-1 is one of the most immunogenic tumor antigens identified to date. Clinical trials with peptide immunization of melanoma patients demonstrated stabilization of disease and regression of some metastases in some patients ((Jäger et al., 2000, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A, v. 97, pp. 12198-12203)).
In contrast to CT antigens, tumor over-expressed antigens lack strictly tumor specific expression, as their expression could be detected in low levels in some normal tissue types other than testis. Development of immunotherapy to some of these antigens could be beneficial for cancer patients, and presently such antigens like CEA, p53, HER-2/Neu, MUC-1 and alpha-fetoprotein are being intensively investigated as possible targets in clinical trials. The group of tumor over-expressed antigens has only recently been used as targets in clinical trials, and thus data on the efficiency of induction of therapeutic immune responses are absent.
The lineage specific antigens, melanocyte differentiation antigens and prostate-associated antigens, have so far only been described for two types of human cancers: melanomas and prostate cancer. This group of antigens is expressed both in normal differentiated tissue and in two types of human cancers. In normal differentiated tissue these antigens very rarely induce an immune response, however, these proteins become immunogenic in cancer cells, and in the case of melanomas, it is possible to detect T-killer cells reactive against melanocyte differentiation antigens. A prevailing number of clinical trails directed against melanomas or prostate cancer employ targeting of differentiation antigens.
Among the groups of tumor associated antigens the most promising data using TAA as targets for immunotherapy were obtained with some of the MAGE proteins. However, especially in case of melanomas, the therapeutic effect was unstable, and some metastases continued to grow. These metastases were usually negative for expression of the MAGE antigens used for immunization ((Thurner et al., 1999, J. Exp. Med., v. 190, pp. 1669-1678)).
One possibility for inducing a polyvalent immune response is to employ whole tumor cells or material derived from whole cells. WO 9003183, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,840,317, and 6,187,306 describes several melanoma cell based vaccine preparations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,983 discloses a first generation melanoma vaccine derived from melanoma cells lysed by a vaccinia virus.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,635,188 and 5,030,621 disclose a vaccine of cell surface antigens from melanoma cells that are shed into the culture medium and subsequently used as an anti-melanoma vaccine. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,596 discloses a method of cancer therapy wherein irradiated tumor cells are injected into a human patient as a vaccine. U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,306 relates to melanoma cell lines expressing shared immunodominant melanoma antigens and methods of use.
An important aspect of any vaccine therapy is the way of vaccine administration. In recent years it has been realized that the most efficient way of antigen delivery to T cells, especially to naïve T cells, is by way of dendritic cells. Dendritic cells (DC) are the most efficient antigen presenting cells and DC based immunotherapy have already been used in different settings for treatment of cancer ((Kugler et al., 2000, Nat. Med., v. 6, pp. 332-336; Nestle et al., 1998, Nature (Med.), v. 4, pp. 328-332; Thurner et al., 1999, J. Exp. Med., v. 190, pp. 1669-1678)) demonstrating high potency of this way of immunization.
One of the unique properties of DC is their ability to uptake exogenous proteins by endocytosis, which are then processed and presented as peptide epitopes on their surface in conjunction with MHC class I antigens. The antigen presenting dendritic cells can be recognized by cytotoxic T cells. This property is extremely important when tumor cell antigens are applied in form of tumor lysates or apoptotic bodies added exogenously. High endocytic activity is believed to be associated with the immature state of DC differentiation based on comparison of immature and mature DC ((Sallusto et al., 1995, J. Exp. Med., v. 182, pp. 389-400)). The possibility that differences in the endocytic activity among immature DC could exist has never been considered.
WO 0127245 discloses a method of obtaining dendritic precursor cells from peripheral blood by standard leukapheresis, buoyant density gradient centrifugation and culture of the cells ex vivo in serum free medium for 40 hours in the absence of exogenously added cytokines.
WO 0146389 relates to a method for generating dendritic cells from leukapheresis products in closed systems, by using culture medium devoid of non-human proteins. Clinical grade cytokines (IL-4 and GM-CSF) are used in the culture medium and TAA are added for loading of the DC's.
Thurner et al., 1999, J. of Immunological Methods 223: 1-15, relates to a method for reproducible generation of large numbers of mature DC's from CD14+ monocytes by a two step method where cytokines are added after day 1.
The combination of dendritic cells with TAA's is also disclosed in WO 0128583, which relates to an immunotherapeutic vaccine providing antigen presenting cells mat have been pulsed with a disrupted cell preparation which includes cell membranes of cancer cells infected with recombinant vaccinia virus encoding at least one immunostimulating molecule. Also included is autologous DC's that presents a mixture of antigens from melanoma cell lines infected with a recombinant vaccinia virus encoding IL-2. In WO 0129192 a method is disclosed for inducing a tumor specific immune response in a patient, wherein antigen presenting cells from the patient are incubated with dead cell portions possessing at least one tumor antigen and the resulting loaded antigen presenting cells are administered to the patient.
Although the immunotherapeutic vaccines for treatment of cancer have improved over the recent years a need still exists for safer and more efficient compositions for use in cancer immunotherapy. Such vaccines should be polyvalent targeting several CT antigens to avoid outgrowth of antigen loss variants. They should be safer without the potential risk of targeting antigens expressed in normal tissue. They should be optimized for the presentation and delivery of the antigens to the T cells and also care should be taken to select the most efficient TAA's as targets.

Pharmaceutical composition for inducing an immune response in a human or animal


A Villari effect sensor comprises a sensing rod constructed from a magnetostrictive material. An alternating current signal applied to an overlapping drive coil is inductively coupled by the sensing rod to the sensing coils and generates a signal thereon, responsive to the permeability of the magnetostrictive sensing rod which decreases responsive to the applied load. The sensing rod comprises one or more sections, each having a distinct cross-sectional area, and a sensing coil is associated with each section. A signal processor calculates the magnitude of the applied force from either the maximum flux density, or by differencing the first and third harmonics of the signal from the sensing coil. The weight of an occupant on a vehicle seat is measured by either incorporating a tensile force measuring Villari effect sensor in series with the seat springs, or incorporating a compressive force measuring Villari effect sensor in series with seat posts.

A vehicle may contain automatic safety restraint actuators that are activated responsive to a vehicle crash for purposes of mitigating occupant injury. Examples of such restraint actuators include air bags, seat belt pretensioners, and deployable knee bolsters.
One objective of an automatic safety restraint system is to mitigate occupant injury, thereby not causing more injury with the automatic restraint system than would be caused by the crash had the automatic restraint system not been activated. Notwithstanding the protective benefit of these automatic safety restraint actuators, there is generally both a risk and a cost associated with the deployment thereof. Generally, it is desirable to only activate automatic safety restraint actuators when needed to mitigate injury because of the expense of replacing the associated components of the safety restraint system, and because of the potential for such activations to harm occupants. This is particularly true of air bag restraint systems, wherein occupants too close to the air bag at the time of deployment--i.e. out-of-position occupants--are vulnerable to injury or death from the deploying air bag even when the associated vehicle crash is relatively mild. Moreover, occupants who are of small stature or with weak constitution, such as children, small adults or people with frail bones are particularly vulnerable to injury induced by the air bag inflator. Furthermore, infants properly secured in a normally positioned rear facing infant seat (RFIS) in proximity to a front seat passenger-side air bag are also vulnerable to injury or death from the deploying air bag because of the close proximity of the infant seat's rear surface to the air bag inflator module.
Potential dangers of air bags have recently received increased attention from the media and from government organizations. A number of deaths of infants and small children have occurred as the result of rapidly inflating passenger-side air bags. It is often desirable to disable the passenger-side air bag when the passenger seat is occupied by an infant seat or small child. If the weight of the seat occupant can be measured, then it is possible to disable the passenger-side airbag when the seat is occupied by an infant or small child. If the occupant weight can be measured then the airbag inflation profile can also be tailored to more closely match the size of the passenger. For example a much less aggressive airbag inflation profile is required to protect a 90 pound female than is required for a 250 pound male.
Air bag inflators are designed with a given restraint capacity, as for example, the capacity to protect an unbelted normally seated fiftieth percentile occupant when subjected to a 30 MPH barrier equivalent crash, which results in associated energy and power levels with can be injurious to out-of-position occupants. While relatively infrequent, cases of injury or death caused by air bag inflators in crashes for which the occupants would have otherwise survived relatively unharmed have provided the impetus to reduce or eliminate the potential for air bag inflators to injure the occupants which they are intended to protect.
One technique for mitigating injury to occupants by the air bag inflator is to reduce the power and energy levels of the associated air bag inflator, for example by reducing the amount of gas generant in the air bag inflator, or the inflation rate thereof. This reduces the risk of harm to occupants by the air bag inflator while simultaneously reducing the restraint capacity of the air bag inflator, which places occupants at a greater risk for injury when exposed to higher severity crashes.
Another technique for mitigating injury to occupants by the air bag inflator is to control the of inflation rate or the capacity of the inflator responsive to a measure of the severity of the crash. However, the risk of injury to such occupants would not be mitigated under the conditions of higher crash severity when the inflator is intentionally made aggressive in order to provide sufficient restraint for normally positioned occupants.
Yet another technique for mitigating injury to occupants by the air bag inflator is to control the activation of the air bag inflator responsive to the presence, position, and size of the occupant, or to the severity of the crash. For example, the air bag inflator can be disabled if the occupant weight is below a given threshold. Moreover, the inflation capacity can be adjusted by controlling the number of inflation stages of a multi-stage inflator that are activated. Furthermore, the inflation power can be adjusted by controlling the time delay between the firings of respective stages of a multi-stage inflator.
One measure of restraint capacity of an air bag inflator is the amount of occupant kinetic energy that can be absorbed by the associated air bag system, whereby when the occupant collides with the gas filled air bag, the kinetic energy of the occupant is converted to potential energy via the pressurization of the air bag, and this potential energy is dissipated by venting pressurized gases from the air bag. As a vehicle in a crash is decelerated, the velocity of an unrestrained occupant relative to the vehicle increases. Preferably, the occupant restraint process is commenced early in the crash event so as to limit the amount of occupant kinetic energy that must be absorbed and thereby minimize the associated restraint forces and accelerations of and loads within the occupant. If the occupant were a simple inertial mass without friction relative to the vehicle, the kinetic energy of the occupant would be given by 1/2 M.multidot.V.sup.2, where M is the mass of the occupant and V is the occupant velocity relative to the vehicle. If a real occupant were represented by an interconnected set of bodies, some of which have friction relative to the vehicle, each body of which may have differing velocities relative the vehicle, the above equation would apply to the motion of the center of gravity of the occupant. Regardless of the representation, occupants of larger mass will have a larger kinetic energy for the same velocity relative to the vehicle. Therefore, an occupant weight sensor is useful in an air bag system with variable restraint capacity to enable the restraint capacity to be preferentially adapted to the weight, or mass, of the occupant.
Except for some cases of oblique or side-impact crashes, it is generally desirable to not activate an automatic safety restraint actuator if an associated occupant is not present because of the otherwise unnecessary costs and inconveniences associated with the replacement of a deployed air bag inflation system. Occupant presence can be detected by a seat weight sensor adapted to provide either a continuous measure of occupant weight or to provide a binary indication if the occupant weight is either above or below a specified weight threshold.
Known seat weight sensors comprise one or more pads employing force sensitive resistive (FSR) films. These arrangements are typically used as weight threshold systems to disable a passenger air bag when the seat is empty. Load cells attached to the seat mounting posts have also been used in research applications. Mechanisms that use string based potentiometers to measure downward seat displacement have also been investigated.
Such known arrangements suffer from several drawbacks. First, variable resistance force sensors have limited sensitivity and in some situations are not sensitive enough to put directly under a seat pad while still achieving the desired response. Second, the threshold weight system provides only very limited information. For example, such arrangements provide no indication as to the size of an occupant. Third, the resistance values of known variable force resistor change with temperature, and are subject to drift over time with a constant load on the sensor. Fourth, known arrangements comprise a plurality of resistors that are connected in parallel so that the overall signal can be dominated by a relatively light load which is concentrated upon any one of the resistors, thereby causing a measurement which erroneously indicates a larger weight than actually present on the seat. Fifth, these arrangements do not provide any information regarding the distribution of the weight on the seat.
Furthermore, other known sensing arrangements do not otherwise provide suitable results. For example, the use of load cells is prohibitively expensive for large-scale commercial applications. Further, mounting of load cells underneath the seat posts so as to measure the weight of the entire seat has not proven feasible because weight applied to load cells must be within 5.degree. of vertical in order to prevent damage to the load cell, therefore requiring the vehicle floor pan to be relatively flat. However, many automobile floor pans are not flat and the seat mounting bolts are oriented at angles other than vertical. Even if the bolts were mounted vertically, they would require a controlled torque level so as not to bias the sensing devices. Also, the shape of the vehicle's floor pan can change over time leading to additional stresses on the load cells and false readings. Finally, strain gauges of any type may be impractical because of the difficulty in applying them to the strained material. Finally, mechanical string potentiometer based weight sensors are complex, and subject to failure from stretching of the string.
Methods which attempt to estimate weight by measuring downward movement of the spring bed within the seat suffer from a serious limitation whereby seat geometry changes over the lifetime of the seat. More specifically, seats tend to take a "set" over time so that the springs and cushion tend to move downward as the seat ages. A displacement-based system would require periodic recalibration over the lifetime of the seat.
The prior art also teaches the use of seat weight sensors outside the automotive environment, for example as a means for disabling the activation of either a boat or an industrial machine if the operator is not properly seated, or for weighing a person seated on an exercise bike. These devices employ pneumatic bladders located in the seat, whereby the pressure within the bladder is used to either activate a threshold switch or to provide a continuous indication of occupant weight.
One problem with prior art pneumatic sensors, particularly when applied to the automotive environment, is their sensitivity to environmental conditions, particularly to ambient temperature and pressure. This requires the bladder to be partially filled with fluid under ambient conditions of lower temperature or higher pressure, thereby making the bladder more sensitive to bottoming out when exposed to localized or concentrated loads and therefor requiring a means for distributing the loads over the load bearing area of the bladder Pneumatic seat weight sensors can be sensitive to the amount of air initially in the associated bladder. A seat weight sensor in an automotive environment must function reliably and accurately over a wide range of temperatures and pressures which can cause significant errors.
Another problem with a pneumatic seat weight sensor is that the overall height of the inflated sensor bladder must be sufficiently great to prevent the top and bottom surfaces of the bladder from compressing against one another responsive to a sufficiently great localized or concentrated load under conditions when the bladder has a relatively small amount of gas, such as would occur when the bladder is filled at low pressure or high temperature.
Yet another problem with a pneumatic seat weight sensor is that a gas filled bladder is also prone to loss of fluid by leakage or osmosis, which necessitates a means for automatically replenishing the working fluid of the bladder over the life of operation.
The prior art also teaches the use of hydraulic load cells, wherein the weight to be measured acts upon a piston element of known area, whereby the measured weight is found by multiplying a measured pressure times the known area. One problem with hydraulic load cells in the automotive environment, particularly in a seat, is that the effects of load cell orientation on hydraulic head can introduce load measurement errors.


Data is recovered despite a single point of failure in a data exchanging system while accommodating scaleable data transfer rate performance. In the environment of at least two disk array controllers, a serial dumping scheme assists in recovery of data from a fast memory. It is imperative to avoid loss of write data from a host computer which is received and acknowledged but not yet stored in a disk medium. The configuration ensures that at least one of the controllers will handle the data so as to correct single failure point errors and properly store that data on one of the disks of an array. A fast memory providing a buffer between a remote host computer and arrays of data storage media is managed so that data received for writing is duplicated for reliability of storage while data for reading to the host computer is manipulated with an enhanced bandwidth of fast memory operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fault tolerant data processing structures and procedures. More particularly, the present invention relates to digital data handling structures and methods which can dynamically overcome errors resulting from various sources during transmission of digital data between computer oriented complexes. While not necessarily so limited, the present invention is especially useful in enhancing the reliability of digital data transmissions between host computers and caching disk array controller systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Caching controllers that interface with host computers or the like for directing data exchanges with large arrays of magnetic data storing disks, or other storage media have developed for providing a storage medium for large quantities of digital information. These controllers respond to read and write commands from a remote computer system to receive, and/or deliver data over interconnecting busses.
Preferably, the caching controller should function so that it minimizes demands on the host system, while including the ability to recover wherever possible from errors from single points of failure. A single point of failure can occur from loss of a component or element in the transmission chain, spurious interfering signals, or any of a variety of sources. System configurations and operations capable of dynamically overcoming single points of failure are sometimes referred to as fault tolerant systems.
Redundant storage devices and controlling subsystems have provided fault tolerant operations for data transmission and storage purposes. Such controllers can provide a "fast write" function wherein data intended for writing onto a disk medium is received in a manner that allows the receiving system to confidently acknowledge to the transmitting host that the data was properly received even before the received data is actually recorded in a magnetic disk.
The received data is redundantly stored in a high speed temporary memory where it is checked for accuracy, and corrected for errors reflecting single point failures. Dual recording and comparison steps, along with various other known techniques, such as use of parity checks and applications of error detecting and correcting codes, are employed for this purpose. The aforementioned related patent applications describe such redundant fault tolerant systems aria operations in a disk array controller environment.
Thus, fault tolerant caching disk array controllers are subject to several stringent requirements. First, no single component failure should cause loss of data or corruption of the data transferred. This mandates a certain redundancy and ability to "fail over" so as to transfer the function and/or data to independent redundant components.
Further, the controller must not require the host computer or central processor to wait for completion of a read or write operation to a disk. This means the controller must buffer write date into a protected fast memory, and must service most read data from fast memory. This requires the controller to have the ability to accept or provide data to the host computer at the data rate of the host computer connection, rather than at the rate the disk drives transfer data.
Finally, the user should have the capability of configuring cache performance by cost or other system constraints by adding, or removing, fast memory on the controller. This is predominantly a matter of resource allocation, as well as configuring the controller to match the performance and cost requirements of the system user.

Fault tolerant controller system and method


Various systems and methods for determining connectivity of various elements of distributed storage systems. For example, one method involves generating first connectivity information for a node, where the node can to access data that is organized using logical objects. The logical objects include first logical objects and second logical objects. Each of the second logical objects includes one or more of the first logical objects. The first connectivity information for the node indicates accessibility of the node to the first logical objects. The method also includes generating second node connectivity information for the node, where the second connectivity information for the node indicates accessibility of the node to the second logical objects. The generating the second node connectivity information is based on the first connectivity information.

Field of the Invention
This application related to distributed storage systems. Particularly, this application relates to determining connectivity and/or faults related to various elements objects stored by such distributed storage systems.
Description of the Related Art
As businesses increasingly rely on computers for their daily operations, managing the vast amount of business information generated and processed has become a significant challenge. Most large businesses have a wide variety of application programs managing large volumes of data stored on many different types of storage devices across various types of networks and operating system platforms. These storage devices can include tapes, disks, optical disks, and other types of storage devices and often include a variety of products that can be produced by different vendors. Storage area networks (SANs) including hundreds of storage devices can be used to provide storage for hosts.
SANs offer a variety of topologies and capabilities for interconnecting storage devices, subsystems, and server systems. A variety of interconnect entities, such as switches, hubs, and bridges, can be used to interconnect these components. These varying topologies and capabilities allow storage area networks to be designed and implemented that range from simple to complex configurations. Accompanying this flexibility, however, is the complexity of managing a very large number of devices and allocating storage for numerous application programs sharing these storage devices.
While the embodiments of the application are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are provided as examples in the drawings and detailed description. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description are not intended to limit the embodiments to the particular form disclosed. Instead, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Determining connectivity of various elements of distributed storage systems