A primary connector useful for attaching a pre-cast element to a structure includes a receiver member and an attachment member. The receiver member includes a base plate and an acceptor disposed in substantially normal relation to the base plate. The attachment member is a separate plate having a front surface and a back surface with a plurality of anchors extending outwardly from the back surface and a plurality of keyhole slots formed through the plate with each of the slots be accessible from the plate""s front surface so that the attachment member may be joined to the receiver member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a primary connector of the type primarily used for attaching a pre-cast element to a structure, More particularly, the primary connector of this invention is primarily intended for use in attaching a pre-cast element such as, for example, an outside wall, to a floor, particularly in high rise construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous connectors and connector devices are well known in the prior art for use in building constructions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,712 discloses a system and method for joining pre-cast concrete columns to slabs. A much older patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,053,873, discloses improved means for connecting together building slabs or units in the construction of sides, walls, floors and roofs of buildings wherein one or more of the structural elements are pre-cast from cementitious materials. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,633,610, a prefabricated building is disclosed wherein hook and eye-type connecting means are used to joint together the individual elements of the prefabricated house. Interlocking refractory bricks having at least two functional sides for interlocking connection with corresponding sides of an adjacent brick are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,477. Other hook and eye-type connectors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,334 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,988.
It is, therefore, clear that numerous means are old and well known in the prior art for structurally connecting building components. Nevertheless, quickly and efficiently attaching large pre-cast structures, such as walls, to the outside edge of floors in high rise construction remains an elusive goal. According to typical construction techniques used today, when the wall is flown into position, its primary connection to the building""s floor slab is by welding adjacent metal plates which have been embedded into the wall and floor, respectively, a time-consuming and expensive task.
It is, therefore, clear that an improved primary connector for attaching structures such as outside walls to floors without the necessity of welding when making the primary connection is needed.
The present invention relates to a primary connector of the type primarily used for attaching a pre-cast element such as, for example, an exterior wall panel to a structure such as, for example, a floor. The primary connector of this invention comprises a receiver member which is attachable to the structure and an attachment member which is cast in place in the pre-cast element. The receiver member comprises a base plate and an acceptor disposed in substantially normal relation to the base plate. The attachment member comprises a plate have a front surface and a back surface, with a plurality of anchors extending outwardly from the back surface and a plurality of keyhole slots formed through the plate, each of those slots being accessible from the front surface.
According to a first preferred embodiment, the acceptor comprises a second plate joined to a front edge of the base plate and extending upwardly from the base plate top surface. The acceptor of this first preferred embodiment further comprises a plurality of pins extending from the second plate in substantially parallel relation to the base plate top surface and outwardly from the front edge of the base plate. The keyhole slots formed through the attachment member are dimensioned and configured to receive and retain a corresponding one of the pins therein, whereby the attachment member may be joined to the receiver member and held therein by gravity.
According to a second preferred embodiment, the acceptor comprises a plurality of spaced apart webs wherein each of the webs have a bottom edge and a front edge. The web front edge extends in substantially normal relation to the bottom edge, and the web bottom edges are joined to the base plate top surface such that the web front edges are aligned with the front edge of the base plate. In this second preferred embodiment, each of the web front edges further comprises at least one finger extending outwardly therefrom, and each of the fingers further comprises a hook formed thereon distal from the web front edge. Each of these hooks extends upwardly away from the base plate top surface. Each of the keyhole slots in this second preferred embodiment is dimensioned and configured to receive and retain a corresponding one of the fingers therein., whereby the attachment member of this second preferred embodiment may be joined to the receiver member of this second preferred embodiment.
With particular regard to the drawing figures and the ensuing detailed description of the first and second preferred embodiments of this invention, it is to be understood that to reverse the placement of the pins and keyhole slots of the first embodiment, or the fingers and keyhole slots of the second embodiment, is deemed to be an obvious variation of the invention described and claimed herein, and such modifications would fall within the scope of the claimed invention.
The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the articles hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

Primary connector for pre-cast structures


The present invention provides a display panel including a novel structure that is suitable for preventing a short circuit between terminals. The present invention relates to a display panel including: an active matrix substrate; a counter substrate; and a sealing material, the active matrix substrate including a plurality of terminals outside the display region; and a plurality of insulating films respectively formed from inside to outside the display region, wherein lower portions of the plurality of terminals are formed of a same material as the gate wiring or the source wiring, upper portions of the plurality of terminals are formed of a same material as the pixel electrode, and the plurality of insulating films includes an inorganic insulating film and an organic insulating film thicker than the inorganic insulating film, the inorganic insulating film and the organic insulating film being arranged between the gate wiring or the source wiring and the pixel electrode, the organic insulating film including an end portion arranged on an outer side of a region where the sealing material is provided and at a position distant from a region where the terminals are provided, the inorganic insulating film including an end portion arranged on a boundary between the plurality of wirings and the plurality of terminals.

Known driving systems of display devices (e.g., liquid crystal display device) include the active matrix system. For example, in an active-matrix liquid crystal display device, gate wirings (also referred to as "gate bus lines") and source wirings (also referred to as "source bus lines") orthogonal to each other are arranged in lattice and respective domains defined in a matrix by the gate wirings and the source wirings include a thin film transistor. When a scanning signal is sent to a gate electrode of the thin film transistor via the gate wiring, the thin film transistor that is a switching element is turned ON. When the thin film transistor is ON, an image signal running in the source wiring is transmitted from a source electrode to a drain electrode in the thin film transistor, and further to a pixel electrode. The image signal sent to each pixel electrode corresponds to the voltage applied between the pixel electrode provided in correspondence with each pixel and a common electrode shared by all the pixels. In other words, the image signal corresponds to the voltage applied to liquid crystals of each pixel. The alignment of liquid crystals is changed in accordance with the voltage applied to the liquid crystals, so that the amount of light passing therethrough is controlled in each pixel. This enables display of high-definition images. Such active matrix system is commonly employed in TVs, monitors, and the like which perform display using a large number of pixels.
In a display device, many component members (e.g., gate wiring, source wiring, and thin film transistor) are arranged in a display region on an active matrix substrate. In an outer periphery region on the active matrix substrate, terminals electrically connected to gate wirings or source wirings are arranged. Via the terminals, display signals (scanning signal, image signal) are transmitted from an external circuit to an active matrix substrate. Many pieces of literature disclosing the structure of such a terminal are known (e.g., Patent Literature 1 to 3).


Method and apparatus for synthesizing high-performance linear finite state machines (LFSMs) such as linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) or cellular automata (CA). Given a characteristic polynomial for the circuit, the method obtains an original LFSM circuit such as a type I or type II LFSR. Feedback connections within the original circuit are then determined. Subsequently, a number of transformations that shift the feedback connections can be applied in such a way that properties of the original circuit are preserved in a modified LFSM circuit. In particular, if the original circuit is represented by a primitive characteristic polynomial, the method preserves the maximum-length property of the original circuit in the modified circuit and enables the modified circuit to produce the same m-sequence as the original circuit. Through the various transformations, a modified LFSM circuit can be created that provides higher performance through shorter feedback connection lines, fewer levels of logic, and lower internal fan-out.

Linear finite state machines (LFSMs) such as linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) and cellular automata (CA) are often used for generating pseudo-random sequences. Such devices are well known in the art and are amply described in a number of references such as V. N. Yarmolik and S. N. Demidenko, Generation and Application of Pseudorandom Sequences for Random Testing, J. Wiley and Sons, New York, 1988. An LFSR includes memory elements such as flip-flops and linear logic gates such as XOR or XNOR gates connected as shown in FIG. 1. An LFSR of length n can be represented mathematically by its characteristic polynomial hnxn+hn−1xn−1+ . . . +h0, where the term hixi refers to the ith flip-flop of the register, such that, if hi=1, then there is a feedback tap taken from this flip-flop. Also, h0=1. When the proper tap connections are established in accordance with the given polynomial, the combined (added modulo 2) output of each stage is fed back to the first stage of the LFSR. Such an implementation is called a type I LFSR or Fibonacci generator. To initiate the operation of the LFSR, a nonzero n-bit vector (frequently called a seed) is loaded into the register, and a clock is pulsed at the appropriate rate. An LFSR initialized as described above can cycle through a number of states before coming back to the initial state. If an n-bit LFSR can cycle through all possible 2n−1 nonzero states, then its characteristic polynomial is called a primitive characteristic polynomial. Such an LFSR is often referred to as a maximum-length LFSR, and the resultant output sequence is termed a maximum-length sequence or m-sequence. M-sequences have a number of unique properties, as described in P. H. Bardell, W. H. McAnney, and J. Savir, Built-In Testfor VLSI. Pseudorandom Techniques, John Wiley & Sons, 1987.
An alternative LFSR implementation is shown in FIG. 2. It is called a type II LFSR or Galois true divisor. A distinct feature of this implementation is that the output of the last stage of the LFSR is fed back to prior stages as indicated by the characteristic polynomial employed. As with a type I LFSR, a type II LFSR constructed in accordance with a primitive characteristic polynomial and loaded with a nonzero n-bit vector will produce all 2n−1 nonzero states.
When the output is taken from the last stage of a type I or type II LFSR constructed in accordance with the same primitive characteristic polynomial, then the resulting m-sequences are different. The same m-sequences can be obtained, however, if a given primitive characteristic polynomial and its reciprocal are use to implement the type I and type II LFSRs, respectively, and both registers are properly initialized.
LFSMs such as the LFSRs described above are employed in a vast variety of applications, including error detection and correction, data transmission, mobile telephony, cryptography, testing of very large scale integrated circuits, data compression, and hardware white noise generation. For high-performance applications, the required data generation and compression can only be achieved by high-performance circuits. The highest operating speeds of conventional LFSR-based generators, encoders, decoders or compactors are limited by the performance of their respective elements. For a type I LFSR, performance is limited by the depth (i.e., number of levels) of the combinational logic in its feedback path. For a type II LFSR, performance is limited by buffers in the feedback path needed to compensate for internal fan-out on the output of the last stage. In addition, the buffers slow the circuit's operation. In both types of LFSRs, the limitations are especially pronounced for LFSRs having a characteristic polynomial with a large number of terms.
Attempts have been made to improve the performance of conventional LFSRs. Several are described in P. H. Bardell, "Design Considerations for Parallel Pseudorandom Pattern Generators," Journal of Electronic Testing: Theory and Applications, No. 1, pp. 73–87, 1990. Others are described in various U.S. patents. For example, a linear pseudo-random test pattern generator that is aimed at generating all 2n vectors using an LFSR enhanced by means of external circuitry is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,184. The scheme employs a switching circuit added to the feedback network of the register to produce and insert into a suitable position the so-called "stuck-state" which cannot be obtained by means of the conventional linear finite state machines. Typically, the stuck-state consists of an all-0s pattern that can be conveniently employed in several testing approaches (e.g., a memory test).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,949 describes a pseudo-random test pattern generator having a higher operating speed than the conventional LFSRs. The speed of any LFSR is determined by the performance of the respective elements comprising the generator. In particular, an XOR feedback network may introduce significant delays if an LFSR features a large number of feedback taps. The patent proposes the use of a number of LFSRs connected in parallel fashion and operated at lower clock speed, wherein the actual output signals are produced on the multiplex basis. However, this architecture has much larger area overhead than typical LFSRs and its performance is still limited by multiplexers in the output function.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,665 describes another parallel-operation high-speed test pattern generation and test response compaction implemented by means of low-speed components. It utilizes a number of flip-flops and connected combinational logic networks. Each network provides a pseudo-random pattern which is output in parallel, thereby creating a high-speed data flow with an increased area of the circuitry.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,683 describes a programmable LFSR that produces pseudo-random patterns having a variable characteristic polynomial. Its sequence generator is driven by applying appropriate control signals in such a way that a given control signal has a value of 1 if the corresponding term of the characteristic polynomial has a coefficient of 1. Consequently, the proposed scheme places an XOR gate and associated two-way multiplexer in the front of each LFSR stage, thus incurring significant area overhead. A similar architecture of a programmable LFSR with a provision for an initialization circuitry is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,035.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,626 describes a bi-directional LFSR employing latches having dual (forward and reverse) inputs. This LFSR can generate both state trajectories: the forward sequence of patterns, and the reverse one corresponding to an original feedback polynomial and its reciprocal counterpart, respectively. The register features two different linear feedback networks that operate exclusively at a time, but can intermix forward and reverse steps, thus allowing the vector generation process to follow the native sequence of the LFSR in both directions at any time. A similar concept is also disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,913, where the XOR gates in the feedback network are driven by multiplicity of two-way multiplexers.
None of these prior attempts, however, provides an optimal solution to the performance limitations noted above and found in presents LFSMs.

Method for synthesizing linear finite state machines


An apparatus for measuring flow rate and controlling delivered volume of fluid flow in a fluid conduit is disclosed including a valve having a fixed aperture disposed in the fluid conduit for selectively opening and closing the aperture between an open position and a closed position. The valve is selectively closed when a predetermined volume has passed through the valve. Differential pressure is measured across the valve and the differential pressure is accumulated with respect to time to provide a value corresponding to volume of fluid flow passing through the valve when in the open position. A method for measuring flow rate and controlling delivered volume of fluid flow through a fluid conduit includes the steps of selectively opening and closing a valve having a fixed aperture disposed in the fluid conduit between an open position and a closed position, measuring a differential pressure between a first pressure on an upstream side of the valve and a second pressure on a downstream side of the valve, and when the valve is in the open position, accumulating the differential pressure with respect to time to obtain a value corresponding to volume of fluid flow passing through the valve.

In the past, when values for the flow rate and volume passing through a pipeline or other fluid conduit have been desired, a metering orifice is normally installed and the pressure difference measured in order to determine the flow rate through the metering orifice. The addition of a metering orifice increases the pressure required to overcome the line losses through the pipeline, and is particularly undesirable in situations where the additional size, weight and/or pressure loss are of particular importance. The addition of a valve is necessary to control the repetitive injection or transfer of a fixed volume through the pipeline adding weight, cost and line losses to the system.

Method and apparatus for measuring flow rate and controlling delivered volume of fluid through a valve aperture


The present invention is a novel and improved method for managing in a single location the ciphering keys and algorithms used for encrypting or ciphering the communications of a specific mobile station with multiple core networks or core network entities. Further another aspect of the invention is that the management location is movable as the mobile station moves within the radio access network.

Radio transmission is by nature more prone to eavesdropping and fraud than fixed wire transmission. Listening to communications is easy and does not require access to special locations. The GSM cellular system has alleviated this problem by introducing authentication and encryption or ciphering. Next the GSM authentication and ciphering procedures are explained shortly in reference with FIG. 1. More details can be found for example in Mouly et. al.: "The GSM system for mobile communications".
FIG. 1 illustrates current GSM system incorporated with a general packet radio or GPRS network. The complete network comprises three different functional sub-networks, a Radio Access Network, a Circuit Switched or first core network, and a Packet Switched or second core network. The Radio access network comprises Base Station Controllers or BSC's 30 (only one is shown) and Base Stations or BS's 20. The first core network comprises Mobile Switching Centers with Visitor Location Register or MSC/VLR 40 and Home Location Register with Authentication Center or HLR/AuC 50. The first core network comprises additional MSC/VLR's and HLR/AuC's, which are not shown for the sake of simplicity. The second core network comprises Serving General packet Service Node or SGSN 60. The second core network comprises additional General packet Service Nodes or GSN's, which are not shown for the sake of simplicity. The both core networks may share a common Home Location Register with Authentication Center or HLR/AuC 50.
When a User Equipment UE (or Mobile Station MS) 10 accesses the first core network it registers itself in the MSC/VLR 40. After receiving a registration request or a service request from the mobile, MSC/VLR 40 transmits to HLR/AuC a request including IMSI to acquire authentication triplets consisting of RAND, SRES and Kc1. In GSM the MM or the mobility management protocol implements the functionality for the authentication. The triplets are of a predetermined length and calculated by using a secret key Ki, known only to the authentication center and the SIM card in the mobile. After receiving the triplets from HLR/AuC, the MSC/VLR sends the challenge, RAND, to the MS in an authentication request to authenticate that particular MS. As part of the successful registration, the MSC/VLR updates the location of the MS to HLR and downloads the subscriber data from HLR.
The mobile 10 has the secret key Ki in its SIM card. The secret key Ki is stored on subscription by the operator and is not visible for the users of the mobile or for any other party for that matter. It is identical to the secret key Ki stored in the Authentication Center. The secret key Ki is applied together with the random number RAND into a predetermined algorithm called A3 to produce a signed response SIZES. The mobile 10 then transmits a message containing SIZES to the MSC/VLR 40, which compares it with the SIZES received from the AuC. If the comparison is successful, the mobile 10 is authenticated and allowed to access the network. At the same time with calculating the SIZES, the mobile applies RAND and Ki to another predetermined algorithm called A8 to produce the ciphering key Kc1. If the authentication was successful and the network should so decide, all subsequent transmissions with the mobile 10 over the air interface are ciphered.
For this the MSC/VLR transmits the ciphering key Kc1 to the BSC which is in communication with the mobile 10, and the BSC subsequently delivers the Kc1 further to the BTS communicating with the MS and the ciphering or encryption takes place in the base station and the mobile according to yet another predetermined algorithm, for example A5. Once MSC/VLR has decided that ciphering will be used, the BSC makes a decision up on the actual algorithm. In GSM there are currently two ciphering algorithms to select from.
If the mobile wants to access the second core network it registers itself in the SGSN 60. The procedure for authentication is similar to the procedure with the first core network, with the exception that the ciphering key Kc2 is not transmitted to the base station (BSS part of the system) currently in communication with the mobile 10. In other words, the ciphering takes place in SGSN and in MS. The SGSN 60 retains the ciphering key Kc2 within itself and performs the ciphering.
Thus, the prior art system uses different ciphering keys for ciphering the communications with two different core networks and the ciphering is applied to two different radio connections as the radio channels used for communicating with MSC and SGSN are distinct. As a result, a GSM MS having simultaneous communications with both MSC and SGSN utilizes two ciphering keys on two different radio channels or connections having both their own independent control in the network.
The fact that the ciphering and the control of the ciphering takes place at different locations, may cause consistency problems. The fact that radio access network is not able to access the signalling messages of the second core network at all, may turn out to be problematic in future networks, when all radio recourses used by a specific user should be managed in conjunction in a system having two CN nodes controlling the ciphering. In this case, the radio resources reserved for simultanous connections to MSC and SGSN should be managed by a single entity in the radio access network part of the system, but still there would be two entities controlling the ciphering.
It is proposed that in UMTS there will be only one RRC or radio resource control protocol, controlling both the connection to the MSC and to the SGSN. If only one key is used at a time for both connections, the problem is, how to communicate to the other CN node that its key is not going to be used. Yet another problem, relates to handovers controlled by a CN entity.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to efficiently manage the ciphering keys and algorithms for ciphering and deciphering user data communicated between different core networks and a mobile station.
It is another object of the present invention to efficiently manage the ciphering keys and algorithms for ciphering and deciphering signalling data communicated between different core networks and a mobile station.
It is still another object of the present invention to efficiently transfer the ciphering parameters when the serving radio network controller is handed over to another radio network controller, which then becomes a new serving radio network controller.

Method for controlling connections to a mobile station


The present disclosure provides display panels and methods for manufacturing the same. The display panel includes a pixel definition layer, a cathode, and a compensation electrode. The pixel definition layer defines a plurality of pixel definition openings and a spacing region located between two adjacent pixel definition openings of the plurality of pixel definition openings. The cathode covers the pixel definition layer. The compensation electrode is located in the spacing region. The pixel definition layer covers the compensation electrode and defines a contact hole, the cathode and the compensation electrode are connected via the contact hole.

With the development of big data, cloud computing, and mobile Internet, intelligent mobile communication terminals, wearable devices, and smart home appliances have become an indispensable part of people's work and life. As an important window for implementing human-device interaction in intelligent devices, the display panel is also undergoing significant changes. Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display panel has the advantages of thin thickness, self-light-emitting, low power consumption, and flexibility.

Display panels and methods for manufacturing the same


A towing vehicle having power-driven entered rear drive wheels. A towed attachment frame with lateral trailing wheels is coupled to the towing vehicle. A continuous belt on each side of the vehicle is trained over a drive wheel and a trailing wheel. A row of cleat structures is secured to the outer surface of a belt. A cleat structure includes a central expanse and elongate extension sections extending outwardly from opposite ends of a central section. Extension sections protrude beyond opposite lateral margins of a belt. A cleat structure includes an element plastic clear body, and spline elements secured by fasteners to a belt clamp against shoulders in a cleat body to hold it in place.

This invention relates to a track vehicle, and more particularly to a track vehicle which includes an elongate continuous crawler track trained over a pair of wheels, with the track on powered movement serving to propel the vehicle over the ground. A particular and preferred embodiment of the invention, as herein disclosed, is produced by coupling a crawler track attachment to the rear of an all-terrain vehicle, with the attachment having a frame towed by the all-terrain vehicle, and wheels on opposite sides of the frame training crawler tracks that couple the wheels of the attachment with the power-driven wheels of the all-terrain vehicle.
So-called all-terrain vehicles are a popular type of vehicle used by hunters, recreationalists, etc. to provide transport over rough roads, and terrain where roads are nonexistent. The vehicles are relatively compact, and in the usual instance include a pair of power-driven rear wheels suitable mounted at the rear end of a motorcycle-type frame, where the operator sits on a seat with legs straddling a compartment where a motor and controls for powering the vehicle are located.
Following the invention, a vehicle of the type described is transformed into a truly all-terrain vehicle by including crawler tracks trained over rear wheels in the vehicle and also idler wheels trailed behind the vehicle. If desired, a crawler track may also be included encircling the front wheels of the vehicle. The crawler tracks feature a novel construction for cleat structures embodied in the tracks, which provide the necessary traction for propelling the vehicle.
The vehicle contemplated has significantly greater pulling power than a conventional all-terrain vehicle. The vehicle is supported by a track system with enhanced ability to travel over the ground and float rather than sink into the terrain. The vehicle is versatile, in that it can travel over soft, mushy surfaces, snow and other non-surfaced areas, as well as on pavement. The vehicle, therefore, is well-suited, and provides a low cost alternative to other vehicles, for such uses as logging, firefighting, mining, spraying, ski resort use such as grooming, and uses requiring moving over bogs or soft tundra.
The invention also particularly concerns novel cleat structures provided on the outer surfaces of track belts in the construction, as well as a unique construction for tire guide elements mounted on inner belt surfaces for guided movement over wheels in the vehicle. The construction contemplated provides excellent traction, enhanced gripping action with softer terrain, good roadability and steerability with harder terrain surfaces, long life and low maintenance in cleat structures used, and ease of repair and replacement of a cleat structure in the event such is needed.
Various other objects and advantages are attained by the invention, which is described hereinbelow in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:


A portable display device includes a display panel, a light source supplying light to the display panel, a mold frame supporting the display panel and surrounding at least two sides of the light source, and a relief unit between the mold frame and the light source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable display device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable display device having a structure capable of preventing excessive temperature rise of a light source of the portable display.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, conventional flat panel display (FPD) devices, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), field emission displays (FEDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), and light emitting displays (LED), may have a reduced weight and volume and low power consumption, as compared to a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device. Accordingly, flat panel displays may be more readily employed in portable display devices, such as cellular phones, portable digital assistors (PDAs), portable TVs, and so forth.
A conventional portable display device may include a non-emissive display panel, e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD). A conventional LCD may include a LCD panel, a backlight assembly with a light source, a light guide plate, and a mold frame for supporting the light source. Both the light guide plate and the mold frame may prevent light leakage.
However, conventional formation of the light guide plate and the mold frame around the light source may inhibit sufficient dissipation of heat generated by the light source and, thereby, trigger excessive temperature increase of the light source. An increased temperature of the light source may overheat elements positioned adjacent to the light source, e.g., portions of the LCD panel, circuits for driving the LCD panel, circuit components of the light source, and so forth, and thereby, cause deterioration of the adjacent elements.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a portable display device having a structure capable of maintaining an ambient temperature of the light source or minimizing a temperature increase thereof.


A gel delivery system for promoting bioavailability and uptake of vitamins, minerals and other nutritional supplements comprises a gel base, preferably including agar, water and a bioavailablity enhancing composition that promotes absorption of the carried substance in the digestive tract.

This invention relates to a gel composition for use as a delivery system for nutrients, medicaments, vitamins, minerals, herbal and nutritional supplements.
Various systems are known for use as carriers for delivering drugs, medicaments and nutritional supplements. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,689 a pectin delivery system is described. This system seeks to deliver fiber with good taste by utilizing a pectin gel delivery system to form a confectionery unit combined with an edible insoluble solid to strengthen the chewable pectin gel network. The delivery system can be used to deliver a drug such as a laxative.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,331 describes a similar system, which is sugarless, including an algin gel component with a pectin component. U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,058 describes a high viscosity liquid composition for the delivery of substances, using a non-polymeric, non-water soluble high viscosity liquid carrier material that does not crystallize neat under ambient or physiological conditions. Sucrose acetate isobutyrate is described as such a substance.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,645 a whipped gel composition is described that is useful to form a vehicle for delivering a spoonable soft gel composition to deliver substances to children.
While various substance delivery systems have been suggested, the search continues for delivery compositions that are low in cost, good tasting and render not only medicaments, but other nutritional substances palatable to children and easy to administer to adults. For example, various herbs and natural substances have gained popularity because they have beneficial properties, but these are dependant on bioavaliabilty to achieve the desired results. Many of these substances are unpalatable to children, who resist taking them. All too often, the benefits are not obtained because the normal digestive process degrades bioavailability and typical carriers, if any are used, do not promote bioavailability. In such a case, cost is an important factor. A sophisticated polymeric drug delivery system would likely not be practical for the delivery of, for example a vitamin C or E supplement to children. Consequently, a delivery system which increases bioavailability of the delivered substance, but at low cost, would be a particular benefit over the carriers used in the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a delivery composition that promotes bioavailability of the delivered component.
It is a further object to provide a delivery system that has a range of consistency to provide formulations from being spoonable to a rigid gel.
It is yet another object to provide a delivery system which is of low cost to allow use with various herbs, vitamin and nutritional supplements.
It is another object to provide a good tasting delivery system which masks the taste of the delivered substances.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a delivery composition comprising a gel base, water and a bioavailability enhancing composition. Agar is a preferred gelling agent, most preferably used with gelatin to form a base. Agar is a phycocolloid derived from red algae, that is strongly hydrophilic. Agar is preferred to pectin because its smaller molecular structure helps in absorption of the delivered component. The gelatin/agar base provides a flexible base that can cover a full range of consistency, from spoonable suspension to a rigid gel. The base provides a stable environment for both water and lipid soluble substances. The bioavailability enhancing substance is preferably a surfactant such as a mixture of lecithin and Vitamin E which promotes absorption of the carried substance. Other ingredients, such as flavoring agents, coloring agents or thickeners, among others, can be incorporated in the present invention.
The present invention is a gel delivery system which uses a combination of mechanisms to enhance substance absorption. The mechanisms involve micellar solubilization, solid dispersion, and in situ emulsification. These improve the surfactant qualities of the gel preparation. Preferably, the inventive composition further comprises ingredients that support growth of selective gut micro flora that promote or maintain normal digestive function. The gel preferably has an all natural composition for delivering substances such as vitamins and minerals in a way that bypasses the poor disintegration or dissolution problems associated with solid dosage forms such as tablets or capsules. The gel system represents a convenient dosage form for delivering a wide variety of substances such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, food, supplements, medicaments, nutrients and further enhances their bioavailability. Use of the gel permits smaller dosages of vitamins and other nutrients to be used since greater uptake can be achieved. The gel, being an edible water-soluble and pliable matrix, reduces the difficulty in swallowing commonly encountered among children and the elderly population. Also, the gel is an effective taste-masking carrier for substances that have undesirable taste characteristics, due to its unusually high ratio of excipient to active components. For consumer convenience, the system can be packaged in a unit dose form. The gel may be formulated to include multiple vitamins and mineral preparations with their own enhanced bioavailability. The consistency of the gel can be changed to make it more fluid for beverage use or more solid for gummy type chewables.

Delivery system for enhanced bioavailability of nutrients and supplements


U-turn signaling device for vehicles is disclosed, which includes an LED array, and an integrated circuit control circuit which is produces LED activation control signals. These control signals activate the LED array to produce at least three modes of activity including a tail light mode, a turn mode and a U-turn mode in response to activation signals from the tail light, turn signal and U-turn signal respectively. The LED array can be a portable LED array, an embedded LED array or a double-sided LED array. The LED array is a preferably a combo LED array and further includes a monitor screen, which may be mounted in the dashboard of the vehicle, and may include a multi-position turn signal switch. Also disclosed is a flexible U-turn signal device, which may be activated by a wireless remote control switch.

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle signaling device and more particularly to a vehicle U-turn Signal Device to provide a U-turn Signal when a vehicle intends to make a U-turn.
Three hundred twenty million motor vehicles are registered in the United States in the year 2004. These many running vehicles can cause numerous traffic accidents. Performing a U-turn is considered statistically the most dangerous component in a great variety of accidents, even if most of local ordinances restrict making a U-turn on some stream of traffic. The statistical incidence of U-turns still shows that the rate of collision accidents is extremely high because other drivers often misunderstand the signal for a U-turn as a left turn. Therefore, it is very important that a driver be able to particularly indicate his intention to make a U-turn so others can get an early warning of this intention. This ability to signal the intention to perform a U-turn would be an advantage for all vehicles, but especially for semi-trucks because of their large turning radius when making a U-turn at an intersection.
In general, various relevant prior art lighting and signaling systems and the like, as well as apparatus and methods of their construction are found to be known and exemplified in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,289;U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,708; U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,950. These patents and other known prior signal devices may be suitable for their particular purpose, however, from their lighting components, signaling control method, device structure to installation aspect, these devices may benefit from a more versatile structure and more convenient installation.
An auxiliary U-turn signal indicating light attachment having a U-shape housing to be mounted on the lower left corner of the rear window of a vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,289 entitled "U-TURN SIGNAL ATTACHMENT". The apparatus encloses a U-turn signal indicating lamp and manually operated switch for energizing the U-turn signal lamp. It requires replacement of lamp since its life span is limited.
Another U-turn signal device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,708, entitled "U-TURN SIGNAL APPARATUS". The U-turn Signal Apparatus includes a vehicle with a front end and a rear end having two colored lights. The colored front left light is situated on the front end at a left extent thereof and rear left light is situated on the rear end at a left extent thereof. They are positioned adjacent to a conventional front left light and a conventional reverse rear light. The control circuitry is adapted to actuate the front left light and the rear left light at the discretion of the user. It has utility of combining the U-turn signal to the conventional signaling system in new automobile development, but for after-market vehicle signaling assembling, it is not convenient.
Another U-turn signal device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,950 entitled "VEHICLE U-TURN SIGNAL SYSTEM CONTROL". The U-turn signal control can drive from one to multiple illuminated U-turn signals. The controller utilizes input from the factory original equipment turn signal actuator to turn it on and off. Even if it does not need an additional switch to operate the signal device, there is still the same problem as above.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a vehicle signaling device using an LED array as lighting components instead of using lamps. There is also a need for changing the traditional on and off signaling method, to a control circuit which controls the U-turn signal flashing and moving in a specific direction and frequency.


Methods and systems to limit the duration of a service interruption caused by a failed middleware application server are disclosed. One example method and system includes monitoring the operational status of a first virtual machine operating as a primary server and the operational status of a second virtual machine operating as a stand-by server and, based on the monitored operational status of the first and second virtual machines, performing a hot-swap to cause the second virtual machine to operate as the primary server and the first virtual machine to operate as the stand-by server. The first and second virtual machines are implemented on a same host processing system. After the hot-swap, the first virtual machine is restarted. In some examples, the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine are implemented on a same host processing system. Performing the hot-swap can include causing the first virtual machine to be uncoupled from a network and causing the second virtual machine to be coupled to the network. In some examples, the method also includes causing copy of a first file system used by the primary server to be stored as a second file system for use by the stand-by server.

Cloud computing systems incorporate technologies to protect against software and hardware failures. For example, cloud providers seek to provide "high availability" of service to clients by minimizing the amount of downtime associated with a software or hardware failure. Technologies that provide high availability are typically used to protect systems that can tolerate at least brief interruptions of service. Cloud providers also seek to provide systems that offer "fault tolerance" by eliminating any and all downtime associated with software/hardware failures. Fault tolerance is typically used to protect systems that cannot tolerate any interruption of service or data loss (mission critical).
Both software and hardware redundancies are often built into cloud computing systems to provide protection against hardware/software failures. For example, in the event that a first virtual machine fails, traffic may be redirected from the first, failed virtual machine to a second, redundant virtual machine having a configuration identical to the first virtual machine. In some cases, the first and second virtual machines may have been load sharing prior to the failure. In other cases, the second virtual machine acts as a stand-by server that is in a powered off state until the failure of the first virtual machine is detected. In some examples, virtual machines are configured in clusters that are operating on different physical nodes and/or different physical locations. In this manner, a failure at one physical node and/or one physical location can be handled by hardware/software at another physical node/location. In some cases, a software failure on a virtual machine is handled with an attempted-restart of the crashed virtual machine.
A product to protect against hardware failure, called VMware® Fault Tolerance, uses a technology called vLockStep that guarantees that the state of a primary virtual machine operating on a first physical host processing system is the same as the state of a stand-by server operating on a different, second physical host processing system. The system operates by causing the primary and stand-by virtual machines to execute identical sets of x86 instructions. Both the primary and stand-by virtual machines process read/write operations in response to system inputs but the outputs of the stand-by virtual machine are suppressed so that only the output operations performed by the primary virtual machine take effect. When the primary virtual machine stops executing due to a hardware failure of the first host processing system, the outputs of the stand-by virtual machine of the second host processing system are no longer suppressed and the stand-by virtual machine becomes the primary in a manner that is transparent to system users.

Methods and systems to hot-swap a virtual machine


The present invention comprises a data access pattern interface that allows software to specify one or more data access patterns such as stream access patterns, pointer-chasing patterns and producer-consumer patterns. Software detects a data access pattern for a memory region and passes the data access pattern information to hardware via proper data access pattern instructions defined in the data access pattern interface. Hardware maintains the data access pattern information properly when the data access pattern instructions are executed. Hardware can then use the data access pattern information to dynamically detect data access patterns for a memory region throughout the program execution, and voluntarily invoke appropriate memory and cache operations such as pre-fetch, pre-send, acquire-ownership and release-ownership. Further, hardware can provide runtime monitoring information for memory accesses to the memory region, wherein the runtime monitoring information indicates whether the software-provided data access pattern information is accurate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer memory, and, more particularly, to mechanisms and methods of using data access patterns to optimize performance of memory access operations in computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a modern computer system, data can usually be propagated in the memory and cache hierarchy. For a multi-processor system, data can be replicated in multiple caches, and a cache coherence mechanism can be employed to maintain cache coherence of the system. Ideally, an effective memory system should place data in the right place at the right time. This requires that requested data be moved to a cache close to the accessing processor in advance to reduce potential cache miss latency, and that the corresponding cache line be brought to an appropriate cache coherence state to reduce potential coherence overhead.
From a software perspective, different applications usually have different data access patterns. Given an application, different memory regions can exhibit different data access patterns. Furthermore, the same memory region may exhibit different data access patterns throughout the program execution. To improve overall performance, it is generally desirable to have a memory system that can be adaptive to various data access patterns.
For data access patterns that are dynamically predictable, hardware can incorporate appropriate prediction mechanisms. For example, the IBM® POWER 4 system comprises a hardware pre-fetch engine that allows hardware to detect streaming data accesses on-the-fly and to retrieve streaming data from memory automatically. When cache misses occur on sequential cache lines, the pre-fetch engine can initiate memory accesses to subsequent cache lines before they are referenced. This allows data to be pre-fetched from memory to an L3 cache, from the L3 cache to an L2 cache, and from the L2 cache to an L1 cache.
Many data access patterns can be statically detected or predicted, by the programmer or the compiler. For data access patterns that are statically predictable, software can specify proper heuristic information that can be passed to the underlying system. For example, the IBM® PowerPC® architecture comprises DCBT (data cache block touch) and DCBTST (data cache block touch for store) instructions, which behave as hints to hardware that data of a memory block should be pre-fetched to avoid potential memory access latency.
For many applications, the programmer or the compiler can determine possible data access patterns for some, if not all, commonly-used variables. The data access patterns may be more sophisticated than simple pre-fetch operations that intend to retrieve individual cache lines. However, modern computer systems lack an effective means for software to pass such data access pattern information to the underlying memory system. For example, in a multi-threading program, the programmer or the compiler may have good knowledge about memory addresses that are associated with a semaphore. This knowledge, if made available to the underlying memory system, could be used to reduce memory access latency. For example, when a processor acquires the semaphore, the semaphore could be an indication that data of the corresponding memory addresses associated with the semaphore should be pre-fetched to a cache close to the processor. However, software cannot inform hardware of such data access pattern information via an effective architecture interface.
Therefore, it is generally desirable to have an effective mechanism with appropriate architecture support that enables software to specify data access patterns that are to be passed to underlying hardware.

Mechanisms and methods for using data access patterns

International Business Machines Corporation


A liquid crystal display is provided, which includes: a first substrate; a first signal line formed on the first substrate; a second signal line formed on the first substrate and intersecting the first signal line; a pixel electrode including a plurality of partitions; a thin film transistor connected to the gate line, the data line, and the pixel electrode; a second substrate facing the second substrate; a common electrode formed on the second substrate and having an opening facing the first or the second signal line; and first and second domain defining members that define a plurality of domains in the liquid crystal display and are dispose on the first and the second substrates, respectively, the second domain defining member disposed on the second substrate and separated from the opening.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is one of the most widely used flat panel displays. An LCD includes two panels provided with field-generating electrodes such as pixel electrodes and a common electrode and a liquid crystal (LC) layer interposed therebetween. The LCD displays images by applying voltages to the field-generating electrodes to generate an electric field in the LC layer, which determines orientations of LC molecules in the LC layer to adjust polarization of incident light.
Among the LCDs, a vertical alignment (VA) mode LCD, which aligns LC molecules such that the long axes of the LC molecules are perpendicular to the panels in absence of electric field, is spotlighted because of its high contrast ratio and wide viewing angle.
The wide viewing angle of the VA mode LCD can be realized by cutouts in the field-generating electrodes and protrusions on the field-generating electrodes. Since the cutouts and the protrusions can determine the tilt directions of the LC molecules, the tilt directions can be distributed into several directions by using the cutouts and the protrusions such that the viewing angle is widened. In particular, a patterned VA (PVA) mode LCD employing the cutouts is preferred as a substitute of an in-plane switching (IPS) mode LCD.
The PVA mode LCD has a fast response time compared with a twisted nematic (TN) mode LCD since the motions of the LC molecules only include elastic splay or bend without twist.
In the meantime, the LCD also includes a plurality of switching elements for applying voltages to the field-generating electrodes and a plurality of signal lines such as gate lines and data lines connected to the switching elements. The signal lines make capacitive coupling with other signal lines and the common electrode, which serves as a load exerted on the signal lines to yield signal delay as well as their own resistances. In particular, the coupling between the data lines and the common electrode drives liquid crystal molecules disposed therebetween to cause light leakage near the data lines, thereby deteriorating the light leakage. In order to prevent the light leakage, a black matrix may be wide to reduce the aperture ratio.


A raisable hood plate mechanism for a vehicle hood comprises a pair of large plates laterally spaced in separate centered openings on opposite sides of the hood. The plates are pivotable along front edges and raisable at rear edges to provide rear-facing engine compartment ventilation, as well as glare deflection from the operator's eyes and bug and stone deflection from the windshield. The plate can be opened manually or by mechanical, fluid or electrical remote actuation mechanisms. An automatic closer can be employed. The plate can be light transmissive and solar collectors can be used with the plate.

This invention relates to a raisable hood plate that is mounted in the engine compartment hood of a vehicle so as to provide selective ventilation for the engine compartment and a glare and particle deflector for the windshield, as well as providing light transmission into the engine compartment.
In a vehicle such as a front engine automobile or truck, the engine compartment is positioned in front of the windshield and is accessed by raising and lowering a hood. When the hood is closed and the engine is operating, the enclosed engine compartment tends to trap engine heat in the engine compartment.
At the same time, the upper surface of the hood typically is a generally flat, shiny, horizontal surface leading to the windshield. This surface can reflect sunlight into the eyes of the vehicle operator through the windshield and does nothing to deflect bugs or stones that are entrained in the air passing over the hood and the windshield. The vehicle hood also prevents penetration of solar radiation into the engine compartment as well as preventing viewing of the components of the engine without raising the hood.
A number of devices have been developed to provide ventilation of an engine compartment. These include open ports in the top or side of the hood, louvered hood vents and the like. In another device, the cowl of a windshield wiper assembly is openable selectively in order to vent the engine compartment at the base of the windshield.
In addition to hood vents, many vehicles include hood scoops, which are forward facing scoops that pull air into an engine compartment.
One object of the present invention is to provide a raisable hood plate mechanism that provides for selective ventilation of an engine compartment by means of a raisable plate that creates a rear facing vent for withdrawing heated air from the engine compartment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a raisable hood plate that deflects glare, bugs, and stones away from the windshield of a vehicle.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a raisable hood plate that transmits light or solar radiation into the interior of the engine compartment for viewing or for use as a passive or electrical solar collector.


An electrographic article comprising a polymeric film having at least one polymeric receptor layer coated on at least one side thereof, said receptor layer having an equivalent or lower storage elasticity modulus than a toner resin used for forming images on said article.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrography, and a method of development, transfer and fixing of dried toner electrographic images. Specifically, it relates to such images for use in overhead projectors, especially to color images for use therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrography refers to the processes of electrophotography, electroradiography, and magnetography. The process of electrography has been described in numerous patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,221,776, 2,297,691, and 2,357,809, (Carlson). The process, as taught in these and other patents, essentially comprises production of a latent electrostatic image using photoconductive media and the subsequent development and transfer of a visible image therefrom. A latent electrostatic image may also be formed by spraying the charge onto a suitable charger-retaining surface as taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,143,214, 3,773,417, and 3,017,560. In magnetography, the latent image is magnetic and may be developed with appropriately magnetized or magnetizable developer particles, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,811.
Development of the latent image can be accomplished by deposition of developer particles on the electrostatic or magnetic latent image, the most common technique using powder, cascade, or less frequently, liquid developers.
It is well known in the art to use dry powder toner to develop a latent electrostatic image. U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,324 discloses thermoplastic coated receptors to which a dry toner image may be transferred by contact under pressure. U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,749 discloses coating a transferred dry powder image and receptor with a dispersion of a synthetic resin in water. U.S. Patent No. 4,071,362 discloses use of a receptive styrene-type resin on a thermally resistant base film to fuse with thermoplastic coated dry toner particles (i.e., image-fixing is achieved by use of a special toner). U.S. Pat. No. 3,620,726 discloses the use of pigment developer of particle size within the range of 5.0 to 10.0 microns, with not more than 50% of the particles being of less than 1 micron equivalent spherical diameter, thereby reducing background stain. As mentioned, this type of transfer may result in problems of durability.
To avoid such durability problems, various liquid developers have been employed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. 4,337,303, (Sahyun et al.). The liquid toner is encapsulated into a homogeneous continuum of particles within the soft or softened receptor coating. At least 75% of the transferred particles must be embedded within the surface such that they do not protrude.
Particles have also been used in transparencies. U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,955, (Ashcraft et al.) discloses a transparency comprising a polyester support, and at least one toner receptor layer comprising a mixture of an acrylate binder, a polymeric antistatic agent having carboxylic acid groups, a crosslinking agent, and two types of beads, i.e., a butylmethacrylate modified polymethacrylate bead and submicron polyethylene or tetrafluoroethylene beads. The smaller beads are disclosed to improve scratch resistance, and have a particle size of less than one micron, while the polymethacrylate beads are disclosed to assist in transport of the film through the copier and have a particle size of from about 1 to about 5 microns in size.
Where full color images are desired, additional considerations are required. Frequently the prior art processes using dry developing methods showed bright, full color images when the film was inspected, but showed an overall gray tone when the image was projected. As a result the color-tone reproduction range was very narrow.
European patent application no.0349,227, discloses a transparent laminate film for full color image forming comprising two transparent resin layers. The first resin layer is heat-resistant, and the second resin layer must be compatible with a binder resin constituting the toner to be used for color image formation. The second resin layer must have a larger elasticity than that of the binder resin of the toner at a fixing temperature of the toner, preferably in the range of 5 to 1000 times larger than such binder elasticity. While it is stated at page 5, lines 8-26, that resins of the same "kind", i.e., type, e.g., styrene-type or polyester-type, may be used as the toner binder and the second transparent resin layer, the resins must still differ in storage elasticity modulus as previously stated.
It is further specifically stated at page 7, lines 9-14, that where the melt viscosity of the second layer becomes lower than the viscosity of the toner binder resin, it is difficult to develop good color mixing.
It has now been discovered that a good image, even a good full-color image is provided by an electrographic article having a polymeric receptor layer wherein the storage elasticity modulus is equivalent to, or less than that of the toner resin.
It has also been discovered that using polymeric, silica or starch particles in transparent electrographic articles creates a sufficient gap between the film and smooth surfaces with which it contacts that transfer of fuser oil to the projector glass and pooling of fuser oil between the article and a protective sleeve is reduced or eliminated.

Film construction for use in a plain paper copier

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A method and system for updating an OS of an embedded device. The embedded device provides its current OS version information to a mobile operation network via a SMS message. The embedded device can provide its current OS version information to a mobile operation network in response to a request from a mobile operator network that has implemented the SyncML specifications promulgated by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). The mobile operator network interacts with the datacenter to provide the embedded devices's current OS version and get the address of the image update. The mobile operator service sends the address to the embedded device via another SMS message. The embedded device downloads the image update using the RF link via a global packet radio service (GPRS) connection.

Portable communication and/or computing devices ("mobile devices") can often be linked to various networks. For example, cell phones can be used to browse web sites offered through the Internet. Additionally, some cell phones can send and receive text messages in addition to offering normal voice communications using an RF communications link. Further, some cell phones can receive and store data such as ring tones and themes (e.g., for user interfaces) via their RF communications link.
Some mobile devices have flash memory in which an operating system (OS) to be executed by a processor is stored. The mobile device may execute the OS directly from the flash memory (i.e., an image of the OS stored in the flash memory). Such mobile devices are also referred to herein as "embedded devices". An OS provider may update an OS from time-to-time to incorporate new features (e.g., security features) or correct "bugs". However, updating an OS (also referred to herein as an "image update") on an embedded device can be burdensome due to limitations inherent in embedded devices and the way they are typically used.


A doubler part doubles frequencies of video signals. A drive control circuit generates, in response to a synchronizing signal outputted from the doubler part, PWM dimming frequency information such that a PWM dimming frequency f and a black display ratio B satisfy the relationships f≧25B+250 and B>10, and provides such information to a PWM dimming signal generation circuit. In addition, the drive control circuit drives a gate driver and a source driver such that one frame period is divided into an image display period and a black display period. The PWM dimming signal generation circuit generates, in response to a synchronizing signal and the PWM dimming frequency information, a PWM dimming signal and provides the PWM dimming signal to a lighting circuit. The lighting circuit activates a backlight device with dimming, in response to the PWM dimming signal. This configuration reduces colored interference fringes in a liquid crystal display device resulting from the combination of a black insertion drive technique and a PWM dimming technique.

Liquid crystal display devices are so-called hold-type image display devices in which the signal level is held, as shown in FIG. 17, for one frame period in each liquid crystal cell. For the types of liquid crystals used in liquid crystal display devices, conventionally, a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode liquid crystal is commonly used, but in recent years, in order to overcome the drawbacks of the TN-mode liquid crystal (e.g., a narrow viewing angle and a slow response time), liquid crystal display devices using an OCB (Optically Self-Compensated Birefringence) mode liquid crystal have been studied. Such devices are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 7-84254 and 9-96790. As is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-96790, the OCB mode requires some kind of initialization process in which the state of a liquid crystal cell is changed (hereinafter referred to as a "transition") from a splay alignment to a bend alignment by application of a high voltage (which would result in a black display in the case of normally-white). However, after the initialization process, once the applied voltage to the liquid crystal becomes less than a predetermined value Va, the state of the liquid crystal cell returns to the splay alignment (hereinafter referred to as a reverse transition). For this reason, the OCB mode can be used only in an applied voltage range (Va to Vblack) which allows the bend alignment to be maintained, such as the one shown by the curve a in FIG. 18.
It has been found, however, that even if a period exists in which the applied voltage to the liquid crystal temporarily becomes less than the predetermined value Va, if a high voltage is periodically applied in periods other than the aforementioned period, a reverse transition does not occur. For example, in a liquid crystal display device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-31790, the frequencies of video signals are doubled, each gate line is selected twice in each frame period, and a video signal and a signal for applying the aforementioned high voltage are written alternately to each pixel of the liquid crystal panel (each signal is written once in one frame period). This makes it possible to use a wider applied voltage range, such as the one shown by the curve b in FIG. 18. It is known that the minimum high-voltage application period that ensures elimination of reverse transition (hereinafter referred to as black display period) is a period which is about 10% of one frame period.
Meanwhile, as for improvement in the response time of liquid crystal, it has been reported that in the TN-mode liquid crystal, by reducing the cell gap from about 5 μm, which is conventionally employed, to about 2 μm, the response time of a liquid crystal can be made shorter than one frame period (16.6 ms).
By employing the black insertion drive technique in a liquid crystal panel with a fast response time, such as a liquid crystal panel using the aforementioned OCB-mode liquid crystal or a liquid crystal panel using a TN-mode liquid crystal in which the cell gap is reduced to about 2 μm, the edge blurring when displaying a moving image is expected to be greatly reduced.
As a method of controlling the luminance of a backlight of a liquid crystal display device, conventionally, a voltage dimming technique and a PWM (Pulse Width) dimming technique are widely employed. The voltage dimming technique controls luminance by changing the applied voltage to a fluorescent lamp, which serves as a backlight source. The PMW dimming technique controls luminance in a manner such that, as shown in FIG. 19, dimming is performed in response to a PWM dimming signal having a periodic rectangular waveform. The lamp current is allowed to flow only during an ON period (pulse width) of the signal.
The voltage dimming technique, though its circuit configuration is simple, has drawbacks. For example, when the drive voltage is low, proper lighting of the fluorescent lamp is difficult to obtain. On the other hand, in the PWM dimming technique, though the luminance of the fluorescent lamp can be easily controlled, there is a drawback in that switching noise occurs at the time of dimming. When controlling the lighting of the backlight by the PWM dimming technique, if the dimming frequency is increased, the luminance efficiency is greatly reduced due to switching losses, etc., and therefore the dimming frequency is typically set to 300 Hz or less.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed by an observation performed by the inventors that when backlight control by the PWM dimming technique and the aforementioned black insertion drive technique are simultaneously performed, color non-uniformity, as shown in FIG. 20, such that a properly displayed portion c and a luminance-reduction portion d accompanied with coloring are displayed alternately, occurs in an entire-screen white display state. The cause of this color non-uniformity is briefly described below.
The content to be displayed on the liquid crystal display device is defined by the product of the amount of light emitted from the backlight multiplied by the transmittance of the liquid crystal panel, and in practice, the time-average value of this product is perceived by the viewer's eye. In the aforementioned properly displayed portion c in FIG. 20, an operation such as that shown in FIG. 21 is performed. That is, the light-off period of the backlight in PWM dimming coincides with the black display period of the liquid crystal panel, and therefore the actual display content is hardly adversely affected and a reduction in luminance hardly occurs. (In practice, light is emitted even during the light-off period due to the persistence characteristics of phosphors, and thus a slight reduction in luminance is caused.)
On the other hand, in the colored luminance-reduction portion din FIG. 20, an operation such as that shown in FIG. 22 is performed. That is, the light-on period in PWM dimming coincides with the black display period of the liquid crystal panel, and therefore a reduction in luminance is caused in the actual display content. For phosphors which are generally widely used in liquid crystal display devices, Y2O3:Eu3+ is used as a red-emitting phosphor, LaPO4:Tb3+ is used as a green-emitting phosphor, and BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ is used as a blue-emitting phosphor. The 1/10 persistence time of the red, green, and blue emitting phosphors are about 3 ms, about 8 ms, and about 0.1 ms or less, respectively. As can be seen, in the persistence components of the backlight there are great differences in the persistence time between the phosphors, and thus coloring occurs in the colored luminance-reduction portion d.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce colored interference fringes in a liquid crystal display device resulting from the combination of the black insertion drive technique and the PWM dimming technique.


The arithmetic unit in a data processing system with a microprocessor and an additional arithmetic unit carries out special arithmetic operations, preferably integrated in a single semiconductor chip, is controlled by the microprocessor via a number of registers. Several sets of such registers are provided. The registers of one set are selected via a selection circuit. As a result, a set of registers which is not required during execution of a calculation by the arithmetic unit can be filled with new data by the microprocessor and, after completion of the calculation in the arithmetic unit, switching over to a newly filled set of registers takes place so that the arithmetic unit can continue with a new set of operands without having to observe a waiting period.

The invention relates to a data processing device which includes a microprocessor and an additional arithmetic unit, and also to a portable data carrier provided with such a data processing device.
Data processing devices of this kind, notably integrated in a single semiconductor chip, are known in principle, for example from the data sheet concerning the Philips Integrated Circuit P83C852. This integrated circuit is preferably incorporated in portable, card-like data carriers, for example, having the format of a credit card, and are preferably used to encrypt data according to a non-symmetrical encryption method or to decrypt such data. For this purpose inter alia data blocks must be exponentiated with a key number modulo a constant, the constant comprising a large number of digits so as to achieve as effective encryption as possible. The arithmetic steps required for this purpose can in principle also be performed by the microprocessor; however, this would require too much time, so that an additional, special arithmetic unit is integrated in the chip, together with the microprocessor, said arithmetic unit being optimized in respect of the calculation steps required for encryption. The connection between the microprocessor and the additional arithmetic unit is established via special registers, controlling the data transfer, and via at least one data memory which is accessed by the microprocessor as well as by the additional arithmetic unit.
Such known integrated circuits with a microprocessor and an additional arithmetic unit have the drawback that after completion of a processing step or a processing cycle by the additional arithmetic unit, the microprocessor must load the registers again with new values for at least partly new operands with which the next processing cycle commences. However, this implies a substantial loss of time so that the overall data processing device requires too much time for data encryption or decryption, notably in the case of rather long key numbers.

Data processing device including a microprocessor and an additional arithmetic unit


A voice signal processing method processes voice signals acquired by a microphone. A voice processing device acquires first voice signals according to a first sampling frequency, and samples second voice signals from the first voice signals according to a second sampling frequency. The second voice signals are encoded to obtain a basic voice package. A voiceprint data package of each voice signal frame of the first voice signals is obtained using a curve fitting method, and a pitch data package of each voice signal frame of the first voice signals is obtained according to pitch distribution of twelve central octave keys of a standard piano. The voiceprint data package and the pitch data package are embedded into the basic audio package to generate a final voice package of the first voice signals.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to voice signal processing technologies, and particularly, to an apparatus and method for processing voice signals.
2. Description of Related Art
Voice communication products, such as video phones and Skype® are widely used. These products acquire voices using a predetermined sampling frequency (e.g., 8 KHz or 44.1 KHz) to obtain voice signals. The acquired voice signals are encoded using standard voice codec protocols (e.g., G.711) to obtain basic voice packages. The basic voice packages are transmitted to the other communication device to realize voice communication. However, this manner of processing the voice signals does not distinguish high frequency portions and low frequency portions of the voice signals. Thus, the basic voice packages can have poor acoustic quality. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

Apparatus and method for processing voice signal


The scope of the present invention is an information transfer system and a mobile station (10) connected to it. In a system according to the invention a mobile station (10) is connected to a terminal device (40) e.g. through either a cable or an infrared connection, and the radio parts of the mobile station (10) are switched off. Through the terminal device (40), a local network, ATM-network (70, 81, 80, 82) and a network server (90) the mobile station (10) is connected over a wired network to a mobile communication switching center (100) or to a telephone network exchange (110, 130). When the connection from the mobile station (10) to a mobile communication switching center (100) or to a telephone network exchange (110, 130) is broken, the mobile station (10) establishes a connection to a mobile communication switching center (100) by radio in the normal way through a base station (105) and a base station controller (104).

In modern office work it is necessary to provide the employees with versatile information transfer connections which can transfer speech, facsimile messages, electronic mail and other data--usually in digital form. Transfer of information is needed inside an office or corresponding working environment for communication between employees, for transfer of information between branch offices of an enterprise, which offices can be in other towns or even in other countries, and for communication between the office and "outside world". In this text and all of the following text "office" stands for an environment with several users, which users "belong together", and which office physically covers a reasonably limited area. There has been a trend in the telecommunication branch toward integrated systems in which various forms of telecommunication can be controlled as one entity.
A conventional realization of an above mentioned type of office communication system comprises a company telephone exchange for providing telephone services and telephones connected to it over twisted-pair connections and a separate local area network (LAN) in which applications for advanced telecommunication services have been implemented and which has the intelligence to run them. The local network is connected to the telephone exchange using a telecommunication server (Telephony Server) which supports the traditional subscriber server architecture in which subscribers are subscribers' computers connected to the local network. For example call-, data-, facsimile-, electronic mail- and speech mail services are connected within an office utilizing the telecommunication server. In an integrated system users can also e.g. control telephone services using their computer terminals connected to the local network. The whole integrated office communication system is connected to public telephone network through the telephone exchange.
FIG. 1 presents an example of a prior known office communication system in which users' telephones TP (TelePhone) have been connected by wire connections and a local area network (LAN) has been connected over a telecommunication server TS (Tele Server) into a telephone exchange PBX (Private Branch Exchange) which is connected to a public telephone network PSTN/ISDN (PSTN, Public Switched Telephone Network, ISDN, Integrated Services Digital Network). To the local area network (LAN) have been connected on one hand servers executing various services such as data base server DBS (Data Base Server), voice server VS (Voice Server) and electrical mail server EMS (Electrical Mail Server) and on the other hand the users' computers PC (Personal Computer). It can be regarded as a problem with this kind of realization that even if a user's telephone TP and computer PC usually are on the same table next to each other separate wire connections must be laid to the user's working room for them, on one hand from the telephone exchange PBX and on the other hand from the telecommunication server TS of the LAN. Building and maintenance of two overlapping telecommunication networks naturally causes cost.
The problem of overlapping telecommunication networks is increased by portable mobile stations utilizing radio connection coming rapidly more popular. Many persons working in an office need, because of their mobile work, a mobile station and often also a portable facsimile device and/or a combined portable computer/mobile station. In order to be able to use the devices based on radio connection also inside buildings, the constructions of which attenuate radio signals, it has been suggested that mobile radio networks should be supplemented with small base stations individual for offices or even for rooms, which base stations would be connected either directly or over wired telephone network to the central systems of mobile communication network. The network of small base stations would be already a third overlapping telecommunication network within the same office, and accordingly it is clear that in a preferable solution, which the present invention is aiming at, also the arrangement supporting radio communication stations should be realized using essentially the same means and telecommunication networks than the rest of the transfer of information in the office.
A challenge of its own to telecommunication systems is issued by the fact that work is done more and more in small-office or domestic environment, which is described by the concept SOHO (Small Office, Home Office). Even here advanced office communication services are often needed and it is particularly preferable if such a flexible system is available which can be utilized even both in the office and at home. The present systems which require overlapping connections for the utilization of mobile communication services, conventional telephone services and fast data transfer services are very inflexible for working in a small- or home office. In addition to above, the following kinds of solutions connected with integrated telecommunication systems are known from prior art.
EP publication 599 632 presents a wireless local network designed to replace the present kind of wired local networks (e.g. registered trade marks Ethernet and Token Ring) by a radio transfer network which forms inside an enterprise a private cellular system designed for data transfer. A network utilizing radio connection is, however, relatively expensive to realize and it is more sensitive to interference than a local network based upon wired connections. In addition to that it requires establishing of an extra radio network in addition to previous networks.
EP publication 462 728 presents an intelligent base station controller, subordinated to which at least one radio communication system base station is operating and which is capable of connecting calls from a certain mobile station coming through the base station directly to the wired telephone network. This system, however, requires said additional base stations, which increases the cost. The system is also, alike the system presented in publication 599 632, sensitive for external (radio)interference.
If an integrated office communication system is realized utilizing traditional technique, separate wired connections must be laid into a user's working room on one hand from telephone exchange PBX (FIG. 1) and on the other hand from telecommunication server TS of local area network (LAN). Constructing and maintaining two overlapping networks naturally brings extra cost. In said solutions according to prior art a solution to this problem has not actually been striven for.

System for transferring a call and a mobile station


Apparatus and method for visualizing air stream by little threads on aerodynamic surfaces such that strips of adhesive tape populated with threads are automatically fabricated.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for visualization of an air stream by means of threads on aerodynamic surfaces in such a way that strips of adhesive tape populated with threads are produced automatically.
There are various possibilities of visualizing air streams on model surfaces in wind channels. One technique is the application of threads (8) onto the surface to be examined. The behavior of the threads provides a quick overview over the air stream conditions in the examined region. By illumination with UV-light, white colored threads or fluorescent synthetic materials are visible very well, so that these measurements can be documented by means of a video camera. The threads are adhered to the model surface, either one by one by means of spots of adhesive material or by means of pieces of adhesive tape, or they are adhered to one side of adhesive tapes (24) before the adhesive tapes are attached to the model in the form of continuous strips. In the high velocity domain, the technique used is the one with individually affixed threads, since strips of adhesive tape (24) should not disturb the surface of the model. In the wind channel—LSWT Bremen of Airbus Deutschland GmbH measurements are performed in the low velocity domain. Therefore, preconfigured strips of adhesive tape (24) with threads may be used.
The following documents relate to the field of visualization methods for wind channel experiments. A method for performing such methods is not described. However, the cited documents point out the importance of visualization of streams with the help of threads on aerodynamic surfaces.
J. P. Crowder                Flow simulation techniques        4th International Symposium on flow visualization        Paris August 1986
E. Thiel                Anwendungsbeispiele herkömmlicher        Sichtbarmachungsmethoden aus dem        Strömungsversuch bei Dornier        Interner Dornier Bericht (1970-1975 ?)
Agardograph 70/April 1962
J. P. Crowder                Fluorescent Mini Tufts for flow visualization        Boeing Commercial Airplanes Co. February 1977        Royal aircraft establishment        Techn. Memo AERO 2038
D. G. Dobney et al.                The "Minituft" surface flow visualization method        April 1985
Strömungssichtbarmachung mit Minitufts im                Niedergeschwindigkeitskanal der THD        Studienarbeit H. Cremer        TH Darmstadt February 1993
Eidg. Flugzeugwerke Emmen                Bericht FO 1753        Sichtbarmachung der Strömung durch Minitufts für        Windkanäle 1984

Apparatus and method for automatically fabricating tape with threads for visualization of air streams on aerodynamic surfaces


A records management system and method includes sending periodic notifications to record owners and managers when their records are under a hold order. Also, return receipts in response to an e-mail message related to a record are automatically declared as records themselves and linked to the original record.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to records management and, more particularly, to tracking notifications to users of an automated records management system.
2. Related Art
Records management has become increasingly essential to the success and future of a business. Technological advances have given rise to greater reliance on electronic information in dispersed data systems. The amount of information to be gathered has also increased. For example, the Internet and its e-mail and web-based content gathering capabilities have aided the proliferation of data such as never before seen. The increasing amount of hard copy information has aided this proliferation as well.
Along with technological advances and the widespread propagation of data, a new age of corporate governance has also resulted in a greater emphasis on records management. Emphasis on issues such as corporate fraud have led to large-scale corporate liability and corporate failures. Greater focus is being given to corporations and their executives, as well as corporate compliance with new laws enacted as a part of this new age of corporate governance.
Corporate non-compliance is a major source of corporate liability, resulting in increased complexity for records management systems. Many compliance policies have been embodied in legislation. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 are examples of such legislation. Due to regulations such as these, it may be deemed necessary for a corporation to manage and maintain its records in a particular manner. Similarly, some courts have awarded judgments against various companies for the manner in which they negligently managed their records and/or destroyed records (e.g., Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC).
A significant number of companies now maintain formal records management programs, and it is widely agreed that such programs are important to the success of a business. However, current records management programs may not address the needs of today's businesses in that they have not been updated in accordance with technological advances. For example, many of today's records management programs do not incorporate electronic records.
Current records management programs may also lack protections that promote the consistent application and enforcement of records management policies. For example, some information technology systems may not be structured to support desired records management policies. Moreover, records may be incorrectly classified due to differences of opinion among users that manually perform classification operations.
One particular instance in which current records management programs have been deficient relates to ensuring that owners of records which have been put on hold are periodically reminded of the status of such records. Furthermore, improvements are also needed in the way records-related notifications sent to users are tracked and recorded.

Automated records management with hold notification and automatic receipts


A method and an apparatus for separating sewing threads from pieces of carbon fiber mats or bundles of carbon fibers using rollers covered with card clothing. The mat pieces or fiber agglomerates are broken up and separated using the different mechanical properties of the fibers.

When carbon fibre mats are processed into formed parts, sewing threads are used to fix the mats. When the formed parts are trimmed, material pieces are generated which are not processed any further, but are recycled. During reprocessing, the sewing threads constitute an obstacle since they act as "predetermined breaking points". On account of the sewing threads, these recycled fibres can only be used for applications of minor importance and are thus of little value. The sewing threads, i.e. also the connecting threads, do not consist of the same material as the carbon fibres of the mats.
It is obvious to use an optical sorter, e.g. CUBiSCAN, to sort out sewing threads having a different colour than carbon from a fibre and air stream. The drawback of this is that the recycled parts must be torn into small pieces. The threads are not detected and removed entirely.

Method and apparatus for separating sewing threads and carbon fibers


In order to provide a sturdy yet inexpensive rotary corrugated box, the box includes a corrugated base having an upstanding corrugated side wall, each having an inner surface and an outer surface to define a box-like enclosure. A rigid insert is disposed within the box-like enclosure substantially co-extensive with the inner surface of the corrugated base. The rigid insert is substantially planar and has a flat surface in engagement with substantially the entire inner surface of the corrugated base. A rotary base assembly is provided which includes a first portion in engagement with the outer surface of the corrugated base and a second portion to be disposed on a supporting surface. The first and second portions cooperate so as to facilitate relative rotational movement therebetween. With this construction, the first portion of the rotary base assembly is rigidly secured to the rigid insert through the corrugated base to form a sandwich construction consisting of the rigid insert and the first portion of the rotary base assembly with the corrugated base therebetween.

In recent years, a wide variety of different types of organizers have been developed for carrying materials that may need to be selectively accessed for use. These organizers are exemplified by Hansen U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,626 which proposes a document holder for holding magazines, brochures and other looseleaf papers in an upright position with a relatively large portion of each document being exposed to view. Another form of organizer is exemplified by Liaw U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,850 which proposes a modular stationery stand including a rotary base and various compartments for pens and the like. Still another form of organizer is exemplified by Huang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,696 which proposes a detachable stationery case rack positioned on a rotating base so that a number of stationery receiving cases may be flexibly arranged. And still another form of organizer is exemplified by Weisburn et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,599 which proposes a storage cabinet for recorded media that is formed of a plurality of identical modules mounted on a rotating base. These organizers are additionally exemplified by Goodyear U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,829 which proposes an office organizer for desks having multiple compartments, trays, slots and the like. While these organizers all may be meritorious in certain respects, they are also all relatively expensive to manufacture and, thus, they are entirely unsuitable for certain applications.
In particular, there are certain applications where a rotary organizer should be highly functional in use but relatively inexpensive to manufacture. This is the case, for instance, for educational kits designed to carry and support one or more relatively heavy books, as well as other materials such as art supplies, multi-media products, and the like. For an educational kit of this type, the rotary organizer must ideally be capable of supporting considerable weight, have a presentable exterior appearance, and be compartmentable and rotatable.
While the prior art suggests that there has been a rather steady development of materials organizers, there has been no organizer that has met all criteria for an educational kit or other similar applications.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the foregoing problems and achieving one or more of the resulting objects.