Apparatus and method for echo cancellation that incorporate a psychoacoustic model in determining the necessity to update compensator coefficients for the generation of artificial echoes for echo cancellation. The method includes the steps of dividing an audio signal having at least one echo into a plurality of subbands. For each of the plurality of subbands, the echo is reduced based on a variable coefficient transfer function to produce a compensated subband. The signal level of the compensated subband is then compared to a threshold value on a psychoacoustic model curve at a corresponding subband frequency. If the signal level of the compensated subband is greater than the threshold value, the coefficients of the transfer function are updated. Conversely, if the signal level of the compensated subband is less than or equal to the threshold value, the coefficients of the transfer function are not updated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to echo cancellation in telecommunication systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel apparatus and method for echo cancellation that incorporates a psychoacoustic masking effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
An increasingly popular form of telecommunication is one that allows for "hands-free" operation, such as a speakerphone or teleconferencing equipment. However, these types of telecommunication equipment are susceptible to interference, particularly to, echoes.
In general, there are two types of echoes, electrical and acoustical. An electrical echo is generated when a portion of an electrical signal that represents acoustical information is reflected and returned to its source because of impedance mismatch or discontinuity between a signal source and a transmission line. A typical example of an electrical echo is one that occurs between a four-wire telecommunication circuit, which has two wires for each of a loudspeaker and a microphone, and a two-wire transmission cable. Impedance mismatch often occurs where the two-wire cable connects to the four-wire unit.
An acoustic echo, meanwhile, is generated largely due to the close proximity of a loudspeaker and a microphone of a telecommunication system, as in a speakerphone. In general, acoustic echoes are created when an audio signal from a far-end user of the system is broadcasted by the loudspeaker and picked up by the microphone either directly or indirectly by acoustic reflections off walls of the room in which the loudspeaker and microphone are located. Echoes of the audio signal of the far-end user are combined with an audio signal of a near-end user of the system, also picked up by the microphone, and returned to the far-end user. Echoes of the audio signal of the near-end user may similarly be created at the far-end of the system and returned to the near-end user.
Echoes are annoying to users of the telecommunication system because reverberations of a previously uttered phrase arrive as a new phrase is being uttered. Therefore, echo cancelers are used to remove the echoes or reduce them to an acceptable level. A common type of echo canceler is a subband echo canceler that divides a wideband signal into discrete subbands.
A subband echo canceler removes or reduces echoes in each subband and generally includes a plurality of compensators, also known as adaptive filters, or variable coefficient filters, wherein one or more of the plurality of compensators may be allocated to each of the subbands. The compensators or filters may be digital finite impulse response filters and the filter coefficients are generally updated for each subband by a number of known algorithms, such as the normalized least mean square ("NLMS") algorithm. The plurality of compensators generate a plurality of audio signals, illustratively as artificial acoustic echoes, such that at least one artificial acoustic echo is generated for each of the subbands to cancel the echo therein. A synthesizer recombines the subbands, having echoes reduced or removed therefrom, into a wideband signal and the recombined signal is transmitted to another part of the system.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a conventional subband acoustic echo canceler 1, which includes an input line 22, a first analyzer 13, a plurality of compensators,16-1,16-2 . . . 16-n, a second analyzer 14, a plurality of subtractors, 18-1, 18-2 . . . 18-n, a synthesizer 19, and an output line 24. A first audio signal from a far-end user is transmitted through a transmission line 20 and broadcasted through a loudspeaker 10 of a near-end user receiving the transmission. The first audio signal enters a microphone 12, either directly or indirectly with various time delays from reflecting off walls (not shown) in a room where loudspeaker 10 and microphone 12 are located. Input line 22 is connected to transmission line 20 and transmits the first audio signal to first analyzer 13, which divides the first audio signal into a predetermined number of subbands. First analyzer 13 is connected to the plurality of compensators, 16-1,16-2 . . . 16-n, where n is equal to the number of subbands. Each of the compensators generates an artificial echo in each subband based on a weighted transfer function therein and the corresponding subband signal of the first audio signal. Factors that contribute to the "weights" of the transfer function include the number of subbands, known gross characteristics of acoustic impulse response functions, a number of taps allocated for each subband, and a masking effect of a psychoacoustic model. Each of the plurality of compensators is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of subtractors, 18-1, 18-2 . . . 18-n, where n is equal to the number of subbands.
Microphone 12 also picks up a second audio signal, which includes echoes of the first audio signal and audio signals from the near-end user.
The second audio signal is transmitted to second analyzer 14 coupled to the plurality of subtractors 18-1, 18-2 . . . 18-n. Analyzer 14 divides the second audio signal into n number of subbands in the frequency domain according to predetermined subband intervals for echo canceler 1. Each second audio signal subband is provided to one of the plurality of subtractors, and the subband is subtracted from one of the artificial echoes generated by the plurality of compensators 16-1, 16-2 . . . 16-n at the corresponding subband frequency. Outputs of the plurality of subtractors, preferably having echoes of the first audio signal removed or greatly reduced, are also known as compensated subband signals and they are provided to synthesizer 19 to recombine the compensated subband signals of the second audio signal. The recombined second audio signal is then transmitted to the far-end user through output line 24.
The effectiveness of an echo canceler may be improved by increasing the number of subbands divided from a signal. Alternatively, there have been various attempts to incorporate the psychoacoustic masking effect into the considerations for updating compensator coefficients. The psychoacoustic masking effect is based on a mathematical model of the masking behavior of the human auditory system wherein an audio signal is imperceptible by human ears when its signal level is below a variable threshold level. This threshold level is frequency dependent and variable according to the presence or absence of other audio signals. In other words, an audio signal may be perceivable under one noise environment and becomes imperceptible under another. These phenomena has been incorporated in many audio and speech compression techniques, including the MPEG-2 standard.
Diethorn describes the incorporation of the psychoacoustic masking effect into an "Optimization of Adaptive Filter Tap Settings for Subband Acoustic Echo Cancelers in Teleconferencing" in U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,642 issued on Aug. 20, 1996. Diethorn describes a subband acoustic echo canceler that incorporates indicia of human perceptual phenomena into an adaptive filter tap allocation table, including predetermined speech power spectra for male and female speakers. The number of taps is fixed, but the allocation of taps among the subbands is "weighted", depending on factors such as the acoustic impulse response of the room in which the echoes are generated and weighting adjustments based on one or more measures of perceived human acoustic sensitivity.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Systems and methods for reducing crosstalk are provided. In one implementation, a method is provided. The method includes applying a pilot signal to a disturber twisted pair and measuring near end crosstalk of a victim twisted pair. The coupling characteristics between the disturber and the victim twisted pair are determined. A far end crosstalk function is derived for estimating the far end crosstalk in the victim twisted pair using the determined coupling characteristics. A crosstalk reduction signal is determined using the estimated far end cross talk. The crosstalk reduction signal is injected into the victim twisted pair to reduce crosstalk in the victim twisted pair.

The present invention relates to communication systems.
Some communications systems, for example, digital subscriber line ("DSL") systems, transmit signals in a differential mode using two conductors that can be formed in a twisted pair transmission line. Twisted pair transmission lines can be co-located with other transmission lines in a binder (e.g., a cable). Each twisted pair forms a loop (i.e., when connected to a termination device) and can suffer from crosstalk interference (or simply crosstalk) when bundled with other pairs.
On loop lengths short enough to support Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line 2 plus ("ADSL2+") or Very-high bit rate Digital Subscriber Line ("VDSL") data rates greater than 12 Mbps, far-end crosstalk interference ("FEXT") can become the dominant contributor to degrading the signal to noise ratio at a victim receiver. In conventional systems, FEXT can limit the rate and reach of DSL signals greater than 8 Mbps.
Recent efforts to improve DSL performance through crosstalk reduction have focused on so called multiple-input, multiple output ("MIMO") processing schemes. These schemes attempt to characterize the crosstalk relationship between twisted pairs. The primary drawbacks of a conventional MIMO scheme are computational complexity, error due to ingress noise and signal attenuation, requirements that both ends of the communication network be upgraded, and long lag time associated with updating the MIMO information.
Efforts to improve network performance also include work in the area of dynamic spectrum management ("DSM"), in which the frequency and power usage of transmission lines are adjusted to achieve a desired performance in a manner that is least detrimental to other transmission lines. DSM is generally a scheme to coordinate different DSL lines within a binder in a way that avoids crosstalk. In the highest performance mode, the transmitters' power spectrum densities are adjusted dynamically to optimize overall network performance. Conventional DSM is an avoidance scheme and not a cancellation scheme and, thus, has limited effectiveness as the density of DSL signals in a binder increases.
Improved cabling is another area of focus for improving network performance. Although improved cabling can provide better immunity from disturber transmission lines and reduce crosstalk interference to other transmission lines and services, the use of improved cabling may be infeasible in many situations. Replacing existing cables can be expensive (due to material and labor costs), time consuming, and disruptive to service. Furthermore, existing conduits in buildings are often not large enough to accommodate the larger cables that have improved shielding, and replacing these conduits may be difficult or impossible.

Cancellation of crosstalk energy in communication loops


The invention relates to a device (10) for handling coins comprising a first supply unit (26) at a first side (22) of the device (10) for the input of coins, at least one coin processing unit (30) for processing the coins supplied via the first supply unit (26), comprising a coin storage system (32) that comprises at least two coin storages (54 to 68) for storing coins, wherein the coin processing unit (30) sorts the supplied coins at least according to one sorting criterion in the coin storages (54 to 58), and comprising a dispensing unit (28) provided at the first side (22) for dispensing the coins removed from the coin storage system (32). At a second side (42) a second supply unit (50) for the input of coins is provided, wherein the coins input via the second supply unit (50) can be supplied to the coin processing unit (30).

The invention relates to a device for handling coins. The coins supplied to the device via the supply unit are sorted in a coin processing unit, are stored in a coin storage system with at least two coin storages and can be dispensed at a dispensing unit. From document WO 2009/127731 A1 such a device is known.
In the retail sector it may, for example, be the case that due to change more coins are handed out to the customers than are earned. Alternatively or additionally it may be necessary that coin money not needed by a retail firm is collected. In both cases a retail firm depends on the supply of coin money or the disposal of coin money that is, for example, delivered or collected by a security transport company. Here, the personal handover of coins delivered or collected by the security transport company involves substantial time and effort, as the delivery of coins by the security transport company depends on the attendance time of the employees of the retail firm. Due to a necessary "second set of eyes principle" the handover of coin money to the security transport company is also associated with higher personnel expenses for the retail firm. Moreover, during the process of coins being supplied to the device by the security transport company it is not possible for the employees of the retail firm to supply coins what may lead to problems in the operating procedure. Supplying coins by an employee of the retail firm may be necessary if, for example, during a break or at change of shift a cashier supplies the coins from the cash drawer to the device.


A driving support system for a vehicle, which is provided with a communication apparatus capable of bi-directional communication between the vehicle and an unspecified number of moving objects, detects the presence of a communication impeding intersection at which there is a radio-wave blocking object using information obtained by communication with at least one of the moving objects that is traveling on an intersecting road which intersects the road on which the vehicle is traveling. The driving support system then transmits to at least one of the moving objects on the road on which the vehicle is traveling at least one of communication impeding intersection information relating to the communication impeding intersection and moving object information relating to at least one of the moving objects that is on the intersecting road only when the presence of the communication impeding intersection has been detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicular driving support system and vehicular control system is provided with a communication apparatus enabling bi-directional communication between moving objects. More specifically, the invention relates to a vehicular driving support system which uses vehicle-to-vehicle communication to support, with an efficient volume of information, safe driving at intersections at which there is a concentration of objects, such as buildings, which block the transmission of radio-waves, and a vehicular control system which uses the information obtained from the vehicular driving support system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicle control is able to be performed which supports safe driving based on information gathered using, for example, various sensors mounted on the vehicle and radar equipment mounted on the vehicle which detect obstacles around the vehicle. Further, various information, such as that related to traffic congestion, is able to be provided to a running vehicle by communication between roadside equipment located near a road and an on-board device mounted in the vehicle (i.e., roadside-vehicle communication).
Recently, bi-directional communication between vehicles (herein referred to as "vehicle-to-vehicle communication") has been proposed, wherein it is conceivable to perform control to prevent accidents from occurring by having vehicles exchange information and proceed in coordination with one another. With this bi-directional communication it is also conceivable to indirectly obtain information provided by roadside equipment (such as a sensor that detects the degree of traffic congestion around the vehicle) without direct roadside-vehicle communication by having one vehicle relay information obtained from the roadside equipment to another vehicle.
JP(A) 4-290200 discloses technology using this kind of vehicle-to-vehicle communication. According to this publication, a vehicular warning apparatus is known which estimates the probability of a collision with an intersecting vehicle when crossing an intersection based on information relating to the current position, running speed, and direction of travel of the intersecting vehicle obtained by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and outputting a warning when necessary in order to prevent a collision with the intersecting vehicle at the intersection.
In the vehicle-to-vehicle communication, both vehicles are provided with a radio transceiver which both transmits a radio signal that includes information relating to the host vehicle and receives a radio signal that includes information relating to the other vehicle. This vehicle-to-vehicle communication is typically between one vehicle and one or more other vehicles. As a result, when there is a concentration of vehicles, it may become difficult for each vehicle to efficiently extract the necessary other vehicle information. Further, the amount of information to be processed increases, thus increasing the processing load.
Therefore, when vehicle-to-vehicle communication is taking place between a vehicle and an unspecified number of other vehicles, or more specifically, at a location where there is a concentration of a plurality of vehicles, such as at an intersection, the processing load on the receiving side increases so time is required to extract the necessary information. As a result, the output timing of a warning to prevent a collision with an intersecting vehicle is delayed, which may reduce the functionality of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication at a place where vehicle-to-vehicle communication is extremely important.
Moreover, some areas may have a concentration of objects, such as buildings, that block the transmission of radio-waves. In this case, because radio-waves in the high frequency band used in vehicle-to-vehicle communication theoretically do not diffract, vehicle-to-vehicle communication between vehicles (e.g., vehicles which will meet at an intersection) providing important information may be impeded when there are radio-wave blocking objects present. On the other hand, it is possible to use information obtained indirectly via vehicle-to-vehicle communication with another vehicle. However, near intersections where there is a concentration of vehicles, it is still difficult to extract and apply the information quickly, as described above. Also in this case, even at intersections where there are actually no radio-wave blocking objects that impede vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the processing load on the receiving side still increases due to the indirect information provided by the other vehicle.

Vehicular driving support system and vehicular control system


A method of preventing trigger bounce during the launching of a projectile by a projectile launcher includes the step of first providing a projectile launcher having a trigger capable of actuating between a full non-firing position and a full firing position. An amount of time is determined for the trigger to normally transition from a full non-firing position to a full firing position. A sensor, such as an analog optical sensor, is used to sense position of the trigger. If the time for the trigger to transition from a non-firing position to a firing position exceeds the time for the trigger to normally transition from a full non-firing position to a full firing position, launch of the projectile is delayed period of time requiring the trigger to be release to a full non-firing position.

The invention relates generally to paintball markers and other projectile launching devices. The present invention relates to the assembly, operation and control of a trigger of a projectile launcher, such as a paintball marker, and the firing of projectiles therefrom. The present invention particularly relates to the launching of a projectiles in an electronic paintball marker and other such devices.
The present invention relates to any type of projectile launcher, such as a paintball marker or firearm. For ease of discussion herein, this description relates solely to paintball markers and the control of triggers therein. However, it should be understood that the present invention is applicable to any type of projectile launcher and the scope of the present invention and the claims herein are intended to cover such projectile launchers other than paintball launchers.
However, it is also well known that it is possible, on only one pull or a partial pull of the trigger, a marker can operate automatically, i.e. firing multiple paintballs without fully releasing the trigger or fully pulling the trigger. This is known as "trigger bounce" in the paintball and weapon industries. Trigger bounce can occur in markers that have mechanical or electrical triggers.
In markers that have mechanical triggers, a trigger is pulled to open a pneumatic valve via a mechanical linkage to release a burst of air from an air supply to launch the paintball through the marker barrel. Such operation is well known in the art and need not be discussed in further detail herein.
As seen in the prior art paintball marker 10 of FIG. 1, main body 12 is provided with a barrel 14 for launching the paintball 16. A trigger 18 typically is positioned in the grip frame portion 20 of the marker 10. When the trigger 18 is pulled just enough to launch the paintball 16 and the trigger 18 is held in such a position, the mechanical recoil of the marker 10 can force the trigger 18 back into the finger of the user without another pull of the trigger 18 resulting in the immediate launching of another paintball 16. As long as the trigger 18 is held in the partially pulled positioned and the marker 10 is balanced appropriated, the marker 10 can be easily be operated in automatic launching mode to launch paintballs 16 in successive fashion.
Such trigger bounce can also occur in triggers 18 that use electronic sensors or electronic switches to determine trigger position. Such electronic sensors (not shown in FIG. 1) can be analog or digital. For example, an analog sensor can be an optical sensor that passes a portion of the trigger in front of a light emitter and light receiver or a Hall Effect inductive device that uses magnet or ferrous material and a coil to measure distance of trigger travel.
By way of example, a trigger equipped with an optical sensor 22 is shown in FIG. 2 to illustrate trigger bounce in such an electronic environment. Trigger 18 pivots on a pin 24 that passes through the body of the grip frame 20. The trigger 18 is held onto the pin 24 by means of a set screw 26. A second set screw 28 is positioned in a threaded hole 30 through the front of the trigger 18 and acts as a trigger stop. This set screw 28 can be screwed into or out from the hole 30 in order to vary the maximum travel of the trigger 18. A third set screw 32 locates in a threaded hole 34 through the top of the trigger 18 and also acts as a trigger stop. This set screw 32 can be screwed into or out from the hole 34 in order to vary the rest position of the trigger 18. A small magnet 36 is located in the grip frame 20 above a fourth set screw 38. This magnet 36 attracts the set screw 38, ensuring that the trigger 18 returns to its rest position when released.
Most importantly, a prong 40 protrudes from the rear of the trigger 18 passing through a slot in the grip frame 20. When the trigger 18 is operated the prong 40 passes through a slotted optical sensor 22, having a light emitter 22a and a light receiver 22b. More specifically, light emitter 22a emits light toward light receiver 22b. When the light receiver 22b senses the full strength of the light emitted from light emitter 22a, a non-firing position can be indicated. When the prong 40 completely blocks the light receiver 22b, a firing position can be indicated.
A typical optical sensor 22 used in a paintball marker 10 has a 1.2 millimeters diameter view. Thus, a trigger stroke length of 1.2 millimeters can be monitored. Different optical sensors with different diameters can be used and still be within the scope of the present invention. It should also be understood that the trigger construction of FIG. 2 is just one example of how a an optical sensor 22 can be used to monitor trigger position.
Also, a threshold level can be set so that when the trigger 18 blocks a certain amount of light to the light receiver 35b, a firing position can also be indicated. Such a threshold can be set anywhere from 0 to 100 percent light blockage but it is typically in the range of 40–60 percent light blockage to indicate a firing condition. Therefore, the optical sensor 22 can detect trigger position along its path of travel.
In this example that employs an optical sensor 22 to sense trigger position, trigger bounce occurs when the trigger 18 is partially pulled and cycles slowly between a position just above and just below the threshold level for triggering. The resultant recoil of the marker 10 during the physical firing and movement of the bolt therein (not shown) causes the trigger 18 to move between the two aforementioned positions resulting in the marker 10 operating in a simulated automatic mode of operation.
Thus, it is very common in the use of paintball markers 10 to exploit the recoil of the marker during firing while holding the trigger 18 down to enable the marker 10 to fire automatically without pulling the trigger 18 again. The firing of multiple paintballs 16 from only a single pull of the trigger 18 is highly undesirable as it contravenes typical paintball competition rules. While players are penalized for such rules infractions, trigger bounce is still exploited during game play.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a way to enforce paintball rules that prohibit automatic firing by exploiting trigger bounce. There is a further need to control the operation of the paintball marker itself to ensure that a single trigger pull results in only one paintball being fired.

Trigger transition filter for a paintball marker


A tool turret includes a tool disk (1) having at least one tool receptacle (7) for a machining tool and being fastened to an accommodating disk (51). The disk can be swiveled about a support column that defines a swivel axis into positions in which the particular machining tool is in a working position. A contact surface (55) is provided on the tool disk (1) and can be clamped to an accommodating surface (53) on the accommodating disk (51) by a clamping device. The clamping device has an annular groove on one disk to be clamped. The annular groove is concentric to the swivel axis, is open radially outside and has at least one inner slanted surface (81). At least one compression piece (57) is on the other disk, penetrates the annular groove (61) under compressive force and has a wedge surface (79). In interaction with the slanted surface (81) of the annular groove (61), the wedge surface produces a force component as a clamping force from the compressive force pressing the contact surface (55) and the accommodating surface (53) against each other.

Tool turrets of this kind are known from the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,475,463 discloses a receiver disk to which the tool disk is fastened. This receiver disk forms both a supporting element, at which the tool disk is held for its swivel movements, and at the same time the output-side element of the swivel drive for positioning the respective machining tools into the desired working positions. When such units are in operation, the tool disk, which forms the turret head, is subject to high loads with correspondingly high torques that try to twist the tool disk out of the target position, when, for example, rotary tools for high cutting performances or stationary tools, for example, turning tools for lathe work or the like, are fastened to the tool disk. To ensure high quality machining under such conditions, special arrangements need to be made that will guarantee a secure attachment of the tool disk to the receiver disk.
In the state of the art, the tool disk has screw bolt holes to screw the tool disk to the receiver disk from the inside of the turret head using machine screws. Such solutions are not completely satisfactory. In addition to the production and assembly costs, a threaded joint between the tool disk and the receiver disk renders achieving a safety function difficult. The safety function allows the tool disk to rotate with the turret head relative to the receiver disk in case of an emergency to prevent the swivel drive and/or the turret head from being damaged in a "crash case" during the ongoing operations.


A dedicated bus between a central processing unit and a peripheral unit, such as a graphics controller driving a video display, provides enhanced capability in an environment in which signal processing occurs within the central processing unit. The dedicated bus relieves other data buses, such as the PCI bus, of the need to communicate large amounts of data, such as decompressed video data. The resulting system supports high bandwidth transmissions of decompressed video data, enabling high resolution 24 bit full motion video and multiple data stream video.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to processors which include a data bus for communicating large amounts of data, such as video or graphics data, to a device on the bus, such as an external device. In particular, the invention concerns providing a dedicated bus that avoids the need for transmitting such information through other system buses.
2. Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional system. A central processing unit (CPU) 1 is connected through a data communication bus 3 to an interface 5 and a high level L2 cache memory 7. L2 cache 7 communicates with another cache 8 over link 11. The L2 cache 7 is connected to a memory control unit 9. Bridge 17 links the system to PCI bus 19. The PCI bus 19 has various elements connected thereto. These could include a double or quad speed CD ROM 21, a graphics controller 23 and possibly a digital signal processor (DSP) 25. Graphics controller 23 is also connected to memory 27 and is used to drive display 29.
In a conventional system as shown in FIG. 1, compressed video is supplied from a video source, such as CD ROM 21, under control of CPU 1, onto PCI bus 19. DSP 25, under control of CPU 1, processes the compressed video to create decompressed video for delivery to graphics control unit 23 for display of a corresponding image on display 29.
Recent advances in video processing have improved the conventional system of FIG. 1 to yield a system as shown in FIG. 2. DSP 25 is no longer connected to PCI bus 19, thus reducing the hardware and real estate needed to implement the system. Instead, digital signal processing is accomplished within CPU 1.
The digital signal processing in CPU 1 can take either of two forms. A first form is the incorporation of a conventional DSP, such as DSP 25, onto the microprocessor chip comprising CPU 1. A second form is the use of processing wherein the activities previously accomplished by a DSP are accomplished by the CPU according to software. In either form, the incorporation of the DSP activities, such as the task of decompressing compressed video to produce decompressed video, into CPU 1, can lead to drawbacks. As described below, these drawbacks are addressed by the invention.
For a conventional display 29 containing 1024 by 768 pixels, production of one high color image requiring 2 bytes per pixel requires about 1.6 megabytes of data. At 8 bits per byte, such an image requires about 12.5 M bits. To produce a full motion video image, a frame rate of 30 frames per second is required. Thus, production of a full motion 16 bit full color video image on display 29 requires about 48 megabytes of data per second.
In the system of FIG. 2, CPU 1 executes the decompression algorithm, and the decompressed video is routed through bridge 17 to PCI bus 19. PCI bus 19 has a peak bandwidth of 133 megabytes, with about 50 megabytes usable. As noted above, a high color image requires 48 megabytes per second of decompressed video. A PCI bus has a peak capability of about 132 M bytes per second. However, this rate is not sustainable because bus overhead reduces the useable bus bandwidth to about 50 M bytes/sec. Since PCI bus 19 has a usable capability of only about 50 megabytes per second, production of decompressed video routed to graphics controller 23 consumes virtually all of the capability of PCI bus 19, thereby leaving little bandwidth for use by other elements such as CD ROM 21 and DSP 25. New 64 bit, 66 MHz PCI bus configurations are faster, but have other drawbacks. Such drawbacks include electromagnetic interference (EMI), increased cost and limits on the number of available slots per bridge, thereby requiring more bridges and further driving costs up.
In the conventional system of FIG. 1, the close physical proximity of DSP 25 to graphics controller 23 minimized the negative impact of the bus dominance by the decompressed video from DSP 25 to graphics controller 23. However, in systems such as that of FIG. 2, wherein the digital signal processing is occurring in CPU 1, this bus dominance leads to degradation of the video image.
For example, since more than two megabytes of bandwidth are needed for CD ROM 21 to provide the compressed video to CPU 1, the result is that 48 megabytes of bandwidth on the PCI bus are not always available for the delivery of decompressed video to graphics controller 23. When the decompressed video is not available to graphics controller 23, one or more video frames may be dropped. When the frame rate falls below 30 frames per second, the resulting video image may appear degraded. To compensate for this situation, designers have opted to use only a portion of video display 29, such as a window, to show full motion video. By using less (fewer pixels) of the display, a smaller bandwidth is required for the decompressed video, the frame rate can be maintained, and sufficient bus capacity exists to allow other devices to communicate via PCI bus 19. However, the constraint of using only a portion of the available display for full motion video is limiting.
In view of the above limitations of the related art, it is an object of the invention to provide a system in which decompressed video can be transmitted to a display with a minimum of frame dropping and without incurring the disadvantages of conventional systems.
The above and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a separate bus from CPU 1 to graphics controller 23 over which decompressed video is transmitted. This separate bus eliminates communication through L2 cache 7, the memory control unit 9, bridge 17, and PCI bus 19. Implementation of a separate bus communicating between CPU 1 and graphics controller 23 according to the invention relieves the PCI bus of this communication requirement, thus providing additional PCI bus capability to facilitate communication between other elements of the system. Although the capability of PCI bus 19 is itself unaffected, the elimination of the decompressed video from PCI bus 19 results in more bandwidth being available for the other elements to communicate over this bus.
The high speed bus according to the invention can be a duplicate of the buses currently being used.
Preferably, however, the bus between the CPU 1 and the graphics controller 23 would be a serial high speed bus which would provide high bandwidth and low electro magnetic interference (EMI).


A refrigerant gas is collected and a compressor is removed from a discarded refrigerator, a heat-insulating housing including a heat insulator is cut/processed and separated into a plurality of pieces, and the pieces are compressed/processed by compression rollers opposing each other so as to collect a gas contained in the heat insulator. In accordance with this method, substantially no gas contained in the heat insulator is diffused at the time of cutting the heat-insulating housing, and the gas can be collected at a high concentration because it is collected by being allowed to leak out at the time of compressing. Furthermore, by using the compression rollers, closed-cells in the heat insulator can be crushed easily, thereby collecting the gas completely and reliably. Thus, it is possible to collect a foaming gas contained in the heat insulator efficiently and disassemble a refrigerator at low cost without increasing the size of equipment and an installation space.

Generally, a heat-insulating housing of a refrigerator is formed of a layered body including a steel (including iron and cast iron) plate as an outer wall material, a resin plate as an inner wall material and a heat insulator interposed between the steel plate and the resin plate. The heat insulator is made of urethane foam or the like, and chlorofluorocarbons are used as a foaming agent therefor. Since chlorofluorocarbons may destroy an ozone layer, it is necessary to collect them at the time of disposing of a refrigerator and prevent them from diffusing into the air. It also is desired that the steel plate and the resin plate should be collected for recycling.
As a conventional method for disassembling a discarded refrigerator, a method described in JP 2679562 B is known, for example. The following is a brief description of this method.
After a steel plate and a resin plate are removed from a heat-insulating housing, urethane foam first is cut into pieces of approximately 5 cm square, which are put into a hopper and sent to a crusher. In the process where external mechanical force is applied in the crusher so as to crush the urethane foam, closed-cells therein are destroyed. Chlorofluorocarbons released from the closed-cells and the crushed urethane grains are sent to a bag filter together with the air, so that a gaseous component and the urethane grains are separated. The gaseous component is cooled down in a condenser, so that the chlorofluorocarbons are liquefied and separated, and then the gas that is not condensed is sent back to the hopper. In this manner, the chlorofluorocarbons contained in the urethane foam can be separated and collected without being diffused into the air.
However, in the above-described disassembling method, after crushing the urethane foam, in order to separate the urethane grains and the released chlorofluorocarbons, a mixture thereof is sent with the air to the bag filter, so that they are separated by utilizing a wind power. Thus, since the chlorofluorocarbons are diffused in the carrier air, the concentration of the chlorofluorocarbons becomes extremely low. Under such conditions, the condensation and separation of the chlorofluorocarbons is by no means efficient. Furthermore, the equipment for carrying out these processes is large, raising equipment costs considerably.
Moreover, both the crusher for crushing the urethane foam and the separator for separating the urethane grains and the gaseous component generally are very large, which require a large installation space and cost much.

Refrigerator dismantling method, compression equipment, and refrigerator dismantling device

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An apparatus having a complex sine wave generating circuit (3) that generates a complex sine wave, a multiplying circuit (4) that multiplies an input signal by the complex sine wave, a first integrating circuit (5) that integrates the product obtained by the multiplying circuit (4) in the time direction, a first squaring circuit (6) that takes the square of the absolute value of a complex signal output by the first integrating circuit (5), a second squaring circuit (7) that takes the square of the absolute value of the instantaneous amplitude of the input signal, a second integrating circuit (8) that integrates the results obtained by the second squaring circuit (7) in the time direction, and a frequency difference calculating circuit (9) that finds the difference between the frequency of the input signal and the oscillation frequency of the complex sine wave on the basis of the ratio between the output signal level of the first squaring circuit (6) and the output signal level of the second integrating circuit (8).

One apparatus for measuring the frequency distribution of an input signal is a spectrum analyzer. The configuration of a circuit that can be used as the detector of a spectrum analyzer is shown in Patent Document 1: it detects the amplitude and phase of the input signal by using a complex sine wave generated by a local oscillator to down-convert the band-limited input signal and removes unwanted high frequency components with a low-pass filter. A similar configuration is seen in Patent Document 2, where it is used as part of a demodulator that detects the amplitude of a modulating signal from a high-frequency signal generated by amplitude modulation. Amplitude modulation uses a carrier signal to up-shift the unaltered frequency distribution of the modulating signal, so the demodulator can be regarded as a circuit that detects the input signal by down-shifting its frequency distribution by an amount equal to the carrier frequency.
There are cases in which what is wanted is not to detect the entire frequency distribution of the input signal, but to determine automatically whether the input signal includes a particular frequency component. For example, it may be necessary to determine what color television system is being used in an analog broadcast. The color subcarrier frequency in the NTSC system used in Japan and the United States of America is approximately 3.58 MHz (the precise value is 3.579545 MHz); the PAL system used in Europe has a different color subcarrier frequency of approximately 4.43 MHz (the precise value is 4.43361875 MHz). In the SECAM system the color subcarrier frequency switches between 4.25 MHz and 4.40625 MHz once per horizontal interval. A multi-standard color television receiver therefore requires a circuit that discriminates the color subcarrier frequency of the input video signal.
In color television transmission, depending on the channel characteristics, the amplitude of the color subcarrier may be greatly attenuated, or much noise may be present. Just by measuring the signal amplitude or signal power at each frequency with the same configuration as a spectrum analyzer and adding a circuit to evaluate the magnitude of the measured value of a particular frequency component, accordingly, it would not necessarily be possible to identify the color subcarrier frequency of the input video signal correctly.
In Patent Document 3 there is an exemplary circuit that determines whether the color subcarrier frequency is 3.58 MHz or 4.43 MHz, using a trap filter with a stop-band around 4.43 MHz. It extracts the color burst signal that forms the color subcarrier frequency reference from the input video signal, compares the color burst signal with a signal obtained by passing the color burst signal through the trap filter, and determines the color subcarrier frequency of the input video signal to be 4.43 MHz if it is attenuated by the trap filter, or 3.58 MHz if it is not attenuated. A feature of this method is that the frequency discrimination result does not depend on the amplitude of the color burst signal, but when the noise amplitude is large, there is the possibility of incorrect frequency discrimination, depending on whether or not the noise component is attenuated by the trap filter.
In Patent Document 4 there is an exemplary circuit that determines whether the color subcarrier frequency changes at each horizontal interval, and uses the result of this determination to recognize whether or not the input video signal is a SECAM signal. This circuit makes use of the property that the phase delay of an RLC resonant circuit is approximately +90 degrees on the high-frequency side and approximately −90 degrees on the low-frequency side. Since discrimination is not affected even if the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit is slightly displaced, the 4.40625-MHz (or 4.25-MHz) color subcarrier frequency is down-converted to 654 kHz (or 810 kHz) by use of a 5.06-MHz complex sine wave, and the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit is 732 kHz. If the real component of the down-converted signal is passed through the resonant circuit and multiplied by the imaginary component, whether the frequency of the input signal is higher or lower than a reference frequency (5.06 MHz−732 kHz=4.328 MHz) can be determined by detecting whether the product is positive or negative.
The features of this system are that the frequency discrimination result does not depend on the amplitude of the color subcarrier and is comparatively immune to noise, but it is not suited for applications that must discriminate large frequency differences. To maintain accurate frequency discrimination when the frequency difference is small in relation to the resonant frequency, it is necessary to use a resonant circuit with a high Q value. If a resonant circuit with a high Q value is used, however, then an input signal differing greatly from the resonant frequency will be unable to pass through the resonant circuit, and the product will be close to zero regardless of the frequency difference. Since the product value is close to zero even when the input signal frequency is close to the resonant frequency, it is difficult to discriminate an input signal with a frequency that actually differs greatly from the resonant frequency correctly. If used as is, this SECAM discrimination circuit cannot accurately determine whether the color subcarrier frequency is 3.58 MHz or 4.43 MHz.    Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,555 (pp. 21-22, FIG. 6)    Patent Document 2: U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,145 (pp. 10-11, FIG. 4)    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent No. 3500883 (p. 4, FIG. 1)    Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H10-051802 (p. 3, FIG. 1)

Frequency difference detection apparatus and method, frequency discrimination apparatus and method, and frequency synthesis apparatus and method


Apparatus comprises counter and bit-shift circuitry to provide a succession of processing stages each comprising a count operation stage and a corresponding bit-shift stage, each processing stage operating with respect to a set of contiguous n-bit groups of bit positions, where n is 1 for a first processing stage and n doubles from one processing stage in the succession of processing stages to a next processing stage in the succession of processing stages; each count operation stage being configured to generate, for a first set of alternate instances of the n-bit groups of bit positions, count values indicating a respective number of bits of a predetermined bit value in a mask data word; and each bit-shift stage being configured to generate a bit-shifted data word by bit-shifting bits of a data word to be processed, for a second set of alternate instances of the n-bit groups of bit positions complementary to the first set, by respective numbers of bit positions dependent upon the count values generated by the respective count operation stage, in which the bit-shifted data word for one bit-shift stage in the succession of processing stages is used as the data word to be processed by the next bit-shift stage in the succession of processing stages.

This disclosure relates to bit processing.
Some bit processing involves so-called bit-level permutation instructions or operations in which bits of an input ordered bit array (such as an input word) are permuted to form an output ordered bit array according to values of control bits such as so-called sieve or mask bits.
In previously proposed systems, the mask needs to be analysed to determine how much each data bit must be shifted by (and in which direction) and an n-bit data path comprising the equivalent of n n-to-1 multiplexers is needed to perform the shifting. Control circuitry in a previously proposed arrangement can be complicated and can lack flexibility, in that it is dedicated to a particular permutation operation.

Bit processing involving bit-level permutation instructions or operations


A fluid system and method according to which a first fluid, a second fluid, or a blend of the fuels is passed to a first meter for measuring the flow thereof while the second fluid is passed through a second meter before it passes to the first meter. The flow of the first fluid to the first meter and the flow of the second fluid to the second meter and then to the first meter are controlled by valves and, as a result, a predetermined ratio of the blended fluids can be established and maintained. The second meter can be calibrated based on the first meter and therefore does not have to inherently provide relatively accurate volumetric measurements. Thus, the second meter can be less costly than the first meter.

There are many applications for providing fluids separately and in a blended condition. For example, in connection with service stations for dispensing motor fuel products, two or more fuel products with different octane ratings are dispensed separately, and a blending system is often provided for blending the products. A conventional system of this type utilizes two meters of identical, relatively high, volumetric accuracy so that when either product flows, the required accuracy is available for each product. In these arrangements, when a blended fuel is dispensed, the readings of the two meters are added together to obtain the total volume. The ratio between the two products is obtained and controlled using the two meters, but the volumetric accuracy of each individual meter exceeds the volumetric accuracy requirements of the blended fuel and is costly.
Another problem with prior art arrangements of this type is that the master meter often has a relatively high volumetric capacity. Therefore, when the product to be dispensed is changed, the product that was previously dispensed accumulates in the meter and mixes with the next product to be dispensed. This could cause the quality of the latter product to fall outside regulatory, or other, requirements.
Therefore, what is need is a blending system for two or more fluids which eliminates the need for a relatively costly meter for each fluid. Also needed is a system and method of the above type in which the master meter has a relative low volumetric capacity to avoid the accumulation of any previously dispensed fuel in the meter.

Fluid system and method utilizing a master and blend ratio meter


A self-texturing hollow fiber that exhibits a desirable tendency to coil rather than to bend sharply or zig-zag. In one embodiment the invention is a hollow polymer filament having a generally cylindrical cross-section. The filament is further defined by a cylindrical wall formed of at least two generally C-shaped sections, each section including first and second ends separated by an intermediate portion in which no two points along the cross-section of the wall corresponding to the intermediate portion share the same width. In another aspect, the invention is a coiled bilateral hollow polymeric filament in which the two component polymers are identical except for their degree of orientation. The filament is further defined by a non-linear wall formed of at least two non-linear sections.

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing filaments from a thermoplastic polymer, and in particular relates to a self-texturing filament formed from polyester that exhibits a desirable tendency to form helical coils when properly drawn and finished rather than remain straight and without texture. The apparatus and method are particularly well suited for forming spiraled high denier hollow filaments from recycled materials.
Synthetic polymers are used in many textile applications to replace natural textile materials such as wool and cotton. Synthetic polymers are also used for other textile-related applications such as insulation layers in clothing, particularly clothing for outdoor use in colder weather, and for bulking properties in pillows and other such products in which these properties are alternatively provided by natural materials such as feathers or by synthetic foam materials.
The starting product for almost all synthetic textile material is a liquid polymer. The liquid polymer is extruded through a device called a "spinneret" containing at least one and typically many small orifices. Extruding the liquid polymer in this fashion creates extended solid cylindrical filaments. Such filaments have some immediate uses such as fishing line. In textile applications, however, synthetic filaments and the fibers and yarns made from them should desirably provide properties similar to those of natural fibers such as wool or cotton. In order to provide such properties, synthetic filaments must be modified or textured before being formed into yarns and fabrics. As is well understood in the textile industry, texturing can comprise crimping, looping, or otherwise modifying continuous filaments to increase their cover, resilience, abrasion resistance, warmth, insulation properties, and moisture absorption, or to provide a somewhat different surface texture. Filaments are also structurally modified to impart desired physical properties. For example, hollow filaments of cylindrical and triangular cross-sections or possessing bulbous appendages are known in the art.
Typical texturing methods include false twist texturing, mechanical texturing such as edge crimping or gear crimping, air jet crimping, knit-de-knit crinkles, or core-bulked filaments. Each of these has its own particular properties, advantages, and disadvantages.
Among these various types of textured filaments, coils are preferred for certain applications such as cushions and insulation. Coiled filaments tend to give more volume and fewer sharp bends, "zig-zags," or "knees." Generally speaking, coiled filaments take on a coil or spiral configuration that is somewhat more three dimensional than other textured filaments and thus are preferred for many bulking applications, including those mentioned above. Hollow coiled filaments are particularly useful in bulking applications.
Typical methods for coiling filaments include false twisting or edge crimping, both of which techniques are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and will not be otherwise further described herein. Both of these methods have various advantages and disadvantages in producing coiled yarns. For example, false twist coiling requires a conventional false twist winding system, while an edge crimp method requires the mechanical devices necessary to physically produce the crimp.
Alternatively, coiled filaments can be formed from bilateral fibers that coil following further processing. Traditionally, bilateral fibers are formed from two different generic fibers or variants of the same generic fiber extruded in a side-by-side relationship. Although side-by-side or "bicomponent" spinning offers certain advantages, it also is a relatively demanding process that requires more complex spinning equipment and thus is advantageously avoided where unnecessary.
In the early and mid-1990's, apparatus and methods for forming hollow self-texturizing filaments were developed that avoided the problems associated with the above-mentioned texturing methods. These apparatus and methods utilized, among other things, a unique quenching method that coiled the filament without mechanical manipulation of the filament. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,407,625; 5,510,183; and 5,531,951 (commonly assigned to the present assignee) are representative of this step forward in textile technology.
In the past few years, a combination of the public's increasing awareness of the finite nature of natural resources, the desire to reduce pollution and improved recycling technology has greatly expanded the market for recycled materials. Accordingly, manufacturers continue to search for new and better methods for incorporating recycled materials into their production processes. The polymer industry is particularly active in this area.
Many companies currently use recycled polymers (i.e., polyester) to manufacture various goods including filament. Nevertheless, the use of recycled polyester—the majority of which is from post-consumer beverage bottles—as feedstock for filament production poses numerous problems. One problem associated with recycled feedstock (as opposed to virgin polymer) is the variation in the viscosity (which directly reflects the molecular weight) of the feedstock. Another problem is the presence of unwanted contaminants. Both of these problems disturb the flow of the melt through the spinneret, which in turn leads to disruptions in the subsequent processing of the filament of which the most troublesome are line breakages.
The above problems may be reduced or eliminated by (1) improving the quality of recycled feedstock, or (2) adjusting the production process. By its very nature, the quality of feedstock is often governed by factors outside of the control of the recycler. Accordingly, adjustment of the production process for a wide variety of feedstocks often offers the most promising long term means to address these problems.
One typical adjustment is to use filtration to remove a portion of the contaminants from the recycle. Filter life depends upon the filter fineness (i.e., grade) and the percentage of contaminants removed. Long filter life is desired to avoid process interruptions therefore coarser filters are often used. Coarser filters allow more contaminants to pass through. Accordingly, additional contaminant related adjustments, such as the use of larger spinneret holes (which allow passage of larger contaminant particles) are often necessary. Another typical adjustment is to use a spinneret with fewer orifices at the same throughput thereby producing larger denier filament (i.e., 6-15 dpf). The larger denier can be achieved via slower take-up speeds and higher throughput per hole. The larger orifices also provide more area for passage of solid contaminants. Changing size, of course, can limit certain end uses for the filaments.
Processes upstream and downstream of the spinneret, however, are typically fixed for a specific volume of product. For example, the quantity of polymers fed to the spinneret and the take-up speed of the filament (i.e., the speed at which the filament is taken up on rollers) are usually fixed or are only minimally variable. Thus, a combination of fixed volume and larger orifice translates to slower velocities through the spinneret (i.e., slower extrusion speeds). For regular filament the ratio of take-up speed (or process speed) to extrusion speed is typically on the order of 120:1. This ratio is often called the stretch ratio because the change in velocity physically stretches the filament.stretch ratio=process speed÷extrusion speed
For large denier hollow-fiber filament, which has a slower extrusion speed, the stretch ratio is typically around 300-400:1.
The high stretch ratio for production of large denier hollow-fiber filament causes problems in the production of spiral filaments. The spiral effect is achieved through use of a rapid one-sided quench as described in the previously listed and commonly assigned patents. The rapid quench combined with a slow extrusion speed and high stretch ratio increases the maximum value of the melt's strain rate as the filament is formed in the quench zone. The maximum strain rate, also called the "maximum dv/dx," is the maximum value of the ratio
                                          ⅆ            v                                ⅆ            x                          =                                  increase                                                              in                                                              fiber                                                              speed                                                              in                                                              the                                                              process                                                              direction                                                                  incremental                                                              distance                                                              in                                                              the                                                              process                                                              direction
This ratio only applies where the fiber is still molten in the quenching zone and increasing in velocity from the extrusion velocity to the take up velocity. If the maximum strain rate is exceeded the filament breaks which interrupts production.
In other words, because the filament solidifies shortly after leaving the spinneret the filament must rapidly accelerate from the slow extrusion speed to the fast take-up speed. This rapid acceleration places a large amount of strain on the filament. If the strain rate is higher than the polymer relaxation time, the filament will likely break. Slower cooling (i.e., slower quench) can moderate this problem, but a faster differential cooling is needed to spiral the filament as noted in the commonly assigned patents.
In short, current production methods for large denier hollow fiber are hindered by opposing but unavoidable production components: rapid quenching and high stretch ratios. Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus and method for producing self-texturing hollow fiber filament from recycled material and particularly higher-denier filament from recycled material that avoids the difficulties associated with current production practices.

Method and apparatus for high denier hollow spiral fiber


A host bus adapter (“HBA”) is provided with a programmable trace logic that can be enabled or disabled by firmware running on the HBA and if enabled can receive trace information from at least one processor, which is stored in a local memory buffer controlled by a local memory interface. A receive and transmit path processor data is traced and stored in the local memory buffer. The trace logic includes an arbitration module that receives trace data from plural sources and the trace data is stored in a first in first out based buffer before being sent to a direct memory access arbiter module and then to an external memory. Trace data as stored in the external memory includes a trace data source identity value, and a time stamp value indicating when data was collected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storage systems, and more particularly, to maintaining trace information in host bus adapters ("HBAs").
2. Background of the Invention
Storage area networks ("SANs") are commonly used where plural memory storage devices are made available to various host computing systems. Data in a SAN is typically moved from plural host systems (that include computer systems) to the storage system through various controllers/adapters (including HBAs).
Various standard interfaces are used to move data from host systems to storage devices. Fibre channel is one such standard. Fibre channel (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) is an American National Standard Institute (ANSI) set of standards, which provides a serial provides a serial transmission protocol for storage and network protocols such as HIPPI, SCSI, IP, ATM and others. Fibre channel provides an input/output interface to meet the requirements of both channel and network users.
Host systems often communicate with storage systems via a HBA using the "PCI" bus interface. PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect, a local bus standard that was developed by Intel Corporation®. The PCI standard is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Most modern computing systems include a PCI bus in addition to a more general expansion bus (e.g. the ISA bus). PCI is a 64-bit bus and can run at clock speeds of 33 or 66 MHz.
PCI-X is a standard bus that is compatible with existing PCI cards using the PCI bus. PCI-X improves the data transfer rate of PCI from 132 MBps to as much as 1 GBps. The PCI-X standard was developed by IBM®, Hewlett Packard Corporation® and Compaq Corporation® to increase performance of high bandwidth devices, such as Gigabit Ethernet standard and Fibre Channel Standard, and processors that are part of a cluster.
The iSCSI standard (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) is based on Small Computer Systems Interface ("SCSI"), which enables host computer systems to perform block data input/output ("I/O") operations with a variety of peripheral devices including disk and tape devices, optical storage devices, as well as printers and scanners. A traditional SCSI connection between a host system and peripheral device is through parallel cabling and is limited by distance and device support constraints. For storage applications, iSCSI was developed to take advantage of network architectures based on Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet standards. iSCSI leverages the SCSI protocol over established networked infrastructures and defines the means for enabling block storage applications over TCP/IP networks. iSCSI defines mapping of the SCSI protocol with TCP/IP.
The iSCSI architecture is based on a client/server model. Typically, the client is a host system such as a file server that issues a read or write command. The server may be a disk array that responds to the client request.
HBAs today perform complex operations and are key to the overall efficiency of a SAN. HBAs may use more than one processor whose operation should be tracked to perform diagnostics in case of a failure or otherwise. HBA processors use program counters that track various processor-executed operations. However, conventional HBAs do not provide an efficient system for tracing multiple processors or providing the trace information in a user-friendly interface.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method that can trace multiple processors in an HBA.

Method and system for efficiently recording processor events in host bus adapters


A method and an apparatus for outputting information are provided. The method includes acquiring voice information received within a preset time period before a device is awakened, where the device is provided with a wake-up model for outputting preset response information when a preset wake-up word is received; performing speech recognition on the voice information to obtain a recognition result; extracting feature information of the voice information in response to determining that the recognition result does not include a preset wake-up word; generating a counterexample training sample according to the feature information; and training the wake-up model using a counter-example training sample, and outputting the trained wake-up model.

With the increasing demand for travel comfort and the increasing popularity of the on-board entertainment information system carrying voice assistants, people have gradually relied on the use of voice assistants during travel to complete some on-board controls, such as navigation, listening to music, and controlling air conditioning, which are increasingly accepted.

Method and apparatus for outputting information

Apollo Intelligent Connectivity (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd.


Apparatus, method and computer program product are provided for digitally processing an encrypted data stream scrambled, for example, according to content scrambling system (CSS) technology. This digital processing insures against communication of clear data within the computer system from a central processing unit (CPU) to any accessible structure, such as memory or a system bus. Descrambling of the (CSS) scrambled data stream occurs within a module executing on the CPU, which is followed by re-encryption of the data prior to transfer from the CPU. By so processing the data, integrity of copyrighted material is maintained, while allowing for software descrambling of the CSS encrypted data stream. Various techniques for establishing the encryption/decryption algorithm pair employed are described. Decryption of the re-encrypted data can occur at a receiving software module and/or a receiving hardware device, such as a decoder.

Within the past decade, the advent of world-wide electronic communications systems has enhanced the way in which people can send and receive information. In particular, the capabilities of real-time video and audio systems have greatly improved in recent years. In order to provide services such as video-on-demand, video conferencing, and digital video disc (DVD) motion pictures, an enormous amount of bandwidth is required. In fact, bandwidth is often the main inhibitor in the effectiveness of such systems.
In order to overcome the constraints imposed by existing technology, compression systems have emerged. These systems reduce the amount of video and audio data which must be transmitted by removing redundancy in the picture sequence. At the receiving end, the picture sequence is uncompressed and may be displayed in real time.
One example of an emerging video compression standard is the Moving Picture Experts Group ("MPEG") standard. Within the MPEG standard, video compression is defined both within a picture and between pictures. Video compression within a picture is accomplished by conversion of the digital image from the time domain to the frequency domain by a discrete cosine transform, quantization, variable length coding, and Huffman coding. Video compression between pictures is accomplished via a process referred to as "motion estimation", in which a motion vector plus difference data is used to describe the translation of a set of picture elements from one picture to another. The ISO MPEG2 standard specifies only the syntax of bitstream and semantics of the decoding process. The particular choice of coding parameters and tradeoffs in performance versus complexity is left to the system developers.
Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) is an emerging technology which due to its nature, requires extensive encryption in order to protect the data, such as a motion picture, against unauthorized copying.
DVD is a specification for the content of video, audio and other compressed data to be used as playback video, audio and, for example, subtitle data by a DVD decoder. The DVD video data is specified in the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) standard (ISO/IEC 13818-2). As well as being represented by this standard, the data is also encrypted using the industry's Content Scrambling System (CSS), which produces an encrypted, encoded data stream for DVD playback. The data stream can be decrypted by hardware licensed to perform CSS decryption. Conventionally, CSS decryption occurs at a PCI card, which also conventionally includes MPEG decompression of the encrypted, encoded data signal.
The present invention is directed in one particular aspect to improving upon this conventional DVD processing of the encrypted, encoded data stream.

Apparatus, method and computer program product for protecting copyright data within a computer system

International Business Machines Corporation


In an information recording/reproducing method performing a thermo-magnetic recording, a tracking offset value of a recording light spot and/or a tracking offset value of a magnetic flux detecting element is changed in accordance with a radial position at which a tracking is performed at the present time, to make a direction of a magnetic wall of a recording magnetic domain in accord with a longitudinal direction of the magnetic flux detecting element. Alternatively, a shape of a heated area is changed to be in accord with the direction of the magnetic flux detecting means at respective radial position, to make the direction of the magnetic wall of the recording magnetic domain in accord with the longitudinal direction of the magnetic flux detecting element.

FIG. 1 shows an example of schematic view of a recording and reproducing head 11, a swing arm 12 and a disk medium 13 in a prior art magnetic disk apparatus. In case of recording and reproducing information onto a plane substrate in general, an access operation to select a position at which an information is recorded and reproduced is necessary. In addition, in order to record and reproduce the information while the track is being scanned consecutively, tracking operation for keeping the recording and reproducing head at the track is necessary. For these operations, it is necessary to position accurately the recording and reproducing head 11 with respect to the disk 13. Therefore, a prior art magnetic disk apparatus has a recording and reproducing head 11 mounted on the tip of a swing arm 12 so that the direction of the swing arm 12 is accurately controlled with a voice coil motor 14 disposed at the root of the swing arm 12. The recording and reproducing head 11 is a slider of a floating type, which is attached to the tip of the swing arm 12 through a suspension 15. The recording and reproducing head 11 is pressed against the disk 13 rotating rapidly with an appropriate weight by the suspension 15 so as to float stably at a predetermined height.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a bottom surrounding the recording and reproducing head 11. A friction face of an appropriate recess-projection structure is formed on the bottom of the recording and reproducing head 11 so as to give rise to good floating characteristics. In addition, to the rear end (from the friction direction) of the bottom of the recording and reproducing head, a magnetic flux detecting device 21 and a recording magnetic field generating device 22 are attached approximately parallel to each other and approximately perpendicular to the swing arm shaft 23. On the other hand, the disk medium 13 incorporated into the magnetic disk apparatus as a rotation member is provided with a number of tracks 16 at a constant pitch in a concentric circular state or a spiral state, and servo information, address information and recording data etc. are provided consecutively along these tracks.
In the prior art magnetic disk apparatus having the configuration as described above, the track is directed approximately perpendicular to the radius direction of a disk while the direction of the recording and reproducing head is determined by the direction of the swing arm shaft. Accordingly, it is impossible to always keep the magnetic flux detecting device 21 and the recording magnetic field generating device 22 parallel to the track orientation, and they are inclined by maximum 20° with respect to the track orientation. However, since the magnetic flux detecting device 21 and the recording magnetic field generating device 22 are fixed onto the same head, the relative direction between them is constant, and as shown in FIG. 3, a difference in shape between the magnetic domain 31 recorded by the recording magnetic field generating device and the magnetic flux detecting device 32 is small at any track position.
On the other hand, in recent years, studies on a system for recording by way of thermo-magnetic recording and reproducing by way of magnetic flux detection are being progressed. This technology is described in detail in JP-A-10-21598, for example. In this example, the recording light from a light source is irradiated through a transparent substrate to an optical magnetic recording film formed on a recording medium so that a magnetic domain is formed in the heated portion of the recording film and thus recording is executed. On the other hand, reproduction of information is executed by irradiating the reproducing light from the light source to the above described optical magnetic recording film through the substrate to detect rotation of the plane of polarization of the reflected light, and forming a second magnetic layer on the optical magnetic recording film to detect the leaked magnetic flux from this second magnetic layer.
Further, in 13-B-03 as well as 13-B-04 in Magneto Optical Recording International Symposium '99 Technical Digest, a system for executing recording by way of thermo-magnetic recording and executing reproducing by way of magnetic flux detection is disclosed further concretely. As the disk substrate, the polycarbonate substrate having the recess-projection structure on the surface is used while rare-earth transition metal alloy with TbFeCo as main material is used for the magnetic recording film. Since the recess-projection structure of the substrate surface can be used as servo information of light spots, the same servo information can be used for both of the optical recording system and the magnetic flux reproducing system so that the recess-projection structure is particularly suitable for this system. In addition, for a recording system, one of thermo-magnetic recording methods called as optical pulse magnetic field modulation method is used. Since the optical pulse magnetic field modulation recording system can keep the recording power margin wide in case of that a magnetic domains shorter than the diameter of the light spot (approximately 1.0 micron) in the track scanning direction are recorded, the optical pulse magnetic field modulation recording system is advantageous. In the above described known example, it is described that recording of 0.1 micron length equivalent to about one-tenth of the light spot diameter (approximately 1.0 micron) focused to the diffraction limit is obtainable.
However, since the magnetization direction in the approximately circular region is determined at every optical pulse irradiation in the above described optical pulse magnetic field modulation recording, the recording magnetic domain becomes approximately crescent. Therefore, in the case where reproduction is executed with normal magnetic flux detecting means with sensitivity distribution being approximately linearly shaped, the recorded magnetic domain is different in shape from the magnetic flux detecting means, therefore giving rise to a problem of deterioration in reproducing performance. That is, since the time where the magnetic flux detecting means passes the magnetic wall varies in accordance with the distance from the center of the track so that the response waveform from the recording magnetic domain expands in the time direction in coordinates, MTF of the reproducing system will be deteriorated, giving rise to increase in jitter of signal or worse resulting in increase in error rates or decrease in reliability. In addition, the magnetic walls approach extremely close to each other at the tip of the approximately crescent-shaped recording magnetic domains, giving rise to unstability easily followed by unexpected magnetic domain shape. The response from this portion is different from the originally recorded user data, and therefore will become a noise, preventing normal reproduction of user data. As a result described above, it was difficult to improve the recording density.
In order to cope with such a problem, a method using an optical head for elongating radially the shape of the light spot is considered. For example, the "Optical information recording apparatus" in Japanese Patent No. 2858455 specification describes a method in which a phase shift device having a partition line in a direction transversing the information track is disposed in the optical path of the optical head and the beams from the optical head are irradiated as two optical recording spots juxtaposed in the direction transversing the information track so that the heat distribution is effectively elongated perpendicular to the track and curvature of the recorded magnetic domain is made small. For similar effect, means (phase mask and intensity mask etc.) for adjusting appropriately the shape of the irradiated light spot may be arranged on the optical path of the optical head. Otherwise, for example, by a cylindrical lens arranged in an optical system to adjust a focusing position, an approximately oval-shaped optical spot can be formed on the recording film surface so that the short-side axis direction of the oval light spot is parallel to the track.
With such a prior art, also in the thermo-magnetic recording system, the recording magnetic domain having the magnetic wall transversing the track orientation can be formed. However, in the thermo-magnetic recording system as the above described prior art, the orientation of the recorded magnetic domain is constant from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disk. On the other hand, on accessing or tracking the magnetic domain formed in this system with the recording and reproducing head attached to the tip of the swing arm as in the prior art magnetic disk apparatus, the magnetic flux detecting means is directed variously according to the respective track position as described above. Therefore, in the innermost circumference and the outermost circumference of the tracks in particular as shown in FIG. 4, the direction of the magnetic wall of the recorded magnetic domain and the direction of the magnetic flux detecting means will be no longer in accord with each other. Accordingly, in case of combining the prior art magnetic flux detecting system for the magnetic disk with the prior art thermo-magnetic recording system, it is difficult to reproduce the recorded magnetic domain in high signal quality over all of the tracks from the inner circumference to the outer circumference.
An object of the present invention is, in view of the conventional construction of the magnetic disk apparatus as described above, to provide an information recording/reproducing apparatus and an information recording medium, in which a magnetic domain recorded by a thermo-magnetic recording system can be reproduced in the equivalent high signal quality over the whole disk area by a reproduction system with a magnetic flux detecting means mounted on a forward end of a swing arm.

Magneto-optical recording device capable of changing the shapes of heating areas


An image displaying apparatus includes a memory, an image reader, an image processor, an image adder and a display. The memory stores a plurality of medical images including temporally sequential images of a common portion of a same patient taken at different points of time. The image reader reads out the plurality of medical images from the memory. The image processor processes at least two of the plurality of medical images read out from the memory according to registration information of the at least two of the plurality of medical images so as to obtain a processed image. The image adder adds one of the plurality of medical images read out from the memory to the processed image so as to obtain an addition image. And the display displays the addition image.

The present invention relates to an image displaying apparatus of a processed image from temporally sequential images. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique by which a change in a radiographic object caused with the lapse of time is clearly shown in accordance with a processed image from temporally sequential images obtained when a plurality of temporally sequential images are subjected to image processing.
Radiographic images such as X ray images are frequently used for the diagnosis of a disease. In order to obtain X ray images, film-screen systems are conventionally used. In a film-screen system, X rays that have been transmitted through a radiographic object are irradiated on a phosphor layer (phosphor screen) so that visible luminescence is generated from the phosphor layer. The thus generated visible luminescene is irradiated on a silver halide film.
Using radiographs obtained in the above manner, medical diagnosis is conducted by a doctor as follows. For example, a plurality of radiographs are taken of the same patient at different points of time. After a plurality of radiographs have been obtained, for example, after chest radiographs of a patient to be examined have been taken in a routine medical checkup, the radiographs are observed by a doctor using a viewing box. In the process of observation, the doctor checks the temporally sequential images, and in accordance with his experience, he recognizes a change caused with the lapse of time, which is called an interval change. The result of observation is used for the medial diagnosis.
The above method in which temporally sequential images are compared with each other is called comparison reading. The method is important to find a change newly caused by a disease and also to recognize a progress or improvement of a disease.
However, even when the temporally sequential images are compared with each other in the above manner, an important interval change caused by a disease may be overlooked in some cases.
For example, bones, blood vessels, bronchus and other anatomic structures are sometimes combined with each other in a complicated manner on a radiographic image of the chest. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to find a change on the image caused by a disease, because the change is camouflaged by the normal anatomic structures of bones, blood vessels, bronchus and other anatomy. Further, the density and contrast of two radiographs are usually different from each other due to the difference of an amount of exposure of X rays irradiated in the process of radiographing. Because of the fluctuation of density and contrast on the temporally sequential images on two radiographs, it is difficult to compare the two temporally sequential images with accuracy.
In comparison readings, it is necessary to select the films stored in a storage and bring them back to the reading room. Further, it is necessary to set the films on the viewing box prior to observation. This is inefficient in terms of time and labor.
According to the conventional method, moreover, even if a portion in which an interval change caused by a disease is found, it is necessary for the doctor to use his experience and knowledge for recognizing and judging the accurate position, range and degree of the change on the image caused by a disease. Therefore, the conventional technique makes it difficult to enhance the efficiency of medical diagnosis.

Image displaying apparatus of a processed image from temporally sequential images


A voltage-controlled oscillator including a voltage-controlled oscillation section, a frequency control bias circuit, a temperature compensation bias circuit, and a temperature compensation bias generation circuit. The temperature compensation bias generation circuit has a transistor having its collector or drain connected to the temperature compensation bias circuit, a first resistor having one end connected to the collector or drain of the transistor and having another end that is grounded, a second resistor having one end connected to the base or gate of the transistor, a base or gate bias application terminal connected to another end of the second resistor, a third resistor having one end connected to the emitter or source of the transistor, and an emitter or source bias application terminal connected to another end of the third resistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage-controlled oscillator operating in a microwave or millimeter wave region and, more particularly, to a voltage-controlled oscillator capable of easily correcting variation in oscillation frequency with temperature and shifting the range of voltage applicable across a variable-capacitance element to a region on the high-voltage side.
2. Background Art
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a conventional voltage-controlled oscillator. The voltage-controlled oscillator shown in FIG. 4 has a voltage-controlled oscillation section 21 which controls the oscillation frequency by a voltage applied to a variable-capacitance element 6, and a frequency control bias circuit 7 which applies a frequency control bias to one end of the variable-capacitance element 6.
The voltage-controlled oscillation section 21 has a bipolar transistor 1, an output matching circuit 2 connected to the collector of the bipolar transistor 1, a series feedback inductor 3 connected to the emitter of the bipolar transistor 1, a phase adjustment line 4 having its one end connected to the base of the bipolar transistor 1 and satisfying an oscillation start phase condition, an inductor 5 and the variable-capacitance element 6. The inductor 5 and the variable-capacitance element 6 are connected between the other end of the phase adjustment line 4 and a grounding point and constitute an LC series resonance circuit. The frequency control bias circuit 7 is a resistance-feed-type bias circuit which applies to one end of the variable-capacitance element 6 a frequency control bias externally supplied through a frequency control bias terminal B.
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing oscillation frequency characteristics of the conventional voltage-controlled oscillator. Conventionally, the voltage applied to the variable-capacitance element 6 is controlled according to temperature in order to correct variation in oscillation frequency with temperature. For example, in a case where the voltage-controlled oscillator is used by controlling the voltage to point A in FIG. 5 at ordinary temperature, the voltage is controlled to point B when the temperature is high, and is controlled to point C when the temperature is low, thus obtaining the same frequency at different temperatures.
The voltage-controlled oscillator shown in FIG. 4, however, needs to perform frequency control and temperature compensation through one terminal and therefore has a problem that it is necessary to apply a frequency control bias in a complicated way according to temperature.
FIG. 6 shows a conventional voltage-controlled oscillator devised to solve this problem (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-21304). This voltage-controlled oscillator has, in addition to the components of the voltage-controlled oscillator shown in FIG. 4, a temperature compensation bias circuit 10 which applies a temperature compensation bias to the other end of the variable-capacitance element 6 and a temperature compensation bias generation circuit 22 which generates a temperature compensation bias and supplies the generated bias to the temperature compensation bias circuit 10. The voltage-controlled oscillation section 21 further has a direct current blocking capacitor 9 connected between the variable-capacitance element 6 and a grounding point.
The temperature compensation bias generation circuit 22 is a resistance-feed-type bias circuit. A frequency control bias supplied from the temperature compensation bias generation circuit 22 via point X is applied to the other end of the variable-capacitance element 6. The temperature compensation bias generation circuit 22 has a bipolar transistor 11 having its collector connected to the temperature compensation bias circuit 10, a resistor 12 having its one end connected to the collector of the bipolar transistor 11, a resistor 13 having its one end connected to the base of the bipolar transistor 11, a base bias application terminal 14 connected to the other end of the resistor 13, a collector bias application terminal 15 connected to the other end of the resistor 12, and a resistor 16 having its one end connected to the emitter of the bipolar transistor 11 and having the other end grounded.
While in the voltage-controlled oscillator shown in FIG. 4 the oscillation frequency becomes lower with the increase in temperature, the provision of the temperature compensation bias circuit 10 and the temperature compensation bias generation circuit 22 in the voltage-controlled oscillator shown in FIG. 6 enables the oscillator to output of a signal at a fixed frequency even when the temperature rises. The reason for this effect is as described below. With the increase in temperature, the collector current of the bipolar transistor 11 increases to increase the voltage drop across the resistor 12 and reduce the voltage at point X. The voltage across the variable-capacitance element 6 is thereby increased to increase the oscillation frequency, thus correcting the reduction in oscillation frequency due to an increase in temperature. As a result, there is no need to apply the frequency control bias in a complicated way according to temperature.
In the voltage-controlled oscillator shown in FIG. 6, the voltage at point X decreases with the increase in temperature, as shown in FIG. 7, but converges to a certain point indicated by Y in FIG. 7. An additional offset voltage corresponding to Y is thus added to the voltage used primarily for temperature compensation, so that the range of voltage applicable across the variable-capacitance element 6 is shifted to a region on the low-voltage side.
A reverse-biased diode is ordinarily used as a variable-capacitance element. As the above-mentioned value Y is increased, the voltage across the diode becomes closer to a forward bias. Therefore, the diode can be only used before a point at which the voltage across the diode becomes equal to the on voltage, as shown in FIG. 8. There is a possibility of failure to make sufficient temperature compensation. Moreover, when the voltage across the diode becomes closer to a forward bias, low-frequency noise from an external power supply and low-frequency noise generated in the diode are up-converted to the oscillation frequency band by the non-linear operation of the diode, resulting in an increase in phase noise.
For example, in the case of a voltage-controlled oscillator for a vehicle radar, the output frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator is generally ⅛ or more of a signal frequency of 76 to 77 GHz of the vehicle radar. In the case of a voltage-controlled oscillator operating at such a high frequency, the influence of assembly accuracy on the characteristics is large and, therefore, it is desirable, from the viewpoint of productivity, to design the voltage-controlled oscillator in a monolithic (MMIC) form. However, a resonator of a high Q factor such as a dielectric resonator cannot be made on a semiconductor substrate. Therefore, a resonator provided in MMIC form has larger phase noise in comparison with those using a dielectric resonator. It is difficult to obtain a resistor in MMIC form having a sufficient margin with respect to the phase noise performance required by the vehicle radar system. For this reason, the above-described increase in phase noise in the vicinity of a forward bias has been serious.


A new heating band device for providing both heat and pressure to sore muscles and sprains. The inventive device includes an elongate elastomeric band member for wrapping around a body part and an elongate heating coil member embedded in a serpentine arrangement within the band member. A hook member secures the heating band device in place on the body part. A temperature control switch selectively controls the heat output of the heating coil member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to body heating devices and more particularly pertains to a new heating band device for providing both heat and pressure to sore muscles and sprains.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of body heating devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, body heating devices heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art body heating devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,803; U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,218; U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,703; U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,755; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,595.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new heating band device. The inventive device includes an elongate elastomeric band member for wrapping around a body part and an elongate heating coil member embedded in a serpentine arrangement within the band member. A hook member secures the heating band device in place on the body part. A temperature control switch selectively controls the heat output of the heating coil member.
In these respects, the heating band device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing both heat and pressure to sore muscles and sprains.