An optical amplifier for a high power, solid state laser which includes a slab of a solid state laser material, for example, yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) crystal. One or more diode arrays may be vertically stacked and configured to provide generally uniform energy distribution in the crystal in a vertical direction. By maintaining a relatively uniform energy distribution in the crystal in a vertical direction, thermal and stress aberrations of the resulting laser beam are minimized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical amplifier for a high power, solid state laser and, more particularly, to an optical amplifier which includes a slab of solid state lasing material, for example, yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) crystal, and one or more diode arrays for exciting the solid state lasing material to a relatively high energy metastable state, wherein the diode arrays are mounted to provide a relatively uniform energy deposition onto the solid state lasing material in a vertical direction in order to reduce non-uniform thermal heating of the crystal to reduce thermal and stress aberrations of the output laser beam.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Solid state lasers are known to include an optical amplifier, for example, a so-called zig-zag amplifier, which, in turn, includes a generally rectangular slab of lasing material, such as yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) crystal. Examples of such solid state lasers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,730,324; 4,852,109; and 5,305,345. In such lasers, the atoms in the lasing material are pumped into a relatively high energy metastable state.
Various methods are known for pumping. For example, diode arrays are known to be used in such applications. Lasers which utilize diode arrays for pumping are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,852,109; 4,949,346; 4,984,246; 5,271,031; 5,305,345; 5,317,585; and 5,351,251. In order to improve performance of the laser, the light energy from the diode arrays must be relatively uniform in the vertical direction of the lasing material in order to reduce thermal and stress aberrations of the resulting laser beam. In such lasers, the light is zig-zagged in a horizontal direction to average out thermal aberrations.
In many known applications, the diode arrays are mounted one on top of another, leaving energy gaps in the lasing material defining unpumped zones 10 in which no light is directed onto the lasing material, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Such a configuration produces a non-uniform deposition of energy in the vertical direction of the lasing material. As discussed above, non-uniform energy deposition results in non-uniform thermal heating of the crystal, resulting in thermal and stress aberrations of the laser beam. More particularly, pumping of the atoms within the lasing material produces considerable heat therewithin in the areas where the atoms of the lasing material are pumped. Since the materials used for many known lasing materials are relatively poor thermal conductors, the non-pumped zones 10 in the lasing material, as illustrated in FIG. 1, cause thermal gradients in the lasing material in the vertical direction.
Various methods are known for minimizing thermal gradients in a lasing material, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,852,109 and 4,949,346. The '109 patent includes a slab of lasing material formed with a pair of side rails disposed on opposing lateral surfaces of the lasing material. The side rails include a conduit connected to a fluid control system which enables the volumetric flow rate through the conduit within the side rail to be varied which, in turn, allows the temperature of the lateral surfaces to be adjusted. The lateral surfaces of the lasing material are generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the slab and generally perpendicular to the surfaces subject to energy pumping by diode arrays.
The '346 patent discloses heat sinks bonded to opposing pump faces of the slab of lasing material. In particular, a transparent, thermally conductive heat sink is bonded to the opposing faces of the lasing material, that are subject to the pumping action of the diode arrays.
The configurations disclosed in the '109 and '346 patents attempt to minimize the thermal gradient between the outer surface of the lasing material relative to internal portions. While the above-disclosed methods provide adequate performance in minimizing the effects of the thermal gradient caused between the outer surface of the lasing material and an inner surface, the disclosed methods do not provide compensation for thermal gradients resulting from non-uniform distribution of the energy from the pumping action from the diode arrays, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In order to resolve this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,254. issued on Sep. 10, 1996 to the same assignee as the assignee of the present invention discloses. A pair of lenses 12 and 14, as illustrated in FIG. 2, disposed between the diode arrays and the crystal. As shown in FIG. 2, the lenses 12 and 14 bend the light rays from the diode arrays to fill in the unpumped zones in the vertical direction of the lasing material. Although such a configuration provides good performance in reducing thermal gradients in the lasing material in the vertical direction, such a configuration is relatively complex and expensive to manufacture. In particular, such lenses are formed by sapphire material, which is relatively expensive.

Laser diode mounting technique to evenly deposit energy


Technologies are described herein for high-performance and space efficient journaling mechanisms. A journal queue can buffer incoming I/O operations. The queue can be read by a journal write module. The journal write module can form metadata headers to store into the journal along with each I/O operation. Compound metadata headers may be formed for multiple I/O operations and the combination of multiple I/O operations may be efficiently stored to the journal as one journal write. Multiple journal entries may be written into the journal in parallel while maintaining the sequential ordering of the journal. A queue depth threshold can be established for determining if journal entries should be combined into compound entries or not. Multiple concurrent readers can support continuous data protection, and various data replication features. Each reader can be represented as a reader pointer and a journal writer can invalidate reader pointers when related data is overwritten.

The reliable storage of data benefits from being protected against various forms of destruction or data loss. Some of these risks are physical and tangible, such as failure of a storage drive, fire, or flood. Others are intangible or logical, such as accidental deletion of a file, or attack by a computer virus. Data storage systems have specific ways in which they protect against this second category of loss. For example, file versioning, tape backups, or periodic backup to a remote server may be used to protect against data loss. Many of these solutions are periodic, meaning that the protection is invoked weekly, once a day, or possibly even less frequently. As a result, recovered data after a failure can incur loss of data up to the amount created during the time period between two backups.
Continuous data protection (CDP) or continuous backup is increasingly used to protect data. In some CDP solutions, a copy of every change made to the stores data is automatically saved in a journal device. This essentially captures every version of the data over time. Storing data continuously with an associated time stamp in a journal device is called journaling. Journaling can provide support for users or administrators to restore data to any point in time.
Journal assisted replication (JAR) is another method used to protect data from disaster. JAR replicates input/output (I/O) operations from a journal device to a remote volume. This replication mechanism can provide an improved recovery point objective (RPO) since I/O operations in the journal may maintain write-order fidelity.
The journal device is critical to data protection technologies like CDP and JAR. One main challenge in implementing a journal device is to avoid introducing a performance penalty on the data storage system associated with using the journal device.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.

High performance journaling for replication and continuous data protection


A method and apparatus for providing secure communication on open networks. Each port of the network is provided with a security entity which monitors the communication between one port to the other. End stations connected to the ports communicate with other end stations by transmitting data to the port and receiving data from the port. The data is sent out in data packets with a destination address and a source address. Each port has its own unique address. The security entity checks data packets coming into the port for a destination address. The destination address of incoming data packets is compared with the port address of the affiliated port. Also, outgoing data packets from an end station to a port are also monitored by the security entity. The security entity compares the destination and source address of the data packet with the affiliated port address. The security entity cyphers and decyphers a data portion of the data packet depending on whether or not the source address, destination address and port address match. In this way, end stations not destined to read the data portions are thus prevented from doing so. Also end stations which are not authorized to transmit onto the network are prevented from having any users on the network understand their data.

In the past, organizational computing has been provided in a main frame environment wherein security was implicitly enforced. All users shared a central resource. Access to the central resource was typically by a password and threats to security were posed mainly by password compromise. Solutions to such security problems typically included periodic password changes, audit trails and access restrictions based on user identity.
Open network systems have become prevalent and have been replacing main frames. However, with such a replacement, computing resources have become vulnerable to a myriad of new assaults. For example, the broadcast nature of the ETHERNET.TM. protocol makes it particularly susceptible to attack, since any attached device has the potential to examine all network traffic.
Solutions have been advanced with regard to such data transmission security. U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,348 to Nichols et al, discloses an arrangement for securing data transmission to and from one data device from among a plurality of data devices sharing a common interface. The patent discloses a master communication bus connected to a plurality of data transmitting and receiving devices via a single interface. Circuitry is provided in the common interface which generates a jamming signal to all devices connected to the interface except for that one device which is either transmitting or receiving a data-transmission. This jamming signal inhibits all the connected devices for monitoring and detecting the data transmission process of the interface. In this way, the one transmitting and receiving device is enabled to either transmit or receive data during the generation of the jamming signal which ensures a secure data transmission and prevents eaves dropping by the other devices. This jamming signal is then removed at the conclusion of the data transmission to or from the device.
Such an arrangement which relies on a jamming signal has significant drawbacks and limitations. Such system which rely on jamming signals do not address problems with regard to the security or backbone links. Further, such system only are useful for multi-drop bus topology and are not effective for ring topologies.

Security system for a network concentrator


Methods and apparatus for populating a contact entry of a user based on information obtained from one or more sources that are external to the contact entry. Some implementations are directed generally to analyzing text of a document associated with the user to identify contact information in the document. In some versions of those implementations, an affinity measure associated with the document may be determined that is indicative of an amount of interest of the user in the document and a contact entry may be populated with one or more aspects of the contact information based on the affinity measure satisfying a threshold.

A user may be associated with one or more contact collections, each including one or more contact entries. For example, a user may have a contact collection on a mobile phone that includes contact entries each including one or more properties of an entity such as a name, phone number, and/or email address of the entity. Also, for example, the user may have a contact collection associated with an email service that includes contact entries each including one or more properties of an entity. A user may find it burdensome to maintain complete information and/or to update information in one or more of the contact collections.


A smart sensor can include a plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) configured to receive analog signals from a sensor module, and a plurality of channel modules. Each channel module can be connected to a respective ADC and each channel module can include a limited data processing module configured to provide initial processing. The sensor can include a data control module operatively connected to each of the plurality of channel modules and configured to select a selected channel of the plurality of channels to receive initially processed data from the limited data processing module of the selected channel. The data control module can be configured to interface with external memory to store data to the external memory and/or to read data from the external memory. The sensor can include a batch processing module operatively connected to the data control module and configured to receive the initially processed data of the selected channel from the data control module to provide further processing of the initially processed data.

Condition monitoring systems are used to monitor parameters in machinery via temperature, pressure, vibration sensors, etc., e.g., to detect the development of faults as compared to normal operating conditions. The sensor data collected is digitized, transformed and algorithmically processed to extract features of the monitored system. A given feature can be generated from the input of one sensor or could be dependent on the interaction of multiple sensors. Features extracted are compared against expected values, enumerating the relative health of that feature. Sensor data is monitored and evaluated on a scheduled basis, as a function of the regime the monitored system is in, and/or based upon the detection of an event outside of normal operating conditions. Traditional implementations of a condition monitoring system consist of a number of analog sensors feeding into a central host for digitization and further processing. This implementation requires individual cabling for each analog sensor and can result in a heavy system and complicated installation. These issues can be mitigated by distributing digitization and processing of data out locally to the sensor.
Sensors that have the capability to perform local digitization and processing are known as digital or smart sensors. Local processing of data reduces the processing load on the host, allowing the host to perform other more complex functions, or decrease in size and complexity. Transmission of digital data allows multiple digital sensors to be connected on a single digital bus, reducing the wire weight associated with individual analog wire runs for each sensor. Some smart sensing systems are required to be small and consume very little power while retaining high levels of performance. In those cases they may utilize programmable logic devices (PLD) instead of a processor. Due to high costs associated with the DO-254 certification process, it is desirable for a PLD based smart sensing system to accommodate many typical processing types out of the box with minimal configuration and no firmware modification. The computation of features can typically be broken down into a sequence of fundamental processing blocks (i.e. low pass filter, multiplication, FFT). In a PLD (programmable logic device), processing is accomplished by instantiating logical blocks in the device that perform the calculation required for that particular type of processing. Instantiating logical blocks uses up that block so that it may not be utilized for anything other than that calculation.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for improved distributed sensing processing systems. The present disclosure provides a solution for this need.


For enhancing the transmission of location information, a message is received or assembled, which includes location information and a reference time identifier. The reference time identifier identifies a reference time used in determining the location information based on satellite signals. The received or assembled message is provided for transmission to a server. At a server, the location information and the reference time identifier are extracted from a received message, and the location information is processed taking account of the reference time identifier.

A positioning of a device is supported by various Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). These include for example the American Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the future European system Galileo, the Space Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS), the Japanese GPS augmentation Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), the Locals Area Augmentation Systems (LAAS), and hybrid systems.
The constellation in GPS, for example, consists of more than 20 satellites that orbit the earth. Currently, each of the satellites transmits two carrier signals L1 and L2. One of these carrier signals L1 is employed for carrying a navigation message and code signals of a standard positioning service (SPS). The L1 carrier phase is modulated by each satellite with a different C/A (Coarse Acquisition) code. Thus, different channels are obtained for the transmission by the different satellites. The C/A code is a pseudo random noise (PRN) code, which is spreading the spectrum over a 1 MHz bandwidth. It is repeated every 1023 bits, the epoch of the code being 1 ms. The carrier frequency of the L1 signal is further modulated with navigation information at a bit rate of 50 bit/s. The navigation information comprises inter alia ephemeris and almanac parameters. Ephemeris parameters describe short sections of the orbit of the respective satellite. Based on these ephemeris parameters, an algorithm can estimate the position of the satellite for any time while the satellite is in the respective described section. The almanac parameters are similar, but coarser orbit parameters, which are valid for a longer time than the ephemeris parameters. The navigation information further comprises for example clock models that relate the satellite time to the system time of GPS and the system time to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
A GPS receiver of which the position is to be determined receives the signals transmitted by the currently available satellites, and it detects and tracks the signals used by different satellites based on the different comprised C/A codes. Then, the receiver determines the time of transmission of the code transmitted by each satellite, usually based on data in the decoded navigation messages and on counts of epochs and chips of the C/A codes. The time of transmission and the measured time of arrival of a signal at the receiver allow determining the pseudorange between the satellite and the receiver. The term pseudorange denotes the geometric distance between the satellite and the receiver, which distance is biased by unknown satellite and receiver offsets from the GPS system time.
In one possible solution scheme, the offset between the satellite and system clocks is assumed known and the problem reduces to solving a non-linear set of equations of four unknowns (3 receiver position coordinates and the offset between the receiver and GPS system clocks). Therefore, at least 4 measurements are required in order to be able to solve the set of equations. The outcome of the process is the receiver position.
Similarly, it is the general idea of GNSS positioning to receive satellite signals at a receiver which is to be positioned, to measure the pseudorange between the receiver and the respective satellite and further the current position of the receiver, making use in addition of estimated positions of the satellites. Usually, a PRN signal which has been used for modulating a carrier signal is evaluated for positioning, as described above for GPS.
A GNSS positioning can be performed in different positioning modes.
A first mode is a standalone mobile station based GNSS positioning. In this mode, the GNSS receiver receives signals from GNSS satellites. The GNSS receiver or an associated mobile device—referred to in common as mobile station—decodes navigation data directly from the satellite signals and calculates from these signals and the navigation data the position of the mobile station and other location information without any additional information from other sources.
A second mode is a network-assisted mobile station based GNSS positioning. In this mode, the GNSS receiver is associated to a mobile communication device. The GNSS receiver can be integrated into the mobile communication device or be an accessory for the mobile communication device. GNSS receiver and mobile communication device are referred to in common as mobile station. A mobile communication network provides assistance data, which is received by the mobile communication device. The assistance data can comprise for example ephemeris, position and time information. The assistance data can be used by GNSS receiver to improve its performance when acquiring and tracking satellite signals. Alternatively or in addition, the assistance data can be used at the mobile station in calculating the position of the mobile station and other location information. With provided assistance data, for example, it may not be required to decode the navigation information in tracked satellite signals.
The third mode is a network-based mobile station assisted GNSS positioning. For this mode, the GNSS receiver is associated as well to a mobile communication device. GNSS receiver and mobile communication device are referred to in common as mobile station. In this mode, a mobile communication network provides at least acquisition assistance and time information via the mobile communication device to the GNSS receiver for supporting the satellite signal measurements. The mobile station only performs signal measurements, though, and reports the measurements back to the network for position calculation.
The second and the third mode are also referred to in common as assisted-GNSS (A-GNSS). Assisted GNSS thus means that if the technical prerequisites are met, a mobile communication network is able to provide a GNSS receiver with assistance data, like time and navigation model, which allows the receiver to obtain a position fix in a shorter time and in more challenging signal conditions.
A network server, which generates assistance data and/or calculates position solutions for A-GNSS, can be for example the Serving Mobile Location Centre (SMLC) server.
In both mobile station based modes, a network server can further request location information determined by the mobile station. Such location information may be used for example for location based services requested by the mobile station or by another entity, such as a friend finding service or a Yellow Pages service. In this case, the mobile station will send the location information that it has determined in the position calculations to the network server using a dedicated location information message or location information elements (IE) in another message. Location information elements are defined in different cellular standards and typically comprise:    1. Position information in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS-84) coordinate frame, including latitude, longitude and altitude    2. Position uncertainty ellipse    3. Velocity information, including velocity components in a local coordinate frame: heading, heading uncertainty, horizontal speed, horizontal speed uncertainty, vertical speed, vertical speed uncertainty    4. Cellular frame time—satellite time associations    5. Reference time, that is, the time when the location information was calculated and which is to be used as the reference for the cellular frame time—satellite time associations. The reference time is preferably given either in units of seconds [s] or milliseconds [ms].

Providing and using messages comprising location information


An alkylative cycloaddition method is provided that is particularly useful for the synthesis of many of the Vitamin D analogues with differing side chains. Thus, a preferred synthesis is of Vitamin D analogues having a side chain R.sub.1 where a substantially geometrically pure first precursor having the structure ##STR1## and a second precursor are provided, the second precursor being a 1,7 enyne. These precursors are reacted in the presence of a palladium catalyst to form compounds having the structure ##STR2## where R.sub.2 hydrogen, hydroxyl, lower alkoxy, fluorine, or a protecting group, and R.sub.3 is hydrogen, hydroxyl, lower alkoxy, fluorine, or a protecting group.

As is well known, Vitamin D.sub.2 (also known as "calciferol") and Vitamin D.sub.3 (also known as "cholecalciferol") are effective in humans as antirachitic nutritional factors Vitamin D.sub.2 is obtainable from ergosterol by uv irradiation in a suitable solvent, and Vitamin D.sub.3 can be obtained by irradiation of its provitamin, 7-dehydrocholesterol. In about the early 1970s, interest developed in 1.alpha.,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, which is the polar, biologically active, metabolite of Vitamin D.sub.3, due to an extremely rapidly onset of physiological activity A few years later, another new Vitamin D.sub.3 analogue, again with rapid onset of physiological activity, was described by Barton et al (1.alpha.-hydroxy-Vitamin D.sub.3).
Several of these Vitamin D analogues are illustrated by reference to the Formula 1 structure In the case of 1.alpha.,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, X is hydroxyl as are both R.sub.2 and R.sub.3. For 1.alpha.-hydroxy-Vitamin D.sub.3, X is hydrogen while both R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are hydroxyl. ##STR3##
The Formula structure can be further generalized (and often is, particularly in description of syntheses) by more generally representing the side chain R' of the Formula 1 representation is a part.
Vitamin D analogue syntheses have received considerable attention, particularly recently, due to evidence that various Vitamin D.sub.3 related compounds are hormonally active and may be clinically useful regulators of various fundamental physiological processes. Thus, for example, 1,25-dihydroxy-Vitamin D.sub.3 has been shown to modulate the immune function of monocytes and macrophages, Huebel et al., "In-vivo Effect of 1,25-dihydroxy Vitamin D.sub.3 on Phagocyte Function in Hemodialysis Patients," Kidney International, 40 (5), pp. 927-933 (1991). Calcipotriol (also known as "MC-903") is an analogue of the physiologically active metabolite of Vitamin D.sub.3, 1.alpha.,25-dihydoxycholecalciferol, which is indicated as efficacious in reducing in hyperproliferation for psoriasis patients by Arnold et al., "Induction of Epidermal Ornithine Decarboxylase Following Tape Stripping is Inhibited by a Topical Vitamin D.sub.3 Analogue MC-903,"British Journal of Dermatology, 125 (1), pp. 6-8 (1991). Binderup et al., "20-Epi-Vitamin D.sub.3 Analogues, A Novel Class of Potent Regulators of Cell Growth and Immune Responses," Biochemical Pharmacology, 42 (8), pp. 1569-1576 (1991), found the 20-Epi-Vitamin D.sub.3 analogues (structurally related to 1.alpha.,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol) to be very potent inhibitors of T-lymphocyte proliferation induced by interleukin-1 or alloantigen. These 20-epi-Vitamin D.sub.3 analogues are characterized by an altered stereochemistry at carbon 20 of the side chain
Thus, various Vitamin D analogues are of potential interest in therapeutic applications, such as the prevention of graft rejections and in the treatment of cancer and auto-immune diseases, as well as in the treatment of psoriasis.
These increasingly interesting potential clinical applications of Vitamin D analogues have enhanced interest in simplifying their syntheses. Two strategies for 1.alpha.-hydroxy-Vitamin D analogues are currently employed. One is based on a biomimetic path from a normal steroid precursor, such as, for example, reported by Barton et al in their 1973 description of the synthesis of 1.alpha.-hydroxy-Vitamin D.sub.3, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 95 (8), pp. 2748-2749 (1973). The other current strategy is based on a convergent approach of attaching a preformed ring A system to a CD fragment (Grundmann ketone or an analogue thereof), such as is illustrated by Posner et al., J. Org. Chem., 55, pp. 3967-3969 (1990).
Accordingly, a simple convergent strategy that can readily be adopted for the synthesis of many Vitamin D analogues, particularly those with differing side chains, would be useful to prepare compounds that are presently clinically useful, as well as analogues for potential clinical uses in this rapidly developing field.

Palladium catalyzed alkylative cyclization useful in synthesis of vitamin D and analogues

Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University


Disclosed is an electrophotographic photoreceptor comprising an electrically conductive support and thereon formed a light-sensitive layer containing a carrier generation material, a carrier transport material and a binder resin, wherein said light-sensitive layer comprises a copolymer having a structural unit represented by Formula B.sub.1 and Formula B.sub.2 ; ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 independently represent a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or an aryl group, R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 may combine together to form a cyclic hydrocarbon residue having 4 to 10 carbon atoms, R.sub.3, R.sub.4, R.sub.5 and R.sub.6 independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a cyclic hydrocarbon residue having 4 to 10 carbon atoms, or an aryl group, l, m, p and q independently represent an integer of 1 to 4. The electrophotographic photoreceptor has high sensitivity and high durability.

In electrophotographic copying machines based on Carlson's method, charging the surface of a photoreceptor is followed by exposure for imagewise charge removal to form an electrostatic latent image, which is developed with a toner, and the resulting visible image is transferred and fixed onto a transferee such as paper.
At the same time, the photoreceptor is treated to remove the adhering toner, eliminate the carrier and clean the surface to ensure long-term repeated use.
Therefore, the electrophotographic photoreceptor is required to be good in physical properties such as printability, wear resistance and moisture resistance in repeated use and resistance to ozone generated upon corona discharge and to ultraviolet rays generated upon exposure (environmental resistance), as well as in chargeability and electrophotographic properties such as high sensitivity and low dark decay.
Conventional electrophotographic photoreceptors in common use are inorganic photoreceptors having a light-sensitive layer based mainly on an inorganic photoelectrically conductive material such as selenium, zinc oxide or cadmium sulfide.
In recent years, there has been a trend toward development of organic electrophotographic photoreceptors of high sensitivity and high durability wherein the carrier generation and carrier transport functions are allotted to different substances in a light-sensitive layer, which substances are selected over a wide range to exhibit the respective functions according to the desired characteristics.
Such organic photoreceptors of the separate function type have traditionally been used mainly for negative charging; a thin carrier generation layer is formed on the support, on which a relatively thick carrier transport layer is formed.
As a binder for such photoreceptors, polycarbonate of the bisphenol A type represented by the following structural formula is well known to offer good properties in terms of chargeability, sensitivity, residual potential and durability in repeated use. ##STR2##
Polycarbonates of the above structural unit are hereinafter referred to as of the BPA type. This type of polycarbonate has a structure wherein two methyl groups are symmetrically bound to the central carbon atom of bisphenol A. Investigations have revealed, however, that this type of polycarbonate has the following drawbacks:
(1) Mechanical strength, especially flaw resistance and wear resistance are not sufficient to allow satisfactory improvement in organic photoreceptor durability.
(2) Poor compatibility with carrier transport material (CTM) easily results in CTM crystal separation, which can lead to cracking and other troubles in the coating film.
(3) Using a hot coating solution for dip coating etc. tends to cause coating solution gelation.
(4) Gel projection on the light-sensitive layer surface causes toner filming upon cleaning, which is likely to result in an imaging failure.
(5) Severe abrasion by cleaning blade etc. hampers the improvement of organic photoreceptor durability.
Herein after referred to as Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection No. 172045/1985 propose non-crystalline polycarbonates such as those having a bulky substituent and those of the Z type wherein a ring has been formed at the central carbon atom. The use of the polycarbonate having a bulky substituent or the polycarbonate of the Z type eliminated the above-described drawback in the polycarbonate of the BPA type. However, due to photoreceptor fatigue deterioration by ozone generated upon corona discharge and other active substances generated upon imagewise exposure, durability in long-term image formation was insufficient. To overcome this problem, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 118137/1989, propose the addition of an antioxidant comprising a compound having a hindered phenolic structural unit and/or a hindered amine structural unit to the polycarbonate having a bulky substituent, or a polycarbonate of the A or Z type, or a polycarbonate resulting from copolymerization of these polycarbonate structural units.
Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 20768/1991 proposes a method for improving the blade cleaning property by using as a binder a polycarbonate resin of the bisphenol Z type on the surface of the light-sensitive layer. The same publication describes improvements in light-sensitive material's resistance to wear by the cleaning blade, ozonic deterioration during charging and other film properties of the light-sensitive layer.
However, with the popularization of copying machines, there is demand for improved image quality, high copying speed and high durability.
Particularly the OPC photoreceptor is more sensitive to light-sensitive layer wear in multiple imaging, so that the electrophotographic performance is liable to deteriorate, in comparison with other types of photoreceptors such as those of selenium; there is demand for the development of a binder resin having still better wear resistance. In addition, in manufacturing a copying machine, cleaning elements, such as the cleaning blade, are usually produced pressed against the electrophotographic photoreceptor, and its storage, transport, etc. often require a long period of several months or sometimes over 1 year, until it is used by a user. This poses a problem of image failures such as black streaks and white streaks due to cracking upon imaging as a result of the action of unreacted components, such as polyol, of the cleaning blade etc. on the light-sensitive layer.
Meantime, since high image quality and good copying workability depend also on surface smoothness and evenness in the photoreceptor of uniform thickness, the coating composition for constituting the coated structural layer of the photoreceptor and film failures such as orange peel, pinholes, coating streaks and solvent cracks occurring upon coating or drying are of major concern from the viewpoint of copying performance and production efficiency.
Surfactants are also useful in improving surface quality or lubrication and also effective in improving suspensoid dispersibility and dispersion stability in the case of coating suspensions and valuable in promoting dissolution and improving coatability and other properties related to productivity in the case of coating solutions. However, a mistakenly chosen surfactant often causes poor layer-to-layer adhesion, deterioration-related failures or troubles due to a lack of moisture resistance.
To overcome these drawbacks, there have been various proposals, including, use of a copolymer of monomers resulting from substitution of both phenylene rings with a phenyl group or a cyclohexyl group (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 269942/1989) and use of distyryl, as a carrier transport material, in combination with a polycarbonate of the bisphenol Z type (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 32265/1989). However, there remain some problems, such as insufficient surface strength and surface smoothness, a lack of wear and crack resistance, image quality deterioration in repeated use, and sensitivity deterioration due to wear-related film thinning.


A method for processing payment complaint includes receiving, from a user terminal, a complaint query request of a user; querying, in response to the complaint query request, a transaction database according to user information of the user to acquire at least one target payment card corresponding to the payment complaint of the user; generating, according to the user information and the at least one target payment card, complaint voucher information of the user and returning to the user terminal the complaint voucher information; receiving a complaint creation request from the user terminal, wherein the complaint creation request is created by the user terminal based on the complaint voucher information; and creating, in response to the complaint creation request, a corresponding complaint task of the user.

Currently, in a scenario where payments by cards under an international risk control mechanism, payment cards may be rejected because of risk control when a user uses them to make payments. But some of the payment cards are incorrectly rejected. In this case, if the user hopes that a second payment attempt can succeed, the user needs to make a complaint by sending card information. However, the card information provided by the user is not necessarily related to the card to be reviewed for risk control. Thus, the card to be reviewed (namely, a target payment card) can be provided only after manual communications with the users, in which the user is urged to submit the target payment card for a complaint.
In the prior art, high-risk cards of the user are first obtained by fetching data from a database and using an analytical tool to perform an analysis. The communications are made with the user to acquire at least one card as the target payment card from high-risk cards. Finally, the user is urged to submit the target payment card for a complaint. In this case, the determination of the target payment card requires multiple manual communications with the user, resulting in a long time to handle a complaint and a low efficiency.

Payment complaint method, device, server and readable storage medium


A snap-in tire valve includes a valve body surrounded in part by a resilient element that forms an annular sealing surface configured to snap in place into a valve opening of a wheel. A tire pressure radio-frequency sending unit is mounted to the valve body, and a column extends from the sending unit. The region between the resilient element and the pressure sending unit defines an expansion volume that receives displaced portions of the resilient element during snap-in insertion of the valve body into a wheel opening, thereby facilitating insertion. Preferably the column defines a central passageway to facilitate insertion using standard insertion tools. In one version, two batteries are included in the sending unit, disposed on opposite sides of the column.

The present invention relates to remote tire pressure sensing systems, and in particular to radio frequency pressure sending units mounted on a tire valve.
DE OS 43 03 583 discloses a snap-in tire valve that includes a tire pressure sending unit mounted on the inner end of the tire valve. The sending unit is received inside an enlarged end of the body of the valve. This enlarged end extends over a substantial portion of the diameter of the valve, and the position of the enlarged end is anticipated to have an adverse effect on the movement of elastomeric material as the tire valve is snapped in place in the valve opening of the wheel.

Tire valve and associated tire pressure sending unit


In non-volatile memory devices, the accessing of data on word line can degrade the data quality on a neighboring word line, in what is called a read disturb. Techniques are presented for determining word lines likely to suffer read disturbs by use of a hash tree for tracking the number of reads. Read counters are maintained for memory units at a relatively coarse granularity, such as a die or block. When the counter for one of these units reaches a certain level, it is subdivided into sub-units, each with their own read counter, in a process that be repeated to determine frequently read word lines with a fine level of granularity while only using a relatively modest amount of RAM on the controller to store the counters.

The following relates to the operation of re-programmable non-volatile memory systems such as semiconductor flash memory, and, more specifically, to the determination and management of error on such memories.
Solid-state memory capable of nonvolatile storage of charge, particularly in the form of EEPROM and flash EEPROM packaged as a small form factor card, has recently become the storage of choice in a variety of mobile and handheld devices, notably information appliances and consumer electronics products. Unlike RAM (random access memory) that is also solid-state memory, flash memory is non-volatile, and retaining its stored data even after power is turned off. Also, unlike ROM (read only memory), flash memory is rewritable similar to a disk storage device. In spite of the higher cost, flash memory is increasingly being used in mass storage applications. Conventional mass storage, based on rotating magnetic medium such as hard drives and floppy disks, is unsuitable for the mobile and handheld environment. This is because disk drives tend to be bulky, are prone to mechanical failure and have high latency and high power requirements. These undesirable attributes make disk-based storage impractical in most mobile and portable applications. On the other hand, flash memory, whether embedded, a solid state drive (SSD) and in the form of a removable card is ideally suited in the mobile and handheld environment because of its small size, low power consumption, high speed and high reliability features.
Flash EEPROM is similar to EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory) in that it is a non-volatile memory that can be erased and have new data written or "programmed" into their memory cells. Both utilize a floating (unconnected) conductive gate, in a field effect transistor structure, positioned over a channel region in a semiconductor substrate, between source and drain regions. A control gate is then provided over the floating gate. The threshold voltage characteristic of the transistor is controlled by the amount of charge that is retained on the floating gate. That is, for a given level of charge on the floating gate, there is a corresponding voltage (threshold) that must be applied to the control gate before the transistor is turned "on" to permit conduction between its source and drain regions. In particular, flash memory such as Flash EEPROM allows entire blocks of memory cells to be erased at the same time.
The floating gate can hold a range of charges and therefore can be programmed to any threshold voltage level within a threshold voltage window. The size of the threshold voltage window is delimited by the minimum and maximum threshold levels of the device, which in turn correspond to the range of the charges that can be programmed onto the floating gate. The threshold window generally depends on the memory device's characteristics, operating conditions and history. Each distinct, resolvable threshold voltage level range within the window may, in principle, be used to designate a definite memory state of the cell.
The transistor serving as a memory cell is typically programmed to a "programmed" state by one of two mechanisms. In "hot electron injection," a high voltage applied to the drain accelerates electrons across the substrate channel region. At the same time a high voltage applied to the control gate pulls the hot electrons through a thin gate dielectric onto the floating gate. In "tunneling injection," a high voltage is applied to the control gate relative to the substrate. In this way, electrons are pulled from the substrate to the intervening floating gate. While the term "program" has been used historically to describe writing to a memory by injecting electrons to an initially erased charge storage unit of the memory cell so as to alter the memory state, it has now been used interchangeable with more common terms such as "write" or "record."
The memory device may be erased by a number of mechanisms. For EEPROM, a memory cell is electrically erasable, by applying a high voltage to the substrate relative to the control gate so as to induce electrons in the floating gate to tunnel through a thin oxide to the substrate channel region (i.e., Fowler-Nordheim tunneling.) Typically, the EEPROM is erasable byte by byte. For flash EEPROM, the memory is electrically erasable either all at once or one or more minimum erasable blocks at a time, where a minimum erasable block may consist of one or more sectors and each sector may store 512 bytes or more of data.
The memory device typically comprises one or more memory chips that may be mounted on a card or in a solid state drive (SSD). Each memory chip comprises an array of memory cells supported by peripheral circuits such as decoders and erase, write and read circuits. The more sophisticated memory devices also come with a controller that performs intelligent and higher level memory operations and interfacing.
There are many commercially successful non-volatile solid-state memory devices being used today. These memory devices may be flash EEPROM or may employ other types of nonvolatile memory cells. Examples of flash memory and systems and methods of manufacturing them are given in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,070,032, 5,095,344, 5,315,541, 5,343,063, and 5,661,053, 5,313,421 and 6,222,762. In particular, flash memory devices with NAND string structures are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,570,315, 5,903,495, 6,046,935. Also nonvolatile memory devices are also manufactured from memory cells with a dielectric layer for storing charge. Instead of the conductive floating gate elements described earlier, a dielectric layer is used. Such memory devices utilizing dielectric storage element have been described by Eitan et al., "NROM: A Novel Localized Trapping, 2-Bit Nonvolatile Memory Cell," IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 21, no. 11, November 2000, pp. 543-545. An ONO dielectric layer extends across the channel between source and drain diffusions. The charge for one data bit is localized in the dielectric layer adjacent to the drain, and the charge for the other data bit is localized in the dielectric layer adjacent to the source. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,192 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,725 disclose a nonvolatile memory cell having a trapping dielectric sandwiched between two silicon dioxide layers. Multi-state data storage is implemented by separately reading the binary states of the spatially separated charge storage regions within the dielectric.
In order to improve read and program performance, multiple charge storage elements or memory transistors in an array are read or programmed in parallel. Thus, a "page" of memory elements are read or programmed together. In existing memory architectures, a row typically contains several interleaved pages or it may constitute one page. All memory elements of a page will be read or programmed together.
In flash memory systems, erase operation may take as much as an order of magnitude longer than read and program operations. Thus, it is desirable to have the erase block of substantial size. In this way, the erase time is amortized over a large aggregate of memory cells.
The nature of flash memory predicates that data must be written to an erased memory location. If data of a certain logical address from a host is to be updated, one way is rewrite the update data in the same physical memory location. That is, the logical to physical address mapping is unchanged. However, this will mean the entire erase block contain that physical location will have to be first erased and then rewritten with the updated data. This method of update is inefficient, as it requires an entire erase block to be erased and rewritten, especially if the data to be updated only occupies a small portion of the erase block. It will also result in a higher frequency of erase recycling of the memory block, which is undesirable in view of the limited endurance of this type of memory device.
Data communicated through external interfaces of host systems, memory systems and other electronic systems are addressed and mapped into the physical locations of a flash memory system. Typically, addresses of data files generated or received by the system are mapped into distinct ranges of a continuous logical address space established for the system in terms of logical blocks of data (hereinafter the "LBA interface"). The extent of the address space is typically sufficient to cover the full range of addresses that the system is capable of handling. In one example, magnetic disk storage drives communicate with computers or other host systems through such a logical address space. This address space has an extent sufficient to address the entire data storage capacity of the disk drive.
Flash memory systems are most commonly provided in the form of a memory card or flash drive that is removably connected with a variety of hosts such as a personal computer, a camera or the like, but may also be embedded within such host systems or be in the form of a solid state drive. When writing data to the memory, the host typically assigns unique logical addresses to sectors, clusters or other units of data within a continuous virtual address space of the memory system. Like a disk operating system (DOS), the host writes data to, and reads data from, addresses within the logical address space of the memory system. A controller within the memory system translates logical addresses received from the host into physical addresses within the memory array, where the data are actually stored, and then keeps track of these address translations. The data storage capacity of the memory system is at least as large as the amount of data that is addressable over the entire logical address space defined for the memory system.
In current commercial flash memory systems, the size of the erase unit has been increased to a block of enough memory cells to store multiple sectors of data. Indeed, many pages of data are stored in one block, and a page may store multiple sectors of data. Further, two or more blocks are often operated together as metablocks, and the pages of such blocks logically linked together as metapages. A page or metapage of data are written and read together, which can include many sectors of data, thus increasing the parallelism of the operation. Along with such large capacity operating units the challenge is to operate them efficiently.
For ease of explanation, unless otherwise specified, it is intended that the term "block" as used herein refer to either the block unit of erase or a multiple block "metablock," depending upon whether metablocks are being used in a specific system. Similarly, reference to a "page" herein may refer to a unit of programming within a single block or a "metapage" within a metablock, depending upon the system configuration.
In charge storing non-volatile memory devices, such as those based on EEPROM or dielectric storage, the non-volatility is non-perfect and the data value stored in an element can be degraded by leakage over time. Operations in one part of the memory circuit can also affect data values in storage elements not being directly acted upon. For example, capacitive coupling between memory cells on adjacent word lines can lead "read disturbs" or "write disturbs" when a neighboring word line is read or written. (Erase disturbs may also occur, depending on the granularity at which cells are erased.) To maintain the integrity of data in such memory systems, the effects of such disturbs need to be considered.

Finding read disturbs on non-volatile memories


A method for building a 3D model of a rock sample comprises performing X-ray micro/nanoCT scanning of a rock sample and obtaining its initial three-dimensional microstructure image in a gray scale. Then, an analysis of the obtained three-dimensional image of the rock sample is performed and a binarization method is selected in dependence of the image quality and properties of the rock sample. The selected binarization method is at least once applied to the obtained initial three-dimensional image of the sample. Obtained 3D binarized image represents a 3D model of the rock sample.

X-ray micro- and nano-computed tomography is a well-known non-destructive technique for visualizing and quantifying the internal structure of objects in three dimensions (3D). It is used to provide high resolution images of rocks in 2D or 3D at a micron scale (see, for example, M. A. Knackstedt et al., "Digital Core Laboratory: Properties of Reservoir Core Derived From 3D Images," SPE 87009, 2004).
X-ray micro- and nano-computed tomography techniques enable acquisition of grayscale 3D images in which the grayscale represents the X-ray absorption distribution within the object. The absorption (attenuation) depends on the chemical composition of the material and its physical density. The range of X-ray energies used in computed tomography (CT) allows the study of very dense objects, such as rocks.
Strong contrast in X-ray attenuation coefficients between rock grains and air/water/oil-filled pores, the allows the microCT technique reproducing 3D images with dark and bright areas inside. The dark and bright areas correspond to pores and grains respectively (if, as usual, the 3D microCT image is considered at inverse gray scale). The problem is that the boundary between dark and bright regions is not step-like. In order to segment a rather smoothed grayscale microCT image in two phases (grains and pores) it is necessary to apply binarization operation which can be revealed in many different ways. For example, a number of approaches to binarization are described in [M. Sezgin, B. Sankur, "Survey over image thresholding techniques and quantitative performance evaluation", Journal of Electronic Imaging 13(1), 146-165 (January 2004)].
It is known a patent application WO2009140738 A1 titled "Image data processing" and aimed at creating a rock model based on different imaging techniques for extracting an information about sample. Main disadvantage of this application is presence of 2D-3D image registration as necessary step for building the 3D digital model accounting pore space and mineral distribution.
Another disadvantage is necessity of making thin sections as sources for 2D mineral maps from SEM or optical microscopy. It is known that making this sections is destructive at microscale. This makes their 2D-3D registration procedure nearly non-applicable in real life. Furthermore, preparing thin sections from the sample after X-Ray microCT destructs original sample, so no further investigations with original sample are possible.
Suggested method provides digital representation of rock's internal structure. Besides, it does not include 2D-3D registration for 3D building the 3D model of the core.

Method for building a 3D model of a rock sample


Substrate processing apparatus includes a lithographic apparatus which comprises an illumination system for supplying a projection beam of radiation, an array of individually controllable elements serving to impart the projection beam with a pattern in its cross-section, and a projection system for projecting the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate. The processing apparatus also includes a substrate supply arranged to output at least one unbroken length of substrate, and a substrate conveying system arranged to convey each outputted unbroken length of substrate from the substrate supply and past the projection system such that the projection system is able to project the patterned beam onto a series of target portions along each unbroken length of substrate. In certain embodiments, long lengths of substrate are supplied from a roll, but alternatively a series of separate sheets can be supplied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to substrate processing apparatus incorporating a lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method.
2. Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a target portion of a substrate (e.g., a workpiece, an object, a display, etc.). The lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs), flat panel displays, and other devices involving fine structures. In a conventional lithographic apparatus, a patterning means, that is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, can be used to generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC (or other device), and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g., comprising part of a die, one die, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer or glass plate) that has a layer of radiation-sensitive material (e.g., resist). Instead of a mask, the patterning means can comprise an array of individually controllable elements that generate the circuit pattern. Lithographic systems utilizing such arrays are generally described as maskless systems.
In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively exposed. Known lithographic apparatus include steppers, in that each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion in one go, and scanners, in that each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through the beam in a given direction (the "scanning" direction), while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction.
It is known to batch process substrates, in the production of a wide variety of devices. For example, in the manufacture of flat panel displays (FPDs) it is known to use a mask-based exposure tool (i.e., a lithographic tool incorporating a fixed, non-programmable patterning device), and to carry out the exposure on a single substrate. Typically, a number of exposure steps are required, along with additional pre- and post-exposure processing steps to build up the FPD device structure, each step being carried out by a respective and separate processing tool. In each tool, the substrate is supported by a respective support stage, and batch processing has necessitated numerous handling steps, delivering the substrate to the series of support stages, collecting the substrate from each support stage after the respective processing step is complete, and transporting the substrate between the separate tools. This has meant that only approximately 65% of the Turn Around Cycle Time (TACT) for processing a substrate has been "useful" exposure time, the rest being time spent on transport, handling, and metrology. The use of separate tools and the need for complex handling systems for loading, unloading, and inter-tool transport have also required large fabrication facilities.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method that obviate or mitigate the problems outlined above.

Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method, and device manufactured thereby


Disclosed are 3D printing equipment, a system, and a method for food design and production. The 3D printing equipment has a bipolar microwave heating antenna for focusing heating on a material in an extrusion nozzle. The extrusion nozzle is between the anode antenna and the cathode antenna of the bipolar microwave heating antenna. The anode antenna and the cathode antenna limit a microwave electric field between them, thereby implementing focused heating on the material.

3D printing is an additive manufacturing technology, and is different from traditional subtractive manufacturing such as lathing and carving. Based on instructions of a control system, parts are manufactured through layer-by-layer superposition. In recent years, the 3D printing technology has quickly developed in the industrial field and has been widely studied and applied. In the food field, because most of systems have relatively much moisture, foods are mainly modeled by using a fused deposition modeling (Fused Deposition Modeling, FDM) technology during 3D printing. Generally, a food material is made into a fused state or a slurry, and is placed in an extrusion charging barrel. The food slurry is extruded from the charging barrel through extrusion of a piston, air or a screw, and is deposited on a printing platform. Food such as chocolate, cheese and sugar have a relatively low melting point. After being extruded, a slurry is solidified and modeled. The solidified slurry has high mechanical strength. Therefore, a 3D printing molding quality of such food is relatively desirable.
Relatively speaking, after being extruded, a high-moisture food slurry such as surimi, meat paste or dough is still in a flowing state with low mechanical strength, and is easy to flow or collapse, leading to a relatively poor molding quality. Therefore, such food is mostly used for manufacturing structures with weak three-dimensionality such as two-dimensional structure and simple non-hollow shapes. In addition, such a food slurry is not cooked before being printed, and a modeled product cannot be eaten directly. At present, a solution to printing first and then cooking is mainly used, but a product is extremely easily deformed during heating, and it is difficult to maintain an original shape.
Because a high-moisture food slurry such as surimi, meat paste or dough is heated to transit from a flowing state to a solidified state, in order to resolve a problem of relatively poor molding quality of the food slurry, a series of heated 3D printers have attracted widespread attention from researchers. In a disclosed 3D printing apparatus (CN 201610864170.3) for heated food, an electric heating tube is disposed at a bottom portion of a raw material barrel, and a solid state raw material in the barrel are melted into a liquid state by using a heat conduction block, and is then output by a printing head. In a process of 3D printing for food, in order to increase printing precision, a diameter of the extrusion head of a 3D printer is generally only about 1 mm to 2 mm, and a material extrusion speed reaches tens of millimeters per second. In addition, a material has certain heat transmission resistance. Therefore, it may be very difficult to uniformly heat, by using the electric heating tube, a food slurry such as surimi, meat paste or dough that is extruded at a high speed.
A disclosed 3D printer for making pancakes (CN 201720021832.0) adopts a method for installing a heating plate on a printing platform to heat extruded materials. However, because 3D printing is a process of layer-by-layer deposition, this type of heating manner may causes a material deposited first on the printing platform to be overheated, and a material deposited later to be heated insufficiently, resulting in non-uniform heating of a product. In addition, the material has certain heat conduction resistance. Therefore, it is also difficult to heat a product with a certain height or thickness completely in such a heating manner.
A disclosed microwave heating mechanism for 3D printing (CN 201711206387.6) generates a microwave through a magnetron, limits a heating range of the microwave by using upper and lower microwave shielding frames, and heats extruded plastic and metal melting wire, to keep the material fused, thereby facilitating molding. However, the microwave is scattered, refracted and dissipated in the air. Therefore, it cannot be ensured that the microwave can act on the extruded material with uniform and sufficient energy, causing a food material to be non-uniformly heated, resulting in non-uniform texture of a final product. In addition, the microwave is reflected and scattered in a printing cavity, and is difficult to target the extruded material, thereby causing a product already deposited on the printing platform to be excessively heated.
In a disclosed microwave-coupled 3D printing method and printer for food (CN 201910089465.1), a microwave heating probe embedded in an inner wall of a charging barrel releases a microwave at a head, and an instant heating effect of an extruded material is achieved with a non-wave-absorbing material. The microwave heating probe includes a coaxial line. However, in this equipment, a distance between the head of microwave heating probe and the extrusion head needs to be calculated according to a dielectric property of the material. It is tedious to replace the heating probe when different materials are to be printed. Through finite element simulation, it is found that the microwave electric field with such a heating manner is mainly concentrated near the head of the heating probe, and it is difficult to effectively heat the extruded material.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a 3D printing technology with the function of rapid, uniform, and focused heating for extruded materials. Which can improve the mechanical strength of an extruded material and molding quality of products through immediate solidification when surimi and other materials are extruded. In this way, a structure with a strong three-dimensionality will be manufactured.

Microwave-coupled 3D printing system and equipment for food design and production


An apparatus comprising at least one processor configured to implement a method comprising receiving a path computation request comprising at least one path computation constraint, and determining whether there is a path through an optical network that satisfies the path computation constraints. Also disclosed is an apparatus configured to process a data structure comprising a flags field comprising at least one flag having one of an active state or an inactive state, wherein each flag is representative of an optical quality constraint.

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is one technology that is envisioned to increase bandwidth capability and enable bidirectional communications in optical networks. In WDM networks, multiple data signals can be transmitted simultaneously between network elements (NEs) using a single fiber. Specifically, the individual signals may be assigned different transmission wavelengths so that they do not interfere or collide with each other. The path that the signal takes through the network is referred to as the lightpath. One type of WDM network, a wavelength switched optical network (WSON), seeks to switch the optical signals with fewer optical-electrical-optical (OEO) conversions along the lightpath, e.g. at the individual NEs, than existing optical networks.
One of the challenges in implementing WDM networks is the determination of the path for the various signals that are being transported through the network at any given time. Unlike traditional circuit-switched and connection-oriented packet-switched networks that merely have to determine a route for the data stream across the network, WDM networks are burdened with the additional constraint of having to ensure that the same wavelength is not simultaneously used by two signals over a single fiber. This constraint is compounded by the fact that WDM networks typically use specific optical bands comprising a finite number of usable optical wavelengths. Path computations can also be constrained due to other issues, such as excessive optical noise, along the lightpath.

Optical impairment aware path computation architecture in PCE based network


A system and method for controlling a mass flow controller to have a constant control loop gain under a variety of different types of fluids and operating conditions, and for configuring the mass flow controller for operation with a fluid and/or operating conditions different from that used during a production of the mass flow controller. Further, the system and method includes providing control by reducing the effects of hysteresis in solenoid actuated devices by providing a non-operational signal to the solenoid actuated device.

Many industrial processes require precise control of various process fluids. For example, in the pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries, mass flow controllers are used to precisely measure and control the amount of a process fluid that is introduced to a process chamber. The term fluid is used herein to describe any type of matter in any state that is capable of flow. It is to be understood that the term fluid applies to liquids, gases, and slurries comprising any combination of matter or substance to which controlled flow may be of interest.
Conventional mass flow controllers generally include four main portions: a flow meter, a control valve, a valve actuator, and a controller. The flow meter measures the mass flow rate of a fluid in a flow path and provides a signal indicative of that flow rate. The flow meter may include a mass flow sensor and a bypass. The mass flow sensor measures the mass flow rate of fluid in a sensor conduit that is fluidly coupled to the bypass. The mass flow rate of fluid in the sensor conduit is approximately proportional to the mass flow rate of fluid flowing in the bypass, with the sum of the two being the total flow rate through the flow path controlled by the mass flow controller. However, it should be appreciated that some mass flow controllers may not employ a bypass, as such, all of the fluid may flow through the sensor conduit.
In many mass flow controllers, a thermal mass flow sensor is used that includes a pair of resistors that are wound about the sensor conduit at spaced apart positions, each having a resistance that varies with temperature. As fluid flows through the sensor conduit, heat is carried from the upstream resistor toward the downstream resistor, with the temperature difference being proportional to the mass flow rate of the fluid flowing through the sensor conduit and the bypass.
A control valve is positioned in the main fluid flow path (typically downstream of the bypass and mass flow sensor) and can be controlled (e.g., opened or closed) to vary the mass flow rate of fluid flowing through the main fluid flow path and provided by the mass flow controller. The valve is typically controlled by a valve actuator, examples of which include solenoid actuators, piezoelectric actuators, stepper actuators, etc.
Control electronics control the position of the control valve based upon a set point indicative of the mass flow rate of fluid that is desired to be provided by the mass flow controller, and a flow signal from the mass flow sensor indicative of the actual mass flow rate of the fluid flowing in the sensor conduit. Traditional feedback control methods such as proportional control, integral control, proportional-integral (PI) control, derivative control, proportional-derivative (PD) control, integral-derivative (ID) control, and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control are then used to control the flow of fluid in the mass flow controller. In each of the aforementioned feedback control methods, a control signal (e.g., a control valve drive signal) is generated based upon an error signal that is the difference between a set point signal indicative of the desired mass flow rate of the fluid and a feedback signal that is related to the actual mass flow rate sensed by the mass flow sensor.
Many conventional mass flow controllers are sensitive to component behavior that may be dependent upon any of a number of operating conditions including fluid species, flow rate, inlet and/or outlet pressure, temperature, etc. In addition, conventional mass flow controllers may exhibit certain non-uniformities particular to a combination of components used in the production of the mass flow controller which can result in inconsistent and undesirable performance of the mass flow controller.
To combat some of these problems, a mass flow controller may be tuned and/or calibrated during production. Production generally includes operating the mass flow controller on a test fluid under a set of operating conditions and tuning and/or calibrating the mass flow controller so that it exhibits satisfactory behavior.
As known to those skilled in the art, the tuning and/or calibration of a mass flow controller is an expensive, labor intensive procedure, often requiring one or more skilled operators and specialized equipment. For example, the mass flow sensor portion of the mass flow controller may be tuned by running known amounts of a known fluid through the sensor portion and adjusting certain filters or components to provide an appropriate response. A bypass may then be mounted to the sensor, and the bypass tuned with the known fluid to reflect an appropriate percentage of the fluid flowing in the main fluid flow path at various known flow rates. The mass flow sensor portion and bypass may then be mated to the control valve and control electronics portions and then tuned again, under known conditions.
When the type of fluid used by an end-user differs from that used in tuning and/or calibration, or when the operating conditions, such as inlet and outlet pressure, temperature, range of flow rates, etc., used by the end-user differ from that used in tuning and/or calibration, the operation of the mass flow controller can be expected to degrade. For this reason, additional fluids (termed "surrogate fluids") and or operating conditions are often tuned or calibrated, with any changes necessary to provide a satisfactory response being stored in a lookup table.
Although the use of additional tuning and/or calibration with different fluids and at different operating conditions can be used to improve the performance of the mass flow controller, this type of surrogate tuning and/or calibration is time consuming and expensive, as the tuning and/or calibration procedures must be repeated for at least each surrogate fluid and likely must be repeated for a number of different operating conditions with each surrogate fluid. Furthermore, because the surrogate fluids only approximate the behavior of the various types of fluids that may be used by the end-user, the actual operation of the mass flow controller at an end-user site may differ substantially from that during tuning and/or calibration. Considering the wide range of industries and applications employing mass flow controllers, the process fluid and operating conditions applied to the mass flow controller by an end user are likely to be different than the test fluids and operating conditions upon which a mass flow controller was tuned and/or calibrated, despite tuning and/or calibration of the mass flow controller with a number of different surrogate fluids and operating conditions.
In addition to the foregoing external factors (e.g., fluid species, flow rate, inlet and/or outlet pressure, temperature, etc.) that may affect the performance and response of a mass flow controller, factors associated with the physical operation of a mass flow controller may also contribute to the overall sensitivity of the mass flow controller to external factors and changing conditions. For example, many valves employed to control flow in mass flow controllers are solenoid actuated devices.
Although a number of manufacturers of mass flow controllers utilize piezoelectric actuators, solenoid actuators are generally preferred due to their simplicity, their quick response, and their low cost. Nonetheless, solenoid actuated control valves do have certain drawbacks, with one of the more significant drawbacks of solenoid actuated control valves (and solenoid actuated devices in general) being that they exhibit hysteresis. Hysteresis is a well known phenomenon common to many apparatus employing magnetics or electromagnetics or magnetic material. In general, hysteresis applies to a lagging or retardation in the values of resulting magnetization due to a changing magnetizing force. In many solenoid actuated devices, this results in a condition wherein the operation of the device depends not only upon a present state of the device, but also upon a prior state.
It is commonly understood that solenoid actuated control valves exhibit hysteresis. It is also commonly understood that this hysteresis adversely impacts the consistency of a valve with respect to transitioning between states of no flow and controlled flow in a mass flow controller. Nonetheless, in conventional mass flow controller design, this drawback has typically been accepted as a necessary drawback of using a solenoid actuated control valve, which, for many manufacturers, is outweighed by the advantages of solenoid actuated control valve, such as simplicity, cost, and reliability.

System and method for a mass flow controller


Described herein are systems and methods for fault tolerance in a network cloud environment. In accordance with various embodiments, the present disclosure provides an improved fault tolerance solution, and improvement in the fault tolerance of systems, by way of failure prediction, or prediction of when an underlying infrastructure will fail, and using the predictions to counteract the failure by spinning up or otherwise providing new component pieces to compensate for the failure.

Cloud infrastructure environments can comprise sets of complementary cloud services that enable users and clients (throughout the specification, the terms "clients" and "customers" can be used interchangeably) to build and run a wide range of applications and services in a highly-available hosted environment.
Year to year, more and more businesses and organizations are migrating mission critical applications and systems to a cloud infrastructure environment. There are various reasons for this shift. For example, many businesses are moving to the cloud in order to reduce the cost and complexity of operating, maintaining, and building out on-premise infrastructure. As well, cloud infrastructure also allows for a more rapid information technology (IT) delivery mechanism. Some businesses and organizations additionally see the cloud infrastructure environment as a means to gain a leg up on competition by adapting to a nimbler system.
Within IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) models, a cloud provider can provide, host, and manage infrastructure components that would, in traditional settings, be on-premise at each customer's/client's location. Such traditionally on-premise components can include hardware, for example, data warehouses and data centers, servers, storage, networking hardware, as well as software, such as virtualization software.
IaaS providers can, in addition to providing hardware and software that would traditionally be on-premise, also provide services to their clients and customers. As an example, clients and customers can be allowed to tailor their IaaS subscription to fit their needs, which then in turn allows for detailed and broken-down billing and invoicing. IaaS can also support features such as load balancing, redundancy, replication and recover. Because such services are offered and supported by the IaaS provider (and not the customer), this leaves clients and customers to be more focused on improving their business by pushing more into automation and orchestration for their services.
Cloud infrastructures enable users and clients to seamlessly run traditional enterprise applications along with cloud-native apps, all on the same platform, reducing operational overhead and enabling direct connectivity between both types of workloads.
A computer network provides connectivity among a set of nodes. The set of nodes are connected by a set of links (physical or virtual). The nodes may be local to and/or remote from each other. The nodes are connected by one or more links. Examples of links include a coaxial cable, an unshielded twisted cable, a copper cable, an optical fiber, and a virtual link.
A subset of nodes implements the computer network. Examples of such nodes include a switch, a router, a firewall, and a network address translator (NAT). Each node performs one or more functions, such as but not limited to routing data, filtering data, inspecting data, processing data, and/or storing data. Each node may be implemented by a function-specific hardware device and/or a generic machine.
Another subset of nodes uses the computer network. Such nodes (also referred to as "hosts") may execute a client process and/or a server process. A client process makes a request for a computing service (such as, execution of a particular application, and/or storage of a particular amount of data). A server process responds by executing the requested service and/or returning corresponding data.
A computer network may provide connectivity between clients and network resources. Network resources include hardware and/or software configured to execute server processes. Examples of network resources include a processor, a data storage, a virtual machine, a container, and/or a software application. Network resources are shared amongst multiple clients. Clients request computing services from a computer network independently of each other. Network resources are dynamically assigned to the requests and/or clients on an on-demand basis. Such a computer network may be referred to as a "cloud network."
Some currently-available systems have some level of fault tolerance. That is, if any of the components fail, such systems have failover capabilities to pick up a thread from where the component failed and continue providing service.
A general approach in on-premise systems is to build redundancy into the components. Current cloud-based systems may be focused on building more and more redundancy for fault tolerance. Redundancy depends upon the underlying infrastructure, and can follow a deterministic failure model for on-premise systems. However, when fault tolerant components are deployed on the cloud, the underlying infrastructure behaves in a probabilistic/random manner, and not deterministic as in an on-premise environment.

System and method for improved fault tolerance in a network cloud environment


A method and apparatus for managing a cloud virtual base station system are disclosed. The present invention comprises configuring an initial resource and reconfiguring the resource to add or remove a resource of an execution file of the cloud virtual base station system, monitoring an error of the cloud virtual base station system, a wireless resource, a status of the execution file, or a configuration status of the reconfigured resource, managing configuration information of a list of software added or removed during an operation, controlling the cloud virtual base station system in a predetermined specific mode, managing hardware information, file information, or control information of each module of the cloud virtual base station system, and managing the execution file for each module of the cloud virtual base station system by adding or removing the predetermined specific mode initially or during an operation.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a cloud virtual base station of a mobile communication system, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for managing subscribers' services and multiple cells.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A mobile communication system need automatically configure, monitor and manage cloud virtual base station systems that manage multiple cells so as to save maintenance costs related to an operator's operation. To support this, there is a need to apply a method and apparatus for controlling cloud virtual base stations.

Method and apparatus for controlling resource of cloud virtual base station

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


An enhanced method and system for unloading magnetic heads are disclosed. The system limits the maximum and minimum speed of the actuator while unloading the heads during a power failure. A BEMF control circuit monitors the velocity of the actuator using the BEMF of the actuator as a gauge of the velocity. The BEMF control circuit uses a sense resistor to remove the inherent resistive component of the actuator from its BEMF measurement. If the velocity of the actuator increases above a safe level the BEMF control circuit decreases actuator current to prevent further acceleration. If the velocity of the actuator decreases below a safe level the BEMF control circuit increases the actuator current to accelerate the actuator to a safe level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motor control systems for disk drive apparatus, and more particularly to control of actuator power to control head velocity during emergency head retraction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Disk drives, particularly those used in portable and battery operated equipment, are subject to unexpected power system variations, such as loss of power supply and power failures. Damage to the magnetic disk as well as the read/write heads can occur during power loss conditions if a head crashes onto the disk. For disk drives using dynamic head loading the heads must be successfully unloaded to avoid such a crash. One method to unload the heads is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,785 entitled "Disk Drive Apparatus Using Dynamic Loading/Unloading," which uses the rotational energy stored in the spin motor and disk assembly.
FIG. 1 provides a simplified block diagram of conventional head unloading system 100. The disk is controlled by a CPU (not shown) through CPU interface 180. Under normal operations actuator 120 is powered by actuator power source 160, while spin motor power source 170 drives spin motor 110. Switches 130a and 130b normally prevent any power from spin motor 110 from reaching actuator 120. During a power failure, switches 130a and 130b connect spin motor 110 with actuator 120 so that spin motor 110 acts as a DC generator. The electrical power generated by the back electromotive force (BEMF) of spin motor 110 is directed to actuator 120 through rectifier 150 and switches 130a and 130b. The heads (not shown), which are mounted on an actuator arm (not shown), are moved onto the unloading cam (not shown) into a parked condition. In addition, auxiliary power source 140 is used to power the logic devices used to control the unloading mechanism during a power failure.
The major problem with conventional unloading systems is that the design of a head unloading system requires a compromise between two conflicting conditions. If the heads are positioned near the outside diameter (O.D.) of the disk, the actuator travels only a short distance before hitting the unloading cam. Thus, a large actuator current is necessary to create the rapid acceleration needed to ensure that the heads reach a great enough velocity to climb the unloading cam. However if the heads are positioned near the inner diameter of the disk, the actuator travels a larger distance and builds up a greater velocity before hitting the unloading cam. The velocity of the actuator may be great enough to damage the heads when the actuator hits the outer crash stop. Typically, a resistor is inserted in series with the actuator motor to reduce the acceleration and velocity of the actuator. However, the insertion of the resistor further hampers the rapid acceleration needed when the heads are positioned near the outside diameter. The two conflicting conditions are explained in detail below with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3.
FIG. 2 shows the velocity vs time of the heads, which were located over an outer diameter of the disk, during a power failure condition. As explained above, if the heads are positioned near the outside diameter (O.D.) of the disk, the actuator travels only a short distance before hitting the unloading cam. In such a short distance, the actuator assembly does not have enough time to accelerate to a sufficient velocity to overcome the frictional forces encountered on the unloading cam. In addition, FIG. 2 also shows the actuator current vs time during the power failure. Time P marks the power failure condition; time U marks the instant when the heads make contact with the unloading cam; and time S marks the instant when the heads make contact with the outer crash stop. Until time U, the heads are accelerated to a velocity of approximately 22.64 inches per seconds (ips).
If the heads begin to climb the ramp with insufficient velocity, the heads may slow on the ramp surface and not be fully unloaded. As the heads climb the inclined portion of the unloading cam, the velocity of the heads is reduced to approximately 6.24 ips. During this time the heads are not "flying properly" because the suspension down-force has been partially removed. If the heads remain on the ramp surface for as little as 0.5 mS, the heads may pitch or roll and contact the disk surface which may damage the heads and the disk. Once the heads pass the inclined portion of the unloading cam, the heads begin to accelerate into the valley portion of the cam and finally come to rest against the outer crash stop at time S. Since a higher velocity is necessary to insure that the heads are not damaged, a high driving force on the actuator is desired when the heads are located near the outer diameter.
However, when the heads are located near the inner diameter of the disk, the actuator arm is a large distance away from the unloading cam. Therefore, the actuator arm accelerates to a high velocity before reaching the unloading cam. As shown in FIG. 3, the heads can reach a velocity of approximately 56 ips before the heads reach the unloading cam at time U. The head velocity is reduced slightly by the inclination of the unloading cam; however, the velocity remains approximately 47.4 ips upon impact with the outer crash stop. At that velocity, the heads bounce off the outer crash stop at a velocity of approximately 27.45 ips in the opposite direction before being forced against the outer crash stop by the actuator current. Such a rapid change of velocity is likely to damage the magnetic heads.
To reduce the speed of the actuator arm the voltage to the actuator assembly is reduced by placing a resistor 190 (FIG. 4) in series with actuator 120. However, reduction of the actuator voltage and actuator speed would increase the problem of inadequate speed if the magnetic heads are near the outer diameter of the disk when the power fails. Therefore optimization of the unloading mechanism requires contradictory actions depending on whether the magnetic heads are near the inner or outer diameter of the disk when a power failure occurs.
FIG. 5 shows a more detailed disk circuitry 500 containing an unloading mechanism. The disk circuitry is controlled by a CPU (not shown) through serial port 580. Under normal operations positive terminal Act+ of actuator 520 receives power from actuator amplifier 530. Negative terminal Act- of actuator 520 is coupled to a first end of the sense resistor 540. The second end of the sense resistor 540 is coupled to actuator amplifier 530.
Charge pump 502, which is used to supply bias voltages as required by spin motor amplifier 506, energizes auxiliary power supply 504, which is used only during power failures to power the head unloading circuits. Auxiliary power supply 504 is constructed to supply energy to the head unloading circuit for a much greater interval than is necessary to retract the heads from the disk, for example 60 mS. As shown in FIG. 5, a suitable auxiliary power supply can be constructed with three capacitors 504a, 504b, and 504c coupled in parallel between charge pump 502 and ground.
Three phase spin motor 509 is represented by inductors 508a, 508b, or 508c and a resistors 510a, 510b, or 510c. Three phase spin motor 509 is also coupled to the actuator through rectifier 150 and a field effect transistor (FET) 560.
For three phase spin motor 509, rectifier 150 is a three-phase rectifier comprising diodes 514a, 514b, and 514c which have their anodes coupled to grounds and their cathodes coupled to power phase a, b, and c respectively. Rectifier 150 further comprises diodes 516a, 516b, and 516c with their anodes coupled to power phases a, b, and c respectively and their cathodes coupled together to drain D of FET 560. Line 515 between rectifier 150 and FET 560 is also coupled to ground through capacitor 505 to stabilize the voltage.
Source terminal S of FET 560 is coupled to positive terminal Act+ of actuator 520. FET 560 acts as switch to provide power from three phase spin motor 509 to actuator 520 during a power failure. Gate G of FET 560 is coupled to drain D of FET 546. Source S of FET 546 is coupled to ground and gate G of FET 546 is coupled to "Power On/Reset" (POR) line 570. The voltage on POR line 570 is controlled by voltage monitor 528. Under normal operations POR line 570 is pulled high by voltage monitor 528; therefore, FET 546 conducts and pulls gate G of FET 560 and gate G of FET 542 low to prevent any power from three phase spin motor 509 reaching actuator 520. However, once a power failure occurs the voltage on POR line 570 goes low, which turns off FET 546 and allows gate G of FET 560 to be pulled high by auxiliary power supply 504 through resistor 544.
During a power failure, FET 542 which has gate G coupled to drain D of FET 546, source S coupled to ground, and drain D coupled to negative terminal Act- of actuator 520 through resistor 590, provides the ground path for actuator 520. Resistor 544 is coupled to auxiliary power supply 504 to pull gate G of FET 542 and FET 560 high during a power failure. FET 546, which has source S coupled to ground and gate G coupled to POR line 570, pulls gate G of FET 542 and FET 560 low during normal operations to prevent FET 542 from providing a ground path for actuator 520 and to prevent FET 560 from providing power from three phase spin motor 509 to actuator 520.
Hence there is a need for a method or a circuit to perform dynamic head unloading regardless of the position of the heads at the onset of a power failure. Specifically, the method or circuit must satisfy the conflicting need of greater unloading force when the heads are positioned near the outside diameter of the disk with the need of lower unloading force when the heads are positioned near the inner diameter of the disk.

Enhanced method and system of unloading magnetic heads