An encoding acceleration method of cloud VR (virtual reality) video, the method comprising: constructing a reference frame candidate for encoding of a current frame; selecting a specific reference frame among the reference frame candidate based on a sensor data of IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit); selecting a prediction mode for encoding the current frame based on information included in the specific reference frame; and encoding the current frame based on the selected prediction mode.

In recent years, there are a lot of big tech companies make their own big steps in VR (Virtual Reality). However, these all big steps so far, there is still one major issue regarding its accessibility to mass user due to its high pricing. Undeniably, one of the main obstacles to popularize VR amongst mass users is the total cost of ownership.
Due to virtual reality's high price today, one of possibilities can occur is offering it alongside a nascent technology called cloud gaming. Cloud gaming is the concept of rendering game content in the server side, then video streaming the rendered output directly to the user's display.
Video encoding is the process of changing the format of digital video from one standard into another generally for the purpose of efficiency and compatibility with a desired set of applications and hardware. Due to limited bandwidth, video compression is important in Cloud VR. VR content must be compressed as efficiently as possible before it is transmitted to the client. However, video compression requires processing time. The higher the level of compression, the more time it takes. One of the processes that affects the compression ratio is the motion estimation.
The motion estimation (ME) finds the displacement of the best matched block in reference frames as motion vector (MV) for blocks in current frame. By only calculating and encoding the motion vector difference (difference between MV and its prediction) and prediction residual (difference between the contents of the current block and the reference block), a lot of bits can be saved, thus the compression rate becomes high.
Hardware-accelerated video encoder is a certain hardware chipset that provides fully accelerated hardware-based video encoding. With encoding offloaded, the CPU is free for other operations. GPU hardware accelerator engines for video encoding supports faster than real-time video processing which makes them suitable to be used for Cloud VR streaming applications. One of existing hardware-accelerated video encoder from Nvidia is NVIDIA Video Codec SDK (formerly NVENC).

Video encoding and decoding acceleration utilizing IMU sensor data for cloud virtual reality

WILUS INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY INC.

FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH AND BUSINESS, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


An integrated circuit has a plurality of clock domains and a plurality of memory cells being configurable as operational memory cells or as scan test memory cells for testing the integrated circuit. A pulse generator of the integrated circuit generates pulses for triggering the memory cells when being configured as scan test memory cells, the pulse generator comprising a plurality of pulse outputs. The pulses are provided to the memory cells by multiplexer circuits selecting one of the pulses of the pulse generator and an operational clock.

Integrated circuits with high densities need efficient testing with a high failure coverage and low test costs. Several techniques to add circuitry that support this testing are known as design for testability (DFT). Many of these DFT techniques are based on scan chain concepts. Scan chains contain memory cells that are connected as shift registers when a scan mode is applied. If no scan mode is applied, the memory cells are not connected as shift registers, but perform their application function in their operational mode. The shift registers form a chain from an input that is driven by a test controller to an output that may also be read by the test controller. The test controller may be implemented externally as part of an automated test equipment (ATE) or may be integrated in the circuit that is under test.
In a scan test, data is shifted from the input to the memory cells to put them into a state in which the integrated circuit has to be tested. A test stimulus is applied to let the chip perform a defined operation to verify the functionality of the integrated circuit. The result of this operation is stored as data in the memory scan cells. After this operation, this data is shifted to the output of the integrated circuit to compare it with expected values.

Circuitry and method for an at-speed scan test


A circuit arrangement is provided for connecting a personal computer (PC) to a port of a key telephone system via an adapter circuit which also interfaces a digital key set to the port. The adapter circuit is connected to the computer via an RS-232 single channel data link. The PC is programmed to generate and receive a serial data stream into which are encapsulated messages relating to link control and telephone functionality. The adapter circuit is also programmed to receive and generate the serial data stream. The data rate through the adapter circuit and the telephone system and hence to a remote computer is dependent on the utilization of the attached key set by the user to make a call.

Generally, very small telephone switching systems have been referred to as key telephone systems. Typically, a key telephone system was provided by extensive telephone line and control lead wiring between the key telephone sets with each telephone line extending to a telephone switching office. Each of the key sets included a plurality of interlocking pushbuttons or keys each for connecting the telephone set to a particular telephone line among a plurality of telephone lines routed to each key telephone set. The switching function of line selection was mechanically provided and distributed among the key telephone sets. The primary advantages of these systems were economy with small size and robustness. However, these early systems were difficult to expand, required extensive cabling, and were not compatible with the emerging world of digital switching and the associated digital communications.
In the late 1980's and 1990's, a new generation of small switching systems were developed to be compatible with the existing world of digital telephony. One of the better-known and most successful of these systems is marketed under the name of Norstar.TM. by Northern Telecom.
Further information on the Norstar digital key telephone system may be obtained from U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,682 issued Oct. 10, 1989 to G. F. Irwin et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,345 issued Jun. 25, 1991 to T. J. Littlewood; both patents are assigned to the same assignee as the present application and are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Yet other information on the Norstar system may be obtained from the publication "Telesis" 1989, two, published by Bell-Northern Research, the research arm of Northern Telecom Limited.
The Norstar system interfaces to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) via lines and trunks in the usual manner of a telephone switch. The core of the system named KSU (Key Service Unit) in Norstar, on the other hand, is connected to proprietary digital key sets via time-compression multiplex (TCM) links each carrying a pair of B-channels B1 and B2 at 64 kb/s and a D-channel at 16 kb/s.
The KSU can also be connected to a personal computer (PC). The physical and logical connection between a PC and the Norstar system is provided by a proprietary PC interface card that occupies one standard PC bus slot. A PC thus equipped can be connected to a Norstar system via a standard TCM port on the KSU. Firmware in the PC interface card provides PC applications with access to both D-channel functional messaging and B-channel data. The PC communicates with the card via interrupts for the D-channel and direct memory access for large data transfer associated with the B-channel traffic.
The Norstar system also provided for the connection of a PC and digital key set to a TCM port of the switch. A coupling device was inserted in the TCM path between the KSU and a digital station set to provide an interface to the TCM loop, a D and B1-channel interface to the station set and a B2-channel interface to an RS-232 link to a PC. The device included a modem to interface the B-2 channel to the PC. The device thus allowed the use of the PC to make data calls on the B2-channel and the use of a key set to make voice calls on the B1-channel.
The desirability of connecting both a telephone station set and a PC to a common port of a switching system is well recognized and is exemplified by numerous patents in addition to the Norstar system mentioned above.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,580 to D. M. Duong describes an adapter for interfacing a work station terminal to a key telephone system. The adapter comprises a pair of interface circuits and a pair of relays for variously switching them to the work station or the station set.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,814 also describes an external device for interfacing an external device such as a PC and an electronic telephone to a switching system. This device also uses a switching module comprising relays to switch the lines from the ports on the switch to the external devices. The switching module uses a resistor network to mute the audio signal to the telephone set when an external device is actuated.
The above and other similar patents therefore indicate that it is known to provide an adapter device for interfacing a telephone station set and a personal computer to a telephone line from a switching system. It is also known to provide a PC programmed to function cooperatively with a station set so that it may be used to initiate telephony functions. However, the known devices are not adapted to provide simultaneous telephony functionality and data connectivity such as to the Internet network, and an attached set.

Circuit arrangement for providing internet connectivity to a computer in a key telephone system


In order to prevent mechanical damage to electrode surfaces and to facilitate easy swapping out of immersible electrodes for inspection or replacement, an electrode element for an electrolysis cell for electrolytic precipitation of metals from a liquid containing metal ions has a frame (1) provided with parallel side sections (2, 3) of electrically insulating plastic. Each element includes at least one conduit (13) for supplying a liquid ion conductor and at least one conduit (16) for the removal of this liquid ion conductor. There is at least one planar active part is disposed between the conduits to serve as an electrode (7), along which the ion conductor flows. The active surface of the electrode (7) is covered by an ion exchange diaphragm (20). The electrode element is adapted for partial dipping, up to a predetermined immersion line (17), in the liquid. The electrode (7) is removably supported in the side sections (2, 3) of the frame (1). The diaphragm (20) defines a pouch enclosing at least the portion of the electrode (7) dipped into the metal-ion-containing liquid. The pouch is enclosed by a protective box (21) of an electrically insulating plastic provided with openings (22), where at least a portion of the openings (22) are directed toward an active surface of the electrode (7).

The electrode element is preferably intended for use as an anode in an electrolysis cell, such as is known from German Letters Patent DE-PS 36 40 020; because of a plurality of cathodes and comparatively few anodes, the electrolysis cell disclosed in this Letters Patent has an advantageous surface ratio of cathodes to anodes. Here, it is possible, for example, to separate the cathode chamber filled with waste water from the anodes by means of a diaphragm, so that the anode(s) are located in a closed-off anolyte chamber which protects the anode from the process liquid which might contain aggressive substances. The anolyte chambers are provided with their own electrolyte supply and removal devices for circulation. The anodes located in the anolyte chambers have a flat structure, and the anode surfaces are disposed parallel to the surfaces of the cathodes.
In this known device, the cover and corrosion of the diaphragm to be placed on the frame of the anodes as well as protection of the diaphragm against the metal precipitated on the adjacent cathodes presents problems, where it is possible, particularly when removing the cathode, that the adjacent diaphragm becomes damaged.
Furthermore, an electrode is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,144 having a frame of electrically insulating plastic into which an electrode plate made on the basis of plastic is integrated. The lower part and the upper part of the insulated frame are each provided with a chamber-like liquid supply and liquid removal device which terminates in a plurality of individual conduits provided by the surface of the electrode structure. By the employment of a plurality of electrode plates disposed parallel to each other and separated by diaphragms, it is possible to construct a bipolar electrode with alternatingly inserted anode and cathode parts; such a bipolar electrode is suitable for chloralkali electrolysis. However, because of the lack of space between the cathode and the diaphragm, the precipitation of metal on this bipolar electrode is not possible.
An electrode arrangement in a metal recovery cell for cleaning industrial process solutions and waste water in a reservoir is known from European Patent Disclosure EP-OS 36 640, which for retaining plate-shaped electrodes has an open frame of parallel lateral strips as spacing elements and consists of electrically-insulating corrosion-resistant plastic; cathodes are disposed on both sides of the anode at a distance set by the frame, and no diaphragms or membranes are provided between the electrodes.
The cell is integrated into the reservoir and the input and output to the electrolysis chamber between the electrodes are kept free in order to obtain a circulation which generates gas bubbles between the reservoir chamber and the electrolysis chamber. On the one hand, the distance between the electrodes, must be large enough to provide space for precipitated metals but , on the other hand, not too great so that sufficient metal precipitation up to a remaining concentration of .ltoreq. 1 ppm of metal ions can be achieved.

Electrode element for electrolytic purposes and its use


A process of fabricating an optical fiber preform, preferably a multimode optical fiber preform, having a maximum refractive index along an axis of the fiber and a lower refractive index at its periphery. The process includes the following steps: depositing successive layers onto the interior of the tube with the refractive index increasing from the first, larger diameter layer to the central layer, each layer being formed from gases which react with each other inside the tube, and varying the proportions of the gases from one layer to another to vary the index. The gases are introduced into the tube at a velocity such that the radial index profile is homogenized in the longitudinal direction. This velocity is advantageously maintained substantially the same for the fabrication of all the layers. This process produces preforms having a homogeneous index profile in the longitudinal direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an optical fiber preform and a fabrication process for this preform.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An optical fiber is generally made from silica; its diameter is about 125 microns (.mu.m).
The silica of a multimode optical fiber is doped. The doping, for example, with germanium, is highest at the center, i.e. on the longitudinal axis, and decreases from the center towards the periphery. Accordingly, the refractive index n is the highest at the center, where its value is about 1.48, and lowest at the periphery, where its value is about 1.45, which is the index of the pure silica.
The performance of the fiber depends on the quality and the regularity of the index profile. The bandwidth is high if the index profile is regular, i.e. if the refractive index varies continuously or virtually continuously from the center towards the periphery and if the curvature of this profile is chosen correctly. Furthermore, the bandwidth depends on the longitudinal homogeneity of the index profile. Any departure from these conditions--i.e. if the index gradient has discontinuities and/or is not homogeneous in the longitudinal direction--leads to a reduction of the bandwidth. Finally, oscillations or undulations of the index profile can degrade the bandwidth to a lesser degree.
An optical fiber having a satisfactory index gradient is fabricated in the following manner: starting with a tube of pure silica having an exterior diameter between 28 mm and 36 mm and an interior diameter between 24 mm and 32 mm, for example, successive layers are deposited on the internal wall with the doping increasing from the beginning (the largest diameter) to the end (the smallest diameter). Generally there are several tens of layers.
The process employed is a modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) process.
To deposit the first layer a current of silicon tetrachloride SiCl.sub.4 mixed with oxygen or another oxidizing agent is passed through the interior of the silica tube and the silica tube is heated, preferably from the exterior. The heating is effected over a relatively short length; to form the layer over the greater part of the tube, the heating device is moved from the entry towards the exit of the tube. The tube is generally turned about its axis during execution of the process.
The heating causes oxidation of the silicon tetrachloride and this produces silica SiO.sub.2 and chlorine. The silica is deposited onto the inside wall of the tube and constitutes the first layer.
The subsequent layers are formed in the same manner but, for these layers, the gas additionally contains germanium tetrachloride to effect the doping. The quantity of germanium tetrachloride is varied from the second layer to the last in order to obtain the required doping--and therefore the required index--for each layer.
After deposition of the last layer, there remains an axial opening that is eliminated by heating the tube in order to shrink it. This produces a solid cylinder having an outside diameter in the order of two centimeters and a length of about one meter. This cylinder, or rod, is known as a primary preform. This primary preform is generally then covered (or "surfaced") with silica to obtain the required diameter, for example three centimeters to four centimeters.
The optical fibers proper are fabricated by drawing down such preforms. Thus a preform about one meter long and having an outside diameter of three centimeters produces in the order of 50 kilometers of optical fiber with a diameter of 125 microns.
The preform fabrication process described hereinabove is described in European patent application 301 797, for example.
It has been found that, during the fabrication of a preform by the MCVD process, a great part of the length of the preform has an index profile that differs from the profile over the remainder of the length of the preform. This lack of longitudinal homogeneity leads to a reduction of the bandwidth of the optical fibers made from this part of the preform. The lack of homogeneity of the index profile in relation to the remainder of the length manifests itself at the gas entry end, following on from a first part, starting from the entry, over which the deposit is insufficient. This first part is about 15 centimeters long. The second part, which has a varying index profile curvature different from the corresponding curvature over the remainder of the preform, extends about 10 to 15 centimeters beyond the first part. The lack of homogeneity of the doping gradient or index gradient of the second part relative to the remainder affects the bandwidth of the fiber obtained from this part or from the remainder of the preform. To summarize: about 15% of the preform is unusable and an at least--and possibly much greater--proportion of this length suffers from a lack of homogeneity of the index profile relative to the remainder of the preform, the above values being given by way of example only. Be this as it may, it has been found that the lack of homogeneity indicated above increases with the section of the layers deposited. This drawback is particularly disadvantageous at present since the aim is to obtain preforms of even greater diameter.

Optical fiber preform and its fabrication process


A messaging system (300) capable of handling threaded messages. Older messages (400, 402) in a thread may be identified as having already been read or opened, and handled in the same way as later messages (404) in the thread. If a user opens an intermediate message (402) in a thread, he is informed of the presence of a more recent message (404) on the same topic and is offered the chance to open that message instead.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to messaging systems and, particularly, to a messaging system for handling threaded messages in a recipient's mailbox.
2. Description of the Related Art
Message processing systems have been in widespread use for many years. These systems, such as a voice messaging system, are commonly used as message sending, receiving and storing tools. In particular, voice messaging systems are commonly known as voice mail systems (VMS). In such systems, each user is assigned a mailbox wherein messages sent to the user are saved. The recipient of a message, upon accessing the VMS, may retrieve messages from his or her mailbox. In the past, voice mail systems had limited capabilities. For example, users of the earliest systems could only send messages and store messages for later playback.
Advanced functionality has been added to the VMS. Present day systems not only store messages, but can forward messages to one or more recipients; message replies can be automatically sent to the sender; and messages can be attached to other messages before being sent to their final destination.
Often, a message may be "threaded," i.e., forwarded with attached materials. For example, a voice message may be forwarded with additional comments. A lengthy dialogue can result in multiple messages in the user's mailbox on the same subject. Upon playback by the recipient, the (usually, most recent) message contains the entire string. However, to clear the mailbox, the user must listen to all of the messages, including earlier ones that have been threaded together into later ones in the string. The user must therefore waste time on already listened-to messages before the mailbox may be cleared.
Electronic mail, or e-mail, systems similarly allow "threading" of messages. Typically, the entire message is included in a "Reply" or "Forward," including the message header and original recipients. Again, however, redundancy in messages results, since the earlier messages which have been threaded remain, and the user must waste time in opening and/or filing or deleting them.
Accordingly, there is a need for a messaging system having improved handling of threaded messages.

System and method for handling of threaded messages


An axial flow fan comprises a hub rotatable on a central axis and a plurality of radial blades extending from the hub, each having a root portion adjacent the hub and each having tip portion space radially from the hub and surrounded by an annular band. The root portions are substantially equally spaced circumferentially at their junctions with the hub and at least some of the tip potions are substantially unevenly space circumferentially. The latter is due to the condition that blade centerlines are pivoted through unequal angles about points along the junctions between the hub and the blade root portions.

It is known that a significant reduction in noise generation by axial flow fans can be achieved by providing uneven or unequal spacing between the fan blades particularly at their tip portions.
An example of such a fan design in the prior art is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,660 to Houten et al. In the Houten patent, the fan blades are skewed to provide for uniform spacing of the blades at the root portion and unequal spacing at tip potions. Skewing of the blades is accomplished by altering the curvature of the blades between root and tip portions in a plane perpendicular to the fan axis. Thus, a gradual curvature of a blade center line from root to tip has a significantly different skew than a relatively sharp curvature of a blade center line running from the mid point of the blade at its root to its tip mid point.
While the foregoing blade design is generally satisfactory, it nevertheless has disadvantages particularly in difficulty encountered in plastic molding processes associated with the production of the blades. Blades with a relatively sharp curvature of their center lines are obviously more difficult and, or expensive to mold than blades having gradually curved center lines. Further, a number of blade configurations each with different curvatures of their center lines also adds to cost of production.
It is the general object of the present invention to provide an improved axial flow impeller which exhibits equal spacing between blades at their root portions and unequal spacing between the blades at their tip portions, and which may be manufactured at economic advantage while retaining and even improving noise reduction characteristics.
In accordance with the present invention and in fulfillment of the foregoing object, an axial flow fan is provided with a hub and a plurality of generally radial blades extending from the hub periphery. Each blade comprises a root portion adjacent the hub and terminates in a tip portion spaced radially from the hub. The root portions of the blades are spaced evenly at their junctions with the hub while the tip portions thereof are substantially unevenly spaced circumaxially due to the blades being pivoted about their center lines through unequal arcs about points along the junctions between the hub and the blade root portions. Preferably, the mid points of the junctions between the hub and the root portion are used as pivot points for the arcuate placement of the blades. Any desired pattern of unequal blade tip spacing can thus be achieved without resort to unequal curvature of the blades and, in fact, without resort to any substantial change in the configuration of the blades. Only the slightest modification in blade shape at root and tip portions is necessary from blade to blade.


A high-throughput memory access interface allows higher data transfer rates between a system memory controller and video/graphics adapters than is possible using standard local bus architectures. The interface enables data to be written directly to a peripheral device at either one of two selectable speeds. The peripheral device may be a graphics adapter. A signal indicative of whether the adapter's write buffers are full is used to determine whether a write transaction to the adapter can proceed. If the transaction can not proceed at that time, it can be enqueued in the interface.

Personal computer systems generally include one or more local buses that permit peripheral devices to be connected to the computer system's microprocessor. One such local bus is the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus. A design concern associated with virtually any local bus architecture is the maximum rate of data transfer, or throughput, that can be achieved on the bus. The PCI bus provides substantial improvements over its predecessors in terms of data throughput. However, certain applications require even greater throughput than PCI can provide, particularly video and 3-D graphics applications.
Audio, video, and graphics applications are typically supported by peripheral devices known as "adapters" or "accelerators", that can be coupled to a local bus in a computer system. One way to reduce throughput requirements is to provide more local memory on the adapter. This solution reduces the amount of data that must be communicated over the bus and thus enhances the performance of the device. A disadvantage of this solution, however, is that many of these adapters use a type of memory that is expensive.
In contrast, the system memory in a computer system generally includes much more memory than these adapters can provide and tends to be easier to upgrade. The Accelerated Graphics Port ("AGP") enables audio, video, or graphics adapters to more effectively make use of system memory and thereby reduce the amount of local memory that is required. In particular, AGP provides a high-throughput, component-level interconnect through which peripheral devices, such as audio, video, or graphics adapters, can access system memory.
While AGP has effectively increased the memory space available to adapters by allowing them to access system memory, there is a continuing need to enable AGP compliant masters to access information as quickly as possible.

High-throughput interface between a system memory controller and a peripheral device


A method for obtaining subscriber data in a mobile communication system includes a home data base and a visitor data base. The home data base stores data about subscribers to the home data base and an age label noting the previous updating of the data of each subscriber. The home data base data is updated in response to update requests of subscriber data. The visitor data base stores data about subscribers registered in the visitor data base and in each label indicating the previous updating of the data of each subscriber. The visitor data base data is updated in response to updating requests of subscriber data. There is a method for recovering the data of visiting subscribers between mobile communication systems and/or between nodes of the mobile communication network.

Today there are various cellular radio or mobile telephone systems in use and being planned in which the geographical area covered by the system is divided into smaller separate radio areas, that is, cells in such a manner that a radio telephone or a mobile telephone in a cell communicates with a fixed network via a fixed radio station placed in the cell. The mobile telephones in the system can move freely in the area of the system from one cell to another. One such system is the digital mobile telephone system GSM (Global System for Mobiles).
In connection with cellular radio networks, it is known that a home location register stores the location information and subscriber data of the radio telephones registered to the network constantly into a memory means, such as RAM, from which the data will volatilize for example when the power supply of the home database is cut off, and at regular intervals into a non-volatile memory means, for example, into a hard disk on which the data is retained permanently. When the home database occasionally has to restart itself, the location information and subscriber data stored into the volatile memory will disappear. Then the home database has to request all the visitor databases of the mobile communication system, such as visitor databases of the radio telephone network, to perform the location updating of the subscribers registered to this home database in order that the home database would be able to update the location information of its subscribers. The home database needs the location information of the subscribers so that it is able to submit the correct location of the subscriber to the mobile services switching center intending to transmit a call to this subscriber.
Some prior art solutions are disclosed in GSM Specification "prETS 300 599, (GSM 09.02 version 4.9.0), November. 1994, European digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2); Mobile Application Part (MAP) specification, ETSI, p. 317 to 468."
According to the specification above, the recovery is performed after restarting the home location register (HLR) or the visitor location register (VLR).
The restart of the home location register HLR takes place in such a manner that the subscriber data of the home location register HLR in the visitor location register VLR is set to a state in which the visitor location register VLR transmits a registration request to the home location register HLR only when a certain impulse relating to the subscriber is received. This impulse can be a subscriber registration, an incoming call to a subscriber or a subscriber's call attempt. The information in the visitor location register/visitor database is the location information of the subscriber and data on the services permitted to and activated for the subscriber.
The restart of the visitor location register/database VLR takes place in such a manner that the data of the subscribers registered to the visitor location register is deleted from the visitor location register, whereby the visitor location register VLR sends a registration request to the home location register HLR when it detects a certain impulse relating to the subscriber, for example, a subscriber registration or an incoming call to the subscriber.
Above and in the following, home location register is considered to be similar to home database and visitor location register is considered to be similar to visitor database. Both are databases into which are stored the location of the subscriber with a certain accuracy and the subscriber data.
A problem of prior art solutions is that they do not ensure the accessibility of the subscribers in all situations even though the subscriber has a valid registration at some visitor database VLR.
The first example of a problem situation of the prior art is a situation in which the home database HLR loses data on which home database VLR the subscriber is registered to at the moment of observation. This fault situation may be caused by the home database getting suddenly damaged, for example. In that case the subscriber cannot be reached via the home database HLR before the subscriber has next time a radio contact with the system, whereby the registration data of the subscriber will be updated to the home database.
The second example of a problem situation of the prior art is a situation in which the deletion of registration from the previous visitor database VLR has not been successful in connection with handover/roaming/handoff, that is, in a situation in which the subscriber has moved from the service area of the original visitor database to a service area of a new visitor database. In a situation like this the deletion of the subscriber from the first visitor database is to be done so that the home database sends a deletion message to the visitor database with which the registration of said subscriber to the visitor database is to be deleted. If this deletion operation is not successful, or if the data recovery method is not capable of amending the situation, a difficult situation will arise. Then calls made from the area of the visitor database to the subscriber, for example, will fail as the visitor database pages said subscriber in its own service area although in actual fact, said subscriber is already registered to some other visitor database. The paging visitor database is not aware of the situation, and attempts to page the subscriber in its own service area and establish a call to a subscriber that is in actual fact not in the service area of the visitor database.
The third disadvantage of the prior art solutions is caused by that since at the restart of the visitor database VLR the data of the visitors is deleted from the active memory of the database, in order to operate well the method requires subscriber search or paging by broadcasting paging messages over the radio path to all subscribers. Subscriber paging through the radio path loads the radio path considerably between the base station and mobile station of the mobile communication system and thus consumes radio path capacity. Subscriber paging is used for example in connection with call establishment for finding a B subscriber in the area of the visitor database VLR when the data of said B subscriber e.g. the location information of the subscriber is not found in the visitor location register indicated by the home database. The problem is caused by that the visitor database has for some reason lost the data of the mobile station but this data is still in the home database of said subscriber. Then the home database knows the location of the subscriber only at the accuracy of the visitor database VLR, but not at the accuracy of the location area (LA), whereby the visitor database has to page said subscriber from its own service area by means of messages sent on the radio path. They naturally load the radio path unnecessarily.
The fourth disadvantage of the prior art solutions is caused by that recovery operates in them triggered by subscriber units. Then the loading caused by recovery in the nodes and between the nodes is uncontrolled because the subscribers start the recovery by their own activity, e.g. when registering into the network or when sending messages. Therefore the start of recovery may be periodical and bound to the time of the day and the day of the week, whereby the recovery of the data of several subscribers may start relatively at the same time, for example, when several subscribers register to the network at the beginning of a working day. This kind of recovery, started by the movements or the activity of the subscribers, causes uncontrolled loading to the system and because of the inconvenience it causes to subscribers, it is not very suitable to be used periodically without a detected fatal fault situation.
In one solution of the prior art, recovery delay is shortened by forcing the subscribers to register to the mobile communication system and its databases as often as possible even if the radio subscriber does not change the base station. A drawback of this procedure is that it loads the radio path because then the subscribers will send registration messages of their own at desired intervals on the radio path to base stations from which they are forwarded to exchanges and databases.

Updating subscriber data of a mobile communication system


In one of the embodiments there is disclosed a self healing optical fiber cable assembly comprising an elongated optical fiber core having a cladding layer, a buffer layer, a sealing layer that seals any microcracks or defects in the buffer layer, the cladding layer, and the optical fiber core, and, an outer protection layer, wherein an end of the outer layer is connected to a strain relief device to provide expansion protection to the cable assembly and to minimize strain on the cable assembly, and further wherein an end of the strain relief device is connected to an optical fiber module. The cable assembly may further comprise a constraining layer and/or a strengthening layer. There is also disclosed a method of making a self healing optical fiber cable assembly.

1) Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to optical fiber cables, and more particularly, to a self healing optical fiber cable assembly and method of making the same.
2) Description of Related Art
An optical fiber cable typically comprises a glass or plastic optical fiber that carries light along its length and various layers of protective and strengthening materials surrounding the optical fiber. Optical fiber cables are widely used in fiber optic communications which permit transmission over longer distances and at higher data rates than other forms of communications. Optical fiber cables may be used in space satellites and space environments, aircraft, sensors, light guides where bright light needs to be shone on a target without a clear line-of-sight path, imaging optics, and other suitable applications. An optical fiber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide that transmits light along its axis by the process of total internal reflection. The fiber typically consists of a core, preferably a glass core, surrounded by a cladding layer. The cladding layer is typically used to reflect light back to the core because the cladding layer has a lower refractive index and to provide strength to the optical fiber. To confine the optical signal in the core, the refractive index of the core should preferably be greater than that of the cladding layer. With optical fiber cables, the cladding layer is typically coated with a tough resin buffer layer, which may be further surrounded by a jacket layer, usually a plastic material. These layers add strength to the fiber but do not contribute to its optical wave guide properties. Existing optical fiber cables may be assembled in a wide variety of sheathings. Optical fibers may be connected to each other by connectors or by splicing, that is, joining two optical fibers together to form a continuous optical waveguide.
Optical fiber cables can be very flexible but conventional fiber loss increases if the optical fiber cable is bent, such as the cable being bent around corners or wound around a spool. In addition, optical fiber reliability is dependant on the buffer layer and/or cladding layer damage, such as microcracks, that can grow with time when the optical fiber is exposed. Such microcracks can result in latent failures, failures in time, decreased robustness, decreased reliability, and shortened lifespan of the optical fiber and associated optical fiber cable and devices. Moreover, defects or damage to the buffer layer and/or cladding layer can occur as part of the manufacturing process, handling, and post-processing, and with time, can lead to cracks in the optical fibers. In addition, damage to the buffer layer and/or cladding layer can propagate into the optical fiber glass core. Buffer layer and/or cladding layer defects may be caused by fiber handling, mechanical motion, or rubbing, such as during the life of a space mission. Such defects may be difficult to screen out and may be a source for latent failures.
Known devices and methods exist for protecting and strengthening optical fiber cables and splices. For example, various cable protection materials may be applied around a portion of the optical fiber cables, and optical fiber splices may have protective layers or sleeves that can be heated/flowed around the splice for protection. However, such devices and methods can require additional thermal controls and/or controls on fiber routing which may result in increased complexity and costs and which may constrain the thermal environment for the optical fiber, thus resulting in decreased reliability. In addition, the cable protection materials often surround only the splice or a partial portion of the optical fiber cable and do not surround the entire length of the optical fiber cable, thus limiting the protection to the optical fiber cable. The life of an optical fiber cable is typically dependant on glass defect sizes which may be pre-screened with pull test breakage before the optical fiber cable is terminated and/or placed into an assembly/vehicle platform. Thereafter, the defects due to handling and/or mission environment may be difficult to remove or repair. Although damage or defects may be pre-screened to promote reliability, once a defect commences, time will result in failure of the optical fiber cable. Known optical fiber cables are not self healing to protect against such damage.
In addition, known optical fiber cables typically use thermal conditioning and/or mechanical and adhesive clamps or coupling devices to couple the fibers and cable components together, to achieve fiber alignment and controlled motion between the components, and to provide strain relief termination of the optical fiber cable. However, such known mechanical clamps or coupling devices may subject the optical fiber cable to excessive clamping or coupling pressure or damage, thus resulting in reduced light transmission. Moreover, insufficient thermal conditioning and/or clamping or coupling may permit undesirable movement of the optical fibers within the cable. Such movement may cause the optical fibers which are normally secured within the splice closure to "piston" in and out of the cable core. Pistoning expansion can create strain on the optical fibers and induce transmission losses. At the least, fiber bending around the splices may occur, and at the worst the optical fibers may be broken which results in devastation of the system. Such problems are particularly likely to occur in environments where significant temperature variations cause expansion and contraction, which result in clamping pressure variations.
In addition, optical fibers may also be susceptible to outgassing and decreased radiation resistance, such as may occur in aerospace applications. For example, optical fibers may be sealed and/or shielded with an adhesive or radiation resistant material, such as an epoxy/metal/ceramic material or epoxy filled with these materials, as part of an optical package. However, this can result in exposed adhesive within the intended package. Since many adhesives, such as epoxy, outgas or emit undesirable materials, such as water or solvents, this may result in contamination of the interior of the package with the resulting outgassed materials. Known methods and devices seek to avoid adhesives prone to outgassing entirely, attempt to reduce the outgassing, or remove the products of outgassing after sealing the hermetic package. However, such known methods and devices can be costly and can increase the size and weight of the optical fiber cable.
Accordingly, there is a need for a self healing optical fiber cable assembly and method of making the same that can provide advantages over known devices and methods.

Self healing optical fiber cable assembly and method of making the same


A plurality of flip-chips, each having a plurality of optoelectronic elements formed therein, are flip-chip mounted on a top surface of a substrate that is comprised of a material that is transparent to the operating wavelength of the light produced by optoelectronic elements of the flip-chips. The combination of flip-chips comprises an array of precisely-aligned optoelectronic elements. When the substrate comprising the array of optoelectronic elements is mounted on a PCB, electrical contact pads disposed on the bottom and/or top surface of the substrate are in contact with the respective electrical contact pads disposed on the top surface of the PCB to electrically interconnect the PCB with the flip-chips. Mating features on the substrate that have been precisely positioned by semiconductor fabrication steps are disposed for mating with respective mating features of a multi-optical fiber ferrule device that have been precisely formed in the ferrule device at precise locations.

In optical communications networks, optical transceiver and transmitter modules are used to transmit optical signals over optical fibers. The optical transceiver or transmitter module includes a laser that generates amplitude modulated optical signals that represent data, which are then transmitted over an optical fiber coupled to the transceiver or transmitter module. Various types of semiconductor lasers are typically used for this purpose, including, for example, VCSELs and edge emitting lasers, which may be further divided into subtypes that include Fabry Perot (FP) and Distributed Feedback (DFB) lasers.
Some optical transmitter or transceiver modules have only a single transmit channel comprising a single laser, which is sometimes referred to as a singlet. Other optical transmitter or transceiver modules have multiple transmit channels comprising multiple lasers. The multi-channel optical transmitter or transceiver module is commonly referred to as a parallel optical transmitter or transceiver module.
There is an ever-increasing demand for optical transmitter or transceiver modules that have increasingly larger numbers of transmit channels. Of course, increasing the number of transmit channels allows the bandwidth capacity of an optical communications network to be increased. In order to meet this demand, it is known to fabricate an array of lasers on a single semiconductor substrate of the electrical subassembly (ESA) of the module. For example, it is known to fabricate a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of VCSELs on a single semiconductor substrate. Fabricating the VCSELs on a single semiconductor substrate allows the spacing, or pitch, between adjacent VCSELs to be decreased, which, in turn, allows the number of VCSELs that can be integrated on a single semiconductor substrate to be increased. However, the manufacturing yield for this type of semiconductor device is relatively low due to the fact that the semiconductor device is deemed defective and is discarded if even one of the VCSELs of the array is found to be defective. The relatively low manufacturing yield of this type of semiconductor device increases the overall costs of the semiconductor devices.
Because semiconductor devices that have fewer numbers of VCSELs on them can be manufactured with higher yield, and thus at reduced costs, it is known to construct an array of VCSELs by creating an array of multiple semiconductor devices that have either only a singlet VCSEL or a few VCSELs on them. This approach presents other difficulties, however, one of which is the difficulty associated with precisely aligning the VCSELs with their respective optical coupling elements. Consequently, to date, using multiple semiconductor devices having only either a singlet VCSEL or a very small number of VCSELs on them to create a larger array of VCSELs is not a viable solution.
Accordingly, a need exists for an assembly having multiple semiconductor devices with only either a singlet or a very small number of VCSELs on them that can be combined to create a precisely-aligned larger array of VCSELs.

Flip-chip assembly comprising an array of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELSs), and an optical transmitter assembly that incorporates the flip-chip assembly

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An arrangement and method for reducing memory usage for communications between servers in a communication network utilizing the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) by controlling establishment of SIP dialogues. A single SIP dialogue for a certain event package is utilized for multiple subscriptions between one instance of a requesting server such as a Resource List Server (RLS) and one instance of an Application Server such as, for example, a Presence Server. The SIP dialogue is then used to send all SIP NOTIFY messages between these two entities to reduce memory usage at both ends by removing the overhead created by SIP.

This invention relates to communication systems. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the invention is directed to an arrangement and method for reducing memory usage on both ends of a communication between servers in a communication network.
In communication networks utilizing the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, a SIP SUBSCRIBE message is used to subscribe to changes of a state belonging to a user in the IMS network. When the User state is changed, a SIP NOTIFY message is sent from a Notifying server to the subscribing user. In the IMS network, due to scaling reasons, there are a number of SIP application servers (AS's) that each serve a number of users in a domain. The allocation of users to a certain instance of an AS is handled by the IMS network, and a Subscribing AS does not know which Notifying AS contains the User state. To find the correct Notifying AS, the Subscribing AS sends the SUBSCRIBE Message to the IMS core network which in turn routes the message to the correct Notifying AS.
Every SUBSCRIBE/NOTIFY pair of messages needs its own SIP dialogue. This requires that a number of SIP dialogues be set up between a Subscribing AS and a Notifying AS. The dialogues are maintained during the lifetime of the subscription. A dialogue may exist for a long time, even though the number of NOTIFY messages sent may be rather low during the lifetime of the subscription. Still there is often a need to have a NOTIFY message sent in real time. Therefore, a pull-based solution is not preferred.
Examples of States that are handled in this way are Presence and XCAP document changes as defined by IETF, 3GPP, and OMA standards.
The existing solution forces the Subscribing and Notifying ASs to keep one state for the Subscribe dialogue per user and AS. Every dialogue requires some memory usage. Assuming, for example, there are one million users in an IMS domain and 100,000 users allocated per AS, this means that there are ten Subscribing ASs and ten Notifying ASs. If every user is subscribing to one other user, there will be one million SIP dialogues. If every dialogue requires 2 Kbytes of basic memory per AS, a total of 2 Gbytes of memory will be required for the dialogues. If it is assumed that every user subscribes to ten other users, then 20 Gbytes of memory will be required, and so on.
Memory usage rather than the number of transactions per second is the larger problem in this scenario because the frequency of NOTIFY messages is assumed to be quite low.
What is needed in the art is an arrangement and method for reducing the amount of memory required for storing SIP dialogues. The present invention provides such an arrangement and method.

Arrangement and method for reducing required memory usage between communication servers


A latch is disposed turnably on a side door and becomes in a state of engaging with a striker disposed on a vehicle body. A ratchet engages with the latch by an engaging operation, and releases the engaging state by a disengaging operation. An open lever performs a door opening operation by the opening operation of an operating handle. A lever member is in contact with the latch in the engaging state, and excessively oscillates the latch in the direction of a closing operation, by which the engaging state between the latch and the ratchet is released during the time from the opening operation of the operating handle to the disengaging operation of the ratchet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a latch device, and more particularly, to a latch device for releasing a half-closed state and a fully-closed state of a door body held by a latch mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a latch device provided on a vehicle such as a four-wheel automobile, a latch device having a latch mechanism and an open lever has been known. The latch mechanism includes a latch and a ratchet.
The latch is pivotally supported on a door body of, for example, a side door via a latch shaft, and is arranged so as to be oscillatable around the axis of the latch shaft in modes of opening operation and closing operation. The latch is always biased in the direction of opening operation by a latch spring, which is a biasing unit, and performs a closing operation against the urging force created by the latch spring as a result of the closing operation of the door body, thereby becoming a state of being engaged with, for example, a striker disposed on a vehicle body.
Similar to the latch, the ratchet is pivotally supported on a door body via a ratchet shaft, and is arranged so as to be oscillatable around the axis of the ratchet shaft in modes of engaging operation and disengaging operation. The ratchet is always biased in the direction of engaging operation by a ratchet spring, which is a biasing unit, and is engaged with the latch by the engaging operation performed by the urging force of the ratchet spring to maintain the state in which the latch is engaged with the striker, and on the other hand, releases the engaging state by performing the disengaging operation against the urging force of the ratchet spring.
The open lever connects with an operating handle provided on the door body, namely, an outside handle provided on the outside of the side door and an inside handle provided on the inside of the side door, and is arranged so as to be oscillatable in a mode of door opening operation by the opening operation of the operating handle. The open lever disengages the ratchet against the urging force of the ratchet spring by the door opening operation.
In such a latch device, the latch and the striker are made in an engaging state by the closing operation of the door body, and the ratchet is engaged to maintain the engaging state, by which the door body is made in a half-closed state or a fully-closed state with respect to the vehicle body, and on the other hand, the operating handle is operated to open the door and the open lever is operated to open the door to release the engaging state, by which the door body is allowed to open.
In the latch device, the engaged ratchet is engaged with the ratchet in the state of being engaged with the striker and the engaged state is maintained, by which the door body is made in a half-closed state or a fully-closed state with respect to the vehicle body. However, depending on the type of latch device, especially when the door body is in a fully-closed state with respect to the vehicle body, in a portion in which the ratchet engages with the latch, the reaction force (urging force) of the latch spring and the reaction force of a seal member, such as a weather strip, provided between the vehicle body and the door body acts, and resultantly a high frictional force may be generated.
Therefore, when the operating handle (the outside handle and the inside handle) is operated to open the door, and the open lever is operated to open the door to disengage the ratchet, the frictional force acts as a resistance force, by which the operation load of operating handle is increased than needed. Such an increase in operation load of the operating handle may cause a difficulty in opening operation of the operating handle for a user such as an old person, a child, a handicapped person, and a sick person.
To solve the problem, a latch device has been proposed that has a power release mechanism that disengages the ratchet by the power of a motor resulting from the opening operation of operating handle performed by the user to aid the opening operation of the operating handle (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laying-open No. H7-21956, Japanese Patent Application Laying-open No. 2003-278426, and Japanese Utility Model Application Laying-open No. H4-68182).
However, in the latch device proposed in the Patent Documents, a power mechanism having motor power, such as the power release mechanism, requires a high cost and an excessive installation space, which presents a problem in that the manufacturing cost is required, and the size of device increases.


Circuits, methods, and apparatus for power MOSFETs having a high cell density for a high current carrying capability while maintaining a low pinched-base resistance. One device employs a number of transistor cells having varying mesa (regions between trench gates) sizes. A heavy body etch is utilized in larger cells to reduce the pinched-base resistance. This etch removes silicon in the mesa region, which is then replaced with lower-impedance aluminum. A number of smaller cells that do not receive this etch are used to increase device current capacity. Avalanche current is directed to the larger, lower pinched base cells by ensuring these cells have a lower BVDSS breakdown voltage. The large cell BVDSS can be varied by adjusting the critical dimension or width of the trench gates on either side of the wider mesas, or by adjusting the depth of the heavy body etch.

The present invention generally relates to power MOSFET transistors and more particularly to power MOSFET transistors having a variety of mesa dimensions.
The use of power MOSFETs is quickly becoming ubiquitous and their popularity is sure to spread in the coming years as they are called upon to serve in an increasing number of applications. But the demands of these applications are placing a burden on the performance of these devices. Accordingly, power MOSFET devices having improved performance are needed.
During typical operation, when conducting, a power MOSFET pulls current through an inductor. When the power MOSFET turns off, the inductor retains a stored energy. This stored energy generates a current though the inductor that decreases over time as a function of the quality factor or "Q" of the inductor. The current is dissipated in the power MOSFET as that device enters the avalanche breakdown mode.
Avalanche current passes through a power MOSFET device via its body diode, that is, the junction between its drain and well regions. For an n-channel transistor, avalanche current flows from an N-type drain, through a P-well, to the heavy-body contact. Since the transistor is designed to handle this current, this action is not destructive.
However, if the well-to-source diode turns on, a secondary parasitic bipolar action can begin. This secondary bipolar action can lead to a runaway current that can be destructive to the device. The well-to-source diode can turn on if the well resistance is excessive, that is, if the pinched-base resistance is too high.
Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the pinched base resistance to prevent the secondary bipolar action. But many techniques of reducing this resistor result in a larger cell size. A larger cell size reduces the number of cells that can be integrated and reduces device current carrying capacity.
Thus, what is needed are circuits, methods, and apparatus that provide power MOSFET transistors having a large number of cells while maintaining a low pinched-base resistance.

Varying mesa dimensions in high cell density trench MOSFET


An aircraft with swept back wings has winglets (202) at the outer ends of its wings (200). The winglets (202) curve upwardly as they extend outwardly from their intersection (204) with the wings (200). The curvature of the winglets (202) at least approximates a conical section curvature, e.g. an elliptical based on an ellipse having a major axis that extends vertically and coincides with the intersection (204) of the outer end of the wing (200) and the inner end of the winglet (202).

This invention relates to winglets adapted to reduce the induced drag created by an aircraft""s wings when they create lift. More particularly, it relates to the provision of a winglet that is continuously curved from where it joins the outer end of the wing out to its outer end or tip and the curvature at least closely approximates the curvature of a conical section, viz. has elliptical, parabolic or hyperbolic curvature.
Lifting surfaces (wings) create drag when they create lift. This drag-due-to-lift is called xe2x80x9cinduced drag.xe2x80x9d Aerodynamic theory shows that for essentially planar wings (wings that line essentially in the x-y plane), that the induced drag is minimized if the lift on the wing is distributed elliptically along the span of the wing. That is, the lift per unit span as a function of spanwise position should vary elliptically, with the largest lift per unit span at the wing centerline, and with the lift per unit span gradually dropping in an elliptical manner as the tip is approached. This theoretical result is well known, and many aircraft wings have been constructed with elliptical wing planforms to ensure that the lift does, in fact, vary in an elliptical fashion. The British Spitfire is a classic example of an aircraft wing constructed in an elliptical shape to take advantage of this theoretical result.
The purpose and operation of xe2x80x9cwingletsxe2x80x9d is described in xe2x80x9cAerodynamics, Aeronautics and Flight Mechanicsxe2x80x9d, by Barnes W. McCormick, and published 1979 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (pages 215-221). Known winglet constructions in the patent literature are disclosed by U.S. Patents: No. 4,017,041, granted Apr. 12, 1977 to Wilbur C. Nelson; No. 4,190,219, granted Feb. 26, 1980, to James E. Hackett; No. 4,205,810, granted Jun. 3, 1980, to Kichio K. Ishimitsu; No. 4,240,597, granted Dec. 23, 1990, to Roger R. Ellis, W. Martin Gertsen and Norman E. Conley; No. 4,245,804, granted Jan. 20, 1981, to Kichio K. Ishimitsu and Neal R. Van Devender; No. 4,714,215, granted Dec. 22, 1987, to Jeffrey A. Jupp and Peter H. Rees; No. 5,275,358, granted Jan. 4, 1994 to Mark I. Goldhammer and Karela Schippers; No. 5,348,253, granted Sep. 20, 1994 to Lewis B. Gratzer and No. 5,407,153, granted Apr. 18, 1995 to Phillip S. Kirk and Richard Whitcomb.
FIGS. 1-4 of the drawing are identical to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 11 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,358. Referring to FIG. 1, the aircraft (2) basically comprises an aircraft body (4), left and right wings (6), and a tail section (8). A winglet (10, 110) is shown at the outer end of each wing (6). A coordinate system is defined for the aircraft (2) in the following manner. A longitudinal axis (x) is defined to extend through the center of w the aircraft body (4) in the fore and aft directions. Further, a vertical axis (z) is defined in the up and down directions, while a transverse axis (y) is defined in the left and right directions. The longitudinal axis (x), vertical axis (z) and transverse axis (y) are orthogonal to each other and meet at an origin located at the foremost plane of the aircraft (2).
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a winglet (16), which is generally trapezoidal in shape, is joined to the wingtip (12) so that the winglet (16) upwardly extends from the wing (6). A strake is indicated by reference character (16a) in FIG. 2. The wing (12) (FIG. 2) has upper and lower wing surfaces (18) and (20), a wing leading edge (22), and a wing trailing edge (24). Similarly, the winglet (16) has upper and lower winglet surfaces (26) and (28), a winglet leading edge (30), a winglet trailing edge (32), and a wing/winglet intersection (14). Conventionally, the terms xe2x80x9cupperxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9clowerxe2x80x9d used in reference to the winglet (16) generally corresponds to the xe2x80x9cinnerxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9couterxe2x80x9d directions, respectively. This convention will be followed herein. The winglet (16) is swept back at an angle (xcex1) from the vertical z-axis at least equal to the sweep angle of the leading edges of the wings at the wing tip (14) relative to the transverse y-axis (FIG. 2). The winglet (16) is also canted at a cant angle from a plane parallel to the (x) and (y) axis (FIG. 3). Two methods of defining the curvature of the aft portions of the air foils of the wing (12) and winglet (16) are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,358, commencing in column 4, at line 7, and continuing into column 5.
FIG. 4 in the drawing is identical to FIG. 11 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,358. It is prior art to the present invention and constitutes the invention of Pat. No. 5,275,358. Referring to FIG. 4, the tip of the wing (6) is designated (112). Point (114) is where the wing reference plane (148) intersects the winglet reference plane (150). The winglet (116) is generally trapezoidal in shape. It extends upwardly from the wing tip (112) and the inner section (114). The wing tip (112) has upper and lower wing surfaces (118 and 120), a wing leading edge (122) and a wing trailing edge. The winglet (116) has upper and lower winglet surfaces (126 and 128), a winglet leading edge (130), a winglet trailing edge and a winglet root. Generally, the wing/winglet configuration (110) of U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,358 (FIG. 4) has three primary features. Firstly, the aft portion of the upper wing and winglet surfaces (118 and 129) are flattened to prevent flow separation at the wing/winglet intersection (114). Secondly, the wing and winglet leading edges (122 and 130) are drooped downwardly to prevent premature shockwave development. Thirdly, the winglet (116) is not canted outwardly, so the wing bending moments are not substantially increased by the addition of the winglet (116). These primary features and certain secondary features are described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,358.
FIG. 5 of the drawing is identical to FIG. 1B of U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,253. Referring to FIG. 5, what is referred to as xe2x80x9ca blended wingletxe2x80x9d is shown connected to a typical wing end portion (1). The winglet chord equals the wing tip chord at the attachment line (3). A transition section (2) is bounded by the transition line (3) and a chordwise line (4) designating the transition end of the winglet (9). The nearly planar outer portion of the winglet (9) is generally straight from the transition end (4) to the tip (5). A first feature of the FIG. 5 wing/winglet arrangement is a continuous monotonic chord variation bounded by a leading edge curve and a trailing edge curve (8). These curves are tangent to the wing leading edge and trailing edge respectively at the winglet attachment line (3) and are also tangent to the leading edge and trailing edges respectively of the straight section (9) at line (4). The leading edge curve (7) is selected to provide a smooth gradual chord variation in the transition and also, to limit the leading edge sweep angle to less than about 65xc2x0. This is necessary to avoid vortex shedding from the leading edge which would comprise the surface loading and thereby increase drag. The shape of the trailing edge curve (8) is generally not critical but is selected to correspond to the airfoil chord and twist required to achieve optimum loading. This restriction will usually allow the wing and winglet trailing edges to lie in the same plane which is desirable functionally and esthetically.
The second feature is a continuous monotonic variation of cant angle. It is stated that the rate of curvature R must be large enough to accommodate the chord variation in the transition section and allow the practical achievement of optimum aerodynamic loading and minimum interference between wing and winglet. The radius and curvature criteria is given below in terms of a parameter, Kr having fairly narrow limits:             R      h        =                  K        R                          xe2x80x83                  cos                    xe2x80x83                                    (                                                    φ                4                            2                        +                          π              4                                )                /        cos                          xe2x80x83                          φ        4              ;      35     less than           K      R         less than     .50
where,
h=winglet height measured along a normal to the wing chord plane
xcfx864=cant angle of the planar section
xcex9H=maximum sweep angle of the leading edge curve 7
KR=curvature parameter (select lower limit if practical)
More details respecting the winglet curvature are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,253.
The present invention includes the discovery that when winglets are attached to the wing tips, the minimum induced drag is obtained when the lift is distributed in a generally elliptical fashion both in the spanwise and vertical directions. The present invention utilizes winglets having a generally elliptical shape in the z-y plane, assuring that the wing loading closely approximates the ideal lift distribution. This results in minimum induced drag and reduced fuel consumption. The present invention also includes the discovery that the winglets will provide reduced induced drag when the winglets have a generally parabolic shape or a generally hyperbolic shape in the y-z plane.
The present invention includes providing the wings of an aircraft with winglets of a unique curvature. Each wing has an inner end, an outer end, an upper surface, a lower surface, a leading edge and a trailing edge. Each winglet has an inner end, an outer end, an upper surface, a lower surface, a leading edge and a trailing edge. The inner end of each winglet is connected to the outer end of its wing. The upper and lower surfaces of the winglets and the leading and trailing edges of the winglets are continuations of the upper and lower surfaces of the wing and the leading and trailing edges of the wing. Each winglet follows a generally elliptical curve as it extends from its inner end out to its outer end. The generally and said elliptical curve has a major axis that extends substantially perpendicular to the wing reference plane and substantially intersects the location where the outer end of the wing is joined to the inner end of the winglet.
In preferred form, the generally elliptical curve has a minor axis substantially perpendicular to the major axis, and that is spaced above the outer end of the winglet. The minor axis intersects the major axis at a center and a diagonal line extends from the center out to the outer end of the winglet and makes an acute angle of about forty-five to ninety (45xc2x0-90xc2x0) degrees with the major axis.
In preferred form, at its outer end the winglet has a cant angle of substantially about forty-five to about ninety degrees (45xc2x0-90xc2x0).
In preferred form, each wing has a dihedral angle of substantially about zero to fifteen degrees (0xc2x0-15xc2x0).
Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description of the best mode set forth below, from the drawings, from the claims and from the principles that are embodied in the specific structures that are illustrated and described.


Systems and methods are presented that use light sensors and computing devices to compute the depth of an object using shuttered light pulses. In one embodiment, depth is determined as follows: A light emitter emits a pulse of light that is directed toward an object. The pulse is reflected off the object and travels toward a beam splitter. The beam splitter splits the reflected pulse into multiple pulses, with each pulse directed to a shuttered sensor with a different shutter location. The shuttered sensors measure the integrated intensity of the light, and these values are used to determine the depth of the object. A method is presented which calibrates a system that has an arbitrary number of shutters and enables the system to determine the depth of an object, even in the presence of ambient illumination and scattered light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to using light sensors and computing devices to compute the depth of a scene. More particularly, the present invention relates to using light sensors and computing devices to compute the depth of a scene using shuttered light pulses.
2. Description of Background Art
The fields of optical range finding and optical range imaging are concerned with using light to determine the depth of a scene. Approaches that use light to determine the depth of a scene include interferometry, triangulation, phase shift measurement, and time-of-flight measurement. Interferometry techniques calculate the interference patterns caused by combining two beams of coherent, monochromatic light that have reflected off of an object. Triangulation techniques calculate a disparity map of a scene based on images of the scene generated from two viewpoints. Phase shift measurement techniques calculate the phase shift between a beam of intensity modulated light and that same beam after it has reflected off of an object.
Direct time-of-flight (TOF) techniques measure the time it takes a beam of light to travel from its source to the scene and back. Since light travels at a constant speed, once the TOF is known, the distance to an object can be determined. A TOF technique generally uses a short pulse of light. A light sensor is used to detect the arrival of the reflected light. TOF can be measured directly by using a clock to determine the amount of time that elapsed between when a beam was emitted and when its reflection arrived.
TOF can also be measured indirectly by analyzing the intensity of the reflected beam over time. This technique is known as "photon-counting." Since light reflected from closer objects returns before light reflected from farther objects, knowing the intensity of the reflected beam over time enables scene distances to be determined. A light sensor can measure the amount of light that has hit it (known as "integrated light"), which is determined by the intensity of the light and its duration. One way to measure this quantity over time is by controlling when a light sensor can sense light (known as "shuttering" the light). Shuttering varies the integration time of the sensor and can yield a set of time-sampled values, which represent the intensity of the reflected beam over time. For example, if a light sensor stops sensing light before all of the incoming light has arrived, it will have captured more light from closer objects and less light from farther objects. As a result, nearby objects will appear to be bright, while farther objects will appear to be dim. This technique is known as shuttered light-pulse (SLP) ranging or SLP imaging and relies on the fact that the depth of an object is proportional to the amount of integrated light measured by a sensor.
Although the amount of integrated light measured by a sensor depends on the depth of an object, it also depends on several other factors, including the object's reflectivity, the amount of ambient illumination, and light scattering. An object's reflectivity, known more generally as "albedo," represents the fraction of incidental light that is reflected by the object and varies based on the object's color and texture. Ambient illumination represents the amount of ambient light that is incident to the shuttered sensor. Light scattering is caused by shutter imperfections, which enable a shuttered sensor to sense light, even if the shutter is closed.
In general, in order to solve for each unknown value of a factor, a measurement from at least one independent shutter location is required. For example, in order to determine the depth of an object while also accounting for the object's albedo, measurements from at least two independent shutter locations are required. In addition, each sensor must be calibrated. Once the above-mentioned measurements have been obtained, they are used to determine the depth of the object. Existing SLP techniques do not adequately calibrate sensors and manipulate the above-mentioned measurements, especially when more than two shutter locations are used. As a result, the calculated scene depth is often incorrect.
What is needed is a shuttered light-pulse technique that adequately calibrates sensors and manipulates the above-mentioned measurements.

Systems and methods for determining depth using shuttered light pulses


Disclosed is a polarizing plate comprising at least first and second polarizing elements and satisfying (1) kx1>ky1=kz1, (2) kz2>ky2 and (3) (kx1−ky1)×d1>(kz2−ky2)×d2, wherein an x-axis and a y-axis are in-plane axes crossing perpendicularly to each other, and a z-axis is the axis crossing perpendicularly to the x-y axis plane; kx1, ky1 and kz1 each are the absorption coefficient in the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis directions, respectively, of the first polarizing element; ky2 and kz2 each are the absorption coefficient in the y-axis and z-axis directions, respectively, of the second polarizing element; and d1 and d2 each are the thickness (unit: nm) of the first and second polarizing elements, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention belongs to a technical field of widening a viewing angle of a polarizing plate, concretely relating to a wide-view polarizing plate and a liquid-crystal display device employing it.
2. Related Art
A transmissive liquid-crystal display device generally comprises a pair of polarizing plates disposed with their polarization axes kept perpendicular to each other. However, even when the two polarizing plates are so disposed that their polarization axes could cross perpendicularly to each other, they may be still shifted from perpendicular crossing configuration relative to the incident light running in oblique directions. This is one reason for light leakage in oblique directions in the black state of liquid-crystal display devices. Accordingly, for providing a liquid-crystal display device having excellent viewing angle characteristics, it is important to solve a problem of viewing angle dependence of polarizing plate. Heretofore, for wide-view polarizing plates, various proposals have been made for combining a polarizing element and a retardation layer having predetermined optical characteristics (for example, JP-A No. 2001-350022). Also proposed is use of a polarizing element of which the refractive index in the transmission axis direction falls within a predetermined range (JP-A No. H10-268294). Further, as a polarizing plate having wide-view characteristics, proposed is a laminate polarizing plate constructed by combining a polarizing element with the light absorption axis in the pale of the plate and a polarizing element with the light absorption axis in the thickness direction of the plate (for example, JP-A 2001-242320 and JP-T 2006-503325).

Polarizing plate and liquid-crystal display device


Various embodiments of systems and methods are disclosed for using priority information when handling error conditions for a storage resource. In some embodiments, a method involves detecting an error condition, which is associated with a storage resource, and selecting an error-correcting action in response to detection of the error condition. Selection of the error-correcting action is based on priority information. The priority information identifies respective priorities of several applications. At least one of the applications uses the storage resource when accessing application data.

Various error conditions can be encountered when using storage resources. For example, in a system that uses a disk to store file system data, an error condition (e.g., an error condition corresponding to low disk space) will be encountered if the amount of disk space occupied by the file system data exceeds a threshold amount. This error condition is typically handled by allocating more disk space, if available, to the file system. Similarly, an error condition can be encountered if a storage device experiences a failure, rendering any application data stored on that storage device unavailable. This error condition can be handled by restoring the data from a backup copy or mirror.
Another example of an error condition occurs in systems that provide multipathed access to a storage device. Multipathed access is available when there are multiple paths via which an application can access a storage device. The paths can be controlled in an active/passive configuration (i.e., a configuration in which one path (or set of paths) is active while the other path(s) are passive). If the path (referred to as the active path) that is currently being used to access the storage device fails, an error condition is generated. This error condition is handled by selecting another path by which the storage device can be accessed.
A problem encountered in the scenarios above involves the situation in which multiple applications are able to use the same storage resources. In these situations, the handling of an error condition may not necessarily be beneficial to all of the applications. For example, if two or more computing devices (each of which executes one or more applications) are able to access an active/passive multipathed array, one of the computing devices may experience a path failure on the active path. In response to the path failure, a new active path will be selected. Typically, the new active path will be selected so as to maintain connectivity with the multipathed array for the majority of the computing devices. However, some of the computing devices may not be able to access the multipathed array via the newly-selected active path. Accordingly, the selection of the new active path can result in the loss of connectivity for some computing devices. Furthermore, if the computing devices that lose connectivity are executing applications that are critical to the operation of a business, such a loss of connectivity can have disastrous effects. Thus, it is desirable to provide improved techniques for handling error conditions of this kind.

System and method for handling a storage resource error condition based on priority information


A control device (4) controls a varifocal lens (2) having a first substrate (20), a second substrate (22) facing the first substrate (20), and a varifocal component (14) disposed between the first substrate (20) and the second substrate (22). When an off signal is inputted to the varifocal component (14), the control device (4) stops applying voltage to the varifocal component (14), then applies voltage for a specific length of time, and finally stops the voltage. This reduces the duration of hazing that occurs during the switching of voltage application to the varifocal component (14).

A semi-finished blank for use in a varifocal liquid crystal lens is made up of a lower substrate whose surface has a convex curve, an upper substrate having a rear face with a concave curve that is joined to the upper face of the lower substrate face to face, and so forth. A varifocal component that is made up of a liquid crystal material is disposed between the upper and lower substrates. The refractive index of the varifocal component can be varied by applying voltage to the liquid crystal material. This semi-finished blank undergoes some processing and then is used as a lens for bifocal eyeglasses, for example (Patent Literature 1).

Control device for variable focus lenses, control method for variable focus lenses, and electronic glasses


A computer-implemented method for anomaly detection in a data processing system comprising a processor and a memory comprising instructions which are executed by the processor. The method includes receiving a plurality of real-time airflow patterns acquired by a plurality of airflow alerters, wherein each real-time airflow pattern corresponds to a different airflow alerter; comparing each real-time airflow pattern with a predetermined airflow pattern, wherein each real-time airflow pattern corresponds to a different predetermined airflow pattern; when there is any real-time airflow pattern different from the corresponding predetermined airflow pattern, identifying a group of airflow alerters among the plurality of airflow alerters, wherein a real-time airflow pattern of each airflow alerter in the group is different from the corresponding predetermined airflow pattern; and identifying a location of an anomaly based on the group of airflow alerters.

A data center is a dedicated facility that supports business-critical information technology (IT) servers. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is one of the main components of the data center. The HVAC airflow must always stay on and provide continuous cooling to keep the IT servers in a running order.
However, in case of a disaster or emergency (e.g., power outage), other systems may stay off to save energy for the critical systems, which means that some security mechanisms like cameras and sensors may remain off during the disaster or emergency. Thus, a security system for anomaly (e.g., intrusion, component malfunction, etc.) detection is needed to maintain physical security controls in case of a disaster or emergency.

Anomaly detection based on airflow alerters

International Business Machines Corporation


A storage system is dynamically reconfigured. The storage system includes storage pools that each include one or more storage disks. Storage pools to be expanded are determined as target storage pools. For the target storage pools, source storage disks to be moved into the target storage pools are determined from other storage pools than the target storage pools in the storage system. The source storage disks are migrated to the respective target storage pools.

Cloud storage is a cloud computing technology focused on data storage and management. By using cluster applications, grid techniques, or distributed file systems and other functions, cloud storage aggregates a large number of various different kinds of storage devices in a network through application software to operate them in a cooperative manner, and collectively provide data storage and service access functions. Cloud storage enables end users to be provided with more flexible and efficient storage resources.

Dynamic reconfiguration of storage system


An absorber fluid return circuit is provided for a volatile liquid vapor recovery system. The vapor recovery system includes at least one adsorbent bed for capturing volatile liquid vapor, a vacuum pump for regenerating the adsorbent bed, an absorber tower for condensing volatile liquid vapor and an absorber fluid source. The absorber fluid return circuit includes an absorber fluid return pump having an inlet and outlet and a first conduit for directing absorber fluid from the absorber tower to the inlet of the return pump. A second conduit directs absorber fluid from the outlet of the return pump to the absorber fluid source. A variable speed motor drives the return pump. The variable speed motor is controlled by a controller operatively connected to a sensor for sensing the level of absorber fluid in the absorber tower, a variable speed AC drive for varying the speed of the drive motor.

When handling volatile liquids such as hydrocarbons including gasoline and kerosene, air-volatile liquid vapor mixtures are readily produced. The venting of such air-vapor mixtures directly into the atmosphere results in significant pollution of the environment and a fire or explosion hazard. Accordingly, existing environmental regulations require the control of such emissions.
As a consequence, a number of processes and apparatus have been developed and utilized to recover volatile liquids from air-volatile liquid vapor mixtures. Generally, the recovered volatile liquids are liquified and recombined with the volatile liquid from which they were vaporized thereby making the recovery process more economical.
The initial vapor recovery systems utilized in the United States in the late 1920's and early 1930's incorporated a process combining compression and condensation. Such systems were originally only utilized on gasoline storage tanks. It wasn't until the 1950's that local air pollution regulations began to be adopted forcing the installation of vapor recovery systems at truck loading terminals. Shortly thereafter, the "clean air" legislation activity of the 1960's, which culminated in the Clean Air Act of 1968, further focused nationwide attention on the gasoline vapor recovery problem. As a result a lean oil/absorption system was developed. This system dominated the marketplace for a short time.
Subsequently, in the late 1960's and early 1970's cryogenic refrigeration systems began gaining market acceptance (note, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,266,262 to Moragne). While reliable, cryogenic systems suffer from a number of shortcomings including high horsepower requirements. Further, such systems require relatively rigorous and expensive maintenance to function properly. Mechanical refrigeration systems also have practical limits with respect to the amount of cold that may be delivered, accordingly, the efficiency and capacity of such systems is limited. In contrast, liquid nitrogen cooling systems provide more cooling than is required and are prohibitively expensive to operate for this type of application.
As a result of these shortcomings, alternative technology was sought and adsorption/absorption vapor recovery systems were more recently developed. Such a system is disclosed in a number of U.S. Patents including, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,058 to Dinsmore, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Such systems utilize a bed of solid adsorbent selected, for example, from silica gel, certain forms of porous mineral such as alumina and magnesia, and most preferably activated charcoal. These adsorbents have an affinity for volatile hydrocarbon liquids. Thus, as the air-hydrocarbon vapor mixture is passed through the bed, a major portion of the hydrocarbons contained in the mixture are adsorbed on the bed. The resulting residue gas stream comprising substantially hydrocarbon-free air is well within regulated allowable emission levels and is exhausted into the environment.
It should be appreciated that the bed of adsorbent used in these systems is only capable of adsorbing a certain amount of hydrocarbons before reaching capacity and becoming ineffective. Accordingly, the bed must be periodically regenerated to restore the carbon to a level where it will effectively adsorb hydrocarbons again. This regeneration of the adsorbent is a two step process.
The first step requires a reduction in the total pressure by pulling a vacuum on the bed that removes the largest amount of hydrocarbons. The second step is the addition of a purge air stream that passes through the bed. The purge air polishes the bed so as to remove substantially all of the previously adsorbed hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons are then pumped to an absorber tower wherein an absorber fluid such as lean oil or other nonvolatile liquid solvent is provided in a countercurrent flow relative to the hydrocarbon rich air-hydrocarbon mixture being pumped from the bed. The absorber fluid condenses and removes the vast majority of the hydrocarbons from that mixture and the residue gas stream from the absorber tower is recycled to a second bed of adsorbent while the first bed completes regeneration.
In order to achieve the most effective and efficient recovery of hydrocarbon from the hydrocarbon rich air-hydrocarbon mixture, it is necessary to maintain a particular level of absorber fluid during absorber tower operation. In the past this has been accomplished using a level control valve and float assembly arrangement. While such an arrangement is effective for its intended purpose, it does suffer from a number of shortcomings.
First, it should be appreciated that dirt and rust, elements commonly found in the operating environment of most vapor recovery systems, tend to foul the operation of the level control valve and float assembly. Further, in cold weather conditions moisture and condensation contacting the level control valve and float assembly may freeze effectively preventing these components from properly operating and maintaining the necessary level of absorber fluid in the absorber tower to provide efficient operation.
Second, it should be appreciated that many state of the art float assemblies incorporate diaphragms made from a resilient material such as polytetrafluoroethylene. Unfortunately, this material stiffens in cold weather conditions thereby impairing proper function. Further, many hydrocarbon fuel additives in use today chemically attack the material from which the diaphragms are constructed thereby necessitating frequent maintenance intervals for replacement and repair (perhaps as often as quarterly in northern climates subject to greater temperature extremes).
Many other state of the art float assemblies incorporate piston arrangements in place of diaphragms. It should be appreciated, however, that these piston arrangements must include sealing rings. The same hydrocarbon fuel additives noted above for chemically attacking diaphragms, chemically attack the materials from which these piston rings are constructed. Such chemical attack often leads to ring swelling and disconfiguration that impairs proper float assembly operation. Accordingly this type of construction also nessitates frequent maintenance intervals for replacement and repair. The resulting downtime substantially reduces loading terminal productivity. Further, repairs may be unexpectedly required thereby interrupting delivery schedules and creating other significant inconveniences.
Third, it should be noted that the level control valve is a purely mechanical device and as such is subject to constant wear. In particular, most level control valves incorporate a needle valve that becomes worn over time. Eventually this wear leads to a leaking condition that necessitates repair and further down time.
A need is, therefore, identified for a new and improved approach for controlling the level of absorber fluid in the absorber tower during vapor recovery system operation.

Return circuit for vapor recovery system


Power amplification system with adjustable common base bias. A power amplification system can include a cascode amplifier coupled to a radio-frequency input signal and coupled to a radio-frequency output. The power amplification system can further include a biasing component configured to apply one or more biasing signals to the cascode amplifier, the biasing component including a bias controller and one or more bias components. Each respective bias component may be coupled to a respective bias transistor.

Field
The present disclosure generally relates to power amplifiers.
Description of the Related Art
A power amplification system can include a cascode power amplifier having a common base stage and a common emitter stage. The signals used to bias the stages can be fixed voltages, selected to prevent saturation of the stages in worst case conditions. However, this may result in excessive margin under low power conditions, reducing the efficiency of the power amplification system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.