A method for enabling access to a resource shared by at least two processors over a bus that supports an atomic instruction, wherein a first processor does not support the atomic instruction, the method comprising the steps of providing an atomic instruction emulator coupled to the bus, the atomic instruction emulator including at least two register sets for implementing an atomic instruction; receiving by the emulator over the bus an emulation request from the first processor to perform the atomic instruction on the shared resource, the request including an address location; and performing by the emulator the atomic instruction for the processor using the data and the address location from the request.

Multiprocessor systems are becoming increasingly prevalent in even low-cost devices. Multiprocessor environments usually have at least one resource, such as a memory, that is shared by the processors, where access to the shared resource is typically controlled through locks. A lock or semaphore is obtained by a processor to gain exclusive access over a particular location in the shared memory. Through the lock, the processor can without ambiguity, see if the lock is owned and if not, indicate that it owns the lock.
An atomic instruction is implemented using a lock to allow one processor to determine if it was successful in acquiring the lock without interference from another competing processor. Examples of atomic instructions are TAS (Test and Set) and SWAP (SWAP memory contents with register contents).
Another method for achieving the atomic behavior is the method used by MIPS processors that perform a LL (Load Linked), which reads the memory location. The processor then performs an SC (Store Conditional) to write the locked value to the location. The "link" between the two instructions is the address of the memory accessed. The MIPS snoops the bus and the SC instruction fails if the location is accessed between the LL/SC pair.
The SWAP and TAS instructions are well-known element of a processor instruction set, which may be used in an environment where multiple microprocessors and resources are interconnected through a high-speed bus, such as the AHB bus by ARM of the United Kingdom. Any device capable of initiating read and write request over the AHB bus is referred to as a master device, and devices that respond to the requests are referred to as slave devices. The AHB bus supports a locking feature for the master devices. When an AHB master is granted a request for a locked operation, all other masters are prevented from accessing the bus until the locking master releases it.
The ARM SWAP instruction, which is executed by the master devices, is implemented using the AHB bus locking feature lock. The SWAP instruction includes three register names as parameters. The syntax is as follows:SWAP Rd, Rm, [Rn]Rd is a destination register that is loaded with the contents of memory; Rm contains a value to be written to memory; and Rn contains an address of the target memory location. In operation, the SWAP instruction performs a read of the memory location pointed to by Rn and saves the result in Rd. Next, a write operation is performed that stores the contents of Rm in the memory location pointed to by Rn.
Atomic instructions are an effective way to share resources in a multiprocessor environment. However, multiprocessor systems that mix different types of microprocessors and digital signal processors (DSPs) are now common. The problem is that not all types of processors and DSPs support an atomic operation.
One attempted solution has been to implement a primitive lock through software only (Peterson's Algorithm). The software only approach suffers several disadvantages, however. One disadvantage is that the approach is slow because each processor must cycle through a variable that enables the processor to proceed to a state in which it is allocated the lock. Another disadvantage is that the algorithm is a polled process where each processor continually issues commands over the bus, which induces unnecessary bus traffic. For these reasons, the algorithm becomes cumbersome as the number of competing processes grows and may degrade overall system performance.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and system for enabling processors that do not support atomic operations to access shared recourses over a bus that supports a locking feature. The present invention addresses such a need.

Emulated atomic instruction sequences in a multiprocessor system


To produce hollow profiles from sheet-metal blanks, the invention uses at least two process steps to form said blanks into a slit profile which is subsequently welded to produce the finished welded profile. For this purpose a mandrel is used which cooperates with a first tool part in the first step, and with a second tool part in the second step, such as to form a gap with the recess of each tool part into which a portion of the sheet-metal blank is guided. Shaping the sheet-metal blank in at least two steps means that a mandrel that is a self-contained component and can therefore be moved by a simple control device can be used to support the sheet-metal blank while the slit profile is being created. This considerably reduces the equipment needed to produce the hollow profile. Moreover, forming the sheet-metal blank into the slit profile in at least two steps also considerably improves the reliability with which this shaping takes place.

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for the production of a longitudinal seam welded hollow profile from a sheet-metal blank with parallel longitudinal edges.
In the automobile industry, welded open profiles are being increasingly replaced by thin-walled hollow profiles, for which longitudinal seam welded tubes are the starting stock. Having small wall thicknesses, these components are designed to achieve minimum weight and maximum utilisation of material.
To ensure the technical functionality of such space-frame structures, it is necessary to have control over the production process for the components, right down to the final shaping step.
The profile-forming process in which the tubular elements that are used as hollow profiles are formed is an important part of the process sequence. Custom profiles known as "tailored tubes" are generally formed in a discontinuous operation, that is to say, from ready cut blanks. Tailored tubes are tubular elements that are made from sheet-metal sections with material properties that are adapted to the stresses and demands that arise during practical use or during the shaping process.
Various options are available for forming sheet-metal blanks into finished welded profiles. However, most solutions use separate work stations for forming and welding (DE 44 32 674 C1).
An apparatus of the abovementioned type that enables longitudinal seam welded tubular elements to be produced on one station is known for example from German patent specification No. 966 111. In this apparatus, the sheet-metal blank is formed into a slit tube and welded. For this purpose, a flat sheet is held between two tool halves that are mutually movable on a tool carrier and disposed in mirror-image relationship to one another, each with a half-shell recess that defines the external contour of the tube that is to be produced. The longitudinal edges of the sheet-metal blank are oriented parallel to the recesses in the tool halves such that the tool halves receive the edges that are adjacent to them as they are driven together and, viewed in cross-section, move the edges towards one another along a circular arc. While the tool halves come together, the sheet metal blank is held by holders positioned at the ends of the centre line of the sheet-metal blank adjacent to the two short edges of the sheet-metal blank. This ensures that when the tool halves are driven together, the sheet-metal blank is uniformly moved along the contour defined by the recesses in the tool halves until its longitudinal edges meet one another at the apex of the curve. The slit tube thereby formed is held in this position for its longitudinal edges to be welded together. To make the slit area of the slit tube accessible, the upper end portions of the tool halves are then hinged open. Thereafter, the adjacent longitudinal edges in the area of the slit are welded together.
A major disadvantage of the procedure known from German patent specification No. 966 111 is that the processed metal sheet must have a certain minimum stiffness. This is the only way to ensure that the metal sheet curves uniformly to form a slit tube when the tool halves are driven together. This method cannot be used to form thin metal sheets into a tube with a precisely predetermined cross-sectional shape, because they uncontrollably form edges and folds during shaping which render the resulting tubular element useless. Welding a slit tube formed by the method known from German patent specification No. 966 111 will also result in unwanted distortion if the metal sheet is so slender that it cannot withstand the forces that unavoidably act on it during welding.
One attempt to overcome the disadvantages of apparatuses of the above-described type is known from WO 99/67037. The procedure known from this specification combines forming and welding on one workstation. A tool is used which, in the manner of German patent specification No. 966 111, comprises two tool halves that can be moved towards one another on a tool carrier, each with a cylindrical half-shell recess. In addition, an internal mandrel half is associated with each of the recesses of the tool halves, positioned within each recess and rigidly fastened to each of the tool halves, with a gap left between its peripheral surface and the inside surface of the recess. This forms an annular space in the region of the recess in each tool half.
To form the tubular element, the thin metal sheet to be shaped is placed between the two tool halves such that when the tool halves are subsequently moved towards one another, its longitudinal edges are guided into the annular space formed in each of the tool halves. As the tool halves continue to come together, the longitudinal edges are pushed further up the longitudinal gap and the metal sheet is curved into a slit tube. The support that is afforded in the region of the annular space to the sheet-metal blank on both the inside and outside of the metal sheet ensures that no unwanted fold or edge formation occurs.
This forming process, which is known as "rolling", is complete when the longitudinal edges meet at the apex of the resulting slit tube. After the edge joint has been rounded off with a roller, this slit tube can be welded together along the slit without having to be moved to another apparatus.
Although the method known from WO 99/67037 enables precisely-shaped tubular elements to be produced, in practice it has a number of disadvantages. For example, the divided construction of the internal mandrel requires a high degree of manufacturing precision for the tools that are used in the known apparatus. Moreover, the machine is complex in design, because it requires complicated pull-off units to remove the finished welded tubular hollow profile from the divided internal mandrel, and special hold-down means during the forming step. In addition, particularly when thin metal sheets are used, there is still the risk of edge stresses causing undesirable distortion in the area of the welded seam during welding.
With the above-described prior art as its starting point, the object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for producing precisely-formed hollow profiles having a reduced requirement for equipment and shorter production times.
As regards the method, this object is achieved by a method for the production of a longitudinal seam welded hollow profile from a sheet-metal blank with defined longitudinal edges                wherein the sheet-metal blank is placed between two tool parts lying in a starting position in which they are apart, each provided with a recess determining the external shape of at least one section of the hollow profile that is to be produced,        wherein a mandrel, whose external shape defines the internal shape of the hollow profile that is to be produced, is then positioned relative to the recess of one tool part such that a gap is formed between its peripheral surface and the inside surface of the recess, the thickness thereof being slightly greater than the thickness of the sheet-metal blank that is to be shaped,        wherein the metal sheet is held in the area of the half that is distant from the mandrel,        wherein the tool part adjacent to the mandrel is moved together with the mandrel, with the gap intact, in the direction of the longitudinal edge of the sheet-metal blank that is distant from the mandrel such that the sheet-metal blank runs into the gap along its longitudinal edge that is adjacent to the mandrel until it reaches an insertion limit,        wherein the mandrel is positioned relative to the recess of the second tool part such that a gap is formed between the external surface of the mandrel and the inside surface of the said recess, the thickness thereof being slightly greater than the thickness of the sheet-metal blank that is to be shaped,        wherein the tool part now adjacent to the mandrel is moved together with the mandrel, with the gap intact, in the direction of the longitudinal edge of the sheet-metal blank that is distant from the mandrel such that the sheet-metal blank runs into the gap along its longitudinal edge that is adjacent to the mandrel until it reaches an insertion limit and a slit profile that surrounds the mandrel about its peripheral surfaces is formed from the sheet-metal blank,        wherein the mandrel is moved out from the interior of the slit profile,        wherein the longitudinal edges of the sheet-metal blank that define the slit are welded together, the slit profile being supported by the tool parts, and        wherein the tool parts are moved to their starting position in order for the finished welded hollow profile to be removed from the tool parts.
In contrast to the prior art described in WO 99/67037, the invention uses at least two steps to form the sheet-metal blank into a slit profile that is subsequently welded to produce the finished hollow profile. For this purpose a mandrel is used which cooperates with the first tool part in the first step, and with the second tool part in the second step, such as to form a gap with the recess of each tool part into which a portion of the sheet-metal blank is guided.
Shaping the sheet-metal blank in at least two steps means that a mandrel that is a self-contained component and can therefore be moved by a simple control device can be used to support the sheet-metal blank while the slit profile is being created. This in itself considerably reduces the equipment needed to produce the hollow profile.
Moreover, forming the sheet-metal blank into the slit profile in at least two steps also considerably improves the reliability with which this shaping takes place. Only one half of the sheet-metal blank is shaped at any one time, while the other half is securely held. This results in improved stability of the sheet-metal blank during shaping, so that consequently the overall shaping process can be faster. The risk of disruption caused by the metal sheet being bent out of shape inside the gap is thus minimized. This means that the sheet-metal blank can be inserted into the gap at a greater speed. Moreover, the resources needed to separate the mandrel and the hollow profile are also reduced because the mandrel can be moved as a whole, so that its movements too can be rapid. Consequently, even though the method of the invention is carried out in two steps, production time as a whole is reduced by comparison with production times attainable in the prior art and precision is improved at the same time.
As regards the apparatus, the above object is accordingly achieved by an apparatus for producing a longitudinal seam welded hollow profile from a sheet-metal blank with defined longitudinal edges, provided with at least two tool parts that can be moved together into a forming position from a starting position in which they are apart, and that each have a recess determining the external shape of at least one section of the hollow profile that is to be produced, and with a welding device for welding together the longitudinal edges of the sheet-metal blank after it has been formed into a slit profile, wherein, in accordance with the invention, there are provided                a mandrel carried by a control device that moves it from a first position in which it is positioned in the recess of a first tool part with a gap between the inside surface of the recess of the said tool part and the peripheral surface of the mandrel, into a second position in which it is positioned in the recess of the second tool part with a gap between the inside surface of the recess of said tool part and the peripheral surface of the mandrel, and        a holding device for holding the sheet-metal blank in the region of one of its longitudinal edges.
A particularly simple and rapid method of removing the mandrel from the hollow profile that is to be produced consists, in an advantageous embodiment of the invention, in moving the tool parts, together with the portions of the sheet-metal blanks lying in their recesses, sufficiently far apart for the mandrel to be moved through the enlarged opening between the two longitudinal edges of the slit profile.
The dimensional stability of hollow profiles produced in accordance with the invention can be improved by pushing the tool parts together, once the mandrel has been moved out of the slit profile, until the edge joint is closed or its width has reached a minimum. In this manner, variations in shape and dimensions can also be minimised in the region of the edge joint and the weld that is to be made there. Moreover, minimizing the slit width makes welding easier. The longitudinal edges along the slit of the slit profile that is preformed from the sheet-metal blank can be particularly easily and reliably brought together if the desired width of the slit is determined by a tongue held in the slit. The equipment required for this purpose can be minimised if the tongue is carried by the mandrel. Preferably, the tongue is sword-shaped and extends along the length of the slit of the slit profile.
The precision with which a hollow profile produced in accordance with the invention is formed can be additionally improved by using at least two steps to close the tool parts together in order to set up the edge joint of the slit profile that is preformed from the sheet-metal blank. Each step can be used to size the slit profile, so that the shape of the slit profile is ever more closely matched at each stage of the forming process to the required final shape of the finished hollow profile. This multistep forming process can be assisted by providing the tongue with at least one shoulder, and in particular with two shoulders of different thickness. Where two shoulders of different thickness are present, the first can determine the desired width of the slit in the first step, and the second can determine the desired width of the slit in the second step of the closing movement.
After welding, an internal high-pressure forming process can be used for further shaping. With the tool parts still closed, internal high-pressure forming enables additional shape elements to be introduced into the hollow profile. Recesses can be provided in the tool parts for this purpose, adjustments to the predetermined shape being made in this manner.
In another variant of the method of the invention that minimizes the equipment that is required, the mandrel is lowered onto the sheet-metal blank so that it exerts a pressure that securely holds the sheet-metal blank on an underlying surface.

Method and apparatus for the production of a longitudinal seam welded hollow profile


An approach to configure enterprise wireless mobile network slices. A method includes receiving slice definition information representative of a network slice, the slice definition information including an expected slice efficiency index of the network slice, provisioning the network slice, consistent with the slice definition information, in a wireless network, receiving telemetry corresponding to operational metrics of an instance of the network slice that is used by one or more devices in the wireless network, calculating an actual slice efficiency index for the instance of the network slice based on the telemetry corresponding to the operation metrics of the instance of the network slice, determining whether the expected slice efficiency index differs from the actual slice efficiency index by a predetermined threshold, and indicating a course of action to cause the actual slice efficiency index to more closely align with the expected slice efficiency index.

The fifth generation (5G) network architecture is a significant departure from fourth generation (4G) Long Term evolution (LTE) network architectures. 4G LTE provided an Internet Protocol (IP) data pipe primarily designed for the delivery of voice, video, and other multimedia services, and included secondary provisions for supporting machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. In contrast, the 5G standard was specifically architected so that it could be optimized for a range of use cases.
To this end, the 5G network architecture implements a feature called network "slicing," which enables network providers to create virtual end-to-end network connections with clearly defined channel capacities, quality of service (QoS) parameters, priority levels, and security requirements that are tailored to application requirements and user equipment (UE) capabilities. Given the flexibility of network slicing, applications running over a 5G network can range from sub-kbit/s, high-latency data streams used to read utility meters and manage streetlights in smart cities, to ultra-reliable low latency communication services that provide connectivity for critical applications such as autonomous vehicles, factory automation systems, and tele-surgery robots.
Notwithstanding the flexibility of network slicing, operating a 5G network efficiently in a given enterprise has a potentially steep learning curve, given that unique machinery and sensors might operate distinct applications and demand varying configuration and optimization. As a result, unlike a generic service provider setup, an enterprise 5G network setup might rely on customized 5G slices to satisfy overall application requirements and security considerations. In this regard, the generic network slice template (GST), defined by the GSM Association (GSMA), that may be used to define network slices may not provide sufficient utility for a network administrator to confidently provision network slices in a given enterprise 5G network deployment.

Slice intent efficiency assurance and enhancement in enterprise private 5G network


An infant sleep support supports a sleeping infant at its back and holds the infant so that the infant will sleep on its side. The sleep support has a fabric sheet on which the infant sleeps and a pillow against which the infant supports its back. An abdominal brace attached to the sheet and pillow holds the infant against the pillow so that the infant is on its side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for restraining a sleeping infant to keep the infant on its side and to prevent the infant from falling off its sleep platform.
2. General Background
In the Tuesday, Aug. 10, 1993, issue of the New York Times, page B6, an article on studies concerning Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, reports mounting evidence indicating that babies who sleep face down are at a greater risk than those who sleep on their backs and sides. One study reported in the article, conducted by the Menzies Center for Population Health Research at the University of Tasmania, supports an earlier study published by the American Pediatric Association in May of 1992 in finding that infants who slept on their sides were at less of a risk of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome than infants who slept on their stomachs. The article alludes to the concerns of some pediatricians, however, about infants sleeping on their backs and risking inhalation of stomach fluids. Earlier studies and insights into these phenomena have resulted in a number of devices for controlling sleeping posture, some of which are particularly adapted to overcome risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
3. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,748 issued to Garrison et al. on Mar. 2, 1993, discloses a device to keep an infant on its side while sleeping and thus avoid Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The infant side support has a back support and abdominal support attached to a mat on which the infant is laid on its side between the two supports. The infant is kept in a stationary position as a result of the structure, to avoid turning on its back or its stomach. The device has one apparent shortcoming, in that it does not keep an infant who is smaller than the distance between the back support and the abdominal support from twisting onto its back or into a face down position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,238, issued to Clute on Mar. 16, 1993, discloses a support pillow with two detachable main sections, each having an elongated right triangle wedge shaped from a resilient foam member covered with fabric. The two detachable main sections may be spaced apart from one another, with a VELCRO.TM. brand fastening means attached to each section so that they are in a set spaced relationship. The infant is placed between the two wedges. A strap may be attached across the top of the wedge shaped pillows to stationarily support the pillows. This device also has an apparent shortcoming in that it is particularly confining to the infant, pinning its arms between the two wedges while the infant is sleeping.
Other devices have been disclosed which might be used for the purpose of supporting an infant on its side, or at least avoiding its sleeping in a prone position, though not particularly designed for that purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,802 issued to Lund on May 15, 1962, discloses an infant holder for restraining the movement of a small child, although it was not designed for keeping the child on its side or back during sleeping. The Lund device was designed for restraining a child during certain operative procedures and medical administrations to avoid injuring the child. It shortcoming it that it is not a comfortable device for the child to sleep in and that it restrains the child to lie on his or her back.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,326 issued to Spann on Jul. 29, 1980, discloses an apparatus for positioning and protecting a patient in a bed. The apparatus has protective cushioning for a side frame of the bed. The protective cushioning is substantially cylindrical, except for a flat surface. The device could be downsized for an infant. It is not, however, adapted to keep the infant from rolling in both directions, as a back device would restrain the infant from rolling on its back but the front device is only to protect the infant from injuring itself on the crib restraining rail.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,282 issued to Bond on Dec. 9, 1975, discloses a therapeutic prop-like support for maintaining a sleeping or otherwise reclining person on his or her side. Again, the device is not particularly designed for an infant. Its structure would restrain an infant in the manner of the device disclosed by Clute, if the Bond device were downsized.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,412 issued to Smith on Mar. 11, 1986, discloses an L-shaped anchored pillow. The Smith device uses a mat having a VELCRO.TM. brand strip to which the pillow support may be easily attached to keep it stationary with respect to the mat. This device, too, might be downsized for an infant but would not restrain the infant from rolling on its face if the pillow were situated at the back of the infant.
Besides the particular shortcomings discussed in connection with each of the above presented prior art, all of the above prior art suffers from not providing a combination of a frontal support to prevent the child from rolling onto its stomach, adjustability for different sized infants, portability and washability and a means for keeping the infant or a small child from rolling off its sleep platform, while not unnecessarily confining the infant or child during its sleep. Therefore, there is a need for a suitable structured infant sleep support to reduce the occurrence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome with other advantages conceived of by the inventors of the infant sleep support.


A method and apparatus for managing communication security in a wireless network are provided. The method includes receiving from a station that intends to associate in the wireless network including an access point, first key generation information provided by the access point and second key generation information provided by the station, providing third key generation information, generating a security key using the first key generation information, the second key generation information, the third key generation information, and an initial key, and sending the third key generation information and the security key to the station.

1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to managing communication security in a wireless network, and more particularly, to allowing an external station to temporarily associate in a wireless network while maintaining communication security in the wireless network.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of communication and network technologies, the home network environment has recently been evolving from a wired network environment using a wired medium such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber into a wireless network environment using radio signals in various frequency bands.
Unlike a wired network, a data transmission path is not physically fixed. Therefore, communication security is more vulnerable to security breaches in the wireless network than the wired network. Accordingly, to accomplish secure wireless communication, most wireless communication protocols support encryption of transmitted data packets. To support the encryption, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) for a wireless local area network (LAN) or Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is used.
WPA relates to wireless local area network (LAN) authentication and encryption, which was proposed by the Wi-Fi Alliance while the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11i standard was being prepared. WPA also supports authentication in an ad-hoc network using an authentication scheme based on a pre-shared key (PSK: hereinafter, referred to as an initial key). In WPA, the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) is used as an encryption technique to provide data confidentiality. To enhance integrity and security in WPA, a message integrity check field is included in a transmission frame.
A process for setting a pairwise transient key (PTK: hereinafter, referred to as a security key) in a WPA-PSK mode using an initial key will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating a conventional process of establishing a security key in a WPA-PSK mode.
In the WPA-PSK mode, an access point and a station which create a wireless network share the initial key. The initial key is used to generate a security key for secure communication between the access point and the station. In the WPA-PSK mode, a PSK key generation process is implemented by a four-way handshake process between an access point and a station.
In operation S110, the access point and the station are subjected to predetermined authentication and connection. For such authentication and connection, an open authentication procedure defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard may be used. Through the authentication and connection, the access point and the station acquire each other's medium access control (MAC) addresses, which are used to generate the security key. In the conventional process in the WPA-PSK mode, a PSK key is generated by a four-way handshake process between an access point and a station.
Upon completion of the authentication and connection, the access point generates a first random number in operation S115 and the station generates a second random number in operation S120. A random number is a sequence of digits or characters with randomness.
The access point sends a first message including the first random number to the station in operation S125.
Upon receiving the first message from the access point, the station generates a security key using the first random number, the second random number, the access point's MAC address, the station's MAC address, and the initial key and computes a message integrity check (MIC) using the security key in operation S130.
Thereafter, the station sends a second message including the second random number and the MIC to the access point in operation S135.
Upon receiving the second message from the station, the access point generates a security key using the first random number, the second random number, the access point's MAC address, the station's MAC address, and the initial key and computes an MIC using the security key in operation S140.
Here, the access point can determine whether the station has the same security key as it has by comparing its MIC with the MIC received through the second message. When it is determined that the MIC computed by the access point is not the same as that received from the station, an MIC error occurs.
In this case, the access point interrupts communication with the station. However, when an MIC error does not occur, the access point sends a third message including its MIC and a receive sequence counter to the station in operation S145.
Upon receiving the third message from the access point, the station computes an MIC using its security key. When it is determined that the MIC received from the access point is the same as that computed by the station, the station sets the security key generated in operation S130 to secure the communication with the access point in operation S150.
Thereafter, the station sends a fourth message requesting the access point to set the security key in operation S155.
Upon receiving the fourth message from the station, the access point sets the security key that it has generated to secure the communication with the station in operation S160.
In such a way, each station in a wireless network can generate a security key shared with an access point. Since each station generates a security key using different parameters (for example, a random number and each station's MAC address), each station sets a security key that is known only to itself and the access point.
Once the security key is set, the access point and the station can encrypt data to be transmitted therebetween using the security key and can decrypt the encrypted data received from each other using the security key.
As described above, to generate a security key in the WPA-PSK mode, an initial key is needed and an external station that does not have the same initial key as the access point cannot generate the same security key as the access point. Accordingly, in the WPA-PSK mode, an external station is prevented from accessing to a wireless network without permission.
In this situation, the initial key should be protected so as not to be revealed outside the wireless network. In other words, when the initial key is revealed to an external station, a wireless network manager needs to set a new initial key in all network apparatus (i.e., the access point and the stations) in the wireless network.
Such conventional technology is inconvenient for a wireless network manager managing a wireless network when it is necessary to permit an external station to temporarily associate in the wireless network.
For example, in the conventional technology, to permit an external station possessed by a visitor to temporarily associate in a home network, the network manager allows the external station to share an initial key used in the home network.
In other words, the external station stores the initial key used in the home network. Accordingly, even after stopping associating in communication with the home network (for example, when the visitor having the external station stops visit), the external station can share a security key with an access point of the home network through the process illustrated in FIG. 1. In this case, the external station can freely associate in the home network without the network manager's permission. To prevent ungranted association, the network manager must change the initial key in the access point and all stations in the home network once the initial key is revealed to the external station. 27
However, it is inconvenient for the network manager to change the initial key in the access point and all stations in the home network. In particular, such inconvenience becomes more serious in a wireless network under an environment in which temporal association of an external station frequently occurs or in a wireless network in which a large number of access points and stations associate in communication.

Method and apparatus for managing communication security in wireless network


An optical system comprises an optical fiber with gain producing core with an index of refraction n1, surrounded by at least one cladding with an index of refraction n2, said cladding including at least one index reduced area with an index of refraction n2, such that n1>n2>n2, the core propagating a signal at a spatial fundamental mode at a signal wavelength λ1 and at a power level sufficient to generate optical power at a wavelength λ2, where λ2>λ1, and the at least one index reduced area in combination with the core provide has at least one cut-off fundamental spatial mode wavelength λC, and λ1<λC and λ2>λC.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical systems that utilize optical fiber for propagating high power optical signal, and more particularly to lasers, laser amplifiers and oscillators with a rare earth doped optical fiber operating in high power regime.
2. Technical Background
Optical fiber has become a favorite medium for telecommunications due to its high capacity and immunity to electrical noise. Single clad rare earth doped optical fiber has been widely used in the field of optical amplifiers and fiber lasers. This type of fiber has relatively low capability of handling high power multimode optical sources due to the difficulty of efficiently coupling multimode light from a high power optical (light) source (also referred to herein as optical pump or pump) into the rare-earth doped fiber core.
To solve this problem and to increase the output power of fiber lasers, those of skill in the art utilize optical fiber with a double clad structure (referred herein as double clad optical fiber). Double clad rare-earth doped optical fiber is a fiber that has a core, an inner cladding layer surrounding the core and an outer cladding layer surrounding the inner cladding layer. Optical fibers with Yb doped cores and two cladding layers surrounding the core are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,477,307; 6,483,973; 5,966,491 and 5,949,941.
Double clad optical fiber has been used in applications requiring utilization of optical sources providing between 10 to 100 Watts of optical power, because double clad optical fiber is more efficient in retaining/utilizing optical power provided by the optical pump than single clad optical fiber. This higher efficiency is due to fiber's utilization of clad-to-core coupling of optical pump power. More specifically, rare-earth doped double clad optical fibers accept light from the optical pump into the inner cladding and then transfer light to the rare-earth doped core through the core to inner cladding interface, along the length of the optical fiber. Thus, the optical fiber converts a significant part of the multi-mode light propagated through the inner cladding into a single-mode output at a longer wavelength, by coupling the pump light into the rare-earth doped core.
The inner cladding of the double clad optical fiber has a higher index of refraction than the outer cladding, thus the pump energy is confined inside the inner cladding and is re-directed into the core. The optical fiber is optically active due to the presence of rare-earth dopant in the core, which can be excited to higher electronic energy levels when the optical fiber is pumped by a strong optical pump. The core is typically doped with at least one rare-earth element, for example, neodymium or ytterbium, to provide lasing capability in a single-mode output signal. Typically, a neodymium- or ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber is pumped with one or several high-power broad-area diode lasers (at 800 nm or 915 nm) to produce a single transverse mode output (at the neodymium four-level transition of 1060 nm or the ytterbium four level transition of 1030 nm-1120 nm, respectively). Thus, conventional double-clad arrangements facilitate pumping of the optical fiber using a multi-mode inner cladding for accepting and transferring pump energy to the fiber core along the length of the fiber. Cladding pumping can be utilized in fiber amplifiers, or employed to build high-power single mode fiber pump lasers.
In fiber laser applications rare-earths such as Nd, Yb or Er have three-level transitions that require at least 50% of total ions to be in the upper level (i.e., at least 50% inversion) to exhibit gain. These three level transitions result in production of gain (or lasing) in these wavelength ranges: 880-920 nm in Nd doped optical fibers, the 965-1020 nm in Yb doped optical fibers, 1510-1540 nm in Er doped optical fibers. All of these are earth ions have competing 4-level transitions that require much lower level of inversion to exhibit gain, as low as 3% to 4%. The wavelengths corresponding to the 4-level transitions are 1050-1100 nm transitions in Yb and Nd doped optical fibers, and the 1560-1600 nm transitions in Er doped optical fibers. For a given length of the optical fiber and a given double-clad geometry, four level transitions reach transparency (i.e. the condition when gain reaches the loss in the fiber) or laser threshold at a much lower pump power level than three-level transitions. Once the optical fiber exhibits gain or starts lasing as a 4-level system, it does not operate as a 3-level system, and provides the gain or lasing wavelength in an undesirable wavelength range.
The problem of unwanted 4-level lasing or gain is typically solved by adding filters such as dielectric filters to suppress gain in four-level transitions, or alternatively, by choosing a double-clad inner cladding area that "promotes" a higher pump power density to increase the local inversion. However, dichroic filters are difficult to make spectrally sharp enough so that no additional loss is added at three-level wavelengths. That is, such filters introduce power loss at the 3-level wavelengths. Furthermore, these dichroic filters add further complexity and expense to the overall system. Provision of higher pump density is typically achieved by utilizing optical fiber with the relatively small clad to core ratios. While this approach increases pump power density to promote three-level inversion it makes it difficult and/or inefficient to couple pump power into the optical fiber and add complexity to the pump power coupling system.
Furthermore, when the optical fiber generates and propagates a high power optical signal and when the optical power exceeds Raman threshold level, the signal light is shifted to longer wavelength via Simulated Raman scattering, inducing power loss at the operating wavelength and preventing further power buildup.
The problem of Simulated Raman scattering is typically solved by increasing the fiber core diameter and lowering its numerical aperture. However, optical fibers with low numerical apertures and large core diameters are very susceptible to the bend-induced losses. In addition, because of non standard dimensions, these fibers are difficult to handle because they are not compatible with existing fibers or fiber handling technologies (fiber cleavers and fusion splices). Finally, when such fiber is fusion spliced to an optical fiber with a smaller core diameter, the signal power does not couple effectively into a smaller core of the second optical fiber, and a large amount of signal power is lost at the splice due to mismatch between the core sizes.
Single polarization optical fibers are useful for ultra-high speed transmission systems or for use as a coupler fiber for use with, and connection to, optical components (lasers, EDFAs, optical instruments, interferometric sensors, gyroscopes, etc.). The polarization characteristic (single polarization) propagates one, and only one, of two orthogonally polarized polarizations within a single polarization band while suppressing the other polarization by dramatically increasing its transmission loss.

Optical systems utilizing optical fibers transmitting high power signal and a method of operating such systems


A crib to be positioned in the corner of a room and which has a crib canopy appearing to be freely floating in the room corner above the crib. The crib includes a storage area with shelves and drawers for maintaining baby necessities close at hand, as well as a receptacle for including a cassette player carried in a position to permit music from the cassette to be directed from the crib. A series of picture holders are positioned along the two side walls of the crib which engage or are supported adjacent the walls of the room, to enable such things as photographs and drawings to be removably displayed therein.

This invention relates in general to furniture and, in particular, to a crib which is positionable in the corner of a room.
More specifically, but without restriction as to the particular embodiment and/or use which is shown and described herein for purposes of illustration, this invention relates to a crib to be positioned in the corner of a room and which has a crib canopy appearing to be freely floating in the room corner above the crib. The crib includes a storage area with shelves and drawers for maintaining baby necessities close at hand, as well as a receptacle for including a cassette player carried in a position to permit music from the cassette to be directed from the crib. A series of picture holders are positioned along the two side walls of the crib which engage or are supported adjacent the walls of the room, to enable such things as photographs and drawings to be removably displayed therein.
As is known to those who have or who have had children, a crib is a convenient if not indispensable piece of furniture for safely protecting a baby both when the baby is sleeping, and when the baby is awake. To this end, a crib is constructed to properly support a baby when resting on the crib mattress, and to protect the baby as it grows and begins to sit and stand. In addition, a crib functions as a convenient place to change a baby's diapers, eliminating the need for a separate dressing table, and provides a safe playground where a baby can entertain itself during the day between feedings.
To these ends the present invention provides a unique space saving and aesthetically pleasing corner crib which includes storage facilities for baby supplies, and provides a safe environment in which the baby can sleep and entertain itself while awake.


A method of creating a non-volatile memory device, featuring self-alignment of a control gate structure, to an underlying floating gate structure, has been developed. The formation of a first polysilicon floating gate shape, completely covering the semiconductor substrate, with openings only to underlying field oxide regions, prevents a deleterious trenching phenomena from occurring during a subsequent patterning, used to define an overlying, control gate structure. A photoresist shape is used as a mask to allow patterning of the control gate structure to be performed, via an anisotropic procedure, applied to a polysilicon layer, followed by the continuation of the anisotropic RIE procedure, applied to the first polysilicon floating gate shape, creating the floating gate structure.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes used to fabricate semiconductor devices, and more specifically to a process used to fabricate a non-volatile memory device.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Non-volatile memory devices, such as Electrical Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, (EEPROM), or Erasable Programmable read Only Memory, (EPROM), devices, offer the desirable features of programming, reading, and erasing, via use of only specific biasing procedures. One form of these devices, is comprised of a "split gate" electrode configuration, in which the control gate overlies all, or a portion of an underlying floating gate, and overlies a portion of the channel region. The use of the split gate electrode configuration can however result in the formation of trenches, in an active device region of the non-volatile memory device, during the formation of the polysilicon control gate structure. For example if a self-aligned, control gate to floating gate configuration is desired, the final pattern for the underlying polysilicon floating gate structure, is defined during the polysilicon control gate patterning. This procedure can result in unwanted trenches in active regions of the semiconductor substrate, in regions in which the polysilicon control gate structure, does not overlay the polysilicon floating gate structure. The additional etching time, needed to define the combination of gates, in regions in which the control gate overlays the floating gate, can result in undesirable trench formation, in regions in which the gates do not overlay.
This invention will describe a reactive ion etching, (RIE), patterning procedure, allowing successful self-alignment, simultaneously forming the entire polysilicon control gate, and a final definition of an underlying polysilicon floating gate structure, without degradation to active device regions, in areas not covered by either gate structure. This is achieved using a unique, initial, polysilicon floating gate layout. Prior art, such as Chung, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,814, describe a method of forming an EEPROM device, however without the simultaneous definition of both gate structures.

Trench free polysilicon gate definition process for a non-volatile memory device

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Fused pyridazine derivatives represented by formula (I) or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof (wherein each symbol has the meaning as defined in the specification.).

Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (abbreviated as PARP hereinafter), which is a nuclear enzyme activated by DNA strand breaks, plays a role in the transfer reaction of ADP-ribose moiety from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (abbreviated as NAD+ hereinafter) to various proteins such as histones, DNA-polymerases and DNA-topoisomerases, etc.
DNA strand breaks caused by Peroxynitrite (ONOO−) and oxygen radicals lead to overactivation of PARP (PARP is activated up to 100 times when Zn finger domain of PARP binds to DNA with nicks.). It is thought that overactivation of PARP causes depletion of NAD+, which is essential for electron transport system, and consequently depletion of ATP, leading to energy failure, ultimately resulting in cell death. (The suicide hypothesis of PARP activation: Free Radic. Biol. Med., 21, 855 (1996); TIPS., 19, 287 (1998)). Therefore, it is considered that PARP inhibitor is useful as inhibitor of cell death.
Since caspase-3, which is one of interleukin-1β-converting enzyme family, specifically cleaves PARP as the substrate (Cell., 81, 801 (1995)), it is suggested PARP is associated with apoptosis.
It is reported that 3-aminobenzamide and nicotinamide generally known as inhibitors of PARP are useful for inhibition of cell death and improvement of diseases on various models of ischemic diseases (cerebral, myocardial, intestinal, skeletal muscular or retinal ischemia etc.), inflammatory diseases (arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease or multiple sclerosis etc.), diabetes, shock, extrapyramidal disease (TIPS., 19, 287 (1998); Eur. J. Pharmacol., 350, 1 (1998)) and hyperalgesia (Pain, 72, 355 (1997)) in vitro, in vivo and in PARP knockout mouse. And it is reported that PARP inhibitor is useful as an antiretroviral drug such as an anti HIV drug (Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commum., 180, 504 (1991)), a sensitizer of anticancer therapy (Radiat. Res., 126, 367 (1991); Br. J. Cancer., 72, 849 (1995)) or an immunosuppressant (Int. J. Immunopharmac., 17, 265 (1995)).
PARP inhibitor is useful for prevention and/or treatment of various diseases, for example, ischemic diseases (cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, reperfusion injury or postoperative injury etc.), inflammatory diseases (inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, arthritis or lung injury etc.), neurodegenerative disorders (extrapyramidal disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy or lumbar spinal canal stenosis etc.), glaucoma, diabetes, diabetic complication, shock, head trauma, spinal cord injury, renal failure, hyperalgesia or blood flow obstruction etc. And it is useful as an antiretroviral drug such as an anti HIV drug, a sensitizer of anticancer therapy or an immunosuppressant.
As PARP inhibitor, for example, in the specification of WO00/44726, it is described that 2H-phthalazin-1-one derivatives represented by formula (A)
(wherein R1A is    (i) C1-4 alkyl substituted by hydroxy or amino, or    (ii) -A1A-A2A-A3A,in which A1A is —NR3AC(O)— etc. wherein R3A is hydrogen or C1-4 alkyl etc., A2A is C1-8 alkylene etc., A3A is (i) hydrogen, (ii) —NR17AR18A or (iii) Cyc2A etc. wherein R17A is (i) hydrogen, (ii) C1-8 alkyl etc., and R18A is (i) hydrogen or (ii) C1-8 alkyl etc., Cyc2A is 3-10 membered mono- or bi-heterocyclic ring containing 1-4 of nitrogen atoms, 1-2 of oxygen atoms and/or one sulfur atom, R2A is hydrogen or halogen etc. Necessary parts were extracted from the description of groups.) have PARP inhibitory activity.
In the specification of DE3302021, it is described that compounds represented by formula (B)
(wherein R1B is hydrogen or C1-3 alkyl, R2B is hydrogen, R1B and R2B, taken together, are C1-4 alkylene, R3B is hydrogen or methyl, nB is 0-3, R4B is 1-pyrrolyl. Necessary parts were extracted from the description of groups.) have inhibitory activity of platelet aggregation.
In the specification of WO98/31674, it is described that compounds represented by formula (C)
(wherein R1C is C1-4 alkoxy etc., R2C is C1-8 alkoxy etc., R3C and R4C is hydrogen or R3C and R4C, taken together, are bond, R5C is hydrogen etc. Necessary parts were extracted from the description of groups.) have phosphodiesterase inhibitory activity.
In Journal of Medicinal Chemistry., 44(16), 2511-2522 and 2523-2535 (2001), it is described that 4-(3-chloro-4-methoxyphenyl)-4a,5,8,8a-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 244077-36-9) and 4-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 358368-98-6) have phosphodiesterase inhibitory activity.
In Tetrahedron., 39(20), 3419-27 (1983), 4-phenyl-6,7,8,8a-tetrahydropyrrolo[1,2-d][1,2,4]triazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 89311-30-8) is described as synthetic intermediate.
In Synthesis., 240-242 (1995), 4-phenyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 154810-22-7), 4-(4-methylphenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 154810-23-8), 4-(4-fluorophenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 154810-24-9), 4-(4-chlorophenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 154810-25-0), and 4-(4-bromophenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 154810-26-1) are described as synthetic intermediate.
In Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry., 6, 349-454 (1998), 7-hydroxy-4-phenyl-6,7,8,8a-tetrahydropyrrolo[1,2-d][1,2,4]triazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 206126-90-1) and 4-phenyl-8,8a-dihydro[1,3]thiazolo[3,4-d][1,2,4]triazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 206126-96-7) are described as synthetic intermediate.
In Journal of Medicinal Chemistry., 43(12), 2310-2323 (2000), 4-(pyridin-4-ylmethyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 212142-89-7) is described as synthetic intermediate.
In the specification of FR2647676, 4-t-butoxycarbonylmethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 134972-12-6) and 4-ethoxycarbonylmethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazin-1(2H)-one (CAS Registry No. 134973-24-3) are described as synthetic intermediate.

Fused pyridazine derivative compounds and drugs containing these compounds as the active ingredient

Abstract: Because of inhibiting poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase, the compounds represented by formula (I) are useful as preventives and/or remedies for various ischemic diseases (in brain, cord, heart, digestive tract, skeletal muscle, retina, etc.), inflammatory diseases (inflammatory bowel disease, multiple cerebrosclerosis, arthritis, etc.), neurodegenerative diseases (extrapyramidal disorder, Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy, lumbar spinal canal stenosis, etc.), diabetes, shock, head trauma, renal failure, hyperalgesia, etc. Moreover, these compounds are useful as agents against retroviruses (HIV etc.), sensitizers in treating cancer and immunosuppressants.


A service communication system for mobile vehicles has a cellular telephony interface in individual ones of the mobile vehicles, for establishing telephony events over a cellular network with a base station, and a global positioning system in individual ones of the mobile vehicles for determining global position from transmissions from GPS satellites. A network of cellular base stations receives from and broadcasts to the mobile vehicles, lo and bridges events between cellular and public switched telephone service (PSTN) protocol. A unique network-level routing system is connected by first telephony trunks to the base stations and enabled to retrieve GPS position from the telephony events, and is connected by other trunks to a plurality of service centers connected to the network-level routing system, which determines a destination for individual ones of the telephony events among the plurality of service centers according to the retrieved GPS position.

The present invention is in the field of telephony communication as it pertains to mobile devices or units operating on a private network and pertains more particularly to methods and apparatus for enhancing communication capability, data transfer capability, and increasing the number of mobile devices that can successfully operate on a communication-center facilitated virtual private network (VPN).
The field of telephony communication has grown more diverse and flexible. Call-in centers that once were restricted to connection-oriented switched telephony (COST) are now employing computer-simulated telephony techniques generally referred to as data network telephony (DNT). Call-in centers that are enhanced with DNT and multimedia capability more appropriately termed communication centers in the art. This is due to the broad range of telephony and data transfer capabilities that are routinely practiced within or facilitated by such centers.
Communication centers are often used by enterprises to accomplish cellular communication links with fleets of vehicles having wireless communication devices installed therein for receiving instruction and responding back to personnel operating within the center, such as dispatchers, sales agents and so on. There are a variety of existing techniques used by communication centers today to track, control and support fleets of vehicles.
Services such as Omnitracs(trademark) operated by Qualcomm and On-Star(trademark) operated by General Motors Corp. (GM) use the well-known cellular telephone infrastructure and the global positioning system (GPS) to track and support vehicles in the field. Services offered include such as air bag deployment notification, remote door unlocking, road-side service, vehicle theft notification, and so on. In some cases device-equipped vehicles are owned and operated by a single entity that also provides the service. In some cases vehicles are owned individually, or in small groups and are subscribed to a service.
A commonality among all of these types of service communication systems is that users (i.e. drivers of subscribed vehicles) may need to be periodically tracked by the system to be given logistics support, help or advice at some point during a trip. In some cases tracking is employed for reporting purposes to customers of the service business, such as with some trucking companies and the like. The above-described systems target mostly high-end vehicles or commercial fleets as primary targets, due to the higher value and traffic they incur.
One problem with the infrastructure associated with the above-described services is that communication with the volume of serviced cars or commercial fleet of vehicles is typically implemented by a single communication center. As a result the systems are limited to a relatively small volume vehicles depending on the nature of the service. Such a communication center, as is known in the art, simply cannot handle a really large volume, such as perhaps a million vehicles or more.
The technologies (GPS and cellular services) that support the above-described services are continually being developed and made available over ever-increasing geographic regions. Therefore, it is desirable to provide similar services to a much larger customer base than the currently limited numbers serviced by today""s largest system/infrastructures. As previously described, a single communications center cannot handle the desired volume. For example, a service base of a million users or more would logically encompass mostly xe2x80x9cnormal citizensxe2x80x9d rather than professional drivers due to shear volume. In this regard, services offered would have to be more diversified among users instead of being standardized as with a fleet of company-owned service vehicles. An unacceptable communication load would result in any single communication center. Moreover, other problems would arise from an overload of users interacting with a center such as increased costs of long-distance routing, and lack of xe2x80x9clocal knowledgexe2x80x9d required to effect many desired and marketable services.
What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus that enables efficient data management and routing of service events to and from a large volume of tracked vehicles maintaining wireless communication devices, wherein specific interaction and routing does not have to be performed in or facilitated by one single communication center. Such a system would allow a single service to provide cost-effective, mainstream services to millions subscribers.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a service communication system for mobile vehicles is provided, comprising a cellular interface in individual ones of the mobile vehicles, for establishing telephony events over a cellular network with a base station; a global positioning system in individual ones of the mobile vehicles for determining global position from transmissions from GPS satellites; a network of base stations for receiving and broadcasting to the mobile vehicles, and for bridging events between cellular and public switched telephone service (PSTN) protocol; a network-level routing system connected by first telephony trunks to the base stations and enabled to retrieve GPS position from the telephony events, and a plurality of service centers connected to the network-level routing system by second telephony trunks. The network-level routing system determines a destination for individual ones of the telephony events among the plurality of service centers according to the retrieved GPS position.
In preferred embodiments the network-level routing system further comprises an interactive voice solution (IVS) system for providing synthesized voice responses to incoming events. Also in preferred embodiments individual ones of the service centers each comprise a telephone switching apparatus connected by a computer telephony integration (CTI) link to a CTI processor for monitoring a controlling the connected telephone switching apparatus, and the network routing center comprises a network-level CTI processor connected to a network-level switch, and wherein the CTI processors at network and service center level are interconnected by a data link separate from the second telephony trunks. In some embodiments data about a call event is stripped at the network-level routing system and transmitted by the data link separate from the second telephony trunks to a service center to which the call event is routed.
In various embodiments of the invention taught in enabling detail below, services for mobile vehicles may for the first time be provided in a specialized way by having local service centers attuned to the needs of certain areas and for special purposes, and by routing service call events to specialized centers based on mobile vehicle location at the time service is requested.

Method and apparatus for providing enhanced communication capability for mobile devices on a virtual private network (VPN)

Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc.


Health care administration methods are disclosed that substantially conserve the utilization of health care resources available to care for a specified patient population. Initially, a patient population is generated whereby each patient therein is assigned a risk based upon a retrospective and postspective assessment of the patient. Once the patient population is generated, utilization management practices are implemented that restrict utilization of health care resources without adversely impacting clinical outcome or quality of care until such utilization of resources is deemed medically warranted. A network of health care providers and health care providing institutions administers health care to the population according to methods of the present invention based upon primary care decision making practices utilizing the most cost-effective management practices and minimizing the use of specialists and in-patient/out-patient services whenever applicable.

The present invention is directed to methods for administering health care resources amongst patients within a patient population and, more particularly, to generate a patient population and conserve the medical resources utilized to care for such population by utilizing methods that continuously monitor and evaluate health care delivery.
As is well known, the utilization of health care resources has and continues to be grossly inefficient. Generally, the current administration of health care in the United States is subject to tremendous abuse, both by patients, on one hand, and health care providers and health care providing institutions, on the other. With respect to the latter, it is well-known that health care providers and health care providing institutions, such as hospitals, clinical laboratories, outpatient and rehabilitation facilities, engage in capricious billing practices that enable such providers and institutions to charge for a multiplicity of services that may be available under a single clinical event. In this regard, to the extent a particular type of medical service is rendered by a professional provider, the same is typically identified by a CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) code, which describes the medical service by use of a numeric code utilizing an accepted method developed by the American Medical Association
Problematic with such practice, however, is that often times health care providers and health care providing institutions attempt to seek reimbursement, whether it be from an insurance company, health maintenance organization or government sponsored health care program, such as MediCare, for two or more separate services that are actually integrated into one clinical event. For example, the physician drawing blood for purposes of conducting lab work may attempt to have the procedure to draw blood charged separately and in addition to the services associated with the laboratory blood testing. Other well-known abuses occur when health care providers and institutions attempt to seek reimbursement for procedures and tests that are performed by non-physicians, such as nurses or technicians performing such procedures but seek reimbursement for the services of a physician.
Additionally wasteful practices include duplicative and unnecessary tests and procedures. Along these lines, many medical procedures are performed by specialists (who command higher rates of reimbursement) that oftentimes can be performed by a non-specialist, and in particular a patient's primary care physician. Likewise, many such procedures and tests are performed in an in-patient facility, as opposed to an out-patient facility, which thus substantially increases the costs associated with the applicable service. Furthermore, there is a tendency among health care providers and institutions to render care that fails to take into account lower cost alternatives that utilize cost-effective out-patient facilities, and/or competitive pricing practices that eliminate or substantially limit the utilization of specialists, the performance of unnecessary tests, excessive office visits, and the like.
In addition to health care providers and institutions, patients themselves contribute substantially to the cost and ineffective utilization of health care resources. As is well-known, patients can and frequently do seek unnecessary medical treatment or otherwise attempt to influence the judgment of the health care provider by demanding that unnecessary tests or procedures be performed, that the patients have access to specialists or particular medications, and/or seek in-patient services in situations where the patient's clinical condition clearly does not justify such level of care. Such potential abuses are particularly likely where patients are allowed the discretion to directly access specialists, as is typical in several well-known health care insurance plans, such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which thus bypasses the critical role played by the primary care physician in making an initial assessment of a patient's condition and whether the same truly warrants the attention of a particular specialist, and not to mention the specialist best suited to handle a particular condition.
In order to counter such wasteful and abusive practices by both health care providers, health care providing institutions, and patients, attempts have been made to implement certain practices and procedures to contain health care costs and conserve the utilization of health care resources. Exemplary of such attempts include requiring prior authorization and approval by an intermediate entity, such as a health maintenance organization or health insurance plan, to the extent a physician seeks to take a specified action, such as perform surgery, order a medical supply or refer the patient to a specialist. Also utilized are the practices of bundling, whereby a physician is paid a single payment for two or more medical services, and capitation whereby a health care provider is paid a set dollar amount as determined by a per member, per month calculation to deliver medical services to a specific patient population (i.e., members of a health maintenance organization). Still further examples include the use of preferred provider discounts, which encourage the use by patients of specific health care providers, and usual and customary reductions, which impose a reduction in the payment of medical services rendered as deemed justified by a health plan or insurance company based upon what is considered to be the justified value of such services as rendered in a particular geographical area.
Despite such attempts, however, there has yet to be devised any type of health care administration system or method that substantially conserves utilization of health care resources that as a consequence can dramatically lower the costs associated in providing care to a specific patient population. Such attempts have likewise failed to maintain any degree of consistent quality of health care insofar as prior art cost containment practices have been and continue to be riddled with "loopholes" and insufficient cost-deterrent mechanisms necessary to conserve and optimally utilize a finite amount of health care resources.
As a result of the aforementioned abuses and inefficiencies associated with the utilization of health care resources, the cost of health care has and continues to increase substantially while the quality of the health care provided has not necessarily improved. As such, there is a substantial need in the art for a health care administration method that is operative to effectively and efficiently utilize health care resources to administer care to a patient population as compared to conventional practices. There is additionally a need in the art to generate a patient population that takes into account a multiplicity of factors that facilitate the optimal utilization of health care resources utilized to care for a given patient population that is also continuously evaluated to maximize the efficient use of resources. There is still further a need in the art for such a method that substantially eliminates abusive billing practices, the performance of unnecessary procedures, the unnecessary use of specialists, minimizes utilization of out-patient and in-patient services, and is generally effective in eliminating the wasteful practices associated with the allocation and utilization of health care resources without adversely compromising clinical outcomes or quality of care.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In an on-hook transmission circuit provided in a subscriber circuit connected between a subscriber terminal and an exchange, a constant-current source unit causes a constant current to flow in first and second wires during a period in which a control signal indicating that on-hook transmission should be turned ON is being received. A loop supervisory unit detects establishment of a loop including the first and second wires and a subscriber terminal connected thereto, and generates a scan signal used for causing the constant-current source means to stop the constant current flowing in the first and second wires after detecting the establishment of the loop.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to cable-line communications systems, and more particularly to an on-hook transmission circuit provided in a cable line, such as a digital line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, in a cable telephone line, a called subscriber picks up the handset in response to a call, and information can be transmitted in the off-hook state. Recently, an advanced system has been proposed in which information can be transferred in the on-hook state without picking up the handset in response to a call. This is called an on-hook transmission, and information can be transferred without current flowing in a subscriber terminal when a call is received. Such an on-hook transmission is effective for a case where the called subscriber wishes to know who is calling before picking up the handset.
However, the two wires of the telephone line connected to the telephone terminal are kept open-circuited in the on-hook state, and therefore a modification is needed to achieve the on-hook transmission services.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of part of a conventional subscriber circuit (also called line circuit) connected to a telephone terminal (not shown). A first wire 1 and a second wire 2 form a subscriber telephone line. A first bias circuit J1 applies a bias voltage to the first wire 1, and a second bias circuit J2 applies a bias voltage to the second wire 2. The first bias circuit J1 has a first terminal 3a, a second terminal 3b and a third terminal 3c. The second bias circuit J2 has a first terminal 4a, a second terminal 4b and a third terminal 4c.
The collector of an npn transistor Q1 and the first terminal 3a of the first bias circuit J1 are connected to the first wire 1. The emitter of the npn transistor Q1 is connected to a voltage source VBB via a resistor RA1. The second terminal 3b of the first bias circuit J1 is connected to the voltage source VBB, and the third terminal 3c thereof is connected to the non-inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier A1. The inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A1 is connected to a node at which the emitter of the npn transistor Q1 and the resistor RA1 are connected in series to each other. The output terminal of the operational amplifier A1 is connected to the base of the npn transistor Q1.
The collector of a pnp transistor Q2 and the first terminal 4a of the second bias circuit J2 are connected to the second wire 2. The emitter of the pnp transistor Q2 is connected to ground GND via a resistor RB1. The second terminal 4b of the second bias circuit J2 is connected to the ground GND. The third terminal 4c of the second bias circuit J2 is connected to the non-inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier A2. The inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A2 is connected to a node at which the emitter of the pnp transistor Q2 and the resistor RB1 are connected in series to each other. The output terminal of the operational amplifier A2 is connected to the base of the pnp transistor Q2.
It will now be assumed that the bias voltage output via the third terminal 3c of the first bias circuit J1 is VA1, and the bias voltage output via the third terminal 4c of the second bias circuit J2 is VB1. In an operating mode, the bias voltage VB1 appears at the pnp transistor Q2 because of the imaginary or virtual short-circuit of the operational amplifier A2. Similarly, the bias voltage VA1 appears at the pnp transistor Q1 because of the virtual short-circuit of the operational amplifier A1. The difference between the ground potential and the bias voltage VB1 and the difference between the power source voltage VBB and the bias voltage VA1 are equal to each other.
Hence, a feed current IL flowing in the subscriber terminal connected across the first line 1 and the second line 2 is equal to (VB1-G)/RB1, where G is the ground potential, and RB1 is the resistance value of the resistor RB1. When the first wire 1 and the second wire 2 are open-circuited, the feed current does not flow in the subscriber terminal. Hence, the first wire 1 is maintained at VBB, and the second wire 2 is maintained at G. In this case, a signal cannot be transferred because an AC signal (information) cannot be transferred in the state where the feed current does not flow in the subscriber terminal. For the above-mentioned reason, the circuit shown in FIG. 1 is not capable of providing the on-hook transmission services.
FIG. 2 shows a modification of the circuit shown in FIG. 1 in order to enable the on-hook transmission services. In FIG. 2, parts that are the same as parts shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numbers or symbols. The emitter of a pnp transistor Q3 is connected to the first wire 1 via a resistor RA2. The first terminal 3a of the first bias circuit J1 is connected to the first wire 1. The collector of the pnp transistor Q3 is connected to the voltage source VBB.
The second terminal 3b of the first bias circuit J1 is connected to the voltage source VBB. The third terminal 3c of the first bias circuit J1 is connected to the non-inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier A3. The inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A3 is connected to the emitter of the pnp transistor Q3. The emitter of an npn transistor Q4 is connected, via a resistor RB2, to the second wire 2 and the first terminal 4a of the second bias circuit J2. The collector of the npn transistor Q4 is connected to the ground GND. The second terminal 4b of the second bias circuit 4b is connected to the ground GND, and the third terminal 4c thereof is connected to the non-inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier A4. The inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A4 is connected to the emitter of the npn transistor Q4. The output terminal of the operational amplifier A4 is connected to the base of the npn transistor Q4.
It will now be assumed that the bias voltage output via the third terminal 3c of the first bias circuit J1 is VA2, and the bias voltage output via the third terminal 4c of the second bias circuit J2 is VB2. In an operating state, the bias voltage VB2 appears at the npn transistor Q4 because of the virtual short-circuit of the operational amplifier A4. The bias voltage VA2 appears at the pnp transistor Q3 because of the virtual short-circuit of the operational amplifier A3. The difference between the bias voltage VB2 and the potential of the second wire 2 is equal to the difference between the bias voltage VA2 and the potential of the first wire 1. Hence, the subscriber terminal connected across the first wire 1 and the second wire 2 is maintained in the loop state, the feed current IL passing through the subscriber terminal is equal to (the difference between the bias voltage VB2 and the potential of the second wire 2)/RB2. In the above case, when the bias voltages VB2 and VA2 are respectively a few volts, a voltage (G-VB2) appears at the second wire 2, and a voltage (VA2-VBB) appears at the first wire 1. Hence, it is possible to provide the on-hook transmission services by means of the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 2.
However, a problem occurs when the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 2 is connected to a subscriber terminal which operates using the difference between the voltage of the first wire 1 and the second wire 2 obtained in the open-circuit state. There is a type of subscriber terminal that supervises the difference between the first and second wires 1 and 2 (normally, the above difference is 48 volts). The voltage VBB, (VA2+VB2) corresponding to the difference between the first and second wires 1 and 2 is fed to such a subscriber in the open-circuit state. Hence, this voltage applied to the subscriber terminal is out of the specification defined for it, and the subscriber terminal cannot operate or malfunctions.

On-hook transmission circuit in cable line


A vibration damping material of asphalt cement comprising a) 60-90 parts by weight of asphalt cement: b) 10-30 parts by weight of thermoplastic rubber: and c) 0-20 parts by weight of tacky producer. A total sum of weight of a), b) and c) is 100 parts by weight. A penetration of the vibration damping material falls in a range of 35 to 140.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vibration damping material of asphalt cement and, more particularly, to a vibration damping material used in structural members, such as posts, beams, floors or a ceiling surface of a civil construction or a building to damp a vibration and a mechanical vibration or the like due to an earthquake, wind and/or a traffic.
2. PRIOR ART
Heretofore, various types of elastic and viscoelastic materials have been employed for damping of vibrations of a civil construction or a building.
Elastic materials, such as plates-shaped or block-shaped hard rubber, hard synthetic rubber, etc. have been used. These materials lack vibration damping performance due to excessively strong rubber elasticity. Since the rubber itself does not have adhesion properties, it is necessary to coat an adhesive over the rubber, or to adhere a plate or the like having adhesion function to a surface of the rubber to compose a construction material of two or more layers.
Silicone resin or polymer materials are considered as the viscoelastic substance. Since the silicone resin is expensive and slightly deteriorates in its damping performance, it is improper to be employed as the vibration damping material of a building. Polymer materials have some problems regarding its vibration damping performance, cost and workability (which needs to be sealed due to liquid).
Asphalt cement is widely employed as a vibration damping material due to its excellent stickiness, deformability and water tightness.
However, the asphalt cement itself has disadvantages, such as low adhesive properties at ambient temperatures, brittleness, easy cracks at low temperature, and large flowability, low elasticity and hard restoration after tension or compression thereof at high temperature.
There are jointing materials for a civil construction and a building in which rubber and filler are mixed with asphalt cement. Since the jointing materials have large rubber elasticity and less energy consumption amounts, they are improper as for vibration damping material.
There are also paving materials in which rubber is mixed with asphalt cement. The paving materials have disadvantages, such as excessively small rubber elasticity to have its bad vibration damping performance and a low softening point to flow when using in a vertical surface.
The largest reasons why the vibration damping material for satisfying the above-mentioned various properties cannot be obtained are (1) material itself does not have strong adhesion properties: (2) material does not have stable and high damping performance in a wide temperature range: and (3) material does not have high viscous shearing resistance (high deformability and preferable restoration) in its shearing deformation.
Thus, recently there have been employed (1) a heat fusion type sheet made of an asphalt cement, thermoplastic resin and inorganic filler, which is heat-fused and adhered to a surface to be coated at the time of working the sheet, and (2) a sheet or a panel having a structure of two or more layers in which viscoelastic asphalt cement filled with rubber are adhered to a thin plate made of aluminum or the like.
Therefore, it has been desired to develop a material which has strong adhesion properties, suitable viscoelastic property, tensile strength, flowability resistance at high temperatures, stickiness and moldability at low temperatures, stable and high damping performance and high viscous shearing resistance (high deformability and preferable restoration) in a wide temperature range.

Vibration damping material of asphalt cement


Techniques for content marking are provided. An Application includes a plug-in which permits an offset location within a document to be marked as a content marker. The content marker is stored independent of the application and is subsequently processed by a content marking service. The content marking service permits the content marker to be selected causing the application to be initiated, the document to be loaded within the application, and the offset location to be presented within the document.

Internet users process and view enormous amounts of electronic information on a daily basis. Moreover, the information may be dynamic and constantly changing. Typically, content associated with the information is presented within World-Wide Web (WWW) browsers, instant messaging (IM) clients, chat rooms, electronic mail (email) systems, word processing editors, image viewers, etc. Whenever a user exits an application (normally or abnormally), the user can potentially lose context associated with information that the user is working with from within a document. This is especially problematic for chat rooms where if an original window is closed or a conversation within a chat room goes too long, it becomes difficult for a user to restore information which originally existed on his/her display screen.
WWW browsers provide bookmark features which permit documents associated with a browser to be recovered on demand. However, with a bookmark the document associated with the bookmark has to be compatible with a WWW browser. Furthermore, the bookmark generally only identifies the document; it does not provide a link to specific location within the document. Additionally, the bookmarks have to be accessed and consumed within the WWW browser; meaning that the bookmarks are dependent upon the WWW browser application. Finally, the bookmarks of one user are not easily shared and/or synchronized with bookmarks of another user. In essence bookmark sharing is a manual process which is limited to tools provided by a particular browser. Also, manual synchronization of shared bookmarks has to occur every time a bookmark changes; and as a practical matter bookmark changes occur frequently.
Other applications, such as email word processing, etc. may also provide bookmark features. These features suffer from the same limitations as WWW browser bookmarks. Thus, conventionally provided bookmarks are useful only within the applications that provide them, do not permit access to specific locations within documents, and do not permit sharing and synchronization of bookmarks across multiple users.
Accordingly, improved techniques for content marking are needed.


A shift bracket can be mounted on a shift rod for movement between a first, high-speed drilling mode and a second, low-speed drilling mode. Cooperating shift lock surfaces can be associated with the shift bracket and the shift rod, respectively. For example, a groove in the can create a shift lock surface on the shift rod. The shift bracket can be moved into a locked configuration where the cooperating shift lock surfaces can engage each other preventing movement of the bracket out of the high-speed drilling mode. The hammer mode can correspond to the high-speed drilling mode, but not to the low-speed drilling mode. A spring member can bias the bracket toward the locked position. An actuation member can be coupled to the shift bracket to overcome the biasing member and to rotate or perpendicularly move the bracket into an unlocked position. The actuation member can also move the shift member from the first mode to the second mode.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Hammer-drills generally include a floating rotary-reciprocatory output spindle journaled in the housing for driving a suitable tool bit coupled thereto. In operation, the spindle can be retracted axially within the housing and against the force of a suitable resilient means, upon engagement of the tool bit with a workpiece and a manual bias force exerted by the operator on the tool. A fixed hammer member can be secured in the housing, and a movable hammer member can be carried by the spindle. The movable hammer member can have a ratcheting engagement with the fixed hammer member to impart a series of vibratory impacts to the spindle in a "hammer-drilling" mode of operation. A shiftable member can act upon the spindle to change from a "drilling" mode to the "hammer-drilling" mode, and vice versa.
Multi-speed drills typically include a transmission for transferring torque between a driven input member and an output spindle. The transmission can include a shifting mechanism for changing between a low-speed mode and a high-speed mode. The vibratory impacts in the hammer-drilling mode can create axial force oscillations that can affect the shifting mechanism.


A method and system are presented for use in determining one or more parameters of a subject. A region of interest of the subject is irradiated with acoustic tagging radiation, which comprises at least one acoustic tagging beam. At least a portion of the region of interest is irradiated with at least one electromagnetic beam of a predetermined frequency range. Electromagnetic radiation response of the at least portion of the region of interest is detected and measured data indicative thereof is generated. The detected response comprises electromagnetic radiation tagged by the acoustic radiation. This enables processing of the measured data indicative of the detected electromagnetic radiation response to determine at least one parameter of the subject in a region corresponding to the locations in the medium at which the electromagnetic radiation has been tagged by the acoustic radiation, and outputting data indicative of the at least one determined parameter.

Non invasive monitoring and imaging using non-ionizing radiation, allows medical professionals to diagnose and monitor a patient without invasive surgeries, or even without drawing blood. Pulse oximetry is one such revolutionizing technology, where non invasive monitoring of blood oxygenation using light has replaced blood gas analysis. Thus, pulse oximetry has become a gold standard monitor in every clinical setting, and has saved millions of lives.
During non-invasive monitoring, the concentration of certain chromophores (such as oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin in oximetry) is calculated by detecting light that escapes the tissue, determining the optical properties of the tissue, and deriving therefrom the concentrations of the chromophores. Providing the tissue is homogenous, simple models allow for the calculation of these concentrations. However, as biological tissue is a complex scattering medium, measuring the local optical properties becomes a challenging task.
As light is highly scattered while propagating through turbid media such as biological tissue, photons that escape the tissue and reach a detector do not provide information about the path that they followed as they propagated through the medium. To acquire information about the optical properties of the tissue in the photons' path, several methods and algorithms have been developed. Such methods include frequency-domain spectroscopy, and photoacoustic spectroscopy [D M Hueber et al Phys. Med. Biol. 46 (2001) 41-62].

System and method for noninvasively monitoring conditions of a subject