Systems and methodologies for integration of an anti virus AV Plug In(s) as part of an Item Store. The semantics for operation of the AV Plug In(s) are provided by the relational Item Store, via employing a metadata component and a scanning component associated with the Item Store. The metadata component can supply a signature value being associated with the Item Store that can represent the time of scanning of data, and outcome for every scanned item. The scanning component can provide for a queuing of items in the data store in a synchronous and/or asynchronous mode for both scanning and cleaning by the AV Plug In supplied by vendors.

Increasing advances in computer technology (e.g., microprocessor speed, memory capacity, data transfer bandwidth, software functionality, and the like) have generally contributed to increased computer application in various industries. Ever more powerful server systems, which are often configured as an array of servers, are often provided to service requests originating from external sources such as the World Wide Web, for example. As local Intranet systems have become more sophisticated thereby requiring servicing of larger network loads and related applications, internal system demands have grown accordingly as well. As such, much business data is stored in data stores, under a management system.
Moreover, the amount of available electronic data is continuously growing, and it has become ever increasingly important to store such data in data stores in a manageable manner, which facilitates user friendly, and quick data searches and retrieval. In general, a typical data store can be referred to as an organized collection of information with data structured such that a computer program, for example, can quickly search and select desired pieces of data.
Data within a data store can be organized via one or more tables, wherein respective tables comprise a set of records, and a record can comprise a set of fields. Records are commonly indexed as rows within a table and the record fields are commonly indexed as columns such that a row/column pair of indices can reference a particular datum within a table. Typically, such data stores can be viewed as organized collection of related information stored as "records" having "fields" of information therein. As an example, a data store of finances may have a record for financial transactions such as accounts receivables, amount owed, customer information and the like. Between the actual physical data store itself (i.e., the data actually stored on a storage device) and the users of the system, the management or operating system can typically provide a software cushion or layer. As such, the data store can shield users from concerns about the underlying hardware-level details. Generally, all requests from users for access to the data are processed by the system manager. For example, information can be added or removed from data files, information retrieved from or updated in such files, and the like, all without user knowledge of underlying system implementation.
At the same time, conventional data stores and operating systems have typically relied on multiple incompatible storage for data, including; the registry, event log messages, contact information, and e-mail, or simply have used multiple flat files for data such as images and audio. For example, in conventional data stores stored contents are in general treated as separate entities, even though they are interrelated at some level. Accordingly, when a large number of items exist, it can become important to have a flexible and efficient mechanism to search for particular items based on their properties and content. For example, it can be desirable for knowledge workers to be able to search for contents independent of format—regardless of what type of a file a particular content is and what application created that.
Given a new file system that operates based on relational objects, new challenges can arise. For example, there can be new ways that a virus can store itself in such file system. Typically, conventional virus checking are limited to performing virus checks for files that are stored generally in the same computers upon which anti virus programs are executing. Accordingly, while specific entities, including end users and web sites, can to an extent be capable of performing virus checking on files stored locally on their computers, oftentimes those entities are not capable of determining the viral risks associated with files under the control of other entities, wherein malicious codes can employ encoded strings being deposited in the store that will get decoded in the client space and propagate through email. Thus, for a conventional file system, a virus can be resident in one or more streams of the file, and nonetheless such is simply one file.
On the other hand, in relational Item Stores, content can be persisted in an item, wherein an item can include a plurality of properties, with each property associated with various other items. Thus, saving to the Item Store and reading back from the store can include results that can be aggregated over many properties of many items. This can create a different paradigm; such as creating an update path or read path with many properties. Viruses can employ such arrangement for hiding themselves in "piece meals", for example, a virus can store an encrypted body 'X' in the property of an object, and propagate by querying the store and decoding the encrypted property on the client, such as a metadata for an image that can appear innocent to an anti virus programs.
By distributing the body of the virus over multiple properties and multiple items the Item Store can become a virus store. Put differently, a virus can be stored in pieces and may write itself into the properties of multiple items, with a naïve query aggregating such pieces and leading to execution of the virus. Accordingly, a conventional filter model to intervene in the update or read path is in general no longer appropriate for such relational Item Store arrangements.
Therefore, there is a need to overcome the aforementioned deficiencies associated with conventional systems and methodologies related to Item Store operations.


The embodiments of this application disclose an auxiliary access method and apparatus thereof. The auxiliary access method comprises: sending at least two access-associated signals by using at least two non-coherent antennas; and receiving at least one access request. According to the method and the apparatus in the embodiments of this application, a probability of a collision between access terminals can be reduced and an access success rate of an access terminal can be improved.

On a wireless communications network, a random access conflict is unavoidable. To alleviate a random access conflict and improve an access success rate and an access speed, in a manner, more access channel resources are provided. However, as more access channel resources are allocated, resources of other channels (for example, a service channel) are sacrificed; therefore, access channel resources cannot be increased unrestrictedly.
As the fifth-generation mobile communication (5G) era begins and the Internet of Things is widely deployed, there are more mobile terminals than ever and it is more difficult to predict time distribution of random access. As a result, an access success rate and access channel resource allocation become increasingly contradictory.

Access method, auxiliary access method, and apparatuses thereof


Methods and apparatus for feedback controlled polishing. A computer program product for generating feedback for chemical mechanical polishing. The product includes instructions operable to cause a processor to receive monitoring information during a current polishing cycle in which a first polishing process is performed on a substrate that includes a metal layer. The first polishing process clears the metal layer from the substrate during the current polishing cycle. The product includes instructions to calculate a representation of a clearing profile of the first polishing process. The calculation is based on the monitoring information received during the current polishing cycle. The product includes instructions to detect non-uniformity in the representation. The product includes instructions to generate, from the non-uniformity detected, feedback information for improving the uniformity of a clearing profile of the first polishing process for a subsequent polishing cycle.

The present invention relates to chemical mechanical polishing of substrates.
An integrated circuit is typically formed on a substrate by the sequential deposition of conductive, semiconductive, or insulative layers on a silicon wafer. One fabrication step involves depositing a filler layer over a non-planar surface, and planarizing the filler layer until the top surfaces of raised structures of the underlying layer are exposed. For example, a conductive filler layer can be deposited on a patterned insulative layer to fill the trenches or holes in the insulative layer. In this case, the portion of the layer that is raised above the bottom of the trenches or holes form the raised pattern. The filler layer is then polished until the raised pattern of the insulative layer is exposed. The process of planarizing the filler layer until the top surfaces of raised structures of the underlying layer are exposed is also referred to as clearing the filler layer. The time required to clear the filler layer will be referred to in this specification as time clearing time. After planarization, the portions of the conductive layer remaining between the raised pattern of the insulative layer form vias, plugs, and lines that provide conductive paths between thin film circuits on the substrate. Copper damascene is one example of the above described fabrication step.
Chemical mechanical polishing ("CMP") is one polishing technique that can be used for planarization. CMP typically requires that the substrate be mounted on a carrier or polishing head. The exposed surface of the substrate is placed against a rotating polishing disk pad or belt pad. The polishing pad can be either a "standard" pad or a fixed-abrasive pad. A standard pad has a durable roughened surface, whereas a fixed-abrasive pad has abrasive particles held in a containment media. The carrier head provides a controllable load on the substrate to push it against the polishing pad. A polishing slurry, including at least one chemically-reactive agent, and abrasive particles if a standard pad is used, is supplied to the surface of the polishing pad.
Planarization can generally include different polishing processes. For example, planarization can include a first polishing process, for removing the bulk of a filler layer, and a second polishing process, for removing the small amount of the filler layer remaining. The term polishing process refers to a combination of particular actions performed, in a particular sequence, using particular devices and particular materials to remove material. A polishing process can apply one or more polishing techniques.
A polishing process has parameters, exhibits characteristics, and yields results. Parameters of a polishing technique can include, for example, slurry flow rate, force on a abrasive surface being used to polish the substrate, and the radial speed at which the abrasive surface is being rotated. The characteristics of a polishing process can be the manner in which the process removes material, also referred to as the removal profile of the polishing process. A removal profile of a polishing process, which, as described, is a manner in which the polishing process removes material, is different from a thickness profile of a layer, which is the shape of a cross section of the layer. A removal profile is also different from a clearing profile of a substrate, which is the resulting shape of a cross section of a substrate after a filler layer has been cleared. Performing a polishing process on a substrate, that has an initial or pre-polish thickness profile, usually changes the pre-polish thickness profile to a resulting or post-polish thickness profile.
When they are used to manufacture integrated circuits, polishing processes are usually performed in cycles. For example, given a particular polishing process, the actions of this particular process are repeated for each substrate in an assembly line of substrates. A cycle can include one or more polishing processes. For example, given the first and second polishing processes described above, the actions of these processes are repeated for each substrate in the assembly line of substrates.
A clearing profile of a substrate is typically not uniform. When planarization includes a first and a second polishing process, such as, for example, the above described polishing processes, there are three possible causes of the non-uniformity. These are variations in the pre-polish thickness profile of the substrate and variations in the removal profiles of the first and second polishing processes being used to clear a filler layer from the substrate.
A polishing process such as, for example, one that applies CMP, is complete when a substrate layer has been planarized to a desired flatness or thickness, when a filler layer has been cleared, or when a desired amount of material has been removed. The completion or end of the polishing process is sometimes referred to as the polishing end point. In-situ monitoring of the substrate can been performed, for example, with optical or capacitance sensors, in order to detect a polishing endpoint. Other proposed endpoint detection techniques have involved measurements of friction, motor current, slurry chemistry, acoustics and conductivity. One detection technique that has been considered is to induce an eddy current in the metal layer and measure the change in the eddy current as the metal layer is removed.


A device and method for detecting a zero crossing and voltage amplitude of a commercial power source voltage inputted to an electronic device, from a single pulse signal are disclosed. The apparatus for detecting a zero crossing and a voltage amplitude from a single pulse signal includes: a first calculation unit that compares the commercial power source voltage to a first reference voltage to determine whether or not the commercial power source voltage is smaller than the first reference voltage; a second calculation unit that compares the commercial power source voltage to a second reference voltage smaller than the first reference voltage to determine whether or not the commercial power source voltage is larger than the second reference voltage; a pulse output unit that outputs a pulse if the commercial power source voltage is smaller than the first reference voltage but larger than the second reference voltage; and a detecting unit that detects a zero crossing and a voltage amplitude by analyzing the pulse which has been outputted from the pulse output unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and method for detecting a zero crossing and a voltage amplitude from a single pulse signal and, more particularly, to a device and method for detecting a zero crossing and a voltage amplitude of a commercial power source voltage inputted to an electronic device, from a single pulse signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, individual circuits are provided to separately detect a zero crossing and a voltage amplitude. For example, a device for detecting a zero crossing and a voltage amplitude of a commercial power source voltage inputted to a product including an instantaneous water heating module such as a water purifier or a bidet will now be described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of the related art zero crossing detector for detecting a zero crossing of a commercial power source voltage. As shown in FIG. 1, when a phase voltage 1 of the commercial power source voltage is inputted, a comparator 2 outputs a high level voltage if the phase voltage 1 is larger than 0, and outputs a low level voltage if the phase voltage 1 is smaller than 0, to thus output a square wave voltage 3. A phase detector 4 detects the phase of the square wave voltage 3 to detect a zero crossing.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the related art circuit for detecting the commercial power source voltage. As shown in FIG. 2, as an electric potential VDD of a high electric potential side is supplied to a connection point 11, likewise, an electric potential VEE of a low electric potential side is supplied to a connection point 12, a resistor 14 is connected between the connection point 12 and another connection point 13, and a bias voltage generating circuit 15, a reference voltage generating circuit 16, a voltage dividing circuit 17, a voltage comparator 18, and a current path circuit 19 are sequentially connected between the connection point 11 and the connection point 13.
The bias voltage generating circuit 15 generates a certain DC bias voltage VB from a potential difference between the potential VDD at the connection point 11 and the potential VSS at the connection point 13. The DC bias voltage VB is set as a value with which a MOS transistor, which has a gate to which the DC bias voltage VB is supplied, operates in a weak inversion region. The DC bias voltage VB generated by the bias voltage generating circuit 15 is supplied to both the reference voltage generating circuit 16 and the voltage comparator 18.
The voltage comparator 18 compares a supplied reference voltage V1 and a divided voltage V2, and outputs an output voltage V3 according to the comparison result to the current path circuit 19. The current path circuit 19 supplies a current according to the output voltage V3 from the comparator 18 to between the current connection points 12 and 13, to generate a voltage drop at the resistor 14 to thus make an output voltage VOUT adjusted uniformly.
In this manner, in the related art, the zero crossing detector and the voltage detection circuit are separately installed to detect the zero crossing and the voltage amplitude of the commercial power source voltage inputted to an electronic device. Thus, the number of parts used for the products increases, leading to an increase in the production unit cost, so not only do the product supply costs increase but also spending appetite of consumers who want low-cost products cannot be satisfied.

Device and method for detecting zero crossing and voltage amplitude from single pulse signal


An optoelectronic transceiver module includes a cage, a transceiver module, and a release mechanism. The release mechanism includes a latch and a trigger. The latch pivotally attaches to the transceiver module with a first pivot. The latch includes a latch block projecting from a first end of the latch operable to be received in the cage. The trigger pivotally attaches to a second end of the latch with a second pivot. The trigger includes a cam mechanism around the second pivot. When the transceiver module is received in the cage, the first end of the latch separates from the transceiver module. When the trigger rotates about the second pivot, the cam mechanism drives the second end of the latch apart from the transceiver module, and the first end of the latch moves correspondingly toward the transceiver module and the latch block withdraws from the cage.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to fiber-optic communications, and in particular to an optoelectronic transceiver assembly and release mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
Optoelectronic transceiver modules provide bi-directional transmission of data between an electrical interface and an optical data link. The transceiver module receives electrically encoded data signals, which are converted into optical signals and transmitted over the optical data link. The transceiver module also receives optically encoded data signals, which are converted into electrical signals and transmitted onto the electrical interface.
The optoelectronic transceiver module is often retained in a cage. The cage conventionally comprises a spring means located in a rear portion thereof. When the optoelectronic transceiver module is withdrawn from the cage, a release mechanism forces a fixed latch of the optoelectronic transceiver module out from a retaining hole defined in a retaining tab of the cage. The fixed latch is released from the retaining tab. The optoelectronic module is then ejected from the cage by the spring means.
It is thus desirable to provide a new release mechanism and an optoelectronic transceiver module using the release mechanism.

Optoelectronic transceiver assembly and release mechanism employed therein

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A method of identifying target outputs, such as emissions levels, for a dynamic system, such as an engine. The engine is run at numerous combinations of input parameters, such as actual settings. At each combination of input parameters, the system is driven to a “quasi-steady” state, rather than waiting for it to reach a steady state. Response data collected at this quasi-steady state is used as the basis for identifying the target outputs and the associated inputs.

Traditional calibration techniques for engines are based upon steady-state data collection on an operating engine, over a range of actuator settings and operating conditions. The steady state data is used with an optimization methodology to arrive at optimal or near optimal actuator settings to achieve goals for engine emissions, performance, and fuel economy.
The effectiveness of the traditional technique is high, in that optimal actuator settings can be found. However, the time required for the data collection and optimization process is too long. Considerable time is consumed by the data collection process because the engine must stabilize at each test point until steady state operation is achieved.
For situations in which true steady state is unachievable or requires too much time, transient data may be acquired, with the assumption that the persistent transient behavior of the engine will not appreciably affect the final steady state calibration. Of course, for highly transient engine operation, this assumption leads to poor calibration results.
Advanced methods for selection and use of "fractional" experimental data sets for use in the optimization process generally fall into the category of statistical design of experiments. The key to the method is in selection of experimental data points that will be most useful, while elimination of less useful data points, during acquisition, is made. Hence, the eliminated data is not available for later use. The time savings accomplished with these methods is a strong function of the numbers of experimental points not tested. A tradeoff exists in time-savings versus the ability to arrive at optimal actuator settings with a fractionated experimental data set.

Use of transient data to derive steady state calibrations for dynamic systems


Ring access control circuitry comprises a receive interface, a host interface coupled to the receive interface, a mate interface coupled to the host interface, a flow control agent coupled to the mate interface, a transmit interface coupled to the flow control agent, and a wrap path coupled from between the flow control agent and the transmit interface to between the receive interface and the host interface. A wrap is initiated over the wrap path in response to a link failure. The ring being controlled could be a resilient packet ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communications, and in particular, to a wrap path for ring access control circuitry.
2. Statement of the Problem
Packet communications and communication rings are well known communication technologies. One example of packet communications is the use of the Internet Protocol (IP), and one example of a communication ring is a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) ring. Resilient packet ring technology combines the efficiency of packet communications with the fault-tolerance of a communication ring. Resilient packet rings are described in I.E.E.E. standard 802.17.
If a link in a ring fails, then nodes adjacent to the failed link perform a wrap—a routing of traffic away from the failed link. The part of the node that performs the wrap is referred to as ring access control circuitry. Typically, a pair of rings are implemented together, and each node on the rings has mated ring access control circuits—one circuit to control each ring.
Unfortunately, there are a few problems with the current ring access control circuitry for resilient packet rings. These problems are illustrated in detail below with regard to FIGS. 1–3, but a brief summary is provided here. Current ring access control circuitry requires that a host system coupled to the node be configured to perform traffic steering away from the failed link in the event of a wrap. This may add undesirable complexity to the host. In addition, a wrap effectively disables one of the flow control agents in the ring access control circuitry of a wrapped node. As a result of losing the flow control agent, the available bandwidth at the node is significantly diminished.

Wrap path for communication ring access control


A method compares an input value of the input signal stream with an output value of an integration function of a previous binary value to generate a new binary value based upon the comparison. The method then stores a plurality of successive binary values from the comparing step, and simulates an integration function for a plurality of possible bit sequences of the plurality of successive binary values. Finally, the method determines which sequence results in the smallest error between the input signal stream and the output value of the integration function, and uses the most significant bit of the determined sequence to adjust the integration function. A corresponding apparatus is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to modulators, and more particularly to a system and method for encoding an input data stream by utilizing a predictive, look-ahead feature to modify the output in anticipation of large changes in the input.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Delta encoders and sigma-delta encoders are well known devices that are used to convert a multi-valued sequence of data points into a binary stream of bits. FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams that illustrate a first-order delta encoder and a first-order sigma-delta encoder, respectively. Although the two different types of encoders are implemented differently, their overall function is similar, and is well known by persons skilled in the art.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, a delta encoder includes a comparator 10 and an integrator 15 configured as shown. An input signal 17 is provided to one input of the comparator 10, while the second input 19 of the comparator 10 is obtained from the output of the integrator 15. Generally, the integrator 15 is configured so that its output 20 attempts to track the output of the comparator 10. As is further known, delta encoders may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of the two. If implemented in software, a pseudo-code representation for the operation of a delta encoder may be as follows:
BEGIN
Initialize Variables
STEP=1
Read input value into IVAL
Compare with running integral (INTEG)
If (IVAL greater than =INTEG),
then BIT=STEP,
else BIT=xe2x88x92STEP
Increment INTEG by BIT
END.
In the above listing, the variable xe2x80x9cSTEPxe2x80x9d defines the step size of the integrator 15. The larger the step size, the more quickly the integrator 15 may respond to changes in its input.
FIG. 1A also illustrates an integrator 16 that may be disposed within a decoder for receiving the compressed bit stream 21, after it has been communicated across a channel 22. In this configuration, the output of integrator 16 should closely match the output 20 of integrator 15. In this regard, and as is known, the integrated value of the bitstream output is a reasonably close estimate of the input stream (neglecting a possible DC offset).
For completeness, reference is made briefly to FIG. 1B, which is a block diagram illustrating a sigma-delta encoder. Like the delta encoder, the sigma-delta encoder operates to conduct a multi-valued sequence of data points into a binary stream of bits. A sigma-delta encoder is implemented with a summer (or adder) 32, an integrator 25 and a comparator 30, configured as shown in FIG. 1B. The output 40 is inverted at 42 and added to the input 27 by the adder 32. In this way, the output of the adder 32 is representative of an error signal (e.g., differential) between the input 27 and the output 40. This differential or error signal is fed to the integrator 25, which operates to track changes in the error signal. The output of the integrator 25 is then compared to zero by the comparator 30. As is known, the average value of the bitstream output is a reasonably close estimate of the input stream.
As should be understood, the output 40 is a compressed bit stream. A low-pass filter 34 may be disposed within a decoder to receive the compressed bit stream 40, after the bit stream 40 is communicated across a channel 36. The low-pass filter 34 operates to decode the received signal to recover, in essence, a signal that closely matches the input stream 27.
Hereinafter, the discussion will focus on delta encoders. However, it should be understood that the inventive concepts and features apply equally sigma-delta encoders as well.
Reference is now made to FIGS. 2A-2B, which are graphs illustrating the output of a delta encoder operating in accordance with the pseudo-code listing above, where the integrator 15 operates with a step size of 1. Referring first to FIG. 2A, an input signal 46 is shown having an irregular, step waveform defined by level, but changing values. In the illustrated example, the input stream begins at an amplitude near 100, then falls to an amplitude of slightly below zero, then to an amplitude of slightly less than xe2x88x9250, before rising to an amplitude of nearly +50. The output signal 48 is shown to significantly lag behind the input signal, where there are rapid changes in the input signal. As will be understood by persons skilled in the art, with the step size of one, the xe2x80x9cslopexe2x80x9d of the output signal will be a xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d unit voltage change per unit time (e.g., +45 degrees or xe2x88x9245 degrees, if the graph uses the same linear distance on they axis to represent a step voltage that it uses to represent a step in time). In regions like the region designated by reference numeral 50, where the output signal approximately equals the input signal, the output signal oscillates above and below the level of the input signal. The oscillations appear as noise, and the amplitude of the oscillations is equal to the step size.
In FIG. 2B, an input signal 56 is in the form of a sinusoidal waveform, of increasing frequency. As shown, the output signal 58 tracks the input signal, again having a substantial lag time between the output signal and the input signal.
Reference is now made to FIGS. 3A and 3B, which are graphs illustrating the operation of a delta encoder having a step size of 8. It should be noted that the graphs and waveforms set forth in the drawings are intended only to be illustrative of certain concepts, may not be accurately depicted to scale. The input waveforms 46 and 56 in FIGS. 3A and 3B are the same as those illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B. As illustrated, however, the output signals 58 and 68 respond much more quickly to changes in the input signals, due to the larger step size, However, in regions (like region 52) where the output is substantially the same as the input, a much larger amplitude of noise is observed. In order to obtain the benefits of large and small step sizes, delta encoders (and sigma-delta encoders) have been known to be configured with an adaptive step size. Encoders with adaptive step sizes dynamically adjust the operation of the integrator 15 based upon the differential between the input and output signals. An algorithm (pseudo-code) for a software implementation for such a system is provided immediately below (text following xe2x80x9c#xe2x80x9d is comment, and not part of pseudo-code).
BEGIN
Initialize Variables
EXPON=1.6 #an exponential increment
SAME=0
Read input value into IVAL
Compare with running integral (INTEG)
If (IVAL greater than =INTEG),
then BIT=1,
else BIT=xe2x88x921
If (BITOLD=BIT)
Then SAME=SAME+1 #could limit to max of 8
Else if (SAME greater than =2), then SAME=SAMExe2x88x922
Increment INTEG by BIT*(EXPON){circumflex over ( )}SAME
BITOLD=BIT
END.
In the algorithm presented above, the step size is increased as the output continues to trail the input for successive integrations. Graphs illustrating the operations of an encoder having an adaptive step size are illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Specifically, the graphs in FIGS. 4A and 4B having input signals 46 and 56 that are the same as the input signals of FIGS. 2 and 3 as is illustrated, illustrate the operation of a delta encoder having an adaptive step size that aggressively tracks the input signal. However, as large, rapid changes are made in the input signal, the output signal causally lags the input. Although the output catches up quickly due to the adaptive step size, it is always late to respond. In certain applications, such as video applications, the use of such an encoder to encode the video signal will result in a shearing of the left-hand edge of highly contrasting objects in the video frame.
Accordingly, there is a desire to provide an encoder having a faster response to large changes in an input data stream.
Certain objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve certain advantages and novel features, the present invention is generally directed to a system and method for encoding an input signal stream. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method operates to compare an input value of the input signal stream with an output value of an integration function of a previous binary value to generate a new binary value based upon the comparison. The method then stores a plurality of successive binary values from the comparing step. Thereafter, the method simulates an integration function for a plurality of possible bit sequences of the plurality of successive binary values. Then, the method determines which sequence results in the smallest error between the input signal stream and the output value of the integration function. Finally, the method uses the most significant bit of the determined sequence to adjust the integration function.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the integration function is simulated for a plurality of possible bit sequences includes simulating an integration function for all possible bit sequences. In another embodiment, the method operates to determine which sequence results in the smallest error by calculating a root mean square (RMS) error value of the output value of the integration function and the input value. In the preferred embodiment, the method adaptively adjusts the step size of the integration function based upon successive values of the most significant bit of the determined sequence.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an encoder is provided for encoding an input signal stream. The encoder includes a comparator configured to compare an input value of the input signal stream with an output value of an integration function of a previous binary value to generate a new binary value based upon the comparison. The encoder further includes a memory configured to store a plurality of successive binary values from the comparator, and means for simulating an integration function for a plurality of possible bit sequences of the plurality of successive binary values. The comparator further includes means for determining which sequence results in the smallest error between the input signal stream and the output value of the integration function, and means for adjusting the integration function based upon the most significant bit of the determined sequence.
It should be appreciated that the various means elements may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of the two. In the preferred embodiment, the various means elements are predominately implemented in software.

System and method for encoding an input data stream by utilizing a predictive, look-ahead feature


An apparatus includes a memory configured to store configuration information related to a physical machine and a virtual machine that operates on the physical machine, and temporal information indicating a time turnaround for migration of the virtual machine from the physical machine to another physical machine. Upon acquisition of data indicating a duration of a maintenance execution related to a physical machine, the apparatus produces, based on the configuration information and the temporal information stored in the memory, a constraint condition for the virtual machine that operates on the physical machine, where the constraint condition is used to determine a schedule of the migration. The apparatus produces schedule information of the migration, based on the constraint condition and the duration of the maintenance execution, and outputs the schedule information to a device used by a user of the virtual machine.

In virtualization technology used in the field of information processing, a plurality of virtual computers (also referred to as virtual machines or virtual hosts) operate on a physical computer (also referred to as a physical machine or a physical host). Software such as an operating system (OS) is executed on each virtual machine. A physical machine using the virtualization technology executes software for managing a plurality of virtual machines. For example, software called hypervisor allocates the processing capacity of a central processing unit (CPU) and a storage region of a random access memory (RAM) as computation resources to the plurality of virtual machines.
In some systems including a plurality of physical machines, it is possible to change physical machines on which a virtual machine is executed. For example, such a system uses a technology of enabling migration of data related to the virtual machine between hypervisors after or without halting the virtual machine.
For example, when a virtual-host migration scheduled day input by a user is later than a server-instrument maintenance scheduled day, a disclosed maintenance management device prompts correction of the migration scheduled day, and reserves migration of the virtual host to a server instrument as the migration destination on the migration scheduled day.
In another disclosure, an order in which live migration of a plurality of virtual machines is executed is determined based on at least one of information related to the virtual machines and information related to network traffic.
In another disclosure, working schedules of nurses (staff) working at a specific ward of a hospital are determined by using a satisfiability problem (SAT) solver.
Related techniques are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 2015-161956, 2014-153997, 2015-222464, and 2015-172794.

Non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, adjustment device, and adjustment method


Face recognition systems are vulnerable to the presentation and spoofed faces, which may be presented to face recognition systems, for example, by an unauthorized user seeking to gain access to a protected resource. A face liveness detection method that addresses this vulnerability utilizes motion analysis to compare the relative movement among three regions of interest in a facial image, and based upon that comparison to make a face liveness determination.

Biometrics refers to the process of verifying or identifying individuals' identity based upon one or more intrinsic physical characteristics such as faces, fingerprints, irises, voices, etc. Face recognition is a process for verifying or identifying a person from provided images. It has gained great attention due to its wide variety of applications in security, law enforcement, and entertainment. Compared to other biometric matchers, e.g. iris and fingerprint, face recognition has distinct advantages because of its non-invasive and user friendly nature. Face images acquired from a distance can be used for face recognition. The process of verification and identification for face recognition also requires little or no cooperation from the user. As technology continues to develop, devices for acquiring high quality face images are becoming less expensive and smaller in size, expanding their use in various applications, e.g. smart phone, sports accessories, etc. However, face images and face videos are also becoming widely available throughout the Internet due to the popularity of social networks. This simplifies and expands access to face images that can potentially be used to spoof face recognition systems. Since face recognition systems are vulnerable to spoof attacks made by recorded static facial images and/or videos, it is important to have secure methods to protect biometric authentication systems against such spoofs.
Current face recognition biometric systems allow a face enrollment step in which a face image is captured and stored. Face detection is used to detect the face. Finally, face matching is performed to compare the detected face with other faces from a database to identify the identity. This type of face recognition system generally does not provide enough algorithm intelligence to differentiate a live face from a spoofed image for face matching. Identity fraud can occur when a spoofed face matches an identity in the database successfully.
To prevent spoof attacks using facial images, as well as to enhance the reliability of face recognition systems, face liveness detection is of great importance. Face liveness detection is designed to detect live signs (e.g., signs that a facial image is an image of a living person's actual face, rather than an image of an image of a face) to guard against attempted misrepresentation of identity using spoofed facial images. Spoof attacks using cosmetic masks are not considered for the discussion here.
Although many types of spoofs exist, face liveness detection methods are primarily divided into two groups: active methods and passive methods.
Active methods for face liveness detection require cooperative interaction between the target subject and the liveness detection system. The face liveness detection system provides one or multiple instructions requesting some type of cooperative behavior, such as blinking of the eyes, mouth/lip movement, and turning of the head. Successful responses exhibiting this behavior are considered to be a sign of life. A failure to respond, or an incorrect response to a system's instruction, may indicate an inability to perform the desired behavior, which may in turn be evidence of spoofing. There are two disadvantages to active methods. First, active methods diminish the benefit of the non-intrusive nature of face recognition systems by requiring more subject cooperation. Second, active face liveness detection methods that require a response to instructions may be easily spoofed by replaying a video of a person complying with the instructions if instructions are known.
In contrast to interactive methods for face liveness detection, passive face liveness detection methods do not require subject cooperation or interruption during the analysis process. Passive face liveness detection methods base their spoof/liveness decision on image analysis data obtained unobtrusively from image data of the subject. Various methods have been discussed in the literature. Some passive methods look for boundaries of cell phones, displays or other potential features of spoofs. Still others analyze the affine transform of facial feature locations to look for evidence of non-planar surfaces. However, most of the passive face liveness detection methods only detect one or very few specific spoofing types, such as a printed photo or a smart phone static image or replay video, by detecting a boundary (e.g. a boundary of the printed photo or of the smart phone screen). If new spoofing media are presented to the system, false detection may occur due to lack of knowledge of this new spoofing media.
In general, both active and passive face liveness detections in use today suffer from limited usage and lack of efficiency due to various problems. Hence, a more general and efficient face liveness detection method is needed to provide more security to the face recognition system.

Face liveness detection using background/foreground motion analysis


An element for use in a stationary material distribution apparatus. The article includes a flat generally rectangular central portion having first and second sets of ears affixed opposite sides of the central portion. The sets of ears include first and second ears bent respectively in upward and downward directions relative to the plane of the central portion wherein each pair of ears located diagonally opposite one another across the central portion are bent in the same direction relative to the plane of the central portion. A third set of ears extend from the central portion and terminate at a substantially rectangular member whose plane of orientation is substantially perpendicular to the central portion. The element further includes a retaining ring affixed to the substantially rectangular member to provide for ease of installation within a suitable conduit.

Applicant has long ago recognized the desirability of providing a superior line of motionless mixers, that is, mixing elements which do not rely upon any moving parts to create and enhance the mixing operation. For example, in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,965, an invention was disclosed in the form of a motionless mixer created from a plurality of self-nesting, abutting and axially overlapping elements fitted into a conduit. Such elements were found to be capable of not only mixing two or more unlike materials but also of redistributing a single material for thermal or other purposes. Such elements were shown to be capable of fitting into a conduit carrying fluids to be mixed and were shown to be inexpensive to fabricate. Regarding this latter issue, the elements could be punch pressed from flat sheets.
Referring to FIG. 1, Applicant's previously disclosed element 6 includes a central flat portion 10, the plane of which is intended to be generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the conduit in which it is placed. First and second ears 12 and 14 are rounded or otherwise configured at their outside peripheries for general fit to the wall of the conduit being bent upwardly and downwardly from the flat portion 10. A second pair of ears 16 and 18 at the opposite side of flat portion 10 was shown to be bent upwardly and downwardly, respectively. The angle between various sets of ears was taught to be preferably in the range of about 30 to 120 degrees and were preferably dimensioned to "spring" against the conduit wall so that a good fit is made to the wall without any need for brazing, gluing or otherwise permanently fixing each element to the conduit wall. Various elements were taught to stack or "nest" with respect to one another such that material moving longitudinally within a conduit experiences a counter-clockwise velocity vector or rotational vector imposed by ears 16 and 18 of element 6. The flat portion 10 transforms the rotational vector to a lateral or radial vector. Subsequent to the flat portion 10, ears 12 and 14 impose a further counter-clockwise velocity vector adding somewhat to the lateral or radial vector. It was also noted that ears 16 and 18 impose substantially inward directed radial velocity vector on materials moving longitudinally, where as ears 12 and 14 impose substantially outward directed radial velocity vector. Such devices have been employed for mixing and distributing all types of materials including liquids, solids, gases, foams, etc. Because various "nested" elements were not permanently fastened to each other or to the inner wall of the conduit, the conduit could be a flexible material so that the apparatus could take various curve shapes as may be required in particular applications.
Even though the material distributing and mixing apparatus as disclosed in Applicant's previous U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,965 represented a breakthrough in material distribution and mixing, certain drawbacks were recognized in the use of such apparatus which have been now made the subject of the present invention. For example, it has been recognized that after fluids impacting upon element 6 are acted upon by this mixing element, it can, in some instances, engage in violent rotation causing centrifuging also known as "barber poling." Additionaly, because of the perceived need to properly place mixing elements within a conduit both as individual and "nested" elements, it was believed necessary that mixing apparatus including such elements and supporting conduit would require factory fabrication which, in turn, required shipping of such mixing apparatus as the combination of mixing elements themselves and conduit as a single unit. This obviously added to shipping costs as conduit which could have been provided by an end user on site had to be shipped together with the appropriate mixing elements.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a material distributing and mixing apparatus which is improved over prior apparatus by eliminating the limitations are recited above.
These and further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.

Replaceable mixing elements for motionless mixer


A balanced filter suitable for a reduction of the filter size. The balanced filter comprises strip-line resonators (SL1a, SL1b) constituting resonance electrodes on the unbalanced side, strip-line resonators (SL2a, SL2b) disposed in adjacently opposed relation to the strip-lines on the unbalanced side and constituting resonance electrodes on the balanced side, strip-line resonators (SL3a, SL3b) disposed in adjacently opposed relation to the strip-lines on the balanced side and constituting stage constituting resonance electrodes, and impedance elements (Z) coupling the resonance electrodes on the balanced side to the stage constituting resonance electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a balanced filter having the function of a balun performing conversion between unbalanced and balanced signals and the function of a filter performing band control, and more particularly to a balanced filter effective in reducing a filter size.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radio communication equipment comprises various RF (radio frequency) devices, such as an antenna, a filter, an RF switch, a power amplifier, an RF-IC, and a balun. Among these parts, resonance devices, such as an antenna and a filter, handle an unbalanced signal on the basis of the ground potential, while an RF-IC for producing and processing an RF signal handles a balanced signal. A balun functioning as an unbalance-balance transformer is therefore used when those two types of parts are connected to each other.
That type of balun is disclosed, for example, in the following Patent Documents:                Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-134009        Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-36310
The baluns disclosed in those Patent Documents are of the type that an unbalanced line and a balanced line are coupled through a coupling line. In the structures of those baluns, as shown in FIG. 3 of Patent Document 2, the unbalanced line and the balanced line are formed on one substrate, and the coupling line is formed on another substrate. The coupling line is laid over both the unbalanced line and the balanced line so that the unbalanced line and the balanced line are coupled to each other.
In a coupling mode of the balun thus constructed, as shown in FIG. 8 and explained in paragraph 0016 of Patent Document 2, "an unbalanced signal inputted from an unbalanced signal terminal 3 is propagated in the order of a first coupling line 101, a second coupling line 102, and a third coupling line 103".
With the balun structures disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, however, a resulting frequency characteristic is as shown in FIG. 4 of Patent Document 2. Accordingly, the disclosed structures are usable as a balun, but they have a difficulty in ensuring a band characteristic required for the filter.
On the other hand, many balanced filters each comprising a balun and a filter combined into an integral unit have recently been devised with the intent to reduce the size of radio communication equipment. That type of balanced filter is disclosed, for example, in the following Patent Document:                Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-087008
The balanced filter disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a structure in which a filter and a balun each designed using a ¼-wavelength resonator are combined on a dielectric substrate. A dielectric layer constituting the filter and a dielectric layer constituting the balun are formed one above the other in an integral structure.
Also, Patent Document 3 discloses a structure in which a DC power supply layer is formed in the balun, for making the balanced filter adaptable for the case where the RF-IC requires a balanced signal superimposed on a DC component. This structure is intended to realize a further reduction of the filter size.
However, the structure in which a balun section and a filter section are separately formed and integrated together has the problem as follows. When the filter function with a high attenuation is demanded, the filter section is required to have a multistage structure. Therefore, satisfactory flexibility in design cannot be ensured in a limited space, and a reduction of the size is very difficult to realize.


A ball catcher is adapted to be fluidly connected to a wellhead port to receive wellbore fluids and balls carried therewith. A diverter is fit to the catcher body and has a wellhead end positioned to intercept the fluid flow from the wellhead port so as to divert debris and balls carried therein into a ball recovery chamber. The diverter has a bore in fluid communication with the flow outlet and the wellhead end has flow passages formed therethrough to the bore for receiving the fluid flow free of debris and balls and discharging the fluid flow from the catcher body. The diverter and the ball recovery chamber can be connected to quick removal for replacement, repair or cleaning.

It is known to conduct fracturing or other treating procedures in a wellbore by isolating zones in the wellbore using packers and the like and subjecting the isolated zone to treatment fluids at treatment pressures. In a typical fracturing procedure, for example, the casing of the well is perforated to admit oil and/or gas from the formation into the well and fracturing fluid is then pumped into the well and through these perforations into the formation. Such treatment opens and/or enlarges draining channels in the formation, enhancing the producing ability of the well. Alternatively, the completion can be an open hole type that is completed without Casing in the producing formation area.
It is desired to stimulate multiple zones, or intervals within the same zone, using onsite stimulation fluid pumping equipment (pumpers). A packer arrangement is inserted at intervals isolating one zone from an adjacent zone. It is known to introduce a drop ball through the wellbore to engage one of the packers in order to block fluid flow therethrough. Passage through a downhole packer is thereby plugged off with this drop ball that is pumped into the wellbore during the stimulation flush. The drop ball blocks off this downhole packer, isolating the wellbore uphole of the downhole packer and consequently a second zone, above this downhole packer, can be stimulated. Once stimulated, a subsequent drop ball can be dropped to block off a subsequent packer uphole of the blocked packer for stimulation thereabove. This continues until all the desired zones are stimulated.
At surface, the wellbore is generally furnished with a frachead unit including a multi-port block or a Y-type frac header, isolation tool or the like, which provides fluid connections for introducing stimulation fluids including sand, gels and acid treatments.
After the well operations, fluid from the well is flowed to surface through the wellhead or frachead. The fluid is urged from the well such as under formation pressures and/or the influence of a gaseous charge of CO2 or N2. The fluid from the well exits the wellhead from a horizontally extending fitting. To separate the balls from the fluid, it is known to use a cross fitting apparatus such as a plate extending across the flow path from the wellhead. The plate is typically a plate across the flow path having large slots or screen at the face such as an upside down "U" or fork shape for impeding balls recovered with the fluid while permitting fluid to flow therethrough the "U" shape
It is known for balls, of which various sizes are employed in one well operation, to become lodged at the prior art U-shape or screen and block fluid flow. In other instances, the balls can break apart which encourages further blockages.
There is a need for a more effective apparatus for retrieving balls from a wellbore after a well operation.


An encrypted data storage system includes a storage system that is configured to store encrypted data, and a first client device that is coupled to the storage system. The first client device performs a hash operation on first data to generate a Data Encryption Key (DEK), and uses the DEK to perform a data encryption operation on the first data to generate encrypted first data. The first client device then uses a first Key Encryption Key (KEK) to perform a first key encryption operation on the DEK to generate a first encrypted DEK, associates the first encrypted DEK with the encrypted first data, and transmits the encrypted first data to the storage system for storage.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to the storage of encrypted data by information handling systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems such as, for example, server devices and other storage systems known in the art, are sometimes utilized to store data for client devices and return that data to those client devices upon request. In order to secure that data, it is often desirable to encrypt that data before storing it at the server devices. However, there are many concerns with the encrypted storage of data in server devices and other storage systems, which include preventing the server devices from having access to the unencrypted data and/or the encryption keys used to encrypt that data. Furthermore, conventional encryption techniques will generate different encrypted data from the same unencrypted data (e.g., those encryption techniques generate different ciphertext from the same plaintext) due to best practices calling for the use of different initialization vectors by any particular client device for each encryption operation, as well as in situations in which different client devices encrypt the same data with different encryption keys. These best practices for encryption make it impossible, without design changes, for a server device to perform deduplication operations that are often used to eliminate duplicate data storage on the service devices and provide for more efficient use of the storage resources in the server devices. Finally, it may be desirable to enable cryptoshredding of encrypted data stored in server devices, which provides for the destruction of the encrypted data via the destruction of the encryption keys used to encrypt it. Cryptoshredding is one form of data deletion that prevents data from being recoverable by any means, and improves on overwriting data deletion techniques that overwrite data in all locations in which is appears by simply deleting the encryption keys used to encrypt the data rather than identifying the each location in which that data is stored in order to perform the overwriting discussed above.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an encrypted data storage system that allows for the encryption of data with encryption keys that are unknown to server device(s) storing that data, while only requiring the server device(s) to store a single copy of any particular data.


A position and orientation of a projector are determined from projected images. First, a homography between a camera and a planar surface, where the relationship between the camera and planar surface is fixed, is determined. Next, a known pattern is projected on the planar surface with a projector having known intrinsic parameters and an unknown position and orientation. An image of the known pattern is acquired with the camera, and a position and orientation of the projector is determined from the image using the homography and the intrinsic parameters.

Position sensors are useful for many applications in which it is necessary to determine the position and orientation of an object. Hereinafter, the term 'position sensor' means both position and orientation sensor. The position is the location of the object in a three-dimensional coordinate frame, and the orientation of the object is its rotation relative to that coordinate frame.
In an example application, a position sensor can be attached to a moving camera that is being used for 3D scanning. The position and orientation of the camera are then known, to aid creation of a 3D reconstruction of a scene from the images acquired by the moving camera. Similarly, a position sensor can be attached to a projector to aid correct projection of an image onto a surface or an object. A position sensor can also be attached to a tool so that the tool can be properly positioned with respect to a part or a working surface. If a user is manipulating the tool, the position sensor enables haptic or other feedback, for example in tele-operation, or for computer-aided surgery. A position sensor can also be used to track the location of a moving object such as a vehicle or person.
One way that position sensors have been used in prior art applications is to place visual markers or active emitters, such as LEDs, in known positions in the environment. In those applications, the position sensor can be a camera that observes the markers or emitters in order to infer its own position and orientation. Other applications use ultrasound instead of light. Alternatively, visual markers or active emitters can be attached to the object of interest so that the object's position and orientation can be determined directly using a camera observing the object.
A system which uses LED emitters in the environment is described in "The HiBall Tracker: High-Performance Wide-Area Tracking for Virtual and Augmented Environments," by Welch et al, Proc. of the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology, 1999. A system which uses ultrasound emitters in the environment is the IS-600 motion tracker by Intersense Corporation, Burlington, Mass.
Prior art approaches have limitations. Altering the environment can be difficult when the environment is large or includes hard-to-reach places. And the instrumentation of the environment must be followed by a calibration procedure. Thus these types of systems tend to be fixed installations with a fixed workspace, and are not easily or quickly deployable in a new setting. Systems that involve attaching markers or emitters, such as LEDs, to an object usually require multiple emitters that span the surface of the object. A calibration procedure is used to determine the placement of the markers or emitters. It is problematic to attach multiple markers or emitters to a small object. It is also problematic if the object is handheld, since the user has to adopt a grip that does not occlude the markers or emitters.
These problems could be overcome with electromagnetic sensors, but such systems are considerably more complex and costly, and calibration still remains as a problem. Most of the prior art techniques require a relatively static set-up, which makes it difficult to use such systems in ad-hoc, dynamically changing environments. An example of an electromagnetic system is the Fastrak® motion tracking product by Polhemus Inc., of Colchester, Vt.
Thus, there is a need for a position and orientation sensor for an object, which works without having to modify the environment, and which does not require a complicated calibration. There is also a need for a position and orientation sensor that is compact, i.e., the sensor does not require markers or emitters that are distributed across the environment, or across the surface of an object of interest. An advantage of compactness for a position sensor attached to a hand-held object is that the user can easily adopt a grip on some part of the object without occluding the position sensor.

Position and orientation sensing with a projector

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel method for specifying firewall rules. In some embodiments, the method provides the ability to specify for a particular firewall rule, a set of network nodes (also called a set of enforcement points below) at which the particular firewall should be enforced. To provide this ability, the method of some embodiments adds an extra tuple (referred to below as the AppliedTo tuple) to a firewall rule. This added AppliedTo tuple lists the set of enforcement points at which the firewall rule has to be applied (i.e., enforced).

Typically, firewall rule definitions include the following five tuples: source, source port, destination, destination port, and service (or application), in addition to an action value. Each tuple specifies a set of identifiers that provide acceptable values for the tuple. This holds true for most of the firewalls in use today, including hardware-based firewalls and software-based firewalls. Hardware firewalls can be used to protect both physical as well as virtual machines (VMs). Hardware firewalls have a number of drawbacks. For instance, hardware firewalls are often choke point solutions, as they each serve as a single choke point for enforcing all firewall rules because all the traffic has to pass through them. Also, they fail to provide security among the machines behind the choke point.
Software firewalls can be implemented as either a service node firewall or VNIC (virtual network interface card) level firewall. The service-node firewalls are similar to their hardware counterpart and enforce firewalling capabilities at the boundaries. Hence, they have the same disadvantages as hardware firewalls, i.e., they are choke points for the network traffic and fail to provide security for the intra network traffic (i.e., for virtual machines behind the choke point). VNIC-level firewalls, on the other hand, enforce security policies as soon as packet comes out of the VM's VNIC. Hence, they can provide security for intra-VM traffic. VNIC level firewalls can also inspect the traffic twice, once at source and once at destination.
In the current models of VNIC-level firewalls, all the rules are applied to all the VMs in the datacenter. In other words, there is a one-to-one mapping between the rule defined at the management plane and the VNIC level rule table. The one-to-one mapping limits the number of rules definition at management level. Also, this approach causes rule bloat at VNIC level firewall table, which, in turn, reduces the processing speed of the firewall engine. This approach also does not have the ability to control whether rule processing is done at source or destination for intra VM traffic. The current VNIC-level approaches are also not truly multi-tenant solution because, in order to achieve multi-tenancy, a user has to create multiple firewall contexts (or multiple firewall tables) at the controller level. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a better firewall solution.

Specifying point of enforcement in a firewall rule


A method and a reaction apparatus which can safely and continuously treat/discharge especially a short object is treated without any direct contact with a gas atmosphere, and which surely/efficiently treats the object with a gas without any uneven treatment. A short object A to be treated is put in a hermetically sealed cylindrical treatment section 1. In the treatment section 1, the object is held in a predetermined position by a first operation piece 11 to be treated with a gas for a predetermined time. Then, the holding by the first operation piece is released to move the object A by a desired distance. Subsequently, the object is held in a predetermined position by a second operation piece 12 to be treated again with the gas for a predetermined time, and then a treated object A1 is discharged. This discharged treated object A1 is conveyed to the outside of the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for treating an object with a gas, e.g., a wiper blade for cleaning window glass of an automobile, a train or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are generally known wiper blades made of rubber/synthetic resins, and surfaces of these wiper blades must be treated. It is because in a state before the treatment, friction resistance is large due to excessively high adhesion to cause application of a load more than necessary on a motor, motor locking, and other problems, and wear resistance is extremely low to cause early losses and various other problems.
Thus, for example, in the case of treating a wiper blade of a product shape formed by press molding or the like, various treatment methods have conventionally been employed. One example is that a blade is set in a hermetically sealed container filled with a desired treatment gas (bromine gas, chlorine gas or the like), treated with the gas at a desired temperature for a desired time, and then taken out and washed by water to be made into a product (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 37-3807).
According to the conventional method, the gas must be completely removed from the container in order to take out the treated blade from the container after gas treatment work. Such a method requires time and labor for gas removal, and consequently a treatment capability cannot be improved.
There is known another wiper blade which is formed by treating a continuous object formed in a long shape by extrusion molding with a gas, and then cutting it into individual product shapes (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 4-19021). Such a method and an apparatus have constitutions suited to continuous treatment of a long continuous object, comprise a long continuous object in an inclined manner, and are adapted to continuously put the long object in a treatment cylinder filled with a treatment gas, treat it with a gas in a gas atmosphere in the cylinder, and then pull it out from the apparatus to sequentially cut it into desired product shapes. According to the method and the apparatus, since the object to be treated is continuously passed in the gas atmosphere, treatment work can be carried out continuously without any gas removal work after the gas treatment different from the aforementioned case. Thus, a treatment capability is high.
Such a conventional art targets a long continuous object, but cannot treat a blade (short object) formed in an individual product shape by press molding or the like with a gas by the method/apparatus because of its constitution.
That is, in the case of the short object, it is impossible to hold it in the treatment cylinder for a fixed time, and then to automatically pull out a treated blade from the treatment cylinder to take it out of the outside of the apparatus.
Further, for example, if a blade of a product shape is put in the conventional treatment cylinder, because of inclination of the treatment cylinder, the blade falls to a bottom part in the treatment cylinder by its own weight, and then treated with a gas there for a fixed time. However, if the blade is treated with the gas in the fallen state to the bottom part in the cylinder, a part in contact with a cylinder inner wall may not be treated with the gas to cause uneven treatment.
The present invention has been made with the foregoing problems of the conventional art in mind, and objects of the invention are to provide a method and a reaction apparatus which can safely and continuously treat/discharge especially a short object to be treated without direct contact with a gas atmosphere, and which surely/efficiently treat the object with a gas without any uneven treatment.

Method and reaction apparatus for treating object with gas


A fixing device including a fixing belt, a drive roller and a press roller. The drive roller is configured to drive the fixing belt, and press roller is arranged so as to face the drive roller across the fixing belt, and exert pressure toward the fixing belt. The drive roller and the press roller are able to rotate so that the peripheral velocity of the drive roller is greater than the peripheral velocity of the press roller. According to the fixing device image defects, including image difference, are less likely to occur when fixing an image on a recording sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a copier, a printer, and a facsimile, in which a nipping device and a fixing device are incorporated. The nipping device and the fixing device are used for the image forming apparatus, the nipping device is preferably implemented in coordination with the fixing device.
2. Background of the Invention
Generally, a fixing device for a color image forming apparatus, which is different from that for a black and white image forming apparatus, is designed so that the time of nipping between a fixing roller and a press roller is from 40 ms to 50 ms, or longer. The purpose of this design is to improve the color characteristic by adjusting the brilliance degree on the surface of the fixed toner as desired. The extended nipping time is also desirable in order to obtain a transparent characteristic when the toner is fixed on an over-head projector (OHP) sheet, by melting a plurality of color toner.
In this case, the width in which a paper sheet is nipped between the fixing roller and the press roller becomes large to ensure the appropriate time of nipping. In a roller type fixing device in which the paper sheet is nipped between the fixing roller and the press roller directly, the diameter of the fixing roller and the press roller are enlarged in order to achieve a greater amount of pressure generated between the two rollers. Thus, in order to ensure the strength of the rollers, the cored bar and the elastic layer of the rollers become thick. Accordingly, the time needed to increase the temperature of the rollers becomes long due to their increased size and decreased heat conducting charateristics.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-258660, describes a belt type fixing device for a color image forming apparatus, which shortens the temperature rising time. A fixing belt is used to lower the heat capacity and increase the nipping width. In the belt type fixing device, the fixing belt is wound around the press roller and the pressing belt is wound around the fixing roller
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-258660, the fixing belt is suspended by plural support rollers, which are arranged across the fixing belt respectively in order to pinch the fixing belt. The press rollers are also arranged so that the line connecting the rotating axis of the press rollers leans from the vertical line of the fixing belt. Thus, when the press rollers pinch the fixing belt, the press rollers drive the fixing belt, and when the press rollers do not pinch the fixing belt, the support rollers drive the fixing belt. In the fixing device, when the press rollers do not pinch the fixing belt, the velocity of the fixing belt is set higher than the peripheral velocity of the press rollers. The purpose of this velocity setting is to avoid a decrease in pressure between the press rollers because of the slack in the fixing belt shortly after the press rollers pinch the fixing belt.
In the belt type fixing device, it is difficult to accord the velocity of the fixing belt with the peripheral velocity of the press rollers. This is because the belt type fixing device has a wide nipping width. It is known that when the velocity of the fixing belt is not calibrated with the peripheral velocity of the press roller, there occurs an error called 'image difference'. There are plural causes of image difference. One of the causes is thought to be slipping which results from a difference in friction between the fixing belt and recording sheet, and between the recording sheet and the press roller. Another cause is thought to be the difference of velocity which results from bending of the fixing belt where the recording sheet is nipped. Another cause is thought to be the strain of the elastic layer of the support roller and the press roller.

Fixing device, nipping device, and image forming apparatus


A method and system for real estate marketing allows individuals from the general public to gain access to a real estate property that is placed for sale or lease for the purpose of inspection. Access to the real estate property may be granted to requesting individuals who hold valid user accounts with a Remote Service Provider which can authorize such access. Access to inspect real estate property may be granted based on a charged fee basis and can be monitored via video and/or audio surveillance equipment to safeguard against vandalism and/or inappropriate conduct at the property location.

Individuals wanting to view real estate comprising an enclosed property structure, such as a home or commercial property have only been able to do so when accompanied by a broker or listing agent absent an appointment or times of public showing. Although the agent provides a measure of security to the seller against property harm, such as vandalism or squatting, this has made it inconvenient for potential buyers or renters to view the property. As a result, real property experiences less exposure from potential buyers or renters who are often too busy to coordinate their schedules with a broker or listing agent. Due to the vast amount of available real estate as well as variable time schedules of buyers and renters, there is a need for a method and system to allow individuals in the general public (which includes people who are not licensed as real estate agents and/or brokers (also referred to as "non-licensed individuals") to access building structures that are placed for sale or rent without the requirement of being accompanied by a broker or listing agent.

Method and system for real estate marketing


The invention relates to the design of a fixed-blade assembly in an axial flow steam turbine and is based on the recognition that the design of the interfacing region (fillets) between the radial ends of the blades and the end-blocks to which they are attached or of which they form a part has a significant effect on stage efficiency. The invention recognizes an optimum fillet radius in the range 0.15-0.3 of the throat dimension between the trailing edge of one blade and the suction surface of an adjacent blade, and more particularly 0.20-0.50. The fillet configuration is advantageously applied to a turbine having blades which are of constant cross-section, are curved in the radial (height) direction and are convex from root to tip on its pressure face, the result being a considerable gain in stage efficiency.

This invention relates to a turbine blade and to a turbine incorporating the blade. While the invention is primarily concerned with steam turbines it is also applicable to other turbines and to compressors. The term "turbine" is used in this specification to include machines of this kind having aerofoil blades. It is also primarily concerned with fixed blades in turbines but is not exclusive to them.
Turbine efficiency is of great importance, particularly in large installations where a fractional increase in efficiency can produce very large cost savings. A considerable amount of money and effort is continually expended therefore on research into the blade design, this being a critical component.
For many years the conventional blade has been of aerofoil cross-section, the (fixed) blade extending radially between inner and outer end blocks, and the blade being of prismatic form, i.e. generated by a line moving parallel to itself and intersecting an aerofoil section. The orientations of both fixed and moving blades about their respective blade axes has also been standardised for this prismatic blade design, this orientation being defined by the blade stagger angle between the turbine axial direction and a line tangential to the blade leading edge and trailing edge circles on the pressure face of the aerofoil blade.
A known improvement in the performance of the prismatic blade in the turbine is achieved by imposing a `lean` on the blade, i.e. tilting it about its root in a circumferential plane i.e. one transverse, or perpendicular, to the turbine axis. This `lean` produces a variation in the mass flow at outlet of the blade from the root to the tip. The radially inner and outer ends of the blade are referred to as the root and the tip despite the fact that both root and `tip` are terminated by the end walls of the supporting rings 21 and 22 shown in the accompanying FIG. 1.
Since the circumferential spacing of the blades (ie pitch) increases progressively from the root to tip, the position where the throat line intersects the suction surface moves upstream with increased radius. Owing to the convex curvature of the suction surface this leads to an increase in the outlet angle from about 13.degree. at the root (relative to the tangential direction) to about 15.degree. at the tip. This is illustrated in the accompanying FIG. 6.
The blade outlet angle .alpha. is illustrated in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) of the accompanying drawings and is defined as sin.sup.-1 (throat/blade pitch).
From the same figures the following parameters appear. The throat is the shortest width in the blade passages. It normally extends from the pressure surface of a blade at the trailing edge and is orthogonal to the suction surface of the adjacent blade.
The stagger angle is the angle between the axis of the turbine and the tangent line touching the leading and trailing circles of the aerofoil section.
The blade chord length is the overall extent of the blade along the stagger angle tangent line.
Modifications to the basic prismatic blade design have in the past been proposed. For example, in the Hitachi Review Vol 27, No. 3 of 1978, twisted and other blade forms were proposed. In what was referred to as the `controlled vortex nozzle design` there was described a nozzle (i.e. fixed blade) which conformed to the conventional prismatic blade form for the lower half of its radial height but which had a progressively finer setting angle for the upper half. The setting angle is the angle by which the aerofoil section at any blade height is rotated within its own plane from the normal disposition for a prismatic blade. A fine setting indicates a rotation of the aerofoil section to reduce the throat and thus reduce the outlet angle and a coarse setting a rotation to increase it. FIG. 3 of this earlier article illustrates a continuous rotation of the blade section from the root to the tip, the setting angle becoming finer with increased blade height.
Despite the fairly comprehensive analysis of blade design and setting angle of this earlier study it has been found that none of the designs investigated achieve the degree of improvement that the present invention provides.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a blade design which provides a significant improvement in performance over previously known designs.


A document production system having the capability of determining the printable area of a pre-printed media is disclosed. The system may include a scanner, which scans and analyzes a copy of the pre-printed media as a template. The system may determine the page margin of the template, including the side margin, the header or the footer. The system may determine the printable area of the template based on the page margin and adjust the content of the document to be printed to fit the printable areas by either scaling or cropping.

This document relates generally to the field of multi-function devices (MFDs), and, in particular, to printers, scanners and devices having both printing and scanning capabilities and to the printing of documents using templates with pre-defined printable areas using those devices.
It is common practice and well known in the art to print documents, such as letters, certificates and forms using pre-printed media or media printed locally which contain markings not typically considered part of the content of the document being printed. For example, a company may have letterhead paper pre-printed with the company's logo, trademark, or other graphic along with other information, such as the company's address. Such markings often appear in the margins of the page (top, bottom, left or right margins) and are often pre-printed or printed locally when a document requires such information.
A problem arises when using media having pre-printed or locally printed markings. Soft copies of documents to be printed on pre-printed media are often created using word-processing software, which does not display the pre-printed areas of the physical media. As such, a user may be unaware of where on a given page content may be placed. This often leads to a trial-and-error process of producing a document having the correct spacing, causing the user to print out multiple copies of the document before a correctly formatted document is achieved, resulting in a waste of resources and time. Furthermore, the user must manually adjust header, footer and margins of the softcopy of the document to fit into the printable area. This is often an advanced function that may be beyond the capability of casual users of the word processing software.
Therefore, it would be desirable to make the process of fitting documents onto pre-printed media easier and more foolproof.

Document production system having automatic adjustment of content to fit the page margin of a pre-printed media


An expansion valve includes a valve element, a valve seat as well as a biasing member. The valve element and the valve seat are arranged in a first fluid passage of the expansion valve. The expansion valve further includes a shape memory alloy actuator that exerts a force on the valve element towards an open valve position when the shape memory alloy actuator is heated by an electric current. An expansion valve for a vapour compression system of the above type may be controlled externally but also be self-regulating. The shape memory alloy actuator is arranged in a second fluid passage of the expansion valve and the shape memory alloy actuator is in thermal contact with fluid in the second fluid passage, such that the shape memory alloy actuator actuates the valve element towards a closed valve position when the shape memory actuator is cooled by the fluid.

Vapour compression systems, such as refrigeration systems, air conditioning systems or heat pumps, usually comprise a compressor, a condenser, as well as an expansion device for example an expansion valve, and an evaporator that are arranged in a cycle. A refrigerant circulates within the cycle and is compressed and expanded in an alternating manner. The heat exchange takes place in the condenser and the evaporator parts of the vapour compression system, whereby cooling or heating may be provided depending on the use of the vapour compression system.
In the following the operation of a vapour compression system is explained with reference to a refrigeration system. The compressor compresses the refrigerant fluid to a high pressure hot gas that is guided into the condenser, where the gas condenses to a high pressure liquid and transfers heat to the environment. Afterwards the high pressure liquid is led into the expansion valve, that limits the flow of refrigerant to the following evaporator, thereby reducing the pressure of the refrigerant. The resulting low pressure liquid then evaporates in the evaporator, whereby heat from the environment is absorbed.
In order to optimize the efficiency of the refrigeration system, the stream of fluid into the evaporator therefore needs to be controlled accurately. It is usually preferred if no liquid refrigerant remains and exits the evaporator, i.e. all refrigerant has evaporated or else liquid refrigerant may enter the following compressor, which may severely damage the compressor. If the evaporator is running at full cooling capacity the fluid exiting the evaporator will have nearly the same temperature, whether or not the amount of liquid is zero or small (at a correct opening degree of the expansion valve) or if the amount of liquid is large (expansion valve too far open). This is because the refrigerant does not change temperature when changing phase from liquid to gas. This means, that it is not possible to distinguish by a passive temperature measurement whether the opening degree of the expansion valve is anywhere between correct or fully open. On the other hand, if the amount of refrigerant is lowered too much, all refrigerant in the evaporator is quickly evaporated and the amount of cooling provided is limited. It is thus important to control the amount of refrigerant passing through the expansion valve. Thus the used expansion valves are usually proportional valves and not simple on-off valves.
An expansion valve of the above mentioned type is for example known from WO 2014/111397 A1. Therein the expansion valve comprises a shape memory alloy actuator to actuate the expansion valve. The shape memory alloy actuator is arranged in an encapsulation separated from the refrigerant passage. The SMA actuator may be provided with an electric current, whereby the actuator is heated and shortens in length. The actuator thereby opens the valve against the force of the biasing member.
From JP 2007024486 another expansion valve using shape memory alloy actuators is known. The expansion valve comprises two fluid passages, one of which houses the valve element and the valve seat. A first shape memory alloy spring as well as a regular spring bias the valve element towards a closing direction of the valve. If the temperature of expanded fluid behind the valve seat rises, the first shape memory alloy spring elongates and throttles the flow of refrigerant into the evaporator. A second shape memory alloy spring is arranged in a second fluid passage way connected to the evaporator outlet. The second shape memory alloy spring elongates if the outlet temperature of the refrigerant from the evaporator rises and thereby exerts a force on the valve element towards a more open position of the valve. Consequently the resulting expansion valve is self-regulating within a limited range of operation.
Further valves of the kind mentioned at the outset are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,024 A as well as WO 95/02143.
The above expansion valves have a number of disadvantages. In case of WO 2014/111397 A1 the valve needs to be constantly readjusted depending on the state of the refrigerant exiting the evaporator for example by a control unit. The control unit needs to be supplied with measurements for example of the temperature of the refrigerant exiting the evaporator outlet in order to readjust the opening degree of the expansion valve. The valve according to JP 2007024486 may on the other hand in some cases allow a self-regulation of the expansion valve, whereby the cost of the vapour compression system may be reduced. However, this expansion valve does not allow to control the flow of the refrigerant other than controlling it at one desired level. For example, it is not possible to increase or decrease the amount of refrigerant flowing into the evaporator to increase or reduce the amount of cooling provided by the refrigeration system by readjusting the expansion valve.

Expansion valve and vapour compression system


A suitcase made in a rectangular configuration having a retractable handle assembly detachably fastened to one long side thereof, the retractable handle assembly having wheel holders fixed thereto at the bottom to hold two wheels by bolts and lock screws, a hollow base frame fastened to one short side thereof to hold a retractable bracket, and a tie strap having a middle part detachably fastened to an opposite short side of the suitcase and two hooks on two opposite ends thereof hooked on the retractable bracket to hold a case, etc., outside the suitcase.

The present invention relates to suitcases, and more specifically the present invention relates to a suitcase which has a retractable handle, a retractable bracket, and a tie strap that are collapsible and replaceable.
Various suitcases are manufactured, and widely used for carrying clothes, etc. These suitcases may be attached with additional fittings and accessories, for example: bracket, hand-carrying handle, retractable handle, tie strap, etc., for different purposes. However, these additional fittings and accessories are not detachable once they are made.

No. 7-3, Lane 2, Ta An Kang Rd., Ta Chia Chen,