A tubular connection comprising a longitudinal axis, a pin member comprising a distal pin end, a tapered pin thread having a constant pin taper angle α1 with respect to the longitudinal axis, and a pin sealing surface located between the pin thread and the distal pin end, and a box member comprising a distal box end, a box sealing surface, and a tapered box thread having a constant box taper angle β1 with respect to the longitudinal axis and located between the box sealing surface and the distal box end, and wherein the pin thread is configured to cooperate by make up with the box thread along a cooperating area, while having a radial thread interference between the pin thread and the box thread along at least part of the cooperating area, the pin sealing surface and the box sealing surface are configured to contact each other upon make-up in a sealing manner while forming a metal to metal seal, and the pin taper angle α1 is larger than the box taper angle β1.

Radial thread interference is provided when the male thread pitch diameter (male thread basic diameter) is larger than the female thread pitch diameter (female thread basic diameter). As a result of this, the pin and box threads will come closer in contact with each other during make up. After the make up is completed, the pin and box threads exert a radial force on each other. Said radial force forms the radial thread interference.
In the known threaded connections, the radial thread interference ensures a proper stress distribution between the pin member and the box member. However, the radial thread interference can cause excessive stresses at the metal to metal seal. In said situation, the contact bearing stresses at the pin sealing surface and the box sealing surface can damage the metal to metal seal. It can cause galling or may yield the material of the connection such that the metal to metal seal does not function reliably under repeated makeup and breakout.
In an attempt to solve this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,074 provides a tubular connection with a tapered thread extending under a constant taper angle α on one of the pin or box member and another tapered thread with a first part extending under a taper angle β1 and a second part extending under a different taper angle β2 on the other of the pin or box member. The constant taper angle α is equal to the taper angle β1 of the first part. The second part is located adjacent to the metal to metal seal and has a steeper taper angle β2 than the taper angle β1 of the first part. This is done to provide clearance between the threads of the pin and box member located adjacent to the sealing surfaces, in order to reach a better distribution of the forces over the pin and box sealing surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,074 has the drawback that detrimental stress concentrations arise in the tubular connection.
The invention is amongst others based on the insight that the sudden change from the taper angle β1 of the first part into the steeper taper angle β2 of the second part caused a detrimental stress concentration in the tubular connection, more specifically at the critical cross section located at the last engaged tooth of the box thread. This problem is in particular relevant in short threads, that is to say threads with for example less than 7 pitches (also referred to as revolutions of thread), since the change in taper has is said situation to be aggressive enough to generate the desired interference relief in the direction in which the taper diverges.
In addition, it was recognised that when the change in taper as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,074 is applied in short threads (for example threads with less than 7 pitches) this would also pose a control problem, because the precision of the measurement would be compromised by controlling the taper over one or two pitches only. When the thread is short, as e.g. in two step threads or one step with less than 7 pitches, the number of pitches is not sufficient to ensure a proper transition between the initial and final taper.
In other words, in threaded connections like the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,074 (having a thread with two sections having different tapers) it is not possible to control both tapered sections of the thread with the same accuracy, mainly because taper control is more precise when measured over a larger number of pitches.
In the situation that the tapered thread has for example in total seven pitches of thread and the first tapered part has five pitches of thread, the second tapered part will only have two pitches of thread. The accuracy of the measurement of the taper increases when said measurement is performed along an increasing number of pitches of thread. If the thread has a low number of pitches, the measurement of the thread will not be accurate. This means that the second tapered part cannot be controlled with at least the same accuracy as the first tapered part


A catheter, in particular for insertion of heart-pacemaker- or ICD-electrodes into a patient's body, comprises a catheter wall and a reinforcement therein for stabilization of the catheter. The reinforcement is a profile element which is adjusted to the desired mechanical properties of the catheter in the axial and peripheral direction thereof.

Catheters of the generic type are known to comprise at least one lumen that is defined by the catheter wall and serves for guidance of the electrode that must be inserted in a patient's body after insertion of the catheter. Another lumen may for example serve for displacement of the catheter by a guide wire that has been applied in advance in a patient's body or for equipment of the catheter tip with a wire pull.
Catheters of the generic type are also known to have a slit- or tear-open catheter wall so that they can easily be removed from a patient's body once the electrode has been placed. EP 0 655 257 A2 shows a catheter of that type, disclosing a catheter wall with a weakening in the form of a perforation.
A current problem in these catheters resides in the torsional and buckling strength of the catheter shank and the susceptibility thereof to compression, in particular when the catheter must be bent around a small radius, which is for example the case during insertion into the arteria subclavia.
For solving these problems, the prior art teaches to provide the catheter wall with reinforcements, by the aid of which to stabilize a catheter's torsional and/or buckling strength and to counteract any undesired compression. In this context, EP 0 898 481 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,198 A and WO 99/33509 A1 disclose to place reinforcement fibers into the catheter wall. They may be individual fibers as shown in WO 99/33509 A1 and EP 0 898 481 B1, or a meshed hose as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,198 A.
Although the inserted fibers fundamentally help in the task of reinforcement, they pose some problems in particular in the manufacture of a catheter. Fundamentally, placing fiber reinforcements as a mesh or strand structure in a hose configuration is a customary method of production, however, these fiber reinforcements are hard to adapt to certain desired properties in the axial and peripheral direction. This applies in particular when the catheter is intended to be weakened for a tear line to be provided. In this context, EP 0 898 481 B1 (mentioned above) teaches a perforation line which serves for the reinforcement fibers that extend in the peripheral direction along the catheter wall to rip open only initially. Putting this step, which is outlined diagrammatically, into practice will need considerable requirements in terms of manufacture. This applies all the more to the reinforcement fibers of strongly flatly rectangular cross-sectional shape which are mentioned in the above document and which must be expected to be severed when the perforation lines are too deep.

Catheter, in particular for insertion of heart-pacemaker-or ICD-electrodes into a patient'body


A pump group for a cooling system of an engine of a vehicle, of the dual type is provided. The pump group includes an impeller mounted on a shaft commandable in rotation by an electric drive and a mechanical drive. The mechanical drive includes a rotating member commandable in rotation by mechanical movement devices in the vehicle, a rotary drum operatively connected to the shaft, a centrifugal clutch device including a central body integrally attached to the rotating member and a plurality of engagement elements movably fixed on the central body suitable to translate in a radial direction with respect to the axis (X-X) to engage the rotary drum.

As is known, during the normal use of an engine, it is appropriate to vary the intensity of the cooling action. For example, intense cooling is required when the engine is running at full speed or in towing conditions or on an uphill road or at high ambient temperatures. On the contrary, in other conditions of use it is advisable that the cooling is not too strong, for example when the engine is started or when at the end of the use thereof.
Cooling pumps are known in the prior art in which this need has been met by having a dual drive. In other words, cooling pumps are known in which the rotational speed of the impeller comprised therein is regulated by specific command means comprising both an electric drive and a mechanical drive.
In such cooling pumps, the rotational speed of the impeller is commanded in rotation according to the needs, or by the mechanical drive, typically operatively connected to the vehicle engine and therefore a function of the engine rpm, or by the electric drive, typically comprising an electric motor.
Unfortunately, these pumps have a particularly complex management of the two drives.
In particular, in fact, the technical drawback that the mechanical drive starts its rotary action by giving a tearing. This sudden action urges not only the components of the mechanical drive, but also the other components of the pump group and in particular the components of the same kinematic chain, including those comprised in the electric drive.

Dual pump group with mechanical drive comprising a centrifugal clutch


There is provided a liquid crystal alignment layer comprising an alignment layer; and chemically bound to said alignment layer, a transport material. Also provided are methods for forming the liquid crystal alignment layer and the use thereof in displays for electronic apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal alignment layer suitable for use in displays for electronic products and a method of forming the liquid crystal alignment layer and displays.
2. Prior Art
Modern consumer electronics require cheap, high-contrast displays with good power efficiency and low drive voltages. Particular applications include displays for mobile phones and hand-held computers. Liquid crystal displays are often used for this purpose and light emitting polymers displays are also of interest for this purpose.


A method for scheduling access to resources of a database is disclosed. Users logon to initiate database sessions. Commands received from a database sessions cause tasks to be initiated. Each task is classified in one of a first set of groups based at least in part on one or more logon account attributes associated with the session that initiated the task. A weight is assigned to each group of the first set of groups. Each task is classified in one of a second set of groups. Each group in the second set of groups is assigned a weight. Each task's access to processor resources of the database is limited based at least in part on the weight of the group from the first set in which that task is classified and also based at least in part on the weight of the group from the second set in which that task is classified.

Establishing priority among different users is important in relational database systems that deal with complex queries made by many users simultaneously against large volumes of data. Different users can tie up various resources of the database system for long periods of time if the level of resource usage is not controlled. The productivity of users whose activities depend upon information in the database system can be adversely impacted if other users are monopolizing the resources even though the information being retrieved by their queries is not immediately necessary.
Constraints on both processing resources and input/output resources can limit the ability of a database system to respond to queries by users. A large number of system administrators would be necessary to monitor and change the resource allocations for all the tasks initiated by users. For some systems, many thousands of users can have active database system sessions simultaneously. Large databases can experience problems related to the user workload which are site specific and require careful analysis and fine tuning. Those problems can also directly affect the system's performance and usability. Database users, their support engineers, database administrators and developers desire to have some way to gather information and diagnose workload-related problems so that recommendations for tuning and task prioritization can be made.
Existing techniques for controlling use of resources include rigid limits based on the group membership of the user. Such techniques are configured by modifying the group membership or changing the rigid limits that apply to the group.


The invention relates to compositions containing at least one alcohol-insoluble quaternary ammonium polymer, at least one amphoteric surfactant, at least one nonionic surfactant and, optionally, at least one phospholipid compound as well as to methods of using and preparing such compositions.

Including alcohol-insoluble quaternary ammonium polymers in alcohol-containing compositions can be problematic given their solubility limitations. Given that many hair compositions contain significant amounts of alcohol, adding alcohol-insoluble quaternary ammonium polymers to such compositions can be difficult and/or can result in a composition in which some or much of the alcohol-insoluble quaternary ammonium polymers are inactive.
Thus, there is a need for improved alcohol-insoluble quaternary ammonium polymers-containing compositions in which much or all of the alcohol-insoluble quaternary ammonium polymers remain active, particularly alcohol-containing compositions.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is a care and/or coloring and/or treatment composition for keratin materials such as hair which is able to address or overcome some or all of the aforementioned problems with the prior art compositions.

Composition containing a phospholipid and quaternary ammonium polymer


The hand brake includes a main frame fixedly mounted on a handlebar of the walker, a control lever pivotally connected to the main frame, a brake member pivotally connected to the control lever to locate in a working space of the control lever, and a steel cable connected to the brake member. With changes in positions of the control lever, the brake member is caused to change its position in the working space of the control lever to pull the steel cable and thereby to either brake the wheeled walker, to brake and park the wheeled walker, or to return the walker to a non-brake state.

The present invention relates to a brake for a walker, and more particularly to a hand brake for a wheeled walker to easily control a brake cable so as to control the speed reduction and/or the stop of the walker conveniently.
A wheeled walker is a small-scaled non-motor vehicle generally provided for use by the aged, the disabled, and/or patients, so that a user and/or a person who take care of the user may easily manipulate the walker to conveniently move the user to different places, such as to outdoors, for the user to do, for example, rehabilitation exercise with the help of the walker. The wheeled walker is equipped with braking elements to slow or stop the walker, lest it should dangerously slide at high speed or slip away, particularly when the walker is moving on a slope. To protect the user and to facilitate the use of the walker by the user, all the parts and components of the wheeled walker, particularly the brake system that has close relation to the safety of user, are designed to allow the user to operate the wheeled walker in a convenient and safe manner.


A memory unit includes width decoding logic enabling data to be accessed in a memory array at different data widths. To improve memory access speed, the memory unit also includes dedicated read output paths for accessing data at the full data width of the memory array. The dedicated read output paths bypass the width decoding logic and provide data from the memory array directly to a data bus, thereby providing improved memory performance when width decoding is not needed. The memory unit can be incorporated in programmable devices and a programmable device configuration can select either the read bypass paths or the width decoding logic. Hardware applications that require width decoding and improved memory access speed can utilize additional programmable device resources outside the memory unit to register the full width data from the memory unit and convert it to a different data width.

The invention relates to the field of programmable devices and to memory units adapted to be used within programmable devices. Programmable devices, such as FPGAs, typically include thousands of programmable logic cells that use combinations of logic gates and/or look-up tables to perform logic operations. Programmable devices also include a number of functional blocks having specialized logic devices adapted to specific logic operations, such as adders, multiply and accumulate circuits, phase-locked loops, and one or more memory units for storage and retrieval of data used by the logic cells. The logic cells and functional blocks are interconnected with a configurable switching circuit. The configurable switching circuit selectively routes connections between the logic cells and functional blocks. By configuring the combination of logic cells, functional blocks, and the switching circuit, a programmable device can be adapted to perform virtually any type of information processing function.
The configuration of the logic cells, functional blocks, switching circuit, and other components of the programmable device is referred to as configuration data. Configuration data can be stored in volatile or non-volatile memory on the programmable device. Additionally, configuration data can be provided and temporarily or permanently loaded into the programmable device during its manufacturing. Users specify a user design that performs a desired information processing function. Compilation software tools analyze the user design and generate corresponding configuration data that implements the desired information processing function using a programmable device. The user-created configuration data can be temporarily or permanently loaded into one or more programmable devices to implement the user design. If the user design is changed, updated configuration data can be loaded into the programmable device to implement the changed user design.
Because programmable devices are designed to implement user designs having different requirements, many of the functional blocks of programmable devices can be configured to support the needs of different types of user designs. For example, the memory units of a programmable device can be configured to support different data widths and depths. The configurable data width and depth configurations allow a memory block having a given size to be addressed and accessed in many different ways. For example, a 4 kilobit memory unit in a programmable device may be configured to operate with a 1 bit output and 4096 possible addresses; a 2 bit output and 2048 possible addresses; a 4 bit output and 1024 possible addresses; a 8 bit output and 512 possible addresses; a 16 bit output and 256 possible addresses; or a 32 bit output and 128 possible addresses.
To provide configurable memory access width and depth, memory units in programmable devices typically include width encoding and decoding logic for writing and reading data to and from memory units. For example, width decoding logic can be placed between read sense amplifiers and the output of the memory unit to redirect data to the appropriate data output line based upon the data width specified for the memory unit. In this implementation, the memory read access time (Tco) includes not only delay contributions from normal reading mechanisms, such as address decoding, bit-lines precharge or discharge, and sense amplifier operation, but also a time delay from the width decoding logic. Often, the width decoding logic introduces a substantial time delay due to its large fan-out and capacitive loading. For user designs requiring high speed memory access, the extra time delay introduced by the width decoding logic can be unacceptable. Moreover, many high frequency user designs do not require memory units with configurable data widths, instead preferring to access memory units using their full data widths.
It is therefore desirable for a programmable device to include memory units that provide improved access times for full data width access despite the presence of width decoding logic. It is further desirable for the programmable device to enable more complicated width decoding schemes that do not compromise access times. It is also desirable for memory units to provide improved access times for full data width access without requiring substantial additional complexity.

Using dedicated read output path to reduce unregistered read access time for FPGA embedded memory


An electrode structure of a transistor, and a pixel structure and a display apparatus comprising the electrode structure of the transistor are disclosed. The electrode structure of the transistor comprises a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode has at least two first portions and at least one second portion. The first portions are substantially parallel with each other and each has a first width. The second portion has a second width, and connects the substantially parallel first portions to define a space with an opening. The first width is substantially greater than the second width.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode structure of a thin-film transistor.
Descriptions of the Related Art
In recent years, developments for flat panel displays have grown rapidly and traditional cathode radiation tube displays have been gradually replaced. Nowadays, major flat panel displays include: Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Displays (OLEDs), Plasma Display Panel (PDP), Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), and Field Emission Displays (FEDs). One of the key components of these flat panel displays includes a thin-film transistor (TFT) so as to control the turn on/off each pixel within these flat panel displays.
As shown in FIG. 1, generally, an electrode structure of a thin-film transistor 1 comprises a gate electrode 10, a source electrode 11, a drain electrode 12, and a semiconductor layer 13. The semiconductor layer 13 is formed above the gate electrode 10 while the source electrode 11 and the drain electrode 12 are formed above a portion of the semiconductor layer 13 and are separated to each other, individually overlapping to a portion of the gate electrode 10. Generally, a width LS of the source electrode and a width LD of the drain electrode are about 4 um. Using this size of the electrode structure in a thin-film transistor so as to control the turn on/off of the pixels is achieved.
However, while current flows through the drain electrode 12 to the source electrode 11, a current flowing from an arc portion 15 of the drain electrode 12 can flow into a circular portion 14 of the source electrode 11 only. Compared to the arc portion 15 of the drain electrode 12, the circular portion 14 of the source electrode 11 has a relatively restricted overlapping area. The circular portion 14 is easily influenced by semiconductor process varieties which further resist normal current flow. This seriously affects the current amount and results in unstable current.
Consequently, increasing and stabilizing the amount of current that flows through the drain electrode 12 to the source electrode 11 without negatively affecting the TFT electrical transmission within displays a necessary objective to endeavor and improve upon.

Electrode structure of a transistor, and pixel structure and display apparatus comprising the same


This invention relates to a quick-recovery low dropout linear regulator (LDO), which utilizes a current-detection circuit to detect the magnitude of the output current, and the output current compares with a reference current so as to dynamically adjust the bias-current of the 2nd stage amplifier such that the system remains stable even when the output current is high resulting from the damping ratio ζ is still greater than 1. As a result, the output voltage can quickly recover stability from a large and sudden change of the output current.

In the age where the communication market is gradually developing, applications of related IC are growing continuously. Together with the development of portable products such as cell-phones, the utility duration for a battery becomes increasingly important. However, to improve the efficiency while maintaining the stability of a battery is challenging topics. Due to the improvement of the converting efficiency and characteristics of small volume and low noise, low dropout linear regulators (LDO) have become the main stream of low-power dropout and regulation circuits in recent years. They are largely used for communication-related electronic products and various portable systems that are powered by batteries.
Among the existing products (methods), the three-stage operation amplifiers in series are commonly adopted to increase its gain for the purpose of improving the accuracy of low dropout linear regulators, however, such adoption always result in instability. Therefore, various frequency-compensation methods are proposed to increase the systems stability. In the beginning, a large capacitance is used for lowering the position of the dominant pole and to increase the phase margin. However, such circuit has the following drawbacks:
Since the main pole of this circuit falls on the output point, a larger load-capacitance is required to stabilize the system. Nevertheless, it is not easy to integrate the said capacitor into a chip, which increases the difficulty of the system integration.
Generally speaking, a larger system gain is used to promote the system accuracy, but the gain promotion degrades the system stability at the same time. Consequently, either accuracy or stability will have to be sacrificed.
The magnitude of the output current is restricted by the system stability. The larger the output current is, the smaller the load-resistance is, and therefore the dominant pole located at the output point becomes larger correspondingly, which degrades the system stability.
The corresponding first non-dominant pole is lower due to the non-dominant pole of this circuit locates at the output point of the operation amplifier (generally, high impedance). Hence, the system bandwidth is narrower and the transient response is worse.
Therefore, for improving the abovementioned drawbacks, various frequency-compensation methods are continuously proposed, such as nest-type Miller compensation, damping ratio ζ control . . . etc. However, each of these methods needs two compensation capacitors, and the used area of the chip is relatively larger than the area used for the simple Miller compensation method. Consequently, the unitary Miller compensation using gain amplification was proposed latterly. Please refer to FIG. 1, although this method successfully solves the abovementioned problem whereas the damping ratio ζ is affected by the output current such that the stabilization speed of the output voltage is slow down.
Please refer to FIG. 2, which is the small-signal model for FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, gm1, gm2, and gmp are the conductance for the first, the second, and the output stage respectively; g01, g02, and g0L are the output-conductance for the first, the second, and the output stage respectively; Cp1 and Cp2 are the input-parasitic capacitances for the second and the output stage respectively. Cout is the load-capacitance; Re is the parasitic resistance for the load-capacitance; Cm1 and Rm are the compensation capacitance and the compensation resistance respectively; Adc is the DC gain of the system; ζ is the damping ratio. According to the small-signal model of FIG. 2, the transfer function of the system is derived as follow:
                              Av                                (            s            )                          =                                                            A                dc                                                          (                                  1                  +                                                            SC                      out                                                                                R                      e                                                                      )                                                                [                              1                +                                                      SC                    m1                                                                          (                                                                  R                        m                                            -                                                                        g                          o2                                                                                g                            m2                                                                                g                            mp                                                                                )                                                  -                                                      S                    2                                                                                C                        m1                                                                                C                        g                                                                                g                        m2                                                                                g                        mp                                                                                ]                                                          (                              1                +                                  S                                      P                                                                  -                        3                                                                  db                                                                                )                                                  (                              1                +                                                      SC                    out                                                                          (                                                                  R                        e                                            +                                                                        g                          o2                                                                                g                            m2                                                                                g                            mp                                                                                )                                                  +                                                      S                    2                                                                                C                        g                                                                                C                        out                                                                                g                        m2                                                                                g                        mp                                                                                )                                                          (        1        )            where
            A      dc        =                            g          m1                                  g          m2                                  g          mp                                      g          o1                                  g          o2                                  g          L                      ,            P                        -          3                        db              =                                        C            m1                                          g            m2                                          g            mp                                                g            o1                                          g            o2                                          g            L                              .
                    ζ        =                              1            2                                                        C              out                                                  (                                                R                  e                                +                                                      g                    o2                                                                              g                      m2                                                                                g                      mp                                                                                )                                                                                g                  m2                                                                  g                  mp                                                                              C                  g                                                                  C                  out                                                                                →                      for                                                                          small                                                                          ESR                                            ≈                                    1              2                                                  g              o2                                                                                C                  out                                                                      g                    m2                                                                          g                    mp                                                                          C                    g                                                                                (        2        )                                α                                                    I              b2                                      g              mp                                                          (        3        )                                (                              gm2            =                                          I                b2                                                              V                  gs2                                -                                  V                  th2                                                              ,                      go2            =                          λ                                                                                Ib2                                      )
For reducing the cost, the recent market tends to use cheaper capacitors such as ceramic capacitors as the load-capacitors. Because the parasitic resistance of a ceramic capacitor is smaller, so Eq. (2) can be simplified to Eq. (3).
Knowing from Eq. (3), the damping ratio ζ is inverse-proportional to the conductance of the output stage (gmp), and is proportional to the bias current of the 2nd stage amplifier (Ib2). Since the conductance of the output stage (gmp) getting larger (approximately 30 times) if the output current getting larger (eg. from 0.1 mA to 150 mA), the damping ratio ζ decrease to become smaller than 1 (or even far smaller than 1). Accordingly, the frequency response has a surge around the unit-gain frequency, which leads to a ripple on the transient response of the output voltage Vout when the output current suddenly changes such that the stabilization speed of the output voltage is slow down. As a result, it cannot provides a quick-recovery low dropout linear regulator.

Quick-recovery low dropout linear regulator


In a voltage control apparatus of an alternator mounted on a vehicle, the parameter and the equation, which are established based upon the power generation characteristic and the electromagnetic specification of the alternator, are not required, and both an ON-duty rate of an ON/OFF logic of a voltage applied to an energizing coil and a logic frequency can be established under stable condition within a preselected frequency range. The alternator voltage control apparatus is arranged by employing: a first logic output means for comparing a voltage generated by the alternator with a target voltage to obtain a magnitude logic which is outputted as a first ON/OFF logic; and a second logic output means for outputting as a second ON/OFF logic, a PWM internal output logic in which an ON-duty rate is increased/decreased based on the first ON/OFF logic by an increased/decreased amount defined by considering a time constant of the energizing coil. In this alternator voltage control apparatus, a logically processed result between the first ON/OFF logic and the second ON/OFF logic is used as an ON/OFF logic of a voltage application to the energizing coil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage control apparatus of an alternator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a voltage control apparatus for controlling a voltage generated from an alternator to a predetermined value by turning ON/OFF a voltage applied to an energizing coil of this alternator, the alternator generated voltage is adjusted in a digital manner by employing a microcomputer. Such an alternator voltage control apparatus is typically known from, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 05-176477.
In this type of conventional alternator voltage control apparatus, when the voltage generated from the alternator is controlled to the target voltage under better response characteristic, a target energizing current corresponding to a target current generated from the alternator is calculated by using an equation established based on the power generation characteristic of the alternator. Thereafter, a predicted energizing current, which may actually flow through the energizing coil, is calculated by using an equation established based upon an electromagnetic specification of the alternator.
Then, in response to deviation between the target value of the energizing current and the prediction value thereof, the target energizing current is corrected by way of the primary lead correction based upon both the power generation characteristic and the electromagnetic characteristic of the alternator, and thereafter, the control energizing current is calculated.
Furthermore, an ON/OFF duty ratio with respect to the control energizing current determined by this calculation is read out from a table which is set in accordance with the electromagnetic specification of the alternator. Then, a voltage applied to the energizing coil is controlled based on an ON/OFF duty ratio selected from a map so as to achieve the object, i.e., voltage control.
However, the above-described conventional alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following problems:
That is, in such a case that the power generation characteristic and the electromagnetic specification of the alternator are changed, or in such a case that the presently available power generation characteristic and electromagnetic specification are adapted to other electromagnetic specification and power generation characteristic of alternators, the voltage control apparatus is required to change the ON/OFF duty tables corresponding to the control energizing currents, and the coefficients of the calculating equations for the energizing currents, every time the electromagnetic specification and the power generation characteristic of the alternator are selected. Thus, this alternator voltage control apparatus must again establish the matching conditions.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-explained problems, and therefore has an object to provide an alternator voltage control apparatus in such a case that the alternator is controlled so as to control a generated voltage thereof to a target voltage in a feedback manner, while this alternator voltage control apparatus does not need to employ a parameter and an equation, which are established based upon a power generation characteristic and also an electromagnetic specification of this alternator. That is to say, even when any change is made in the power generation characteristic and also in the electromagnetic specification of the alternator, both the parameter and the equation required in the voltage control apparatus does not need to be changed.
To achieve the above-described object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a voltage control apparatus of an alternator is characterized by such a voltage control apparatus of an alternator, for controlling a voltage generated by the alternator to a predetermined voltage value by turning ON/OFF a voltage applied to an energizing coil of the alternator, comprising: first logic output means for comparing the voltage generated by the alternator with a target voltage to obtain a magnitude logic which is outputted as a first ON/OFF logic; and second logic output means for outputting as a second ON/OFF logic, a PWM internal output logic in which an ON-duty rate is increased/decreased based on the first ON/OFF logic by an increased/decreased amount defined by considering a time constant of the energizing coil; wherein: a logically processed result between the first ON/OFF logic and the second ON/OFF logic is used as an ON/OFF logic of a voltage application to the energizing coil.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, in such a case that the alternator is controlled so as to control the generated voltage thereof to the target voltage in the feedback manner, this alternator voltage control apparatus does not need to employ the parameter and the equation, which are established based upon the power generation characteristic and also the electromagnetic specification of this alternator. Also, while both the ON-duty rate of the ON/OFF logic of the voltage application to the energizing coil and the logic frequency can be stabilized within a predetermined frequency range, these ON-duty rate and the logic frequency can be set with having compatibility.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the target voltage is hysteresis-corrected along a direction to hold a magnitude logic obtained by comparing the target voltage with the generated voltage of the alternator; the hysteresis correction amount is changed based on a parameter related to an alternator rotation number and an alternator output strength; and also the hysteresis correction amount is changed in a feedback manner based on an inversion period of the first ON/OFF logic.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the target voltage is hysteresis-corrected in order that the once determined logic is not immediately inverted. Such a hysteresis-correction can be carried out with respect to all possible operation conditions of the alternator.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the first logic output means is provided with logic inversion suppressing means by which the first ON/OFF logic is hardly inverted; a suppression strength of the logic inversion suppressing means for an ON logic to an OFF logic is made different from a suppression strength of the logic inversion suppressing means for an OFF logic to an ON logic; and the suppression strengths are changed in a feedback manner in response to a resulting logic period of the first ON/OFF logic.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the target voltage is hysteresis-corrected in order that the once determined logic is not immediately inverted. Such a hysteresis-correction can be carried out with respect to all possible operation conditions of the alternator.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the logic period of the PWM internal output which constitutes the second ON/OFF logic is changed by executing a calculation based on the parameter related to both the alternator rotation number and the alternator output strength and by retrieving a content of a table; or is changed based on the period of the first ON/OFF logic.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the frequency of the first ON/OFF logic can be firmly set.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is further comprised of: storage means for storing thereinto a plurality of alternator generated voltages as sampling values, which have been sampled in the past; and calculation means for performing a move average calculation based on the latest sampling value and the plural past sampling values to interpret the move-averaged sampling value as a presently generated voltage; a total referring number of the past sampling values is changed based on the alternator rotation number and the alternator output strength; the total referring number of the past sampling values used in said move average calculation is equal to power of 2; and a total number of referring sampling values is interpreted by a binary number so as to obtain a section average value by bit-shifting only along the right direction by the total referring number.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the section average value can be essentially obtained by employing the software filter, while a complex filter circuit such as a differential filter and an integral filter is no longer required. Also, since the filter strength of this software filter is adjusted under optimum condition based upon the output strength and the rotation number of the alternator, the feedback control operation can be carried out in a higher speed than that of the conventional alternator voltage control apparatus.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the generated voltage of the alternator is sampled by a sampling operation whose sampling period is changed.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the effective voltage generated by the alternator can be firmly obtained.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the sampling period is calculated based upon the alternator rotation number, or retrieved with the content of the table.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the effective voltage generated by the alternator can be firmly obtained.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the sampling operation is commenced by triggering the generation timing of the voltage waveform for one stator phase of the alternator; the sampling operation is intermittently carried out in a predetermined time period only for a predetermined time duration after the commencement of the sampling operation; and both the predetermined time period and the predetermined time duration are calculated based upon the trigger interval up to now, or are determined by retrieving a content of a table.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the density of the sampling process operation is reduced while the program of the microcomputer is executed, so that the computer program can be readily developed. This alternator voltage control apparatus can contribute to the fact that both the microcomputer and the crystal oscillator can be made in low cost since the frequency of the operation clock can be lowered.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is further comprised of: calculation means for calculating the alternator rotation number based upon a time interval of a transition edge from xe2x80x9cLowxe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9cHighxe2x80x9d of a voltage waveform for a stator 1-phase of the alternator.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, since the FV converting operation is carried out, the rotation number of the alternator does not need to be interpreted.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the target voltage is shifted by an amount conducted by retrieving a content of a table and by executing a calculation based upon a parameter related to an alternator rotation number and an alternator output strength; or the target voltage is regularly corrected based upon deviation between a voltage appearing at an alternator output terminal, a voltage appearing at an external signal input terminal, and information indicative of a battery voltage derived from an external unit.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the voltage appearing at the battery terminal is not lowered, and the battery voltage can be brought into the stable condition.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that increasing/decreasing of an ON-duty rate of a PWM internal output which constitutes the second ON/OFF logic is suppressed based on an increase/decrease amount per unit time, defined by considering a time constant of the energizing coil; a suppression strength of the increase amount per unit time is set stronger than the time constant of the energizing coil; and further is changed, or prohibited based upon the alternator rotation number; the suppression of the increase/decrease amount per unit time is prohibited, or released based on a specific power generation mode of the alternator; and both an upper limit value and a lower limit value are set to the ON-duty rate based upon the alternate rotation number and the unit temperature.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the hunting operation of the ON-duty rate of the second ON/OFF logic can be eliminated, and a so-called LRC function can be achieved by suppressing the increase of the ON duty rate. Then, since the upper limit value of the ON-duty rate is set, the electromagnetic sound and also the drive torque can be suppressed. Furthermore, since the lower limit value of the ON-duty rate is set, the floating control operation can be carried out.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the ON/OFF logic of the voltage application to the energizing coil is forcibly set to the logic ON based upon either a peak voltage or an average voltage of voltage waveforms for a stator 1-phase of the alternator irrespective of the logically processed result between the first ON/OFF logic and second ON/OFF logic.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, this alternator voltage control apparatus can perform a so-called floating control operation in which even in such a condition that the battery voltage is higher than the target voltage of the alternator and also the alternator does not need to generate the electric power, this alternator generates the electric power to some extent.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that either a multiplied value or an ON-logic rate per unit time of the ON/OFF logic of the voltage application to the energizing coil is interpreted as an ON-duty rate of the voltage application to the energizing coil; and, the multiplied value is obtained from an ON-logic rate within one logic period of the first ON/OFF logic and also an ON-logic rate within one logic period of the second ON/OFF logic.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the ON-duty rate of the voltage application to the energizing coil can be readily recognized.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is further comprised of: calculation means for calculating an effective voltage applied to the energizing coil based upon the ON-duty rate of the voltage application to the energizing coil and a voltage generated from the alternator at this time.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, this alternator voltage control apparatus can contribute to the fact that the precision of predicting the output strength of the alternator and the drive torque thereof is increased.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that both an output strength of the alternator and a drive torque strength of the alternator are predicted by retrieving a content of a table or by performing a calculation, while using an upper/lower width and a voltage magnitude of a voltage ripple produced at an alternator output terminal as a parameter, by retrieving a content of a table or by executing a calculation, while using voltage deviation as a parameter, the voltage deviation between a voltage of an alternator output terminal and a voltage of an external signal input terminal, which are produced by a voltage drop of a recharging line; or by retrieving a content of a table and/or performing a calculation, while using as a parameter, an ON-duty rate of the voltage application to the energizing coil, a converted voltage applied to the energizing coil, and the alternator rotation number.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the digital recognition by the external unit can be easily carried out, and also both the software and the hardware can be readily developed. Further, when the frequency is standardized in the same product, the compatibility on the digital recognition can be established.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is further comprised of: PWM output means for indicating an ON-duty rate of a voltage applied to the energizing coil, an effective voltage applied to the energizing coil, an output strength of the alternator, a drive torque strength of the alternator, or such an ON-duty rate which depends upon a rate of an energizing current itself of the energizing coil and an absolute value of the energizing current.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the digital recognition by the external unit can be easily carried out, and also both the software and the hardware can be readily developed. Further, when the frequency is standardized in the same product, the compatibility on the digital recognition can be established.
According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that the output of the PWM output means contains a predetermined basic frequency; the predetermined basic frequency is changed based upon self-diagnostic information of the voltage control apparatus; even when the basic frequency is changed, the ON-duty rate indicated when the basic frequency is present is not changed; or even when the basic frequency is changed, there is no change in ON time defined by the ON-duty rate indicated when the basic frequency is present.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, since only the frequency of the PWM output and either the ON-duty rate or the ON time are monitored, both the information related to the alternator drive torque and the diagnostic information of the voltage control apparatus can be acquired at the same time.
According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is further comprised of: an interface used to recognize a voltage related to a battery voltage, and an instruction of the target voltage to an external unit based on a frequency of a pulse signal supplied from the external unit, or both the frequency and a duty.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, the target voltage of the alternator can be changed by the external unit. Also, both the battery voltage and the target voltage can be instructed by the external unit.
According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that a power supply interrupt of the voltage control apparatus is executed by judging such a fact that the alternator continues an initial energizing condition for a predetermined time period, or such a fact that the alternator continues the initial energizing condition for a predetermined time period and further an alternator rotation number is equal to zero.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, no longer such a trigger means is employed which is dedicated to interrupt the power supply of the voltage control apparatus.
According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the alternator voltage control apparatus is characterized in that an initiation of a power supply of the voltage control apparatus is executed by using as a trigger, a logic inversion of an information communication line connected to an external unit.
With employment of the above-described arrangement, the alternator voltage control apparatus owns the following effect. That is, no longer such a trigger means is employed which is dedicated to start up the power supply of the voltage control apparatus.


A dry dock upon which a small watercraft may be docked in a dry condition and from which a boater may access from an associated structure for launching the watercraft without entering the water is disclosed. The dry dock comprises a floating dock having a forward end and a rear entry end. A motion mechanism connects the floating dock to the pier. The motion mechanism includes a mechanical pivot carried by the floating dock by which the floating dock is connected to the associated structure. The floating dock pivots about the pivot during docking and launching of the watercraft in a seesaw motion. A buoyant fulcrum is included in the floating dock which provides buoyancy and assists the seesaw motion of the floating dock during docking of the watercraft. The dry dock seesaws between an entry position in which the floating dock is tilted rearwardly for receiving a bow section of the watercraft to initiate docking and a docked position in which the watercraft is moved forward on the floating dock and the floating dock tilted forwardly from the entry position. The motion mechanism includes a connecting link pivotly connecting the floating dock and the pier which moves in a vertical motion. A limit element limits the range of the vertical motion of the connecting link as the floating dock seesaws.

This invention relates to a dock for a small watercraft, such as a jet ski and the like, and more particularly to a dry dock which tilts in a seesaw motion as the watercraft is docked and launched from so that the boater may have ingress and egress to the watercraft generally in a dry condition.
Previously, drive on dry docks have been provided, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,013, wherein a dock is assembled from hollow floatation units which include tall and short units whose top surfaces are substantially co-planer. The units are arranged to form two spaced dock arms, and the short units are able to flex downward as a watercraft begins to ride upon the dock because of the location of the connection between the adjacent units. Since the tall units cannot flex to the same extent as the short units, they form a relatively stable planar surface. The short units are proportioned so that the uppermost surface of each is out of the water both when the dock is empty and when a watercraft is docked on the dock. While this assembly allows a watercraft to be driven upon the dock, it requires a large number of interconnections of floatation units which must be assembled and maintained. Another drive on dock is disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 5,281,055, wherein a dock is comprised of uniform floating docking sections coupled together with male and female connectors and anchoring rods. The docking sections can be arranged in a variety of dock designs. It has also been known to combine with such docking sections, a floating platform upon which a jet ski can be driven on and off of using a roller. The docking platform includes a contoured bottom portion which accommodates the hull of the jet ski. Considerable propulsion or effort is needed to propel the water ski over the roller to a fully docked position, and to launch the watercraft.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved dry dock for a small watercraft, such as a jet ski and the like, wherein the watercraft may be dry docked and launched in a quick and easy manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dry dock for a small watercraft, such as jet ski and the like, which tilts in a seesaw motion so that a minimum of propulsion or effort is needed to move the watercraft onto and off of the dry dock.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dry dock for a small watercraft, such as a jet ski and the like, which is of a single unit construction so that the maintenance of a large number of interconnections is not needed.
Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a dry dock for a watercraft which is of a single unit construction and tilts about a buoyant fulcrum so that the watercraft or jet ski may be easily driven upon and moved off of the dry dock by the boater in a dry condition.


Systems and methods for monitoring remotely located devices, systems, users, and user activities are described. The systems contain a central device where the digital content is stored, a remote device for delivering the digital content to a user, and means for transferring the digital content from the central location to the remote location. Data about the remote devices, users, and the user activities at the remote devices may be monitored. The data includes fault monitoring data, system performance data, system management data, user physical activity data, graphical interface data, demographic data, sales transaction data, survey data, and the like. The data can be monitored on a periodic basis or on a substantial real-time basis. The monitored data can then be used for various purposes, including customizing the advertising and content for an individual user or a group of users, reducing time wasted for diagnostic trips, lessening user frustration, and/or enhancing customer relationship management, as well as facilitating system administration, system maintenance, and/or statistical marketing analyses.

Many types of information and content are now stored digitally, including books, music, movies, software programs, video games, databases, advertisements, as well as other content. Because such content is stored digitally, it can be easily transferred using many types of electronic networks. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,875,110, 4,412,292, 5,848,398, 6,397,189, 6,381,575, 4,674,055, 5,445,295, 5,734,719, 6,286,029, 6,799,165, 6,655,580, 6,330,490, 6,662,080, 6,535,791, 6,711,464, 5,237,157, 6,654,757, 5,794,217, and 6,748,539. Both private and public electronic networks, including the Internet, are frequently used to transfer the digital content.
Often the digital content is transferred electronically, it can be sold to an user who is not located where the digital content was originally stored. The digital content can be sold for a variety of purposes, including education, entertainment, research, or other purposes. The digital content may be sold in any number of technological formats known in the art that permit storage and retrieval of the digital data, including floppy discs, compact discs of several varieties, video discs of several varieties, including digital video discs, magnetic storage devices using a variety of forms and technologies, and solid state devices of several varieties.
Most of the digital content sales have been to users of computers that are connected to each other via networks of various types, e.g., the Internet. But users are not always located at such a computer when they desire to purchase the digital content, or they have a computer but it is not connected to a network. Consequently, sales of digital content have begun using devices in remote locations, including stand-alone devices (such as kiosks) in retail or other high-traffic areas. The remote devices may be attended or unattended. In both of these instances, the owners and operators need to keep such remote devices (and systems) running virtually all of the time and keep them optimized to facilitate user interaction. For this reason, it has become common practice to monitor the remote device and the user's interaction with the remote device.
However, physically monitoring such remote devices—and the systems containing such remote devices—can be costly, difficult, and inefficient. As the number of remote devices and their geographical locations expand, the time and money spent in traveling to such devices increases and can result in increased communication barriers. Consequently, lost opportunity costs and the number of unsatisfied users can also increase. Accordingly, the industry has begun electronically monitoring such remote devices. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,307,354, 6,145,102, 6,223,089, 6,651,190, 6,697,962, 6,757,850, 6,813,733, 6,839,597, 6,895,285, 6,904,458, Re30,037, as well as U.S. Published Patent Application Nos. 2003/0217306, 2003/0229406, 2004/0059782, 2004/0163008, 2004/0225381, and 2005/0097182.
Nevertheless, the ability to electronically monitor remote devices has been limited for several reasons. First, the monitored data is often limited to a small range of information, primarily system diagnostic data (i.e., system operability status) and cryptic messages (i.e., error codes for indicating status), as well as being limited to only certain components of the system can be monitored. Second, the monitored information is frequently restricted to data that the user actually enters into the remote device, and does not include any other data (including that related to the user's non-entered physical actions during the interaction with device). Third, remote devices are often limited in the content they provide (or only have static content), inherently limiting the information about the user and/or the user's activities that can be monitored. And finally, the means for monitoring often depend on the monitored remote device for power and communication, so the monitoring means become disabled when the monitored remote device experiences technical difficulties.

System and methods for monitoring devices, systems, users, and user activity at remote locations


A system for clock and data recovery (“CDR”) includes a clock generator, a half-rate phase detector for receiving the input data, an encoder, a phase selector outputting recovered clock, a confidence counter, and a multiplexer outputting recovered data. The clock generator generates an 8-phase clock signal at half a rate of the transmitted serial data. The phase detector samples input data at four times the standard sampling rate, takes the oversampled data and detects phase transitions therein, i.e., phase lead and lag. The encoder encodes the phase transition data. The confidence counter receives the phase transition data and generates a signal representing the accumulated net effect of the phase transitions. The phase selector receives the confidence counter signal and the 8-phase clock from the clock generator, and determines the optimum phase for data sampling.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data processing systems and, more particularly, to the transmission of data over a serial line or link between two subsystems of a data processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communications networks can provide high bit-rate transport over a shared medium with a serial line or link, such as passive optical networks, cable television networks (fiber, coaxial or hybrid), digital television, and wireless networks. These shared-medium networks typically use time, frequency or code division multiplexing to transport data signals from a central terminal to several remote customer terminals and time division multiple access (TDMA) to transport data signals from the customer terminals to the central terminal. TDMA is characterized by noncontinuous or burst mode data transmission.
Traditional clock and data recovery ("CDR") methods are provided for communications systems receiving continuous data streams that have enriched spectra at the sampling frequency. CDR is a useful functionality in high-speed transceivers in the art. Such transceivers serve a plurality of applications, e.g., optical communications, backplane data routing, and chip-to-chip interconnects. The data received therein are asynchronous and noisy, thus requiring that a clock be extracted for allowing synchronous operations. The data also need to be retimed so that jitter accumulated during data transmission can be removed.
A phase locked loop ("PLL") can be used in clock and data recovery in phase tracking for data being transmitted. A phase detector compares the lead or lag of phases between a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) clock and the input data. The comparison result is filtered by a loop filter for filtering out high frequency noise and data jitter that can adversely affect the stability of the VCO clock. The loop filter outputs a control voltage for the VCO for aligning the rising edges of the input data. When the PLL is locked, the data can be extracted from the phase detector accordingly. The PLL, however, may have problems tracking high frequency phase jitter in high-speed data recovery systems.
In the case of noncontinuous data transmission, i.e., burst mode transmission, multi-rate oversampling with a long preamble may be required for data recovery. Such processing approaches in data transmission are disadvantageous because of their excessive power consumption and inefficient utilization of bandwidth over the communications link. Moreover, conventional CDR methods are not suited for making fast data recovery decisions.
There is thus a general need in the art for a system and method overcoming at least the aforementioned shortcomings in the art. A particular need exists in the art for a system and method overcoming disadvantages with respect to excessive power consumption and inefficient bandwidth use and difficulty in making fast data recovery decisions over a serial communications link.

High-speed serial link clock and data recovery

Industrial Technology Research Institute