A coupling isolation method for preventing a load signal from coupling into an operational amplifier is disclosed. The coupling isolation method includes generating a system signal before the operational amplifier outputs a computation result, switching off a Miller compensation signal path of the operational amplifier at a first time point according to the system signal, and electrically connecting an output end of the operational amplifier and a load at a second time point according to the system signal to output the computation result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a coupling isolation method and operational amplifier using the same, and more particularly, to a coupling isolation method and operational amplifier using the same which prevent a load signal from coupling into the operational amplifier through switching off a Miller compensation signal path.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With advances in semiconductor manufacturing technology, an accurate operational amplifier is essential for most electronic applications. As implied by the name, the operational amplifier is utilized for amplifying signals and functioning as a voltage buffer and driver. Other than the original use, the operational amplifier can implement various functions if connected in different configurations. For example, when connected in a negative feedback configuration, the operational amplifier can amplify a differential input signal to a specific multiple to perform common calculations, such as addition, multiplication, etc. Inversely, when connected in positive feedback, the operational amplifier can be utilized for generating an oscillating signal. Thus, the operational amplifier is widely employed in major electronic applications, such as a sample and hold (S/H) circuit, a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of an operational amplifier 10 of the prior art. The operational amplifier 10 includes a differential input stage 100, a gain stage 102, an output stage 104 and a Miller compensation module 106. The differential input stage 100 is utilized for receiving a differential input signal VIN. The gain stage 102 is utilized for amplifying the differential input signal VIN. Finally, the output stage 104 further amplifies the differential input signal VIN and enhances output resistance of the operational amplifier 10. In addition, the Miller compensation module 106 compensates frequency response of the operational amplifier 10 by adding a dominant pole on a signal path of the operational amplifier 10, so as to minimize influence of other poles on stability of a computation result RST. In general, in order to preserve the correct computation result RST, the operational amplifier 10 further includes an output switch 108 coupled between the output stage 104 and a load RL. To minimize influence of external noise on the operational amplifier 10, the output switch 108 is closed (switched on) only when an external circuit has to access (read) the computation result RST.
However, once the output switch 108 is closed, charges stored in two ends of the output switch 108 are redistributed, resulting in undesired spikes or notches in the computation result RST. Even worse, the singularities of the computation result RST couple into the operational amplifier 10 via the Miller compensation module 106, which decays performance of the operational amplifier 10. In detail, please refer to FIG. 2, which is a time-variant schematic diagram of signals of the operational amplifier 10. In FIG. 2, when the input signal VIN varies from a low potential to a high potential at a time point t1, inner signals of the operational amplifier 10 follow the variation through a closed-loop process inside the operational amplifier 10 and settle to fixed voltage levels. When the output switch 108 is switched on at the time point t1, charges stored in two ends of the output switch 108 redistribute, resulting in a notch in the computation result RST. In such a situation, notches are further induced in voltages VN1, VN2 of nodes N1, N2 of the operational amplifier 10, which increases a charging current of a transistor M1 and decreases a discharging current of a transistor M2 in the output stage 104, enabling rapid restoration of the computation result RST to the high potential. However, the restoration of the computation result RST leads to a second coupling, which accelerates the recovery of the voltages VN1, VN2 as well. As a result, a leakage current is generated in the operational amplifier 10 due to the simultaneous conduction of the transistors M1, M2, which delays a charging procedure of a load signal S_LD of the load RL, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the practical load signal S_LD increases slower than ideal waveforms.
Therefore, avoiding singular waveforms of the load signal induced by the second coupling has been a major focus of the industry.

Coupling isolation method and operational amplifier using the same


A method for changing clusterization pattern of water molecules in the human body in order to speed up the healing process. A mobile device has an application, which generates different audio streams based on a type of illness needed to be cured. A user selects the illness type on the mobile device screen and a special connector placed into an audio output port of the module device provides the electric carrier wave signal to a surface of a human body. A mobile device  needs to be plugged into a power source in order to have enough power to generate the signal of required intensity. The electric signal penetrates into the human body upon contact with the connector and gradually changes the pattern of clusterization of the water molecules of a person to a normal (healthy) pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and system for curing human body ailments through affecting clusterization of water molecules in human body by an electric signal generated by a mobile device, in order to assist in a healing process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of the cells of the human body consist of molecules of water. The adult male human body is approximately 65% water, and water is 11% hydrogen by mass but 67% by count of atoms (i.e., 67 atomic percent). The water molecules typically float freely when the water is in its normal liquid state. However, most water molecules in a human body are in cells, and such a state permits clusterization of water molecules.
However, as the research shows, once the person contracts a viral or bacterial illness or has some inflammation or other sort of health problems, the normal clusterization pattern changes. The research shows, that in order for a person to return to his or her healthy state, the clusterization pattern of water molecules needs to return to a normal healthy pattern. Presently, there are no systems that can affect clusterization of the water molecules in the human body in order to speed up the healing process.
Accordingly, a method and system for effective changing of the clusterization of the water molecules in the human body in order to assist in healing is desired.

Device, method and application software for curing of body ailments using low-level electrical current waveforms

Scientific Production Association Information Cell Biophysics


A drive system for a "Caterpillar" vehicle has at least one elastic belt track which is driven by a drive gear in accordance with the principle of a frictional connection, and a further gear which is supported coaxially to the drive gear so that the drive force can be transferred to the coaxially supported gear and it is engaged with the belt track through toothed elements.

The present invention generally relates to a"CATERPILLAR" vehicle.
More particularly, it relates to a "CATERPILLAR" vehicle which has at least one endless, elastic belt track which is drivable by a drive gear, and the belt track, at least locally, has an inner surface with which it engages a substantially cylindrical peripheral surface of the drive gear.
In the "CATERPILLAR"vehicle its traveling mechanism is composed of an endless, elastic belt track which is drivable by a drive gear, and its drive force is transmitted through the frictional connection between the drive gear and the inner side of the endless, elastic belt track. Such "CATERPILLAR" vehicles are disclosed in several patents. As an example, European Patent Document EP 0 165 245 discloses one of such "CATERPILLAR" vehicles.
A specific problem of the drive system which transmits the drive force through the frictional connection between the drive gear and the belt track is that, under unfavorable conditions it is necessary to maintain the slippage as low as possible. In European Patent Document EP 0 165 245 sit has been proposed to limit the slippage potential by maintaining the corresponding quality of the inner side of the belt track. European Patent Document 0 512 467 proposes a special design of the outer peripheral surface of the drive gear to reduce the dirt and thereby the slippage potential between the drive gear and the belt track. The proposed means however can not guarantee reliable operation of the drive without slippage in all cases of applications of the "CATERPILLAR" vehicle. In order to reduce the slippage it is also possible to increase the tension of the belt track. However, an increased tension of the belt track has a disadvantage that it results in increased wear. It is further known to transfer the drive force by means of the toothed elements of the drive gear cooperating with the endless elastic belt track. An example of such solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,379. The disadvantage of such a toothed or form-locking force transmission is however that the belt track near the location at which the drive force is transmitted from the drive gear to the belt track is subjected to an excessive wear. The toothed means connected with the belt track rub on and off.


Tools for defining and using custom analysis modules are presented. A generic graphical user interface (GUI) custom analysis tool is presented to a user. The generic GUI custom analysis tool is adapted to receive selections and inputs from the user that define many-to-many relationships in a data store and that include user-defined measures. The inputs are used to generate an instance of a custom analysis module that is capable of being processed against the data store. The instance of the custom analysis module may be stored, recalled, executed, and/or modified from the generic GUI custom analysis tool.

Enterprises are increasingly capturing, storing, and mining a plethora of information related to communications with their customers. Often this information is stored and indexed within databases. Once the information is indexed, queries are developed on an as-needed basis to mine the information from the database for a variety of organizational goals.
Typically, these queries or mining applications are limited to pre-defined customer segments represented as hierarchical relationships within the database. But, data mining constrained to pre-defined hierarchical relationships can only produce relevant information within the context of these pre-defined relationships. In other words, newly discovered relationships of importance must be manually represented within the pre-existing relationships before the information related to the new relationships can be explored within the database.
Also, the queries or mining applications often rely on pre-existing measures; many of which come pre-packaged as features of a particular database's Application Programming Interface (API). Yet, frequently an analyst may have a unique situation that necessitates aggregated measures or even new measures. In these cases, the analyst typically requests that a developer custom produce the needed measures. This results in lost time and increases an enterprise's expense. Furthermore, if the time lag is substantial the desired measure may become worthless or meaningless as events in the marketplace transpire or time-sensitive opportunities are lost.
Finally, the queries and mining applications are often executed or produced using different tools and interfaces. Thus, an analyst has to use or become fluent in multiple tools or interfaces to effectively achieve a desired query or mining application.
Moreover, some tasks that the analyst may need to do to produce a desired query or mining application may result in using multiple different aspects of a same tool or interface. In other words, the needed features are not integrated in a seamless manner within the same tool or interface that the analyst uses.
Thus, it can be seen that improved mechanisms, tools, and/or interfaces for producing and using applications associated with database analysis are desirable.


A data writing and reading method for a frame memory which provides a high speed data access by using a memory which is divided into a plurality of portions each of which has a plurality of banks. The frame memory stores sets of data corresponding to an image to be displayed on a screen of a display unit. A set of data is written in one of the banks of one of the frame memory portions in accordance with two-dimensional accessing. Then another set of data is written in another one of the banks of one of the frame memory portions when that one of the memory portions is next accessed. The sets of data written in the frame memory is read in accordance with one-dimensional accessing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a data writing and reading method for a memory and, more particularly, to a data writing and reading method for writing and reading image data in a frame memory of a graphical display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A graphical display apparatus generally uses a frame memory to store image data therein. The image data includes dot data corresponding to each pixel obtained by scanning an image. The image data is written in the frame memory, and is read from the frame memory, when it is needed, by a predetermined sequence so that the dot data output from the frame memory is arranged in a predetermined sequence. Recently, in order to increase processing speed of image data, methods are suggested for increasing an access speed to the frame memory and increasing an amount of data which can be accessed by a single access operation. The amount of data accessible by a single access operation can be increased by increasing a width of a bus line.
However, in the method in which the width of the bus line is increased, the number of dots accessed at the same time is increased. Thus, there is a problem in that access is made to unnecessary dot data stored in the frame memory when an access is required for the dot data corresponding to only a small area.
Generally, the frame memory comprises a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). An operation of the DRAM requires a precharge operation. That is, in the operation of the DRAM, an access cannot be made immediately after a previous access has ended since a precharge operation must be performed before each reading operation. This increases an access interval for the frame memory comprising the DRAM. That is, a precharge period needed for the precharge operation is an obstacle to achieve a high speed access to the frame memory to provide an improved image drawing characteristic.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 59-149391 discloses a high speed writing method for a frame buffer. In this method, a series of point data is written in the frame buffer. The point data comprises a series of dots represented by vector components obtained by a digital differential analyzer (DDA). The point data is stored in a DDA buffer having a predetermined storage capacity before it is written in the frame buffer. The frame buffer is divided into a plurality of portions each having a storage capacity equal to the storage capacity of the DDA buffer so as to write the data of the DDA buffer to the frame buffer by a single operation. However, this patent document is not directed to a concept of the data writing and reading method performed with a frame memory which is divided into a plurality of portions with each of the parts having a plurality of banks.

Data writing and reading method for a frame memory having a plurality of memory portions each having a plurality of banks


A flip-chip ball grid array integrated circuit package with improved thermo-mechanical properties is provided. The package includes a substrate having first and second surfaces and a plurality of conductive traces therebetween. A semiconductor die is flip-chip mounted to the first surface of the substrate and electrically connected to ones of the conductive traces. An intermetallic heat spreader is fixed to a back side of the semiconductor die and a plurality of contact balls are disposed on the second surface of the substrate. The contact balls are in the form of a ball grid array and ones of the contact balls of the ball grid array are electrically connected to ones of the conductive traces.

High performance integrated circuit (IC) packages are well known in the art. Improvements in IC packages are driven by industry demands for increased thermal and electrical performance and decreased size and cost of manufacture
In general, array packaging such as Ball Grid Array (BGA) packages provide a high density of interconnects relative to the surface area of the package. Typical BGA packages include a convoluted signal path, giving rise to high impedance and an inefficient thermal path which results in poor thermal dissipation performance. With increasing package density, the spreading of heat generated by the device is increasingly important.
Direct connection of the semiconductor die to a substrate surface in a flip-chip orientation, using solder ball connections provides low impedance packages relative to the use of wire-bond connections and provides reduced package space. This technology is becoming increasingly popular with package fabrication advances including advances in forming and placing of solder balls in flip-chip packaging.
FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a conventional flip-chip BGA package indicated generally by the numeral 20. The flip-chip BGA package includes a substrate 22 with a semiconductor die 24 mounted in a flip-chip orientation, to a first surface of the substrate 22. Solder balls 26 provide electrical connections between the semiconductor die 24 and the substrate 22. Solder balls 28, in the form of a ball grid array are disposed on the second surface of the substrate. These packages suffer disadvantages, however.
One particular disadvantage is the generation of thermally induced stress in these packages, due to a mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) between the semiconductor die and the motherboard, when the package is in use. During temperature cycling, the CTE mismatch creates stresses and strains which are concentrated in the solder ball interconnects between the die and the substrate and in the semiconductor die. In extreme cases, the semiconductor die warps and fatigue failure occurs in the solder ball interconnects.
Variations to the conventional flip-chip BGA have been proposed for the purpose of increased performance. In one exemplary variation, a metal heat spreader is fixed to the back of the semiconductor die to aid in the dissipation of heat. While heat is better dissipated in this package than in the conventional flip-chip BGA, described above, CTE mismatch between the semiconductor die and the motherboard, still cause stresses and strains that have deleterious effects on the package integrity.
Thus, further improvements in flip-chip ball grid array packages are desirable in order to meet industry demands for increased performance.


Herein disclosed an image display including: row scan lines configured to supply a control signal; column signal lines configured to supply a video signal; and pixel circuits configured to be disposed at intersections between the scan lines and the signal lines, wherein each of the pixel circuits has at least a drive transistor, a sampling transistor connected to a gate of the drive transistor, a capacitive part connected between the gate and a source of the drive transistor, and a light-emitting element connected to the source of the drive transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display including pixel circuits for driving light-emitting elements provided on each pixel basis by current. More specifically, the invention relates to a so-called active-matrix image display in which pixel circuits are arranged in a matrix (in rows and columns) and, in particular, the amounts of currents applied to light-emitting elements such as organic EL elements are controlled by insulated-gate field effect transistors provided in the pixel circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image display, e.g., in a liquid crystal display, a large number of liquid crystal pixels are arranged in a matrix, and the transmittance intensity or reflection intensity of incident light is controlled on each pixel basis in accordance with information on an image to be displayed, to thereby display the image. This pixel-by-pixel control is implemented also in an organic EL display employing organic EL elements for its pixels. The organic EL element however is a self-luminous element unlike the liquid crystal pixel. Therefore, the organic EL display has the following advantages over the liquid crystal display: higher image visibility, no necessity for a backlight, and higher response speed. Furthermore, the organic EL display is a current-control display, which can control the luminance level (grayscale) of each light-emitting element based on the current flowing through the light-emitting element, and hence is greatly different from the liquid crystal display, which is a voltage-control display.
The kinds of drive systems for the organic EL display include a simple-matrix system and an active-matrix system similarly to the liquid crystal display. The simple-matrix system has a simpler configuration but involves problems such as a difficulty in the realization of a large-size and high-definition display. Therefore, currently, the active-matrix displays are being developed more actively. In the active-matrix system, a current that flows through a light-emitting element in each pixel circuit is controlled by active elements (typically thin film transistors (TFTs)) provided in the pixel circuit. An example of the pixel circuit is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-234683.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a typical example of an existing pixel circuit. As shown in the drawing, the existing pixel circuit is disposed at the intersection between a row scan line WS that supplies a control signal and a column signal line SL that supplies a video signal. The pixel circuit includes at least a sampling transistor T1, a pixel capacitor Cs serving as a capacitive part, a drive transistor Td, and a light-emitting element OLED. The sampling transistor T1 conducts in response to the control signal (selection pulse) supplied from the scan line WS to thereby sample the video signal supplied from the signal line SL. The pixel capacitor Cs holds an input voltage dependent upon the sampled video signal. The drive transistor Td is connected to a power supply line Vcc and supplies an output current to the light-emitting element OLED depending on the input voltage held by the pixel capacitor Cs. The light-emitting element OLED is a two-terminal element (diode-type element). The anode thereof is connected to the drive transistor Td, while the cathode thereof is connected to a ground line GND. The light-emitting element OLED emits light with a luminance dependent upon the video signal due to the output current (drain current) supplied from the drive transistor Td. In general, the output current (drain current) has a dependency on the carrier mobility in the channel region of the drive transistor Td and the threshold voltage of the drive transistor Td.
The drive transistor Td receives by its gate the input voltage held by the pixel capacitor (capacitive part) Cs and conducts the output current between its source and drain, to thereby apply the current to the light-emitting element OLED. The light-emitting element OLED is formed of e.g. an organic EL device, and the light emission luminance thereof is in proportion to the amount of the current applied thereto. The amount of the output current supplied from the drive transistor Td is controlled by the gate voltage, i.e., the input voltage written to the pixel capacitor Cs. The existing pixel circuit changes the input voltage applied to the gate of the drive transistor Td depending on the input video signal, to thereby control the amount of the current supplied to the light-emitting element OLED.
The operating characteristic of the drive transistor is expressed by Equation 1.Ids=(1/2)μ(W/L)Cox(Vgs−Vth)2  Equation 1
In Equation 1, Ids denotes the drain current flowing between the source and drain. This current is the output current supplied to the light-emitting element in the pixel circuit. Vgs denotes the gate voltage applied to the gate with respect to the potential at the source. The gate voltage is the above-described input voltage in the pixel circuit. Vth denotes the threshold voltage of the transistor. μ denotes the mobility in the semiconductor thin film serving as the channel of the transistor. In addition, W, L and Cox denote the channel width, channel length and gate capacitance, respectively. As is apparent from Equation 1 as a transistor characteristic equation, when a thin-film transistor operates in its saturation region, the transistor is turned on to conduct the drain current Ids if the gate voltage Vgs is higher than the threshold voltage Vth. In principle, a constant gate voltage Vgs invariably supplies the same drain current Ids to the light-emitting element as shown by Equation 1. Therefore, supplying video signals at the same level to all the pixels in a screen will allow all the pixels to emit light with the same luminance, and thus will offer uniformity of the screen.
However, actual thin film transistors (TFTs) formed of a semiconductor thin film such as a poly-silicon film involve variation in the device characteristics. In particular, the threshold voltage Vth is not constant but varies from pixel to pixel. As is apparent from Equation 1, even if the gate voltage Vgs is constant, variation in the threshold voltage Vth of the drive transistors leads to variation in the drain current Ids. Thus, the luminance varies from pixel to pixel, which spoils uniformity of the screen.
To address this, there has been developed a pixel circuit provided with a function to cancel the variation in the threshold voltage of drive transistors. This pixel circuit is disclosed in e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2005-345722.
The pixel circuit provided with the function to cancel variation in the threshold voltage Vth can improve uniformity of a screen and can address luminance variation due to changes of the threshold voltage over time. However, to provide the pixel circuit with the threshold voltage cancel function, there is a need to add at least three transistors to the sampling transistor and the drive transistor. In addition, these added transistors need to be line-sequentially scanned at timings different from the timings for the sampling transistors. Consequently, unlike the simple pixel circuit shown in FIG. 1, at least four scan lines are required for pixels on one row, and correspondingly scanners for line-sequentially scanning the respective scan lines at different timings are required. That is, compared with in the simple pixel circuit shown in FIG. 1, the number of the scanners is increased by three for the line-sequential scanning of the pixels provided with the threshold voltage cancel function. When the pixel circuits are formed by an amorphous-silicon TFT process, the scanners are formed of external components in general. Therefore, the increase in the number of the scanners directly leads to increase in the manufacturing costs. When the pixel circuits are formed by a low-temperature poly-silicon TFT process, it is possible to form the scanners by use of poly-silicon TFTs simultaneously. However, the increase in the number of the scanners contributes to a yield decrease and requires the space for arrangement of the scanners on the substrate. As a result, the manufacturing costs increase.


A gunshot detection system detects shooting events within a premises and interacts with building management systems installed within the same premises to guide occupants to safety and/or obstruct or trap an active shooter. Gunshot sensor units detect the gunshots and generate event information based on the detected gunshots. A shooting event response module generates and sends building management instructions to the building management systems. In response, distributed devices of the building management systems perform effect changes within the premises according to the functionality of the distributed devices (e.g. locking/unlocking doors, turning off lights, flashing strobe lights). A control panel of the gunshot detection system presents a graphical user interface for presenting response options and receiving selections of response actions to be performed by the building management systems. The shooting even response module also receives gunshot and building management event data and generates recommendation information based on the event data.

Shooting incidents, involving active shooters shooting victims within buildings such as schools or malls, are increasingly a concern. Identifying and reacting quickly to such incidents can reduce loss of life. For example, first responders need to know if gunshots have actually been fired and the location and number of the fired shots.
In confined areas, such as in a school or a private or public building, detecting and locating the source of gunshots is a complicated problem. A gunshot typically generates several sounds including the gunshot itself, the bullet's bow shockwave, noise from bullet impacts and noise of reflected gunshot sounds. In addition, numerous noises are generated in buildings that may be mistakenly identified as gunshots.
The broad concept of detecting gunshots utilizing acoustics is known. More specifically, it is known to provide a gunshot detection system including an array of acoustic sensors positioned in a pattern which enables signals from the sensors to be employed to not only detect the firing of a gunshot but to also locate the origin of the shot. One main requirement of such a system is the need to accurately distinguish between the sound produced from a gunshot and a host of other ambient sounds. In at least one known arrangement, a microphone is used to detect each sound, which is then amplified, converted to an electrical signal and then the electrical signal is compared with a threshold value above which a gunshot sound is expected to exceed.
Recently, gunshot detection systems with improved accuracy, dependability, and effectiveness have been described. One such system is described in International Publication Number WO 2018/044553, published on Mar. 8, 2018 and entitled "System and Method for Acoustically Identifying Gunshots Fired Indoors." This system provides for low false alarms or false positives and high detection rates by employing two microelectromechanical microphones (MEMs) having different sensitivity levels. Acoustic signals from a first microphone with lower sensitivity (for example, making the anomaly detection microphone essentially deaf to routine sounds) are first analyzed for a peak amplitude level large enough to be a potential gunshot. Then acoustic signals from a second microphone having a higher sensitivity are then analyzed further to confirm that the sound was a gunshot.
Gunshot detection methods have also been proposed that can count the number of gunshots fired, particularly from an automatic or fast acting weapon. One such method is described in International Publication Number WO 2018/044556, published on Mar. 8, 2018 and entitled "Method for Acoustically Counting Gunshots Fired Indoors." In this method, an acoustic signature of captured noise is analyzed to accurately count how many shots are fired. The method can be employed to identify that the gun is an automatic or rapid fire weapon, which information can be provided to emergency personnel.
Additionally, gunshot detection system that can accurately determine where sensed events are located have been proposed. One such system is described in International Publication Number WO 2018/185723, published on Oct. 11, 2018 and entitled "System and Method for Identifying and Locating Sensed Events." Here, a sensor network is employed to detect an event in the form of an audible signal. The event is time stamped and sent to a controller, which evaluates the event as either unique or a multiple detection using the sensor's time of alarm to determine which sensor activated first and to suppress subsequent alarms for the same event. This process is known as de-confliction.
At the same time, many premises with gunshot detection systems are also equipped with one or more building management systems such as access control systems, building automation systems, and/or fire alarm systems. In general, these building management systems are installed within a premises such as commercial, residential, or governmental buildings. Examples of these buildings include offices, hospitals, warehouses, public infrastructure buildings including subways and bus terminals, multi-unit dwellings, schools or universities, shopping malls, government offices, and casinos.
In general, building management systems include one or more control panels or controllers connected to and controlling distributed devices, which perform the building management functions of the building management system. The controllers and distributed devices communicate via wired and/or wireless networks supporting digital and/or analog communication between the devices.
Access control systems typically include control panels such as system controllers and door controllers, and distributed devices, including door position sensors, access control readers, and actuators like electric door locks, to list a few examples. The access control readers are often installed at access points of the buildings to control access to restricted areas, such as buildings or areas of the buildings. Examples of access points include front and interior doors of a building, elevators, hallways connecting two areas of a building, escalators leading to restricted areas of the building and/or turnstiles. The access control readers read the information of keycards and/or transmitted from mobile computing devices and then the access control systems determine if the individuals are authorized to access the restricted areas. If the individuals are authorized to enter the restricted areas, then the access control readers allow access to the restricted areas by unlocking locked doors or turnstiles, signaling that doors should be unlocked, and/or activating elevators. Alarms can be generated upon unauthorized entry.
Building automation systems will typically include one or more building automation control panels and distributed devices that control and monitor the physical plant aspects of a building and aspects of business-specific electrical, computer, and mechanical systems. The physical plant typically includes heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, elevators/escalators, lighting and power systems, refrigeration and coolant systems, and air and/or water purification systems, in examples. HVAC systems typically include air handlers and systems of ducts and vents for circulating air throughout the building. Business-specific systems include computer systems, manufacturing systems that include various types of computer-aided machinery and test equipment, and inventory control and tracking systems, in examples.
Fire alarm systems typically include fire control panels that function as system controllers. Fire detection/initiation devices and alarm notification devices are then installed, distributed throughout the buildings and connected to the panels. Some examples of fire detection/initiation devices include smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, flame detectors, temperature sensors, and/or pull stations (also known as manual call points). Some examples of fire notification devices include speakers, horns, bells, chimes, light emitting diode (LED) reader boards, and/or flashing lights (e.g., strobes).
The fire detection devices monitor the buildings for indicators of fire. Upon detection of an indicator of fire such as smoke or heat or flames, the distributed device is activated and a signal is sent from the activated distributed device to the fire control panel. The fire control panel then initiates an alarm condition by activating audio and visible alarms of the fire notification devices of the fire alarm system, which are also distributed around the building. Additionally, the fire control panel will also send an alarm signal to a monitoring station, which will notify the local fire department or fire brigade.
Recently, it has been proposed to use connected services systems to monitor building management systems. Connected services systems are remote systems that communicate with one or more building management systems for one or more premises and are sometimes administered by separate business entities than the owners and/or occupants of the buildings, which contain the building managements systems. For example, the connected services system can be administered by a building management system manufacturer and/or an entity providing service on the building management systems.

Gunshot detection system with building management system integration


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for a memory build-in self-diagnosis and repair with syndrome identification. It uses a fail-pattern identification and a syndrome-format structure to identify faulty rows, faulty columns and single faulty word in the memory during the testing process, then exports the syndrome information. Based on the syndrome information, a redundancy analysis algorithm is applied to allocate the spare memory elements repairing the faulty memory cells. It has a sequencer with enhanced fault syndrome identification, a build-in redundancy-analysis circuit with improved redundancy utilization, and an address reconfigurable circuit with reduced timing penalty during normal access. The invention reduces the occupation time and the required capture memory space in the automatic test equipment. It also increases the repair rate and reduces the required area overhead.

With the advent of technology, the size and working speed of memory core have increased dramatically in today's integrated circuits, and the integration of system-on-chip (SOC) becomes more and more popular. As the SOC design grows, demand for embedded memory also increases. The memory core in the SOC design normally has larger area than other cores, and its density is also higher than that of logic cores. Therefore, the memory yield often dominates the yield of an SOC chip. SOC chips usually have poor yield. An efficient method for improving the SOC yield is increasing the memory yield.
To improve the memory yield, efficient diagnosis and repair schemes are needed. The diagnosis scheme can detect the weakness of product and then modify design or process, and the repair scheme can replace the faulty cell with spare memory. Both of them can enhance the yield of memory cores. Embedded memory cores are widely used in SOC applications but they cannot be easily accessed from external circuitry. So these schemes should be realizable in circuit with acceptable area overhead. In other word, the area overhead of the built-in self-diagnosis (BISD) or built-in self-repair (BISR) should be low to reduce area penalty.
Testing of embedded memory is normally done by built-in self-test (BIST). A BIST scheme that also collects and exports the diagnostic data for subsequent on-line or off-line analysis has been called a BISD scheme. The exported diagnostic data can be used to, e.g., construct the bit-maps, identify the failure modes, repair the faulty cells, etc.
Frequently, the volume of diagnostic data of faulty memory cores is too large to be stored in the automatic test equipment (ATE), due to very Limited space of the capture memory in a typical ATE. A solution to this problem is compression of diagnostic data Recently, there are memory researches focusing on this subject. Some researchers define several frequently seen fail patterns, and compress the bit-maps based on these fail patterns. If the bit-maps relate to large memories, they are frequently compressed with fail patterns. The compression of output response from the BIST circuit can be found in the literature. The method is similar to signature analysis in logic BIST.
Fault-syndrome compression approaches have been proposed recently, where a partial Huffman-tree and other techniques are used to improve the compression ratio while maintaining a low BISD hardware cost.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional BIST/BISD architecture that comprises three blocks, a controller 101, a sequencer 103 and a test pattern generator (TPG) 105. The controller 101 is the interface between the BIST/D and ATE. The sequencer 103 has a finite state machine (FSM), and is the main part of the BIST/D design. It controls the TPG 105 executing the test commands from the controller 101, and is also responsible for shifting out the fault syndromes. The TPG 105 has two main functions—decoding the test commands sent from the sequencer 103 and comparing the memory output with the expected data. The TPG 105 is thus highly dependent on the memory specifications, especially on the memory timing parameters and access modes. In physical design, it should be placed as close to the memory as possible to avoid possible timing violations. The sequencer 103 also becomes a complex circuit block if the BIST/D supports fail-pattern identification scheme.
FIG. 1 shows the input/output (I/O) signals MCK, MSI, MBC, MBS, MBO, MRD, MBR, and MSO, which represent the memory BISD-clock, memory BISD-scan-in, memory BISD-control, memory BISD mode selection, memory BISD-output, memory BISD-ready, memory BISD-reset, and memory BISD-scan-out signals, respectively.
Referring to FIG. 1, the operation of I/O signals is further explained herein below. For a synchronous RAM, MCK is usually the same as the memory clock so that at-speed test can be performed. The MSI input is for scan in test commands to the programmable BISD. The MBC signal controls the finite state machine (FSM) of the controller 101. Whether the system is in normal mode or BIST/BISD mode is determined by MBS. MBO outputs the test results, indicating whether the memory is good (1) or bad (0). As soon as the test process finishes, MRD goes high, else it stays low. The MBR signal is an asynchronous reset signal. Finally, MSO is used to scan out the error information for diagnosis or redundancy repair.
Diagnosis can help designers understand the weakness of the product, and redundancy repair can increase the yield of the product. The BISR design is the trend of the embedded memory, and there are many researches on this subject. Among them, the infrastructure IPs (IIPs) have been applied for yield enhancement. A memory core with BISR design is an important IIP. A BISR design with comprehensive real-time exhaustive search test and analysis method has been published. There are many types of redundancy structures. Among them, the word redundancy repair scheme was proposed early.
Another example is using a power-on repair BISR design with spare columns (1-D redundancy) only. The 2-D redundancy structure with segment partition and heuristic redundancy analysis (RA) algorithm was also studied. The authors applied a static and dynamic data-bin repair scheme or an on-line BISR design with a transparent BIST algorithm for SRAMs.
These redundancy repair researches focus on different applications, and they stress the importance of the BISR design.
FIG. 2 shows a typical BISR design which comprises three main blocks, BIST 201, built-in redundancy-analysis (BIRA) 203, and address reconfiguration (AR) 205.
The BIST 201 detects faults in the memory and exports the fault syndrome to the BIRA 203. The fault coverage of the BIST 201 depends on the test algorithms it implements. The fault syndrome generated by the BIST 201 contains the address of the faulty cell or word. The BIRA 203 receives the fault syndrome from the BIST 201 and analyzes the information using a built-in redundancy analysis algorithm. The BIRA 203 has two major functions: RA and spare element configuration.
The redundancy analysis algorithm is the main part of the BISR design, and it usually has two phases, must-repair phase and final spare allocation phase. The phase-1, must-repair phase, is used to identify the faulty rows or columns that must be repaired by spare rows or columns. In the second phase, the remaining faulty cells are repaired by the available spare elements not used in phase-1. This is normally done by simple heuristics. Most of the remaining faults in phase-2 are single-cell faults, and most of them are orthogonal with each other. The RA algorithm should be easy to implement, and be cost effective. Although exhaustive-search RA algorithms generate optimal spare allocation results, they are costly to implement and thus impractical.
Selection of an appropriate RA algorithm is highly related to the number of spare elements and their structure. This can be efficiently evaluated by a simulator which reports the repair rates for different RA algorithms and spare element configurations. Based on the repair rates, users will be able to select the most cost effective one for using in the BISR implementation.
The AR circuit is used to 'repair' the memory, i.e., it replaces the faulty cells with the fault-free spare ones. This is normally done by address remapping or address decoder reconfiguration (by, e.g., switches or fuses). If there is a non-volatile memory on chip, it can be used to store the reconfiguration information even when the power is off. Alternatively, power-on BIST and BISR can be used.
The complexity of an AR circuit depends partly on the spare structure, i.e., structure of spare rows, columns, words, blocks, etc. The complexity increases with the number of spare elements. Another important issue in the AR circuit design is performance penalty because it affects the access time of the memory during normal operation. The performance penalty due to address reconfiguration should be as low as possible.

Method and apparatus of build-in self-diagnosis and repair in a memory with syndrome identification

Industrial Technology Research Institute


An accessory is provided for use with an image capture device is provided. The accessory has a trigger button and an image capture system adapted to capture an image in response to actuation of the trigger button. The accessory also has a body adapted to be detachably connectable to the image capture device with the body including, a holding unit for receiving a removable metadata source having metadata stored therein; a communication interface for communicating with the removable metadata source; and a trigger sensor for generating a trigger signal when the trigger button of said image capture device is depressed. The communication interface obtains metadata from the removable metadata source in response to the trigger signal and stores the metadata in a metadata memory so that the metadata is associated with the captured image.

Consumers who use one-time-use cameras (OTUCs) often desire the ability to incorporate special effects into images. Special effects may include superimposing special text or additional images onto an original captured image, adjusting the color content of the image or otherwise modifying the appearance on image. However, cost and camera size limitations can limit the number of controls and features that are included in such cameras and can make it challenging to incorporate such features in such cameras. The term "one-time-use camera" is used herein to refer to cameras that are provided to consumers in preloaded form and cannot be reloaded, by the consumer, without extensive camera disassembly, or replacement of parts, or use of special tools, or the like. OTUCs are widely available at this time. Unless the film in the OTUC contains pre-exposed special effects or images, those who use OTUCs generally have to rely on manual photo editing tools to add special effects in an image.
Various systems have been devised to allow camera-users to associate image related metadata with captured images. Such metadata includes information that is associated with an image but does not necessarily appear in the image itself. The metadata can include information that can be used to process captured images, organize captured images, and modify captured images. Such metadata can be particularly useful in providing instructions asking a photofinisher to incorporate special effects into a selected image.
One way to transfer metadata from a camera to a photofinisher is to use an encodement. An encodement is a feature of physical media used to communicate one or more pieces of information to a machine, and can include alphanumeric text and other indicia. U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,013 discloses a one-time-use camera employing a prerecorded machine readable encodement that modifies captured images to convey metadata that is read during processing, i.e., printing of the photograph or viewable digital image display. The camera has also a sighting guide identifying the part of the image subject to modification.
For instance, an encodement might be written to the film itself as is described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,013. Alternatively, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,737 discloses a system for controlling the photofinishing of photographic film wherein the film has a magnetic layer on which an instructional code is placed by the manufacturer or the user to provide directions for photofinishing. This photographic system requires a predetermined code be placed on the magnetic layer or requires a means to allow the consumer to apply the instructional code to the magnetic layer. Various systems of this type are known in the art.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,173,119 and 6,381,416 disclose the use of a radio-frequency identification transponder mounted in the body of a camera or affixed to an image capture media, such as photographic film, to provide information or data that is accessible from a distance. The term "radio-frequency identification transponder" is used herein principally to refer to any of a class of compact radio receiver-transmitters which are powered by an ambient radio-frequency field. Direct physical contact or close proximity to this type of transponder is unnecessary to obtain information from these transponders. These transponders typically have sufficient memory to store relatively large amounts of data including, but not limited to, set-up parameters for a photofinishing device, instructions for modifying the captured images, or request, for specific services.
While the systems described in the '013, '737, '119 and '416 applications provide commercially viable and valuable models, other solutions that are both useful and economically viable under other circumstances are also desirable. In particular, it will be appreciated that one-time-use cameras are typically recycled after use and components thereof are used to build new cameras. However, introducing new camera components and/or film types into an existing stock of recyclable camera parts fragments the stock into a portion having existing components and a portion having new components. This fragmentation can create challenges during recycling. Thus, what is needed is a system for associating metadata such as special effect metadata with captured images that does not create such challenges.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,127 discloses a special effects filter that surrounds a one-time-use camera body while allowing viewing through the lens and the viewfinder so that practically identical images are registered with the lens and the viewfinder. The special effects available with this patent arise by sliding the special effects filter to one position of several special effect zones, which include changes in color rendition, over the lens and view finder simultaneously.
Commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0164160 discloses a system that allows a one-time-use camera to capture an image of a card that provides processing instructions to the photofinisher. While the '160 publication provides a useful and commercially viable solution, it may be desirable to capture images of a scene while at the same time capturing the metadata that is associated with the images.
It will be appreciated that digital cameras typically provide a greater ability to store and incorporate special effect information in images. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,326 discloses an instant special effects camera for children that employs plug-in cartridges to create a variety of special effects, e.g., picture frames, film stars, animals, which are overlayed upon the captured image. The camera uses an integrated thermal printer to produce the resulting image. The cartridges provide memory containing image content that adapts the captured image to form the print. This requires relatively expensive data cartridges. In other, more conventional digital cameras, a display and menuing system select and associate particular metadata such as special effect metadata with captured images.
Accordingly what is needed is a practical way to automatically incorporate selected metadata such as special effects with captured images. What is also needed is a low cost solution that is equally applicable for digital and film implementations.


An automatic molding apparatus includes a rotatable turntable which has located thereon a plurality of pattern supporting plates. A mold pattern located on at least one of the pattern supporting plates is surrounded by a flask located on the pattern supporting plate and having an open top and bottom. A movable sand adding box communicates with the top of the flask when the flask and the pattern supporting plate are moved to a feeding position beneath the sand adding box. The sand adding box has an open top and bottom to allow sand to pass therethrough and into the flask. A feeding channel beneath a sand supply includes an upper opening for allowing sand from the sand supply to enter the feeding channel. A movable plate allows sand in the feeding channel to enter the sand adding box when the movable plate is moved to an open position. After being filled with sand, the flask and sand adding box are raised to a position where a pressing plate compresses the sand in the flask. After the sand is compressed, the pattern supporting plate and flask are lowered and rotated to a clamping position. The flask and pattern supporting plate are raised again and the flask is clamped. The pattern supporting plate and mold pattern are then lowered while the flask is held in position to form a mold cavity in the shape of the mold pattern.

The present invention relates to a sand casting mold, and more particularly to an automatic molding apparatus for a sand casting mold cavity (pool).
Casting is a time-honored art of forming molten metal into a particular shape by pouring or pressing into a mold. It involves using a mold pattern, which is made from appropriate materials and has a shape and a size similar to those of a cast piece. The mold pattern is then placed in the flask to form a mold cavity(pool). The molten metal is poured into the mold cavity to form a cast piece of a desired shape, which is removed from the mold, after having cooled off and hardened, by dismantling the sand casting mold in which it is formed.
In general, the first step of casting involves the production of a mold pattern in accordance with the size and the shape of a product intended to be cast. The mold pattern so made is then placed in a flask, into which the mold sand is added. After injection channel has been set up in the flask, the mold pattern, which was previously placed in the flask, is removed so as to form a casting mold cavity inside the flask.
Such conventional casting procedures of the prior art as described above are time consuming. In addition, the quality of cast products can not be easily controlled, because the distribution of the mold sand in the flask has to be done manually. Such manual operation can often result in an uneven distribution of the mold sand in the flask, thereby bringing about the production of a cast piece of poor quality.

Automatic molding apparatus for forming sand casting molds


Disclosed is a hat which can be made of multiple pieces or one integral piece of soft material sewed into a hat body having a crown portion and a brim portion. An elastic band is sewed onto and along a lower inner periphery of the crown portion of the hat body in specially patterned stitches to replace the lining band and decorative hat band usually used on a conventional hat. The hat can be folded without becoming deformed. The elastic band provides the hat with adjustable size and tightness to suit to different head shapes and sizes.

The present invention relates to a structurally improved hat, and more particularly to a hat having an elastic band material sewed around a lower inner periphery of a crown of the hat to replace a lining band inside a conventional felt hat and to save a hat band or ribbon usually used on a conventional hat to cover and decorate sewing threads shown on the hat. The hat according to the present invention can be folded without becoming deformed and can suit to all head shapes and sizes.
FIG. 6 illustrates a conventional hat, in which a part of the hat is cut away to better show an internal structure thereof. To make a hat with crown 1a and brim 12a in fixed configuration, it is a common practice in early stage methods of making a hat to form the hat by sewing multiple specially cut pieces together. Later, there are fabric containing plastic material developed, such as nylon, allowing the hat to be integrally formed. Either a sewed or an integrally formed hat, it generally has a structure as shown in FIG. 6 without too much change for so many years. A lining band 2a is sewed onto and around a lower inner periphery 11a of the crown la, making the sewing thread 21a visible from outside of the hat. Therefore, a decorative band or ribbon 3a is required as an accessory to cover and decorate the crown 1a. This makes the production of a hat complicate and troublesome. Moreover, a hat so produced shall have a crown 1a having a lower inner periphery 11a in a fixed size. So, it is necessary for a hat seller to make the same type of hat in many different sizes for the choice of consumers and to prepare sufficient room for storage of these hats. This is, of course, inconvenient for both the consumers and the hat sellers.
Furthermore, since the lining band 2a itself does not have a function of tightening the hat to a wearer's head, the hat so produced tends to be easily blown away from the wearer's head. To prevent the hat from being blown away, a string 4a is usually attached to the hat and makes the hat looking ugly. Moreover, the hat with lining band 2a and hat band 3a is usually made to have fixed shape and not suitable for folding when the hat is not in use. In case the hat is folded, it shall have an irrevocably deformed appearance.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a hat with improved structure to eliminate the above drawbacks found in the conventional hats.


An all in one muzzle loading device is a T-shaped device used to store and quickly reload a gun during a successive shot. The all in one muzzle loading device has a handle and a stem forming the T-shaped configuration. The stem releasably holds the projectile and the handle holds gunpowder pellets, and primer. A cap is disposed at an end of the handle to hold the pellets within the handle. The primer is manipulated on the handle using a slideable primer applicator that, in an extended position, disposes the primer a distance from the handle. The handle also has lip extending from its side being a ram rod receiver. The ram rod receiver is designed to hold a ram rod without restraint thus permitting the ram rod to rotate or twist freely.

Hunters continue to hunt with muzzle-load firearms, such as rifles and pistols, due to the historical significance, and due to today's modern muzzle-loaders long-range accuracy and because hunting seasons are at times restricted to muzzle loaders. In order to muzzle-load a rifle or pistol, compressed powder pellets or (loose powder) and a projectile, such as a bullet, must be loaded in the muzzle of the rifle, and a percussion cap or primer must be placed on the nipple or firing mechanism of the rifle. Thus, requiring a person utilizing a muzzle-loading rifle to carry with him quantities of compressed powder or loose pellets, bullets and percussion caps or primer. While it is desirable to expedite the loading of such rifles, the procedures required to load the rifle cannot be automated. A problem associated with use of muzzle loading rifles in game hunting is the time required to load or reload under actual field conditions of use. A period typically of one or two minutes is required to assemble all the necessary items carried by the hunter and all components to be individually inserted in the muzzle for proper charging. Traditionally, all loading tools, charges, primers and bullets are carried in the field in a "Possibles" bag.
Accordingly, a device is desired that eliminates the "Possibles" bag and/or any pouch used to carry the above-listed items. Also, a device is desired that stores muzzle charge and facilitates the loading of the charge into a muzzle loading firearm so that the firearm can fire a shot or second/follow up shot quickly. A device is also desired that may be easily carried by the hunters without interfering with normal activities. It is also desired that the device be economical to manufacture and sell within the price range acceptable to a large number of muzzle loading firearm owners. In as much as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of speed loading devices, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such speed loading devices, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.


The Doppler spreads of the received signals in a MIMO, SIMO or MISO mobile communication system are estimated from the derivatives of the path transfer function envelopes for the received signals. The estimated Doppler spreads is used to estimate the speed of the mobile station.

A radio signal from a transmitter to a receiver will travel along different propagation paths as the signal is scattered by obstacles, such as houses and other objects. This leads to signals received with different time delays, so called multipath propagation. When the receiver starts moving Doppler shifts will be introduced. When several paths arrive at the same time delay a Doppler spread, or Doppler spectrum, is generated.
Knowledge of the Doppler spread has been found to be useful for enhancing the operation of receivers as described, for example, in Morelli, M. et al., "Further Results in Carrier Frequency Estimation for Transmissions Over Flat Fading Channels", IEEE Communications Letters vol. 2, no. 12, December 1998. The Doppler spread can also be used to infer the scalar speed of a receiver relative to local radio reflectors. This scalar speed is not the radial velocity that one can determine by measuring a Doppler shift. In most cases, the speed will correspond to the speed of the receiver, such as in the case of a receiver in a moving car surrounded by stationary street furniture.


The present invention relates to a camera module, the module including: a PCB; an image sensor mounted on the PCB and formed with an image pickup device; a base mounted on the PCB and including a plated portion formed at a lower center with an opening mounted with an IR filter; a lower spring plate formed with a conductive material; a spacer arranged on an upper surface of the lower spring plate and forming a staircase structure by a rib wrapping a periphery of the lower spring plate to supportively apply a pressure to the lower spring plate; a lens actuator including a bobbin, and a yoke; an upper spring plate coupled to an upper surface of the lens actuator; and a cover arranged on an upper surface of the upper spring plate.

A camera module is recently applied to various multimedia fields including notebook type personal computers, camera phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), smart phones and toys, and to image input equipment including monitoring cameras and information terminals.
A PCB (printed Circuit Board) of a camera module is manufactured being embedded with various electronic elements, and the electronic elements are generally configured with integrated modules on the PCB. The camera module used on the PCB is frequently mounted with an actuator for automatic focus adjustment generally using a VCM (Voice Coil Motor) method.
In order for the camera module mounted with an VCM actuator to be used for a mobile terminal, light-weightiness and slimness required for design must be accomplished. Meantime, although size of a camera module is basically limited by that of a VCM assembly, there is a disadvantage that even if the size is reduced, no part can be omitted as long as function of the VCM assembly has to be maintained.
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a camera module according to prior art. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional camera module includes a PCB (11) mounted with an image sensor (12), a base (20) on the PCB (11), upper and lower spring plates (30, 60), a spacer (40), a cover (70), a lens assembly (51) bobbin (52), a lens actuator (50) including a coil (53) and a yoke (54) and a shield can (80).
That is, the cover (70) structurally takes a shape of an enclosure formed with a bottom-opened inner space, and accommodates the upper/lower spring plates (30, 60) and the lens actuator (500) at the inner space.


Systems and methods for accessing a relational database through an object-oriented querying interface are provided. A class of objects that are to be stored in the relational database are defined. One or more relational database tables are created and a mapping is produced that maps each data member of an object to one or more columns in a relational database table. Additionally, object-oriented paradigms like inheritance may be supported and the allocation of storage for array elements may be deferred until necessary.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for transferring data to and from a first memory that is organized according to an object-oriented scheme to a second memory that is organized according to a relational database management scheme.
More specifically, the invention relates in certain embodiments to methods and apparatuses for transferring data to and from a transient storage that is organized according to an object-oriented scheme to a persistent storage that is organized according to a relational database management scheme. In certain embodiments, the relational database in persistent storage is designed by an object server. This includes defining the tables of the relational database as well as the various columns. The object server then stores and retrieves data from the various tables defined in persistent storage according to a hierarchical tree that maps data encapsulated within objects to table locations in the relational database found in persistent storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are well known tradeoffs associated with relational database and object oriented database designs. Relational databases are commonly optimized for fast, efficient searching. This is largely the result of the fact that relational databases are built from a set of tables that contain related columns. The tables are indexed in an efficient manner by the relational database so that searches may be performed in an optimal manner. While organizing information into a complex related set of tables helps speed searching, a thorough knowledge of the tables is required to specify data that is to be retrieved or to specify where data is to be stored. Furthermore, changing the structure of the tables to add a column may require extensive programming and rewriting of existing code. Another problem in many relational database management systems (RDBMSs) is that columns in tables that contain no information or are not used nevertheless take up space in memory.
A standard relational query language, Structured Query Language (SQL) is used to query most popular relational databases. SQL requires that the person who specifies a query know what tables and columns contain the information that is to be compared against the query. For example, in order to look for all customers in a city, the user must know both the name of the table that contains city information and also the name of the column in that table that contains the city information. It is also necessary that the user know the tables that should be joined to accomplish the search. Likewise, in order to store information in the proper column of the proper table, the user must know the name of the table and column in which the information should be stored.
In contrast, it is easier to query, modify and write information to object-oriented databases. Instead of specifying a table and column for storing or retrieving information, related data is encapsulated in an object. The object may be read into memory and all encapsulated data may be readily accessed. Searching, however, is not as efficient as relational database searching. Entire objects are read into memory in order to check the relevant encapsulated data members. Similarly, store operations are performed on entire objects. Thus, this methodology is not very well suited for on-line transaction processing (OLTP) where transaction rates are high but often only portions of the objects are desired.
Attempts to make object-oriented relational databases have for the most part merely added an object-oriented interpretation to a relational database structure. For example, rows in an existing relational database structure may be interpreted as an object, with each column representing an encapsulated data member. This arrangement, however, does not realize the full power of an object-oriented database. For example, inheritance is not supported so subclasses of objects may not be defined. Additionally, the problem of adding data members to objects is not addressed. Still further, adding a column with no data still allocates large chunk of storage for that column, even if the column is never used.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for methods and apparatuses for taking advantage of the programming, storage and querying ease of an object-oriented database while enjoying the searching speed of a relational database.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for object oriented storage and retrieval of data from a relational database


A service searching system and method for a wireless ad hoc network. According to the present invention, service information on a service agent providing a relevant service is received from a user agent that has previously broadcast a service request packet in a wireless ad hoc network environment, and consequently load on the network can be reduced. Further, service information is received from a user agent, and an additional selection algorithm for storing the service information on a service agent is not required.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2003-0065570 filed on Sep. 22, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a service search system and method for a wireless ad hoc network, and more particularly, to an efficient service searching system and method for a wireless ad hoc network, which enables efficient searches of services due to reduction in load by preventing unnecessary broadcasts in a wireless ad hoc network environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical service search system for a wired network environment, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a user agent 10 requesting a desired service, a service agent 20 for providing the service requested by the user agent 10, a directory agent 30 for storing information on the service agent 20 therein and sending the information on the service agent 20 upon reception of a service request from the user agent 10, and a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) 40 for providing the address of the directory agent 30 to the user agent 10.
Further, the user agent 10, the service agent 20, the directory agent 30 and the DHCP 40 are connected to one another via a given wired network 50.
At this time, the service agent information includes the service content, IP address and the like of a service agent providing a relevant service.
Further, the directory agent 30 may be eliminated, if necessary. If there is no directory agent 30, the user agent 10 broadcasts a service request packet and then uses a relevant service through a response sent by the service agent 20 in response to the service request packet.
The operation of the service searching system varies depending on the existence or absence of the directory agent 30. First, a case where there is no directory agent 30 will be discussed. The user agent 10 broadcasts a service request packet through the wired network.
In a case where the service agent 20 that has received the service request packet provides the requested service, the service agent 20 issues a service response in a unicast manner by which a relevant response signal is sent directly to the user agent 10.
Meanwhile, if there is a directory agent 30, the service agent 20 first registers providable services with the directory agent 30.
Thereafter, the user agent 10 finds out the address of the directory agent 30 through the DHCP 40 and requests a desired service.
If there is a service agent 20 capable of providing a service corresponding to the request, the directory agent 30 provides the address of the relevant service agent 20.
If a service agent 20 capable of providing the relevant service does not exist in the directory agent 30, the user agent 10 broadcasts a service request packet.
Meanwhile, as the utility of wireless networks has been recently highlighted, studies have been conducted on service search methods for wireless networks.
As a result, there have been attempts to apply a service, search method for wired networks to wireless networks.
However, since the aforementioned service search system and method have been developed based on a wired network, it causes routing problems in a wireless ad hoc network environment in which respective terminals serve as routers in that the respective terminals should be searched every broadcast and thus a heavy load is exerted on the entire wireless ad hoc network.
Meanwhile, there is a problem with the selection of the directory agent 30 to employ the directory agent in the wireless ad hoc network.
That is, a predetermined selection algorithm should be used to select the directory agent, and as part of this process, a heavy load is caused due to the participation of all terminals in the network.
Moreover, there is a problem in that the efficiency of a terminal selected as a directory agent is degraded since much power and bandwidth is used for service search in the terminal.
There is another problem in that if the terminal selected as the directory agent deviates from radio wave coverage or the supply of power thereto is turned off, it cannot be used and thus a directory agent needs to be selected again, thereby causing heavy load on the network.

Service search system for wireless ad hoc network, and service searching method thereof


A method for dressing a tool of a gear grinding machine, including a workpiece holder and a tool holder, is provided. The tool holder, arranged on a machining head, is rotatable about a first axis of rotation, and is linearly movable via a first linear axis of movement, wherein a workpiece clamped in the workpiece holder can be machined by a tool clamped in the tool holder. The machine furthermore includes a dressing unit with a dressing tool holder rotatable about a second axis of rotation, wherein a dressing tool accommodated in the dressing tool holder is used for dressing the tool clamped in the tool holder. During the dressing operation the machining head is pivoted about the swivel axis in dependence on a tool profile and is linearly moved with the first linear axis of movement.

The tools used in gear grinding are exposed to constant wear and therefore must be dressed at regular intervals. The abrasive coating of the tools consists of abrasive grains bound in a binding material, wherein during dressing a removal of abrasive grains and binding material of the tool is effected with the objective of changing the abrasive coating for generating the desired profile of the tool and the required profile accuracy (macrogeometry). The tool can be dressed by a rotating dressing tool accommodated in the dressing tool holder, while it remains clamped in the tool holder.
In the dressing method known from the prior art, a desired profile of the tool is achieved on dressing, in that the relative movements between tool and dressing tool, which are necessary for producing the desired profile, are generated by the superposition of a movement of an axis of movement of the dressing unit with a movement of an axis of movement of the machining head.
It is the object of the present disclosure to provide an improved method for dressing a tool. Furthermore, it is the object of the present disclosure to provide an improved gear grinding machine.
In accordance with the present disclosure, this object is at least partially addressed as described herein.
In one example, the present disclosure shows a method for dressing a tool on a gear grinding machine which includes a workpiece holder and a tool holder, wherein the tool holder is rotatable about a first axis of rotation (B1) and is arranged on a machining head which is pivotable via a swivel axis (A1) and is linearly movable via a first linear axis of movement (V1), wherein a workpiece clamped in the workpiece holder can be machined by a tool clamped in the tool holder. The gear grinding machine furthermore includes a dressing unit with a dressing tool holder, which is rotatable about a second axis of rotation (B2), wherein a dressing tool accommodated in the dressing tool holder is used for dressing the tool clamped in the tool holder.
In accordance with the present disclosure it is provided that during the dressing operation the machining head is pivoted and linearly moved by movements of the swivel axis (A1) and the first linear axis of movement (V1) adjusted to each other in dependence on the tool profile to be produced, wherein the relative movements between dressing tool and tool, which produce the desired profile, are at least partly generated by the superposition of the movements of the swivel axis (A1) and the first linear axis of movement (V1). The method according to the present disclosure can be used for example for producing or restoring a desired profile and/or for modifying a profile.
The inventors of the present disclosure have recognized that for generating the relative movements necessary during dressing, no axes of movement of the dressing unit must be employed. These relative movements rather can be generated via the swivel axis (A1) and the first linear axis of movement (V1) anyway present for machining a workpiece. As a result, the axes of the gear grinding machine anyway present can be used better in the method according to the present disclosure. On the one hand, this provides for a more flexible dressing operation, and on the other hand for using a gear grinding machine of simpler construction.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the desired profile of the tool is produced in that by moving the machining head via the swivel axis (A1) and the first linear axis of movement (V1), the rotating tool is guided past the likewise rotating dressing tool for producing the desired profile, while the dressing tool and tool are in engagement with each other.
Advantageously, the swivel axis (A1) of the machining head is perpendicular to the axis of rotation (B1) of the tool holder.
Furthermore advantageously, in the method according to the present disclosure the swivel axis (A1) and the first linear axis of movement (V1) also are used when machining a workpiece on the gear grinding machine.
When machining a workpiece, the swivel axis (A1) in particular can be used for adjusting the angle between the tool axis and the workpiece axis, for example when producing a helical toothing.
Furthermore, the first linear axis of movement (V1) can be used for shifting the tool, for example to bring another point of the tool in engagement with the workpiece.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the dressing unit is arranged on the gear grinding machine such that the machining head with the tool holder is movable relative to the dressing unit via a first linear axis of movement (V1). The linear axis of movement (V1) hence provides the second degree of freedom necessary for producing a desired two-dimensional profile of the tool beside the swivel axis (A1).
Advantageously, the relative movements between dressing tool and tool, which are necessary for producing the desired profile during the dressing operation, are generated solely via a movement of the machining head. In particular, the dressing unit thus can be arranged on the gear grinding machine without a linear axis of movement, and advantageously in a completely rigid manner.
For producing the desired profile, the swivel axis (A1) and/or the first linear axis of movement (V1) of the machining head in addition can furthermore be utilized in accordance with the present disclosure for moving the tool accommodated in the tool holder towards the dressing tool from a grinding position into a dressing position. In particular, the tool can be pivoted by the swivel axis (A1) from a grinding position into the dressing position.
Advantageously, the tool accommodated in the tool holder is moved towards the dressing tool solely by the movements of the machining head.
In the method according to the present disclosure or in the gear grinding machine used for this purpose, it can furthermore be provided that the workpiece holder is rotatable about a third axis of rotation (C1) and the machining head is arranged on a carriage which is movable parallel to the axis of rotation (C1) of the workpiece holder via a second linear axis of movement (Z1).
Advantageously, it can be provided that the first linear axis of movement (V1) allows a linear movement of the machining head relative to the carriage.
Furthermore advantageously, it can be provided that the swivel axis (A1) allows a swivel movement of the machining head relative to the carriage.
Furthermore, it can be provided that the first linear axis of movement (V1) is arranged between the swivel axis (A1) and the carriage. Furthermore, it can be provided that the first linear axis of movement (V1) is vertical to the second linear axis of movement (Z1).
Alternatively, however, it can also be provided that the swivel axis (A1) is arranged between the first linear axis of movement (V1) and the carriage.
Furthermore, it can be provided that the carriage is arranged on a machine column which is movable vertical to the axis of rotation (C1) of the workpiece holder via a third linear axis of movement (X1).
In accordance with the present disclosure, the dressing unit advantageously can be arranged on the carriage, wherein for dressing purposes the relative movements are generated by the axis of rotation (A1) and the first linear axis of movement (V1) arranged between the carriage and the machining head. Since these two axes of movement are sufficient for generating all movements necessary during dressing, the dressing unit can rigidly be arranged on the carriage at least as regards linear movements.
In accordance with the present disclosure, a second dressing unit furthermore can be provided, which via a fourth linear axis of movement (Z3) can be moved towards the first dressing unit and away from the same, in order to vary the distance between the dressing tools accommodated in the dressing tool holders of the first and second dressing units. In the method according to the present disclosure, it is advantageously provided that the two dressing units are used for dressing the tool on two sides.
The method according to the present disclosure also can be used in such machining heads which include two tool holders for accommodating separate tools. Advantageously, the two tools accommodated in the tool holders are dressed by at least one common dressing unit. In particular, it can be provided that after dressing the first tool, the second tool is moved to the dressing unit by swiveling the machining head about the swivel axis (A1). Advantageously, the two tool holders are arranged on a common axis of rotation (B1). Alternatively or in addition, it can be provided that the two tool holders are driven via a common drive.
In addition to the method for dressing a tool according to the present disclosure, the present disclosure furthermore comprises a method for manufacturing a gear wheel on a gear grinding machine, in which a workpiece clamped in a workpiece holder is machined by a tool clamped in the tool holder. In particular, hard finishing of the workpiece is effected by the tool clamped in the tool holder. In accordance with the present disclosure, the tool is dressed according to the method of the present disclosure as described above, in order to produce the tool profile necessary for generating the desired workpiece geometry. The method of the present disclosure for dressing the tool thus allows a particularly flexible, easy and inexpensive manufacture of gear wheels with a desired gear wheel geometry and surface quality.
The present disclosure furthermore comprises a gear grinding machine with a controller, for example, with memory including instructions, for automatically actuating the axes of movement of the gear grinding machine while machining a workpiece and/or while dressing a tool. In accordance with the present disclosure, the controller includes structure for carrying out the above-described methods for dressing a tool. During the dressing operation, the controller advantageously controls the relative movements necessary for producing a desired profile of the tool by correspondingly pivoting the machining head via the swivel axis (A1) and by a linear movement adjusted thereto of the first linear axis of movement (V1). Advantageously, the controller calculates the swivel movements of the machining head necessary for producing a desired profile. Furthermore advantageously, the controller has an input function for inputting data on the desired profile of the tool, from which the relative movements are calculated. Advantageously, the controller is configured such that the dressing function automatically actuates the axes of the gear grinding machine when carrying out the method and steps described above.
In particular, the gear grinding machine furthermore is constructed such as has been described above with respect to the method. In particular, the gear grinding machine includes a tool holder which is rotatable about a first axis of rotation (B1) and is arranged on a machining head which is pivotable via a swivel axis (A1). Furthermore, the gear grinding machine includes a dressing unit with a dressing tool holder, which is rotatable about a second axis of rotation (B2). Furthermore, the machining head with the tool holder can be movable relative to the dressing unit via a first linear axis of movement (V1). Furthermore, the workpiece holder can be rotatable about a third axis of rotation (C1) and the machining head can be arranged on a carriage which is movable parallel to the axis of rotation (C) of the workpiece holder via a second linear axis of movement (Z1). Furthermore, it can be provided that the carriage is arranged on a machine column which is movable vertical to the axis of rotation (C1) of the workpiece holder via a third linear axis of movement (X1). The further construction of the gear grinding machine also can be designed such as has already been described above.
As in the gear grinding machine according to the present disclosure the relative movements between tool and dressing tool are generated during dressing via the first axis of rotation (A1) of the machining head and a further linear axis of movement of the machining head, the dressing unit itself need not have any axes of movement. In accordance with the present disclosure, the dressing unit therefore can rigidly be arranged on an element anyway present in the gear grinding machine, at least as regards linear movements, for example on the carriage or the machine column on which the carriage is arranged. In a particularly advantageous way, the dressing unit is rigidly arranged on the carriage which carries the machining head of the gear grinding machine, at least as regards linear movements.
Therefore, the present disclosure furthermore comprises a gear grinding machine with a workpiece holder and a tool holder, wherein the workpiece holder is rotatable about a third axis of rotation (C1), wherein the tool holder is rotatable about a first axis of rotation (B1) and is arranged on a machining head which is pivotable via a swivel axis (A1), wherein a workpiece clamped in the workpiece holder can be machined by a tool clamped in the tool holder, and wherein the machining head is arranged on a carriage which is movable parallel to the third axis of rotation (C1) via a second linear axis of movement (Z1). The gear grinding machine furthermore includes a dressing unit with a dressing tool holder which is rotatable about a second axis of rotation (B2), so that a dressing tool accommodated in the dressing tool holder is usable for dressing a tool clamped in the tool holder. In accordance with the present disclosure it is provided that the dressing unit is rigidly arranged on the carriage which carries the machining head of the gear grinding machine, at least as regards linear movements. Such gear grinding machine has a particularly simple construction, wherein dressing the tool clamped in the tool holder nevertheless is possible by the dressing unit according to the method of the present disclosure.
Advantageously, the machining head with the tool holder is movable relative to the carriage via a first linear axis of movement (V1), so that for dressing purposes relative movements with two different degrees of freedom between the tool holder and the dressing tool holder can be generated by means of the swivel axis (A1) and the first linear axis of movement (V1).
Advantageously, the gear grinding machine according to the present disclosure includes a controller for automatically actuating the axes of movement of the gear grinding machine while machining a workpiece and/or while dressing a tool. Advantageously, this controller has a function for carrying out a method according to the present disclosure, as it has already been described above.
Advantageously, the gear grinding machine furthermore is constructed such as has already been described above.
Furthermore, the carriage can be arranged on a machine column which is movable vertical to the axis of rotation (C1) of the workpiece holder via a third linear axis of movement (X1).
Furthermore, a second dressing unit can be provided, which via a fourth linear axis of movement (Z3) can be moved towards the first dressing unit and away from the same, in order to vary the distance between the dressing tools to be accommodated in the dressing tool holders of the first and second dressing units. This can be used in particular for dressing a tool on two sides. The axes of rotation of the two dressing units need not necessarily be aligned in parallel. This is the case, however, in an exemplary embodiment.
Advantageously, the above-described method also is carried out for dressing a tool on the gear grinding machine described above.
Independent of the gear grinding machine described so far and the method described so far, the present disclosure may also comprise a gear grinding machine with a workpiece holder and two tool holders for accommodating separate tools, wherein the tool holders each are rotatable about an axis of rotation and are arranged on a common machining head which is pivotable via a swivel axis (A1), wherein a workpiece clamped in the workpiece holder can be machined by tools clamped in the tool holders. In accordance with the present disclosure, it is provided that the two tool holders are arranged on sides of the machining head facing away from the swivel axis (A1). Other than in known double grinding heads, the two tool holders are not oriented towards the common swivel axis (A1) of the machining head, but each point away from the same. As a result, the tools can be mounted on the tool holders more easily and in addition have a greater distance from the swivel axis (A1). This provides advantages both in terms of machining the workpiece alternately by the two tools and in terms of dressing the tools.
Advantageously, the two tool holders are arranged on opposite sides of the machining head. In particular, it can be provided that the tool holders are arranged on one common axis of rotation (B1) or on parallel axes of rotation. Furthermore, it can be provided that the two tool holders are driven via a common drive.
Furthermore advantageously, the two tools accommodated in the tool holders can be dressed by means of at least one common dressing unit. Advantageously, after dressing the first tool, the second tool can be moved to the dressing unit by swiveling the machining head about the swivel axis (A1).
In the machining head with two tool holders according to the present disclosure, two tools can thus be used with only a small additional effort. In particular, two different tools can be arranged on the grinding head, for example tools with abrasive material with different degrees of fineness. Thus, the first tool for example can be used for roughing, while the second tool is used for finishing. By a corresponding adaptation of the grain size to the respective machining operation, an improvement of performance thus is obtained, since a coarse grain can be used for roughing and a fine grain for finishing.
The last gear grinding machine described can be constructed such as has already been described above in detail with respect to the previously described gear grinding machines. In particular, the machining head with the tool holders can be movable relative to the dressing unit via a first linear axis of movement (V1). Furthermore, the workpiece holder can be rotatable about a third axis of rotation (C1) and the machining head can be arranged on a carriage which is movable parallel to the axis of rotation (C) of the workpiece holder via a second linear axis of movement (Z1). Furthermore, it can be provided that the carriage is arranged on a machine column which is movable vertical to the axis of rotation (C1) of the workpiece holder via a third linear axis of movement (X1).
The gear grinding machine likewise can include a controller as it has already been described above. Furthermore, the above-described method also can be carried out for dressing a tool on the gear grinding machine described above.
In the present disclosure, in particular, grinding wheels and/or grinding worms can be employed as tools. The tools advantageously consist of abrasive grains connected with each other. Dressing the tools is effected by removing grain and binding the grinding tool with the objective of changing the abrasive coating for producing a desired profile and the required profile accuracy. In particular, abrasive grains of corundum, CBN or silicon carbide can be used.
As dressing tools, dressing wheels are advantageously employed. In particular, such dressing wheel can be a diamond wheel or a hard-material-coated metal base body.
The present disclosure will now be explained in detail with reference to drawings and exemplary embodiments.


Differential charge-balancing can be used in high-frequency neural stimulation. For example, a neural stimulation apparatus can have first and second electrodes configured to be coupled proximate to a nerve fiber to implement a neural stimulation procedure. A neural stimulation circuit can be electrically coupled to the first and second electrodes. The neural stimulation circuit can apply stimulation currents to the nerve fiber through the first and second electrodes during a first stimulation phase of the neural stimulation procedure. The neural stimulation circuit can also apply a modified stimulation current to the nerve fiber through the first electrode during a second stimulation phase of the neural stimulation procedure. The modified stimulation current can be generated based on a difference between (i) a voltage at the first electrode, and (ii) a reference voltage derived from voltages on the first and second electrodes.

Many chronic diseases, such as epilepsy and depression, can be treated by stimulating the nerves in a patient's body using electrical signals. While such neural stimulation procedures are typically implemented using electrical signals with lower frequencies, e.g., 20 hertz (Hz) to 1 kHz, recent studies show that some diseases may be treatable using electrical signals with higher frequencies, e.g., from 1 kHz to 50 kHz.

Differential charge-balancing during high-frequency neural stimulation