A signature support system includes a local machine, a remote machine, a document management server, and a signature server. The remote machine uses terminal services of the local machine to access the document management server, and correlates document data with a document ID serving as identification information for the document data, to register the document data in the document management server. Similarly, the signature server is accessed, and caused to generate a pair of a signature key and a verification key, and the keys are correlated with biological information read by a biological information reader, and are registered in the signature server. The signature server generates signature data for the document data that is correlated with the document ID received from a user, and is registered in the document management server, by using the signature key correlated with the biological information read by the biological information reader, and registered in the signature server.

The present invention relates to a signature technology for document data, and more particularly to a signature technology for document data suited to an information processing system of a thin client type.
In recent years, attention has been focused on an information processing system of a so-called thin client type. In the information processing system of the thin client type, a user accesses a local machine installed at home or company from a remote machine at hand, and uses terminal services provided from the local machine to operate a desktop of the local machine by remote control, thereby using various application programs and data stored in the local machine. Not only a desktop personal computer (PC), but also a blade PC (i.e., blade computer) equipped with no locally connected input/output devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, and display), or the like, may be used as the local machine (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-337672).
There is an information processing system of a thin client type which enables use of only a printer, an external drive, an external memory, or the like, locally-connected to a local machine or through a network by using, as a remote machine, a PC of a so-called HDD-less type configured to inhibit local or network connection to a printer, an external drive, an external memory (excluding a storage apparatus which stores authentication information for using terminal services of a local machine). With this type of information processing system, the possibility of information leakage caused by theft of the remote machine or the like can be reduced.
However, when the information processing system of this type is applied to an electronic contract system, the following problems occur. That is, consideration will be given to a case where a user such as an insurance agent uses a remote machine lent to him/her to generate an electronic signature of an insured person for contract data. To generate the electronic signature of the insured person, a signature key (secret key) of the insured person is necessary. However, the remote machine is configured to inhibit local or network connection to a printer, an external drive, an external memory, or the like. Accordingly, for example, the user cannot fetch the signature key of the insured person stored in an external memory from the external memory of the insured person.
The signature key has conventionally been moved from a key generation mechanism to an owner by, for example, storing the signature key in the external memory and delivering it to its owner or transmitting the signature key to a terminal of its owner through cryptocommunication. Thus, the movement is accompanied by security risks.


The present invention is based on the identification of novel biomarkers predictive of responsiveness of esophagogastric cancers to inhibitors of the PD-1 pathway.

The incidence of esophagogastric cancers, such as esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), has increased dramatically in the Western world in recent decades (Jemal et al. (2011) CA 61:69-90). Five-year survival rates are a dismal 10-15% and treatment is largely reliant upon minimally effective cytotoxic chemotherapy (Cunningham et al. (2008) New Engl. J. Med. 358:36-46). There have been multiple attempts to use molecularly targeted agents, such as those targeting ERBB2/HER2 and EGFR. To date, only trastuzumab has proven effective, but it benefits only the ˜15% of patients with HER2 overexpression (Bang et al. (2010) Lancet 376:687-697). There is a pressing need for new EAC therapies.
As EACs harbor a high somatic mutation burden (Dulak et al. (2013) Nat. Genet. 45:478-486) and develop in a background of chronic inflammation caused by gastric reflux, EACs are potentially immunogenic tumors and therefore promising candidates for immunotherapy. In response to gastric reflux, the lower esophagus often undergoes metaplasia to an intestinalized epithelium known as Barrett's esophagus (BE). Barrett's metaplasia is associated with a change from an acute (Th1 type) immune response accompanied with IFN-γ expression (Fitzgerald et al. (2002) Gut 51:316-322; Moons et al. (2005) J. Pathol. 207:269-276) to a Th2 type chronic inflammation with production of IL-4 and IL-13, a transition that potentially induces an immunosuppressive, tumor-promoting environment.
Among the most promising targets in cancer immunology is the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathway. PD-1 is a negative co-stimulatory receptor expressed primarily on T-cells after their activation. The interaction of PD-1 with its ligands, programmed cell death ligand 1 or 2 (PD-L1 or PD-L2) inhibits T cell activation (Freeman et al. (2000) J. Exp. Med. 192:1027-1034). Expression of PD-L1 on cancer cells and immune cells has been shown to inhibit the T cell antitumor response and permit neoplastic growth. Expression of these ligands by tumor cells has thus been recognized as a powerful tool exploited by cancers to avoid immune clearance. PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors in melanoma, lung, and renal cancer have shown marked response rates with stunning durable clinical responses (Topalian et al. (2012) New Engl. 1 Med. 366:2443-2454).
Since generally only subpopulations of cancer patients treated with immunotherapies (e.g., blockade of immune checkpoint molecules, such as those of the PD-1 pathway) respond to such treatment, reliable biomarkers that can predict response or resistance to such immunotherapies are therefore critical for stratifying patient populations and selecting patients who will or will not benefit from such immune therapies. Such biomarkers are not currently known for esophagogastric cancers and metaplasias. Accordingly, there is a great need to identify such biomarkers useful for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic purposes.

PD-L2 biomarkers predictive of PD-1 pathway inhibitor responses in esophagogastric cancers


A method and apparatus independently controls the increasing rate and the decreasing rate a P-channel power FET and an N-channel power FET driving an inductive load. Circuits inhibit turning ON the P-channel FET until the voltage on the gate of the N-channel FET falls below its turn-on voltage threshold, and turning ON the N-channel FET until the voltage on the gate of the P-channel FET falls below its turn-on voltage threshold.

It is known to design output buffers to control the slope of the voltage (dV/dt) when driving capacitive loads. However, when driving an inductive load driven by a pulse width modulated (PWM) waveform the known slope control circuitry is ineffective. The output field effect transistor (FET) gates are typically controlled by driving them with integrated RC networks to slow turn-on. Turn-off is deliberately made fast to avoid shoot-thru currents which occur when both output FETs are on at the same time.

Method of controlling slope and dead time in an integrated output buffer with inductive load


An angular velocity sensor is provided, which is capable of accurate failure diagnosis on a detecting portion despite of its simple configuration and small size without providing additional means on an oscillator separately from the driving portion and a detecting portion. When a check signal for carrying out failure diagnosis is input to terminal (54) from outside, the degree of amplification at amplifier (45) is decreased, and the degree of amplification at amplifier (44) is simultaneously increased by an operation of AGC circuit (43). As a result, a driving signal having the decreased amplitude can be obtained at terminals (50) and (53), and a driving signal having the increased amplitude can be obtained at terminals (51) and (52). The driving signals are supplied to one driving electrode and another driving electrode, respectively, of a pair of driving electrodes spaced from each other across the center of the arm of a tuning fork type oscillator through terminals (50) to (53).

For example, an angular velocity sensor of this type has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 11-101644.
FIGS. 9 and 10 show the conventional angular velocity sensor disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 11-101644. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an oscillator of the angular velocity sensor, and FIG. 10 is a side view of the same.
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, piezoelectric bodies 102, 103, and 104 having electrodes formed on both sides thereof are formed on oscillating body 101 in the form of an equilateral triangular pole made of elinvar or the like, the piezoelectric bodies serving as driving portions for driving bending oscillation. Piezoelectric bodies 105 and 106 having electrodes formed on both sides thereof are provided on the side of oscillating body 101 which is opposite to piezoelectric bodies 103 and 104 with reference to the center of the oscillating body in the longitudinal direction thereof, the piezoelectric bodies serving as detecting portions for detecting a change in bending oscillation when an angular velocity Ω is applied about the longitudinal axis of oscillating body 101. Piezoelectric bodies 105 and 106 are formed with the electrodes on both sides thereof as pseudo Coriolis force generating portions for causing bending oscillation of oscillating body 101 in the same direction as a Coriolis force which acts when the angular velocity Ω is applied about the longitudinal axis of oscillating body 101.
In the conventional angular velocity sensor, there has been a need for providing special piezoelectric bodies 105 and 106 on oscillating body 101 for the diagnosis of any failure of the detecting potions separately from piezoelectric body 102 as a driving portion and piezoelectric bodies 103 and 104 as detecting portions.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An image forming apparatus administration system includes an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet of paper. A service terminal is connected to the image forming apparatus through a communication line and administers conditions of the image forming apparatus. An operation panel has operation keys and a screen. A changing device can be operated to change an indication of the operation panel from an indication for inputting an operation command for image formation to an indication for inputting a request command for transmitting data from the image forming apparatus to the service terminal. A transmitting device can transmit the data in response to the request command and the changing device changes the indication of the operation panel from the indication for inputting a request command for transmitting data from the image forming apparatus to the service terminal to the indication for inputting an operation command for image formation before the transmission of the data is completed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus administration system in which at least one image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or similar image forming apparatus, and a service terminal are connected through a communication line. The present invention is further related to the control of a display of the image forming apparatus during a communication process with the service terminal.
2. Discussion of Background
As an example of an image forming apparatus administration system, a system is known in which an image forming apparatus such as a copier can be connected to a service terminal, which for example may be installed in a service center, utilizing a communication line, such as a public line or the like.
With this type of image forming apparatus administration system, an operator of the image forming apparatus can transmit a request, such as a repair request and a request of a need for consumption articles such as sheets of paper and toner, to the service terminal by inputting a transmission command from keys on an operation panel of the image forming apparatus. If the image forming apparatus cannot be connected to the service terminal, a subsequent attempt to establish communication may be made.
In this type of system, the operator of the image forming apparatus can go to the keyboard of the image forming apparatus and enter a communication mode to connect to the service terminal via the communication line. In this system after the operator inputs a request at the image forming apparatus, for example at a keypad or a display at the image forming apparatus, the request is then sent to the service terminal through the communication line. In this instance the operator must then wait for a response to this request from the service terminal before the image forming apparatus can be utilized for an image forming operation.
That is, in this system after the request is issued from the image forming apparatus to the service terminal through the communication line, the image forming apparatus cannot execute image forming operations until a response to this request is issued from the service terminal and is then communicated from the service terminal through the communication line to and received at the image forming apparatus. This results in an inefficient use and unnecessary downtime in the operation of the image forming apparatus.

Image forming apparatus administration system


A corn-based mixed diet comprises rumen-protected lysine, rumen-protected methionine and an appetizer preferred by the dairy cows, which makes it possible to obtain a stable and high milk production from dairy cows. A method for stably producing a high yield of milk comprises the step of feeding to dairy cows in the course of the lactation period (1) a corn-based mixed diet containing rumen-protected lysine, rumen-protected methionine, an appetizer preferred by the dairy cows and a corn-based diet or (2) rumen-protected lysine, rumen-protected methionine and a corn-based diet, an appetizer being contained in one member selected from the group consisting of the rumen-protected lysine, rumen-protected methionine and corn-based diet.

The present invention relates to a corn-based mixed diet comprising rumen-protected lysine (hereinafter referred to as "RPLys"), rumen-protected methionine (hereinafter referred to as "RPMet") and appetizer having a flavor which meets the dairy cow's taste, and a feeding method for dairy cows with the diet.
Investigations have been made hitherto for the purpose of improving the dairy cow breed and developing diets for the dairy cows in order to increase the milk production and to improve the milk qualities such as proteins and fats contained in the milk. As a result, high-yielding dairy cows capable of producing 7500 kg or more of milk a year and, particularly, those capable of producing 10,000 kg or more of milk a year were bred. Protein balance attracted attention in increasing the milk production and keeping good health of dairy cows, and after investigations of them, American NRC standard was established. In order to keep the milk production stable while keeping a high quality thereof, various nutritive substances and at least one of protein sources such as grains, fish meal and blood meal are incorporated as additives for grass into the dairy cows diet. However, such protein sources do not always meet the dairy cows' taste and the intake of such additives poses a problem of a load in the metabolism of the diary cows. Thus the administration of protein by feeding easily available protein sources is not always helpful to the efficient milk production.
Investigations were made for the purpose of direct administration of the amino acids constituting the protein under these circumstances. However, when the amino acids are directly mixed in the diet and given to the dairy cows, most of them are degraded in the rumen of cows before they reach into the small intestine where they are to be absorbed, and thus the purpose cannot be attained. Thereafter, rumen-protected amino acids (RPAA) were developed, which are prepared by coating the amino acids with a protecting agent so that they are not degraded in the rumen and the amino acids are reached and exposed in the small intestine. In particular, RPMet (rumen-protected methionine), RPLys (rumen-protected lysine) and RPMet & RPLys (rumen-protected methionine and lysine) are known.
As for the causal relation between the milk quality and the amino acids, it was found from the infusion experiments in which the amino acids are directly infused into the small intestine via duodenal cannula that especially methionine and lysine among the amino acids have a close relation to the milk quality. It is known that methionine is effective in improving the fat content in the milk and lysine is effective in improving the protein content in the milk.
J. A. Rogers et al. made experiments in which two kinds of corn-based diets containing both RPMet and RPLys were given to dairy cows to compare the relationships between the diet and the milk production of them with each other (Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 72, No. 7, 1989). In the experiments, nine levels of RPAA were used, which were prepared by mixing one of three levels (3.4, 7.8 and 12.2 g/d) of RPMet with also one of three levels (5.9, 13.5 and 21.1 g/d) of RPLys. The diets comprised corn silage and corn grains as the bases. One kind of the diets further contained corn gluten meal and urea, and the other contained soybean meal. The former was given to low-yielding dairy cows with a milk production of 7,500 kg or below per year, and the latter was given to high-yielding dairy cows of a milk production of 8,000 kg or above per year. Each of the nine levels of RPAA was added to each of the two kinds of diets. Urea was used as the nitrogen source for the microorganisms which accelerates the digestion of the diet in the rumen. Since urea is degraded in the rumen, it does not reach the small intestine. It is usually said, therefore, that urea has no effect of improving the protein content in the milk, since it is not absorbed in the dairy cow's body. J. A. Rogers et al. reported that neither milk production nor milk protein had been improved by the soybean meal diet in the high-yielding dairy cow groups. Although they reported also that the milk production in the low-yielding group to which the corn gluten diet had been given was increased by 3%, the yield was yet below the level of the high, stable milk production.
On the other hand, Sato et al. reported at International Dairy Congress in October, 1990 that the fat content of the milk had been improved by giving a corn-based diet containing RPLys and RPMet to dairy cows. However, they were silent on the method of feeding dairy cows for increasing further the milk production of the high-yielding dairy cows evenly and steadily. Also, they did not disclose the incorporation of the appetizer into the corn-based mixed diet.
As for the milk production of the high-yielding dairy cows in the course of feeding them, it varies depending on the difference in individual cows at present and, therefore, it is impossible for the dairy farmers to accurately estimate the milk production per year at the start of feeding the high-yielding dairy cows, which is a cause for the instability of the management of the dairy farmers. Under these circumstances, it is demanded to develop methods for the stable feeding of high-yielding dairy cows and also for the high milk production by eliminating the individual difference of the cows so that the milk production per year can be accurately estimated from the number of the cows.

Diet for stabilizing high milk yield of dairy cow and feeding method for obtaining stable high milk yield


The method comprises the determination of an observation vector that comprises only electrical measurements of the voltage (Umes) at the loudspeaker terminals and of the current (i) passing through the loudspeaker, and a state vector (X) whose components comprise: values of linear parameters of the loudspeaker response such as the electrical (Re) and mechanical (Req) resistance, and polynomial coefficients of nonlinear parameters such as the force factor (BI), the equivalent stiffness (Keq) and the electrical inductance (Le). The voltage and current measurements are applied to an estimator with a predictive filter of the extended Kalman filter incorporating a representation of a dynamic model of the loudspeaker. This filter operates a prediction of the state vector (X) and readjusts this prediction by calculation of an estimate (Uest) of the voltage based on the state vector and on the measured current and comparison of this estimate with the measurement (Umes) of the voltage.

The matter is to model the physical behavior of the loudspeaker to simulate the operation thereof when the audio signal is applied thereto after amplification, so that various corrective processing operations can be performed upstream on this audio signal in order to optimize the quality of the final acoustical reproduction rendered to the listener.
In particular, it is current to reinforce the low frequencies to compensate for the fact that the loudspeakers dedicated to this register, or woofers, which are generally installed in open (vent system) or closed baffles, are always more or less limited in the rendering of the deepest frequencies, the low limit (referred to as the baffle cut-off frequency) depending on the size of the loudspeaker, the volume of the baffle and the type of mounting used.
However, if the level of the electrical signal is increased in the low frequencies by a suitable, analog or digital, filtering, the excursion of the loudspeaker diaphragm, i.e. the amplitude of its displacement with respect to its equilibrium position, becomes rapidly too high, with a risk of damaging the loudspeaker, and, at the very least, the introduction, for excessive excursion values, of distortions, clippings and saturations that rapidly deteriorate the rendering quality of the audio signal.
Knowing the overall response of the loudspeaker allows anticipating this risk, to limit if need be the level of the signal to be reproduced in order to avoid excessive excursions or nonlinearities that generate distortions. Another type of conceivable processing consists in applying to the audio signal a specific filtering for compensating for the nonlinearities introduced by the loudspeaker, so as to reduce the audio distortions and to provide a better listening quality.
The matter is then, independently of any limitation of the maximal excursion, to make the loudspeaker diaphragm displacement the more linear possible, in particular for the deepest frequencies, by compensating for the physical limitations of the loudspeaker response in this register, in the vicinity and below the acoustical cut-off frequency of the loudspeaker/baffle unit.
Knowing the parameters that model the overall response of the loudspeaker is essential to perform such processing operations.
These parameters are conventionally those referred to as "Thiele and Small" (T/S), which describe a modeling of an electrodynamic loudspeaker taking into account the various electrical, mechanical and acoustical phenomena involved in the reproduction of the signal, as well as the electromechanical and mechanical-acoustical conversions. The loudspeaker response, in particular for the low frequencies, may then be described by a set of parameters, uniformly referenced by the loudspeaker manufacturers.
These T/S parameters are however not constant in time, nor linear.                firstly, they are liable to drift over time, as a function for example of the loudspeaker ageing, the heating during use, etc.;        secondly, if it is desired to have a precise and realistic modeling of the loudspeaker behavior, it must be taken into account that some of these parameters are not linear, i.e. their values are not fixed but varies constantly as a function of the instantaneous excursion, i.e. the position at a given instant of the loudspeaker moving coil and diaphragm with respect to the central equilibrium position. It is in particular the case for the electrical inductance, the total mechanical stiffness of the system (the stiffness of the diaphragm increasing as the latter goes away from its equilibrium position) and the diaphragm driving "force factor" (linked to the magnetic field of the coil gap, it decreases as the coil goes away from the equilibrium position).
The EP 1 799 013 A1 describes a technique for predicting the behavior of a loudspeaker, based on the T/S parameters, so as to compensate for the nonlinearities of the loudspeaker and to reduce the audio distortions introduced in the acoustic signal rendered to the user.
The T/S parameters are however considered therein as invariants, which are known a priori, so that the response modeling is fixed and cannot take into account the slow evolutions of the parameters, dues for example to their drift over time on account of the ageing of the components.
The US 2003/0142832 A1 describes a technique of adaptive estimation of the parameters of a loudspeaker, including nonlinear parameters, based on the measurement of the current through this loudspeaker, with implementation of a gradient descent algorithm. This method requires a previous determination of the parameters during a static calibration phase: during this calibration, the T/S parameters are calculated for various position values of the diaphragm (offset with respect to the equilibrium position), with measurement of the impedance. Thereafter, a measurement of the current is compared to an estimation of this same current (squared and filtered by a low-pass filter) to calculate the derivative of the error with respect to each parameter. The technique also implements a gradient descent algorithm, of the Least Means Square (LSM) type.
This method however suffers from the drawback that it requires a previous calibration phase with impedance measurements and application of a predetermined signal, which excludes a re-estimation of the subsequent parameters, anyway by a general public user. On the other hand, the simple algorithms of the gradient-descent LMS type do not take into account the measurement noises, which are inevitable, so that the estimator is rather little efficient in real cases of use.
The US 2008/0189087 A1 describes another technique of estimation of the parameters of a loudspeaker, also of the gradient descent LMS type. More particularly, the method processes separately the estimation of the linear part and that of the nonlinear part. For that purpose, the error signal used by the LMS algorithm (difference between the measured signal and the predicted signal) is processed so as to decorrelate the linear part from the nonlinear part. This document also proposes to implement the estimator by applying at the input a particular audio signal, modified by a comb filter that selectively eliminates certain chosen frequencies.
This technique has the same drawbacks as the previous one, in particular the necessity of a calibration based on a modified input signal liable to impair the comfort of listening of the user, which does not allow performing the estimation during music listening, in a transparent manner for the user. Still another method is described in the university paper of Marcus Arvidsson and Daniel Karlsson, Attenuation of Harmonic Distorsion in Loudspeakers Using Non-Linear Control, Department of Electrical Engineering, Linköopings Universitet (SE), dated 18 Jun. 2012, XP055053802. This method is based on an observation vector that comprises only measurements of electrical parameters (voltage and current), which are applied to an extended Kalman predictive filter estimator. This estimator performs the prediction of a state vector whose components comprise the value of the excursion and the value of the current in the loudspeaker. But this method does not allow estimating on-the-fly both the linear and nonlinear parameters of the loudspeaker response to thereafter apply a suitable corrective audio processing.

Method for processing an audio signal with modeling of the overall response of the electrodynamic loudspeaker


One embodiment relates to a method of sensing motion of an optical sensor relative to a surface. A first resolution and a second resolution are set. Measurement signals are obtained from a sensor array, and the motion of the optical sensor relative to the surface is tracked using the measurement signals. The tracking of the motion in a first dimension is performed at the first resolution, and the tracking of the motion in a second dimension is performed at the second resolution. Another embodiment relates to an optical sensor apparatus for sensing motion relative to a surface, wherein the tracking of the motion is performed at a variable resolution along each of two axes. Other embodiments and features are also disclosed.

Data input devices, such as computer mice, touch screens, trackballs and the like, are well known for inputting data into and interfacing with personal computers and workstations. Such devices allow rapid relocation of a cursor on a monitor, and are useful in many text, database and graphical programs. A user controls the cursor, for example, by moving the mouse over a surface to move the cursor in a direction and over distance proportional to the movement of the mouse.
Computer mice come in both optical and mechanical versions. Mechanical mice typically use a rotating ball to detect motion, and a pair of shaft encoders in contact with the ball to produce a digital signal used by the computer to move the cursor. One problem with mechanical mice is that they are prone to inaccuracy and malfunction after sustained use due to dirt accumulation, etc. In addition, the movement and resultant wear of the mechanical elements, particularly the shaft encoders, necessarily limit the useful life of the device.
One solution to the above-discussed problems with mechanical mice has been the development of mice using an optical navigation system. These optical mice have become very popular because they provide a better pointing accuracy and are less susceptible to malfunction due to accumulation of dirt.
The dominant technology used today for optical mice relies on a light sources, such as a light emitting diode (LED), illuminating a surface at or near grazing incidence, a two-dimensional (2D) CMOS (complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor) detector which captures the resultant images, and signal processing unit that correlates thousands of features or points in successive images to determine the direction, distance and speed the mouse has been moved. This technology provides high accuracy but suffers from a complex design and relatively high image processing requirements.
As an improvement, the use of a coherent light source, such as a laser, to Illuminate a rough surface creates a complex interference pattern, called speckle, which has several advantages, including efficient laser-based light generation and high contrast images even under illumination at normal incidence. Laser-based light generation has a high electrical-to-light conversion efficiency, and a high directionality that enables a small, efficient illumination footprint tailored to match a footprint of the array of photodiodes. Moreover, speckle patterns allow tracking operation on virtually any rough surfaces (broad surface coverage), while maintaining the maximum contrast even under unfavorable imaging condition, such as being "out-of-focus".
An alternative approach for measuring linear displacements uses an optical sensor having one-dimensional (1D) arrays of photosensitive elements, such as photodiodes, commonly referred to as a comb-array. The photodiodes within a 1D array may be directly wired in groups to enable analog, parallel processing of the received signals, thereby reducing the signal processing required and facilitating motion detection. For two-dimensional (2D) displacement measurements using this approach, multi-axes linear arrays have been proposed in which two or more 1D arrays are arranged along non-parallel axes.
Although a significant simplification over prior correlation-type optical mice, these 1D comb-array devices have not been wholly satisfactory for a number of reasons. In particular, one drawback of these devices is their limited accuracy along directions that deviate significantly from the 1D array orientations. This is especially a problem where the optical mouse is moved in an off-axis direction causing the speckle pattern or optical image to enter and leave the field of view of the 1D array too quickly before the image has a chance to build-up an unambiguous signal. This deficiency can be partially remedied by increasing the number of axes, but at the price of reducing the simplicity of the linear comb-array approach.
The approach disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/261,316 ("Two-Dimensional Motion Sensor") avoids the shortcomings of 1D comb detectors while permitting simpler, more efficient signal processing to provide estimates of 2D displacements.
It is highly desirable to further improve optical navigation apparatus and methods of sensing movement using the same.

Optical navigation sensor with variable tracking resolution


Apparatus for interactively generating a display signal. The apparatus comprises: a receiver (2) for receiving a broadcast signal (15), the broadcast signal comprising a plurality of datastreams each including image data defining a background object (22–270), and control parameters (28–39); a foreground computer generated imagery (CGI) device (3) for generating a foreground computer generated object (CGO); a mixer (4) for combining the foreground CGO with background object image data to generate the display signal; and interaction means (3) for receiving the control parameters from the receiver, monitoring the position of the foreground CGO, and adapting the display signal with reference to the monitored position of the foreground CGO and the received control parameters.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for interactively generating a display signal.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Traditional TV broadcast is characterised by temporal synchronisation for all viewers, ignoring the small differences in transit times of the signal due to differences in transmitter to user distances. Therefore at the moment of broadcast all viewers receive the same, uniform signal substantially instantaneously. Interactive forms of the medium, such as Two Way TV, Web TV are generally characterised by providing the viewer with the facility to interact with a designated interactive area of the TV screen. This may utilise a split screen in which the interactive area may have internet information, an on screen menu, or information which may be relevant to the main broadcast part of the TV screen. These systems are characterised by presenting information in response to the user's interaction within a fixed predefined interactive area of the screen.
In contrast to the limited interaction with TV broadcast on current systems, computer games consoles (eg. Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64) are presented to the viewer on TV screens or dedicated display screens, but each viewer has the ability to achieve unique interaction with the imagery/sounds presented on the TV, which are processed by the games console using computer technology, in response to the users actions. Generally the user's perceived TV environment (including images, sounds and other sensory signals) are produced by computer generation within the games console, which may or may not also utilise digitised predefined data, such as sounds in the TV environment which shall be referred to as the computer generated environment (CGE) or in the specific case of images, computer generated imagery (CGI). These games consoles and the CGE are characterised by high frequency update rate, typically in excess of 25 frames per second or 25 Hz. This gives the impression of instantaneous or real time response to the user's actions and also a smooth and seamless dynamic image. The individual frames are not discernible as individual frames, but rather contribute to the overall real time dynamic environment, giving the impression of real time control and interaction with the CGE.
It is desirable that the real time CGE is as realistic as possible, and greater degrees of realism are generally achieved by increased computer processing power and by using the most efficient representation in terms of realism versus processing power. By way of example only, one of the most efficient representations for CGI uses relatively coarse polygonal or faceted geometric model in which the greatest detail in terms of polygon distribution would generally be used in the more geometrically complex areas. By a process known as texture mapping, in which photorealistic textures representing surface features are mapped onto the individual polygon faces, a relatively realistic CGI is achieved notwithstanding the relatively coarse polygonal geometry representation. The product of the number of texture mapped polygons in the CGI and the image update rate measured in frames per second yields a number defining the number of texture mapped polygons the computer processing is required to process per second, which may be 1,000,000 polygons per second.
We have identified that the level of interaction offered to the viewers of interactive broadcast TV is limited, and this consequently limits the applications of such medium. Furthermore we have identified that although the interaction of a games console is greater than interactive TV, the actual theme of the CGE is limited to the specific game content loaded into the console, for example via CD ROM, cartridge, the internet or broadcast to a TV with the appropriate hardware to run CGE type games or by other means.

Method and apparatus for generating a display signal


A Coriolis effect densimeter which produces density output data of improved accuracy by embodying the principal that the natural frequency of a vibrating tube filled with material decreases with an increase in the material mass flow rate. High accuracy output data is achieved by measuring the natural frequency of the tube as material flows therethrough, correcting the measured frequency to compensate for the decrease in natural frequency caused the material flow (mass flow rate) and using the corrected natural frequency in the material density computation.

Prior Coriolis effect densimeters, such as that disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,879 to Ruesch of Oct. 31, 1989, were designed and operated with the assumption that the accuracy of the density measurement is not affected by changes in the mass flow rate, temperature, viscosity or pressure of the measured fluid. In particular, these densimeters were designed with the assumption that changes in the natural frequency of the driven flow tubes are only caused by changes in the density of the material flowing through the flow tube. The density measurement was determined by these meters directly from the measured natural frequency.
Each Coriolis effect densimeter has a specified set of recommended operating parameters such as temperature, mass flow rate, density, viscosity, pressure, etc. Coriolis effect meters designed in accordance with these assumptions have operated satisfactorily and given excellent results for most users when their recommended operating ranges are not exceeded. These meters then normally yield excellent performance coupled with a high precision of output data.
However, circumstances occur in which a Coriolis effect densimeter may be operated beyond its recommended operating range or near the upper limits of the recommended operating range of flow rates. Under these conditions, the accuracy of the output data is decreased somewhat as compared to the accuracy of the output data usually obtained when the meters are operated within their recommended operating ranges.
Heretofore, when a user required higher mass flow rates, she or he was required to switch to a higher capacity Coriolis meter in order to operate the flowmeter with an acceptable pressure drop. However, advances in the design of Coriolis mass flowmeters have resulted in lower pressure drops which have effectively broadened the useful range of the flowmeter. Users operating their flowmeters over this extended range, which may exceed the previously recommended range, may obtain output data that is not of the highest possible accuracy.


An improved transpalatal arch wire assembly comprising a transpalatal arch wire, wherein the transpalatal arch wire comprises a first vertically sloping component, a second vertically sloping component, and a intermediate adjustment section disposed between the first and second vertically sloping components; and a first auxiliary wire coupled to the transpalatal arch wire, wherein the first auxiliary wire is substantially rigid and defines a first attachment arm approximate to an end of the first auxiliary wire, wherein the first attachment arm is suitable for receiving an orthodontic force module.

The present invention relates to the field of orthodontic appliances, and more particularly to an improved, removable and adjustable transpalatal arch wire capable of accurately transmitting correctional intrusion forces to a pair of brackets mounted on opposing molars.
In the straightening of teeth by an orthodontist, a commonly encountered malocclusion is a skeletal open bite, which is caused by misaligned upper and lower jaws. A skeletal open bite is characterized in a person whose upper and lower front and side teeth do not close together, but only the back two teeth (the first and second molars) on the top and bottom jaws come together and touch, making it difficult for the person to chew food or to close their mouth.
Orthodontists have heretofore used vertical elastics from the upper front teeth to the lower front teeth in an attempt to close the front and side teeth together vertically. Unfortunately, the front and side teeth usually relapse to the pretreatment condition after the elastics are removed. Moreover, long-term heavy elastic wear in these types of cases has been associated with root resorption (root shortening), thereby causing damage to the teeth. Another approach employed jointly by orthodontists and oral surgeons is for the orthodontist to straighten the teeth first and subsequently the oral surgeon performs jaw surgery to properly align the jaws. This, however, is an extremely expensive treatment, has the inherent risk of postoperative paresthesia (numbness), and more importantly has the added risk of possible death when the patient is put to sleep for surgery.
Palatal arch wires currently utilized can be used to connect the upper back first molars together and create movement about the teeth, but do not allow simultaneous intrusive forces to be applied to said molars. For example, because the molars are connected across the arch, bending the arch wire to place an intrusive force on one of the connected molars simultaneously places an extrusive force on the other molar due to Newton's third law—for every for action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Further, the amount of intrusion possible with such arch wires is no more than 0.5-1.0 mm at most. For treatment of a skeletal open bite, back molar intrusion requires an average of 3-7 mm, depending on the severity of the open bite.
Improvements to palatal arch wires have included the addition of a U-shaped locking bar to prevent dislodgement from the brackets, thereby allowing it to also be attached to the second molars. Such locking bars also defined an arm or hook for receiving an elastic for applying forces to other teeth. Because all the upper teeth lie in a horizontal line, connecting the elastic from the palatal arch wire to other upper teeth only allows horizontal forces to be applied to the palatal arch wire connected teeth, which will not aid in correcting a skeletal open bite. The same elastic force, if connected from the palatal arch wire hook to the lower teeth, would actually create an extrusive force on the palatal arch wire connected teeth, which would make the open bite worse. Another problem with the locking bar is that it must be bent away from the tooth to allow bracket insertion, then bent back toward the tooth for locking to prevent dislodgement. This same action must occur every time the palatal arch wire is removed for adjustment, predisposing the locking bar to fatigue failure and breakage because of continued adjustment.
Because of the proximity of the locking bar/hook to the bracket connected to the palatal arch wire, a force exerted via an elastic could only be applied close to the molar to which it is attached. Since a skeletal open bite is characterized by the back first and second molars touching, the best location for an intrusive force is between these teeth anteroposteriorly. Such a solution is not yet in the art.
What has been introduced is a simpler insertion of the palatal arch wire into the bracket by employing a round horizontal wire. In order to provide for mediolateral control of tooth movement, or torque, a vertically oriented bar was attached to the round insertion wire on both sides of the interconnecting arch wire. However, this is not always ideal. For example, in patients with canted occlusal planes, where the teeth are lower on one side of the mouth than the other, intrusion is desired on one side only. In this case, the palatal arch wire should only have a vertically oriented bar on the side of the mouth where intrusion is desired. The opposite side should have no vertically oriented bar so that the wire can simply rotate inside the bracket tube without applying torque.
Recently, orthodontic temporary anchorage devices have been used to improve tooth movement. An orthodontic temporary anchorage device is a device that is temporarily fixed to bone structure for the specific purpose of enhancing and providing sufficient orthodontic anchorage either by supporting the teeth of the reactive unit or by obviating the need for the reactive unit altogether, and which is subsequently removed after use. In orthodontics, a temporary anchorage device refers to all variations of implants, screws, pins and plates placed specifically for the purpose of providing orthodontic anchorage and can be removed upon completion of biomechanical therapy. Orthodontic temporary anchorage devices are useful when applied in the correction of dental discrepancies, which include anteroposterior tooth movements, molar uprighting, and intrusion/extrusion of single and multiple teeth. Orthodontic temporary anchorage devices can also be useful in the correction of oral skeletal discrepancies, as in the case of a skeletal open bite. There exists a need however for a mechanism of connecting the teeth, or orthodontic appliances thereon, to the orthodontic temporary anchorage devices.

Orthodontic transpalatal intrusion arch assembly and method of use


Collaborative filtering systems based on variational autoencoders (VAEs) are provided. VAEs may be trained on row-wise data without necessarily training a paired VAE on column-wise data (or vice-versa), and may optionally be trained via minibatches. The row-wise VAE models the output of the corresponding column-based VAE as a set of parameters and uses these parameters in decoding. In some implementations, a paired VAE is provided which receives column-wise data and models row-wise parameters; each of the paired VAEs may bind their learned column- or row-wise parameters to the output of the corresponding VAE. The paired VAEs may optionally be trained via minibatches. Unobserved data may be explicitly modelled. Methods for performing inference with such VAE-based collaborative filtering systems are also disclosed, as are example applications to search and anomaly detection.

Collaborative filtering is a family of techniques most commonly used to predict user preferences (or "ratings") for one or more items based on a corpus of known ratings. For instance, given the ratings assigned by a user to a subset of items, a collaborative filtering technique may attempt to infer a distribution over ratings for one or more items that have not been rated by that user based on the known ratings of that user and of other, similar users. Collaborative filtering finds applications in recommendation systems, such as those used by popular online shopping, video, dating, advertisement, and other services.
Collaborative filtering is often performed via matrix factorization techniques. For instance, the set of ratings (by users of items) may be represented as a matrix Rij, where the ith row corresponds to a particular user and the jth column corresponds to a particular item (so that the (i,j)th element corresponds to the ith user's rating of the jth item). Such techniques may define an m×d user matrix U and a d×n item matrix V, where m is the number of users, n is the number of items, and d is the dimensionality of the latent space. The item and user vectors U and V are trained to minimize a difference between the known ratings Rij and the product Ui·Vj (where Ui is the ith row of U, correspond to a user's latent distribution, and Vj is the jth column of V, corresponding to an item's latent distribution). The product U·V thus provides a predicted rating for each user-item pair. Such techniques can encounter obstacles, however, when relationships between elements are complex (e.g., non-linear), which may require a high-dimensional latent space for accurate representation. That high-dimensionality can impede efficient training and may lead to overfitting, whereas a lower-dimensionality may suffer from poor accuracy.
More recently, neural-network-based approaches have been applied to collaborative filtering problems. These include neural autoregressive distribution estimators (NADEs) and variational autoencoders (VAEs). Van Baalen, in Deep Matrix Factorization for Recommendation, 2016, describes a VAE-based system which requires that two VAEs be jointly trained over complete subgraphs of the input data (i.e., over substantially all known ratings, in most circumstances), since each VAE requires the output of the other VAE to perform its training.
There remains a general desire for systems and methods for providing collaborative filtering systems which are trainable efficiently and/or accurately over a diverse range of inputs, such as complex and/or large input datasets.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

Systems and methods for collaborative filtering with variational autoencoders


A method for transmitting a data of a disk recording medium including: a first step of reading file management information for managing a data recorded in a file structure in a disk recording medium; a second of storing the read file management information in a storing unit different to the recording medium; and a third step of reading and transmitting a corresponding file management information as stored in the storing unit when the file management information is requested. By doing that, the file management information that is frequently requested to be transferred, such as a file system data managing a data in a file structure recorded in a disk recording medium such as a CD-ROM, is stored in a specific storing area so as to be quickly read and transmitted to a connected instrument such as a personal computer, without performing a tracking servo operation to drive a sled motor. Thus, the transfer rate of the optical disk driver such as the CD-ROM can be highly improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for transmitting a data of a disk recording medium in which a data is read from a disk recording medium such as a CD-ROM and transmitted to a connected instrument such as a personal computer.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a construction of a general optical disk drive such as a CD-ROM drive.
As shown in the drawing, the CD-ROM drive includes an optical pick-up 2 for reading a signal recorded in the optical disk 1 such as a CD-ROM; a wave-filtering/shaping unit (RF) 3 for wave-filtering/shaping an RF signal read by the optical pick-up and outputting a binary signal; a digital signal processing (DSP) unit 4 for restoring the binary signal to digital data; an interface unit 5 for transmitting the restored digital data to a connected host instrument such as a personal computer; a sled motor 11 for moving the optical pick-up 2; a spindle motor 12 for rotating the optical disk 1; a driver 7 for driving the sled motor 11 and the spindle motor 12 to be rotated; a servo unit 6 for controlling the optical pick-up 2 and the driver 7; a MICROCOMPUTER 8 for controlling operations of the servo unit 6 and the digital signal processing unit 4; a system memory 9 for storing TOC (Top of Content) information on the optical disk and providing data required for controlling operation of the MICROCOMPUTER; and a buffer memory 10 such as a buffer RAM for temporarily storing the restored data.
The system memory 9 and the buffer memory 10 include a RAM, a volatile memory that resets previously stored data and information to store new data and information.
The operation of the CD-ROM drive, especially, the data transfer operation to transfer a data to the personal computer, constructed as described above will now be explained with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the method of transferring a data in the general optical disk driver, that is, a CD-ROM drive in accordance with a conventional art.
First, in a state that the CD-ROM drive and the personal computer (PC) are connected through the interface unit 5 (S10), when the MICROCOMPUTER 8 receives a transfer request command requesting data transfer from the optical disk 1 to the personal computer (S11), it performs a tracking servo operation to move the optical pick-up 2 to a recording position on the disk where a corresponding data has been recorded, to read the corresponding data as requested and transfer it. The tracking servo operation is performed by rotational driving of the sled motor 11 that horizontally moves the optical pick-up 2 according to a driving voltage applied from the driver 7. Owing to the tracking servo operation, the optical pick-up 2 is moved to the recording position where the corresponding data has been recorded (S12), and the buffer memory 10 for temporarily storing a decoded data is reset to perform clearing operating to clear a previously stored data (S13).
Thereafter, a data is read from the recording position as the optical pick-up has been moved thereto, that is, from the recording position of the optical disk where a specific data as requested was searched. And, the data is read, signal-processed and decoded to its original data. And then, after the decoded data is temporarily stored in the cleared buffer memory 10 (S15), the temporarily stored data is read and transferred to the personal computer PC through the interface unit 5 (S16).
However, as for the personal computer PC connected through the interface unit 5, in order to request a specific data transmission, i.e., transmission of a specific data in a file structure recorded in the CD-ROM, a file system data, that is, management information for managing the specific data in a file structure, is separately recorded in a different recording position from that of the TOC information, that is, list information for the CD-ROM, as shown in FIG. 3.
In addition, unlike the TOC information, in order to read and transfer the file system data, that is, the management information, to an externally connected instrument such as the personal computer, the sled motor 11 is to be driven to move the optical pick-up 2 to the recording position on the disk where the file system data has been recorded. Furthermore, when data are repeatedly requested by the host, which were previously requested by the host, the pick-up is moved again to the position and the data are read and transferred to the host after storing the reproduced data to the buffer RAM 10. At this time, the buffer RAM 10 stores newly this data after deleting the data which was stored previously therein whenever the data are requested by the host. This results from using the buffer RAM 10 as one region. In this case, much time is required for the movement of the optical pick-up, resulting in failing to meet the demand that data transmission be performed quickly. Thus, the data transfer rate, which labels the performance of the CD-ROM drive, is very limited.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for transmitting data of a disk recording medium in which file management information that is frequently requested to be transferred, such as a file system data managing a data in a file structure recorded in a disk recording medium such as a CD-ROM, is stored in a specific storing area so as to be quickly read and transmitted to a connected instrument such as a personal computer, without performing a tracking servo operation to drive a sled motor.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a method for transmitting a data of a disk recording medium including: a first step of reading file management information for managing a data recorded in a file structure in a disk recording medium; a second of storing the read file management information in a storing unit different to the recording medium; and a third step of reading and transmitting a corresponding file management information as stored in the storing unit when the file management information is requested.
Specifically, in the above method, the file management information refers to a file system data including recording position information of the data recorded in the file structure. In the second step, a single memory is segmented into plural storing areas and the file management information is stored in one of the storing areas as segmented, and in the third step, the file management information including the requested information is partially read and transmitted.
In order to achieve the above objects, there is also provided an apparatus for transmitting a data of a disk recording medium in which a data is read from a recording medium in which a data in a file structure and file management information for managing the data in a file structure have been recorded, and transmitted through an interface to a host, including: a reading unit for reading out the data and the management information recorded in the recording medium; a storing unit for storing the file management information read by the reading unit in a different area to the area in which the data in a file structure is stored; and a controller for controlling in a manner that the file management information is read out from the storing unit to be transmitted without performing reading operation by the reading unit, when the host requests the file management information.
These and other objects of the present application will become more readily apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Apparatus and method for transmitting data of disk recording medium


Apparatus including a support body; an organic semiconductor composition body on the support body, —and a first body including a hydrogenated vinylaromatic-diene block copolymer on the organic semiconductor composition body. Apparatus including a support body, —a first body including a hydrogenated vinylaromatic-diene block copolymer on the support body; and an organic semiconductor composition body on the first body. Techniques for making an apparatus.

Organic electronics is an emerging field of technology which aims to realize low-cost and environmentally-friendly fabrication of electronic devices. Organic field effect transistors ("FETs") are potential alternatives to amorphous silicon transistors, and may be useful for instance in relatively low-speed devices with utility as pixel drivers of active matrix displays and in radio frequency identification devices. Potential advantages to making organic FETs instead of silicon- or other inorganic-based transistors include the possibilities of large-area and low-temperature processing, which may for example help enable fabrication of electronics on flexible plastic substrates.
Films of inorganic semiconductors are often brittle and inflexible, such that their fabrication into devices may be carried out on rigid silicon wafers yielding devices that themselves are inflexible. Films formed from organic semiconductors, in contrast, are often bendable and flexible, such that their fabrication into devices may potentially be carried out by a continuous process using, for example, a flexible web support body. The resulting devices themselves also have the potential to be bendable and flexible, opening up possible end use applications that are often impracticable for inorganic semiconductor-based devices.
Electronic devices having organic semiconductor films typically include an organic dielectric film that is adjacent and bonded to at least one face of the semiconductor film. Such a dielectric film may serve, for example, as a structural support for the semiconductor film, and as an electrical insulator for the semiconductor film to prevent shorting in the devices. In the case of an FET, the dielectric film also facilitates the high capacitance needed to induce charge carrier mobility in the source-drain channel.
There is a continuing need for new organic dielectric bodies that facilitate the fabrication of active semiconductor devices providing improved performance.


A computer front bezel includes a main body, a sliding cover, and two elastic members. The main body defines two substantially opposite sliding grooves. The sliding cover includes two posts slidably received in the sliding grooves of the main body respectively. The two elastic members are connected to the sliding cover and the main body. One end of each of the elastic members is rotatably connected to the main body, and the other end of each of the elastic members is rotatably connected to the sliding cover. The sliding cover is capable of moving between a first, a second and a third state. The first state is that the sliding cover is in a closed position and the two posts are approximately located at first end of the grooves. The second state is that the sliding cover is between the first and third state, and the elastic members exert more force than when the sliding cover is in the first or third state. The third state is that the sliding cover is in an open position and the posts are approximately located at second end of the grooves.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer front bezels, and more particularly to a computer front bezel including a sliding cover.
2. Description of Related Art
A computer front bezel usually includes a sliding cover to shield an additional component, such as a CD-ROM drive, when the additional component is not in use. A sliding cover typically requires a complicated structure to allow movement thereof while remaining attached the bezel.

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


The probe card is configured such that the outline of the probe card is formed almost round shape and a plurality of connectors for being electrically connected with a tester are provided on the upper surface thereof along the outline. A substrate with many probes arranged thereon is provided on the bottom surface of the probe card. The substrate and the connectors are connected with one another via a flexible print wiring board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a probe card and a probe device usable for the inspection of a semiconductor device or the like which is formed on a semiconductor wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional semiconductor device manufacturing process, a semiconductor device formed on a semiconductor wafer used to be inspected by a probe device on which a probe cared with a probe is mounted and a tester which supplies an electric signal for inspection (e.g., refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 5-264589).
In the simultaneous inspection of a plurality of semiconductor devices, a multi-measurement probe card is employed. The multi-measurement probe card is configured so as to include a plurality of probes, a space transformer (ST substrate) for pitch transformation, an interface board (I/F substrate) on which a connector is mounted so as to be electrically and mechanically connected with a tester via a test board of the tester, and an interposer which is provided at the bottom portion of the interface board, thereby allowing the height control and the parallel drawing of the probe.

Probe card and probe device for inspection of a semiconductor device


An improved local positioning system (10) utilizing two fixed sonic transmitters (16A,16B) and an omni directional audio receptor (20) mounted on an automated lawn mower (12). Distance between each audio transmitter and the mower is measured by transmitting an RF trigger pulse (88) from the mower to each of the sonic transmitters. Upon being triggered, the first transmitter (16A) sends out an audio pulse which is received by an audio sensor, condenser microphone (22) and the time it takes is measured by a counter (62). Likewise the second transmitter (16B) is later triggered and the time it takes that pulse to be received is measured by the counter (62). The counts are converted to distances and the x-y coordinate which is the location of the mower is calculated by simple trigonometry. The location data which is relative to the sonic transmitters (16A,16B) is available to the microprocessor computer board (72) which utilizes the information to output control signals to a steering and control interface (74). A temperature sensor (76) is also read by the computer to adjust the distance calculation according to those conditions. With the location information, the computer (72) can be programmed to record a path as the mower (12) moves by manual remote control or operate in automatic mode to follow a previously recorded path.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to local positioning systems, specifically to an improved local positioning system (LPS) for automated lawn mowers.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Local positioning systems are known in the art. In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,347 (1999) I describe an automatic location system using three radio frequency (RF) transmitters to define circle equations which are solved simultaneously to determine the location of the mower. This approach requires accurate rotation control of a loop antenna and suffers from RF reflections that cause errors in measuring the angles used in the calculations. Also the transmitters had to have separate frequencies to identify them, and the figure-8 pattern of the directional antenna necessitated a sequencing circuit to verify sequences of the nulls received.
The problem of locating mobile platforms or robots simply and effectively has been attempted and partially solved by many different approaches. The techniques include dead reckoning, heading, ground-based RF beacons, and the GPS system. Time-of-flight (TOF) systems using audio, ultrasonic, and laser-based components have been used. Inertial navigation, active beam navigation systems, and optical positioning systems are used with triangulation and trilateration methods. Also landmark navigation with natural and artificial landmarks with visioning systems have been used.
The general problem of locating a mobile robot in its environment has not had a simple solution. Technical leaders in industry have been approached with the question of how to solve this problem cost effectively and were unable to come up with an answer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,358 to Angott, et al. (1999) describes a programmable lawn mower using coded RF and audio signals. Coded signals are sent from the carriage or vehicle to each of the locating transmitters which send an acknowledgement, requiring a processor for codification and identification, adding to the complexity of the system. The signals from locating transmitters are continuous signals that may have interference from reflections from objects in the area causing errors and malfunctions. Further, the use of two microphones closely spaced on the vehicle to give angular position relative to the locating transmitter is not as accurate as utilizing a given greater distance between two locating transmitters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,346 to Sadowski et al. (1996) describes a modular robotic platform with an acoustic navigation system. It requires three or more beacons, different RF frequencies per each beacon, a pseudo-noise generator, continuous wave acoustic signals, uses pulse modulation of the RF signal, requires advanced beacon design for accurate detection of the acoustic signal. It also suffers from Doppler frequency shift of the acoustic signal that must be taken into account.
A method of using acoustical signals to measure distance is given by Highfill in U.S. Pat. No. 6,590,834 (2003). This is applied to measuring the location of a rover carried by an individual in making surveying measurements in wooded areas. The method of determining distance uses an RF and an acoustic transmitter on the rover to transmit pulses to an array of receiver pods. Multiple pods are required to acquire data to be able to calculate the position of the rover.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,344 to Wise, et al. (2002), describes a local area positioning system utilizing multiple platforms in communication with each other in a local area network. It is similar to a global positioning system but on a more limited space providing three dimensional location of sensor platforms such as aircraft which would be an expensive, complex, and cumbersome system if applied to small moving vehicles such as an automated lawn mower.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,674,687 to Zeitzew (2004), uses a system and method for navigation using two-way ultrasonic positioning. However, the RF and ultrasonic signals are encoded and the two-way travel of the ultrasonic signal adds to the complexity of the system. The use of ultrasonic frequencies also has more attenuation in the air than lower audio frequencies.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,592 to Kriz, et al. (2000), discloses a three dimensional acoustic position determining system. It requires at least three transmitters, each coded for identification, and also requires a synchronization signal. The application is for determining the position of a receiver mounted on a person or object.
A method of measuring azimuth and distances from a moving platform and stationary reflectors is proposed by Noji, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,288 (1991). The angle between adjacent reflectors is measured to calculate the azimuth. But the difficulty in measuring distances by phase differences in transmitted and reflected beams is that it requires a coherent light source something like a laser light emitting diode. Accurately measuring the phase difference is difficult, and also a minimum of three reflectors is required.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,995,708 to Schmidt (2006) describes a local positioning system to locate a cell phone user by sniffing earth based media and using bluetooth standards and GPS. Another system to locate a person with a cell phone is given in U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,224 to Chen, et al. (2004) describing a software implementation of a local positioning system It uses the radio propagation parameters in the CDMA and TDMA links of a cell phone system to establish the position of a digital cell phone.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,793 to Peless et al.(2001) describes a navigation method for autonomous machines using proximity sensors and markers defining a perimeter of the working area.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,250 to Gudat et al. (1999) describes a vehicle navigation system using VPS, GPS, and MPS. It includes accelerometers, gyros, odometers and Kalman filters, making a very complex and hence expensive system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,298 to Guldner (1998) describes an autonomous navigation system for a mobile robot or manipulator and guides a robot to a predetermined point, for a transport or cleaning system. It uses a robot coordinate system for collision avoidance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,427 to Puma et al. (1996) describes an ultrasonic position and orientation tracking system for monitoring articles in close proximity such as a pilot's helmet in a cockpit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,360 to Ma (2002) is about a system for locating and directing a vehicle such as an automobile. It is a local positioning system assisting a driver in reaching their destination.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,973 to Anderson (1999) describes a field navigation system for navigating a farm vehicle in an agricultural field using a GPS system.
Local positioning apparatuses or systems described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,725 to Iisaka (1999), and 6,493,458 to Yasui, et al. (2002) relate to determining the position of a vehicle in traffic and traffic safety. These do not relate to locating an automatic lawn mower or roving platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,556,942 to Smith (2003) shows a short range indoor radiolocation system allowing the location of an item provided with an RF tag.
Other Publications:
Navigating Mobile Robots: Systems and Techniques by J. Borenstein, H. R. Everett, and L. Feng. Publisher: A. K. Peters, Ltd., Wellesley, Mass. c 1996. ISBN 156881058X oclc Number ocm34149992. This book surveys the state of the art in technologies used by a mobile robot to determine its position in the environment. Two groups are categorized: relative and absolute position measurements. Relative measurements include odometry and inertial navigation. Absolute measurements comprise active beacons, landmark recognition, and model matching. The most important result from this survey of mobile robot positioning is that there is no truly elegant solution for the problem.
Most sensors used for map building involve distance measurement. Three approaches are common: measuring time of flight (TOF) of a pulse of emitted energy traveling to a reflecting object, then echoing back to a receiver; phase-detection using continuous wave transmission; and frequency-modulated (FM) radar.
Potential sources of error for TOF systems include 1) variations in speed of propagation, 2) uncertainties in determining the exact time of arrival of the reflected pulse, 3) inaccuracies in timing circuitry, and 4) interaction of the incident wave with the target surface.
Detection uncertainties that were discussed relate to detecting a reflected pulse similar to a radar pulse.
While the inventors of the above LPS systems have made attempts to solve the problem of locating an automated lawn mower or moving platform, the prior art methods have failed to provide an elegant, simple, and satisfactory method required. There is a continuing need for improvements to such local positioning systems. In this respect, the present invention addresses that need.
Objects and Advantages
In all embodiments of this local positioning system (LPS), there is no use of reflected pulses hence this is not a problem. Also, variations in speed of propagation of sound caused by temperature differences can be taken into account and corrected by software. Circuitry inaccuracies are well below variations of the slow speed of sound in air so this is not a problem. Surface interaction does not apply because reflected energy is not utilized. It uses only a one-way travel of a sonic pulse that has the advantage of not being affected by specular reflection of an object's surface, and only the incident pulse is used for detection. Reflections from objects are not detected because they arrive later than the original incident pulse and thus have no effect. The disadvantages of the prior art are solved by my present LPS system, reducing the complexity, increasing reliability, and making it easier to manufacture.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of some embodiments of the present LPS system are:                (a) To provide a simpler method of determining location employing fewer components and transmitting devices.        (b) To provide higher reliability by having fewer moving parts.        (c) To eliminate problems caused by specular audio reflections and RF reflections that interfere with depth of null measurements that use rotating loop antennas.        (d) To improve accuracy by measuring a one-way time of travel of an acoustic wave instead of an RF null.        (e) To eliminate the need for a sequencing circuit        (f) To reduce the amount of circuitry needed by eliminating the unique frequencies needed for RF triggering transmitters.        (g) To reduce the amount of complex mathematics needed to calculate coordinates by using simple trigonometric formulas instead of simultaneous solutions of circle equations.        (h) To overcome the time limitation for digitally pulsing the RF transmitter to trigger the locating sonic transmitters by frequency shift keying (FSK) the RF signal between two different analog modulating frequencies.        (i) To trigger the first locating transmitter on the leading edge of the FSK signal, and the second locating transmitter on the lagging edge.        (j) To shield and isolate the omni-directional sonic sensor from ambient noise as well as vibrations from the mechanics of a lawn mower.        (k) To eliminate coding of signals requiring identification by a processor.        (l) To eliminate interference of audio reflections from objects in the area.        (m) To reduce the number of beacons or locating transmitters required and eliminate the effect of Doppler frequency shift.        (n) To simplify the system by keeping it a two-dimensional instead of a three-dimensional location of sensor platforms, and by utilizing only a one-way travel of sonic signals instead of two-way travel.        (o) To eliminate separate synchronization signals.        (p) To provide a self-contained system that does not rely on bluetooth standards, GPS, or radio propagation parameters used in cell phone systems.        (q) To obviate the use of proximity sensors and markers to define working area perimeters.        (r) To reduce the complexity by eliminating accelerometers, odometers, gyros, and GPS systems.
Further objects and advantages are to provide digital information that can be used to easily calculate the location of a roving vehicle and in particular an automated lawn mower. The system must be rugged and easy to manufacture and inexpensive for the consumer. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from the ensuing description and drawings.

Local positioning system for automated lawn mowers


A method for fabricating chip size packages which uses a lamination process, thereby not only achieving an improvement in the reliability of final electronic products, a reduction in the manufacturing costs, and a mass production resulting in a high marketability, but also being applicable to the fabrication of packages for both memory and non-memory chips and enabling the final electronic products to have high electronic performance while making the package size of the final electronic products not greater than 1.2 times the semiconductor chip size. The method includes the steps of cutting a wafer into a plurality of wafer strips each having several dies, arranging the wafer strips on an adhesive-coated polymer film supported by an annular frame in such a manner that they are aligned with each other while being uniformly spaced from one another, bonding the aligned wafer strips to the polymer film in accordance with a lamination process, forming a polymer dam made of an epoxy-based polymer on the polymer film around a wafer region, forming an encapsulant encapsulating the wafer strips, forming a double laminated polymer film to encapsulate the chips as an alternative encapsulation method, forming via holes at positions respectively corresponding to pads of chips through the polymer film, forming an array of I/O pads for the chips, fusing solder balls to the I/O pads, and cutting several ten dies integrally formed in one lot into separate packages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for fabricating packages adapted to appropriately arrange semiconductor packages and to appropriately couple them while protecting them, and more particularly to a method for fabricating chip size packages using a lamination process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Packaging techniques are techniques widely used for fabricating a variety of systems, which techniques involve the entire process from the fabrication of semiconductor devices to the manufacture of final products using the fabricated semiconductor devices.
Recently, semiconductor techniques have been rapidly developed. In particular, such semiconductor techniques have been developed to a degree capable of obtaining an integration of one million cells or more, an increase in the number of I/O pins in the case of non-memory devices, an increase in die size, an increased heat discharge ability, and a high electrical performance. However, electronic packaging techniques used to package semiconductor devices have been slowly developed, as compared to the rapid developments in the semiconductor techniques.
Electronic packaging techniques are important in determining the performance, size, costs and reliability of final electronic products. In particular, super-micro packages are essential elements for recently developed electronic appliances, such as computers, data communication systems, mobile communication systems and high-grade home appliances, configured to ensure a high electrical performance, super-micro/highly dense structure, low power consumption, multiple functions, super-high signal processing, and permanent reliability.
For example, the application of chip size packages, which are a kind of such super-micro packages, is extended to PC cards, card-size personal computers, compact global position system receivers, camcorders, personal digital assistants, notebook computers, and telephone handsets.
Such chip size packages include lead-on-chip (LOC) type chip size packages adapted to package memory chips and micro ball grid array (BGA) type chip size packages adapted to package non-memory chips. LOC chip size packages are mainly used for packages of a 16 Mega grade or greater. Micro BGA chip size packages are fabricated using a combination of a BGA technique using solder balls and a chip size packaging technique. In addition, there are a variety of chip size packaging techniques for packaging non-memory chips. However, there is no specified standard for chip size packaging techniques.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,067 discloses an "integrated circuit chip carrier" used to fabricate semiconductor packages. In accordance with this patent, a patterned package carrier is first fabricated. A semiconductor chip is mounted on the patterned package carrier by means of solder balls, thereby fabricating a semiconductor package. However, this technique requires complicated processes because a solder ball forming process is used twice in accordance with the patent. Furthermore, this technique exhibits very low reliability because the chip is exposed. In addition, the required processes are expensive. This results in a difficulty in mass production and a very low marketability.

Method for fabricating chip size packages using lamination process

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


Technical solutions are described for determining data replication cost for a data server. In an example, a method for estimating the data replication cost includes receiving an identification of a source table and an identification of a target table for the data replication. The method further includes receiving a selection of a data replication scheme to be used to replicate the data. A costing system that implements the method determines the data replication cost, based on a conversion cost for conversion of the data from the source table to the target table, and a transfer cost for transfer of the data from the source table to the target table. The costing system communicates the data replication cost to an administrator.

The present application relates to server technology, and more specifically, to determining how to replicate data in a server.
In a cloud-computing environment, replication of data as against using another technique to provide data to an end-user has different cost implications. For example, a database administrator (DBA) or any other personnel in a cloud computing environment provider may be tasked to decide an optimal data replication strategy that could be used for a query offload.

Determining data replication cost for cloud based application

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A method of operating an access control system including a remote control system configured to control a lock an a central control system configured to wirelessly communicate with the remote control system. The method includes inputting user data into a user identification reader of the remote control system, and in response to inputting user data, requesting updating a remote user list stored by the remote control system with a central user list stored by the central control system using a wireless communicator of the remote control system and a wireless communicator of the central control system. The method further includes comparing the user data with one of the remote user list and the central user list to determine whether to unlock the lock.

The present invention relates to access control systems that control locks, and more particularly to access control systems that communicate using wireless communication.
Typically, access control systems include a remote control system located adjacent a door and a central control system located some distance away from the door and the remote control system. Often, the access control system will include multiple remote control systems that control access to multiple doors such that one remote control system is located at each door controlled by the access control system. In such a construction, each of the remote control systems communicates with the central control system. In one application, the remote control systems communicate with the central control system via wireless communication. When wireless communication is utilized, often each of the remote control systems will be powered by a local battery.

Access control system wherein the remote device is automatically updated with a central user list from the central station upon use of the remote device


Proposed is a method and system for transferring end customer phone lines between different terminations at the central office. Transfer is accomplished through the creation of virtual remote terminals of a desired size and number at the remote terminal and an appropriate mapping of the channel units to these virtual remote terminals.

This invention relates to digital loop carrier transmission systems.
In present digital loop carrier transmission systems, such as the Subscriber Loop Carrier (SLC.RTM.) Series 5 system, data communications take place between a switching entity at the central office (CO) and a remote terminal (RT) in the field. A "switching entity" is defined as a part of a switch that includes call processing capability plus a portion of the switching network. Each switching entity has a traffic-handling capacity which can be reached when the number and duration of calls to and from the remote terminal attain a certain level. It is often desirable, therefore, to move customer lines to different switching entities in order to balance the load on the different parts of the central office switch. In typical prior art systems, all customer lines in a remote terminal would be moved to a new switching entity. This meant that if a transfer of RT/CO feeder facilities to the new switching entity was performed halfway through the CO data transfer process, the average customer would be without telephone service for the time it takes to transfer one-quarter of all customers' data to the new switching entity. Alternatively, such load balancing problems could be handled by switch hardware and software modifications, but this approach was expensive.
Digital loop carrier systems presently employed in the United States conform to one of two standards for interfacing with the digital switches. The older standard, known generally in the industry as TR8, allows a remote terminal with no more than 96 customer lines. The newer standard, known as TR303, is compatible with remote terminals ranging from 48-2048 lines. In the case of TR8 systems, where it is desired to increase the number of lines to a remote terminal to greater than the allowed 96 lines, it has been proposed that a plurality of "virtual" remote terminals be set up at each remote terminal site. That is, each switching entity could be coupled to one of a plurality of virtual remote terminals set up within one physical remote terminal, and the channel units at that terminal could be mapped to any of the virtual terminals through a time slot interchanger. The result is that each remote terminal, while physically a single entity, would function in relationship to the central office as if it were a plurality of separate terminals. Since each virtual terminal in TR 8 is limited to 96 lines, however, the load balancing issue has not been addressed.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a mechanism for transferring phone lines among central office switch components with reduced per customer outage time.

Transferring lines in a digital loop carrier transmission system


Techniques for generating deliverable files from well logging data include obtaining the well logging data, wherein the well logging data is associated with a unique identifier; outputting a graphical deliverable file based on the well logging data, one or more templates, and a set of graphical deliverable attributes that specify how the graphical deliverable file is to be generated; and outputting an electronic data file comprising the set of graphical deliverable attributes such that the graphical deliverable file can be regenerated from the electronic data file. The well logging data may include all information necessary to recalculate the computed outputs from the raw data (e.g., computational parameters). Other methods include techniques for uniquely associating data and for making the outputs tamper-proof so that a user can compare two different types of outputs (e.g., digital and graphical deliverables) and be confident whether they are from the same source data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to data handling and presentation techniques. More particularly, the invention relates to data acquisition and logging systems associated with exploration and production of subsurface resources, for example, oil, gas or water, and preparing deliverable files for customers.
2. Background Art
The exploration for subsurface minerals typically requires various techniques for determining the characteristics of geological formations. Many characteristics, such as the hydrocarbon volume, resistivity, porosity, lithology, and permeability of a formation, may be deduced from certain measurable quantities associated with the geological formations. Drilling of a well to determine the characteristics of the geological formations is a well known technique. A data acquisition and logging "tool" or "system" is typically used to acquire information describing the well characteristics. The well may be, for example, an oil well, but can also be a well for exploration for other subsurface resources, such as gas and water.
Data acquisition and logging systems generally include "Wireline" logging systems, measurements-while-drilling (MWD) systems, logging-while-drilling (LWD) systems, and logging-while-tripping (LWT) systems.
Wireline logging systems typically involve a process by which oil or gas wells are surveyed to determine their geological, petrophysical or geophysical properties using electronic measuring instruments conveyed into the wellbore by means of an armored steel cable, known as a wireline cable. The data acquired by well logging instruments that are secured to the wireline cable are transmitted back to a back-end portion of the data acquisition and logging system located at the surface through electrical conductors in the wireline cable. Conventional wireline technology is well known in the oil and gas industry.
MWD or LWD systems typically make the same measurements as Wireline logging systems, but the measurements are obtained while the well is being drilled. MWD or LWD systems include sensors in the drill-string to obtain the aforementioned measurements. LWT systems use run-in tools that are sent downhole through mud channels in drill strings during drilling or after the drilling operations are finished and before the drill strings are pulled uphole. LWT tools typically make measurements while the drill string is retrieved. These measurements may be transmitted to the surface via mud-pulse telemetry (or similar techniques) while drilling or stored in well logging memory for later retrieval.
The measurements acquired by any tool, such as a wireline, MWD, LWD, or LWT system, and/or data derived from these measurements are typically presented in standard formats (i.e., deliverable files) for delivery to the customers. These deliverable files (reports) are used by the customer to make business decisions. For example, an oil company may use the report to make decisions regarding the commercial feasibility of a particular oil well. In some cases, the deliverable reports may be used by a governmental or regulatory agency to determine whether to grant drilling permits.
Present data acquisition and logging systems typically require the oil field services company (i.e., the company that used the logging tools) to manually prepare deliverable files for each customer. These deliverable files are typically in the standard DLIS format, which is an American Petroleum Institute standard (API RP 66—"Recommended Digital Log Interchange Standard ("DLIS"), V-1.00). In some cases, the oil field services company may use a program or a script to generate the deliverable files. In addition, the services companies typically also provide logs or graphs ("graphical deliverable files," i.e., hardcopy or electronic version of graphs) of the relevant data. The standards for various logs/graphs are covered by API RP31A. In the following description, "electronic data files" (e.g., the DLIS files) may refer to electronic files that contain well logging data, associated information, and/or parameters used to produce the logs, and the graphs/logs (whether physical print or electronic version) will be referred to as "graphical deliverable files" or "graphical deliverables." The electronic data files and graphical deliverable files may be referred to collectively as "deliverable files."
However, conventional electronic data files and graphical deliverable files are often not linked. That is, neither the electronic data files (e.g., DLIS files) nor the graphical deliverable files include information indicating that they are linked or information relating to how the graphical deliverables are generated from the data deliverables. In addition, computational parameters used in data manipulation and graph generation are typically not included in such deliverable files. As a result, it is difficult to ascertain that the electronic data files actually correspond to the graphical deliverable files and it is difficult, if not impossible, to recreate the graphical deliverable files. This could present a serious problem because the graphical deliverable files can be easily altered, and a small change to the data can make a large impact on the client's decisions. Furthermore, it will be difficult for the client to reproduce the graphical deliverable files from the electronic data files. As noted above, the electronic data files (e.g., DLIS files) typically include only the well log data and the well related information, but not the settings/parameters used to generate the graphical deliverables. Thus, the client must infer or deduce certain variables, parameters, etc. in order to reproduce the graphs or to verify the authenticity of the graphs in order to generate an accurate model of the well.
In order for a client to make an informed decision, the client may want to extract the information from the deliverable files, create a model of the well on their own system, and then perform various types of analysis on the model to determine how to ultimately proceed. Thus, there is a need for methods and systems to have deliverable files that include the necessary information to facilitate these processes or to have deliverable files that are traceable and/or not easily altered.

Method and system to generate deliverable files