Corrosive amine salts in hydrocarbon streams such as desalted crude oil streams can be prevented or avoided by adding certain amine scavenging chemicals to the streams to remove the amines therefrom. Suitable amine scavengers include, but are not necessarily limited to, carboxylic anhydrides and copolymers of carboxylic anhydrides, aromatic anhydrides, isocyanates, polyisocyanates, and epoxides. The non-corrosive reaction products of the amines and/or ammonia with these scavengers are preferably oil-soluble, non-basic and thermally stable. The amine scavengers bind up and react with the amines and/or ammonia to keep them from reacting with materials such as acids (e.g. HCl) to form corrosive amine salts.

In the refining of petroleum products, such as crude oil, hydrochloric acid is generated which can cause high corrosion rates on the distillation unit metallurgy. Neutralizing amines are added to the overhead system to neutralize the HCl and make it less corrosive. Excess amines can form salts that will lead to corrosion. Consequently, the refining industry has, for many years, suffered from amine-hydrochloride salt deposition in crude oil towers. The problem occurs when ammonia and/or amines are present in the desalted crude. These amines react with hydrochloric acid and other acids while ascending the crude tower and deposit as corrosive salts in the tower and the top pumparound equipment. The amines can be present from several sources, including but not necessarily limited to, crude oil (e.g. H2S scavenger chemicals), slop oil (frequently containing gas scrubbing unit amines) and desalter wash water (often composed of over-head sour water containing amine neutralizer). The problem has worsened in recent years in part due to higher crude salt content, which yields higher HCl and requires more overhead neutralizer, consequently both salt reactants are present in higher quantities. Additionally, many crude towers are operated at colder top temperature, which further encourages salt formation in towers. Longer run cycles between turnarounds have caused the problem to become a priority. Clearly, amine salting in towers has become a bigger problem in recent years, and future trends indicate continuation of the problem.
Solutions examined thus far fall into two categories. First, for cases where the amine is coming in with the crude oil or slop oil, the primary option is to segregate the offending streams and keep them out of the crude unit. This approach is economically unattractive in many cases. Second, in cases where the problem occurs due to recycle of overhead neutralizer, the approach has been to switch to overhead amines that will not form a salt at tower conditions. This technique is also economically unattractive in most applications, since these alternative neutralizers cost from three to four times as much as the convention-ally used amines.
Additional changes are foreseen which are likely to make the problem even worse. The nature of "opportunity crudes" and crude quality in general are deteriorating, and further, more plants are attempting to maximize internal water reuse. A recent effort to design new amine neutralizer options for overhead systems does not offer much relief because, as noted, the amine options identified are higher cost raw materials. Even if alternative amines are identified at reasonable costs, such amines will not help in systems where tramp amines enter the system with crude oil or slop oil.
It would be desirable if methods and/or compositions could be devised that would remove, reduce, eliminate, take out or otherwise remove amines and/or ammonia from these hydrocarbon streams, as well as reduce, alleviate or eliminate corrosion caused by undesired amine salts where amines enter refinery towers.

Removing amines from hydrocarbon streams


An optical interconnect architecture provides three dimensional optical interconnects, with the optical interconnects provided along a plane such as a wafer or a substrate. One or more integrated circuits is provided on a second “electronic” plane that is spaced from the optical interconnect plane. Signals from the circuit on the electronic plane are coupled to the optical interconnect plane using various strategies, including metal or optical interlayer interconnects extending perpendicular to the optical plane. Once on the optical interconnect plane, the signals from the circuits on the electronic plane are propagated optically.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical-electronic systems in which optical interconnects are used to distribute signals to or between one or more integrated circuit devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many modern integrated circuits are reaching limits on heat generation and adequate signal propagation, at least in part due to problems with interconnects. Advanced microprocessors are a good example. Signals are often carried within advanced microprocessors using copper wiring lines having lateral dimensions of substantially less than one micron. The resistance and density of these lines and the current carried by these lines are sufficient to make the interconnects a significant source of heating in the integrated circuit. Power dissipation and the increased margins required by excessive operating temperatures are problems for current integrated circuits and future circuit development is threatened by these problems.
A different problem arises from the close spacing between the wiring lines and the dielectric constant of the insulating material between the wiring lines. The close spacing of wiring lines and the high dielectric constant of the dielectric material between the wiring lines leads to high levels of interline capacitive and inductive coupling. The capacitive and inductive coupling are another source of undesirable heating, with the consequent heat dissipation and higher operating temperatures causing a range of problems. A more significant problem is that these capacitive and inductive couplings limit the propagation speeds of these wiring lines and lead to signal distortions that can prevent signals from being recognizable to receiving circuits.
The problems that have arisen in integrated circuits have also arisen in larger systems. Switching speeds for buses in computer systems are getting high, so that motherboards for computer systems are exhibiting heating and signal distortion problems like those discussed above with respect to integrated circuits.
Optical interconnects have been used to a limited extent in current electronic circuits. For example, optical isolation devices are frequently used in mixed signal applications including in modems. These applications have been in specialized areas and have not lead to the widespread use of optical interconnect technology. In addition, there has recently been some suggestions of exchanging signals between chips using optical interconnect technology. These proposed applications are for "edge" interconnects, where the optical interconnects replace the leads and circuit board connections used to communicate between chips. These proposed optical interconnect technologies have not lead to the widespread adoption of optical interconnect technology in electronic systems.
Optical circuit technology has advanced considerably in recent years due to the increased prevalence of optical networks and switches. These advancements have produced optical multiplexers, modulators, detectors, in-line amplifiers and switches. Waveguides on various substrates have become widely available. Despite these advancements, electronic and optical circuits have not been integrated.


The invention is a vehicle-mounted cargo transport apparatus and a method for mounting the cargo transport apparatus on a vehicle is  in such a way that increases both the loading capacity and stability of the cargo transport apparatus. At a minimum, the cargo transport apparatus comprises a lifting device and at least one load-bearing member. The lifting device is connected to the vehicle and has a cargo holding area, such as a platform, connected to the lifting device for loading cargo. The cargo holding area has at least two positions: a traveling position and a loading position. Cargo is loaded onto the cargo holding area in the loading position and then raised to a vertical position above the traveling position. At least one load beam, preferably two load beams, are then connected to the vehicle in a location where the load-supporting member can support the lifting device  cargo in the traveling position. If more than one load-supporting member is used, both the load-bearing members should be spaced apart so that the load is evenly distributed between them. After the load beam(s) are in place, the cargo holding device is lowered onto the load beam(s) so that the load beams at least share the load of the lifting device and cargo when the vehicle is traveling.

Vehicle owners have always sought out a better way to mount an apparatus to their vehicle for transporting cargo including bicycles, wheel chairs, tool boxes, motorcycles, personal watercrafts and all terrain vehicles. Information relevant to address this problem can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,084,736, 4,738,581, 4,741,660, 4,775,282, 5,011,361, 5,431,522, 5,482,424, 5,806,737, 5,816,763, 5,984,613, 6,007,290, and D430,533. Each one of these references suffers from one or more of the disadvantages described in the following paragraphs.
Each of the references that employ a lifting device to raise the cargo off the ground and into the desired traveling position relies solely on the lifting device to support the cargo when the vehicle is traveling. This is a disadvantage because the lifting device must be designed not only to lift the cargo off the ground and into the desired traveling position, but the lifting device must also support the additional impact forces on the lifting device encountered when the vehicle is traveling. The additional impact forces on the lifting device during travel can occur for a variety of reasons, including bumps in the road, potholes, vehicle acceleration and vehicle deceleration.
The additional impact forces on the lifting device during travel are magnified when the vehicle is driven on non-paved roads ("off-road") because of the uneven and often unpredictable driving surface encountered in off-road situations. Vehicle owners transporting the cargo such as motorcycles, all terrain vehicles and personal watercraft often drive their vehicle and cargo off-road.
The increased downward forces on the lifting device during travel require the cargo-lifting device must be designed not only to lift the cargo itself, but also support the cargo during travel. If the lifting device was used only to lift the cargo into the traveling position and not support the additional downward forces during travel, the lifting device could be smaller, lighter and less expensive.
Another disadvantage of the references that employ a lifting device to raise the cargo into the traveling position is that those references use the lifting device as the sole means for supporting the cargo during travel. This is a significant disadvantage because if the lifting device fails while the vehicle is traveling, significant damage could result to the cargo, the vehicle, the driver, any passengers in the vehicle, nearby pedestrians or nearby vehicles. A solution that provides redundant support for the cargo if the lifting device fails during travel would be a significant advantage.
Another disadvantage of the references is that many of them are aimed at the lighter weight cargo (i.e., bicycles, wheelchairs, and toolboxes). Heavier cargo, such as motorocycles, personal watercrafts and all terrain vehicles are many times heavier than the heaviest electric wheel chair. Accordingly, many of the proposed solutions for transporting lighter weight cargo are not appropriate and can not support heavier cargo.
Another disadvantage of the references is that it takes more than one person to mount the transport apparatus to the vehicle and more than one person to load the cargo. A solution that allowed one person to complete the process without assistance would be a significant improvement.
Presently, no solution is known that (1) relieves the lifting device from the additional downward impact forces encountered during travel, (2) provides redundant support for the cargo if the lifting means failed during travel, or (3) allows one person to mount the apparatus to the vehicle and load the cargo. For the foregoing reasons, a need exists for a high strength vehicle-mounted transport apparatus that allows for a smaller capacity lifting device, provides redundant support during travel, and can be installed by one person.

High-strength vehicle-mounted cargo transport apparatus


System and methods are provided for performing white balancing of an image. An image including one or more pixels is received, wherein a pixel corresponds to an input color value. A light source of the image is determined based at least in part on the input color values of the pixels, wherein the light source is used for illumination when the image is captured. New color values of the pixels are generated to reduce color distortion caused by the light source of the image.

Human eyes typically have a "color constancy" ability to cope with different lighting conditions. For example, when a white object is illuminated under different light sources, a person can usually perceive the object as white despite the different light sources. However, digital cameras often do not have such a "color constancy" ability. When an image is captured by a digital camera, a light source used for illumination can often cause a white object in the captured image to appear "non-white." For example, a tungsten light bulb used for illumination can cause a white object to appear yellow or orange in the captured image. In another example, a white object may appear blue or even green in a captured image under a fluorescent bulb. In order to make a white object appear white in a digital image, pixel values of the image can be adjusted to reduce the color distortion caused by the light source of the image. This process of changing the pixel values of the captured image to compensate for the effects of the light source is often referred to as performing white balancing of the image.

Systems and methods for automatic white balance of images


A computer-implemented method of calibrating an in-vitro diagnostic analyzer is disclosed. The method includes executing a multi-point calibration procedure including measuring a plurality of calibrator levels and thereby obtaining a plurality of respective calibration points. The method further includes calculating a result of the multi-point calibration procedure and determining failure or passing of the multi-point calibration procedure based on the calculated result. In case of failure of the multi-point calibration procedure, the method includes determining if failure is related to one or more individual failed calibration point(s), and in the affirmative, triggering a repetition of measuring the calibrator level(s) only with respect to the failed calibration point(s) and re-calculating the result of the multi-point calibration procedure after replacing only the failed calibration point(s) with the newly obtained calibration point(s).

The present disclosure generally relates to a computer-implemented method of calibrating an in-vitro diagnostic analyzer.
In medicine, doctor's diagnosis and patient treatment often relies on the measurement of the concentration of analytes, or other parameters, in a patient sample. This measurement is typically carried out by in-vitro diagnostic analyzers that can be configured to analyze certain types of samples and detect certain types of analytes using various detecting technologies. As the life of patients may depend on the precision and the reliability of such measurements, it is important that the instruments perform correctly.
It is a general requirement for in-vitro diagnostic analyzers to implement a set of Quality Control (QC) procedures in order to check that they are working correctly.
One of these procedures is calibration. In most cases, calibration is performed using standard solutions, with known concentrations. In this way it is possible to correlate a measured signal to a quantitative result. Calibration should be performed more or less frequently depending on the system and other variable factors which may affect performance.
Sometimes errors may occur during calibration and a calibration failure is reported. In most cases, it is not clear what the cause of the failure is. In most cases, the cause of failure is due to random errors, e.g., due to interferences during the measurement e.g., presence of air bubbles, dirt, contaminants, due to pipetting errors, and the like.
As a consequence, rather than investigating what the cause of the failure is, the calibration procedure is normally repeated in the hope that the next time no failure is reported.
The effective throughput and usability as well as the costs of running of an in-vitro diagnostic analyzer may be affected by the fact that a significant time may have to be dedicated to the execution and repetition of calibration procedures. This applies even more to those in-vitro diagnostic analyzers that are configured to process different samples and test for different analytes in a random sequence and where different reagents according to the type of sample and/or to the analytes of interest are used, meaning that different calibration procedures for different sample/analyte/reagent combinations may be required and on a more frequent basis. Moreover, the time and costs for executing calibration procedures increase as the number of calibrator levels that are required for the same calibration procedure increases.
Therefore, there is a need for a method of calibrating an in-vitro diagnostic analyzer that minimizes the time spent for calibration procedures, minimizes delays of routine operation due to missing calibration, and minimizes the use of calibrators, therefore saving costs and preventing waste of expensive materials.


A system and method for diameter agent load balancing. The method including: receiving a request from a sending diameter node; parsing at least one Attribute-Value Pair (AVP) from the request; determining a partition-identifier (partition-id) from the at least one AVP; determining a receiving diameter node, based on the partition-id; and sending the request to the receiving diameter node. The system including: a message module configured to receive a request from a sending diameter node; a parsing module configured to parse at least one Attribute-Value Pair (AVP) of the message from the request and determine a partition-id from the at least one AVP and a receiving diameter node, based on the partition-id; and a forwarding module configured to send the request to the receiving diameter node.

Network traffic continues to increase all over the world. As network traffic increases, service providers or network managers try to optimize the use of their networks in order to maximize customer satisfaction and throughput on the network. A computer network uses various devices and requires protocols to manage traffic between network devices. One such protocol is called the diameter protocol. Diameter is an authentication, authorization, and accounting protocol for computer networks.
A Diameter node may act as a client, server, or agent in the computer network. The Diameter node that receives a user connection request will act as the client. The Diameter server node is then a node in the computer network that authenticates the user. A Diameter agent is then intended to route messages from the client or server to another client or server. In order to ensure that the traffic is routed properly, conventional agents are generally required to store data associated with a plurality of clients and servers to determine where specific messages should be sent. The time taken in storing the data may use memory and processing power that may slow the network traffic, thus potentially lowering the Quality of Experience (QOE) of the network subscribers.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved method and system for diameter load balancing.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

System and method for diameter messaging in computer networks


An electrical circuit structure can include a first trace formed using a first conductive layer and a second trace formed using a second conductive layer. The first trace can be vertically aligned with the second trace. The electrical circuit structure can include a via segment formed of conductive material in a third conductive layer between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer. The via segment can contact the first trace and the second trace forming a first conductor structure configured to convey an electrical signal in a direction parallel to the first conductive layer.

Electrical circuit manufacturing processes continue to advance facilitating the creation of ever smaller devices using ever smaller (finer) design rules. Referring to integrated circuit (IC) technology using an organic substrate, for example, fine line traces can be formed on the order of approximately 20 μm. Similarly, design rules specifying spacing can be on the order of approximately 20 μm. Correspondingly, the thickness of dielectric layers of an electrical circuit, whether implemented using printed circuit board (PCB) technology or IC technology, tends to be shallow. Again referring to IC technology, the thickness of a dielectric layer can be on the order of approximately 30 μm.
Given the feature sizes and fine design rules noted, implementation of a differential channel that meets a target of 100 Ohm differential impedance typically has a narrow trace width on the order of approximately 25 μm and a trace height of approximately 15-20 μm. A channel formed using one or more traces with dimensions as described can suffer from a variety of different types of loss that affect the ability of the channel to propagate a signal, particularly at high frequencies.
Channels as described can suffer from a variety of different types of loss including, but not limited to, dielectric loss incurred as a result of the dielectric material, loss incurred as a result of any roughness on the surface of the trace(s), and loss due to the skin effect. In general, the "skin effect" refers to the tendency of an alternating electric current, e.g., a high frequency signal, to distribute itself within a conductor so that the current density is largest at or near the surface of the conductor and decreases at greater depths from the surface of the conductor toward the center. The electric current flows mainly at or in the "skin" of the conductor (e.g., the trace). The "skin" can be defined as the portion of the conductor between the outer surface and a level within the conductor called the skin depth. The skin effect causes the effective resistance of a conductor to increase at higher frequencies where the skin depth is smaller, thus reducing the effective cross-section of the conductor.

Conductor structure with integrated via element


In order to improve the decoupling efficiency in a top-emitting OLED a top-emitting electroluminescent component (100) is suggested comprising a substrate, a first electrode (120) nearest to the substrate, a second electrode (14) located at a distance from the substrate, and at least one light-emitting organic layer (130) arranged between both electrodes, the emitted light being transmitted through the second electrode. The component in accordance with the invention is distinguished by an additional layer (150) facing away from the at least one organic layer is arranged on the side of the second electrode, which additional layer comprises optically effective light-emitting heterogeneities (151, 152, 153), especially in the form of scatter centers, the degree of transmission of the additional layer of the emitted light being greater than 0.6. This additional layer can be applied by various wet-chemical processes and vacuum methods, the inhomogeneities being introduced into and/or applied onto the decoupling additional layer during or after the application process. Furthermore, the invention also relates to a method for producing such a component.

In recent years a great requirement for smaller and smaller space-saving, light and economical display modules and displays for the rapid and adequate visualization of data has developed. Currently, LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) predominate in the area of flat screens for notebooks, mobile telephones and digital camera. However, they have a few disadvantages such as the strong angular dependency of contrast and colors, slow reaction times for image and contrast change and a low efficiency conditioned by a plurality of filters and polarizers, so that in order to achieve the required luminosity relatively high energies must be used. To this extent the demand for small, high-resolution, colored and current-saving screens with improved display qualities is great. Displays on the basis of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) represent an alternative to LCDs since they consist themselves of light-emitting pixels and therefore have no background illumination. They can be produced flexibly and thin with low production costs, e.g., in the form of a foil, and be operated with a relatively low expenditure of energy. Given their low operating voltage, the high energy efficiency as well as the possibility of manufacturing areally emitting components for the emission of any colors, OLEDs are also suitable for use in illuminating elements.
OLEDs are based on the principle of electroluminescence in which electron-hole pairs, so-called excitons, recombine under the emission of light. To this end the OLED is constructed in the form of a sandwich structure wherein at least one organic film is arranged as active material between two electrodes, positive and negative charge carriers are injected into the organic material and a charge transport takes place from holes or electrons to a recombination zone in the organic layer where a recombination of the charge carrier to singlet and/or triplet excitons occurs under the emission of light. The subsequent radiant recombination of excitons causes the emission of the visible useful light emitting by the light-emitting diode. In order that this light can leave the component at least one of the electrodes must be transparent. As a rule this transparent electrode consists of conductive oxides designated as TCOs (transparent conductive oxides). The starting point in the manufacture of an OLED is a substrate on which the individual layers of the OLED are applied. If the electrode nearest to the substrate is transparent the component is designated as a "bottom-emission OLED" and if the other electrode is designed to be transparent the component is designated as a "top-emission OLED". The same applies to the case of completely transparent OLEDs, in which the electrode between the substrate and the at least one organic layer as well as the electrode at a distance from the substrate are designed to be transparent.
As explained, the generation of light in the active zone or emission zone of the component by radiant recombination of electrons and defect electrons (holes) takes place via excitonic states. The different layers of OLEDs, e.g., the transparent electrodes and the at least one organic layer have in general a different refractive index that is by nature greater than 1. To this extent not all generated photons can leave the component and be perceived as light since total reflections can occur on the different boundary surfaces within the component or between the component and the air. Furthermore, even a part of the generated light is reabsorbed within the component. Depending on the configuration of the OLEDs, a formation of optical substrate- and/or organic modes (that is, diffusion of light in the substrate, the transparent electrode and/or the at least one organic layer) takes place in addition to the diffusion of external modes based on the previously described total reflection. If the electrode nearest to the substrate is not transparent (top-emission OLED), in addition to external modes only modes in the at least one organic layer and/or the electrode at a distance from the substrate can diffuse that are designated in common as organic modes. Only the external optical modes can be perceived as light by the observer, whose proportion of the entire luminescence generated within the component is less than 20%, as a function of the configuration of the OLED. To this extent there is a need to decouple these internal optical modes, that is, organic-and optionally substrate modes more strongly from the component in order to achieve the highest possible degree of efficiency of the organic light-emitting component.
In order to improve the decoupling efficiency a plurality of methods and designs, in particular for bottom-emitting OLEDs, are known that concern the decoupling of optical substrate modes. To this end the article "30% external quantum efficiency from surface textured, thin-film light-emitting diodes" by I. Schnitzer, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 63, page 2174 (1993) suggests roughening the surface of the substrate, which avoids to a considerable extent the occurrence of total reflection on the boundary surface between substrate and air. This roughening can be achieved, e.g., by etching or sandblasting the substrate surface facing away from the organic. In the contribution "Improvement of output coupling efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes by backside substrate modification" by C. F. Madigan, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 76, page 1650 (2000) the application of a spherical pattern on the back side of the substrate surface is described. This pattern can comprise, e.g., an array of lenses that is applied onto the substrate by pasting or laminating. The article "Organic light emitting device with an ordered monolayer of silica microspheres as a scattering medium" by T. Yamasaki et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., volume 76, page 1243 (2000) suggests applying microspheres of quartz glass onto the surface of the substrate in order to improve the decoupling of the light in an OLED. These microspheres can also be arranged adjacent to the OLED. Furthermore, it is also known that periodic structures with a period length in a range of the wavelength of the light emitted by the OLED can be generated between the substrate and the first electrode, the periodic structure being propagated into the optically effective layer of the light-emitting diode. The indicated geometry finally has a Bragg scattering as a consequence that increases the efficiency of the component, see J. M. Lupton et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 77, page 3340 (2000). Furthermore, German unexamined publication (Offenlegungsschrift) DE 101 64 016 A1 relates to an organic light-emitting diode in which the at least one organic layer exhibits different partial areas with various refractive indices. As a result of the deflection at the phase boundaries within the organic, fewer photons remain in the layer due to wave conduction losses than in homogenous layers.
Moreover, in addition to this utilization of intrinsic inhomogeneities in the active organic layer it is known that foreign bodies such as nanoparticles can be introduced into the organic electroluminescent material so that wave conductor effects within the organic can be avoided, see, e.g., "Enhanced luminance in polymer composite light emitting devices", by S. A. Carter et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 71 (1997). These nanoparticles can consist, e.g., of TiO2, SiO2 or Al2O3 and be embedded in a polymeric emitter material such as MEH-PPV.
In addition to the bottom-emitting OLEDs the top-emitting OLEDs are becoming increasingly relevant since they have advantages over the first-named ones for specific applications. If both electrodes as well as the substrate are transparent a component can be made available that is electroluminescent in its totality, that is, that radiates up and down. If the substrate does not have to be transparent as in the top-emitting OLED, many other substrates can be used in addition to glass that make it possible, e.g., that the component is flexible, that is, bendable. Furthermore, even metal foils, silicon wafers or other substrates with silicon-based electronic components as well as printed circuit boards can serve as substrates in such a top-emitting electroluminescent component.

Top-emitting, electroluminescent component with at least one organic layer


A compliant personal care article, can include: a personal care composition, including i) a surfactant; and ii) from about 3% to about 40%, by weight of the composition, of a water insoluble hygroscopic fiber, fine, or filament; and a first contact substrate adjacent to the composition, wherein the contact substrate is a multiplanar film, includes a surface aberration, and has a surface aberration area of about 45% to about 98%.

Cleansing is an activity that has been done for many years. Over time, cleansing has involved the use of compositions such as bar and liquid soaps, body washes, shampoos, conditioners, liquid and/or solid detergents, and the like. For these compositions, consumers desire good cleansing properties and lathering characteristics, mildness toward the target surface, like skin, fabric, or hard surface, and the ability to provide benefit agents to the target surface.
Some cleansing has been done with rigid cleansing compositions, like bar soap. These rigid forms can be difficult for the consumer to handle, especially when wet. Also, they are difficult to use directly on the target area for cleansing as the contact surface area of the bar soap is limited by the shape of the target surface.
To enhance a consumer's experience, such cleansing compositions can also be coupled with implements such as a washcloth, a sponge, or a puff. For example, many consumers dispense liquid soaps or body washes onto a puff and then cleanse by applying the puff to their skin and/or hair. Similarly, many consumers rub bar soaps with a washcloth and then cleanse by applying the washcloth to their skin and/or hair. Additionally, many consumers apply cleansing compositions to sponges to clean hard surfaces.
Although a consumer's experience with a cleansing composition can be enhanced by coupling the cleansing composition with an implement, to date, such an experience has not been completely ideal. For example, coupling such cleansing compositions with an implement tends to lead to clutter in the kitchen, shower, or bath as a consumer needs to carry or store cumbersome bottles, bars, jars, and/or tubes of cleansing products and implements. Additionally, coupling requires the user to perform additional steps like applying the body wash or soap on the implement and then rubbing or wiping the implement on the target surface rather than just applying the body wash and/or soap directly to the target surface. As such, more water tends to be consumed increasing the waste and carbon footprint of the consumer.
Further, certain personal cleansing compositions, such as bar soaps, can have difficulty providing the consumer with the desired deposition of benefit agents, even when coupled with an implement. Some attempts have been made to combine an implement with a personal cleansing composition in a personal care article. However, these executions were not ideal. For example, one such article included a non-compliant bar soap coupled with an implement. The rigidity of this type of execution does not conform to the surface to which it is applied making it difficult to thoroughly clean the target surface.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a compliant article having desirable cleansing properties, including suitable lathering and rinsing characteristics.


An improved method and apparatus for distributing transactions among a plurality of groups of processors in a multiprocessor computer system are disclosed. An embodiment of the invention includes the following operations. First, receiving an address request at a first group of processors. The address request is associated with a memory address corresponding to a requested memory page. Next, identifying those of the groups of processors that are interested in the address request and identifying those of the groups of processors that are uninterested in the address request. Thereafter, substantially simultaneously broadcasting the address request to the interested groups of processors and not to the uninterested groups of processors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multi-processor computer systems and, more particularly, to the processing of memory access requests within a multi-processor computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although computation speeds of conventional processors have increased dramatically, there is still a need for even faster computing. Large computational problems such as weather forecasting, fusion modeling, and aircraft simulation demand substantial computing power, far in excess of what can currently be supplied. While processor speed is improving as device speeds increase, the achieved performance levels are still inadequate to handle computationally complex problems.
To achieve high performance computing, a plurality of individual processors have been interconnected to form a multiprocessor computer system capable of providing parallel processing.
In a multiprocessor computing system, there are two sources of delay in satisfying processor memory requests. The first source of delay is the access time to the main memory, and the second source of delay is the communications delays imposed by an interconnection network that connects the various processors. If the bandwidth of the interconnection network is inadequate, the communication delays are greatly increased due to contention for the bandwidth.
One suggested solution to both the bandwidth and access time limitations of interconnection networks is the use of private caches memories at the individual processors. By properly selecting cache parameters, both the transfer ratios (the ratio of memory requests passed on to the main memory from the cache to initial requests made of the cache) and effective access times can be reduced. Unfortunately, private caches introduce a stale data problem (or multicache coherency problem) due to the multiple copies of main memory locations which may be present.
Another suggested solution involves the use of coherency directories. Coherency directories are generally large, separate blocks of memory which keep track of which processor in the multiprocessor computer system owns which lines of memory. Unfortunately, coherency directories can be expensive since additional memory is required and slow since coherency directories are typically structured in a table lookup format. Coherency directories can also severely degrade overall system performance since a memory call must be initiated for every address request.
More recently, shared memory multiprocessing system have interconnected processors (or groups of processors) by a single bus (e.g., an address bus). Unfortunately, as the processor speeds increase, the feasible number of processors that can be connected through a single bus decreases. One problem with using a bus is that performance degrades as more devices are added to the bus. This means that the bandwidth of a bus available to a processor actually shrinks as more processors are added to the bus.
FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a portion of a conventional multiprocessor computer system 100 illustrating typical snoop result paths between various processor groups. Computer system 100 includes a first processor group 110, a second processor group 120, a third processor group 130, an address interconnect 150, and a data interconnect 160. It should be noted whereas only three (3) processor groups are shown in FIG. 1, multiprocessor computer system 100 typically includes any suitable number of processor groups. Communication between the processor 110, 120 and 130 are provided by way of bidirectional buses 140 and 142. Each of processor groups 110, 120, and 130 includes a snoop results distributor and an address repeater. The address repeaters are used to communicate with address interconnect 150 by way of bidirectional buses 140 and 142. Generally, address interconnect 150 broadcasts address requests to every address repeater within computer system 100 whereas data interconnect 160 operates as a point to point router.
In operation, processor groups 110, 120 and 130 transmit their respective memory address requests directly to address interconnect 150. Address interconnect 150 will arbitrate any conflicting address requests and will simultaneously broadcast back to all groups of processors (including the original requester group) within system 100 the chosen requested address request. Once received, each processor group will generate and store a group snoop result in its own snoop results distributor. Each group's snoop results distributor will then broadcast to all other snoop results distributors in every processor group in system 100 their respective group snoop result. In this manner, every processor group within computer system 100 obtains the group snoop results of every other processor group. Thereafter, the processor group initiating the address request is directed to the appropriate memory location within the computer system 100. A conventional multiprocessor system utilizing a snoop system having such a snoop results distributor is exemplified by the STARFIRE system manufactured by Sun Microsystems, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.
FIG. 1B is a flowchart illustrating a typical memory address request transaction in the conventional multiprocessor computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1A.
The conventional multiprocessor computer system memory address request transaction process 150 begins with an individual processor sending 10 an address request to the associated address repeater. As is known to those skilled in the art, at least one processor in a processor group will typically generate an address request to seek a specific block of memory. An address request typically will be associated with a specific memory command indicative of the purpose for which the block of memory is being requested by the processor. The address requester will forward 12 the received address request to the address interconnect associated with conventional multiprocessor computer system 100. The address interconnect, after appropriate conflict arbitration, will broadcast 14 the chosen address request to all address repeaters included within conventional multiprocessor computer system 100, including the address repeater associated with the original requester group of processors. Each associated address repeater will broadcast 16 the received address request to each of its associated individual processors. Each individual processor will in turn query 18 their respective memory cache to determine whether they have owned or shared a copy of the requested memory address. Based on the determining 18, each processor will generate an individual snoop result which is subsequently forwarded 20 to the snoop results distributor associated with the group of processors. The snoop results distributor then combines 22 all individual snoop results received from individual processors to form a group snoop result. The snoop result distributor then broadcasts 24 the group snoop result to all other snoop results distributors within computer system 100 since each snoop results distributor is capable of broadcasting and receiving the group snoop result from all other groups of processors within system 100.
Each snoop result distributor will combine 26 the group snoop results received from all other snoop results distributors within computer system 100 to form a global snoop result. The global snoop result contains all information relating to the ownership of the page of memory associated with the requested memory address for all groups of processors within system 100. Each snoop result distributor will forward 28 the global snoop result to all individual processors within its associated group of processors. Upon receipt of the global snoop result, the original requester processor will obtain 30 the requested page of memory.
As the number of processors added to the computer system increases, the amount of irrelevant data on the address bus degrades overall system performance. By way of example, as more processors are added to the computer system, at some point the maximum address bandwidth precludes any improvement in overall system performance at which no additional performance gained by adding more processors.
Thus, there is a need for techniques to reduce transmission of address requests between various processors in a multiprocessor computer system.

Snoop filter for use in multiprocessor computer systems


A method and apparatus for transmitting data from an optical network unit (ONU) to an optical line termination (OLT) in a Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (GE-PON) on the basis of a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme are provided. A measurement of a data transmission time when the data is transmitted to the OLT is obtained, and the measured data transmission time is compared with a predetermined normal transmission time. The transmission of the data is maintained if the measured data transmission time is determined to be less than or equal to the normal transmission time from the comparison result. However, if the measured data transmission time is determined to be greater than the normal transmission time, the transmission of the data is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (GE-PON) and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for transmitting data from optical network units (ONUs) to an optical line termination (OLT) in a GE-PON.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a GE-PON being standardized in IEEE802.3ah EFM to which the present invention is applicable. As shown, a plurality of ONUs 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 are configured to communicate with one OLT 100. During downstream transmission from the OLT 100 to the ONUs 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3, the OLT 100 broadcasts data to all the ONUs 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3, and each of the ONUs 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 is configured to receive the intended data from the OLT 100. However, during upstream transmission from the ONUs 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 to the OLT 100, the ONUs 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 transmit a frame to the OLT 100 based on a time-division multiple access (TDMA) scheme.
Referring to FIG. 9, if a malfunction occurs in any one of the ONUs during the upstream transmission, the transmission times allocated to the other ONUs may be affected. As can be seen from this drawing, the ONU1 110-1 may succeed in transmitting an ONU1 data frame during a first period, and the ONU2 110-2 fails to transmit an ONU2 data frame within a second period due to the occurrence of an error therein, thereby continuously occupying the transmission line thereafter. As the ONU2 110-2 continuously transmits the erroneous ONU2 data for more than the predefined time, it causes a data collision in a third period, during which the ONU3 110-3 is permitted to transmit an ONU3 data frame. As a result, the entire transmission of the GE-PON will be disabled if such data collusion occurs continuously.

Method and apparatus for transmitting data in Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network

Meatan-Dong, Yeongtong-Gu, Suwon-Si, Gyeonggi-Do


The present invention aims to provide a compound superior in broad utility and stability, which is useful as a protecting reagent (anchor) of amino acid and/or peptide in liquid phase synthesis and the like of a peptide having a C-terminal etc., which are of a carboxamide (—CONHR)-type, an organic synthesis reaction method (particularly peptide liquid phase synthesis method) using the compound, and a kit for peptide liquid phase synthesis containing the compound, and has found that the object can be achieved by a particular compound having a diphenylmethane skeleton.

Methods for organic synthesis of compound are generally divided largely into a solid phase method and a liquid phase method. The solid phase method is advantageous in that isolation and purification after the reaction can be performed by only washing of resin. However, the solid phase method is problematic in that it essentially includes a non-homogeneous phase reaction, reaction agents and reagents need to be used in excess amounts to compensate for the low reactivity, and tracking of reaction and analysis of the reaction product on a carrier are difficult.
In an attempt to perform reaction in a homogeneous liquid phase while utilizing the advantage of the solid phase method in that isolation and purification after the reaction can be performed by filtration and washing alone, a method of isolating a particular component dissolved in a liquid as a solid has been used. This is because precipitation of a particular component alone facilitates isolation and purification after reaction.
A particular component dissolved in a solution can be precipitated only when predetermined conditions are satisfied, such as chemical properties, property and relationship with solvents of the compound.
However, determination of precipitation conditions requires trial and error and experimental searches in most cases. In liquid phase synthesis, moreover, some compounds to be synthesized are insoluble in organic solvents used for extraction or show low solubility therein, which necessitates confirmation of the property of each compound to search for isolation and purification methods therefor. Particularly, when sequential and multistep synthesis reactions are required as in peptide synthesis and the like, since isolation and purification conditions such as precipitation, extraction and the like need to be determined based on the properties unique to the compound synthesized in each step, long time and high is cost are required.
In addition, the general liquid phase synthesis process, which has been known for long, requires more complicated operations than the solid phase methods; however, it is advantageous in that intermediate peptide can be purified by extraction wash, isolation and the like after condensation reaction. On the contrary, in extraction wash with nonpolar organic solvents and acidic or basic aqueous solutions, precipitation, transfer to aqueous layer side together with impurity and the like easily occur depending on the chain length and property of peptide, which renders extraction into the organic layer side difficult. Particularly, for a peptide with a short chain having a carboxamide-type C-terminal (—CONHR: R is a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or an aralkyl group), the difficulty in extraction into an organic layer as mentioned above becomes noticeable since it acquires high hydrophilicity and the like. The peptide having a carboxamide-type C-terminal is generally used for peptide pharmaceutical products for the reasons of stability and improved activity in the body and the like, and causes problems in the liquid phase synthesis of such peptide.
On the other hand, a method using a protecting group (anchor) capable of irreversible change of a dissolution state and an insolubilized state (precipitated state) of a particular component according to the varying solvent composition has been developed. Using such anchor, a compound to be the isolation object can be selectively precipitated from a homogenous solution state.
For example, patent document 1 and non-patent document 1 disclose methods including developing an anchor by introducing a long chain aliphatic group into a benzyl alcohol type compound (see the following structure), dissolving and reacting the anchor in a halogen solvent, and precipitating a reacted product with polar organic solvent such as methanol or acetonitrile to allow peptide chain elongation.

However, since the anchor is a benzyl alcohol type compound, even when the anchor is used as a protecting group of a C-terminal or side chain carboxyl group, the group returns to a free carboxyl group after deprotection. Therefore, the anchor cannot be used as a C-terminal or side chain anchor aiming at synthesis of peptide with carboxamide-type C-terminal.

Method of making peptides using diphenylmethane compound


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes providing a semiconductor body of a conductivity type, wherein the semiconductor body comprises a first surface. At least one buried region of a second conductivity type is formed in the semiconductor body and at least a surface region of the second conductivity type is formed at the first surface of the semiconductor body, wherein the buried region and the surface region are formed such that they are spaced apart from each other. The buried region is formed by deep implantation of a first dopant of the second conductivity type.

Semiconductor devices often comprise functional layers which are formed epitaxially. Epitaxial deposition allows the formation of a single-crystalline material and is thus a versatile method which is used for the manufacture of a variety of power semiconductor devices such as such SiC JFETs (Silicon Carbide Junction Field Effect Transistors). During deposition, the deposited material can be doped so that a subsequent doping by implantation is often not required.
The epitaxial deposition, however, requires delicate handling and is rather expensive. Despite advanced control systems and adopted deposition chambers, fluctuations of both the thickness and the doping concentration may occur which could adversely affect the performance of the thus manufactured semiconductor devices. For example, the pinch-off voltage of a JFET is determined by the geometry and doping concentration of its channel. Variation of any of these parameters changes the pinch-off voltage to unwanted values and can alter the saturation characteristics of the JFET. Further, a plurality of separate epitaxial deposition steps is required for forming a JFET. In view of this, there is an ongoing desire to improve the manufacturing procedures to obtain high quality devices with well defined and uniform characteristics.

Semiconductor device and method for forming same


A new and distinct hybrid of Penstemon plant characterized by deep pink flowers on short, strong inflorescences and a compact, suffrutescent habit.

Penstemon hybrid.
xe2x80x98Pink Chablisxe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of a suffrutescent perennial, Penstemon hybrid, of the family Scrophulariaceae, which originated as a seedling selection from the Saskatoon Hybrids. The Saskatoon Hybrids are a hybrid seed strain involving Penstemon barbatus, P. glaber, P. clutei, P. palmeri, and others.
This new cultivar is characterized by:
1) Deep pink flowers.
2) High flower number on a tight inflorescence.
3) Persistent basal foliage with a compact habit.
4) Reblooming on short, strong inflorescences.
5) More tolerant to winter wet soil conditions than most Penstemon.
This new cultivar has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (division and tissue culture). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by division and tissue culture as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.

Penstemon plant named xe2x80x98Pink Chablisxe2x80x99


The invention provides a support roller of a crawler type traveling apparatus which can prevent a rotational resistance from being increased by the soil or the like, and can stably achieve a function serving as the support roller for a long time. The invention provides a support roller of a crawler type traveling apparatus provided with a shaft (1), a support portion (2) supporting a center portion in an axial direction of the shaft (1), and a pair of rollers (3, 3) respectively arranged in both end portions (1a, 1a) of the shaft (1) and rotating together with the shaft (1). A mounting seat portion (36) of the support portion (2) to a track frame (51) is set within a range (S) of a roller outer shape formed by a pair of rollers (3, 3) in a plan view.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support roller of a crawler type traveling apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A crawler type traveling apparatus (a chassis apparatus) has been conventionally structured, as shown in FIG. 6, such that a track frame 51, an idler 52 and a sprocket 53 are arranged approximately rectilinearly, support rollers 54 and 54 and track wheels 55, . . . are rotatably provided in the track frame 51, and a crawler belt 56 is wound around the idler 52, the support roller 54, the sprocket 53 and the track wheel 55. Further, the crawler belt 56 is provided with a plurality of crawler belt links 57, . . . , connection shafts 61, . . . pivotally connecting a plurality of links 57 in an endless manner, shoe plates 60, . . . (refer to FIG. 6) mounted to the links 57, . . . , and the like.
Further, the support roller 54 is provided with a shaft 65, and a roller 67 which is rotatably supported to the shaft 65 via bearings 66 and 66, for example, as shown in FIG. 7. The support roller is supported to the track frame 51 in a cantilever manner, and is structured such that one end portion of the shaft 65 is protruded from the roller 67, and a protruding portion 65a is supported to a mounting bracket 68 which is stood from the track frame 51. Further, a pair of collar portions 70 and 70 are provided in an outer peripheral surface of the roller 67. As shown in FIG. 8, when supporting the crawler belt 56 by the support roller, each of the links 57, . . . are brought into contact with an outer peripheral surface 67a of the roller 67 in an outer side (an outer side in a roller axial direction) of each of the collar portions 70 and 70.
Further, there is a structure in which the crawler belt is supported by a pair of rollers (for example, refer to patent document 1). In the structure described in the patent document 1, as shown in FIG. 8, a pair of mounting brackets 72 and 72 are stood from a track frame 73, and one end portions of shafts 74 and 74 are supported to the mounting brackets 72 and 72. Further, rollers 75 and 75 are rotatably supported to a side of inner end portions of the shafts 74 and 74 protruding from the mounting brackets 72 and 72, thereby supporting a crawler belt 76.
Patent Document 1
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-25754 (pages 1 and 2 and FIG. 1)
By the way, in the structure in FIG. 7 mentioned above, in the case that the soil or the like comes down onto the track frame 51 from the crawler band 56, an open space is provided in an opposite side to the mounting bracket 68 because the support roller 54 is supported in a cantilever manner, so that the soil or the like comes down from the open space. However, the soil or the like is accumulated between the track frame 51 and the mounting bracket 68, in a side of the mounting bracket 68. Accordingly, there is a risk that a stable rotation can not be achieved due to an increase of a rotational resistance caused by a friction with respect to the accumulated soil or the like.
Further, in the structure shown in FIG. 8 mentioned above, there is a risk that the soil or the like is accumulated between the rollers 75 and 75 and the track frame 73, and the like. Accordingly, in the same manner as that shown in FIG. 7 mentioned above, there is a risk that a stable rotation can not be achieved due to an increase of a rotational resistance caused by the friction with respect to the soil or the like. Therefore, in the support roller shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 mentioned above, an outer shape of the support roller is frequently worn by the soil or the like accumulated near the support roller. Further, in the crawler band guided by the support roller, a wheel tread of the link is frequently worn. Further, since these elements are supported in the cantilever manner, comparatively great shear force and bending moment are applied to the shaft and the mounting bracket, and the shaft tends to be damaged.

Support roller of crawler type traveling apparatus


An on-vehicle alarm generation method and an on-vehicle alarm generation apparatus for notifying a driver to be aware of safe driving by detecting a passerby or a bicycle moving at a dangerous point and generating an alarm to the driver are provided. In one aspect, the on-vehicle alarm generation method for detecting a passerby and generating an alarm to a driver includes the steps of including a dangerous driving point in map data and detecting the vehicle position; monitoring whether the vehicle approaches the dangerous driving point; transmitting a searching signal when the vehicle approaches the dangerous driving point; monitoring whether, in response to the searching signal, a responsive signal is received from a mobile device carried by the passerby; and generating an alarm to the driver upon receiving the responsive signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alarm generation method and apparatus, and in particular, it relates to an alarm generation method and apparatus for generating an alarm to a driver of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a known technology (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 11-232411), a searching radio wave is continuously emitted from on-vehicle equipment to a mobile device carried by a pedestrian or a cyclist. Upon receipt of the radio wave, the mobile device carried by the pedestrian or the cyclist increases its output power. Thus, a receiving device included in the on-vehicle equipment searches for the output power and detects the pedestrian or the cyclist. With this technology, a driver is accurately informed of the approach of a passerby on a poorly visible street or at a pedestrian-crossing and is assisted in performing safe driving.
Unfortunately, the foregoing known technology has a problem, for example, that the on-vehicle equipment must continuously emit a searching radio wave to the mobile device carried by the pedestrian or the cyclist, resulting in a needless consumption of electric energy and also, an adverse effect on other electronic devices due to emission of an unnecessary radio wave.
Also, while placing importance on detecting a pedestrian, a bicycle, or the like as accurately as possible, the known technology is incapable of sensing a dangerous situation in which the pedestrian or the bicycle moves out into the roadway in order to avoid an obstacle on a sidewalk and informing a driver of the situation. In other words, when a utility pole or the like is installed on a narrow sidewalk, two or more pedestrians have difficulty in proceeding along the narrow sidewalk side by side, thereby causing the pedestrian or the bicycle to likely move out into the roadway. Hitherto, such a situation could not be sensed so as to notify a driver to pay attention to it.


A method for calculating hashing of a message in a device communicating with a smart card involves storing a same hash function in said device and said smart card, wherein the message includes-data blocks including secret data and other public data, and wherein secret data is only known by the smart card, performing a calculation of the hash function of the secret data in the smart card, and performing the calculation of the hash function of all or part of other public data in the device.

The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) defines an industry-wide specification for developing applications that operate over wireless communication networks. The scope for the WAP Forum is to define a set of specifications to be used by service applications. The wireless market is growing very quickly, and reaching new customers and services. To enable operators and manufacturers to meet the challenges in advanced services, differentiation and fast/flexible service creation WAP Forum defines a set of protocols in transport, security, transaction, session and application layers.
The Security layer protocols in the WAP architecture can be the Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) or the standard Transport Layer Security (TLS) Internet protocol. WTLS provides functionality similar to TLS but is more adapted to lower bandwidth communication channels. TLS and WTLS layer operate above the transport protocol layer. They provide the upper-level layer of WAP with a secure transport service interface and also provide an interface for managing (eg, creating and terminating) secure connections. The primary goal of the WTLS or TLS layers is to provide privacy, data integrity and authentication between two communicating applications.
For optimum security, some parts of the security functionality need to be performed by a tamper-resistant device, so that an attacker cannot retrieve sensitive data. Such data is especially the permanent private keys used in the WTLS or TLS handshakes with client authentication, and for making application level electronic signatures (such as confirming an application level transaction).
In particular, when a message has to be hashed in a mobile coupled to a WIM module, all the blocks are transferred from the mobile to the WIM for being hashed. Then, the WIM sends the result to the mobile. An example of a WIM implementation is the smart card CAR. In the phone, it can be the Subscriber Identity Module SIM card or an external smart card. The problem is that, in the WIM, resources are very limited; consequently, calculations take a lot of time.
For example, in WTLS and TLS, the Mobile Equipment sends to the server a message called "Finished" message, which is always sent to the server at the end of a handshake to verify that the key exchange and authentication processes were successful between the mobile and the server. The Mobile Equipment uses the smart card for calculating the data to send in the "Finished" message and also the data that should be received from the server. In order to do that, the mobile ME issues the "Client Finished Check" and "Server Finished Check" commands to the smart card CAR. Using a Pseudo Random Function (PRF), the smart card calculates a requested number of bytes based on the session master secret, and a seed value received from the mobile. The card then returns the bytes to be used by the mobile in the "Finished" message. For calculating the Client Finished Check data, the mobile uses a primitive called WIM-PHash primitive with the following input data parameter:"client finished"+Hash(handshake_messages)
The "Hash(handshake_messages)" is defined as the SHA-1 and/or MD5 hash (depending on protocol) of the concatenation of all previous handshake messages that were exchanged up to but not including the "Finished" message. The primitive then returns to the mobile the needed data block.
We will refer the standard for more details about the commands and primitives which are cited above.
In the same manner, for Calculating the server finished check, the mobile ME uses the WIM-PHash primitive with the following input data parameter:"server finished"+Hash(handshake_messages).
The primitive then returns to the mobile the needed data block.
In SSL, the parameters that are sent to the WIM for the "Finished" message are different. When we perform the finished check in SSL, it is necessary to perform a hash on:'handshake_messages+Sender+master_secret+pad1'.Comparing with WTLS and TLS, we see that the Hash should be calculated also over the session "master secret" in addition to "handshake_messages". This poses a problem since the mobile ME does not know the value of the master secret as it is securely stored in the smart card CAR and is never exposed externally. Consequently, the following data: 'handshake_messages+Sender+master_secret+pad1' has to be sent to the WIM for being hashed. Nevertheless, resources are very limited in the WIM, consequently calculations in the smart card take a lot of time.

Method for calculating hashing of a message in a device communicating with a smart card


A memory/storage module is provided that implements a solid state drive compatible with Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) or Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) signaling on a double-data-rate compatible socket. A detachable daughter card may be coupled to the memory module for converting a memory bus voltage to a second voltage for memory devices on the memory module. Additionally, a hybrid memory bus on a host system is provided that supports either DDR-compatible memory modules and/or SATA/SAS-compatible memory modules. In one example, the memory/storage module couples to a first bus (DDR3 compatible socket) to obtain voltage and/or other signals, but uses a second bus for data transfers. In another example, the memory module may repurpose/reuse electrical paths that typically carry non-data signals for data traffic to/from the memory/storage module. Such data traffic for the memory/storage module permits concurrent data traffic for other memory modules on the same memory bus.

Computers and computer systems, such as enterprise servers, house many electronic devices, such as circuit boards, processors, memory devices, power supplies, and cooling fans, within a limited amount of space so spare inner space is generally minimal. As a result, in the limited spare space that does exist, tradeoffs have to be made based on the dimensions of various devices.
Various existing and new enterprise servers make use of high speed, volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) to hold operating instructions and data. Increasingly, these servers are also including large amounts of relatively inexpensive non-volatile memory devices, such as NAND flash memory, to store applications and/or data. However, many existing DRAM-based computer or servers are designed without the appropriate bus interfaces to support non-volatile (e.g., NAND flash) memory either directly or through storage bus interfaces such as SATA and SAS. Supporting such non-volatile memory devices may involve a costly and lengthy redesign of the computer or server. Similarly, most systems employing non-volatile memory devices cannot simply add volatile memory devices, e.g., due to different bus requirements, voltages, signaling, etc. As a result, significant changes to a computer or server physical architecture are needed to add non-volatile memory devices into an updated model of what was previously a volatile memory-based system and vice-versa. This is further complicated due to the limited space (e.g., motherboard surface space) need for additional components or devices so it is not always possible to merely add additional memory modules.
Moreover, in many instances it is undesirable to replace computers or servers (or their components such as a motherboard) due to cost considerations, downtime, and/or other factors. Thus, any solution that adds non-volatile memory devices should preferably provide backward compatibility for legacy or existing computer or server systems.
In view of the above, increasing the capacity and storage performance of existing servers, storage or cloud computing solutions, as well as designing faster and more efficient enterprise server and storage solutions has been difficult, if not impossible. Consequently, a method and apparatus is needed that allows users to significantly increase the capacity and storage performance of existing servers, storage or cloud computing solutions as well allowing for new designs that are no longer constrained by standard hard drive space requirements.

Memory controller supporting concurrent volatile and nonvolatile memory modules in a memory bus architecture


A method for performing a handover in a mesh network for a plurality of nodes (A, A′, B) of said mesh network from a first access point (AP1) to a second access point (AP2), whereas said plurality of nodes (A, A′, B) forms a tree of nodes, said tree comprising a root node (B) and one or more further nodes (A,A′) connected to said root node either directly or via intermediate nodes, and said handover being performed for said tree of nodes in a coordinated fashion, said method comprising:    forwarding to said members of said tree (A, A′, B) information about said second access point (AP2) and timing information to enable a coordinated handover of said nodes of said tree;    switching said root node (B) and said further (A,A′) nodes from said first access point to said second access point according to said timing information.

In multi-hop wireless access networks, also called mesh networks, mobile nodes connect via other nodes to access points. The nodes are connected via some wireless links and reach other nodes in the mesh via some (ad-hoc) routing protocol. In addition, each node is registering via some access protocol to an access point (AP) for global connectivity. This creates a tree for each AP, where the AP (or the node directly connected to the AP) is the root. Nodes may change between APs due to mobility or other reasons, such as features of an AP or radio resource management.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an environment of a mesh network where there are two different access points AP1 and AP2 which may have different frequencies. One can recognize that nodes A and A′ connect to access point AP1 via node B. This means that nodes B, A, and A′ form a tree with node B being the root and nodes A and A′ being the leafs. Between the leaf nodes and the root node there may also be further intermediate nodes and further branches, however, in the example of FIG. 1 such intermediate nodes and branches are not shown for the sake of simplicity.
Assume now than terminal B wishes to change from access point AP1 to access point AP2, in other words wants to perform a "handover" from AP1 to AP2. The reason for such a handover may be the fact that B leaves the area covered by AP1 and moves to an area covered by AP2. However, there may also be other reasons due to which the handover should be performed, e.g. the need to switch to a different frequency for radio frequency management reasons, e.g., because AP1 serves much more terminals than AP2 and the radio frequency management intends to equally distribute the load in order to avoid an overload of one access point. A further reason might consist in the desire of a certain node to switch to a different service or a service of enhanced quality (e.g. a higher bitrate) which is provided by AP2 but not by AP1. Based thereupon terminal B may need to perform a handover from AP1 to AP2.
According to the prior art the node which wants to or should perform a handover has to change individually between the two access points. However, if nodes do individual handover, connectivity breaks and nodes may have to discover AP's from scratch. This would lead to service disruptions.
It is therefore desirable to perform a handover in a manner which avoids these negative effects and which increases the handover efficiency.

Apparatus and method for improved handover in mesh networks


A method for precharging a bit line pair or data line pair in a semiconductor memory device includes generating a precharge pulse signal when a write enable line is deactivated at the beginning of a read cycle. The line pair is rapidly precharged by a pair of large transistors which turn on in response to the pulse signal. The pulse signal ends and turns of the transistors before a word line is enabled during the read cycle to prevent the large transistors from interfering with the bit sensing operation. A precharge circuit for precharging a bit line pair or data line pair in a semiconductor memory device includes a pulse generator having a delay circuit that determines the pulse width of a precharge pulse which is generated when a write enable line is deactivated. A write and precharge circuit includes two large transistors connected between a line pair and a power source that turn on and rapidly precharge the line pair during the precharge pulse. A third large transistor is connected between the lines of the line pair to equalize the voltages of the lines when the precharge pulse is generated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor memory devices and more particularly to a precharge system for rapidly charging a bit line after switching from a write mode to a read mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
The access speed of a semiconductor memory device depends on the bit sensing operation when reading data from memory cells. When a semiconductor memory device is in a read mode, a pair of bit lines are typically precharged to a predetermined state at the beginning of a read cycle, so as to increase the speed of the bit sensing operation. However, in write mode, the individual bit lines of a bit line pair are driven to two different voltage levels, such that the bit lines must be precharged at the beginning of the next read mode. This decreases the data access speed. The data access speed further depends on the speed at which voltage differences are produced on data lines, i.e., the length of time required to change the voltage of the data lines from the precharged state to a readable logic level.
The bit line structure of a conventional semiconductor memory device is illustrated in FIG. 1. A memory cell 10 is connected between bit lines BL and /BL. A first precharge circuit 20 controllably connects the bit lines BL and /BL to a power supply voltage in response to a write control signal .phi.WE. The first precharge circuit 20 includes two PMOS transistors M1 and M2, each having a controlled current path connected between the bit lines BL and /BL, respectively, and the power source voltage. The gates of M1 and M2 are connected to the write control signal .phi.WE so as to precharge the bit lines BL and /BL in the read mode when the write control signal .phi.WE is turned off (deactivated). Thus, the first precharge circuit is switched to selectively precharge the bit lines.
A second precharge circuit 30 is connected between the bit lines BL and /BL and the power source voltage so as to precharge the bit lines. The second precharge circuit 30 includes two PMOS transistors M3 and M4, each having a controlled current source connected between the bit lines BL and /BL, respectively, and the power source voltage. The gates of transistors M3 and M4 are connected to a power supply ground voltage. Thus, the second precharge circuit 30 always precharges the bit lines with the power source voltage.
A column gate circuit 40 is connected between bit lines BL and /BL and a pair of data lines SDL and /SDL to controllably connect the bit lines with the data lines in response to a column select signal "Y". The column gate circuit 40 includes a first transfer gate TG1 connected between bit line BL and data line SDL, and a second transfer gate TG2 connected between bit line /BL and data line /SDL. The column gate circuit 40 is switched by the column select signal "Y" to connect the bit lines with the data lines so as to form a signal path between memory cell 10 and an external input/output pad.
A write and precharge circuit 50 transfers external input data from lines DIN and /DIN to the data lines SDL and /SDL in response to the write control signal .phi.WE. Circuit 50 includes two NAND gates NG1 and NG2 for driving the input data from lines DIN and /DIN onto the data lines SDL and /SDL, respectively, in response to the write control signal .phi.WE. The NAND gates NG1 and NG2 apply the external input data to the data lines when the write control signal .phi.WE is activated, i.e., driven to a high logic level. Circuit 50 also includes two PMOS transistors M5 and M6 connected between data lines SDL and /SDL, respectively, and the power source voltage. The gates of transistors M5 and M6 are connected to the write control signal .phi.WE. Another PMOS transistor M7 has a controlled current path connected between the data line SDL and /SDL and a gate connected to the write control signal .phi.WE. The PMOS transistors M5 and M6 precharge the data lines SDL and /SDL, respectively, with the power source voltage in the read mode when the write control signal .phi.WE is activated (i.e., driven to a low logic level). Transistor M7 equalizes the voltages of the data lines in the read mode.
A sense amplifier 60 amplifies the data from data lines SDL and /SDL and outputs the data to the input/output pad.
In operation, the write control signal .phi.WE of the conventional bit line circuit of FIG. 1 is activated, i.e., driven to a high logic level, during the write mode so that NAND gates NG1 and NG2 transfer input data from lines DIN and /DIN to the data lines SDL and /SDL, respectively. When the column select signal "Y" is enabled, i.e., driven to a high logic level, the column gate circuit 40 operates to connect data lines SDL and /SDL with bit lines BL and /BL, thereby transferring input data from lines DIN and /DIN into the memory cell 10.
When a read cycle is performed after a write cycle, the write control signal .phi.WE is disabled (driven to a low logic level) so that the first and second precharge circuits 20 and 30 and the write and precharge circuit 50 operate to precharge and equalize the highly imbalanced bit lines BL and /BL. More specifically, in the read mode, when the write control signal is driven to a low logic level, PMOS transistors M1 and M2 in precharge circuit 20 are turned on, thereby precharging BL and /BL to the power source voltage level. PMOS transistors M3 and M4 of circuit 30, which are always turned on, also operate to precharge the bit lines. Additionally, PMOS transistors M5 and M6 of the write and precharge circuit 50 are also turned on by the write control signal .phi.WE so as to precharge the data lines SDL and /SDL to the power source voltage level. Transistor M7 operates to equalize the voltages on the data lines in response to the write control signal.
Hence, the precharge circuits generally do not operate in the write mode, but instead are turned on to precharge and equalize the bit and data lines in the read mode. If the size of the transistors in the precharge circuits are increased, the bit lines will be precharged and equalized faster. However, large transistors would prevent a voltage difference from being produced on the bit lines during the read mode, thereby disabling the bit sensing operation. Therefore, in order to assure normal sensing operation of the bit lines, the sizes of transistors M1 to M7 must be kept small. Consequently, in such a conventional semiconductor memory device, the size of the precharge transistors is kept small resulting in a precharge time delay during a data access cycle and imperfect equalization.
Accordingly, a need remains for a method and apparatus for precharging lines in a semiconductor memory device which overcomes the above-mentioned problems.

Precharge system for a semiconductor memory device


An apparatus and a method for planning contact-interaction trajectories are provided. The apparatus is a robot that accepts contact interactions between the robot and the environment. The robot stores a dynamic model representing geometric, dynamic, and frictional properties of the robot and the environment, and a relaxed contact model to representing dynamic interactions between the robot and the object via virtual forces. The robot further determines, iteratively until a termination condition is met, a trajectory, associated control commands for controlling the robot, and virtual stiffness values by performing optimization reducing stiffness of the virtual force and minimizing a difference between the target pose of the object and a final pose of the object moved from the initial pose. Further, an actuator moves a robot arm of the robot according to the trajectory and the associated control commands.

In robotic systems, motion planning is used to determine a trajectory for a robot to perform a task that requires reaching a goal configuration (state of the robotic system) or end-effector pose given a current configuration. For efficient motion planning of the robot, various trajectory optimization techniques are used to find a feasible trajectory subject to robot's dynamics and task constraints. In other words, the trajectory optimization techniques aim to determine an input trajectory that minimizes a cost function subject to a set of constraints on the robotic system's states and inputs.
The trajectory optimization methods, typically, aim to avoid contacts between the robot and an environment, i.e., collision avoidance. However, contacts with the environment have to be utilized in a variety of robot manipulation and locomotion tasks. To that end, the contacts need to be considered in the trajectory optimization. The introduction of contacts into the robot's motion leads to non-smooth dynamics because of the discrete nature of contacts. For instance, making or breaking contacts with the environment or using different friction modes for a contact, such as sticking or sliding, change the dynamic constraints that determine the motion of the system given joint forces. This phenomenon precludes the use of the trajectory optimization for planning contact-interaction trajectories.
To overcome this shortcoming, a contact schedule is predefined by a user or generated by a higher-level heuristic planner. Such approach holds true for the motion planning involving a small number of contacts. However, for complex motion planning, predefining the contact schedule becomes computationally impractical.
In an alternative approach, contact-implicit trajectory optimization (CITO), which enables the motion planning of contact-rich complex motions without a predefined contact schedule, is used. The CITO simultaneously optimizes state, input, and contact force trajectories using a differentiable model for contact dynamics given only a high-level goal, such as the desired end pose for the system. The contact model, in which physical contacts are modelled as smooth functions, is an essential factor to enable gradient-based optimization to reason about contacts. Using a smooth contact model, which allows penetrations and/or contact forces at a distance, facilitates the convergence of the optimization. However, one or more parameters of the contact model and the cost function must be tuned to accurately approximate real contact dynamics while finding a motion that completes a given task. However, such tuning is difficult. Also, the contact model leads to physical inaccuracies due to the relaxations (penetrations and contact forces at a distance) that make numerical optimization efficient. Further, it may be required to re-tune the one or more parameters when the task or the robot is changed. Even for minor task variations, not re-tuning the one or more parameters may cause abrupt changes in the motion planned.
Therefore, there is a need for a tuning-free contact-implicit trajectory optimization technique to automatically determine a feasible contact-interaction trajectory given a system model and a task specification.

Apparatus and method for planning contact-interaction trajectories

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


Amino acid sequences of antibodies can be generated using a generative adversarial network that includes a first generating component that generates amino acid sequences of antibody light chains and a second generating component generates amino acid sequences of antibody heavy chains. Amino acid sequences of antibodies can be produced by combining the respective amino acid sequences produced by the first generating component and the second generating component. The training of the first generating component and the second generating component can proceed at different rates. Additionally, the antibody amino acids produced by combining amino acid sequences from the first generating component and the second generating component may be evaluated according to complentarity-determining regions of the antibody amino acid sequences. Training datasets may be produced using amino acid sequences that correspond to antibodies have particular binding affinities with respect to molecules, such as binding affinity with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules.

Proteins are biological molecules that are comprised of one or more chains of amino acids. Proteins can have various functions within an organism. For example, some proteins can be involved in causing a reaction to take place within an organism. In other examples, proteins can transport molecules throughout the organism. In still other examples, proteins can be involved in the replication of genes. Additionally, some proteins can have therapeutic properties and be used to treat various biological conditions. The structure and function of proteins are based on the arrangement of amino acids that comprise the proteins. The arrangement of amino acids for proteins can be represented by a sequence of letters with each letter corresponding to an amino acid at a certain position. The arrangement of amino acids for proteins can also be represented by three dimensional structures that not only indicate the amino acids at certain positions of the protein, but also indicate three dimensional features of the proteins, such as an α-helix or a β-sheet.

Generation of protein sequences using machine learning techniques


A long object management system for managing the history of the attribute data as well as the shape data constituting the temporal information of pipeline facilities, in which the future prediction is conducted by acquiring and managing the temporal information. The system comprises a unit for managing the time change data by the difference management of the pipeline shape and attribute data, and a unit for retrieving the time change data managed by difference, correcting the position using the result of retrieval and setting the correspondence between the time change data by correcting the data position.

This invention relates to a geographic information system (GIS), or in particular to a management system for long objects, for example pipelines to transport liquids and gases such as oil and natural gas.
Conventionally, the geographic information system has been used for management of city water works and natural gas facilities. A display technique is available, for example, by adding the measurement data of the cathodic protection potential and the pressure to the image of pipelines (for example, JP-A-2003-185100).
According to this technique, the measurement points are predetermined by identification (ID) numbers and correspond to the ID numbers on a system chart. Thus, the data acquired with a specified ID number are displayed. Also, the time change data can be acquired and displayed by designating the measurement points.
A technique to visually grasp the historical change of tunnels is also available (For example, JP-A-2004-37419). In this technique, a measurement point, with the corresponding data obtained based on the distance from the measurement point, are displayed on the map. Like in the first technique described above, each measurement point is designated by a number, and the coordinates of the measurement points acquired in advance have corresponding measurement point numbers. In accordance with the coordinates from the measurement points and the designated time, the information on such as a crack corresponding to the designated time can be displayed.

Long infrastructure management system and program


The present invention relates to a test procedure for evaluating nitrification activity which takes thirty minutes and accurately demonstrates a correlation of the nitrification activity when compared to ammonia nitrogen removal efficiencies. The test procedure involves treating sludge samples with an ammonium nitrogen/carbonate medium and a buffer and measuring BOD, and then adding thiourea and again measuring BOD. The nitrification activity is determined by subtracting the two BOD measurements.

Effective waste water treatment is a major concern of the industrialized world. Waste water often contains phosphorous and nitrogen which stimulates unwanted algae growth, creating unpleasant tastes and odors in the water supply; and operating problems in wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater treatment can be accomplished by physical/chemical methods or biological methods. Biological nitrification is a common biological method for removal of ammonia nitrogen in wastewater. The microorganisms involved are the nitrifying bacteria, nitrosomonas, and nitrobacter. Nitrification is the biological oxidation of ammonia nitrogen to nitrate nitrogen with nitrite nitrogen formation as an intermediate. This biological oxidation reaction produces the energy these bacteria need to assimilate inorganic carbon (IC), which is their sole carbon source for cell synthesis. See, Eckenfelder, Industrial Water Pollution Control, 2nd Edit. Nitrifying bacteria are sensitive to pH, temperature, heavy metals, and a number of organic and inorganic compounds. Other factors affecting nitrification performance are the amounts of dissolved oxygen (DO) and inorganic carbon (IC) in the bioreactor. Thus, the biological nitrification process can be easily upset. Traditionally, nitrifier populations are sensitive to minor operational upsets which require days to recover. This is a problem for waste water treatment facilities and usually results in an environmental excursion.
However, despite this sensitivity, the biological nitrification process remains a highly useful means for removing ammonia nitrogen in the art of wastewater treatment technology. Thus, due to the fact that nitrifying bacteria populations are easily upset, there is a need in the art for a method to quickly and accurately determine nitrifier populations. Currently, determination of nitrifier populations in an activated sludge process has been limited to estimating the concentrations based on mixed liquor concentrations and plate counts which requires seven days to complete. See, Wilson, G. S. and Miles, A. S. "Tropley and Wilson's Principles of Bacteriology and Immunity", The Williams and Wilkins Company, Baltimore, Md., 1964, pp2253-2563. Other references describing methods of determining nitrifier populations include, Carpenter, P. L., "Microbiology", W. G. Sanders Company, Philadelphia, Pa., 1961, pp 44-45 and Stanier, R. Y., Doudoroff, M. and Adelberg, E. A.; "The Microbial World", 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1970, pp 78-96; Downing, A. L., "Advances in Water Quality Improvement", Vol. 1, University of Texas Press, Austin, Tex. and Eckendelder, Wesley W., Jr., "Industrial Water Pollution Control", McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1989, pp 173-176; Metcalf and Eddy, Inc., "Wastewater Engineering: Treatment/Disposal/Reuse", 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1979, pp 398-408, and Eckenfelder, Wesley W., Jr., "Principles of Water Quality Management", CBI Publishing Company, Inc., Boston, Mass., pp 317-325. The current methods are problematic, since there is no analytical basis for estimation of nitrifier populations.
Applicants' have solved the aforementioned problem in the art. Specifically, Applicants have developed the Nitrification Activity Test (NAT) to support daily wastewater treatment plant operational control with a test procedure that more accurately evaluates the nitrifier performance within a reasonable time period. The Applicants' NAT differentiates heterotrophic and autotrophic respiration rates within a thirty minute period and accurately demonstrates a correlation of the nitrification activity when compared to ammonia nitrogen removal efficiencies. The test results from the NAT procedure can be used to evaluate and control nitrification sludge age requirements and nitrification inhibition effects due to pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen levels, and varying substrates. The NAT procedure can also be used to evaluate acute toxicity in the wastewater treatment facility. The Applicants' test procedure uses standard laboratory equipment and reagents.

Nitrification activity test (NAT): procedure to monitor nitrifier biomass