A system and method for retaining dynamic random access memory (DRAM) data when reprogramming reconfigurable devices with DRAM memory controllers such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The DRAM memory controller is utilized in concert with an internally or externally located data maintenance block wherein the FPGA drives the majority of the DRAM input/output (I/O) and the data maintenance block drives the self-refresh command inputs. Even though the FPGA reconfigures and the majority of the DRAM inputs are tri-stated, the data maintenance block provides stable input levels on the self-refresh command inputs.

The present invention relates, in general, to the field of reconfigurable computing systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for retaining dynamic random access memory (DRAM) data when reprogramming reconfigurable devices with DRAM memory controllers.
The majority of today's programmable logic designs include a DRAM based memory solution at the heart of their memory subsystem. Today's DRAM devices are significantly faster than previous generation's, albeit at the cost of requiring increasingly complex and resource intensive memory controllers. One example is in double data rate 3 and 4 (DDR3 and DDR4) controllers which require read and write calibration logic. This added logic was not necessary when using previous versions of DRAM (e.g. DDR and DDR2. As a result, companies are forced to absorb substantial design costs and increased project completion times when designing proprietary DRAM controllers utilizing modern DRAM technology.
In order to mitigate design engineering costs and verification time, it is very common for field programmable gate array (FPGA) designers to implement vendor provided memory controller intellectual property (IP) when including DRAM based memory solutions in their designs. See, for example, Allan, Graham; "DDR IP Integration: How to Avoid Landmines in this Quickly Changing Landscape"; Chip Design, June/July 2007; pp 20-22 and Wilson, Ron; "DRAM Controllers for System Designers"; Altera Corporation Articles, 2012.
FPGA designers tend to choose device manufacturer IP designs because they are proven, tested and have the incredible benefit of significantly reduced design costs and project completion times. Many times there is the added benefit of exploiting specialized circuitry within the programmable device to increase controller performance, which is not always readily apparent when designing a controller from scratch.
The downside to using factory supplied IP memory controllers is that there is little flexibility when trying to modify operating characteristics. A significant problem arises in reconfigurable computing when the FPGA is reprogrammed during a live application and the memory controller tri-states all inputs and outputs (I/O) between the FPGA device and the DRAM. The result is corrupted data in the memory subsystem. Therefore, dynamically reconfigurable processors are excluded as viable computing options, especially in regard to database applications or context switch processing. The reason for this is that the time it takes to copy the entire contents of DRAM data and preserve it in another part of the system, reconfigure the processor, then finally retrieve the data and restore it in DRAM is just too excessive.

System and method for retaining DRAM data when reprogramming reconfigurable devices with DRAM memory controllers


A compliant porous groin and method of use for restoring an eroding shoreline. The compliant porous groin has at least two supports placed in the eroding shoreline and a compliant porous barrier is attached to the supports such that the barrier is at least partially within a sediment-laden eroding water flow of the shoreline with the water flow passing through at least a portion of the barrier. The barrier is compliant such that the water flow impacting the barrier is slowed to at least a critical accretion velocity whereby sediment suspended in the water flow accretes to renourish the shoreline.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to apparatuses and methods to restore or prevent erosion of shorelines and beaches. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for shoreline reclamation that uses a plurality of stanchions and a compliant porous barrier fastened to the stanchions to create a temporary structure that is placed in the water flow, proximate to the shoreline, and the structure causes accretion of sediment suspended in the water flow.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shorelines on bodies of moving water, such as rivers and oceans, will erode from natural processes removing material from the shoreline. This erosive process is sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cscour,xe2x80x9d and the natural processes of movement of material along a coastal shoreline are referred to as littoral processes. In scour, the moving water suspends the material at one location in the flowing water and then redeposits the material at some other location. Many factors specific to the particular shoreline and water velocities can enhance the erosion phenomenon.
One significant factor is the consistency of the material comprising the shoreline. A sandy beach is easily eroded by a slow and steady stream of water, and can be quickly eroded in very turbulent and fast moving water such as the seas associated with a major storm. Conversely, shoreline comprised of mostly rocks or larger sediment will be much less susceptible to erosion.
Another significant factor enhancing the erosion process is the velocity of the water passing across the shoreline. In order to initiate scour, the water must move at a velocity greater than a critical xe2x80x9csuspension velocityxe2x80x9d to suspend the sediment of the shoreline in the moving water. The suspension velocity required to initiate scour is dependent upon many location specific factors, such as the geometric shape of the shoreline, the average velocity of the water, the average direction of flow of the water in relation to the shoreline, the depth of the water, the density of the sediment material to be transported.
Shoreline erosion is a serious problem because most of the urban areas of the world are ports having urban development right up to the shoreline. There are often structural improvements present at and near the shoreline, such as private beach homes, hotels, bridges, retaining structures, and the like, and shoreline erosion progressively undermines the foundations thereof and threatens the physical integrity of the structures over time. There are also many regions with beach tourism as their main industry, and thus, beach erosion can cause these regions significant economic harm by removing the main tourist attraction.
There have been many devices and methods of hydraulic and earth engineering employed in the attempt to preserve shorelines or other areas subject to the erosive influence of moving water. The main method of combating erosion is to simply renourish an eroding beach with a fresh supply of dredged sand. This method has many problems associated with it however. The dredged sand often does not match the existing color of sand on the beach and diminishes the aesthetic appearance of the beach. The dredged sand can also contain rocks or other solid objects that can hinder water sports such as swimming or surfing, and can hurt the bare feet of waders upon the renourished beach.
Other methods to prevent shoreline erosion fortify the eroding shoreline with blocks, cement and the like so as to form a prophylactic layer over the region of the shoreline that would otherwise be subject to the erosive effects of the moving water. However, due to the weight and bulk of the fortifying materials, such xe2x80x9carmoringxe2x80x9d techniques are often difficult to install on the shoreline and adequately anchor the armor to the underlying shoreline, whether beach, bank or both. The armored structures often result in permanent structures that are not easily removed from the shoreline and prevent full enjoyment of the region of the shoreline that they overlay.
Jetties or groins are also known for attempting to control shoreline erosion. As is well known to those skilled in the art, each shoreline has a natural water direction and flow rate in accord with which it migrates. In the typical construction, a jetty of stone or other permanent formation is built into the shore so as to form a jetty traverse the natural flow direction of the shoreline. While the jetty has the advantageous effect of promoting local sediment deposition, the jetty has a distinct disadvantage in that it causes downstream and upstream erosion. And if too many jetties are installed along a given region of shoreline, the jetties may alter the dynamic equilibrium of the shoreline and undesirably change the shape of the beach as a whole, especially when the shoreline is subject to a significant erosive event such as a storm or flood.
There are other shore and bank protection techniques and devices known in the art that attempt to control erosion by attenuating the energy, velocity, and/or direction of a potentially erosive water flow with the use of temporary structures placed on the shoreline. Several of these devices are porous groins structures using either flexible or rigid nets, screens, or filters placed on the shoreline substantially perpendicularly to the shoreline and extending into the surf. The porous groins are placed in the tidal and longshore currents and function in much the same way as a jetty to cause sand to accrete around the porous groin. The porous groin must be constantly moved or removed from the accreting sand or else extreme force must be used to dislodge the porous groin from the accreted sediment.
Moreover, many of these structures cite their success in beach restoration as arising from the ability of the net, screen, or filter to trap larger sediment being pulled along the sea bottom to cause ridges to build-up at the base of the porous groin. However, these structures have also been used to successfully restore pure-sand beaches, i.e. where larger sediment, such as rocks, coral, shells, and the like are not significantly present in the sediment comprising the beach. Thus, the extant explanation for success of these devices is unsatisfactory given the success in restoration of pure-sand or sediment shorelines.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a device and method for shoreline restoration that uses temporary structures to renourish the beach taking full advantage of the correct mechanism for the accretion of sand and sediment from the eroding water flow. Such device and method should renourish the beach without adversely altering the surrounding shoreline. It is thus to such a shoreline reclamation device and method that the present invention is primarily directed.
The present inventive system and method provides a compliant porous groin for restoring an eroding shoreline utilizing the particular accretion mechanism for a water flow that contains suspended sediments. The water flow has a critical accretion velocity as it flows across the eroding shoreline, and if the water flow velocity is slower than a critical accretion velocity above which sediments otherwise remain suspended in the water flow, the suspended sediments will accrete from the water flow. The compliant porous groin takes advantage of this mechanism to renourish the sediment of an eroding shoreline, such as sand on a beach.
The compliant porous groin comprises at least two supports placed in the eroding shoreline with a compliant porous barrier attached to the supports such that the barrier is at least partially within the water flow of the shoreline and the water flow passes through at least a portion of the barrier. The supports are any rigid or semi-rigid structure that can support the barrier in the water flow, such as a stanchion, tripod, pole, or channel. The barrier is compliant such that the sediment-laden water flow impacting the solid portions of the barrier is slowed to at least the critical accretion velocity such that the sediment accretes from the water flow adjacent to the barrier.
The shoreline includes a beach portion that does not ordinarily have water upon it, a substantially water-covered portion, such as an inter-tidal region, and the water portion, generally below the low-tide line. The at least two supports can be placed entirely in the substantially water-covered portion, with at least one support in the beach portion and at least one support in the substantially water-covered portion, or with at least both supports in the water portion outside of the low-tide line.
The actual compliance of the barrier can be achieved through several methods. The barrier can be made of a rigid material, such as rigid plastic webbing or wire mesh, and be flexibly held to the support to be compliant to the impacting eroding water flow. Alternatively, the barrier can made of an elastic material, such as semi-rigid plastic webbing, a mesh (organic or polymer netting), or other interwoven series of members that are compliant to the impacting eroding water flow.
The invention further provides a method for restoring a shoreline having a eroding water flow moving at a velocity thereacross with suspended sediments therein and having a critical accretion velocity wherein the suspended sediments accrete from the water flow if the velocity of water flow is less than the critical accretion velocity, the method including the steps of placing at least two supports in the eroding shoreline, attaching a compliant porous barrier to the at least two supports such that the barrier is at least partially within the water flow of the shoreline and the water flow passes through at least a portion of the barrier, and accreting sediment from the water flow with the compliance of the barrier slowing the water flow impacting the barrier to at least the critical accretion velocity. The method preferably further includes the steps of lifting the barrier out from the accreting sediment as sediment accretes from the water flow to cover the barrier, and removing the barrier and supports from the shoreline after the shoreline has been renourished.
If the step of attaching a compliant porous barrier to the at least two supports is attaching a rigid porous barrier to the at least two supports such that the barrier is flexibly held to the at least two supports, then the step of accreting sediment from the water flow impacting the barrier is accreting sediment from the water flow impacting the rigid barrier made compliant to the impacting water flow from the flexible attachment of the barrier to the at least two supports, the compliance of the rigid barrier slowing the impacting water flow to at least the critical accretion velocity. And if the step of attaching a compliant porous barrier to the at least two supports is attaching an elastic porous barrier to the at least two supports, then the step of accreting sediment from the water flow impacting the barrier is accreting sediment from the water flow impacting the elastic barrier that is compliant to the impacting water flow from the elasticity of the barrier, the compliance of the elastic barrier slowing the impacting water flow to at least the critical accretion velocity.
The compliant porous groin thus advantageously performs shoreline restoration using the compliance of the barrier to effect the accretion of sand and sediment from an eroding water flow. The accretion can be optimized as the compliance of the barrier can be adjusted to specifically offset a given water flow such that the impacting sediment-laden water will be slowed to at least the critical accretion velocity. The compliant porous groin does not significantly interfere with the longshore transport such that its use adversely alters the shoreline surrounding the renourished area. Further, the compliant porous groin is a temporary structure that can be used to renourish the beach and be removed thereafter with almost no environmental impact. It is thus to such a shoreline reclamation device and method that the present invention is primarily directed.
Other objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent after review of the hereinafter set forth Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description of the Invention, and the Claims

Compliant porous groin and shoreline reclamation method


A filament includes a plurality of strings including radiation-emitting semiconductor chips electrically connected in series; and a plurality of contact structures to contact the strings, wherein the contact structures electrically connect to semiconductor chips at ends of the strings such that the strings are electrically drivable via the contact structures, and the filament is configured such that the strings are electrically drivable at least separately from one another via the contact structures.

LED lamps (Light Emitting Diode) comprising light emitting diode chips are increasingly being used nowadays for lighting applications. They include so-called retrofit lamps that look similar to conventional incandescent lamps and may be used like conventional incandescent lamps. A retrofit lamp may comprise a plurality of LED filaments. The latter are components comprising a plurality of radiation-emitting semiconductor chips. The semiconductor chips of a filament may be arranged on a common linear substrate and electrically connected in series. Moreover, the semiconductor chips may be enclosed by a conversion layer for radiation conversion. For electrical contacting, the filament may comprise two contacts (anode, cathode) arranged at the opposite ends. The luminous effect of the filament equipped with semiconductor chips may be comparable to that of a traditional incandescent filament.
The LED filaments of retrofit lamps may be connected in series and/or in parallel with one another. Alongside the filaments, the retrofit lamps may furthermore comprise a driver circuit such that operation from an AC mains is possible. With the aid of the driver, the mains voltage may be converted such that a forward voltage suitable for the operation of the LED filaments may be provided. The efficiency is all the greater, the more closely the forward voltage provided may be adjusted to the mains voltage.
In retrofit lamps, one requirement consists of providing a predefined lumen packet with a sufficient accuracy during luminous operation. In general, the lumen packet is accorded a higher priority than the efficiency. This has the effect that a compromise is made with regard to the voltage attained and hence the efficiency.
There is nonetheless a need to provide an improved filament comprising radiation-emitting semiconductor chips and a corresponding lighting device.


In one embodiment, a method determines data stored in a plurality of tables in a first database for archiving. The data is combined from the plurality of tables into a set of objects in a readable format where an object in the set of objects includes terms from the plurality of tables associated with the object. The method then stores the set of objects in the text format in a second database where a search query processor is able to search terms in the set of objects in the readable format. Then, the data stored in the plurality of tables in the first database is deleted in response to the archiving.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A company typically queries data in the relational database to generate reports with the data. Thus, the relational database is designed to allow efficient retrieval of data. However, with the amount of data being stored in databases, a company may want to archive some of the data to create more space in the relational database. For example, the company archives the data stored in the relational database into an archive database. The archived data is typically stored in a compressed file in a proprietary format, and then the compressed file is stored in the archive database. This compressed file is unsearchable. Therefore, the archive database does not allow fast access and search capabilities with the archived data.
One solution to enable searching of the archived data requires that the company create an index for the archived data. To create the index, the company needs to determine which columns it wants to be able to do a look-up for before doing the indexing. For example, a company may want to index for the invoice number. In this case, the archived data may be indexed via the invoice number and a user can search for data via the invoice number. However, the searching is limited to the columns that were determined beforehand. A user cannot search for a term in a column that has not been indexed. A company may add more columns to improve the search through the archived data, but this also leads to additional database space consumption and complexity.


A method and apparatus for viewing digital images is provided. A digital image may be viewed using a digital image system that employs a virtual loupe. A virtual loupe comprises a lens region and a target region. A user may position the target region over a portion of a screen, which may correspond to a digital image, to cause a depiction of visual information associated with the portion of the screen identified by target region to be displayed in the lens region. The user can configure the virtual loupe to display visual information in the lens region at different levels of magnification. The lens may automatically move and change in orientation with respect to the target region as the target region moves on the display to ensure that the display of the lens region on the display is always unobscured.

Digital images may be shown on a display at various levels of magnification. For example, a digital image may be shown at a reduced resolution relative to the original resolution, such that a viewer of the reduced resolution digital image cannot determine details that are apparent to a viewer of the digital image at the original resolution. To assist a viewer of the reduced resolution digital image that is rendered on a display, a software application may enable the viewer to view a magnified portion of the digital image.
In one approach, a viewer may position a pointer over a digital image shown on a display to cause a magnified view of that digital image to appear in box in a fixed location on the display. This approach is disadvantageous in that the box in the fixed location on the display may cover part of the digital image. Additionally, since the box is in a fixed position on the display, the viewer may find positioning the pointer while watching the magnified view of the digital image to be awkward. Moreover, the pointer may obscure the area of interest on the digital image that the viewer wishes to view at a magnified level, which may impede his or her ability to do so.
Consequently, there is a need in the art to improve the ability to magnify a portion of the display without incurring the disadvantages of the above-described approaches. The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but have not necessarily been previously conceived or been pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Viewing digital images on a display using a virtual loupe


Method and apparatus for controlling the stacking height of stackable products during compression molding off stops includes slides that are movable into and out of an end of blind pockets in a compression mold in which the stack height surfaces are formed during the molding cycle. The slides are held in a retracted position until after the mold is closed and the molding compound flows to the shape of the molding cavity inside the mold including the blind pockets. Then the slides are extended into the ends of the respective blind pockets the same distance to compress the molding compound and obtain the desired height of the stack height surfaces formed by the blind pockets.

Stackable products or parts including for example trays and tote boxes or the like may be compression molded off stops out of a suitable plastic material such as fiberglass reinforced plastic. Compression molding off stops has the advantage that all of the molding pressure acts directly on the molding compound during the molding process, causing the molding compound to flow freely to better fill out the mold. However, some applications that use such compression molded stackable products in automated machinery or the like may require that the stacking height tolerances of the products be very precise, for example, on the order of ±0.004 inch. Heretofore it was not possible to hold the tolerances on thickness related details including the stacking height much higher than ±0.020 inch during compression molding of such products off stops due to the variables of charge weight and density combined with the compression molding procedure of molding off stops. Even small inconsistencies in the stacking heights of such products may be a problem especially if large numbers of the products are stacked one on top of another for handling by automated machinery.


The present invention provides a process for producing an ethylene-α-olefin-unconjugated polyene random copolymer in an aliphatic hydrocarbon solvent under conditions of high-temperature and high-activity. The process comprises polymerizing at least the following components (a)-(c) in an aliphatic hydrocarbon solvent in the presence of a catalyst comprising (A) a transition metal complex having at least one cyclopentadienyl skeleton and (B) an organoaluminum compound and (C) a boron compound as co-catalysts wherein at least a part of the polyene (c) and at least a part of the boron compound (C) are previously contacted with each other before they are introduced into a polymerization reactor:                (a): ethylene        (b): an α-olefin of 3-20 carbon atoms        (c): a polyene.

Ethylene-α-olefin-unconjugated diene random copolymers are widely used as automobile materials, construction materials, industrial materials, electric wire materials and the like because they are excellent in properties such as heat resistance, weathering resistance and ozone resistance, and they have been produced using vanadium catalysts. However, these catalysts suffer from the problems that catalytic efficiency (polymer production per unit vanadium catalyst) is low, a large cost is required, and further the catalytic efficiency sharply reduces at high temperatures, and hence polymerization at high temperatures is difficult and a relatively high cost is required for post-treatments.
On the other hand, recently, investigation on the production of the copolymer using a metallocene catalyst system comprising aluminoxane which is capable of performing the polymerization at high temperatures, but the metallocene catalyst system has a problem that the molecular weight of the resulting copolymer is low (JP-A-58-19309, U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,199). There is another metallocene catalyst system comprising an alkylaluminum compound and a boron compound (JP-A-3-207704, U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,100). However, the boron compound which can give a high catalytic efficiency is mostly solid, and in order to produce copolymers stably with a high catalytic efficiency, it is preferred to use an aromatic solvent in which a solid boron compound is highly soluble. In the case of using an aromatic solvent, the post-treatments require more troubles than using an aliphatic hydrocarbon solvent.

Process for producing ethylene- α -olefin-polyene random copolymer


Providing enterprise and targeted content to a personalized portal at a client device in a distributed environment. An administrator managing the distributed environment defines a plurality of workspace pages to be displayed to a user via the portal. The portal also includes a personalized page. The administrator determines workspace content to be provided to the user on the workspace pages via the portal, and the workspace content includes a set of predetermined content parameters. Targeted content is selected from the workspace content as a function of user profile data and the set of predetermined content parameters. The arranged targeted content and personalized content are rendered on the pages via the portal.

Administrators in enterprise environments typically push or provide enterprise-related information or content to the users. For example, an administrator may push content specific to users belonging to a particular employment group based on their employment status/titles. A similar example applies to employees in a finance group where the administrator may be inclined to push content or information relating to the company's finances to the portals of those employees. On the other hand, the administrators may also restrict and limit content to certain users, such as limiting network usage or network status to information technology support staff.
Alternatively or in addition, administrators provide the users with personalization options (i.e., configuring the portals based on each user's preferences). For example, enterprise computer network environments sometimes provide portals to enterprise users to access internal information easier and faster. Such portals also permit each individual user to generate a unique user experience that is customized to the user's preferences. In other words, either the administrator will personalize a small portion of the homepage of the portal on behalf of the user or, as with internet portals, the user is allowed to create their own version of the portal's home page. As a specific example, a portal may be a page with a collection of information types, such as hyperlinks to text or multimedia content, text or multimedia content, or services (e.g., web-based e-mail accounts) designed to guide the user to various information that he or she finds personally interesting. In such an example, the user typically configures the portal to include a variety of content, such as news sources, sports news, hobby types, location-specific weather forecasts, and the like. In addition, the user may also change the layout of the portal, such as color, font types, font sizes, and placements of the selected content.
While the portals can provide personalized content in addition to the enterprise-related content, administrators are often more eager to prioritize the availability of the latter content to users therefore limiting the space and availability of personalized content. Such practice is implemented because the enterprise-related content has a higher priority. As such, given a limited space within a page, users are left with a congested space overloaded with pushed enterprise information on the portal, which makes the portal less personal. In addition, a user is often forced to view enterprise content that may be irrelevant to the user personally even though the content is relevant to other members of a group to which he or she belongs.

Federated personalization of personal portal content


Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for a runtime merging system of hierarchical trees with a reference node implementation. According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a reference node is implemented which holds a reference to a node in a DOM tree active in memory. The reference node class allows adding nodes to the merged tree without having to make a clone of the node, which is an expensive operation. In one embodiment, if a particular node is not present below a certain level of the tree in any layer except a unique layer, it renders visiting the children of that node unnecessary. A reference is kept to the node in the memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus of runtime merging of hierarchical trees.
2. Background Art
The Internet has made it possible for computer users to access to their applications, files, and data from any web-enabled device. The applications, files, and data are usually stored on a server and are typically organized in a hierarchical manner. There are preferences associated with each layer in the hierarchy so that each user has a unique presentation of the applications, files and data. The hierarchy is normally stored using a document object model (DOM) and might access data in an extensible markup language (XML) format.
When multiple preferences exist in the hierarchy, the system must choose between equivalent nodes in multiple trees, so that the preference that takes precedence is chosen in a final "merge tree". To do so, however, is an expensive process as will be further explained below. Before discussing this problem, an overview is provided.
Internet
The Internet is a network connecting many computer networks and is based on a common addressing system and communications protocol called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). From its creation it grew rapidly beyond its largely academic origin into an increasingly commercial and popular medium. By the mid-1990s the Internet connected millions of computers throughout the world. Many commercial computer network and data services also provided at least indirect connection to the Internet.
The original uses of the Internet were electronic mail (e-mail), file transfers (ftp or file transfer protocol), bulletin boards and newsgroups, and remote computer access (telnet). The World Wide Web (web), which enables simple and intuitive navigation of Internet sites through a graphical interface, expanded dramatically during the 1990s to become the most important component of the Internet. The web gives users access to a vast array of documents that are connected to each other by means of links, which are electronic connections that link related pieces of information in order to allow a user easy access to them. Hypertext allows the user to select a word from text and thereby access other documents that contain additional information pertaining to that word; hypermedia documents feature links to images, sounds, animations, and movies.
The web operates within the Internet's basic client-server format. Servers are computer programs that store and transmit documents (i.e., web pages) to other computers on the network when asked to, while clients are programs that request documents from a server as the user asks for them. Browser software allows users to view the retrieved documents. A web page with its corresponding text and hyperlinks is normally written in HTML or XML and is assigned an online address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
XML DOM
XML is emerging as the next generation of markup languages. XML DOM details the characteristic properties of each element of a web page, thereby detailing how one might manipulate these components and, in turn, manipulate the page. Each component is stored in memory. Components include for instance, objects, properties, methods, and events. An object is a container which reflects a particular element of a page. Objects contain the various characteristics which apply to that element (known as properties and methods). For example, the submit object contains properties and methods relevant to the submit button in a form.
Properties are characteristics of an object; for example, the document object possesses a bgColor property which reflects the background color of the page. Using a programming language (e.g., JavaScript) one may, via this property, read or modify the color of the current page. Some objects contain very many properties, some contain very few. Some properties are read-only, while others can be modified, possibly resulting in immediate on-screen results.
A method typically executes an action which somehow acts upon the object by which it is owned. Sometimes the method also returns a result value. Methods are triggered by the programming language being used, such as JavaScript. For example, the window object possesses a method named alert ( ). When supplied with string data, the alert ( ) method causes a window to pop up on the screen containing the data as its message; (e.g., alert("Invalid entry!")).
An event is used to trap actions related to its owning object. Typically, these actions are caused by the user. For example, when the user clicks on a submit button, this is a click event which occurs at the submit object. By virtue of submitting a form, a submit event is also generated, following the click event. Although these events occur transparently, one can choose to intercept them and trigger specified program code to execute.
Preferences
Using a web-enabled device to access data, files, and applications over the Internet significantly reduces issues associated with installation, configuration, maintenance, upgrades for end users and information technology (IT) departments. Furthermore, it eliminates license fees and lowers the total cost of ownership for enterprise and service providers. Enterprises are generally hierarchical in nature. Application and user preferences stored for each user running desktop applications are mostly collected from more than one layer.
For example, an organization can have users belonging to a group. Any preference data that is absent in the user layer can be picked up from the group layer. Groups can have system-wide global administrators that can dictate enterprise level policies. Layering data in IT organization provides a hierarchical structure to data and decreases redundancy in data storage. Imagine a specific preference data for 100 users belonging to the same group being the same for all users (i.e., department name); the deployment environment is left with two choices; one, replicate the same information for all users, or two, keep the specific preference data in the group layer and merge the information at runtime with the user's preference data during the extraction of the information from a backend data store.
In the prior art, the second alternative is picked more frequently than the first one. For systems where the backend data store for configuration data is XML stored in flat files, this data is fetched through a configuration server which helps the user to read, edit and delete application data through a pure application program interface (API) that is platform independent, such as the Java API. A call to read preference data is translated to the correct set of XML files from the required layers and the data is merged at runtime to create the resultant data for the end client application. Often, the task of merging is left to the configuration server that uses pure DOM API to read XML from all the required layers and merge them into a temporary DOM tree that is written back to a socket stream.
Problems Associated with Merging DOM Trees on the Fly
Though the DOM API is simple and easy to use, it comes with the price of memory allocations that are proportionate to the size of data (e.g., XML data) and the depth of nesting. In general, tree traversals are expensive and it is wise to complete the decision of choosing the right information while traversing the tree for the first time. The difficulty in traversing unbalanced trees is due to the fact that leaf nodes present at a particular depth in one tree may not be present in the other trees that need to be traversed. XML DOM exacerbates the problem by not allowing data in a DOM tree to be manipulated without copying the node. Merging data from various layers involves two major traversals:                1. The first traversal should traverse all the XML trees from the various layers to find the winning nodes (nodes that should be present in the merged tree). This can be done by copying the data to a temporary tree through the use of the cloneNode( ) method from the DOM API.        2. Writing the temporary tree to the output stream used by a TCP socket that transports the data to the client.
Unfortunately, cloneNode( ) is the most expensive call in an XML parser. It has a list of drawbacks that makes it very unpopular to XML users:                1. The call is recursive and so it takes a lot of stack space depending on the depth and size of the XML node that is cloned. It also allocates internal data structures that help build the cloned node that are not freed until the call is complete.        2. Cloning large trees can prove to be very expensive specifically when it is used frequently in a multithreaded environment.        3. Cloning creates a second copy of the data. If the data is merely meant for reading, creating a copy of the same data does not provide any advantage. In fact, it is disadvantageous because it takes more memory and CPU cycles from the machine.        4. The call to cloneNode( ) is typically used often.

Method and apparatus for runtime merging of hierarchical trees


A method of speech recognition includes the steps of analyzing input speech every frame and deriving feature parameters from the input speech, generating an input vector from the feature parameters of a plurality of frames, and periodically calculating partial distances between the input vector and partial standard patterns while shifting the frame one by one. Standard patterns correspond to recognition-object words respectively, and each of the standard patterns is composed of the partial standard patterns which represent parts of the corresponding recognition-object word respectively. The partial distances are accumulated into distances between the input speech and the standard patterns. The distances correspond to the recognition-object words respectively. The distances are compared with each other, and a minimum distance of the distances is selected when the input speech ends. One of the recognition-object words which corresponds to the minimum distance is decided to be a recognition result.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of speech recognition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese published unexamined patent application 61-188599 relates to a prior art method of the recognition of speech uttered by an unspecified speaker.
According to the prior art method of speech recognition which is disclosed in Japanese application 61-188599, the start point and the end point of input speech are detected, and thereby the interval of the input speech is decided. The input speech signal is subjected to a time base adjusting process while the interval of the input speech is expanded or contracted to a fixed time length corresponding to I frames. Here, the letter I denotes a given natural number. The similarities between the resultant input speech and standard patterns of recognition-object words are calculated by a pattern matching process using a statistical measure. One of the recognition-object words which corresponds to the highest similarity is selected as a recognition result.
The standard patterns of the recognition-object words in Japanese application 61-188599 are prepared as follows. First, recognition-object words are uttered by many different speakers to collect speech samples. The speech samples are expanded or contracted to a fixed time length corresponding to I frames. For each of the recognition-object words, statistical quantities (a mean value vector and a covariance matrix) between the resultant fixed-length speech samples are calculated, and the statistical quantities are processed into a related standard pattern. Thus, the time lengths of all the standard patterns are equal to the fixed time length corresponding to I frames. In general, one standard pattern is prepared for one recognition-object word.
Japanese published unexamined patent application 62-111293 discloses a prior art method of speech recognition which is improved over the prior art method in Japanese application 61-188599. While the prior art method in Japanese application 61-188599 needs a step of detecting the interval of input speech, the prior art method in Japanese application 62-111293 dispenses with such an interval detecting step and uses a word spotting technique.
According to the prior art method of speech recognition which is disclosed in Japanese application 62-111293, an input signal interval is set equal to a sufficiently long period during which speech to be recognized, noise preceding the speech, and noise following the speech occur. A temporal reference point is provided in the input signal interval. Proposed speech intervals are provided which start from the reference point and which are sequentially offset by 1-frame lengths. The shortest proposed speech interval has N.sub.1 frames, where N.sub.1 denotes a natural number. The longest proposed speech interval has N.sub.2 frames, where N.sub.2 denotes a natural number. The total number of the proposed speech intervals is equal to N.sub.2 -N.sub.1 +1. The input signals in the proposed speech intervals are collated with standard patterns of recognition-object words while the proposed speech intervals are expanded and contracted to a fixed time length. This collation provides the similarities or distances related to the respective recognition-object words. Such collation is reiterated while the reference point is moved from the start point to the end point of the input signal interval. Consequently, the similarities related to the respective recognition-object words are determined for all the proposed speech intervals and all the different reference points through a pattern matching process. The recognition-object word related to the maximum of the similarities is outputted as a recognition result. In the prior art method of Japanese application 62-111293, to realize the word spotting technique, the pattern matching process for the calculation of the similarities uses a statistical distance measure based on a posteriori probability.
The prior art method in Japanese application 61-188599 and the prior art method in Japanese application 62-111293 tend to be low in recognition accuracy when there are many recognition-object words. The low recognition accuracies in the prior art methods in Japanese application 61-188599 and Japanese application 62-111293 are caused by the following factors.
(1) In general, a time length varies from word to word, and the time length of a word provides some information for discriminating between words. The prior art methods do not use such information since the lengths of all recognition-object words (the time lengths of all standard patterns) are set in common to a fixed length corresponding to I frames.
(2) In the prior art methods, the input speech interval is expanded or contracted to the I-frame period, and there occur repeated or overlapped frames and omitted frames. The repeated or overlapped frames cause redundant calculation. The omitted frames cause some information to be missed out. Both of the cases omit important information representing temporal motion between adjacent frames.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention provides an apparatus and methods directed to a selectively engageable shaft locking device. In one embodiment, a shaft lock device is presented which enables the testing of the shaft and shaft drive device without engaging the drive mechanism into a fully operational state. Another embodiment provides the ability to return the shaft lock device to a storage state after full engagement. The present invention also provides for methods of testing a selective shaft lock device according to the disclosures contained herein.

The present invention relates to a selectively engageable shaft lock and drive device which can be used in applications such as steerable aerodynamic surfaces on rockets, missiles, bombs or the like. Typical shaft lock and drive devices in use have two states: a "storage" state in which the shaft and drive mechanism is locked in place and an "in use" state where the shaft lock is disengaged and the drive device operates to control the shaft and, in turn the connected aerodynamic surface. In typical shaft lock and drive devices currently in use, once the shaft lock is disengaged it cannot be returned to the "storage" or "engaged state." This is primarily due to the fact that current shaft lock and drive devices typically use pyrotechnic bolts, fasteners or the like to engage the shaft lock. Once the pyrotechnic bolts are destroyed (as the shaft lock is disengaged), the shaft lock can never return to the "storage" or "engaged" state.
Another problem addressed by the current invention relates to the inability of the prior art shaft lock and drive devices to be fully tested prior to deployment. The current invention provides for a reversible shaft lock and drive device which allows the drive device to be fully operated and tested while the rocket, missile, etc. is in a state other than flight.
Another purpose of this invention is to provide a single mechanism to both maintain the shaft lock in the engaged position and to drive the shaft once the rocket, missile, etc. is in flight. This results in a fundamental cost and weight savings versus a separately operated device, regardless of type (motor, pyrotechnic, gas generator, etc.).

Systems and methods for a selectively engageable shaft lock and drive device priority

General Dynamics Ordinance and Tactical Systems, Inc.


The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part, wherein the motor vehicle or the motor vehicle part is assembled from components, wherein at least two components are each connected to at least one transponder in order to transmit an identification information item, wherein an identification information item transmitted by a transponder is received by means of a first antenna, wherein an identification information item transmitted by a transponder is received by means of a second antenna and wherein it is checked whether a component can be installed or is correctly installed, wherein the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if at least one identification information item received by means of the first antenna corresponds both to an identification information item received by means of the second antenna and to a predefined identification information item.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part, components being connected to transponders.
The identification of components is disclosed, for example, on the Internet.
DE 40 03 212 C2 discloses a device for identifying unit loads, comprising a planar data carrier which can be read from one side, is attached to the unit load and is composed of a magnetically permeable material which is provided with holes which are arranged distributed in the form of a matrix over its surface and whose particular distribution forms in each case a code which identifies the unit load, and a reading head which is arranged in the reading position at a short distance from the surface of the data carrier and which has at least one exciter for exciting a magnetic field which penetrates the data carrier, and a plurality of magnetic sensors which are arranged in the form of a matrix in a way which corresponds to the holes of the data carrier, and which respond to the presence of magnetically permeable material in the respectively opposite surface area of the data carrier.
DE 103 11 185 A1 discloses a label which can be interrogated by radio and which has a transponder for contactless transmission of data to a write/read device, having a flexible and, at the same time, tension-resistant carrier position on which the circuit elements of the transponder are arranged, and having an elastic, in particular compliant protective covering which encloses the carrier position and the circuit elements of the transponder.
EP 0 793 086 B1 discloses a method for checking motor vehicles, for example passenger cars, trucks or motorbikes, in a test area which is provided with test devices and in which a transponder is provided with vehicle-specific data, test-device-specific data and/or test-program-specific data, in which each vehicle is provided with the transponder containing the specific data, in which the transponder is arranged adjacent to test devices, in which the transponder is provided with test result data and in which test result data is transferred from the transponder to an evaluation device after the test has been terminated.
The object of the invention is to improve the manufacture of motor vehicles.
2. Summary of the Invention
The abovementioned object is achieved by means of a method for manufacturing a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part, the method comprising the following steps:                assembly of the motor vehicle or of the motor vehicle part from components, wherein at least two components are each connected to at least one transponder in order to transmit an identification information item;        reception of an identification information item—transmitted by a transponder—by means of a first antenna;        reception of an identification information item—transmitted by a transponder—by means of a second antenna; and        checking whether a component can be installed or is correctly installed, the component being installed or being classified as correctly installed only if at least one identification information item received by means of the first antenna corresponds both to an identification information item received by means of the second antenna and to a predefined identification information item.
The corresponding component can be installed here in particular before the checking, after the checking and/or during the checking.
In one refinement of the invention, the first antenna and/or the second antenna is/are aligned with the component and/or its installation location.
In a further refinement of the invention, a main direction of the second antenna is different from a main direction of the first antenna. In a further refinement of the invention, the first antenna and the second antenna are oriented with respect to one another in such a way that a main direction of the second antenna is at an angle of 30° to 330° with respect to a main direction of the first antenna. This angle occurs here in particular when the main directions are projected into a plane, in particular when they are projected onto the ground or a mounting surface.
In a further refinement of the invention, an energy signal is transmitted by means of the first antenna, in which case the transponder can be supplied with energy by means of the energy signal and/or can be excited to transmit the identification information item.
In a further refinement of the invention, an energy signal is transmitted by means of the second antenna, in which case the transponder can be supplied with energy by means of the energy signal and/or can be excited to transmit the identification information item.
In a further refinement of the invention, an energy signal is transmitted by means of a further antenna, in which case the transponder can be supplied with energy by means of the energy signal and/or can be excited to transmit the identification information item.
In a further refinement of the invention, checking whether a component can be installed or is correctly installed also takes place as a function of the frequency of identical identification information items received by means of the first antenna and/or by means of the second antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if the predefined identification information item corresponds to the identification information item received the most frequently by means of the first antenna and/or by means of the second antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if the predefined identification information item corresponds to an identification information item received at least a specific number of times by means of the first antenna and/or by means of the second antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if the predefined identification information item corresponds to an identification information item received at least a specific number of times per time unit by means of the first antenna and/or by means of the second antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, at least a third antenna is provided for receiving an identification information item transmitted by a transponder, in which case the third antenna is oriented with a component store or stand, with a component, motor vehicle and/or motor vehicle part which is not to be checked and/or not with the component which is to be checked and/or its installation location. There is provision here for the component which is to be checked to be installed or classified as correctly installed only if the predefined identification information item does not correspond to an identification information item received by means of the third antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the motor vehicle or the motor vehicle part is moved to another location. After this, in a further refinement of the invention an identification information item transmitted by a transponder is received by means of the first antenna or a further antenna and it is checked whether the component is correctly installed, in which case the component is classified as correctly installed only if at least one identification information item received by means of the first antenna or by means of the further antenna at the other location corresponds to the predefined identification information item. In a further refinement of the invention, the other location is a final check station or an intermediate check station.
The abovementioned object is additionally achieved by means of a method for manufacturing a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part, wherein the method comprises the following steps:                assembly of the motor vehicle or of the motor vehicle part from components, wherein at least two components are each connected to at least one transponder in order to transmit an identification information item;        reception of an identification information item—transmitted by a transponder—by means of a first antenna;        reception of an identification information item—transmitted by a transponder—by means of a second antenna; and        checking whether a component can be installed or is correctly installed, the component being installed or being classified as correctly installed only if an identification information item received by means of the first antenna corresponds to a predefined identification information item but not to an identification information item received by means of the second antenna.
The corresponding component can be installed here in particular before the checking, after the checking and/or during the checking.
In one refinement of the invention, the first antenna is aligned with the component and/or its installation location, in which case in particular there is provision for the second antenna not to be aligned with the component and/or its installation location.
In a further refinement of the invention, the second antenna is aligned with a component store or stand.
In a further refinement of the invention, the second antenna is aligned with a component, motor vehicle and/or motor vehicle part which is not to be checked.
In a further refinement of the invention, a main direction of the second antenna is different from a main direction of the first antenna. In a further refinement of the invention, the first antenna and the second antenna are oriented with respect to one another in such a way that a main direction of the second antenna does not intersect a main direction of the first antenna. The two main directions not intersecting means, in particular, that the projections of the main directions into a plane, in particular the projections of the main directions onto the ground or a mounting surface, do not intersect.
In a further refinement of the invention, an energy signal is transmitted by means of the first antenna, in which case the transponder can be supplied with energy by means of the energy signal and/or can be excited to transmit the identification information item.
In a further refinement of the invention, an energy signal is transmitted by means of a further antenna, in which case the transponder can be supplied with energy by means of the energy signal and/or can be excited to transmit the identification information item.
In a further refinement of the invention, checking whether a component can be installed or is correctly installed also takes place as a function of the frequency of identical identification information items received by means of the first antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if the predefined identification information item corresponds to the identification information item received the most frequently by means of the first antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if the predefined identification information item corresponds to an identification information item received at least a specific number of times by means of the first antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if the predefined identification information item corresponds to an identification information item received at least a specific number of times per time unit by means of the first antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the motor vehicle or the motor vehicle part is moved to another location. Then, in a further refinement of the invention an identification information item transmitted by a transponder is received by means of the first antenna or a further antenna and it is checked whether the component is correctly installed, in which case the component is classified as correctly installed only if at least one identification information item received by means of the first antenna or by means of the further antenna at the other location corresponds to the predefined identification information item. In a further refinement of the invention, the other location is a final check station or an intermediate check station.
The abovementioned object is achieved by means of a method for manufacturing a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part, the method comprising the following steps:                assembly of the motor vehicle or of the motor vehicle part from components, wherein at least two components are each connected to at least one transponder in order to transmit an identification information item;        transmission of an energy signal by means of a first antenna, wherein a transponder can be supplied with energy by means of the energy signal and/or can be excited to transmit an identification information item;        reception of an identification information item—transmitted by a transponder—by means of a second antenna; and        checking whether a component can be installed or is correctly installed, wherein the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if an identification information item received by means of the second antenna corresponds to a predefined identification information item.
The corresponding component can in particular be installed here before the checking, after the checking and/or during the checking.
In a further refinement of the invention, the first antenna and the second antenna are oriented with respect to one another in such a way that a main direction of the second antenna is at an angle of 30° to 330° with respect to a main direction of the first antenna. This angle is obtained here in particular when the main directions are projected into a plane, in particular when there is a projection onto the ground or onto a mounting surface.
The abovementioned object is achieved by means of a method for manufacturing a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part, the method comprising the following steps:                assembly of the motor vehicle or of the motor vehicle part from components, wherein at least two components are each connected to at least one transponder in order to transmit an identification information item;        reception of an identification information item—transmitted by a transponder—by means of an antenna;        determination of the frequency of identical identification information items received by means of the antenna; and        checking whether a component can be installed or is correctly installed, as a function of the frequency of identical identification information items received by means of the antenna.
The corresponding component here can in particular be installed before the checking, after the checking and/or during the checking.
In one refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if a predefined identification information item corresponds to the identification information item received most frequently by means of the antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if a predefined identification information item corresponds to an identification information item received at least a specific number of times by means of the antenna.
In a further refinement of the invention, the component is installed or is classified as correctly installed only if a predefined identification information item corresponds to an identification information item received at least a specific number of times per time unit by means of the antenna.
The abovementioned object is achieved by means of a method for manufacturing a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part, the method comprising the following steps:                assembly of the motor vehicle or of the motor vehicle part from components, wherein at least two components are each connected to at least one transponder in order to transmit an identification information item;        reception of an identification information item—transmitted by a transponder—by means of an antenna at a first location;        movement of the motor vehicle or of the motor vehicle part from the first location to a second location;        reception of an identification information item—transmitted by a transponder—by means of the antenna or a further antenna at the second location; and        checking whether a component is correctly installed, wherein the component is classified as correctly installed only if an identification information item received at the first location corresponds both to an identification information item received at the second location and to a predefined identification information item.
In one refinement of the invention, the first location is an assembly line or part of the assembly line. In a further refinement of the invention the second location is a final check station or an intermediate check station.
The main direction in the sense of the inventions is in particular a main beam direction or main reception direction.
Identification information item in the sense of the inventions are, in particular, information items which individually characterize a component or its type. The method according to the invention can be used in a particularly suitable way if at least six components are each connected to at least one transponder in order to transmit an identification information item.
Transponders in the sense of the inventions are, in particular, transmitters which are suitable for transmitting an identification information item. Transponders in the sense of the inventions are, in particular, elements which do not have any appreciable energy store of their own and receive their transmission energy from another transmitter in a wire-free fashion. Suitable transponders may be obtained, for example, from Alien, Harting or Siemens. Suitable transponders are published on the Internet.
Checking whether a component is correctly installed is intended to include, within the sense of the inventions, in particular checking whether the correct component is installed and/or whether the corresponding component is installed at all and is not missing.
A motor vehicle in the sense of the inventions is in particular a land vehicle which can be used individually in r0Ad traffic. Motor vehicles in the sense of the invention are in particular not restricted to land vehicles with an internal combustion engine.
Further advantages and details emerge from the following description of exemplary embodiments.


A method and system for managing fleet health of vehicles comprises gathering environmental data for potential mission locations. A data processing system collects vehicle data, including historical use data and maintenance data associated with corresponding vehicular components of vehicles within a fleet. A mission planner establishes a list of candidate missions for the fleet of vehicles. A stress module assigns a stress severity indicator to the established candidate missions based on the environmental data. The mission planner matches vehicles to corresponding missions based on the collected vehicle data and the stress severity indicator such that the matched vehicles are likely to complete the missions with a desired degree of reliability.

Weather or environmental factors may impact when a vehicle may fail and experience unscheduled downtime. Harsh weather can cause a spike in demand for parts and repairs that are stressed by weather. Accordingly, there is need for managing a vehicle fleet to facilitate increased availability or up-time by managing spare part inventory and technician availability based on weather or environmental factors.

Management of vehicles based on operational environment


A server includes a network interface to interface with mobile computing devices operating within a geographical area, with at least one of the mobile computing devices providing a request for navigation instructions between two geo-locations based on prompting the user to select an optimized connectivity route prompt. A processor is coupled to the network interface and is configured to generate a network connectivity map based on varying cellular network connectivity metrics for the geographical area, and generate, based on the user-selected optimized connectivity route prompt, the navigation instructions between the two geo-locations to be provided to the at least one mobile communications device via said network interface. The navigation instructions are generated based on the network connectivity map to provide a single route that is optimized to include areas with strong cellular network connectivity metric values.

Enterprise productivity software is aimed at boosting user productivity by allowing workers to reliably and securely work using a computing device regardless of its location. Enterprise productivity software includes XenMobile, XenApp, and online collaboration tools, for example.
Variability in the quality and strength of Internet connectivity is a challenge when providing consistent and reliable connection experiences for remote and mobile users. Mobile users who are sales professionals, for example, frequently travel and typically need to participate in online meetings and conference calls while travelling on the road.
However, when a mobile computing device is in use while the user is traveling on the road, an online meeting or conference call may be vulnerable to signal fluctuations, connectivity issues and call disruptions. Consequently, there is a need to improve application performance and user experience for a mobile user while on the move.

Geo-based connectivity awareness for better productivity


A device for opening and/or exercising a jaw can include first and second bite members configured for opening the jaw and an anatomically bent portion configured for positioning a pivot member adjacent to the TMJ. The device may be configured such that the bite members may be capable of opening and closing along an axis of rotation in common with an axis of rotation of the temporomandibular joint.

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD or TMD), or temporomandibular joint syndrome, is an umbrella term covering acute or chronic inflammation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which connects the mandibular jaw to the skull. The temporomandibular joint, which is located in front of each ear, is commonly referred to as the TMJ. Various temporomandibular dysfunctions are also commonly referred to as TMJ.
TMJ disorder and resultant dysfunction can result in significant pain and impairment. The temporomandibular joint is susceptible to many of the conditions that affect other joints in the body, including ankylosis, arthritis, trauma, dislocations, developmental anomalies, and neoplasia. Ankylosis, for example, is a stiffness of the TMJ due to abnormal adhesion and rigidity of the bones of the joint, which may be the result of injury or disease. The rigidity may be complete or partial and may be due to inflammation of the tendinous or muscular structures outside the joint or of the tissues of the joint itself.
Exercise of facial muscles is a recommended manner to help avoid, reverse or at least delay the onset of TMJ disorders. In addition, patients who receive treatment to correct problems associated with the TMJ need to exercise their jaw to facilitate proper healing. Further, the exercise of the facial muscles concurrently provides exercise to the supporting neck muscles and in many cases a release of the tightness and associated with stress related tension of those muscles.


Methods, devices, systems and computer program products improve the detection of watermarks that are embedded in a host content by providing information indicative of a ranking of watermark payloads to watermark extractors. A watermark extractor device obtains information indicative of a ranking of a plurality of watermark payload values, where such information designates each watermark payload value within a first subset of the plurality of watermark payload values as having an associated rank value. Based at least in-part on the information indicative of the ranking, the watermark extractor device is configured to prioritize resource allocation for extraction of payload values that are designated as belonging to the first subset over payload values that are not designated as belonging to the first subset. The watermark extractor then extracts a payload value, designated as belonging to the first subset, from one or more watermarks embedded in the host content.

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the disclosed embodiments that are recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Watermarks are substantially imperceptible signals embedded into a host content. The host content may be any one of audio, still image, video or any other content that may be stored on a physical medium or transmitted or broadcast from one point to another. Watermarks are designed to carry auxiliary information without substantially affecting fidelity of the host content, or without interfering with normal usage of the host content. For this reason, watermarks are sometimes used to carry out covert communications, where the emphasis is on hiding the very presence of the hidden signals. Other widespread applications of watermarks include prevention of unauthorized usage (e.g., duplication, playing and dissemination) of copyrighted multi-media content, automatic content recognition (ACR), proof of ownership, authentication, tampering detection, content integrity verification, broadcast monitoring, transaction tracking, audience measurement, triggering of secondary activities such as interacting with software programs or hardware components, communicating auxiliary information about the content such as caption text, full title and artist name, or instructions on how to purchase the content, and the like. The above list of applications is not intended to be exhaustive, as many other present and future systems can benefit from co-channel transmission of main and auxiliary information.
Watermark system design involves balancing a number of different requirements, such as imperceptibility, robustness, security, false positive rate, processing load, payload size, etc. In some applications of watermarks, such as copy management applications, the watermarks that are embedded in a host content must often be extracted in consumer products (e.g., media players, copiers, etc.) that access and use the content. As a result of limited computational resources (e.g., memory, real estate on silicon, processing cycles, etc.) available to watermark extractors within such devices, these applications often create challenges in meeting all of the above noted requirements of the watermarking system since an improvement in one requirement often comes at the expense of another requirement. For example, the robustness of watermark extraction (i.e., a measure of how well an extractor can extract embedded watermarks in the presence of noise and other impairments in the host content and/or watermarking channel) can often be improved by increasing the number of extraction attempts at, for example, small offsets from a particular location of interest of the host content. An increase in the number of extraction attempts, however, increases both the processing load on the extractor and the probability of false watermark extractions. As another example, an increase in payload size typically comes at the expense of reduced robustness and/or increased false positive rate.
In should be noted that in the present application, the term "watermark extraction" is used to describe the operations that result in the extraction of a watermark payload, i.e. the bits or symbols of the message carried by the watermark, which is different from removal or erasure of watermarks from the host content. Alternatively, watermark extraction can be called watermark detection, but sometimes watermark detection is used to indicate the detection of the presence of a watermark within a host content without actually extracting the payload carried by that watermark.

Watermark extractor enhancements based on payload ranking


A latch has a unidirectional power release mechanism. The mechanism has a rotatable gear with a boss on the gear, a motor for rotating the gear to orbit the gear boss through an operating cycle of the mechanism, a ratchet movable from a latched position to an unlatched position, a pawl lever, a pawl, and a toggle which moves between a first toggle position and a second toggle position to set the limits of the operating cycle of the mechanism. The toggle pivots in response to the orbiting gear boss and presents a stop for the gear boss at the end of the operating cycle. The gear boss effects movement of the pawl lever to effect unlatching and stops the orbiting gear boss when it encounters the stop. The toggle is pivoted back removing the stop in response to the ratchet rotating to the latched position.

Many of today's automotive vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles and minivans, are provided with liftgates having latches with power releases. It is typical in these power releases to use a return spring to return the mechanism to a rest position after operating which can produce undesirable noise and detract from the power and efficiency of the mechanism. The latch closing spring is generally large and undesirably noisy in its operation.
BMW incorporates into certain of its vehicles a deck lid latch that operates without a return spring. In the BMW design there is a rotating actuator that is controlled to move through only a single revolution by using the latch pawl as an actuator stop. There is disadvantage in this type of latch as the pawl and the stop have a one-piece construction which denies independent motion of the pawl. Furthermore, the pawl is large and heavy as a result of the inclusion of the stop feature on the pawl. Furthermore, the pawl with its built in stop works only on a one position ratchet.
Other examples of latches with rotating actuators include: DE 42 18 177; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,934,717; 6,076,868; and 6,155,124.

Latch with uni-directional power release mechanism


Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for adjusting parameters used to prefetch data from storage into cache. Data units are added from a storage to a cache, wherein requested data from the storage is returned from the cache. A degree of prefetch is processed indicating a number of data units to prefetch into the cache. A trigger distance is processed indicating a prefetched trigger data unit in the cache. The number of data units indicated by the degree of prefetch is prefetched in response to processing the trigger data unit. The degree of prefetch and the trigger distance are adjusted based on a rate at which data units are accessed from the cache.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and article of manufacture for adjusting parameters used to prefetch data from storage into cache.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data prefetching techniques are used to prefetch data from a non-volatile storage device, such as one or more hard disk drives, to a high speed memory, such as a volatile memory device referred to as a cache, in anticipation of future data requests. The data requests may then be serviced from the high speed cache instead of the storage device which takes longer to access. In this way, data may be returned to the requesting device faster.
During a sequential read operation, an application program, such as a batch program, will process numerous data records stored at contiguous locations in the storage device. It is desirable during such sequential read operations to prefetch the sequential data into cache in anticipation of the requests from the application program. A sequential caching algorithm detects when a device is requesting data as part of a sequential access operation. Upon making such a detection, the storage controller or server may begin prefetching sequential data records following the last requested data record into cache in anticipation of future sequential accesses. The cached records may then be returned to the application performing the sequential data operations at speeds substantially faster than retrieving the records from a non-volatile storage device.
One prefetching approach is to perform a sequential readahead. In a One Block Lookahead (OBL) algorithm, one block is prefetched beyond the requested block. OBL can be of three types: (i) always prefetch—prefetch the next block on each reference, (ii) prefetch on miss—prefetch the next block only on a miss, (iii) tagged prefetch—prefetch the next block only if the referenced block is accessed for the first time. A P-Block Lookahead approach extends the idea of OBL by prefetching P blocks instead of one, where P is also referred to as the degree of prefetch. Some approaches dynamically adapt the degree of prefetch based on the workload. Other techniques have suggested a per stream scheme which selects the appropriate degree of prefetch on each miss based on a prefetch degree selector (PDS) table. In a History-based prefetching scheme, a history-based table may be used to predict the next pages to prefetch.
There are two kinds of prefetch requests: (i) synchronous prefetch, and (ii) asynchronous prefetch. A synchronous prefetch is when on a miss on page x, p extra pages are prefetched beyond page x to extend the extent of the client's read request to include more pages. An asynchronous prefetch may occur upon the occurrence of a cache hit on a page x and creates a new read request to prefetch p pages beyond those already in the cache. In each set of the p prefetched pages, a trigger page is identified at a trigger distance of g from the end of the prefetched set of pages. When g=0, the trigger is set on the last page of the prefetched set. When a trigger page is hit, an asynchronous prefetch is requested for the next set of p sequential pages. Unlike synchronous prefetching, asynchronous prefetching enables the cache to pre-store data ahead of sequential read requests for the data. Asynchronous prefetching is used in conjunction with some form of synchronous prefetching to prefetch the initial set of pages.
Sequential prefetching has a high predictive accuracy and focuses prefetching only on the sequential components of workloads. Sequential prefetching techniques include fixed synchronous (FS), adaptive synchronous (AS), and fixed asynchronous (FA). In fixed synchronous (FS) prefetching, a next page or fixed number of next pages is prefetched on a miss. In adaptive synchronous (AS) prefetching, the number of pages prefetched on every miss (p) is gradually increased as the length of the sequence referenced becomes longer. The degree of prefetch (p) starts with a small fixed number (for example, 2) and is either linearly incremented on every miss or exponentially incremented. There may be a predefined upper limit for incrementing p.
In fixed asynchronous (FA) prefetching, the degree of prefetch and trigger distance may be any fixed values.
There is a need in the art for improved techniques for prefetching data.

Adjusting parameters used to prefetch data from storage into cache

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention features compact systems and methods for vacuum liquid purification and extraction of a liquid sample.

The present invention is related to the field of agro-products, pharmaceutical production and sample analysis. In the field of sample analysis, a large variety of studies are conducted in order to monitor for the presence of contaminants in food. In particular, toxins such as brominated and chlorinated pesticides, PCBs, and dioxins are extracted, purified and fractionated from pharmaceutical, environmental and biological samples. New and more stringent regulations regarding acceptable levels of these contaminants are continuously being adopted by the government or other regulatory agencies, driving the development of analytical systems that are more reliable and commercially practical in terms of cost and size. Important criteria in the development of such systems are the detection of more compounds, with lower detection limits, fast turn around and the ability to process a large number of samples efficiently.
Since chlorinated and brominated compounds are very toxic at sub-part per trillion (ppt) and part per quad trillion (ppqt) levels, the purification of these compounds becomes a difficult task in sample analysis. It is necessary, for example, to protect the sample from interfering compounds during the extraction, purification and fractionation processes. Interfering compounds can be introduced from the air and surrounding environment.
For example, it is required to detect some dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in low ppt level in food samples. However, the amount of PCBs in the air and other surroundings of laboratories may exceed the detection limits of the sample, so that the laboratories are unable to perform accurate testing. As a result, lab testing facilities are forced to construct new clean room labs with controlled environments. Therefore, testing for these highly toxic compounds in food is becoming very difficult, and few laboratories are able to perform this testing.
In the field of agro-products, extracted, purified and separated end products are obtained from spices, herbs, aromatic plants, and medicinal plants and are used for various end use applications such as cosmetics, flavors, medicines, perfumes, etc.
In the field of pharmaceutical production, compounds of interest are extracted, purified and separated for use in producing drugs and supplements. These processes are similar to those used in sample analysis, although they are usually carried out on a much larger scale to provide a desired amount of product.
For several years, new extraction techniques have emerged that exhibit advantages such as lower solvent consumption, automation and higher through put for processing solid and semi-solid samples such as food samples. The purification or "clean-up" step has also evolved to the use of entirely automated systems suitable for preparing a large number of samples.
Nevertheless, there is a continuing need for simpler, compact, semi-automated yet fast, efficient systems for performing high-quality sample analysis and pharmaceutical production.

Vacuum liquid extraction and purification systems and methods


The system and method of the present invention relates to using spectroscopy, for example, Raman spectroscopic methods for diagnosis of tissue conditions such as vascular disease or cancer. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for measuring tissue includes a fiber optic probe having a proximal end, a distal end, and a diameter of 2 mm or less. This small diameter allows the system to be used for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease or other small lumens or soft tissue with minimal trauma. A delivery optical fiber is included in the probe coupled at the proximal end to a light source. A filter for the delivery fibers is included at the distal end. The system includes a collection optical fiber (or fibers) in the probe that collects Raman scattered radiation from tissue, the collection optical fiber is coupled at the proximal end to a detector. A second filter is disposed at the distal end of the collection fibers. An optical lens system is disposed at the distal end of the probe including a delivery waveguide coupled to the delivery fiber, a collection waveguide coupled to the collection fiber and a lens.

Optical methods are increasingly being used for the detection of disease. Near-infrared Raman spectroscopy in particular, because of its chemical specificity, is proving to be a useful tool for both disease diagnosis and the study of disease progression. Over the past decade Raman spectroscopy has been applied to many diseases and biological problems and there have been many advances in-vitro. More recently there have been reports of in-vivo work that however have either been confined to studies of skin or other easily accessible organs, or have used optical fiber configurations that require collection times that are unreasonably long for practical clinical use. The majority of applications require remote sampling via optical fibers, and the size of the probe and fiber bundle is strictly limited by the application. A particular example that current commercial systems cannot provide is the ability to evaluate atherosclerotic lesions in-vivo in real-time, through an angiographic catheter, thus aiding cardiologists in directing the most appropriate treatment in each individual case. These objectives have not been fulfilled by current systems.
In addition, prior art probes for remote Raman sensing, using several different methods for filtering out the fiber spectral background, either exhibit extremely low optical throughput or are too bulky to be used intravascularly. A problem with the prior art designs includes having a 4 cm long stiff tip that prohibits their incorporation into transcutaneous catheters for accessing the coronary arteries. Secondly, in data collected with these probes, a considerable component of the fiber Raman spectrum still remains. Further, data collection times on the order of 30 seconds or longer are typically required for collection of signals with an acceptable signal to noise ratio (SNR).
A need still exists for improved systems and methods which include probes for, for example, Raman spectroscopy that are sized for applications in medicine and provide an improved spectral signature from tissue.

Systems and methods for spectroscopy of biological tissue