A user device configured to perform wake-up word detection in a target language. The user device comprises at least one microphone (430) configured to obtain acoustic information from the environment of the user device, at least one computer readable medium (435) storing an acoustic model (150) trained on a corpus of training data (105) in a source language different than the target language, and storing a first sequence of speech units obtained by providing acoustic features (110) derived from audio comprising the user speaking a wake-up word in the target language to the acoustic model (150), and at least one processor (415,425) coupled to the at least one computer readable medium (435) and programmed to perform receiving, from the at least one microphone (430), acoustic input from the user speaking in the target language while the user device is operating in a low-power mode, applying acoustic features derived from the acoustic input to the acoustic model (150) to obtain a second sequence of speech units corresponding to the acoustic input, determining if the user spoke the wake-up word at least in part by comparing the first sequence of speech units to the second sequence of speech units, and exiting the low-power mode if it is determined that the user spoke the wake-up word.

A system may be speech enabled, allowing users to interact with the system via speech, for example, by allowing users to speak commands to control the system. Engaging a speech-enabled system often requires users to signal to the speech-enabled system that the user intends to interact with the system by speaking. For example, a speech-enabled system may be configured to begin recognizing speech after a manual trigger, such as a button push (e.g., a button of a physical device and/or a button within a user interface of a speech recognition software application), launch of an application, or other manual interaction with the system, is provided to wake-up a device or to alert the system that speech following the manual trigger is directed to the system. However, manual triggers complicate the interaction with the speech-enabled system and, in some cases, may be inconvenient or impossible to use (e.g., when the user's hands are otherwise occupied, such as when operating a vehicle, or when the user is too remote from the system to manually engage with the system or an interface thereof).
When a mobile device is operating in a low power mode (e.g., in a sleep, hibernate or idle mode), the actions required to engage the voice response system typically become even more extensive. In particular, the user need first wake-up the mobile device itself before the voice response system can be engaged using manual action or an explicit voice trigger. For example, a user may have to press a button to turn-on the display and/or enable one or more processors, may have to manipulate one or more controls to ready the mobile device for use, and/or may have to input a passcode if the mobile device has been inactive for a certain period of time. To address the inconvenience (and often inapplicability) of manual triggers, some speech-enabled systems allow for voice triggers to be spoken to begin engaging with the system, thus eliminating at least some (if not all) manual actions and facilitating generally hands-free access to the speech-enabled system. A voice trigger may comprise a designated word or phrase (e.g., "Hello Dragon") that is spoken by the user to indicate to the speech-enabled system that the user intends to interact with the system (e.g., to issue one or more commands to the system).
A voice trigger is also referred to herein as a "wake-up word" or "WuW." After a wake-up word has been detected, the system begins recognizing subsequent speech spoken by the user. In most cases, unless and until the system detects the wake-up word, the system will assume that acoustic input received from the environment is not directed to or intended for the system and will not process the acoustic input further. If a device (e.g., a mobile device such as a smart phone) is operating in a low-power mode, the device will remain inactive until a wake-up word is detected by the device.

Techniques for language independent wake-up word detection


A device for adjusting the position of a printer head of a barcode printer includes a casing mounted to the barcode printer and a base movably coupled to the casing. A slide board is slidably supported on the base and carries the printer head. A first adjuster is arranged between the slide board and the base to selectively move and thus adjust the position of the printer head in the longitudinal direction. A second adjuster couples the first adjuster to the base to selectively move the slide board on the base in the transverse direction, which in turn adjusts the transverse position of the printer head. A third adjuster couples the base to the casing to selectively move the base with respect to the casing and thus adjust the position of the printer head in the vertical direction. Thus, the position of the printer head can be adjusted in the longitudinal, transverse, and vertical directions, which allows a user to do precise adjustment of the printer head with respect to a printing medium on which a barcode is to be printed by the barcode printer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of barcode printer, and in particular, to a device for position adjustment of a barcode printer head in longitudinal, transverse, vertical directions.
2. The Related Art
Barcode is commonly printed on or attached to merchandise to simplify processing and sales of the merchandises. Most of the barcodes are printed in a stick, which is then attached to the merchandises. Due to the difference in size, thickness, and even material that makes the stick, barcode printers having printer heads set in different spatial positions are needed to process sticks of different specifications. This causes undesired troubles for barcode printer users.
The present invention is aimed to provide a barcode printer that allows for adjustment of position of the printer head in order to accommodate sticks of different specifications.

Adjustment device for printer head of barcode printer


A vane carrier temperature control system for use in a gas turbine engine includes a first cooling air source, a second cooling air source, and an air temperature control system. The first cooling air source supplies a first portion of vane carrier cooling air extracted from a compressor section of the engine to a first section of a vane carrier that supports a plurality of rows of vanes within a turbine section of the engine. The second cooling air source supplies a second portion of vane carrier cooling air extracted from the compressor section to a second section of the vane carrier spaced from the first section in an axial direction defined by a direction of hot working gas flow through the turbine section. The air temperature control system controls a temperature of at least one of the first and second portions of vane carrier cooling air.

During operation of a gas turbine engine, air is pressurized in a compressor section then mixed with fuel and burned in a combustion section to generate hot combustion gases. One or more combustors in the combustion section supply the hot combustion gases to a turbine section of the engine where the hot combustion gases are expanded to extract energy therefrom to provide output power, which is in turn used to produce electricity. Due to the high operating temperatures within the engine, in particular in the combustors and in the turbine section, select engine components are cooled with a cooling fluid, such as, for example, air that is bled off from the compressor section.

Vane carrier temperature control system in a gas turbine engine


A cervical collar includes a flexible, elongate support member having two ends, a longitudinal axis, an initial length, and a plurality of slits near at least one end. Each slit defines a terminal segment of the support member and a connective link between the terminal segment and the remainder of the support member. A connector is provided for securing together the two ends. The support member may be manufactured by forming slits near at least one end of a flexible support member. The collar may be applied to a patient by providing a support member which is longer than is needed for the patient's neck, removing a terminal segment of the support member to adjust the length so that the support member is sized to appropriately encircle the patient's neck, flexing the support member around the patient's neck, and connecting the ends of the support member together.

Serious neck injuries can have devastating impact on a patient and once a victim is injured and requires help, it is important for first responders to avoid compounding the initial injury through uncontrolled movement of the head and neck. For this purpose, a responder often applies a cervical collar to a neck injury victim. Since neck injuries are not always visually apparent, a cervical collar may be applied to a victim who is unconscious but who is suspected of having a neck injury or who was injured under circumstances in which such an injury is possible, such as an automobile accident or a fall.
A variety of cervical collars are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,564 to Grundei et al., dated Apr. 9, 1991, discloses a cervical collar made of a foam material and with overlapping ends that join together my means of a hook-and-loop fastener. The collar is perforated at openings 3 to receive one or more support members 5. Without at least one support member, the collar offers only slight support and is used near the end of a patient's treatment, primarily to provide heating; to provide strong support, one or more support elements must be inserted in the openings (col. 1, lines 48-58).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,527 to Hartunian, dated May 9, 2000, discloses a sports neck brace made of a length of foam material in a split ring configuration having two ends which defined a vertical opening 20 which appears to permit placement around a player's neck, and having hook and pile fasteners 21, 25 and 27 to secure the two ends together in use (see, e.g., col. 3, line 57-col. 4, line 7). Thus this brace is not adapted to accommodate different sizes of necks.

Cervical collar and methods of manufacture and use


A semiconductor power device supported on a semiconductor substrate includes a plurality of transistor cells each having a source and a drain with a gate to control an electric current transmitted between the source and the drain. The semiconductor further includes a source metal connected to the source region, and a gate metal configured as a metal stripe surrounding a peripheral region of the substrate connected to a gate pad wherein the gate metal and the gate pad are separated from the source metal by a metal gap. The semiconductor power device further includes an ESD protection circuit includes a plurality of doped polysilicon regions of opposite conductivity types constituting ESD diodes extending across the metal gap and connected between the gate metal and the source metal on the peripheral region of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the layout and manufacturing process of the semiconductor power devices. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved layout of multiple-stage electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection element integrated with a semiconductor power device to achieve convenient layout, better ESD-leakage trade-offs and more scalable to small die size.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional layout for manufacturing semiconductor power devices with protection circuits against electrostatic discharges (ESD) still has a limitation. A general practice is to place the ESD protection circuits on the gate pad. However, such layout significantly limits the scalability of ESD layout on the semiconductor power device when such devices are required to manufacture on different size of dies for different ESD rating protection applications. Such layout further limits the flexibility of modifying the device configurations. The conventional layout designs also limit the ESD ratings due to the fact that the width of ESD protection device has only limited range of adjustment thus limiting the amount of current that can be redirected by the ESD circuit. Generally speaking, high ESD protection, i.e., ESD circuit with high ESD rating, requires wider ESD width. However, when the ESD circuit is disposed on the gate pad, the ESD width is limited by the size of the gate pad while the size of the gate pad is normally kept as small as possible, usually that is a width just right for wire bonding to provide the gate connection.
FIGS. 1A to 1B are circuit diagrams as disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,492,974 and 4,831,424 respectively for a one-stage ESD protection circuit and the one-stage protection circuit with a gate resistor Rg. FIG. 1C is a two stages ESD protection circuit with a gate resistor Rg disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,383. These ESD protection circuits are formed with a number of Zener diode pairs for ESD protection without and with Rg as that shown in FIGS. 1D and 1E respectively. As discussed above, the size of the gate pad is generally designed just for wire bonding to provide for gate connection, which should be kept as small as possible. Large gate pad size results in small active area of the same device size. Small active area will cause bad device performance, such as high on-resistance, which means high power consumption. In order to achieve the same device performance, die size increase would be necessary, which causes an increase in production cost. Generally speaking, for the same device performance, e.g., the same power consumption and ESD rating, smaller die size generally can achieve a better performance-to-cost ratio.
For these reasons, the size of the gate pad is typically fixed to a certain size such as 150 um×150 um. With a limited gate pad area, there is no room to adjust the ESD layout, e.g., the adjustment of ESD ratings by adjusting the width of the ESD is limited by the gate pad size.
Recently, there are ever increasing demands to overcome such limitations and difficulties because of the facts that more and more high-speed switching devices are now manufactured on smaller dies for portable device applications. Devices supported on a die that has a larger size usually have high ESD rating even without ESD protection due to its big input capacitance (Ciss). In contrast, a device supported on a die that has smaller size has a low input capacitance thus usually resulting in low ESD rating. For these reasons, device supported on smaller die can be destroyed during human handling due to electric static discharge. Therefore, high ESD rating for small die can significantly increase its reliability. However, for the purpose of saving the die areas in a smaller die, the ESD circuits are generally manufactured on the gate pad to expand the active cell areas thus limiting the ESD layout flexibility and also further limiting the ESD protection ratings for the devices supported on the dies of smaller size. For these reasons, there are strong demands to provide the semiconductor power devices with higher ratings of ESD protections and more flexibility in rearranging the device layout with different die sizes. Particularly, for devices supported on dies of smaller die sizes, there still exist a need to further provide new and flexible ESD circuits on the semiconductor power devices such that the above-discussed limitations can be overcome.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide alternate layout for the ESD circuits on the semiconductor power device not limited by the conventional gate pad ESD configuration while improving the ESD ratings. It is also desirable that the new layout can allow more flexibility for scalability such that the ESD protection can be more conveniently integrated with the semiconductor power devices to provide more effective protections such that the above discussed difficulties and limitations can be overcome.

Layouts for multiple-stage ESD protection circuits for integrating with semiconductor power device


A detection device for detecting X rays and signaling the detection to a computer-assisted surgery processor system comprises an X ray detector unit having an X ray detector adapted to be positioned within a radiation field. The X ray detector emits a detection signal upon being excited by an X ray of a given intensity. A transmitter outputs the detection signal in radio frequency. A receiver receives the detection signal in radio frequency and forwards the detection signal to a computer-assisted surgery processor system to signal the detection of the X ray. A method is provided as well.

C-arm units are commonly used in order to obtain X-ray images of bodily parts during surgery. C-arm trackers have been integrated in computer-assisted surgery (CAS), by the addition of a C-arm tracker to a C-arm unit, in order to allow image-based navigation. As the accuracy of the computer-assisted surgery is dependent on the quality of the images, the C-arm tracker is used to relate the X-ray image to the tracking of the bodily part.
The relation between the X-ray image and the tracking of the bodily part is obtained by tracking the C-arm tracker to provide a scale relation between the image and the bodily part. Because of accuracy requirements for CAS surgery, the positional relation between the C-arm tracker and the tracked bodily part must be recorded at the time that the image is taken, for instance to avoid errors due to movement between the patient and the C-arm tracker, from the moment the X-ray is taken and to the moment the X-ray image file is converted to navigation data.
Accordingly, diodes are commonly used to detect X-rays. More specifically, diodes are provided on the C-arm tracker and are wired to the CAS processor system so as to detect and signal the detection of X-rays. With the signaling of the X-ray, the CAS processor system simultaneously records the positional relation between the C-arm tracker and the patient. The positional relation is then used in the conversion of the X-ray image to navigation data, for instance to adjust the orientation of the image.

X-ray detection device for C-arm tracker and method


A key ring assembly containing a laser indication and various cutters includes a body, an upper cover, a metal plate, and a base. The upper cover is disposed on the body, and a battery unit, a press button, a laser generator, and a replaceable lens frame are disposed in a space defined between the upper cover and the body, whereby laser beams conveying different meanings are emitted. One side of the base is provided with a plurality of insert grooves adapted to receive a plurality of different lens frames. Four elastic curved arms, a file, a pen blade, and scissors are pivotally provided on the metal plate. Each of the file, the pen blade, and scissors is provided with a retaining slot at a rear end thereof to be positioned and retained on the elastic curved arms.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a key ring assembly, more particularly to a key ring assembly containing a laser indicator and various cutters. The key ring assembly containing a laser indicator and various cutters includes a body, an upper cover, a laser generator, a metal plate, and a base. The base is provided with a recess for receiving the laser generator and a battery chamber for receiving a battery unit. The upper cover has a front end provided with a cavity and a through hole. The cavity is adapted for receiving a replaceable lens frame. The lens frame is provided with plastic lenses containing geometric shapes or patterns or signs or words or characters so that laser beams of different shapes can be emitted. The upper cover is disposed on an upper side of the body. The metal plate is disposed below said body and has two spaced-apart positioning posts arranged at both front and rear ends of both top and bottom sides thereof for pivotally connection with four elastic curved arms, a file, a pen blade, and scissors. Each of the file, the pen blade, the scissors has a retaining slot at a rear end thereof, and a finger dent on one side whereby the user can turn the file, the pen blade or the scissors outwardly with respect to the metal plate. The file, the pen blade, and the scissors are and positioned on the elastic curved arms by means of the retaining slots. The base is provided with a plurality of insert grooves adapted for receiving a plurality of replaceable lens frames of different applications.
(b) Description of the Prior Art:
There are available on the market key ring assemblies for carrying keys, remote controls, and decorations. To enhance the market value and functions of conventional key ring assemblies, it is desirable to have a key ring assembly that contains a laser indicator and various cutters.

Key ring assembly containing a laser indicator and various cutters


A method of manufacturing a one piece full width ink jet printing bar starting with a glass or ceramic plate with conductive vias, metal interconnects and ink feeds preformed on the plate. Heater filaments are formed from a suitable metal such as tungsten, nickel or tantalum on the plate and insulated from the metal interconnects with silicon nitride. Jet chambers and transport chambers to transport the ink from the ink feeds to the jet chambers are formed using sacrificial material and a structural layer. After the structural layer has been patterned the sacrificial material is removed forming the jet chambers and the transport chambers. Bonding bumps are then formed on the reverse side of the ceramic or glass plate from the jet chambers to provide connections to electronic components which determine which ink jet chambers should fire.

This invention relates generally to ink jet printing systems and more particularly concerns the manufacture of a one piece full width ink jet printing bar in which a glass or ceramic substrate is utilized for a cost effective, disposable printing bar.
If current manufacturing techniques were used, they would require assembling a full width printing bar by precision abutting many smaller printing bars until the desired width is achieved. Assembly of many smaller bars into one larger bar is both time consuming and expensive due to the small tolerance requirements of the abutted parts and the precision required in the final part. Typically, assembly costs may account for 50% of the cost of the printing bar. The large unit manufacturing cost of a full width printing bar contributes to the high cost of printers and replacement parts.
If assembly of multiple parts could be reduced or eliminated, not only would the unit manufacturing costs be considerably reduced but the resulting quality and reliability of the finished product would be increased.
Accordingly, it is the primary aim of the invention to provide a method of manufacturing a full width ink jet printing bar which reduces the number of parts needed to manufacture the printing bar.
Further advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

Manufacture of a one piece full width ink jet printing bar


A device for actuating a lock mounted in a door includes a handle with a bearing extension at one end, which can be installed from the exterior of the door in a bracket mounted in the interior of the door. A two-part electrical control unit has one control unit located in the handle and a second control unit in the vehicle. Electrical wiring with two sections, which are connected to each other by an electrical coupling part and a mating coupling part, extends between the two parts of the control unit. A receptacle for the electrical coupling part is provided in the bearing extension of the handle. The mating coupling part at the end of one section of wiring projects out through the opening in the exterior panel of the door and is fitted into the coupling part of the handle before the handle is installed. When the handle is to be installed, a common structural unit is available, composed of the handle, the coupling part, and the mating coupling part. When the handle is actuated as intended after installation, its pivot axis serves simultaneously as the axis of rotation for the coupling part and the mating coupling part, which are connected to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for actuating a lock installed in a door.
2. Description of the Related Art
The device includes a handle to be mounted on the exterior surface of the door. The handle has an extension at each end, each extension serving a different purpose. The one extension cooperates with a lock, whereas the other extension has bearing points and is therefore referred to in the following as the "bearing extension". A bracket with opposing bearing points for the bearing extension is mounted in the interior of the door. The handle is installed from the outside of the door. For this purpose, the exterior panel of the door has two openings, through which the two extensions of the handle can be inserted. The handle is then installed by a setting movement, in the course of which the bearing points of the handle travel into the opposing bearing points of the bracket.
So that the lock can be actuated conveniently, an electrical control unit is used, which is made up of two parts. This represents what is called the "convenience variant" of the device. Omitting the electrical control unit results in what is called the "standard design", in which comparable functions are implemented by mechanical means. In the case of the convenience variant, one of the control units is integrated into the handle, whereas the other control unit is located in the vehicle. The two control units are connected to each other by electrical wiring. The electrical wiring is divided into two sections, which are connected to each other by a two-part electrical coupling. At the end of one of the two sections of wiring there is a coupling part connected to the control unit, and at the end of the other section there is a mating coupling part connected to the other control unit in the vehicle. When the handle is installed, the coupling part and the mating coupling part must be connected to each other, and when the handle is removed, the two parts must be disconnected from each other. After the handle has been installed, the coupling parts are located in the area where the handle is mounted in its bearings and must therefore follow the pivoting movement of the handle when the handle is actuated.
DE 102 32 583 A1 shows a known device of the above-described type. A special coupling part is permanently mounted on the bearing extension of the handle described here and is electrically connected to a control unit in the handle. An associated mating coupling part is mounted in a defined angular position in the bracket by way of its own temporary axis of rotation and its own temporary mount for that axis. The handle with its mating coupling part is inserted into the coupling part of the bracket, and after insertion has been completed, it is pivoted toward the bracket. During this pivoting movement, the temporary rotational connection between the mating coupling part and the bracket is broken. After the pivoting movement, the handle is pushed in a direction parallel to the bracket, as a result of which a final axis of rotation on the handle is introduced into its final rotary bearing mount in the bracket. This final rotational mount then defines the rotational movement of the handle when it is actuated later to open the lock.
This known device requires specially designed coupling and mating coupling parts and temporary axes of rotation and axis of rotation mounts between the mating coupling part and the bracket. The handle, the bracket, the coupling part and the mating coupling part are designed specifically for a convenience device with electrical control and be can applied only to such a device. The device cannot be used for standard handles which do not have an electrical control unit, because the mating coupling part is a fixed component of the handle, without which the first phase of handle installation on the bracket is not even possible. The number of units which can be manufactured is therefore limited and the costs relatively high.
DE 100 62 042 A1 describes a device in which at least the mating coupling parts have their own rotary bearing points on the bracket. Here a radial element is supported pivotably on the bracket, and the mating coupling part is seated on the free end of this radial element.
In the device according to DE 196 33 894 C2, the mating coupling part is supported pivotably in a bearing block on the bracket. This pivot bearing of the coupling is aligned axially with the bearing points on the handle and the mating bearing points on the bracket, which are engaged with each other.
Finally, another variant of these devices is known from DE 199 47 977 C1. In this device, the mating coupling part is supported pivotably on a separate bearing in the bracket, and the coupling part is supported on the bearing extension of the handle.
In these known devices, additional components are required for the pivoting support of the mating coupling part on the bracket and possibly for the rotational support of the electrical coupling part on the handle. This requires complicated production and installation steps. These additional components also occupy valuable space. Because the coupling and the mating coupling parts are engaged during the installation of the handle in its bearings, the electrical contact is established invisibly behind the exterior panel of the door and therefore cannot be inspected. For this reason, the electrical contact may be defective.

Device for actuating a lock integrated in a door, hatch, or similar, especially in a vehicle


An oxygenated water cooler and method of operating the same for dispensing oxygen enriched water from a bottle installed on the cooler wherein an oxygen source integrated into the cooler delivers oxygen through the water to a headspace above the water in the bottle to maintain the dissolved oxygen content of water in the bottle at an elevated level during the entire time water is dispensed from the bottle by the cooler, the elevated dissolved oxygen level having been established previously during the water bottling process. The oxygen source preferably comprises an oxygen generator, and such generator preferably comprises pressure swing absorption oxygen generating apparatus.

This invention relates to the art of water coolers for dispensing drinking water, and more particularly to a new and improved water cooler for dispensing oxygen enriched water.
Oxygen enriched drinking water has an enhanced taste appeal. The term drinking water is intended to include, without limitation, spring water, filtered water or water treated by the reverse osmosis process. In addition, the enriched water offers the health and fitness conscious consumer an alternative and supplemental source of oxygen that is absorbed through the stomach. The dissolved oxygen content of natural pure water ranges from 5 mg/liter to 9 mg/liter depending on the source of the water and purification and processing techniques applied prior to bottling. The spring water can be supersaturated with oxygen by injecting molecular oxygen into a water pipeline controlled at a pressure of 40-90 PSIG. Using this technique the dissolved oxygen level of the water can be increased to 25-125 mg/liter. If bottled immediately in hermetically sealed bulk glass bottles, the water will maintain the elevated dissolved oxygen level indefinitely. Bulk glass bottles typically are in the 3-5 gallon range. However, upon opening the bottle and installing it on a standard water cooler the dissolved oxygen decreases to near the baseline level of 5-9 mg/liter within 3-5 days. Since the average time required to consume a 5 gallon water bottle typically is in the 10-14 day range, the rapid decrease in dissolved oxygen prevents the commercial marketing of oxygen enriched drinking water in 5 gallon bottles for use on standard water coolers.
It would, therefore, be highly desirable to provide a new and improved water cooler for dispensing oxygen enriched water wherein the dissolved oxygen content of water in the bottle installed on the cooler is maintained at the original supersaturated level during the entire time water is dispensed from the bottle by the cooler.


The present invention is a system for efficiently generating test cases characterized by a linear range of integral values. A software testing tool which has been configured to generate test cases characterized by a linear range of integral values in accordance with the present invention can include a user interface coupled to a test case generator. The test case generator can be configured for range bounding for a range of integral values in a software application under test. In particular, the test case generator can include a halving module programmed to identify changes in response states in the software application under test evoked from input tokens having selected ones of the lengths defined within sub-ranges of a specified range of integral values.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of software testing and more particularly to testing the handling of tokens of various lengths in software code.
2. Description of the Related Art
Software modules which process Internet protocols including the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP), the simple mail transport protocol (SMTP), the post office protocol version three (POP3) and so forth, typically perform a significant amount of parsing of character and numeric strings, and accordingly, include a proportionate segment of source code dedicated to the same. Most Internet protocols, however, do not constrain the length of tokens involved in processing input data according to the respective protocols. Therefore, code which has been designed to process Internet protocol data must be prepared to handle input tokens of arbitrary lengths.
Yet, software engineers charged with the development of software modules intended to process Internet protocols often code to a "mental model" of what is to be considered a reasonable length of an input token. Consequently, software engineers may neglect to design such code to properly handle unusually long, unusually short, or missing input tokens. This problem can be exacerbated by the fact that a given token can be parsed or otherwise processed in many different layers of code within a software module. In this regard, each layer or combination of layers could have been developed by different software engineers.
Preferably, the testing process for such a software module ought to locate all code paths within the module which cannot gracefully handle unexpected input token lengths. In that regard, generally, the software module ought to be tested by varying the length of each individual input token that can be included in input data from zero to a desired upper bound. Yet, as any one given token can be processed by multiple code paths in different layers of a software module, it can be extremely difficult for the tester of the module to identify all particular token lengths which will cause the software module to return different responses to the input data. In particular, where the developer of one layer has a competing view of "reasonably sized token" with the view of another developer of another layer in the software module, unexpected results can occur.
As an example, one code path in a software module can correctly handle a token having a length which ranges from one (1) to five-hundred and twelve (512). Yet, the code path can crash for any other length, including zero (0). In another code path within the same module, however, a minimum length of ten (10) and a maximum length of sixty-four kilobytes (65,535) may be acceptable. Consequently, it would not be appropriate to test the software module using only a few, randomly selected lengths for input tokens. To do so would compromise the ability of the test to detect points of failure in particular code paths. Notwithstanding, the cost of testing every possible input token length from zero (0) to sixty-four kilobytes can prove too unwieldy or costly to be practical.
Improper handling of particular token lengths in a code path within a software module can cause the software module to crash or otherwise to fail in an ungraceful manner. In addition, faulty code paths can be vulnerable to buffer-overflow attacks and other forms of abuse by malicious agents. Buffer-overflow attacks have become a daily occurrence in the corporate information technology arena and have become a significant source of embarrassment and financial liability for software companies. Accordingly, there remains a long-felt, unsolved need for a software testing system and method in which faulty token-processing code paths can be efficiently identified within the time and resource constraints common to the software industry.

Software tool configured to generate test cases characterized by a linear range of integral values

International Business Machines Corporation


A proxy translator for use in a wireless network. The proxy translator re-transmits forward and reverse channel signals between a base station and mobile stations. The proxy translator comprises a first proxy mobile station that communicate with a base station and a proxy base transceiver subsystem (BTS) that communicates with a first mobile station. The first proxy mobile station receives forward channel signals intended for the first mobile station and transfers them to the proxy BTS for re-transmission to the first mobile station. The proxy BTS receives reverse channel signals from the first mobile station and transfers them to the first proxy mobile station for re-transmission to the base station.

Wireless communication systems have become-ubiquitous in society. Consumers use a wide range of devices and networks, including cellular phones, paging devices, personal communication services (PCS) systems, and wireless data networks. Wireless service providers are creating new markets for wireless devices and expanding existing markets by making wireless devices and services cheaper and more reliable. Wireless service providers attract new customers by reducing infrastructure costs and operating costs, by increasing handset battery life, and improving quality of service, and new and better features.
Inadequate coverage is a persistent problem in the quality of service of any wireless network. Natural and man-made obstacles frequently create radio frequency (RF) "holes" in the coverage area of a wireless network. Voice and data call connections are frequently dropped when a wireless terminal, such as a cell phone or a similar mobile station, enters an RF hole. Mobile stations that are already in an RF hole may not be able to reliably establish new connections. Typical areas in which RF holes occur include underground tunnels, buildings that have large footprints, tall buildings, and underground shopping malls.
Wireless service providers may attempt to improve coverage and to eliminate RF holes by one or more conventional methods. A wireless service provider may use higher transmit power from the base transceiver station (BTS) to maintain communication with a mobile station (MS). However, the result is an increase in the noise floor experienced by other mobile stations in the coverage area of the serving BTS, leading to an overall increase in total BTS transmit power and a reduction in the percentage of transmit power available to support other calls.
Alternatively, a wireless service provider may attempt to improve coverage by installing another base transceiver system (BTS) in the area of poor coverage. A disadvantage of this method is the cost associated with acquisition and deployment of a complete base transceiver station. A typical full-service BTS may cost between $500,000 and $750,000. Adding another BTS also requires the added cost of provisioning a dedicated backhaul link to provide network connectivity. Still another disadvantage of adding a new BTS is that these devices are provider specific. Devices from two different vendors cannot be interchanged or operated in a given network.
Also, a wireless service provider may attempt to improve coverage by deploying RF repeater transceivers. Unfortunately, a repeater re-broadcasts the entire set of signals for all calls carried by the serving BTS, not just for those mobile stations in the poor coverage area. As a result, the mobile stations in the poor coverage area experience a higher noise floor. Thus, increased transmit power causes higher forward link transmit power per user channel on the serving BTS. In CDMA technology, the RF noise in the operating frequency is an important factor, especially in the forward link (i.e., transmission from BTS to MS). The repeater amplifiers add noise on both forward and reverse links. Thus, using repeaters degrades overall network performance by increasing noise in the environment and reduces the traffic capacity of the network.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for improved wireless networks having improved RF coverage. In particular, there is a need for an apparatus that can improve service in an area of poor RF coverage without significantly increasing transmit power in within the cell site or in neighboring cell sites.

Proxy translator for extending the coverage area of a wireless network


An assembly and a method for the precision drilling of seed grains use a drilling machine with at least one row unit which is assigned a drive set up for instigating delivery of a seed grain into a furrow, and a control system which is connected to a position-determining system, to a memory device for storing delivery positions of seed grains, to the drive of the row unit and to a seed material sensor for detecting the actual delivery position of the seed grains in the furrow. The control system controls the drive based on signals from the position-determining system, the memory device and the seed material sensor so that the seed grains are delivered successively at the delivery positions.

In farming, plants, such as maize or beets, which are grown with relatively large spaces between one another, are normally drilled by individual seed drilling machines. A tractor thereby moves several row units, which are attached side by side next to one another along a tool bar, over a field and the row units are controlled in such a way that the seed material is discharged at intervals which are as regular as possible. Since the row units cannot cover the entire field in a single crossing, the tractor must turn at the end of the field after drilling a first strip and must then travel over the field in the opposite direction and discharge the seed material on a second strip of the field.
EP 1 415 523 A1, regarded as being of the generic type, proposes in contrast equipping the individual row units of a drilling machine with an associated drive and controlling these drives centrally by using an external position-determining system in order to obtain a predetermined drilling pattern. The discharge point of the individual seed grains is detected by means of a seed material sensor in order to identify the angular position of a drilling disc of the row unit. Based on these measures, a two-dimensional drilling pattern can indeed be produced, but detecting the actual position of the seed grain is not always sufficiently accurate, since the time between the discharge of the seed grain through the drilling disc and the moment the seed grain reaches its final position in the ground can be different, for example in the case of seed grains of different sizes, and the spatial stagger between the discharge of the seed grain through the drilling disc and its reaching its final position in the ground depends on the travelling speed of the tractor, which is not necessarily constant. Thus with the assembly according to EP 1 415 523 A1, undesired offsets between adjacent plant rows are still possible.
This problem also arises for the assembly according to DE 10 2005 010 686 A1 in which the drives of the cell wheels of the row units are controlled using a position-determining system in order to align the delivery points of adjoining rows with one another, and the drives are synchronized with one another through incremental encoders.
It is furthermore proposed to detect the position of seed grains in the furrow using a seed material sensor and to control the drives of the drilling units so that desired relative spacings of the plants in the travel direction are obtained (EP 2 227 932 A1), or to detect the seed material optically as it falls through the seed material tubes and using a position-determining system and the measured forward speed of the drilling machine to determine the delivery position and to register it in a chart (U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,225).
The invention is concerned with the problem of improving a drilling machine which has at least one row unit to the extent that a desired drilling pattern can be obtained with higher precision compared with the prior art.

Assembly and method for the precision drilling of seed grains


A method for controlling a pitch control system of a wind turbine includes providing a charged backup battery configured to supply no energy to a DC link when full AC input power is available, wherein the DC link includes a DC link capacitor. The method further includes using energy stored in the DC link capacitor to operate a pitch control system during a loss or dip of AC input power, and maintaining charge on the DC link capacitor using the charged backup battery as voltage across the DC link capacitor drops during the operation of the pitch control system.

This invention relates generally to wind turbine energy systems and more particularly to pitch control systems for wind turbines.
In one known wind turbine, a pitch control system having a fully regenerative silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) bridge drives a 4.2 KW series DC motor. This type of system has been used in servo motor drives for many years and is commercially available. The SCR drive has the advantage of simplicity, but may not be able to deliver the level of pitch system performance that may be needed in newer and/or larger wind turbines.
In the event of a loss of AC input power, at least one known wind turbine system pitches the blades of the wind turbine using emergency pitch batteries. The blades are pitched to a position that would prevent blade overspeed. The AC voltage drop is sensed by the pitch control system and the emergency pitch system is activated. The wind turbine control system modulates the emergency pitch system and attempts to keep the hub rotational speed below overspeed limits. In many cases, the turbine control issues a fault and stops the turbine. However, known wind turbine systems use DC link capacitors and an H bridge power converter circuit, and do not have the ability to pitch the blades using this circuit once the small amount of energy stored in the DC link capacitors is depleted.

Pitch control battery backup methods and system


It is an object to enlarge the logical amplitude of an output signal of a flip-flop circuit with a suppressed, low power-supply voltage to reduce the possibility of occurrence of malfunction. A signal outputted from a differential amplification portion is converted in an internal level converting circuit and fed back to bases of transistors of a slave latch. With input signals having a high level at 0.5 V, the internal level converting circuit performs conversion to provide output signals having a high level at 0.25 V to prevent a current flowing between a collector and a base of the transistors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a latch circuit for temporarily storing data, a flip-flop circuit including a master latch and a slave latch, a shift register circuit, a serial-parallel converting circuit and a parallel-serial converting circuit formed of flip-flop circuits.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing the structure of a conventional flip-flop circuit. In FIG. 12, CR40 is a clock buffer for converting the level of an input clock T, CR41 is a master latch for holding the logic value of an input signal D and outputting a signal D1 corresponding to the held logic value according to a clock T' outputted from the clock buffer CR40, and CR42 is a slave latch for holding the logic value of the signal D1 outputted from the master latch CR41 and outputting a signal D2 corresponding to the held logic value according to the clock outputted from the clock buffer CR40.
For example, suppose that the flip-flop circuit is formed of bipolar transistors with a base-emitter forward voltage VBE of 0.9 V and a first power-supply voltage VCC of 0 V and a second power-supply voltage VEE of -5.2 V are provided to the flip-flop circuit. The input signal D and the clock T swing between -0.9 V and -1.5 V. In this case, for example, the clock buffer CR40 lowers the center voltage level of the amplitude of the clock to output the clock T' swinging between voltage level of the amplitude of the clock to output the clock T' swinging between -1.8 V and -2.4 V. The master latch CR41 receives the input signal D and the clock T' to output the signal D1 having the same amplitude with the same center voltage level as the input signal D. The slave latch CR42 receives the input signal D1 and the clock T' to output the signal D2 having the same amplitude with the same center voltage level as the input signal D.
Next, circuit structures and operations of the parts of the flip-flop circuit shown in FIG. 12 will be described. A first reference voltage VBB1 and a second reference voltage VBB2 applied to the master latch CR41 and the slave latch CR42 are assumed to be -1.3 V and -2.2 V, respectively. The clock buffer CR40 is formed of an NPN bipolar transistor Q14 having a base receiving the clock T, a collector connected to the first power-supply voltage VCC and an emitter for outputting the clock T' having a converted voltage level, and a resistor R11 having one end connected to the emitter of the transistor Q14 and another end provided with the second power-supply voltage VEE. When the clock T swinging between -0.9 V and -1.5 V is inputted to the base of the transistor Q14, the clock T' swinging between -1.8 V and -2.4 V is outputted at the emitter of the transistor Q14.
The master latch CR41 is formed of resistors R1-R5 and transistors Q1-Q9. The resistor R1 has one end and another end, to the one end of which the first power-supply voltage VCC is applied. The NPN bipolar transistor Q1 has an emitter, a base provided with the input signal D, and a collector connected to another end of the resistor R1. The resistor R2 has one end and another end, to the one end of which the first power-supply voltage VCC is applied. The NPN bipolar transistor Q2 has a collector connected to another end of the resistor R2, a base provided with the first reference voltage VBB1, and an emitter connected to the emitter of the transistor Q1. The NPN bipolar transistor Q3 has an emitter, a collector connected to the emitter of the transistor Q1, and a base provided with the second reference voltage VBB2.
The NPN bipolar transistor Q4 has a base, an emitter, and a collector, the collector of which is connected to another end of the resistor R1. The NPN bipolar transistor Q5 has a base, a collector connected to another end of the resistor R2, and an emitter connected to the emitter of the transistor Q4. The NPN bipolar transistor Q6 has a collector connected to the emitters of the transistors Q4, Q5, a base connected to the emitter of the transistor Q14, and an emitter connected to the emitter of the transistor Q3. A constant-current source I1 has one end connected to the emitters of the transistors Q3 and Q6 and another end supplied with the second power-supply voltage VEE, which outputs a certain current. The NPN bipolar transistor Q8 has a base connected to another end of the resistor R1, a collector to which the first power-supply voltage VCC is applied, and an emitter connected to the base of the transistor Q5. The NPN bipolar transistor Q9 has its collector connected to the first power-supply voltage VCC, its base connected to another end of the resistor R2, and its emitter connected to the base of the transistor Q4. The resistors R4 and R5 each has one end connected to the emitter of the transistor Q8 or Q9 and another end provided with the second power-supply voltage VEE.
The constant-current source I1 is formed of the NPN bipolar transistor Q7 having an emitter, a collector corresponding to the one end of the constant-current source I1, and a base supplied with a voltage VCS always having a certain potential difference with respect to the second power-supply voltage VEE, and the resistor R3 having one end connected to the emitter of the transistor Q7 and another end corresponding to another end of the constant-current source I1.
It is set so that a signal swinging between 0 V and -0.6 V is generated at the collector of the transistor Q1 when the input signal D inputted to the base of the transistor Q1 swings between -0.9 V and -1.5 V, for example. That is to say, if the voltage at the base of the transistor Q1 goes -0.9 V when the transistor Q3 is in an on state, the transistor Q1 turns on and the voltage at another end of the resistor R1 goes -0.6 V. When the voltage at the base of the transistor Q1 goes -1.5 V, the transistor Q1 turns off and another end of the resistor R1 goes 0 V. Since the transistor Q1 and the transistor Q2 turn on/off complementarily to each other, 0 V is generated at another end of the resistor R2 when the transistor Q1 is on and -0.6 V is generated when the transistor Q1 turns off.
The signal D1 swinging between -0.9 V and -1.5 V is generated at the emitters of the transistors Q8 and Q9 according to the signals appearing at the collectors of the transistors Q1 and Q2. When the clock outputted from the clock buffer CR40 causes the transistor Q6 to be on, one of the transistors Q4 and Q5 is always on, since they receive the signal D1 at their respective bases. Then the voltage at the emitters of the transistors Q4 and Q5, or the collector of the transistor Q6, is -1.8 V. When the clock outputted from the clock buffer CR40 causes the transistor Q6 to be off, both of the transistors Q4 and Q5 are in non-operating state, with no current flowing therethrough. These transistors Q1-Q6 operate in the non-saturation region.
In the slave latch CR42, the transistors Q1'-Q7', Q10 and Q11 corresponding to the transistors Q1-Q9 in the master latch CR41 are connected in the same way as the corresponding transistors in the master latch CR41.
Furthermore, an output circuit CR43 for outputting output signals Q, QC of the flip-flop circuit is provided in the stage following the slave latch CR42. The output circuit CR43 is formed of transistors Q12, Q13 having emitters, collectors to which the power-supply voltage VCC is applied, and bases respectively connected to the collectors of the transistors Q1' and Q2', and resistors R9 and R10 each having one end connected to the emitter of the transistor Q12 or Q13, and another end to which the power-supply voltage VEE is applied. The transistors Q12 and Q13 are emitter followers.
When provided with the signal D1 swinging between -0.9 and -1.5 V, the slave latch CR42 operates in the same way as the master latch CR41 to output a signal D2 (Q) which swings between -0.9 and -1.5 V from the output circuit CR43.
When the difference between the first and second power-supply voltages VCC and VEE for operation of the flip-flop circuit becomes as low as 3.3 V, for example, the conventional flip-flop circuit constructed as described above can not stably operate, whatever values are set for the first and second reference voltages VBB1, VBB2 and the voltage VCS1. This is due to the fact that the transistors Q8, Q5, Q6, Q7 are connected in series, and the transistors Q9, Q4, Q6, Q7 are connected in series.
Hence, as shown in FIG. 13, the transistors Q8, Q9 are removed from the master latch CR41 of FIG. 12 to form a master latch CR51, and the transistors Q10, Q11 are removed from the slave latch CR42 of FIG. 12 to form a slave latch CR52. Furthermore, in the master latch CR51 and the slave latch CR52, the bases of the transistors Q4 and Q5 are connected respectively to another ends of the resistors R2 and R1, and the bases of the transistors Q4' and Q5' are connected respectively to the resistors R2' and R1', so as to reduce, by one, the number of the transistors connected in series between the power-supply voltages VCC and VEE. This enables it to operate even if the difference between the power-supply voltages VCC and VEE is 3.3 V. The output circuit CR53 provided in the stage following the slave latch CR52 has the constant-current sources I3 and I4 in place of the resistors R9 and R10 in the output circuit CR43 of FIG. 12, but it operates in the same way. The flip-flop circuit of FIG. 13 has an input level converting circuit CR50 for converting the level of the input signal D. The input level converting circuit CR50 is formed of resistors R15, R16 each having one end provided with the power-supply voltage VCC and another end, an NPN bipolar transistor Q16 having an emitter, a base supplied with the input signal D, and a collector connected to another end of the resistor R15, an NPN bipolar transistor Q17 having an emitter connected to the emitter of the transistor Q16, a base to which the reference voltage VBB3 is applied, and a collector connected to another end of the resistor R16, and a constant-current source I2 connected between the emitters of the transistors Q16, Q17 and the power-supply potential point to which the power-supply voltage VEE is applied.
When the flip-flop circuit is structured as shown in FIG. 13, however, it is necessary to set the amplitude center of the input signal D at -0.95 V, convert the center to -0.15 V in the input level converting circuit CR50, and limit the amplitude of the signals handled by the master latch CR51 and the slave latch CR52 between 0 V and -0.3 V, and it is also necessary to set the center of the amplitude of the output signal at -0.95 V, and limit its amplitude between -0.8 V and -1.1 V.
Since the amplitude of the output signal of the flip-flop circuit is limited to 0.3 V, the signal outputted from the flip-flop circuit is susceptible to noise and signal attenuation while traveling on the interconnection. Integrated circuits using this flip-flop circuit will therefore be prone to malfunction. The amplitude is thus limited because the transistors connected in series, such as the transistors Q1 and Q3, Q2 and Q3, Q4 and Q6, and Q5 and Q6, exist in the course of the current path of the constant-current source I1 in the master latch CR41, for example.
When the difference between the power-supply voltages is made smaller, the suitable voltage level at the input terminals of the master latch CR41 and the slave latch CR42, or at the base of the transistor Q1, and the center of the logical amplitude of the input signal D do not meet. Hence, when the amplitudes and the levels of the amplitude centers of the input signal and the output signal are standardized as in an integrated circuit using a gate array, e.g., when the input/output signals must swing between -1.05 V and -1.55 V and it is difficult to change, it will be difficult to apply a flip-flop circuit using the series-gate ECL.
The above-described problem also applies to a latch circuit.
With a shift register circuit, a serial-parallel converting circuit and a parallel-serial converting circuit using the above-described flip-flop circuit, the problem is more serious because they have a larger number of flip-flop circuits.

Flip-flop circuit, parallel-serial converting circuit, and latch circuit


A semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate comprising an element isolation region and an active region defined by the element isolation region, a fin-type pattern on the active region, the fin-type pattern extending in a first horizontal direction, a gate electrode on the fin-type pattern, the gate electrode extending in a second horizontal direction that crosses the first horizontal direction, a capping pattern on the gate electrode, a source/drain region on at least one side of the gate electrode, a source/drain contact on the source/drain region and electrically connected to the source/drain region, and a filling insulating layer on the source/drain contact, the filling insulating layer having a top surface at a same level as a top surface of the capping pattern, and including a material containing a carbon (C) atom.

Inventive concepts relate to a semiconductor device and/or a method for fabricating the same.
With the recent rapid spread of information media, the functions of semiconductor devices have also rapidly developed. In the case of recent semiconductor products, high integration of the products is required for low cost and high quality in order to gain a competitive edge. For high integration, semiconductor devices have been scaled down in size.
Meanwhile, as pitches and/or feature sizes decreases, there is a desire for research to decrease capacitance and/or to secure electrical stability between contacts in the semiconductor device.

Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same


A polishing lap which is resistant to attack from corrosive and reactive ishing media and which has a surface which is sufficiently resilient to provide good finishes without hindering dimensional controlling and accuracy of the texturing comprises: a lap substrate wherein the surface of the lap substrate has an overall shape and a localized texture; and a replaceable lap film applied to the lap substrate surface and which is deformed to correspond to the localized texture of the lap substrate surface. The polishing lap can be easily reconditioned if contaminated or easily modified for use with different abrasives and polishing media.

A wide variety of laps are used in the polishing field to achieve smooth surfaces on a variety of substrates. When polishing, lapping or grinding, the surface of the lap is brought into contact with the surface of the substrate to be treated and relative movement is induced with respect to the substrate and the lap, resulting in smoothing of the substrate surface. A polishing media such as a particulate abrasive or an abrasive slurry is provided at the interface between the lap surface and the substrate to facilitate polishing. Typically, the polishing media is changed 2 to 4 times during the grinding and polishing procedure. Relative movement can be induced manually or mechanically. Examples of polishing laps are described by Wylde (U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,232), Takiyama et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,141), Duppstadt (U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,337), Smith (U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,995), Dillon (U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,660), Rotenberg et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,880), Pettibone (U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,083), Yu (U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,734) and Pasch (U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,228).
On a large scale, the lap surface has a shape corresponding to the desired general shape of the substrate to be treated. For example, the lap surface can be, in general, flat or, if the substrate is to have a concave surface, then the lap will have a corresponding convex surface. On a smaller scale, the lap surface is textured. Texturing facilitates dispersion of the polishing media over the lap surface as well as provides areas that can act as reservoirs for the polishing medium and for the material removed from the surface of the substrate being treated. The lap surface can be further provided with embedded abrasive particles to facilitate polishing.
The lap itself is often made of a hard material, such as cast iron or ceramic. These materials are accurately machined to achieve the desired overall shape, as well as the smaller scale texturing of the lap surface. During the polishing, lapping or grinding, the surface of the lap must be monitored to determine whether any changes occur. Changes in the surface conditions of the lap can induce imperfections in the substrate surface being, e.g., polished. As a result, if such changes occur, the lap must be replaced. Also, if the lap surface contains embedded abrasive particles, the abrasive size can change during the process, thereby requiring tedious lap cleaning and reconditioning procedures. Although good surface accuracy can generally be obtained using such hard laps, one is not often able to achieve the best surface finish. A further disadvantage associated with laps made of metal materials, such as cast iron, is that such laps may not possess adequate chemical resistance to the polishing media being employed which can be highly acidic, highly alkaline or in other ways reactive with the metal itself.
To eliminate some of the above-mentioned problems, it is known to use polishing cloths in conjunction with hard laps. In such cases, the hard laps are shaped as required to provide both the desired overall shape and texturing and then the lap surface is faced with a pad made of various materials, such as felt, velveteen or synthetic fabrics. While such laps can provide good surface finish when used with appropriate polishing media, there is a disadvantageous loss of dimensional control with respect to the shape of the substrate being treated.
Pitch laps having desired overall shape and local texture are also used in the polishing field. However, the production of such laps is a tedious process involving first melting the pitch and then pouring it onto an appropriate support substrate. Thereafter, once the pitch has cooled and hardened, the surface is cut to give a desired pattern, such as cross-hatching. The pitch lap is then pressed against a master surface or the substrate to be treated to generate the desired contour of the lap. While it is possible for such pitch laps to initially provide the desired finish and contour accuracy, maintaining the overall shape of the pitch lap can be difficult since pitch is a viscous fluid which continues to exhibit some degree of flow even at room temperature. A further disadvantage is that, if a pitch lap becomes contaminated by, for example, foreign particulate matter, or if its surface becomes damaged, a new lap must be made from scratch.
Chemically resistant polymeric laps are also known in the polishing art. In these laps, a polymeric material such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is applied to a hard substrate and then treated to achieve the desired shape and texture. The elasticity of the polymeric layer can provide for the achievement of a good surface finish. However, the manufacturing of such laps is a time consuming procedure. Further, contamination of the polymeric layer by even a single large hard particle can render the lap useless and, thus, a new lap must be made again.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Commerce


A portable electronic device includes a housing and at least one charging module installed in the housing. The at least one charging module includes a magnetic induction block and a coil unit positioned beside the magnetic induction block. The coil unit includes a base block and an induction coil coiled around the base block. The induction coil is configured for generating induction current under the action of a charging magnetic filed outside the housing. The magnetic induction block enhances the magnetic filed intensity acting on the induction coil.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to portable electronic devices and charging device for the portable electronic device, and particularly to a wireless charging type portable electronic device and a wireless charging device for charging the portable electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
A wireless charging type portable electronic device commonly includes an induction coil. The induction coil generates induction current by inducting changes of an external magnetic field, and charges a battery of the portable electronic device with the induction current. However, the magnetic field intensity of the external magnetic field is limited. Only a small number of the magnetic induction lines emitting from the magnetic field can pass through the induction coil and be converted into electric power. Most of the magnetic induction lines may be dispersed or absorbed by other electronic elements. To convert more energy from the magnetic field into electrical energy, the induction coil may be lengthened with more coils. However, the lengthened induction coil may increase power consumption during output of the induction current to the battery and lead to a low charging efficiency.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Portable electronic device and wireless charging device

SHENZHEN FUTAIHONG PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.


A method of measuring an analyte concentration in body fluid in an animal body having skin and subcutaneous soft tissue that includes body fluid. The method comprises, introducing a portion of an analyte-measuring device into the subcutaneous soft tissue. The analyte-measuring device includes an analyte sensing element, having a sharpened distal end to facilitate introduction into the animal body. Additionally the sensing element has an indicating electrode that is adapted to be activated by electric power and to form a raw analyte measurement, when it is activated and in contact with the body fluid, in less than two minutes. The sensing device further has a reference electrode and an electric power and display device that is adapted to mate to the analyte-sensing element. The power and display device activates the analyte-sensing element by applying electric power to it. The analyte-sensing element is introduced into the animal body and is activated by the electric power and display device, thereby causing the analyte-sensing element to form a raw analyte measurement. The power and display device forms and displays a second analyte measurement that is related to the raw analyte measurement, within two minutes of the analyte sensing element being introduced into the body.

Among the other unpleasant aspects of having the disorder diabetes mellitus is the need to frequently test one's blood glucose concentration. With current technology a diabetic patient must prick his own fingertip or other body part with a lancet in order to withdraw blood from the wound. The fingertip is preferred because of the great number of capillaries located there.
The broach created through the skin by the lancet must be wide enough to permit blood to flow through. Human epidermis around the fingertips is on the order of 1-3 millimeters thick. Also, similar to other flexible, sheet like materials, skin tends to close up on itself if broached. Accordingly the lancet used must create a broach that is wide enough to not be closed by the natural action of the skin.
Moreover, the task of sampling one's own blood has generally required that a flat surface be present for the patient to arrange various test articles including a test strip, a lancet and a cotton ball with alcohol, for sterilizing the wound. As a result, it has heretofore been impossible for a diabetic patient to measure his blood glucose level in a public place without drawing attention to himself. Interviews with diabetic patients indicate that the workplace, where there is frequently a definite lack of privacy and where maintaining the secrecy of personal information may be greatly desired, presents particular difficulties.
A number of disclosures are aimed at easing this requirement by providing an integrated unit having a number of lancets and associated test articles (such as a test strip or a sensing cavity to be filled with blood drawn out from the body) and in which both lancet and test article are contemporaneously moved into test position. These devices tend to use chemical test strips, rendering them rather bulky and typically requiring the user to place a test strip in place before use.
In addition, a number of disclosures are directed at an implantable or insertable sensor, for continuous glucose monitoring. Although this technology appears to bear promise it is desirable to have additional options for the diabetic patient. For example, a method of quickly and easily making an occasional determination of blood glucose concentration would be helpful for patients not wishing to wear a glucose monitor.
Ease of use is not only an important consideration from the perspective of patient comfort, but also from the perspective of patient health. The easier it is for a patient to take his blood glucose level reading, the more frequently he is likely to do so. In turn, with more frequent measurements, the patient is likely to do a better job at regulating his glucose level and thereby avoiding chronic complications in which body tissue is damaged by toxic glucose levels or acute complications in which the patient is in danger of entering a state of hypoglycemic shock. Moreover, by more frequently measuring his or her glucose levels, the patient will likely form a better understanding of his body's response to the consumption of varying types of food and of varying degrees of physical exertion. The better the patient understands his body's response characteristics the better he will be able to tailor his eating, exercise and insulin injection or ingestion regime.


A seat cushion inflation system, for periodically shifting the body weight / of a person seated on the cushion. The seat cushion comprises four inflation chambers which are separately inflatable. An inflation cycle is a sequence of inflations and deflations whereby the chambers are inflated alone and in combination with other chambers, and then are deflated, with a time delay between every step.

The invention relates to a multiple chamber sequential inflation seat cushion. More particularly, the invention relates to a seat cushion having multiple inflatable chambers, which are selectively inflated and deflated sequentially in a predetermined order.
Even the most comfortable chair can become uncomfortable if one sits in it long enough. The pressure of the chair upon the buttocks and upper thighs has a tendency to cut-off circulation and cause discomfort.
When most people become uncomfortable from sitting too long, they will stand up, and allow the blood to circulate in their upper thighs and buttocks. Many people, such as those suffering from disabilities, do not have the ability to get out of their chair. In particular, people bound to wheelchairs and the like are forced to deal with the daily discomfort caused by prolonged sitting.
Several devices have been proposed which seek to deal with the discomfort associated with prolonged sitting by providing inflatable areas within the seat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,425 to Noble discloses an automotive seat which contains a plurality of inflation chambers which are sequentially inflated from the front of the seat toward the back. U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,471 to Holdredge discloses a pneumatic wheelchair cushion which has a plurality of air sacks which are sequentially deflated for a preferred period of twelve seconds per minute by a rotating air distributor.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.

Multiple chamber sequential inflation seat cushion


A video signal processing circuit includes a level shifter for shifting the dc level of an input luminance signal; a gain adjuster for increasing the gain for the luminance signal when the luminance signal has a low luminance level and for decreasing the gain for the luminance signal when the luminance signal has a high luminance level; and a shifting amount setting unit for setting the amount for shifting the dc level on the basis of the frequency distribution of the luminance signal and the rate of modulation of the luminance signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a video signal processing circuit and, more particularly, to a video signal processing circuit for extending the dynamic range of a video signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Video signal processing circuits configured to shift the dc level of a luminance signal in order to increase the dynamic range are known. One of such video signal processing circuits is shown in FIG. 1 in which a luminance signal Ys enters through a video input terminal 51, and it is supplied to a dc shifting circuit 52 and a comparator 53. The input luminance signal Ys is compared with a predetermined reference level (hereafter referred to as ref) in the comparator 53. An output signal from the comparator 53 is integrated in a one-field integrating circuit 54 and then supplied to a microcomputer 55. The microcomputer 55 computes an amount of shifting the dc level corresponding to the signal supplied from the one-field integrating circuit 54, and supplies the result of the computation to the dc shifting circuit 52.
When the component of the luminance signal Ys is determined to be higher than the reference level ref in the comparator 53, the integral output from the one-field integrating circuit 54 is lowered. On the basis of this output, the dc level shifting amount to be supplied to the dc shifting circuit 52 from the microcomputer 55 is increased. When the component of the luminance signal Ys is determined to be higher than the reference level ref, the integral output from the one-field integrating circuit 54 is increased. On the basis of this output, the dc shifting amount to be supplied to the dc shifting circuit 52 from the microcomputer 55 is decreased. The luminance signal corrected in dc level by the dc shifting circuit 52 undergoes gamma correction by a gamma correcting circuit 56, and it is then output from a video output terminal 57. For the aforementioned circuit arrangement, a gamma correcting circuit which supplies a high gain when the level of the luminance signal Ys is low can be positively used.
FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B show relations between the luminance signal Ys as an input signal to the above-mentioned video signal processing circuit and a luminance signal Ys1 as an output signal. In each of FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B, the ordinate refers to the level of the luminance signal, and the abscissa to time.
As shown in FIG. 2A, by shifting the dc level of the luminance signal Ys having a high frequency only in a portion where the luminance level is high, the luminance signal Ys1 shown in FIG. 2B is obtained In FIG. 2B, the high frequency component in the luminance signal Ys1 is shifted in dc level, and undergoes gamma correction by the gamma correcting circuit 56. As a result, a signal having a high contrast is output from the video output terminal 57. At the same time, a dc component included in the luminance signal Ys is also dc-shifted together with the high frequency component. Therefore, the luminance signal is lowered to the black level shown by a broken line. As a result, the luminance level of the luminance signal in the dc component becomes the black level, and the signal is output as indicating "black" from the video output terminal 57. Therefore, when the signal is actually reproduced on a monitor, the entirety of the monitor becomes dark.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, by shifting the dc level of the luminance signal Ys having a high frequency only in a portion where the luminance level is low, the luminance signal Ys1 as shown in FIG. 3B is obtained. In FIG. 3B, the high frequency component in the luminance signal Ys1 is shifted in dc level, and undergoes gamma correction by the gamma correcting circuit 56. As a result, a signal of a high contrast is output from the video output terminal 57. Consequently, part of the high frequency component overlaps the black level shown by a broken line; however, when it is actually reproduced on a monitor, it does not matter from the visual viewpoint.
If such dc shifting is executed when the video signal shown in FIG. 2A is input, the signal having a low luminance level is lowered to the black level at the same time when the dynamic range of the high frequency component is extended. As a result, it is possible that the entirety of the monitor becomes dark. Therefore, the dc shifting amount for the luminance signal Ys is normally limited small. Although the modulated component in the luminance signal Ys1 shown in FIG. 3B should have a wider dynamic range, the dc shifting amount is maintained small in the prior art video signal processing circuit. Therefore, when the luminance signal shown in FIG. 3A is input, a sufficiently large dynamic range cannot be obtained.

Apparatus for shifting the DC level of a luminance signal based on frequency distribution and rate of modulation


A method for searching a document collection includes providing an index of terms indicating the documents in which the terms appear. A first statistical distribution of each of at least some of the terms in the index and a second statistical distribution of each of at least some of the categories are estimated a over the documents in the collection. A query including one or more of the terms and a category restriction referring to at least one of the categories is accepted. A modified term distribution is produced by operating on the first statistical distribution of at least one of the terms in the query using the second statistical distribution, responsively to the category restriction. The query is applied to the index to return a response, in which occurrences of the at least one of the terms are scored responsively to the modified term distribution.

Text retrieval engines (TREs), or search engines, are used in a variety of web, intranet and desktop applications. In a typical information retrieval (IR) application, each document in a document collection is described by a set of representative keywords or phrases called "index terms." The TRE searches the documents in the collection in response to a user query that comprises one or more of the index terms. The TRE typically returns a list of documents that best match the user query.
Most advanced information retrieval applications create an index of the documents in the collection that is to be searched. An example of such a system is the Guru search engine, which is described by Maarek and Smadja in "Full Text Indexing Based on Lexical Relations, an Application: Software Libraries," Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, 1989, pages 198-206, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The index typically contains, for each document, a set of index terms that appear in the document with a score assigned to each index term. A typical scoring model used in many information retrieval systems is the TF-IDF formula, described by Salton and McGill in "An Introduction to Modern Information Retrieval," McGraw-Hill, 1983, chapter 3, pages 52-63, which is incorporated herein by reference. The score of term T for document D depends on the term frequency of T in D (denoted TF), the length of document D, and the inverse of the number of documents containing term T in the collection (inverse document frequency, denoted IDF).
Document scores are typically used to rank the search results provided by the TRE in terms of their relevance to the query terms. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0002973 A1, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for automatically ranking database records by relevance to a given query. A similarity function is derived from data in the database and/or queries in a workload. The similarity function is then applied to a given query and used to rank the records.
In many information retrieval applications, documents are associated with one or more categories. The user query may request that the search be limited to one category or a combination of such categories. This search mode is referred to as "category-based search." For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0195877 A1, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a search engine that displays the results of a multiple-category search according to levels of relevance of the categories to a user search query.
Several publications propose methods for performing category-based searches. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,260, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes an information retrieval system that analyzes a user query and presents a "hit list" of documents to the user. The presented hit list displays an overall rank of a document and the contribution of each query element to the overall rank. The user can then reorder the hit list by prioritizing the contribution of individual query elements to override the overall rank, and by assigning additional weights to those contributions.
Another approach for category-based searching is described by Glover et al. in "Improving Category Specific Web Search by Learning Query Modifications," IEEE Symposium on Applications and the Internet (SAINT 2001), San Diego, Calif., January 2001, pages 23-31, which is incorporated herein by reference. The authors describe a system that recognizes web pages of a specific category. The system learns modifications to queries that bias results toward documents in that category. Extra words or phrases are added to a user query in order to increase the likelihood that results of the desired category are ranked near the top.
In some applications, a document collection is divided into several sub-collections, and a search is defined over several such sub-collections. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,795,820, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a meta-search method conducted across multiple document collections. A multi-phase approach is employed, in which local and global statistics are dynamically exchanged between local search engines and the meta-search engine in response to a user query. The meta-search engine merges results from the individual search engines, to produce a single list of ranked results for the user.

Term-statistics modification for category-based search


Fluid dispensing apparatus comprising:. (a) an atomizer unit (11) for fluid to be dispensed, PA0 (b) a non-pressurized remote reservoir (15) for the fluid, and PA0 (c) a fluid path, including a flexible conduit (13), between the atomizer unit (11) and the remote reservoir (15) to permit dispensing of non-gas-pressurized fluid in atomised form across a variety of locations remote from said reservoir (15).

This invention relates to fluid dispensing apparatus.
It has long been known to provide fluid dispensing apparatus comprising an atomiser unit mounted on a container to dispense fluid in atomised form from the container, the container holding all of the fluid to be dispensed and being wholly portable and unattached. However, there is a physical size limitation upon the container to ensure ease of portability, and thus the cost of the atomiser unit is a significant proportion of the overall apparatus cost. Furthermore, where the portable apparatus is for public use, e.g. in public wash rooms and the like, it is readily susceptible to unauthorised removal from its use location.
It is considered desirable to provide fluid dispensing apparatus which can minimise or overcome the abovementioned and/or other drawbacks of the prior art.


A medical glove or dressing for covering a wound, lesion, burn or similar injury to the hand is disclosed. The glove comprises a back portion, a palm portion and thumb and finger portions with adjustable opening and closure means for easy insertion of the hand and adjustable fitting of the glove without further trauma to the hand. The glove further comprises a material having at least three layers comprising: (a) a first inside layer which comprises a porous polyethylene film which enables moisture to be wicked away from the hand; (b) a second middle layer comprising an absorbent material for absorbing the moisture from the first layer; and (c) a third outer layer comprising a flexible, water-proof breathable material.

Patients having wounds, lesions, burns or other similar trauma or injury to the hands require special treatment to preserve the function of the hand while promoting healing of the injury. According to Smith et al., Burns 14, (5): 405-408, (1988), six principles have been formulated for the care of burned hands to achieve the return of optimal function, including: (1) to do no harm; (2) to maintain vascularity; (3) to prevent infection; (4) to obtain wound closure; (5) to preserve and regain motion; and (6) to obtain optimal functional rehabilitation.
While various materials and methods of manufacturing gloves are known in the art, these materials and methods are not generally applicable to medical gloves used to cover an injured hand. For example, in one method, gloves are made by cutting two complimentary, flat, top and bottom hand-shaped sections and sewing them together around the perimeter, leaving an opening at the wrist end. One problem with using this type of glove to cover an injured hand is that the glove does not provide for an easy and comfortable insertion or removal of the hand. Further, gloves of this instruction do not allow comfortable movement of the injured hand, which could be harmful to return of optimal hand function.
Prior art medical gloves or hand dressings have attempted to avoid the above-described problems by enlarging the overall size of the glove so that the opening is wide enough to insert the hand and provide a loose fit. However, one problem with such an over-sized glove construction is that the loose fit causes the glove or dressing to slip off the hand. Also, the over-sized glove construction may cause loss of hand coordination and manipulation skills. For example, the excess material of an over-sized glove may make it difficult to handle small objects such as writing instruments or eating utensils.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a medical glove for covering or dressing hands having wounds, lesions, burns or similar injuries, which facilitates easy insertion and removal of the hand and a comfortable fit, while still enabling a simple glove construction. It is another object to provide a medical glove or dressing which provides optimal hand coordination and manipulation functions and return of optimal hand function to a burn or other trauma patient. It is a further object to provide a medical glove made from a unique material which facilitates healing of the injured hand.


An automatic system for removing tea from a teapot is disclosed. The present invention incorporates the use of a timing mechanism, a release mechanism and an infuser mechanism to automatically remove the tea from hot water. The timing mechanism is user set and controls the length of time the tea is steeped in hot water. The infuser mechanism comprises a filter element that holds the tea in contact with the hot water and a counterbalance that rotates the filter element out of the water when released and the release mechanism that releases the infuser mechanism when the time has expired.

The present invention generally relates to the field of adding flavor to a liquid, and more particularly to a device that controls the steeping time for brewing tea. The strength and flavor tea imparts to a liquid is controlled, in part, by the length of time the tea is steeped in water. Failure to remove the tea in time may result in a disagreeable taste. Conventional teapots normally require intervention by the user to control the steepage time. The invention at hand, however, uses an infuser mechanism coupled with a timer mechanism and a release mechanism to automatically remove the tea from the water without intervention by the user.