A multimedia communication apparatus so adapted that when the transmission speed of video information on a communication line is inadequate, transmission of the video information is suspended and notification is given of the fact that suspension of transmission is in effect. When communication is on hold, only prescribed media information is transmitted and needless connections are cancelled. In response to a designation releasing the apparatus from the holding state, the connection state which prevailed prior to hold is promptly restored and communication is resumed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a multimedia communication apparatus, which is typified by an AV (audio-visual) communication apparatus such as a visual telephone or television conference system, that is capable of multiplexed intercommunication of such multimedia information as audio information, video information and code-data information.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Communication services using ISDN lines have recently started to be put into practical use, and AV (audio-visual) services such as visual telephones and television conference systems employing such digital lines have become the focus of much interest. Service stipulations, protocol stipulations, and multimedia multiplexed-frame structure stipulations for AV services have been announced as CCITT recommendations and recommendation drafts H.320, H.242, H.221.
In H.221, the frame structure in AV services on a 64.about.1920 kbps channel is stipulated.
FIG. 1 illustrates the H.221 frame structure on the B channel of an ISDN, in which the horizontal axis indicates the bit number and the longitudinal axis the octet number. Eighty octets construct one frame. Control of frame alignment and multiframe alignment, monitoring of communication quality and control of alarm information notification are performed by a FAS (frame alignment signal) shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 illustrates the bit assignment in one multiframe, which is equal to eight sub-multiframes, of the FAS (one sub-multiframe=two frames).
In FIG. 3, designation of the capability of a terminal and the bit allocation for every medium in an actual frame, as well as various other types of control and notification operations are performed by a BAS (bit allocation signal). As shown in FIG. 3, the BAS is transmitted by even-numbered frames. The corresponding error correcting bits are transmitted by odd-numbered frames.
In H.242, communication procedure such as a performance-information exchange sequence and mode changeover sequence using the BAS on the in-channel between AV terminals is stipulated. In H.320, the overall system aspects of AV services are stipulated.
Also, in intercommunication based upon multiconnections utilizing a plurality of B and H channels, frame alignment and multiframe alignment during an additional connection utilizing the FAS, as well as an alignment establishing procedure with respect to a first connection are stipulated.
When multimedia communication of video, audio and data (all user information with the exception of video and audio), etc., is performed in accordance with the above-mentioned recommendations and recommendation drafts, the information transmission speeds of the media are decided as follows: the transmission speed of the audio information is decided by designating the audio operation mode, and the transmission speed of the data information is basically decided by designating the data mode. That which remains, upon subtracting the transmission speeds of the audio information and data information from the capacity of the communication line effective in intercommunication, is the transmission speed of the video information.
Accordingly, the transmission speed of the video information cannot be designated in a definite manner and varies depending upon the designations regarding the other media. Furthermore, in a case where only a very slow speed has been allocated as the transmission speed of the video information, it is recommended that transmission of the video information be halted. However, there are no definite stipulations regarding this.
Nevertheless, in the prior art described above, the result of subtracting the transmission speeds of such media as the audio information and data information from the total transmission speed is merely allocated automatically as the transmission speed of the video information, and therefore a drawback is that the user cannot determine whether the transmission speed of the video information is adequate for transmission of the video information. This may be considered to hold true similarly in a case where the transmission speed allocated to video information becomes inadequate when utilized connections are reduced owing to the occurrence of a connection malfunction at such time that a plurality of channels are being utilized. Though the video codec is capable of sending and receiving video information even at such very low transmission speeds, the video which is monitored takes on a highly unnatural appearance.
For these reasons, consideration has been given to a method in which transmission of the video information is simply turned off when the transmission speed of the video information falls below a stipulated value, as recommended in the above-mentioned recommendation draft of the CCITT. In such a case, however, a disadvantage is that the user cannot recognize that the transmission of the video information has been turned off. A further drawback is that when the transmission of the video information has been turned off, the transmission capacity of the line is wasted.
In a visual telephone wherein intercommunication is performed by multiplexing audio information and video information, etc., using a plurality of connections, the transmission rate allocated to the audio information is not constant owing to times when a hold designation is made. In addition, there are cases where the video information and data information is transmitted on separate connections at the same time that the audio information is transmitted.
Continuing to transmit video, when such transmission on separate connections is maintained when a hold is in effect, is wasteful of the line tariff. Furthermore, with regard also to the holding tone that is transmitted during hold, if, say, 16 kbps has been allocated as the present audio information regardless of the fact that it is unnecessary to transmit media other than the holding tone when hold is in effect, the holding tone will be transmitted in a very low-quality audio band of 16 kbps.

Adaptive switching of multimedia audio and video information in an ISDN line


Islands of barrier layer material of an inkjet printhead are disposed between an ink source and the ink feed channels leading to the ink firing chambers to filter particles in the ink. Dimensions of the ink feed channels and ink ejecting orifices have been reduced in size and the thickness of the barrier layer has been made thinner. The nominal size of the filter pores is less than the barrier layer thickness while the width of the ink feed channels and the bore diameter of the orifices is larger than the barrier layer thickness.

The present invention is generally related to a printhead for an inkjet printer and more particularly related to a printhead employing a particle tolerant ink feed filter of small dimensions to reduce particle blockages while maintaining a high rate of ink filling.
Inkjet printers operate by expelling a small volume of ink through a plurality of small orifices in a surface held in proximity to a medium upon which marks or printing is to be placed. These orifices are arranged in a fashion in the surface such that the expulsion of a drop of ink from a selected number of orifices relative to a particular position of the medium results in the production of a portion of a desired character or image. Controlled repositioning of the orifice-bearing surface or the medium followed by another expulsion of ink drops results in the creation of more segments of the desired character or image. Furthermore, inks of various colors may be coupled to individual arrangements of orifices so that selected firing of the orifices can produce a multicolored image by the inkjet printer.
Several mechanisms have been employed to create the force necessary to expel an ink drop from a printhead, among which are thermal, piezoelectric, and electrostatic mechanisms. While the following explanation is made with reference to the thermal ink expulsion mechanism, the present invention has application for the other ink expulsion mechanisms as well.
Expulsion of the ink drop in a conventional thermal inkjet printer is a result of rapid thermal heating of the ink to a temperature which exceeds the boiling point of the ink solvent to create a vapor phase bubble of ink. Rapid heating of the ink is generally achieved by passing a pulse of electric current through an ink ejector which is an individually addressable heater resistor, typically for 1 to 3 microseconds, and the heat generated thereby is coupled to a small volume of ink held in an enclosed area which is generally referred to as a firing chamber. One of the enclosing walls of the firing chamber is formed by the surface which is penetrated by the plurality of orifices. One of the orifices in this orifice plate is arranged in relation to the heater resistor in a manner which enables ink to be expelled from the orifice. As the ink vapor bubble nucleates at the heater resistor and expands, it displaces a volume of ink which forces an equivalent volume of ink out of the orifice for deposition on the medium. The bubble then collapses and the displaced volume of ink is replenished from a larger ink reservoir by way of an ink feed channel in one of the walls of the firing chamber.
It is desirable to have the ink refill the chamber as quickly as possible, thereby enabling very rapid firing of the orifices of the printhead. Rapid firing of the orifices results in the ability to achieve high-speed printing in an inkjet printer. Before the next firing of the heater resistor, the ink must have sufficient time to refill the chamber so that an undesirable variation in the size of the ink drop will not occur. Thus, one limitation on the speed at which printing may occur is related to the speed at which the firing chamber is refilled.
A problem that occasionally manifests itself in inkjet printheads is that of blockage occurring in an ink feed channel or in the orifice of the printhead. Microscopic particles can become lodged in the channel leading to the ink firing chamber thereby causing premature failure of the heater resistor, misdirection of ink drops, or diminished ink supply to the firing chamber resulting in greatly diminished ink drop size. A single orifice which does not fire an ink drop when it is commanded to do so leaves a missing portion from a printed character or creates a band of missing drops from a printed image. The end result is perceived as a poorer quality of printed matter, a highly undesirable characteristic for an inkjet printer. To resolve this undesirable result, others have suggested using spare or redundant orifices to eject ink in place of defective ink ejectors (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,963,882 and 5,640,183) or multiple inlets to the ink firing chamber.
Ink for inkjet printing is conventionally stored in a reservoir associated with the printhead mechanism. The apparatus for storing ink, such as a porous foam material or a sealed container, is known to shed particles, which can plug ink feed channels or ejection orifices. It has been observed that many of the particles are elongate, fibrous particles which are undesired products of the manufacturing process. The fibrous particles occasionally disengage from the ink containment apparatus and are carried by the ink to the printhead despite special cleaning processes and ink filtering which occurs prior to the ink entering the printhead (such as that described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,771,295 and 5,025,271). The filtering of elongate particles has been addressed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/500,796, "Particle Tolerant Inkjet Printhead Architecture", filed on behalf of Timothy Weber et al. on Jul. 11, 1995, in which a plurality of outer barrier islands prevent elongate particles from reaching the ink feed channels or the ink firing chamber. Ink filtering has also been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,413 in which a plurality of pillars is arranged between the ink reservoir and the firing chamber, each pillar associated with the entrance to a firing chamber. The pillars are spaced apart by a distance less than or equal to the smallest dimension of the system, and are placed as close as possible to a common ink source to prevent particles from entering the firing chamber. The smallest dimension of the system is likely to be either the orifice bore diameter or the width of the passageway connecting the source of ink to the firing chamber.
As the dimensions of the orifices, firing chambers, and ink feed channels are reduced in order to provide improved printing characteristics, the size of the particles which, because of their small size, have passed through the ink feed channels and have been expelled from the orifices of previous designs, can now clog the printhead. In a design which employs orifices or ink feed channels having dimensions smaller than 20 .mu.m, particles and contaminants such as skin cells become candidates for lodging in the ink feed channel or orifice. Furthermore, particles such as skin and other biological cells are not rigid and therefore can deform and pass through a filter having a pore size equal to the smallest dimension in the printhead. Previous attempts to control and filter particles, while well suited for larger particles, do not solve the problem of clogging of the smaller passageways by the smaller particles.


A digital signal processing circuit includes a chain of processing units having a selectable number of taps and a tap selection circuit. The tap selection circuit is coupled to the chain of processing units to establish the number of taps of the chains.

The invention generally relates to a discrete filter.
Electronic filters may be used in a wide range of applications. As examples, filters may be used in digital imaging applications to filter out noise, and filters may be used in wireless communication applications to reduce inter-symbol interference and aliasing effects. One general type of filter is a discrete, or digital filter, that may form the basis of most digital signal processing (DSP) operations.
The digital filter may be a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, a filter in which the impulse response of the filter is zero outside of a predefined interval; or an infinite impulse response filter (IIR), a filter in which the impulse response of the filter does not fall to zero outside of a predefined interval. As an example, the FIR filter receives indications of sampled values (called x( )) of an input signal to produce digitized values (called y(i)) of the filtered output signal, as described by the following equation:
                                          y                                      (              i              )                                =                                                    ∑                                  j                  =                                      -                    N                                                  N                                                                            C                                                        (                    j                    )                                                  ·                                  x                                                        (                                          i                      +                      j                                        )                                                                        =                                                            C                                                        (                    0                    )                                                  ·                                  x                                                        (                    i                    )                                                              +                                                ∑                                      i                    =                    1                                    N                                                                  {                                                                                C                                                                          (                          j                          )                                                                    ·                                              x                                                                          (                                                      i                            +                            j                                                    )                                                                                +                                                                  C                                                                          (                                                      -                            j                                                    )                                                                    ·                                              x                                                                          (                                                      i                            -                            j                                                    )                                                                                }                                                                    ,                            Eq        .                                                    (          1          )                    where "C(j)" represents a particular filter coefficient and "j" denotes the index value used in the summation. The number of coefficients (2N+1) in Eq. 1 equals the number of taps of the filter. The filter may be further classified as being symmetric or asymmetric. For a symmetric filter, the C(j) coefficients are symmetric about j=0. Thus, C(−n)=C(n) for a symmetric filter. Otherwise, the filter is asymmetric.
A conventional filter may use a general purpose DSP processor to perform the summation described by Eq. 1 to derive each y(i) value. In this manner, the DSP processor may include a multiplier-accumulator (MAC) unit that uses a multiple number of processing clock cycles (one for each multiplication, for example) to derive each y(i) value. Unfortunately, the processing time of this arrangement may be too long for some applications. Alternatively, an arrangement called a tapped delay line may be used to produce the y(i) values. The tapped delay line includes serially coupled processing stages, and each processing stage is associated with one of the C(j) coefficients. Unfortunately, a conventional tapped delay line is specifically designed for a specific number of taps, a feature that limits the number of filter designs that may use this delay line. Furthermore, due to its size, the tapped delay line may occupy a large semiconductor area and may consume a considerable amount of power.
Thus, there is a continuing need for an arrangement that addresses one or more of the problems that are stated above.

Discrete filter having a tap selection circuit


A slider for a slide fastener comprises: a slide body (1) including an upper wing (15) and a pull tab (2) having a pintle (6); the slider body (1) comprising: a pull-tab-attaching yoke (18) mounted on the upper wing (15) in cantilevered manner, having an indentation (46) formed therein for receiving the pintle (6) directly or indirectly, and defining with the upper wing (15) a gap (47); and a closing member (20) movably mounted on the slider body (1) so as to close and open the gap (47). The pull tab (2) further includes a pull tab body (4) and a pair of opposed protuberant walls (5) provided on the lower side of the pull tab body (4). The pintle (6) extends between the opposed protuberant walls (5) to connect them. At least one of the ends of the opposed protuberant walls (5) is open to provide an open space (7).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a slide fastener to be attached to an opening formed in an article such as clothing or bags, and particularly to a slider for such a slide fastener wherein a decorative-button type pull tab is to be attached to the slider body after the slide fastener has gone or has been shipped from a factory in case that an aesthetic effect must be respected.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there has been known a decorative slide fastener slider equipped with a pull tab having a decorative gripping portion. For example, a decorative slider 100 of this type is shown in French Patent No. 2248801 and reproduced in FIG. 10 of the drawings appended hereto for convenience's sake. The decorative slider 100 is comprised of a slider body 102 and a pull tab 104 attached to the slider body 102. The pull tab 104 includes a pull tab base 106 and a declarative plate 108 attached to the upper surface of the pull tab base 106. The pull tab base 106 has a pair of opposed leg portions 110 formed on the lower surface thereof. The opposed leg portions 110 have two engaging portions 112 provided on the respective lower ends so as to project inwards therefrom. The slider body 102 has a pull-tab attaching lug 114 provided on the upper surface thereof. The pull tab base 106 is pressed against the pull-tab attaching lug 114 with their opposed leg portions 110 clamping the lug 114, so that the engaging portions 112 of the pull tab base 106 come into snapping engagement with the attaching lug 114.
There has been known in this field an automatic locking slide fastener slider equipped with a pull tab having a decorative gripping portion. "Automatic locking slider" means a slider having an automatic locking mechanism. One example of an automatic locking type slide fastener slider 200 with a decorative pull tab is shown in German Utility Model Registration No. 20119606 and also reproduced in FIG. 11 of the drawings appended hereto. The automatic locking type slider 200 is assembled as follows: A plate spring 202 and then a locking member 204 is inserted into a cap 206. Then, a rectangular retaining link 208 clamps the thus connected cap 206 and locking member 204 with the upper crossbeam 209 of the rectangular retaining link 208 lying on the upper surface of the cap 206. Then, the cap 206 is mounted to the upper surface of the slider body 210. Then, a grip portion 220 covers the cap 206, with a retaining groove 222 formed in the inner surfaces of the housing portion 224 of the grip portion 220 fit into the upper crossbeam 209 of the rectangular retaining link 208, so that the grip portion 220 is joined with the slider body 210.
In the decorative slider 100 illustrated in FIG. 10, it is a mere snap-engaging mechanism that functions to attach the pull tab base 106 to the slider body 102.
Therefore, if stresses are exerted tending to pull the pull tab base 106 upwardly, the pull tab base 106 is liable to be dislodged from the attaching lug 114 of the slider body 102 very easily. This disadvantageously prevents the user from freely operating the pull tab base 106.
In the decorative slider 200 with an automatic locking mechanism illustrated in FIG. 11, the grip portion 220 and the rectangular retaining link 208 must be formed as separate parts since this is so required by the construction of the slider. This renders the assemblage of the slider 200 as a whole tedious and increases the manufacturing cost. Once the automatic locking type slider 200 has been assembled, it is impossible to replace the grip portion 220 even if the user desires to replace it.
In view of the problems mentioned above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic locking type slider or a locking-mechanism-free slider (hereinafter referred to "free slider"), wherein a pull tab can be attached to the slider body even after the slide fastener has gone or been shipped from a factory, a pull tab body in the form of a decorative button can be attached to a slider body at great ease, and wherein furthermore, if the wearer desires to replace the pull tab body, the pull tab body can be replaced freely.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a slide fastener slider wherein a pull tab body can be installed on the slider body in a well-guided stable manner; and particularly, in case of an automatic locking slider, the pull tab body can be firmly held down on the slider body by a locking member, so that the pull tab can be retained on the slider body in stable manner.


A pump or compressor wherein the volumetric displacement of a piston cylinder assembly is variable. The piston is connected to a crank slider or eccentric mechanical drive, the crankshaft of which oscillates alternately clockwise through a controllably variable angle .theta. and counterclockwise through substantially the same angle .theta., the angle .theta. being measured from the angular position of the crankshaft or eccentric at which separation between piston and the closed end of the bore is a minimum (Top Dead Center). The angle of crank oscillation controls the degree of volumetric displacement of the piston. The crank shaft is connected to a torsional spring so as to substantially resonate the rotational inertia of the moving parts. An oscillating electric motor supplies the oscillating torque to drive the mechanism at constant frequency but controllably variable angular amplitude.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method to control the capacity of a reciprocating type pump generally and preferably or most usefully a compressor. By controlling the volumetric capacity of the pump, the mass through-put is controlled. In the case of a Rankine cycle machine, the current invention together with standard suction or discharge control, would provide a direct means to control the heat pumping capacity of the cycle without compromising efficiency.
2. Description Of The Related Art
According to the 1996 ASHRAE Handbook "Systems and Equipment Handbook (SI)", page 34.8, capacity control may be obtained by one or more of the following:
(1) controlling suction pressure by throttling; PA1 (2) controlling discharge pressure; PA1 (3) returning discharge gas to suction; PA1 (4) adding re-expansion volume; PA1 (5) changing the stroke; PA1 (6) opening a cylinder discharge port to suction while closing the port to discharge manifold; PA1 (7) changing compressor speed; PA1 (8) closing off cylinder inlet, and PA1 (9) holding the suction valve open. PA1 Continuous adjustment to load PA1 Full-load efficiency unaffected by the control PA1 No loss in efficiency at part load PA1 Reduction of starting torque PA1 No reduction in compressor reliability PA1 No reduction in compressor operating range PA1 No increase in compressor vibration and sound level at part load
The ASHRAE handbook states that the most commonly used methods are the opening of the suction valves by some external force, gas bypassing within the compressor, and gas bypassing outside the compressor. Most of these techniques seriously compromise the compressor efficiency. Changing compressor speed does not directly compromise efficiency but does have the practical problem of exciting various structural resonances as the speed changes. Stroke variation is another technique that avoids efficiency penalties provided that the top dead center (TDC) clearance volume is minimized. One means of achieving stroke control is to connect the piston directly to a linear motor plunger. In this case the piston position is free, that is, it is not fixed by the kinematic geometry of the machine. Capacity control is achieved directly since the linear motor plunger amplitude is controllable. This configuration is generally referred to as the "Linear Compressor". The major difficulty with the linear compressor is the control of the approach clearance between the piston and the valve plate at TDC. In order to achieve high efficiencies, the clearance needs to be as small as possible. Even a momentary loss of control could result in the piston colliding with the valve plate resulting in catastrophic damage. Linear compressor design generally compromises efficiency by increasing the TDC clearance so as to minimize collision problems.
An alternative method of capacity control employed by linear compressors is to vary the dead space at TDC. This technique is referred to as adding re-expansion volume. In this case efficiency is directly compromised by introducing severe irreversibilities associated with hysteresis losses.
According to the 1996 ASHRAE Handbook "Systems and Equipment Handbook (SI)", page 34.8, an ideal capacity control system would have the following operating characteristics:
The object of the present invention is to meet all of the ideal characteristics in a simple direct manner.

Angularly oscillating, variable displacement compressor


A cellular telephone case has front and back panels. A cellular telephone is coupled to the case by pushing the telephone into the case such that the main dock connector of the telephone engages a plug on the back panel. When the telephone is in this position, a back surface of the telephone is held in place on an inside surface of the back panel. The front panel is hinged so that it folds over and covers the telephone. In this folded position, the upward and outward facing outside surface of the front panel includes an E-ink display, a plurality of photovoltaic cells for charging a rechargeable battery of the case, and several buttons. Image information from the telephone is transferred to the case through the dock connector, and then viewed on the display using energy stored in the battery, even after the telephone has been decoupled from the case.

There exists a substantial number of commercially available cellular telephone cases that provide low-power electrophoretic displays (referred to as E-ink or E-paper displays). All of these devices, however, are functionally and operatively deficient in a certain way. For example, a device known as a Popslate snaps onto the back of a cellular telephone, and provides an E-ink display on the bottom side of the assembly. There are also flip-style folding cellular telephone cases that provide E-ink displays on the front face sides of cases. For example, the so-called InkCase available from Oaxis has an E-ink display on the front face side of a folding cellular telephone case. A RF wireless communication link is provided to communicate between the cellular telephone and the device. A flip-style case for the Alcatel OneTouchHero cellular telephone is similar in this way. So-called "snap-fit hard back" shell cases carrying solar cells for charging the cellular telephone's batteries are available on the market where the dock connector of the cellular telephone mates with a plug on the charging snap-fit case. The so-called Solar Case available from Ascent Solar's is an example of such a hard back shell case for an Apple iPhone. There are also other types of flip-style cases. A flip-style case known as the CoverReader, and available from PocketBook, mates with the dock connector of a cellular telephone in similar fashion to the Solar Case when the cellular telephone is snapped in place in the case, but the CoverReader provides an E-ink display on the inside panel of the folding cover of the case. In similar fashion, a flip-style case is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,760,405, where solar cells are provided on the outside front face side of the folding cover of the case. An improved and different cellular telephone case that has additional functionality is desired.

Photovoltaic cell and E-ink display on the front side of a cell phone case


A spreader (1) for lifting a freight container (7, 17) comprises a frame (3, 4, 11) and two pairs of pickup elements (5). Each pair of pickup elements (5) are mounted at opposite ends of the frame (3, 4, 11) and the frame (3, 4, 11) is adjustable to adjust the separation of the two pairs of pickup elements (5). A detector (8) is movably mounted on the frame (3, 4, 11) for movement between a first position in which the detector (8) is closer to one pair of pickup elements (5) and a second position in which the detector (8) is closer to the other pair of pickup elements (5). The detector is adapted to detect a discontinuity in an object (7, 17) located below the spreader (1).

The invention relates to a spreader for lifting a freight container.
Freight containers are normally moved using large metal frames known as spreaders which engage with the top of the container at the four corners to lift the container. Generally, spreaders which are capable of lifting a single container are adjustable so that they can pick up any size of container from 20 foot to 45 foot.
However, an operator, who will normally be located in a cabin up to 60 to 80 foot above the container to be lifted, may mistake two 20 foot containers which are located in end to end relationship for a single 40 foot container, especially if both the 20 foot containers are the same colour. If the operator then attempts to pick up the two 20 foot containers as a single 40 foot container, the twistlock elements of the spreader will be engaged with only two of the twistlock apertures of each container.
Therefore, when the operator lifts the spreader, as the adjacent ends of the two 20 foot containers are not supported, the containers will fall off the spreader damaging the spreader and also probably causing damage to any containers located below the containers being lifted and the contents of the containers. If the containers are fall over a ship, the failing containers can also cause structural damage to the ship. In addition, there is also a serious risk that any personnel in the vicinity of the containers will be injured by the falling containers or by other containers moved by the falling containers. As the total weight of a 20 foot container, including the contents, can be greater than 20 tons, this is a serious safety concern.


A communication device (200) has a controller (180) that has a maximum speed information requesting section adapted to transmit a maximum speed information requesting command at the minimum one of the stepwise differentiated transmission speeds, requesting transmission in return of maximum speed information for another communication device, a maximum speed information acquisition section adapted to acquire maximum speed information, a confirmation information transmitting section adapted to transmit confirmation information, switching the transmission speed within a range between the upper limit equal to the maximum transmission speed for the communication device (200) or that for the another communication device, whichever lower, and the lower limit equal to the transmission speed higher than the minimum transmission speed by a step and a transmission speed selecting section adapted to select the maximum transmission speed at which it can acquire the reception information from said another communication device as transmission speed for transmitting data to said another communication device for data communication.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of transmission speed for sending/receiving data by way of a network. More particularly, it relates to the technical field of selecting a transmission speed for a serial transmission system conforming to the IEEE1394 Standard.
2. Description of Related Art
The significance of technologies conforming to IEEE1394 Standard (formal nomenclature, "IEEE Std. 1394-1995 IEEE Standard for a High Performance Serial Bus) has remarkably increased in recent years because of the effectiveness for transferring digital data on the background of the rapid expansion of digital contents and the trend of digitization package mediums.
Generally, IEEE1394 Standard is suited for transferring AV digital data including audio data and video data.
According to IEEE1394 Standard, a plurality of communication devices (to be referred to simply as nodes hereinafter) are connected to each other by way of a serial bus that operates as network and data for a plurality of channels between nodes (the standard provides that maximally sixty three different channels can be used for data transmission within a system using a single serial bus for interconnection) are transmitted on a time division basis. Additionally, the standard provides high-speed serial transmission of data at a transmission speed of 100 Mbps (bits per second (to be referred to as S100 hereinafter)), 200 Mbps (to be referred to as S200 hereinafter) or 400 Mbps (to be referred to as S400 hereinafter).
IEEE1394 Standard also provides that, when a new node is connected to a group of nodes that are already interconnected by a serial bus (at the time of bus connection) or when a node is removed from a group of nodes that are interconnected by a serial bus (at the time of bus release), initialization of the serial bus (so-called bus reset) is carried out. Once the bus is reset, predetermined processing operations are performed as described in greater detail hereinafter and a new connection mode (to be referred to as topology hereinafter) is defined for the serial bus to improve the degree of freedom of connection and hence that of convenience on the part of system users.
IEEE1394 Standard also defines two data transmission modes including an asynchronous transfer mode and an isochronous transfer mode.
The asynchronous transfer mode guarantees that packets are reliably transmitted to the target node. In an asynchronous transfer mode, the sender node transmits packets containing header information and actual data to the target node. As the target node receives the packets, it typically transmits an acknowledge packet that contains a message that the target node recognizes reception of the packets (reception information) back to the sender node. Thus, the sender node that has transmitted the packets confirms that the target node has received the transmitted packets when it receives the acknowledge packet.
In the isochronous transfer mode, a data communication takes place in synchronism with transmission of a cycle start packet by a sole cycle master node that exists on the bus and the transmission is repeated at regular intervals (125 μsec). In the isochronous transfer mode, instead of transmitting packets to a particular target node, packets (the below-described isochronous packets) are transmitted to the entire bus by way of one of a plurality of channels. Unlike in the asynchronous transfer mode, the target node does not transmit an acknowledge packet to the sender node when it receives the packets transmitted from the sender node.
Conventionally, according to IEEE1394 Standard, the maximum transmission speed for transmitting packets in an asynchronous transfer mode (to be referred to as asynchronous packets hereinafter) or in an isochronous transfer mode (to be referred to as isochronous packets hereinafter) between a node trying to transfer data (to be referred to as self node hereinafter) and a node that receives the data (to be referred to as target node hereinafter) needs to be determined by following the procedure of (1) recognizing the topologies of each and every node of the transmission path (to be referred to as each and every path node hereinafter) and acquiring the transmission speed corresponding to the physical layer (physical layer chip) of each and every path node (to be referred to as PHY SPEED hereinafter), (2) acquiring the transmission speed corresponding to the link layer (link layer chip) of the target node (to be referred to as LINK SPEED hereinafter) and (3) performing a topological analysis.
(1) Acquisition of PHY SPEED at the Physical Layer of Each and Every Path Node
The self identifying information (to be referred to as self-ID packet hereinafter) transmitted from each and every path node after a bus reset is acquired for the purpose of acquiring the PHY SPEED of the physical layer of each and every path node.
Self-ID packets in each node are transmitted in the following manner.
When a bus reset takes place, firstly a processing operation for recognizing all the topologies of the connected nodes (tree identification) is performed. In this operation, a single node is eventually selected as root node by determining the orientation of each and every connected port toward a root node.
Then, a processing operation for self identification of each node is performed. In this operation, each node acquires information for self identification (physical layer ID) that is unique on the bus and necessary for identification and transmits a self-ID packet that is necessary for bus management and contains the physical layer ID and information on the transmission speed corresponding to the self node.
Each and every path node acquires the self-ID packets transmitted from the other nodes. In this way, it is possible to acquire information on the transmission speed of each and every path node.
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the configuration of a self-ID packet 10 that each and every path node transmits. The self-ID packet 10 has a phy ID field 11 describing information necessary for identifying the physical layer of the self node, a sp field 12 describing information on the transmission speed of the physical layer, a p0 field 13, a p1 field 14, and a p2 field 15 (the p0 field 13, the p1 field 14 and the p2 field 15 describing information on the connection status of the self node), and a data area 16.
All the other nodes acquire the transmission speed by reading the sp field 12. The sp field 12 currently contains a 2-bit data. For example, "00", "01" and "11" may respectively indicate S100, S200 and S400. The self-ID packet 10 contains other data as well.
(2) Acquisition of LINK SPEED at the Link Layer of the Target Node
Information on various communication requests for data communication (in IEEE1394 Standard, a communication request is defined as transaction, and transmission of communication requests is defined as issuance of a transaction) is transmitted in an asynchronous transfer mode and the transmission speed of the link layer written in the configuration ROM that stores information specific to the device is acquired for the purpose of acquiring the LINK SPEED of the link layer of the target node.
More specifically, the self node issues a transaction and reads 4-Byte data (1 Quadlet) from a bus information block 20 in the configuration ROM of the target node shown in FIG. 2. Then, the self node acquires a link spd field 21, which describes the transmission speed, of the bus information block 20 so as to acquire the transmission speed of the target node.
Note that link spd field 21 also contains a 2-bit data and describes, for example, "00", "01" and "11", which may respectively indicate S100, S200 and S400, as in the case of the sp field 12 of the physical layer. The bus information block 20 also contains a cyc clk acc field 22 that indicates the clock accuracy at the time of synchronous communication, a node vendor ID field 23 that indicates the unique ID of the device, a chip ID field 24 and a data area 25 for other data.
(3) Topological Analysis
In the topological analysis, the maximum transmission speed at which data can be transmitted is determined on the basis of the transmission speed of each and every path node and the transmission speed at which the connected target node can receive signals that are acquired in a manner as described above. In other words, in the topological analysis, it is determined whether other nodes are connected between the self node and the target node or not and the transmission speed is determined on the basis of the topologies of the other nodes.
To determine if other nodes are connected between the self node and the target node, the topology of each of the other nodes is analyzed by referring to the p0 field 13, the p1 field 14 and the p2 field 15 of the self-ID packet 10, which are described above by referring to FIG. 2. For example, the topology of the node is analyzed by finding out if it is "a node connected to the root side", "a node connected to the side opposite to the root side" or "an unconnected node". When other nodes are connected between the self node and the target node, the path down to the target node will be recognized and node information on the other node located on the path will be acquired.
Now, as an example, a conventional process of defining the transmission speed between nodes according to IEEE1394 Standard will be described below.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when a device B exists between a device A trying to transfer data and a device C to which the data will be transferred, and both the PHY SPEED of the physical layer and the LINK SPEED of the link layer of the device A are S400, while the PHY SPEED of the physical layer and the LINK SPEED of the link layer of the device B are respectively S200 and S100 and both the PHY SPEED of the physical layer and the LINK SPEED of the link layer of the device C are S400, then the maximum inter-node transmission speed between the device A and the device B via the link layers thereof is S100 and the maximum inter-node transmission speed between the device A and the device C via the physical layers thereof is S200.
However, with the above described known method of determining the transmission speed according to the IEEE1394 Standard, it is necessary to carry out the operations by the steps of (1) acquire the PHY SPEED of the physical layer of each and every path node, (2) acquire the LINK SPEED of the link layer of the target node (and also that of each and every node on the transfer path) and (3) perform an topological analysis as pointed out above. Then, there arise problems including one that these operations are time consuming.
Another problem that arises is that the topological analysis may be a complex one particularly when a large number of nodes exist on the transfer path and the number of operations needed to be carried out before determining the transmission speed may increase. Then, the efficiency of the processing operations will be worsened.
Additionally, IEEE1394 Standard specifically includes IEEE1394-1995 Standard and IEEE1394a-2000 Standard. The bus information block 20 of a communication device that does not conform to IEEE1394a-2000 does not have a link spd field 21 that describes the transmission speed. Then, the transmission speed of the link layer is not known and there arise problems including one that the transmission speed cannot be determined appropriately.

Communication device, communication system, communication method, communication program and recording medium storing the communication program


A liquid jet apparatus of the invention includes a drive waveform generator that generates a drive waveform signal, a modulator that pulse-modulates the drive waveform signal so as to produce a modulated signal, a digital power amplification circuit that amplifies the power of the modulated signal so as to produce an amplified digital signal, and a low pass filter that smoothes the amplified digital signal so as to produce a drive signal. The digital power amplification circuit includes multiple stages of digital power amplifiers each including a pair of switching elements that are push-pull-connected. The amplified digital signal is a multi-value signal that reaches a larger number of steps of electric potentials than the number of digital power amplifiers.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid jet apparatus that jets a little liquid through multiple nozzles so as to form a minute particle (dot) on a medium, and thus forms a predetermined letter or image, and a printing apparatus to which the liquid jet apparatus is adapted.
2. Related Art
In liquid jet type printing apparatuses to which a liquid jet apparatus is adapted, a drive signal which has the power thereof amplified by a power amplification circuit is applied to actuators such as piezoelectric elements so that liquid will be jetted out through nozzles. If an analog power amplifier including push-pull-connected transistors that are linearly driven is used to amplify the power of the drive signal, a large loss is produced and a large heat sink for heat radiation is needed. According to JP-A-2005-329710, a digital power amplifier is used to amplify the power of the drive signal, whereby the loss is minimized and the necessity of the heat sink is obviated.
As described in JP-A-2005-329710, when the digital power amplifier is used to amplify the power of the drive signal, a frequency component equivalent to a modulated signal that does not have the power thereof amplified has to be removed using a low pass filter. In order to fully remove the modulated-signal frequency component, a low pass filter exhibiting a frequency characteristic that is sharp enough to stably pass a drive waveform signal component and fully remove the modulated-signal frequency component, or in other words, a high-order low pass filter is needed. In this case, a electric potential difference between the terminals of a coil employed in the low pass filter increases, and a loss derived from hysteresis increases.

Liquid jet apparatus and printing apparatus


A method for monitoring fluid levels in a tank. A first step involves modelling the tank to identify fluid zones of fluids having differing densities, the heat retention characteristics of each the fluid zones and the relative relationships between each of the fluid zones. A second step involves obtaining a heat profile of the tank. A third step involves analyzing the heat profile based upon the modelling to generate relative fluid level data for the tank.

Production from an oil well is pumped from the oil well into a production tank. Each production tank may, and usually does, contain varying amounts of six substances: sand, oil, water, oil/water emulsion, foam, and gas. If there is an excessive quantity of any one of these substances, remedial action should be taken. Knowing the over all fluid level in the production tank is not sufficient, as it does not indicate the relative quantities of the substances.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,599 (Feldstein et al.) entitled "Level detector for storage tanks for fluids", discloses a level detector which can detect the difference between a mass of fluid and the void volume above it. The Feldstein et al. level detector operates upon a theory of differential rate of heat transfer. This Feldstein et al. level detector would be effective to indicate total fluid volume, but would not be effective, by itself, in determining the relative quantities of the substances. With oil well production tanks the analysis is further complicated by the presence of a fire tube, which heats the fluids to promote separation and, in doing so, maintains the fluids within a relatively homogeneous temperature profile.

Method for monitoring fluid levels in a tank


A wafer surface inspection method and device including a low angle light receiving system having an elevation angle less than 30.degree. with reference to the wafer surface, and a high angle light receiving system having an elevation angle equal to or larger than 30.degree., scans the wafer with a laser beam, receives scattered light to perform extraneous substance detection in response to the scanning, and detects wafer defects only by the high angle light receiving system, and sticking extraneous substances by either the low angle receiving system or by both the low angle light receiving system and the high angle light receiving system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and device for inspecting a wafer surface and, more specifically, relates to an inspection method and device which distinguishes between extraneous substances sticking on a surface of a silicon wafer and crystal defects existing on the surface thereof.
2. Background Art
A silicon wafer base material for semiconductor ICs is manufactured from a highly purified polycrystalline silicon. Namely, the silicon wafer is manufactured in the following manners in that at first an ingot of a moncrystalline silicon is prepared via a pull-up method, for example the prepared ingot is sliced into thin plates, the surface of the sliced thin plate is polished to a mirror surface, and thereafter extraneous substances sticking on the surface thereof are carefully cleaned off. In spite of such careful cleaning, some sticking extraneous substances may remain on the surface thereof. If many sticking extraneous substances remain on the wafer surface, the quality of ICs produced from the silicon wafer is degraded. For this reason, the surface of the silicon wafer is inspected for remaining sticking extraneous substances and the degree thereof via a surface inspection device.
FIG. 10(a) shows a constitution of a conventional wafer surface inspection device. As illustrated in FIG. 10(a), a the surface inspection device is constituted by, for example a rotatable and movable table 2, an inspection optical system 3 and a data processing unit 4. A silicon wafer (hereinbelow simply called a wafer) 1, which is an object for the inspection, is placed on the rotatable and movable table 2. The inspection optical system arranged above the wafer 1 includes a laser source 31 provided with a laser oscillating tube. The laser beam LT outputted from the laser source 31 is made parallel via a collimator lens 32 and is scanned in the X direction by a vibrating mirror 33. Then, the scanned laser beam is focused by a focusing lens 34 as a laser spot Sp (hereinbelow simply called a spot Sp) and is projected perpendicularly onto the surface of the wafer 1 to scan the wafer in response to the movement of the wafer 1.
The wafer 1 is rotated by the rotatable and movable table 2 as well as moved in the radial direction (X direction). Thereby, the spot Sp scans the surface of the wafer 1 in a spiral manner so that the entire surface of the wafer 1 is scanned. The driving of the rotatable and movable table 2 is controlled via the data processing unit 4 which is explained later.
When an extraneous substance e exists on the surface of the wafer 1 as illustrated in FIG. 10(b), the spot Sp induces scattering light Se in random directions due to the extraneous substance e. A part of the scattering light Se is condensed by a condensing lens 35, the optical axis of which forms a 45.degree. angle with respect to the wafer surface, and is received by a photomultiplier tube (PMT) 36 serving as a photoelectric converter. The incident light into the PMT 36 is converted herein into an electrical signal and the converted received light signal is inputted into an extraneous substance detection circuit 41.
The extraneous substance detection circuit 41 compares the received light signal with a predetermined threshold value V.sub.TH via a differential amplifier of one side amplification, and amplifies the component exceeding the threshold value V.sub.TH. Thereby, a detection signal (analog signal) of which the noise component is removed is input into the data processing unit 4.
The detection signal is converted into a digital value via an A/D converter circuit (A/D) 42b provided in a data processing device 42 and is stored once in a memory 42c via an MPU 42a when the MPU 42a executes a predetermined programs the detection data is processed together with the data of the concerned scanning position (detection position). As a result, the size of the extraneous substance e is judged depending on the detection values Further, the number of the extraneous substances is counted. Still furthers through execution of a predetermined program via the MPU 42a, data of extraneous substances representing the size, number and position of the extraneous substances e are produced and outputted such as to a printer 43 and a display (not shown) to display the conditions of the extraneous substances in a map form. Still furthers the A/D 42b can be provided outside the data processing device 42.
The above mentioned spot Sp has a diameter of about a few .mu.m and is a very intense light, and a condenser lens having a large diameter and a wide condensing angle is used for the condenser lens 35. Furthers the PMT 36 has a large amplification rate and a low noise characteristic. Thereby, even an extraneous substance or a defect having a diameter of about 0.1 .mu.m can be detected.
Further, the scanning by the spot Sp for the wafer 1 can be performed by XY scanning instead of the rotating scanning method.
In connection with a recent improvement of the integration density of ICs and related miniaturization of their wirings, the limit of allowable size of extraneous substances to be detected is further lowered. For this reason, even a defect due to loss of atoms in the silicon atom lattice of the wafer 1 is considered to be a problem which is explained with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.
The wafer is constituted by a single crystal in which a multiplicity of silicon atoms Si are mutually connected in a lattice form. As illustrated in FIG. 11, when silicon atoms Si are oxidized and microscopic oxides thereof are formed on the surface thereof, and if the microscopic oxides are removed by cleaning, a loss of atoms can be induced which causes a crystal defect. Such a crystal defect is called a Crystal Originated Particle (COP), which term is used hereinbelow.
In FIG. 11, a plurality of contigous silicon atoms Si (in the drawing three) are lost. When observing the portion of the water loss via a microscopes the cross section thereof is recessed as illustrated in FIG. 12. Although a variety of diameters .phi. and the depths .delta.z of such recesses can be observed, such recesses show a common characteristic that the depth .delta.z is comparatively small in comparison with the diameter .phi. thereof. For example, where a diameter .phi. is 1.about.2 .mu.m, the depth .delta.z thereof is about 0.05.about.0.1 .mu.m which is about one twentieth of the diameter. The size of a COP defect varies depending on ICs, in that a COP having diameter .phi. of 2 .mu.m is no problem for an IC memory of 16M bits, but is a problem for an IC memory of more than 64M bits.
The number of COPs varies depending on the pull-up speed when manufacturing an ingot of a single crystal silicon and number of cleanings of the wafer. On the other hand, the number of sticking extraneous substances decreases depending on the number of cleanings. Therefore, the pull-up speed and the number of cleanings have to be determined properly. For this reasons it becomes necessary to separately measure the number and size of COPs and sticking extraneous substances.
Therefore, it is demanded to measure the COPs with a wafer surface inspection device and to obtain an evaluation data thereof. However, with the above explained detection optical system 3, sticking extraneous substances as well as COPs are detected at the same time such that separate measurement of the number of both or the number and size of both has not been possible.
With regard to the extraneous substance inspection device, U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,403 entitled "APPARATUS FOR DETECTING EXTRANEOUS SUBSTANCES ON A GLASS PLATE" of the same assignee as the present application discloses two light projecting systems of high and low angles.

Inspection method and device of wafer surface

Hitachi Electronics Engineering, Co., Ltd.


An electrochemical autothermal reformer (EATR) provides hydrogen. The EATR includes an autothermal reformer region, a reformer anode supply region, and a composite membrane layer separating the reformer anode from the autothermal reformer region. The composite membrane layer includes a mechanically stable porous ceramic support member with a thin gas permeable ceramic substrate layer overlaying the support member. Overlaying the substrate layer is a first thin metallic catalyst layer which promotes the dissociation of H.sub.2 to 2H.sup.+ +2e.sup.-. Overlaying the first catalyst layer is a metallic oxide layer capable of conducting 2H.sup.+ +2e.sup.- at elevated temperatures. Overlaying the metallic oxide layer is a second thin metallic catalyst layer which promotes the recombination of 2H.sup.+ +2e.sup.- to H.sub.2.

This invention relates to a reformer that processes a hydrocarbon fuel to separate and provide hydrogen from the hydrocarbon fuel, and in particular, to a composite membrane for an electrochemical autothermal reformer (EATR).
A "reformer" is a known device for converting hydrocarbon fuels to hydrogen, in which a hydrocarbon fuel is mixed with air and with or without steam to convert the mixture to hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water, and impurities. An autothermal reformer uses fuel, air, and steam. Since most known reformers are adversely sensitive to the presence of impurities, impurities such as sulphur are generally removed from the fuel before entering the reformer. An electrochemical autothermal reformer combines the principles of electrochemical hydrogen separation with those of an autothermal reformer. The purpose of the electrochemical autothermal reformer is to effect the removal of hydrogen produced from the reaction zone of the reformer so as to drive the reforming reaction to completion by separating or selectively extracting the hydrogen component from the rest of the product mixture.
For example, the principal reactions in a natural gas or "methane" reformer such as an autothermal reformer are:
______________________________________ CH.sub.4 + H.sub.2 O .fwdarw. CO + 3H.sub.2 Reforming CO + H.sub.2 O .fwdarw. H.sub.2 + CO.sub.2 Shift CH.sub.4 + 2O.sub.2 .fwdarw. CO.sub.2 + 2H.sub.2 O Combustion ______________________________________
In an autothermal reformer, the exothermic combustion reaction is used to drive the endothermic reforming reaction. The shift reaction is mildly exothermic. If hydrogen is abstracted or removed from the reaction zone of the autothermal reformer, then by LeChatelier's principle, the reforming and shift reactions are driven to completion. Accordingly, the fuel processing in an EATR is greatly simplified since shift converters and selective oxidizers are not required downstream from the fuel processor.
Marianowski et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,485) teaches a hydrogen forming process and apparatus wherein one side of a hydrogen ion porous and molecular gas non-porous metallic foil is contacted with mixed gases comprising molecular hydrogen formed by a chemical reaction in a hydrogen production zone. During the reaction, the molecular hydrogen is dissociated and passed as ionic hydrogen to the other side of the metallic foil from which it is withdrawn, thereby removing hydrogen from the hydrogen production zone. The concept of the '485 patent above is restricted to the use of a metal foil as the hydrogen separator. Foil separators have been proven to be difficult to achieve in practice. For example, they do not provide for a reliable structure which can operate for a reasonable time at high efficiencies.


A combination Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) terminal and rear view mirror for vehicles is disclosed. The rear view mirror includes a Radio Frequency (RF) antenna, and an ETC module. The RF antenna is fastened to the upper end of a stay in order to transmit and receive RF signals to and from an RF module, which is provided in a tollgate gantry. The ETC module is connected with the RF antenna using a wire, and is mounted in a housing. Thus, the uninterrupted transmission and reception of RF signals between the ECT terminal and the RF module can be stably performed even when a vehicle passes through a tollgate at a high speed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a combination Electronic Toll Collection (hereinafter abbreviated as "ETC") terminal and rear view mirror for vehicles, in which an ETC terminal is integrated with a rear view mirror, thus increasing the efficiency of space usage and improving the performance of communication.
2. Background Art
ETC terminals have been used to pay tolls electronically, which makes drivers feel convenient and improves traffic flow. When a vehicle with an ETC terminal mounted enters into a communication region of a tollgate, a Radio Frequency (RF) module of a gantry, which is located at the tollgate, transmits a signal to initiate the collection of an electronic toll, and thus communication between the RF module and the ETC terminal is performed. By this communication, a toll is automatically collected when the vehicle passes through the tollgate on the condition that an electronic payment card is inserted into the ETC terminal tollgate.
It is preferred that the above-described ETC terminal be installed in front of a drivers seat. However, installation space for the ETC terminal is limited because various portable devices, including a navigation device and a monitor, are installed in front of the driver's seat. Furthermore, for unimpeded communication, it is preferred that the ETC terminal be mounted to the front windshield. However, this may obstruct the drivers view.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.

Combination ETC terminal and rear view mirror for vehicles


Oligomers are produced from unsaturated monomers. They contain terminal unsaturation and have a degree of polymerization of from 2 to 200. These oligomers are produced by the free radical polymerization of unsaturated monomers using as an initiator and/or chain transfer agent in the process a transition metal complex comprising a metal cation and at least one chelating agent, said transition metal complex being generally in accordance with formula (I), wherein M is a transition metal ion which can form hexa- or penta-coordinated structures and, when complexed in this manner, has two or more readily interconverted adjacent valence states, R is hydrogen or an organic group or a transition metal complex derived form formula (I) and L is a ligand or controlling the stability and electron transfer properties of the transition metal complex and consists of an electron pair donor (Lewis base) capable of coordination with the metal ion.

This invention relates to processes for radical-mediated polymerization of unsaturated species, and for the control or limitation of the molecular weights of the polymeric products produced from such processes. Polymers of limited molecular weights, or oligomers, are useful as precursors in the manufacture of other polymeric materials, and as additives in plastics, elastomerics, and surface-coating compositions, as well as being useful in their own right in many applications.
In conventional polymerization practice, manufacture of oligomers requires the use of a free radical source, the initiator, and of a chain-transfer agent. The chain-transfer agent controls the molecular weight of the polymer molecules by reacting with the propagating radical species to terminate its growth and later initiates a new polymer chain thus transfering the growth process from one discrete polymer molecule to another discrete polymer molecule. At least a part of the chain-transfer agent is incorporated into the polymer molecules, and thus is consumed during the process which may result in undesirable increases in average molecular size and polydispersity of the product. The incorporated residue of the chain transfer agent can also lead to undesirable end-groups on the polymer.
Transition metal complexes are widely used as polymerization agents, but principally as catalysts or coagents in redox radical initiation systems, for example, with organic peroxides for the curing of styrene/unsaturated polyester formulations, or in the initiation of ionic polymerization, for example, of epoxides. Transition metal complexes have also been used for the control of stereochemistry and the inhibition of crosslinking (gel formation) in the polymerization of butadene and other olefins. Transition metal complexes, including species related to those described in the specification have also been used as catalysts for the hydrogenation or oxidation of organic compounds.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation


The invention concerns a neutron measurement method for determining porosity of an earth formation surrounding a borehole comprising:                conveying a tool along said borehole, wherein said tool comprises a source of neutron radiation and at least one detector axially spaced from said source;        generating measured detector response for said at least one detector that is indicative of neutron radiation from said source interacting with said earth formations;        operating said measured detector response with a predetermined mathematical equation and thereby obtaining corrected detector response that is independent of the density of said earth formation; and        determining porosity of the earth formation surrounding the borehole from said corrected detector response.The invention also relates to a system implementing said method.

This invention relates to the determination of a characteristic of earth formations penetrated by a borehole, and more particularly to the determination of formation porosity through neutron measurements.
In hydrocarbon exploration and production, it is of prime importance to determine (a) if a given earth formation contains hydrocarbon, (b) the amount of hydrocarbon within the formation, and (c) the producibility of the hydrocarbon in place within the formation. The amount of hydrocarbon present within a formation is a function of the pore space or the "porosity" of the formation. In drilling wells for the production of hydrocarbons, it is desirable to measure the porosity of each prospective hydrocarbon producing formation penetrated by the borehole. It is even more desirable, for economic and prospective reasons to determine the porosity of prospective formations during the actual drilling of the borehole.
Over the past decades, many technologies have been used to measure or estimate formation porosity from a borehole. One of these technologies is based on a system that contains an isotopic source that emits fast neutrons, and an axially spaced detector that responds to the flux of impinging thermal neutrons resulting from the interaction of fast neutrons with nuclei within the borehole and formation in the vicinity of the borehole. The basic concept of this system is predicated on the fact that (a) hydrogen is the most effective moderator of fast neutrons because of its low atomic weight, and (b) most hydrogen found in earth formations is contained in liquid in the pore space of the formation, either as water or as liquid hydrocarbon or gas. The detector is axially spaced from the neutron source such that for a given borehole condition, the count rate recorded by the thermal neutron detector decreases as the volumetric concentration of hydrogen, or porosity increases.
Dual detector neutron porosity systems have been introduced to minimize the effects of the borehole upon the measurement of formation porosity. U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,376 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,510 disclose two thermal neutron detectors that are spaced axially at different distances from the source of fast neutrons. The ratio of the responses of the two detectors varies with formation porosity, yet is less sensitive to borehole parameters than the count rate from either two individual detectors. The ratio is therefore the measured parameter used to compute porosity. Historically, this ratio has been formed from the response of the detector closest to the source, or the "near" detector, divided by the response of the detector farthest from the source, or the "far" detector.
However, accuracy problems remain with these two detectors systems since the response of said neutron porosity tool significantly varies with the density of the formation to be logged. Furthermore, this response is also a function of the thermal capture cross section (sigma). Minimizing the sigma response of a neutron porosity measurement is usually achieved by enclosing the neutron detectors in a highly absorbing thermal neutron shield through which only epithermal neutrons may penetrate. In that way, only epithermal neutrons are detected, resulting in very little sigma response.
Careful positioning of detectors with respect to the source can minimize density effects. It has been shown that a minimum in density response occurs at a certain unique distance from the source depending on the source energy (see Scott, H. D., et al., 1994, "Response of a Multidetector Pulsed Neutron Porosity Tool", paper J, in 35th Annual Logging Symposium Transactions of the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts). Detectors placed at the point of minimum density sensitivity have been shown to have very little density response.
However, this technique has various drawbacks, among which is a strong restriction on the placement of the detectors, which in turns, leads to important mechanical constraints. Furthermore, the far detector still displays significant density sensitivity.

Neutron measurement method for determining porosity of a formation surrounding a borehole


A driving analysis server may be configured to receive vehicle location data and/or operation data from one or more vehicle systems, identify driving trips and/or driving patterns based on the vehicle data, determine risk assessment values corresponding to the driving trips and driving patterns, and calculate driver scores based on the analyzed driving trip and driving pattern data. Destination locations may be identified for a vehicle's driving trips, and information relating to the destination locations may be retrieved and analyzed to determine risk factors and risk assessment values associated with driving to and from the destination, as well as parking at the destination. Specific driving trip types or purposes may be identified, and driving scores may be calculated based on the vehicle location and time data, including the risk factors, risk assessment values, and the determined trip types or purposes.

Telematics includes the use of technology to communicate information from one location to another. Telematics has been used for various applications, including for the exchange of information with electronic sensors. As telematics technology has progressed, various communication methodologies have been incorporated into automobiles and other types of vehicles.
Telematics systems such as on-board diagnostics (OBD) systems may be used in automobiles and other vehicles. OBD systems may provide information from the vehicle's on-board computers and sensors, allowing users to monitor a wide variety of information relating to the vehicle systems, such as engine RPM, emissions control, coolant temperature, vehicle speed, timing advance, throttle position, and oxygen sensing, and many other types of data. Vehicles may also include global positioning system (GPS) devices installed within or operating at the vehicle, configured to collect vehicle location and time data. Telematics devices installed within vehicles may be configured to access the vehicle computers, sensor data, and GPS device data and transmit the data to a display within the vehicle, a personal computer or mobile device, or to a centralized data processing system. Data obtained from OBD systems has been used for a variety of purposes, including vehicle maintenance, diagnosis, and analysis, and data obtained from GPS devices has been used for navigation applications and other purposes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention provides a prediction method for lipidosis caused by a compound, which includes detecting (a) phenylacetylglycine and/or phenylacetylglutamine, or an optionally chosen metabolic intermediate in the metabolic pathway from phenylalanine to phenylacetylglycine or phenylacetylglutamine, and (b) hippuric acid or an optionally chosen metabolic intermediate in the metabolic pathway from phenylalanine to hippuric acid, in a sample collected from a mammal receiving the compound or a mammalian cell or tissue culture exposed to the compound, and predicting the compound's potential for inducing lipidosis with the quantitative ratio of the two as the index. The present invention also provides a diagnostic method for lipidosis and diseases related thereto, including detecting (a) and (b) above in a sample collected from a mammal, and making a diagnosis with the quantitative ratio of the two as the index.

Lipidosis, characterized by the accumulation of lipids such as phospholipids, neutral fats, and sphingomyelin in living tissue with the administration of a drug, is called phospholipidosis, steatosis, sphingolipidosis and the like, respectively, according to the kind of accumulating lipid, and is also generically referred to as drug-induced lipidosis. Many of lipidosis-inducing compounds have a structure wherein both a hydrophobic region and a positively charged hydrophilic region in the molecule, i.e., what is called a cationic amphiphilic drug (CAD) structure.
In recent years, with the advance in genome analysis, orphan receptors have been recognized as valuable as drug innovation targets, and receptor agonists or antagonists have been developed, but some of such compounds have a CAD structure, which sometimes leads to the induction of lipidosis and eventually interferes with pharmaceutical development. Additionally, some of approved pharmaceuticals have been reported to cause lipidosis as an adverse drug reaction.
Currently, in a toxicity evaluation study of a pharmaceutical candidate compound, it is common practice to administer the compound to a laboratory animal such as the rat and examine histopathological changes by electron microscopy, but histopathological changes of lipidosis are often not manifested unless the compound is administered for a long time; furthermore, there are additional drawbacks, including the time and labor required for tissue specimen preparation and toxicity detection. In particular, to quickly predict the presence or absence of toxicity, and to efficiently optimize the structure, in the initial stage of drug innovation, it is essential to construct a screening system enabling the evaluation of multiple specimens more conveniently and in shorter time.
In diagnosing adverse drug reactions in toxicity studies in clinical studies and patients on medication, the applicability of the above-described method, which necessitates the collection of biopsy specimen, is largely limited because of the major surgical invasion. Therefore, there is an urgent demand for the development of an evaluation system enabling the efficient and non-invasive prediction or diagnosis of drug-induced lipidosis.
As an example of the non-invasive method of predicting and diagnosing lipidosis, a method comprising detecting the occurrence of cytoplasm-vacuolated lymphocytes in peripheral blood can be mentioned, but this is not only problematic in terms of efficiency as it necessitates microscopic examination of blood smear specimen and for other reasons, but also inadequate in terms of the reliability of prediction and diagnosis as it is known that a considerable percentage of lipidosis-inducing compounds do not cause the occurrence of vacuolated lymphocytes in peripheral blood and have only a particular organ as the target.
Metabonomics, which is to comprehensively analyze intermediate and final metabolites in peripheral humoral fluids (urine, plasma and the like), organs or cells, is coming to be utilized as an approach to monitoring changes in biological reactions, which will follow transcriptomics and proteomics, in various areas of medicine and biology. In the area of toxicology as well, this technology has begun to be utilized for research into the elucidation of toxicity development mechanisms and the prediction of toxicity; the technology, along with toxicogenomics and toxicoproteomics, is expected to find applications in drug safety evaluations and clinical diagnosis as a technology providing suggestion for molecular toxicological endpoints that will replace conventional toxicological endpoints (symptoms, laboratory testing, histopathological examination and the like) (see, for example, J. K. Nicholson et al., Nat. Rev. Drug Discov., 1: 153-161, 2002 and J. C. Lindon et al., Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol., 187: 137-146, 2003).
Toxic phenomena are considered to be accompanied not only by independent changes in a single metabolite, but also by integral changes in various intermediate and final metabolites localized in a plurality of metabolic pathways. Hence, it is expected that using a technique enabling the simultaneous detection of signals from nearly all metabolites, such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), will make it possible to comprehensively interpret the behavior of biological molecules involved in toxicity development.
Regarding association with drug-induced lipidosis, it has been reported that as a result of an analysis of urine from rats receiving drugs known to induce phospholipidosis (hereinafter also abbreviated as "PLsis") using proton NMR (1H NMR), changes in various metabolites were observed, with phenaceturic acid (phenylacetylglycine; PAG) increased in common by drug administration (J. R. Espina et al., Magn. Reson. Chem., 39: 559-565, 2001), suggesting that PAG may be used as a biomarker for the potential of drugs for inducing PLsis. However, there is no knowledge about multiple drugs, and the reliability thereof as actual markers remains unknown (for example, in Society of Toxicology 43rd Annual Meeting Abstracts/Toxicology 194 (2004) 206-207, urinary PAG is described as being effective as a biomarker not only for PLsis but also for other lipidosis, whereas in Analytical Chemistry, 75: 4784-4792 (2003), PAG is judged to be no more than a weak biomarker for PLsis).


Disclosed is a process for introducing a carboxyl group to an aromatic carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof, which comprises reacting a starting aromatic carboxylic acid, such as a benzoic acid, a biphenylcarboxylic acid, a naphthalenecarboxylic acid, a diphenylcarboxylic acid, or a derivative thereof, with a carbon tetrahalide in the presence of a cyclodextrin and an alkali metal hydroxide, thereby introducing a carboxyl group to the aromatic ring of the starting aromatic carboxylic acid or the derivative thereof in substitution for a hydrogen atom bonded thereto. By the process of the present invention, a desired aromatic polycarboxylic acid or a derivative thereof can be easily obtained with high selectivity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for introducing a carboxyl group to an aromatic carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a process for introducing a carboxyl group to an aromatic carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof by reacting an aromatic carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof with a carbon tetrahalide in the presence of a cyclodextrin and an alkali metal hydroxide. By the process of the present invention, desired aromatic polycarboxylic acids or derivatives thereof can be easily obtained with high selectivity, which are commercially valuable raw materials for polyester films, resins and fibers; polyarylate films, resins and fibers; aramid films, resins and fibers; high molecular weight and low molecular weight compounds for various types of liquid crystals; agricultural chemicals; pharmaceuticals; and dyes.
2. Discussion of Related Art
For the production of aromatic polycarboxylic acids, known is a process which comprises oxidizing an aromatic hydrocarbon substituted with an alkyl group. However, this conventional process requires stringent conditions, for example, a high reaction temperature such as 160.degree. C. or higher, a high reaction pressure such as 10 atm or higher, a large amount of a cobalt and a manganese catalyst, and a long residence time such as 20 hours or more. Further, this process is restricted in raw materials. For example, this process requires expensive raw materials, that is, paraxylene for producing terephthalic acid, metaxylene for producing isophthalic acid, 4,4'-dimethylbiphenyl for producing 4,4'-biphenyldicarboxylic acid, and 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene for producing 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid.
Also known is another process in which potassium benzoate is first produced from benzoic acid and then, the produced potassium benzoate is converted to dipotassium terephthalate and benzene by disproportionation. However, this process must also be conducted under stringent conditions, such as a temperature as high as 430.degree. to 440.degree. C., and a carbon dioxide pressure as high as 5 to 20 atm, using cadmium benzoate and zinc benzoate as catalysts. Therefore, it is difficult to control the reaction conditions and to handle the potassium salt.
In order to solve the problems accompanying the above-mentioned conventional processes for producing aromatic polycarboxylic acids, a technique in which a carboxyl group is directly introduced to an aromatic ring, has been proposed. For example, there are known the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction and the Reimer-Tiemann reaction, both of which are electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions. However, it is well known that those electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions have the following serious disadvantages: When either a hydroxyl group (--OH) or an amino group (--NH.sub.2) is present as a substituent in an aromatic ring, the substitution reaction easily occurs at the ortho- or para-position relative to the hydroxyl group or the amino group, because the hydroxyl group or the amino group acts as a strong activating group in the electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction. On the other hand, when an aromatic ring contains either a carboxyl group or a carboxylic ester group as a substituent but contains neither a hydroxyl group nor an amino group as a substituent, either the carboxyl group or the carboxylic ester group acts as a strong deactivating group in the electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction, so that it is extremely difficult to directly introduce a carboxyl group to the aromatic carboxylic acid. In fact, there has been no report on the direct introduction of a carboxyl group to the aromatic carboxylic acid [see "Yuki Kagaku (I) (Organic Chemistry Vol I)", Third edition, p.428-431, written by Morrison-Boyd, translated by Nakanishi et al., and published by Tokyo Kagaku Dojin, Japan].
Further, when a hydroxyl group or an amino group is co-present with a carboxyl group in a starting aromatic carboxylic acid, a carboxyl group to be introduced to such a starting aromatic carboxylic acid exhibits a substitution orientation for the ortho- or para-position relative to the hydroxyl group or the amino group, due to the strong activity of the hydroxyl or the amino group in the electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction. Therefore, it is impossible to obtain from such a starting aromatic carboxylic acid an aromatic polycarboxylic acid having a carboxyl group additionally introduced to an aromatic ring thereof at a position remote from the meta-position relative to the carboxyl group which is originally attached to the starting aromatic carboxylic acid.

Process for introducing a carboxyl group to an aromatic carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof


A fluorometer having extremely high spectral resolution and the capability of blocking exciting light. The fluorometer is inexpensive and rugged since it may comprise a device with no moving parts. The fluorometer comprises the following main components, a light input for receiving the fluorescing light, a collimating lens, a Fabry-Perot etalon, two dichroic mirrors, a Brewster angle wedge prism, and an output for reading the fluorescence.

The basic optics of dispersive and filter devices used to record the fluorescent spectra have remained relatively constant during the past several decades. A brief survey of the inventions in this field shows that there are few fundamental innovations in filters, prisms, wedges and gratings components used in this field of spectroscopy. In contrast there are hundreds of novel patents that concern innovative fluorescent tags and light sources to implement ever more specialized biological and chemical applications.
There has been some work in the field of fluorometers. Alfano (2001) disclosed an all-solid state fluorometer that uses either blue LEDs or red laser diodes as the exciting fluorescent sources. Lui and Li (1999) disclose a transmission grating fluorometer for DNA sample identification. Their method uses four dyes, one tag for each nucleotide. Kenny and Taylor (1996) disclose a fluorometer using a 3rd or 4th harmonic Nd:YAG laser. The emitting laser wavenumbers are 28200 and 37594 cm−1. They used a mixture of H2 and CH4 gas to Raman shift the laser light to the appropriate fluorescent dye excitation wavelengths. The spectral wavenumber options for excitation occur at integer multiples of these Raman shifts (about 3000 and 3600 cm−1); all wavenumbers lie below the Nd:YAG harmonic wavenumbers, such as 28200. cm−1.
Others have also used continuum spectral sources such as high-pressure Xenon gas sources and solid-state tungsten filaments to excite fluorescent dyes. This approach normally requires a monochronometer or other added filter to isolate the exciting wavelengths. Rasimas, Fehr and Hoots (2002) use a grating monochronometer to restrict the excitation wavelengths. Their device has the advantage of a being a tunable source, accomplished by turning the grating, if the spectral output is confined with a narrow exit slot. Giebler, Ogle and Kay (2001) use a similar exciting source; they also use a second grating monochronometer to measure the fluorescent light that arises from exposing the target sample to the exciting light. Other inventors, such as Kolber and Falkowski (2000) use a pulsing source to measure the time response of the fluorescent light. They do this using flashlets or brief flashes of light from a continuum Xenon source. This technique helps isolate the fluorescent source from the scattered light from the exciting source.
There is a need for a novel fluorometer that absorbs the light from the exciting source while transmitting the fluorescent light to the detector. This fluorometer must have higher dispersion than conventional optics so that the fluorometer can become as compact as the current microcomputers and have a high spectral resolution.
The following is a list of references, each of which is incorporated herein by reference:                Alfano, et al 2001 "Method for Using an All Solid State Fluorometer in an Industrial Water System Application", U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,118, 3 Jul. 2001, Assignee: NALCO Chemical Company, Naperville, Ill.        (2)Kenny, J. and Taylor, T. 1996 "Method and System for Examining the Composition of a Fluid or Solid Sample Using Fluorescence and or Absorption Spectroscopy", U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,344, 13 Feb. 1996, Assignee: Tufts Univ., Medford, Mass.        (3)Liu, C. and Li, Q. 2000 "Detector Having a Transmission Grating Beam Splitter for a Multi-Wavelength Sample Analysis", U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,127, 12 Sep. 2000, Assignee: Spectrumedix Corp., State College, Pa.        (4)Rasimas, J. Fehr, M. and Hoots, J. 2002 "Modular Fluorometer", U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,894, 9 Apr. 2002, Assignee: NALCO Chemical Company, Naperville, Ill.        (5) Giebler, R. and Ogle, D. and Kaye, R. 2001"Optical System for a Scanning Fluorometer", U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,774, 12 Nov. 2001, Assignee: Molecular Devices Corp, Sunnyvale, Calif., See also U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,456, on 22 May 2001 by the same authors.        (6)Kolber, Z. and Falkouski, P. 2000 "Multiple Protocol Fluorometer and Method", U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,053, 19 Sep. 2000, Assignee; Brookhaven Science Associates, Upton, N.Y.

Optical external cavities having brewster angle wedges


A connection unit includes a first relay connected between a first electrode of a first battery and a first power feed line towards a vehicle load, a second relay connected between a second electrode of the first battery and a second power feed line towards the vehicle load, a third relay and a current limiting resistor connected in series between the second electrode of the first battery and the second power feed line, a fourth relay connected between an electrode of a second battery having a polarity identical to the polarity of the first electrode and the first power feed line towards the vehicle load, and a conductor line connecting an electrode of the second battery having a polarity identical to the polarity of the second electrode with the second electrode of the first battery. There can be provided a connection unit suppressed in the number of components, suitable for usage in a vehicle incorporating a plurality of power storage devices, and a vehicle incorporating the connection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection unit and a vehicle incorporating the connection unit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a connection unit employed in a vehicle having a plurality of power storage devices switched for usage.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, electric cars, hybrid vehicles, fuel-cell vehicles and the like have been developed and adapted to practical use as environment-friendly vehicles. These vehicles are incorporated with a motor and a power storage device for driving the motor.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-167620 discloses a power supply device for a vehicle having a plurality of externally chargeable batteries switched for usage.
It is desirable that the distance an electric vehicle can run by one charging operation is as long as possible. Likewise with a hybrid vehicle that incorporates an internal combustion engine, a storage battery, and a motor, it is desirable that the running distance allowed per one charge without using the internal combustion engine is as long as possible in the case of employing a configuration in which the storage battery can be charged from an external source.
In order to increase the running distance allowed by one charge, the amount of energy of the battery incorporated in a vehicle must be increased. One approach is to incorporate a plurality of power storage devices into the vehicle. Although the required capacitance can be ensured by connecting battery cells in parallel, there may be the case where the capability of all the batteries incorporated will not be thoroughly depleted due to only some of the batteries first becoming degraded. In this context, another approach is to provide a plurality of batteries in a switchable manner, allowing the batteries to be depleted equally by switching to another battery when one is depleted.
However, if a connection unit similar to that of a conventional case (a junction box) is provided per one battery in vehicles operating with switching power supplies, more relays will be required, leading to the problem of increase in weight and cost.

Connection unit and vehicle incorporating the same


A system of automatically documenting a plurality of aircraft touchdown events detected by analyzing sensory data received from a plurality of sensors, comprising one or more interfaces for connecting to a plurality of sensors deployed to monitor at least part of a runway in an airport, the sensors comprising one or more image sensors, audio sensors and/or vibration sensors, and one or more processors coupled to the one or more interfaces. The processor(s) is adapted to receive sensory data from said plurality of sensors, the sensory data comprising image data, audio data and/or vibration data, identify a timing and a location of a landing touchdown event of an aircraft on the runway by analyzing the sensory data and classify the landing touchdown event as a normal landing touchdown event or an abnormal landing touchdown event based on the analysis.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to continuous monitoring of airport runways, logging and analyzing sensory data collected from sensors deployed along the runway and, more specifically, but not exclusively, to monitoring and analyzing the sensory data to detect potential aircraft failures and/or abnormal phenomenon and/or to identify aircraft landing touchdown events.
With the growing aircrafts traffic worldwide, the capacity of airports with respect to the volume of aircrafts take-offs and landings constantly increase. One of the ways to accommodate the growing capacity of movements is to allow more dense movements, by cutting the time between movements, which requires an accurate touchdown time and location.
With the increase in air traffic the number of avionic incidents, for example, accidents, near accidents and/or aerial incidents may also increase.
Investigating and/or analyzing these avionic incidents may allow better understanding of the root cause(s) of the avionic incidents so that measures may be taken in order to reduce the number of such avionic incidents.
Reviewing the history of avionic incidents shows that most of the avionic incidents take place during the take-off and/or landing phases of the aircraft. The avionic incidents may result from one or more of a plurality of reasons such as, for example, aircraft conditions, pilot(s) performance, traffic controller performance, weather conditions, runway conditions and/or the like.

Runway activity monitoring, logging and analysis for aircraft touchdown detection and abnormal behavior alerting