Device (1) for supporting a preform in an endless chain for conveying preforms that rotate simultaneously about themselves. The device comprises a plate (2) hingedly coupled to two adjacent plates and supporting a rod (5) removably fastened to the open end of a preform (8). The plate includes a linking stem portion (11) supporting a dome-shaped surface forming a coupling head (12) for contacting the associated adjacent plate, and a spherical seat portion (13) with a central axial opening (14) for the free passage of the linking stem portion (11) of the associated adjacent plate. The device is characterized in that the dome-shaped surface forming a coupling head is mounted free to rotate on said linking stem portion. A contact plate (16) is fastened to the free end of the linking stem portion (11) and extends transversely thereto substantially parallel to the side of the coupling head (12) opposite the side of the spherical cap. An annular bearing (17) is placed coaxial to the linking stem portion between the sides mutually opposite the coupling head (12) and the contact plate (16).

The present invention relates to improvements made to the preform support devices designed to be combined with a multiplicity of similar devices articulately coupled together one after another into an endless chain for transferring preforms with simultaneous rotation of the latter on themselves, this device including:
a mounting plate provided with means of articulated coupling to two other adjacent mounting plates lying respectively to the front and to the rear (in the direction of movement of the chain); PA1 a body fixed to said mounting plate; and PA1 a rod supported by said body so as to rotate freely with the possibility of axial movement, said rod having a gripping end shaped in order to be removably fastened to the open end of a preform; PA1 the abovementioned coupling means including: PA1 a cavitied mounting plate 2 provided with means of articulated coupling to two other adjacent mounting plates lying respectively to the front and to the rear (in the direction (arrow 3) of movement of the transfer chain); PA1 a hollow body 4 fixed to the mounting plate 2; here, the body 4 consists of two parts, respectively an upper and a lower part, which are fixed in the mounting plate 2, for example, by screwing from above and from below the mounting plate, respectively; PA1 and a rod 5 supported so as to rotate freely in the hollow body 4; sleeves (shown, but not referenced) inside the body 4 guide the rod; furthermore, the rod is capable of being moved axially, with return by means of a spring 6. PA1 at the rear end of the mounting plate 2, a linking stem 11 supporting a spherical-cap-shaped coupling head 12, the spherical cap being, for example, convex with its convexity facing to the front, which is intended to bear on the adjacent mounting plate lying to the rear, PA1 at the front end of the mounting plate 2, a seat 13 in the form of a spherical zone having a shape complementary to the spherical cap, for example concave, and provided with a central axial opening 14 for the linking stem 11 of the adjacent it mounting plate, lying to the front, to pass through freely, the convex spherical cap of which bears on said concave seat. PA1 the spherical-cap-shaped coupling head is supported so as to rotate freely on the linking stem, PA1 a bearing plate is fastened, by fastening means, to the free end of the linking stem, this bearing plate extending transversely to the linking stem and substantially parallel to that face of the coupling head opposite its spherical-cap-shaped face, and PA1 an annular rolling bearing is interposed coaxially with the linking stem between the mutually facing faces of the coupling head and of the bearing plate. PA1 an axial recess of polygonal contour cut out in that face of the bearing plate opposite that carrying the rolling bearing, PA1 a radial groove cut out in the vicinity of the free end of the linking stem, and PA1 a retaining plate consisting of two parts joined together edge to edge along a transverse assembly edge, said retaining plate having a polygonal external contour complementary with that of the abovementioned recess and possessing a central orifice shaped to surround the linking stem, being engaged in the groove of the latter. PA1 the ability of the mounting plate to rotate about a horizontal axis is assigned to the rolling-bearing interface between the bearing plate and the coupling head; PA1 the ability of the mounting plate to rotate in the parts where the transfer chain bends is reserved just for the spherical head.
at a first end of the mounting plate, a linking stem supporting a spherical-cap-shaped coupling head intended to bear on the adjacent mounting plate lying on this first end side, and PA2 at a second end, a seat in the form of a spherical zone having a shape complementary to the abovementioned cap and provided with a central axial opening for the linking stem of the adjacent mounting plate, lying on this second end side, to pass through freely.
A preform transfer chain consisting of such devices is found especially in plants for manufacturing containers, such as bottles, flasks or the like, made of a plastic, especially a thermoplastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). More particularly, a transfer chain formed in this way is used to move the preforms from a charging station up to and through a heating oven (tunnel oven) in which the material of which the preforms is made is heated in order subsequently to be molded, by a blow molding or stretch-blow molding process, into a large container (either the final container or an intermediate container). The transfer chain is furthermore designed so that the linear movement of the preforms is accompanied by a rotation of the preforms about themselves so that the material is heated uniformly all around the perimeter of the preforms, the heating means being arranged on one side in the oven.
FIG. 1 of the appended drawings represents, in diametral section, in a relatively detailed manner, a preform support device designed according to the usual technique, while FIG. 2 shows, from above, in a simplified form, the coupling parts (fraction of the transfer chain) of a group of three devices according to FIG. 1.
The preform support device, designated in its entirety by the reference 1, includes:
At its free end (at the bottom in FIG. 1), the rod 5 is provided with a gripping head 7 designed to be removably or releasably fastened to the open end of a preform 8 (in the drawing, the gripping head 7 is frictionally pressed into the opening in the preform 8).
At its opposite end (at the top in FIG. 1), the rod 5 is fastened to a toothed wheel 9 capable of meshing with a link chain (of the sprocket chain type) which extends fixedly along the path followed by the transfer chain, by virtue of which the rod 5, and therefore the preform 8 which it supports, is rotated about itself when the transfer chain moves in the direction of the arrow 3.
The axial movement of the rod 5 is obtained by means of a cam (not shown) brought under the toothed wheel 9.
The multiplicity of preform support devices coupled together one after another forms an endless transfer chain 10 (a fragment of which is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2) which has to have an ability to articulate, especially, but not exclusively, in a horizontal plane (as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1). However, in addition, suitable execution of the process for manufacturing the containers requires that the preforms be positioned in different attitudes at various points in the transfer: in particular, they are loaded opening up onto the support devices 1 but must be heated opening down in the oven and then must be brought back opening up at the exit of the oven in order to be transferred into the mold. As a result, each support device 1 needs to be able to rotate independently of the flanking devices to the front and rear, about a horizontal axis, through the action of external guide cams.
For these purposes, it is known that the means of coupling each support device 1 to the two adjacent devices to the front and rear comprise:
This known arrangement has certain drawbacks inherent in the structure adopted.
First of all, the spherical articulation thus formed bears, just by itself, the tensile forces during the movement of the transfer chain, as well as the frictional forces generated during the rotation of the mounting plates with respect to one another, both in the bends in the transfer chain and when inverting the position of the preforms. Admittedly, the seats 13 are coated with a layer of self-lubricating material having a low coefficient of friction, such as TEFLON, but, given the magnitude of the forces which are exerted and the high speeds at which the mounting plates are moving with respect to one another, this layer is rapidly worn away and the seats 13 must be refurbished.
Here too there is a problem since access to the seats, for the purpose of repairing them and/or replacing them, requires unfastening the coupled mounting plates. As shown in FIG. 2, each linking stem 11 has its end provided with a thread and the coupling head 12 is locked onto the linking stem 11 by means of a nut 15. Access to the nuts 15 is tight and inconvenient. In general, maintenance of the coupling means requires interrupting the operation of the plant which proves to be lengthy, given the difficulties in disconnecting and reconnecting, and which is therefore expensive because of the corresponding loss of production. There therefore exists a pressing need on the part of users of plants incorporating such transfer chains for a structure which, while still keeping the same operating capabilities, proves to be less subject to wear and has a simpler structure making it easier to disconnect and reconnect, so as to reduce the overall cost inherent in maintaining the chain. Furthermore, the spacing between successive preforms, and therefore between successive mounting plates, is determined by the overall arrangement of the plant and has been reduced to a minimum in current plants: it is therefore necessary not to upset this overall arrangement and to see to it that the improvements to be made to the mounting plates fall within the constraints of the preexisting free spaces.


A phase-change random access memory includes a memory block including a plurality of memory columns corresponding to the same column address and using different input/output paths; a redundancy memory block including a plurality of redundancy memory columns using different input/output paths; and an input/output controller repairing at least one of the plurality of memory columns using at least one of the plurality of redundancy memory columns, and controlling the number of memory columns simultaneously repaired using redundancy memory columns in response to an input/output repair mode control signal.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a phase-change random access memory and, more particularly, to a phase-change random access memory with improved repair efficiency and reliability.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Phase-change random access memories (PRAMs) store data using a phase-change material, for example, a chalcogenide alloy, that goes into a crystalline state or an amorphous state due to a change in temperature such as cooling followed by heating. Since the resistance of a crystalline phase-change material is low, whereas the resistance of an amorphous phase-change material is high, the crystalline state is referred to as a set or "0" state and the amorphous state is referred to as a reset or "1" state.
In an input/output (I/O) repair scheme of a PRAM, failed memory columns of a memory block are replaced with redundancy memory columns. In the PRAM, at least one or more failed memory columns can be simultaneously repaired by at least one or more redundancy memory columns. For example, when the I/O repair mode is set to a ×1 mode, failed memory columns are repaired one by one. When the I/O repair mode is set to a ×2 mode, failed memory columns are repaired two by two.
A memory block typically includes a plurality of memory columns corresponding to the same column address and uses different input/output paths, such that a plurality of bits are simultaneously input and output.
In such a memory block, the repair efficiency and reliability of the I/O repair mode may vary according to the location of a failed memory column. Specifically, in the ×1 mode, failed memory columns are repaired one by one, thus exhibiting high repair efficiency. However, in a case where failures occur to two memory columns corresponding to the same column address and using different I/O paths, the failed two memory columns cannot be repaired in the ×1 mode, resulting in a deterioration in reliability. Furthermore, since failed memory columns are repaired two by two in the ×2 mode, even when failures occur to two memory columns corresponding to the same column address and using different I/O paths, the failed two memory columns can still be repaired. Thus, the ×2 mode exhibits better reliability than the ×1 mode.


An integrated circuit 2 includes a plurality of circuit blocks 38, 40, 44 each having an associated serial scan chain loop 32, 34, 36 which extends from a converter 10, to the circuit block 38, 42, 44 in question and then back to the converter 10. Multiplexing circuitry 50, 52 associated with each serial scan chain loop 32, 34, 36 is used to either include that serial scan chain loop 32, 34, 36 in a combined serial scan chain or to bypass that serial scan chain loop 32, 34, 36. The circuit blocks 38, 42, 44 may be bypassed in this way if they are defective or if they are powered-down.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of integrated circuits. More particularly, this invention relates to the control of serial scan chains used for test operations within integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As integrated circuits become increasingly complex, there is an increase in need the for effective test mechanisms which can be used to debug the design or programming of those integrated circuits as well as to check that they have been correctly manufactured. Serial scan chain techniques in accordance with the known IEEE 1149.1 JTAG Standard and the IEEE 1500 Standard for Embedded Core Test provide effective and well understood mechanisms for performing test operations. There exists a considerable infrastructure of tools and knowledge for using these techniques to perform test operations upon integrated circuits. Accordingly, it is advantageous to keep using these techniques where possible so that the existing capital associated therewith can be reused.
As part of the increasing complexity of integrated circuits, it is becoming common that manufacturing failures occur within part of an integrated circuit, but that that integrated circuit still has value and is useable if the other parts of that integrated circuit still function correctly. As an example, in a memory integrated circuit, it may be that one or more of the banks of memory are defective, such as due to a manufacturing defect, but that the integrated circuit as a whole will still have other functioning memory banks and can be usefully used as a lower memory capacity integrated circuit.
Another example of the increasing complexity of integrated circuits is that different circuit blocks therein may be selectively powered-down and powered-up during normal operation in order to reduce the average power consumption of the integrated circuit. It is desirable to be able to perform test operations on an integrated circuit when parts of that integrated circuit are powered-down in order to properly understand the behaviour of the integrated circuit and identify any design or manufacturing problems therein.
The paper "Scan Chain Design For Test Time Reduction in Core-Based Ics" by Joep Aerts and Erik Jan Marinissen published in proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Test Conference pages 448-457 discloses various scan chain architectures with a view to reducing test time. One of these architectures is a daisychain architecture in which a local bypass is provided for each of a plurality of cores within an integrated circuit. Control signals are routed to multiplexers associated with each local bypass proximal to the core concerned. This arrangement suffers from the problem that a defect with a core or scan chain has an increased likelihood of also effecting the multiplexer and bypass path rendering bypassing of the defect impossible. Furthermore, as areas within an integrated circuit are selectively powered down it is a disadvantageous complexity to maintain power to a local bypass and multiplexer.

Serial scan chain control within an integrated circuit


A torsion damping device is disposed between two rotating elements, namely an input element (1) and an output element (2), the device comprising, firstly a main damper (10) referred to as a first damper and having circumferentially acting first resilient member (11), the first damper being directly acted on kinematically by the input element and secondly, a second predamper (20) having circumferentially acting second resilient members (21), the second damper being placed directly upstream of the output element (2). The device further includes an intermediate third damper (30) which is disposed kinematically between the first damper (10) and the second damper (20), the third damper (30) includes circumferentially acting third resilient members (31) the stiffness of which has a value intermediate between the stiffnesses of the first resilient members (11) and second resilient members (21) respectively.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to torsion damping devices, such as those which are for example incorporated in friction clutches for motor vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Friction clutches are known which are equipped with a torsion damping device comprising two torsion dampers: a main damper, or first damper, and a pre-damper, or second damper.
The first damper includes an input element which is fixed to two guide rings disposed on either side of a damper plate. The guide rings are coupled together by means of spacers which secure them together. The input element consists, in the case of application to a friction clutch, of a support disc, on each of the faces of which there are fixed friction liners that are adapted to be gripped between the pressure and reaction plates of the clutch.
In another version, the input element may consist of a disc which is fixed directly on an engine flywheel of the vehicle; this can also be one of the guide rings which is extended radially and which is fixed directly on the engine flywheel.
The input element, when it acts as a support disc for the friction liners, is backed on to one of the guide rings of the first damper, and is fixed to the latter by means of the spacers, or, in a modified version, by specific rivets.
The spacers extend through slots formed in the damper plate; in that case, the limitation of the angular displacement between the damper plate and the guide rings is obtained by cooperation of the spacers with the edge of the slots.
In another version, this limitation is obtained by interlocking of the turns of helical springs which constitute circumferentially acting resilient members, which are of high stiffness in this case, and which couple the guide rings and the damper plate elastically together.
The guide rings surround the output element of the damping device, which in general consists of a hub with internal splines; the same is true for the damper plate of the first damper, which meshes with the hub with a circumferential clearance. The first damper is accordingly directly acted on kinematically by the input element.
The pre-damper, or second damper, is disposed between the damper plate and one of the guide rings of the first damper, radially inwardly of the springs of the first damper.
The second damper is disposed, kinematically, directly upstream of the output element, and again comprises two guide rings disposed on either side of a damper plate, which is mounted on the hub, for rotation with the latter, by means of teeth. Resilient members, such as helical springs, couple the damper plate of the second damper to its associated guide rings; This damper plate of the second damper is seamed on to the hub, the splines of which have a different depth so as to define a shoulder which locates the said damper plate axially.
In such a device having two dampers, the guide rings of the second damper are coupled in rotation to the damper plate of the first damper.
The circumferentially acting springs of the second damper are less stiff than the circumferentially acting springs of the first damper. The second damper is adapted to absorb vibrations in the slow running mode of the engine, while the first damper is adapted to absorb vibrations in the normal travelling mode of the vehicle, or running mode.
The first and second dampers do give satisfaction, but in some cases problems arise.
For example, when, with a gear ratio engaged, the driver's foot is lifted on approaching a red light, the springs of the first damper are not well adapted to absorb the vibrations that occur in this mode; the same is true for the springs of the second damper, which are not stiff enough.
Another situation is also critical, namely driving in a line of traffic in traffic jams: the driver engages first gear and accelerates slightly, and here again the above mentioned dampers are not well adapted.
An object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks, and accordingly to optimise in a simple and inexpensive way the absorption of vibrations under all circumstances.

Torsion damping device having circumferentially acting resilient members of different stiffness


Method for encapsulating an integrated semi-conductor circuit (die) comprising the following steps:. a) mounting the semi-conductor circuit onto the surface of a so-called lead frame,. b) attaching connecting wires between the contact surfaces of the semi-conductor circuit and selected parts of the lead frame (bonding operation),. c) by means of a mould producing a plastic housing which at least encapsulates the semi-conductor circuit, the supporting surface, the bonding wires and part of the lead frame,. d) the mould comprises an inwards extending section of which the end surface in the closed situation of the mould extends parallel to the free upper side of the integrated semi-conductor circuit at short distance thereof, and. e) before closing the mould a layer of heat resistant deformable material in the form of a ring or a continuous layer is brought in between the upper side of the integrated semi-conductor circuit and said end surface of the inwards extending part, which layer not or hardly adheres to the plastic housing.

The invention relates to a method for encapsulating an integrated semi-conductor circuit (die) comprising the following steps:
a) mounting the semi-conductor circuit onto the surface of a so-called lead frame,
b) attaching connecting wires between the contact surfaces of the semi-conductor circuit and selected parts of the lead frame (bonding operation),
c) by means of a mould producing a plastic housing which at least encapsulates the semi-conductor circuit, the support surface, the bonding wires and part of the lead frame.
Such a method is generally known and is applied on a wide scale for encapsulating integrated semi-conductor circuits. In general the created housing will encapsulate the semi-conductor circuit completely such that only the connecting pins, forming part of the so-called lead frame, are extending outside the housing whereby the semi-conductor circuit as such is therefore screened from outer influences as much as possible.
In contrast therewith the invention is especially directed to a method for obtaining an encapsulation around an integrated semi-conductor circuit which comprises opto-electronic components whereby the housing should have a cavity which gives an open connection between the outside world and the active area on the `die`. If this cavity should be closed, it should be closed with window, opaque for radiation. Within the meaning of the invention radiation is both radiation in the visible part of the spectrum as well as radiation infrared or ultraviolet part of the spectrum.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,367 comprises on the one hand a description of so-called ceramic housings and comprises on the other a description of a plastic housing which could be used as a replacement for the ceramic housing. In both cases however the housing is embodied such that the integrated circuit at the side, where the radiation should impinge on the circuit, is open. This open section can be covered by a separate plate of glass or, in case the semi-conductor circuit does not comprise any light sensitive components, be covered by a plate of another material such as a metal plate.
It is known for the expert in this field that the use of ceramic housings will lead to increase of costs of the final electronic component. Ceramic housings are therefore almost exclusively used for components which have to fulfil high requirements.
The steps, which successively have to be carried out according to the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,367 to obtain the desired end result are in their sequence clearly different from the generally used sequence. As is indicated shortly in the first paragraph, it is known to install first of all the chip or die on a lead frame and to attach the bonding wires between the chip or die and selected parts of the lead frame. Thereafter this intermediate product is encapsulated using a mould. This last step does not have to be carried out in a direct sequence with the earlier steps and can be performed at another location.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,367 first of all the lead frame is positioned within the mould and a housing is formed which is open at the upper side. Thereafter, the chip is installed on the related not covered section of the lead frame followed by bonding the connecting wires between the chip and selected sections of the lead frame (which for that purpose are not encapsulated in the housing). Both mentioned processes have to be carried out in a cavity in the already made housing. Because of that the number of possibilities to attach the chip to the lead frame is restricted. Welding at higher temperatures for instance will certainly lead to housing damage. Also the presence of the housing as such may for a hindrance for applying the usual bonding machines for attaching the bonding wires.

European Semiconductor Assembly (Eurasem) B.V.


A programmable device having a processing core is configured to use a subset of configuration memory cells as read/write memory. The subset of memory cells is a don't care set that includes configuration memory cells that can be set or reset without modifying the function or behavior of the configured circuits of the programmable device.

Due to advancing semiconductor processing technology, integrated circuits have greatly increased in functionality and complexity. For example, programmable devices such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and programmable logic devices (PLDs), can incorporate ever-increasing numbers of functional blocks and more flexible interconnect structures to provide greater functionality and flexibility.
FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a conventional FPGA 110. FPGA 110 includes user logic circuits such as input/output blocks (IOBs) 160, configurable logic blocks (CLBs) 150, and programmable interconnect 130, which contains programmable switch matrices (PSMs). Each IOB includes a bonding pad (not shown) to connect the various user logic circuits to pins (not shown) of FPGA 110. Some FPGAs separate the bonding pad from the IOB and may include multiple IOBs for each bonding pad. Other FPGA arrangements are known to those of skill in the art.
Configuration port 120 is typically coupled to external pins of FPGA 110 through various bonding pads to provide an interface for external configuration devices to program the FPGA. Each CLB can be configured through configuration port 120 to perform a variety of functions. Programmable interconnect 130 can be configured to provide electrical connections among the various CLBs and IOBs by configuring the PSMs and other programmable interconnect points (PIPS, not shown) through configuration port 120. IOBs can be configured to drive output signals to the corresponding pin of the FPGA, to receive input signals from the corresponding pins of FPGA 110, or to be bi-directional.
FPGA 110 also includes dedicated internal logic. Dedicated internal logic performs specific functions and can only be minimally configured by a user. Configuration port 120 is one example of dedicated internal logic. Other examples may include dedicated clock nets (not shown), delay lock loops (DLL) 180, block RAM (not shown), power distribution grids (not shown), and boundary scan logic 170 (i.e., IEEE Boundary Scan Standard 1149.1, not shown).
FPGA 110 is illustrated with 16 CLBs, 16 IOBs, and 9 PSMs for clarity only. Actual FPGAs may, for example, contain thousands of CLBs, thousands of PSMs, hundreds of IOBs, and hundreds of pads. Furthermore, FPGA 110 is not drawn to scale. For example, a typical pad in an IOB may occupy more area than a CLB, or PSM. The ratio of the number of CLBs, IOBs, PSMs, and pads can also vary. Also, other FPGA architectures are known to those of skill in the art.
FPGA 110 also includes dedicated configuration logic circuits to program the user logic circuits. Specifically, each CLB, IOB, and PSM contains a configuration memory cells (not shown) that must be configured before each CLB, IOB, or PSM can perform a specified function. Typically, the configuration memory cells within an FPGA use static memory cells. The configuration memory cells of FPGA 110 are connected by a configuration structure (not shown) to configuration port 120 through a configuration access port (CAP) 125. A configuration port (a set of pins used during the configuration process) provides an interface for external configuration devices to program the FPGA. The configuration memories are typically arranged in rows and columns. The columns are loaded from a frame register which is in turn sequentially loaded from one or more sequential bitstreams. (The frame register is part of the configuration structure referenced above.) In FPGA 110, configuration access port 125 is essentially a bus access point that provides access from configuration port 120 to the configuration structure of FPGA 110.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional method used to configure FPGA 110. Specifically, FPGA 110 is coupled to a configuration device 230, such as a serial programmable read only memory (SPROM), an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), or a microprocessor. Configuration port 120 receives configuration data, usually in the form of a configuration bitstream, from configuration device 230. Typically, configuration port 120 contains a set of mode pins, a clock pin and a configuration data input pin. Configuration data from configuration device 230 is typically transferred serially to FPGA 110 through a configuration data input pin. In some embodiments of FPGA 110, configuration port 120 comprises a set of configuration data input pins to increase the data transfer rate between configuration device 230 and FPGA 110 by transferring data in parallel. Further, some FPGAs allow configuration through a boundary scan chain.
Many FPGA designs have become so sophisticated that they can be configured to include processing cores. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates a FPGA design using FPGA 110, where the configuration logic blocks in the top left corner have been configured into a processing core 310. As explained above, FPGA 110 is greatly simplified. Actual FPGAs may need hundreds of configuration logic blocks to implement a processing core. In some FPGAs a processing core is embedded directly on the FPGA without use of configurable logic. In general processing core 310 would be coupled to an external memory system. In many situations, access to on-chip memory may enhance the performance of processing core 310. While the configuration logic blocks of many FPGA can be configured to provide a limited amount of read/write memory, including a large number of dedicated on-chip memory cells on an FPGA may not be cost effective because many designs would not require the on-chip memories. Thus, there is a need for a circuit or a method to provide on-chip memory on an FPGA without increasing the cost of the FPGA.

Exploiting unused configuration memory cells


Provided is a steel cord for rubber article reinforcement, which has both the tensile strength in the cord axial direction and the strength in the shear direction at higher levels. A steel cord (10) for rubber article reinforcement includes: a single core strand (11) having a layer-twisted structure; and plural sheath strands (12) each having a layer-twisted structure, and the sheath strands (12) are twisted around the core strand (11). In the sheath strands (12), a ratio between the diameter of a core filament (12a) and the diameter of a sheath filament (12b) is 0.75 to 0.85, and a ratio between the strength of the core filament (12a) and the strength of the sheath filament (12b) is 0.55 to 0.7.

Construction vehicle tires, which are mounted on large-sized dump trucks and the like utilized at large-scale civil engineering construction sites and ore mines, are subjected to harsh working conditions under heavy load on rough ground surfaces. For example, construction vehicle tires destined to be used for driving on rough ground are subjected to large inputs from the road surface as well as heavy loads. In addition, such tires are damaged on many occasions as a result of putting a heavy load against a rough ground surface. Therefore, in those steel cords that are used in reinforcing layers of carcasses, belts and the like of such tires, measures for improving the tensile breaking strength in the cord axial direction have been implemented by using steel cords having a large diameter and/or increasing the tensile breaking strength of the cords per unit area.
Moreover, when a heavy duty tire forced to run on rough ground runs over a relatively obtuse projection, it is often observed that belt layers thereof, particularly the belt layer on the innermost side, is largely bent, and a reinforcing steel cord is precedingly broken due to a tensile input in the cord axial direction. Meanwhile, when the tire runs over a relatively sharp projection, it is often observed that the belt layers are locally bent and a shear force from the projection causes cord breakage, particularly from the belt reinforcing layer closest to the tread. Therefore, a steel cord to be applied to a construction vehicle tire as a reinforcing material is demanded to have both a tensile strength in the cord axial direction and a strength in the shear direction.
Accordingly, there has been disclosed a steel cord for rubber article reinforcement in which the durability against cuts such as notches and perforations, which are generated by running over obtuse or sharp projections, is improved without deteriorating the strength in the cord axial direction (Patent Document 1).

Steel cord for rubber article reinforcement, and tire


This invention relates to an in-situ formed polyol blend having an overall functionality of 2 to 3 and an overall hydroxyl number of 50 to 150. A process for preparing these polyol blends is also disclosed. These in-situ formed polyol blends are suitable for preparing viscoelastic flexible polyurethane foams. A process for preparing these foams is also disclosed.

In-situ formed polyol blends are important and/or highly desirable because they eliminate the need to blend two or more polyols. This helps to simplify formulation processes and also makes polyol blend formulations accessible when there is no capacity to separately store and/or blend together individual components. Foams prepared from these in-situ formed blends maintain good physical properties.
The popularity of viscoelastic polyurethane foam, also referred to as memory foam or low resilience foam, has significantly increased in recent years as pillows, toppers or layers in mattresses and bed in a box foams. It is also used in other home and office furnishings as well as automotive applications. This increased use has created a demand for better quality viscoelastic foams with high air flows and improved physical properties such as reduced compression sets and better tear strength.

In-situ formed polyols, a process for their preparation, foams prepared from these in-situ formed polyols and a process for their preparation


An athletic training device capable of providing elastic resistance and associated methods of use for training a user to maintain optimal positioning of the user's hands during certain athletic activities. The device includes a wrist strap, a foot strap, and a thigh strap and an elastic tether of an adjustable length with the thigh strap configured to freely move along and about the elastic tether.

A major element of basketball is dribbling. Dribbling requires the use of one's hands to bounce the basketball in a controlled manner so that it bounces from the player's hand, to the floor, then back up to the player's hand. Generally, the player's hand while dribbling is open, with the palm facing down to the floor. A player must dribble while moving. A player taking more than two steps without dribbling may be called for a moving violation. Thus, coordination and control is vital to ensure that the player does not lose the basketball while dribbling and moving. Also, the player must dribble and be nimble enough to make it difficult for opposing players to steal or acquire the ball from the player.
There are numerous dribbling techniques a player can use to help prevent defenders from stealing the basketball. One such technique is for the player to powerfully dribble the ball low and close to his body. Preferably when dribbling low, the distance traveled by the basketball is the distance between the user's waist and the ground, or more desirably, between the user's knee and the ground. Additionally, by dribbling powerfully, the player exerts extra force to push the ball to the ground, resulting in the ball retuning more quickly to the player's palm, shortening the time that the ball is out of his hand and making it more difficult for a defender to steal the ball.
A good basketball player can dribble without actively thinking about it. Such a level of skill requires considerable time and effort to learn. Additionally, the muscles and muscle memory of a good basketball player are conditioned to dribble properly.
Similarly, other exercises such as running require proper form. Running with proper form can result in an increase in speed; a lower energy requirement, and less impact upon the runner's joints. By increasing resistance, runners can build up endurance as well as strength. By developing muscle memory, a runner can run faster.


A lighting device comprising a heat sink, a light source in thermal communication with the heat sink, and a power source operably coupled with the light source. The heat sink, light source, and power source are positioned in a cavity defined by an enclosure and an optic which present a puck-like shape when assembled. A magnetic attachment member installed in the cavity of the enclosure magnetically binds the lighting device to a ferromagnetic material external to the lighting device. The power source receives an AC input voltage through inductive and/or conductive coupling, and converts the voltage to DC to support light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A controller may operate the light source based on instructions transmitted by a beam adjustment device and/or an occupancy sensor. A method aspect of the invention details steps for assembling the lighting device.

Both incandescent and fluorescent lamps are commonly used in residential, commercial, and institutional applications. However, both types of lighting solutions suffer from certain disadvantages. For example, incandescent lamps convert approximately 3% of electrical power consumed into usable light, while the remaining 97% of power may be wasted as heat. Compared to an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp converts electrical power into useful light more efficiently, delivers a significantly longer useful life, and presents a more diffuse and physically larger light source. However, fluorescent lamps are typically more expensive to install and operate than an incandescent lamp because of the requirement for a ballast to regulate the electrical current. Many fluorescent lamps have poor color temperature, resulting in a less aesthetically pleasing light. Also, if a fluorescent lamp that uses mercury vapor is broken, a small amount of mercury (classified as hazardous waste) can contaminate the surrounding environment.
Digital lighting technologies such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) offer significant advantages over legacy incandescent and fluorescent lamps. These advantages include but are not limited to better lighting quality, longer operating life, and lower energy consumption. Consequently, a market exists for LED-based retrofit alternatives to legacy lighting fixtures. However, a number of installation challenges and costs are associated with replacing legacy lamps with LED illumination devices. The challenges may, for example, include light output, thermal management, and ease of installation. The costs, which are similarly understood by those skilled in the art, typically stem from a need to replace or reconfigure fixtures configured to support legacy lamps to support LEDs instead.
By the very nature of their design and operation, LEDs have a directional light output. Consequently, the light emitted by an LED may not have the nearly omni-directional and uniform light distribution of incandescent and fluorescent lamps. Although multiple LEDs can be used in a single lamp, lighting solutions employing LEDs do not have light distribution properties approximating or equaling the dispersion properties of traditional lamps.
Another challenge inherent to operating LEDs is heat. Thermal management describes a system's ability to draw heat away from the LED, either passively or actively. LEDs may suffer damage and decreased performance when operating in high-heat environments. Moreover, when operating in a confined environment, the heat generated by an LED, and its attending circuitry itself, can cause damage to the LED. Heat sinks are well known in the art and have been effectively used to provide cooling capacity to maintain an LED-based light bulb within a desirable operating temperature. However, heat sinks can sometimes negatively impact the light distribution properties of the light fixture, resulting in non-uniform distribution of light about the light fixture.
Power supply requirements of LED-based lighting systems can complicate installation of LEDs as a retrofit to existing light fixtures. LEDs are low-voltage light sources that require constant DC voltage or current to operate optimally, and therefore must be carefully regulated. Too little current and voltage may result in little or no light. Too much current and voltage can damage the light-emitting junction of the LED. LEDs are commonly supplemented with individual power adapters to convert AC power to the proper DC voltage, and to regulate the current flowing through during operation to protect the LEDs from line-voltage fluctuations.
Supporting mechanical attachment to a wide variety of existing light fixture types also complicates installation of retrofit lamps that employ LEDs. Because the retrofit lamp often does not match the form factor of the light source being replaced, alternative attachment mechanisms may be required. For example, mechanical fasteners may be screwed into new holes that may be drilled into the existing fixture to attach the retrofit LED-based light source. However, limited access to fastener mounting points on the existing fixture, and/or the risk of damaging the existing fixture may discourage the use of mechanical fasteners. In an alternative example, adhesives may be used to attach the retrofit LED-based light source to the existing fixture. However, not all fixture surfaces are conducive to adhesive attachment, particularly under temperature cycling typical of an LED-based lamp.
A need exists for a retrofit lighting device that may be easily and inexpensively mounted within the volume of space available in a variety of commercially-available light fixture configurations, and that may deliver improved lighting quality compared to traditional incandescent and fluorescent lamps. More specifically, a need exists for a retrofit lighting solution that benefits from the advantages of digital lighting technology, and is designed for ease of installation as well as for manufacturing cost reduction. The lighting industry is experiencing advancements in LED applications, some of which may be pertinent to certain aspects of replacing legacy lamps.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,806,575 to Willwohl et al. is directed to a LED lighting module having an LED element, an electronic driver arrangement, and a heat sink shaped to form a casing for the electronic driver arrangement. However, the disclosure presumes the availability of a power source external to the LED lighting module that may supply power to the electronic driver arrangement. Furthermore, the disclosure recites front mounting (rather than base mounting) that positions the LED lighting module to protrude through an opening in a reflector casing of a lighting assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,283 to Bohler discloses an LED puck light having a mounting base and an LED module enclosing lighting components and circuitry. The LED module may include a fixing apparatus for attaching the module to a corresponding attachment apparatus on the mounting base. For example, the fixing apparatus may be a magnet, and the attachment apparatus may be an oppositely-charged magnet pole. However, the disclosed LED puck light offers no thermal management solution such as a heat sink.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,172,436 to Coleman et al. discloses an LED-based auxiliary puck light with a base and a pivoting head. A magnet affixed to the base may be strong enough to securely and fixedly hold the auxiliary puck light on a magnetic surface. However, like the Bohler reference, the Coleman disclosure offers no thermal management solution such as a heat sink.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

Magnetically-mountable lighting device and associated systems and methods


A portable activity floor comprised of a plurality of separate panels that can be readily and selectively interlocked together into a finalized configuration. Each panel has an underlayment providing a core with spaced stringers fastened to the underside thereof. Elongated finishing strips mounted on the upper surface of the underlayment form the outer surface of the panel. In one type of floor assembly, alternate strips are longer than their adjacent strips at the inner side of each panel to form laterally spaced interlock fingers. A pair of hinge members pivotally connects adjacent panels to one another and allows them to be relatively pivoted on a fixed axis with finger interlock alignment accuracy from an initial connected position to a fully assembled position in which the fingers of the finishing strips closely mesh and interlock. Further, the hinge members when connected prevent lateral movement of adjacent panels. This allows the hinge assembly to be used with many types of floors, such as in addition to floors with interlock fingers, square edge floors, square end floors and parquet floors.

Prior to the present invention, portable flooring systems have been utilized to expand the capability of arenas, gymnasiums, and other facilities to accommodate a wide range of sports, dance and other activities. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,392, issued Sep. 3, 1985, hereby incorporated by reference, is an example of such flooring systems and is drawn to a high quality multi-panel portable floor utilizing a plurality of portable panels which can be readily stored, handled and assembled by workmen with average mechanical skill.
Generally, assembly of such panels into a completed floor requires careful initial preassembly connection of one panel to the next and subsequent careful movement of the panels into a final aligned and locked in place position. This is especially the case with high quality wooden floors having interdigitated locking fingers forming finger joints at the intersection of adjacent panels.
As a general practice, such fingers, particularly those near the latch device connecting adjacent panels have to be closely observed and manually guided with care into place. This initial fitting of the innermost interlock fingers establishes the pivot point in the latch device and between panels and assures good alignment and mechanical interfit of all of the joint fingers. Such prior construction and practice importantly reduces or prevents undue damage to individual fingers as they progressively interlock with one another. Similar attention and care must be taken with such floors on disassembly to eliminate damage to the finger joints.
While such prior constructions and practices have provided for improved floors that have exceeded expectations and standards, some wear occurs at the innermost finger joints since they are material factors in establishing panel alignment and the pivot point between two panels being relatively turned into their assembled and locked position.

Multi-panel activity floor with fixed hinge connections


A transmission control method for a vehicular ad hoc network system having a plurality of mobile nodes is provided. The mobile nodes include a source node, a destination node, and a plurality of relay nodes. The source node transmits a data packet to the destination node through the relay nodes. The method includes each mobile node capturing mobility information being periodically broadcasted from neighboring mobile nodes to correspondingly update the connection state table thereof, wherein the connection state table records the coverage remaining time between the mobile node and neighboring mobile nodes; when any of relay nodes determines that the coverage remaining time between the relay node and the subsequent mobile node is less than a predefined threshold, the relay node transforms into a proxy node, stores the data packet, and establishes a reliable sub-connection between the proxy node and a next proxy node or the destination node.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mobile communication network system, in particular, to a transmission control method for a vehicular ad hoc network system and a communication apparatus using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
The vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) refers a wireless ad hoc network concept that is derived from the mobile ad hoc network (MANET). The VANET is designed to provide data communication (e.g., video information, driving information, or the like) among nearby vehicles or between vehicles and roadside units in a wirelessly manner through on-board communication units installed on vehicles. The VANET can improve driving efficiency and the driving safety of vehicles, as well as prevent traffic accident in advance. The VANET has been widely used for constructing the traffic management system, the traveler information system, the vehicle control and safety system, the emergency management system, or the like.
The VANET uses moving vehicles or fixed roadside units as transmission nodes and wireless communication technology to form a mobile network for performing point-to-point transmission. Currently, the VANET adopts the transmission control protocol (TCP) and the split-TCP for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication or the vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication.
Please refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. FIG. 1A shows a diagram illustrating an operation of a VANET using a conventional TCP protocol. FIG. 1B shows a diagram illustrating an operation of the VANET using a split-TCP protocol.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the conventional TCP protocol can be used to provide a reliable transmission between a source node (i.e. the vehicle C1) and a destination node (i.e. the vehicle C10) in the VANET. The vehicle C1 utilizes a multi-hop transmission technique and forwards a packet to the vehicle C10 through a plurality of the relay nodes (i.e. the vehicle C2 to the vehicle C9) in sequence. Due to the movement of vehicle, the VANET system generally has fast changing network topology (e.g., the positions of nodes). However, the conventional TCP protocol is a communication protocol suitable for establishing communication with stationary nodes. In other words, the conventional TCP protocol is unable to adapt to the rapid network change of the VANET system. For example, when any vehicle leaves the VANET, the network connection between the source node (i.e. the vehicle C1) and the destination node (i.e. the vehicle C10) is instantly interrupted and the source node (i.e. the vehicle C1) has to search and establish a new network connection as well as retransmits the packet to the destination node (i.e. the vehicle C10), thereby introduces the end-to-end delays. Moreover, for the VANET that adopts the conventional TCP protocol, the channel capturing time associated with one channel could be greatly increased due to long transmission channel and high packet loss rate, thereby generating the channel capturing effect and decreasing the transmission efficiency of using the conventional TCP protocol in the VANET.
The split-TCP technique is brought to resolve the long transmission channel issue associated with the conventional TCP protocol. The split-TCP protocol places proxy nodes (e.g., the vehicles C4 and C7) at designated position and divides the network connection between the source node (i.e. the vehicle C1) and the destination node (i.e. the vehicle C10) into sub-connections SUB_1˜SUB_3. Particularly, each of the sub-connections contains a fixed number of transmission nodes so that the number of hops (i.e. hop paths H1-H3) in each of the transmission paths is fixed. Taking a sub-connection SUB_1 as an example, the packet transmitted from the source node (i.e. the vehicle C1) to the proxy node (i.e. the vehicle C4) is routed through the hop path H1, the vehicle C2, the hop path H2, the vehicle C3, and the hop path H3.
Therefore, when any of the proxy nodes (e.g., the vehicle C5) leaves the VANET, the vehicle C4 (i.e. the proxy node) reestablishes a reliable transmission between the vehicle C4 and the destination node (i.e. the vehicle C10) without needing to reestablish the reliable transmission from the source node (i.e. the vehicle C1) to the destination node (i.e. the vehicle C10). Additionally, whenever a packet is lost during the packet transmission, the packet can be directly retransmitted from the preceding proxy node, thereby improve the packet transmission efficiency of the VANET.
However, since the distance between the source node (i.e. the vehicle C1) and the destination node (i.e. the vehicle C10) is fixed. Each proxy node (e.g., the vehicle C4, C7) further needs to temporarily store the packet and establishes a sub-connection with the subsequent proxy node or the destination node upon receiving the data packet. Thus, the more proxy nodes employed in a network connection (e.g., being divided into more sub-connections), the slower the transmission speed. In other words, the split-TCP protocol employs the proxy node to fixedly divide the connection into designated number of sub-connections. Hence the split-TCP protocol is still unable to adaptively to the rapid network change of the VANET.

Transmission control method and communication apparatus using the same for vehicular ad hoc network system


A search method of efficiently retrieving information is provided.

Holographic recording that records information in a recording medium using holography is generally performed by an information light that carries image information and a reference light being superimposed within the recording medium. An interference fringe pattern formed at this time is written in the recording medium. When the recorded information is reproduced, the reference light is irradiated onto the recording medium. Image information is reproduced by diffraction caused by the interference fringe pattern.
In recent years, in holographic recording, volume holography, particularly digital volume holography that has been developed for practical use to achieve ultra-high data density is receiving attention. The volume holography is a method in which interference fringes are three-dimensionally written through active use of a thickness direction of the recording medium. While using the same recording medium and recording method as the volume holography, the digital volume holography is a computer-oriented holographic recording method that limits the image information to be recorded to a binarized digital pattern. In the digital holography, even image information such as an analog illustration is digitalized and developed into two-dimensional digital pattern information. The two-dimensional digital pattern information is then recorded as the image information. During reproduction, the digital pattern information is read and decoded, thereby returning the digital pattern information to the original image information. The image information is then displayed. As a result, even when a signal-to-noise (SNS) ratio is somewhat poor during reproduction, the original information can be very accurately reproduced through differential detection and through binary data encoding and error correction.
An example of recording being performed in a hologram recording layer by volume holography is as follows. An information light carrying information to be recorded and a recording reference light are simultaneously irradiated from a transparent substrate side for a predetermined amount of time such that interference fringes in a thickness direction are formed within the hologram recording layer. An interference fringe pattern is three-dimensionally fixed within the hologram recording layer. As a result, the information is recorded as a three-dimensional hologram (Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2).
Optical information recording methods include a method in which recording is performed with the information light and the recording reference light being disposed on optical axes of differing angles and a method in which recording is performed with the information light and the recording reference light being disposed on a same axis. The recording method in which the information light and the recording reference light are disposed on the same axis is receiving attention as a method suitable for volume holography, such as that described above (refer to, for example, Patent Literature 3).    Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Heisei 11-311938    Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-99952    Patent Literature 3: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Heisei 10-124872

Abstract: A search light 21 is generated from a search condition (S1). The search light is irradiated onto a hologram 104a recorded in a hologram recording layer 104 (S2). When the search light interferes with the hologram and a reproduction light is generated, address information of the hologram from which the reproduction light is generated is identified using an address light 23 that reads the address information. The identified address light is recorded (S3). When the search light does not generate the reproduction light from the hologram, the search light is irradiated onto another hologram 104b recorded in the hologram recording layer.


The present invention discloses an optical disk formed according to double injection molding of forming an area of the optical disk on which a recording film is formed, namely, an outer circumferential area by using polycarbonate that is an amorphous polymer, and forming an area of the optical disk on which the recording film is not formed, namely, an inner circumferential area by using a semi-crystalline polymer having a similar elastic modulus to that of polycarbonate and having durability to a static fatigue, especially polyamide. Therefore, the optical disk is efficiently prevented from being damaged by restricting growth of cracks near its hole, obtaining excellent optical characteristics as an information recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk, and more particularly to, an optical disk which can be efficiently prevented from being damaged, by forming an inner circumferential area of the optical disk by using a semi-crystalline polymer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an optical disk is classified into a compact disk for recording data such as voice or image signals according to a digital recording method, and a digital versatile disk using a short wavelength of red semiconductor laser and having a large recording capacity.
FIG. 1 is a plane view illustrating a general optical disk.
Referring to FIG. 1, a hole 10a is formed at the center of the optical disk 10, an inner circumferential area 11 on which a recording film is not formed is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the hole 10a, and an outer circumferential area 12 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the inner circumferential area 11.
Normally, the optical disk 10 is cracked through carelessness of the user, or when the optical disk 10 is composed of polycarbonate that is an amorphous polymer.
Even if only 1/10 of yield stress is continuously applied to polycarbonate that is the amorphous polymer at the normal temperature, polycarbonate is damaged.
The optical disk 10 may be damaged as follows. When the optical disk 10 is injection-molded or handled by the user, minute scratches formed around the hole 10a of the optical disk 10 cause cracks. Such cracks are gradually grown by a craze phenomenon, to damage the optical disk 10.
According to the craze phenomenon, a chain structure inside the amorphous polymer is collapsed and cut, and cracks are gradually grown, thereby finally damaging the optical disk 10.
In addition, an optical disk drive over 10,000 rpm, namely, 52x has been normally used. In the case of 52x, as shown in FIG. 2, a maximum yield stress of the optical disk 10 reaches 4.315 MPa.
In the 52x optical disk drive, if the optical disk 10 is damaged, a maximum speed of fragments reaches 66 m/s. That is, the fragments of the optical disk 10 may injure the user through a front surface of a casing of the optical disk drive.
The optical disk 10 is damaged because its material, polycarbonate is the amorphous polymer. Here, the optical disk 10 is damaged due to a static fatigue (or static load) at the normal temperature.
In order to prevent the optical disk 10 from being damaged, a crystalline polymer or a semi-crystalline polymer such as a thermosetting resin must be used to form the optical disk 10. However, the crystalline polymer or the semi-crystalline polymer has inferior optical characteristics. Technically, the crystalline polymer or the semi-crystalline polymer cannot be employed as the basic material of the optical disk 10.
That is to say, polycarbonate that is the amorphous polymer has been used to form the optical disk 10 to improve optical characteristics. However, polycarbonate is easily cracked due to the static fatigue, and such cracks are grown to damage the optical disk 10.
A method for preventing an optical disk from being damaged has been disclosed under Korean Laid-Open Patent Application 2001-0091302.
According to Korean Laid-Open Patent Application 2001-0091302, a metal material is molded in or inserted into the inner circumferential surface of the optical disk. However, an elastic modulus of the metal material is much higher than that of polycarbonate. As a result, a very high stress, about 52.5 MPa of stress is concentrated around the metal material, and thus the optical disk is more easily damaged than the general optical disk.


An improved system and method for selectively applying LCD Response Time Compensation (LRTC) to areas of an LCD panel containing video motion. Motion vectors contained within macroblocks in a compressed video stream are utilized to qualify whether individual pixels in a video frame are a candidate for LRTC. In various embodiments of the invention, computationally expensive LRTC can be selectively applied, pixel-by-pixel, which can result in portable information system power savings by reducing the number of computational cycles and the amount of graphics controller power overhead.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system displays and, more particularly, to a system and method for improving the display of motion video on an LCD panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems configured as portable units have grown in popularity among users over the past several years. Portable information handling systems generally integrate in a single housing a display, internal power source and processing components, such as the CPU and hard disk drive, so that a user can carry the portable system from place to place while the system is operating. As processing components have decreased in size and increased in performance, portable information handling systems are often able to pack processing capabilities into a relatively small housing that are comparable to the capabilities available from desktop systems. Generally, the most practical display solution for portable systems both in terms of size and power consumption are liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.
These LCD panels are progressively scanned, meaning that at any given time instant, partial frames of both the previous and current frame are visible on the screen along with a progressively moving tear boundary. This scan and hold characteristic is well suited for the display of static image content, such as spreadsheets and word processing documents, since screen flicker is minimal compared to cathode ray tube (CRT) displays. In the past, video content viewed on LCD panels was generally of low quality and/or resolution, and typically limited to game graphics, Internet video streams, and file-based video clips. Today it is becoming common to use LCD panels for delivery of high quality video content. However, the same characteristics that are well suited for display of static content are undesirable for display of video that contains motion. In general, this is due to the inadequate pixel response times of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.
Each pixel in an LCD consists of a column of liquid crystal molecules suspended between two transparent electrodes that are in turn sandwiched between two polarizing filters whose axes of polarity are perpendicular to each other. By applying voltage to the transparent electrodes over each pixel, the corresponding liquid crystal molecules are "twisted" by electrostatic forces, allowing varying degrees of light to pass through the polarizing filters. Due to their electro-optical nature, the liquid crystal materials used in LCD panels have inertia and cannot be switched instantaneously. This results in transition response times that are generally not fast enough for high quality video applications. This slow response time, or latency, can result in video motion artifacts that cause quickly moving objects to appear visually blurred, an effect known as "ghosting" or "smearing."
LCD response times continue to improve, but vendor specifications are generally limited to "off-to-on," "rise and fall," or "black-to-white" response time, which is the time it takes a pixel to change from black to white (rise) and then back to black (fall). The voltage required to change an LCD pixel from black to white, or white to black is greater than the voltage to change a pixel from one shade of grey to another. This disparity in voltage differential is the reason "black-to-white" response time is much faster than "grey-to-grey" response time, which is defined as the time it takes a pixel to change from one shade of grey to another. Grey-to-grey response times for LCD panels typically used in portable information handling systems can be many times longer (e.g., 30 to 50 msec.) than corresponding "black-to-white" response times.
Video frame rates are typically on the order of 17 msec at 60 Hz, which can be shorter than liquid crystal "grey-to-grey" response time. These frame rates, when combined with motion within the video frame, can result in video artifacts that cause smearing and low video quality. This problem extends to all LCD displays, but it is more of an issue for LCD panels used in portable information processing systems due to their typically lower power consumption and correspondingly slow response times. In addition, due to limited battery life, power adapter capacity, cooling limitations, fan noise and other operational and design constraints known to those of skill in the art, portable systems are generally designed to efficiently use computation cycles and minimize the associated overhead required to display an image.
Current approaches to pixel response time issues include LCD Response Time Compensation (LRTC), an approach for mitigating video artifacts that can contribute to smearing when motion video is displayed on an LCD screen. LRTC addresses slow intrinsic response times by imposing an extrinsic overdrive voltage for each pixel to be written, based on the prior and next pixel values and the predetermined characteristics of an LCD panel. LRTC has been implemented in LCD-based televisions by applying compensation across the entire screen, based on the assumption that the full screen is displaying motion video. LRTC is also being implemented on computer flat panel monitors, likewise applied across the entire screen, just as it is for LCD-based televisions. However, there is no requirement for LRTC to be applied to an entire screen, as no advantage is gained by applying it to static display areas. In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a system and method for selectively applying LRTC only to those areas of the screen that display video objects in motion.

Video optimized LCD response time compensation


Systems and methods are provided for interactive construction of an object boundary by minimizing a sum of costs, including costs associated with inconsistency of the image data and costs associated with undesired curve shape properties. A particle filter optimization algorithm is implemented that incorporates a variable strength, intrinsic preference for boundary smoothness. The particle filter generates alternative sequences of random moves, constructed in parallel, to avoid becoming stuck in local minima. Approximate optimization algorithms are utilized, keeping computational burden low, freeing resources to analyze intrinsic costs associated with local curvature. In one embodiment, a user may construct a curve by launching a particle stream, and by choosing visually satisfactory locations on the stream from which to relaunch particles. The user can also provide other input, such as drop down dams to redirect the stream at T-junctions. Additionally, a facility is incorporated to break the smoothness constraint automatically at corners of the object boundary.

The ability to cut out objects from a greater image setting, such as may be found in a computing device in a computer system, has numerous industrial and consumer applications. For instance, in a security setting, it may be desirable to isolate a vehicle, and its two-dimensional (2-D) outline, for purposes of tracking the vehicle from frame to frame as the vehicle moves. Similarly, one could imagine the tracking of a basketball or the like, as it moves around in a basketball game, for purposes of moving a camera. Marketing applications may include a task of assembling a variety of different, or disparate, media sources to form a unique marketing message, and thus there may be a need for cutting out certain objects from one media source to include, or superimpose, in another media source. Consumers alike may wish to cutout portions of photographs, or other media content, for personal use, e.g., to cutout the family dog from a digital photograph and superimpose the family dog next to the family cat.
In short, there are an increasing number of digital images available just about anywhere, when one considers the Internet as a source of multimedia digital content, the increasing use and exchange of digital photographs and the ability to transform analog representations of images to corresponding digital representations. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary image 200 in connection with which it may be desirable to define the boundary of an object 210. In this case, the object 210 is a cheetah and the strong texturing of the foreground, i.e., the cheetah's pelt, makes the task of image object cut-out a difficult task. While human eyes coupled to a human brain can intuitively separate the cheetah 210 from the background 220 in three dimensions, computers are less intuitively inclined, and are restricted to instructions given to them for interpreting the two-dimensional arrays of color pixels, or two-dimensional array of black and white pixels.
The extraction of a region of interest from one image to be pasted into another image is thus a fundamental and difficult image editing capability. This editing task is generally divided into three elementary steps. First, a region of interest is selected. Second, the foreground region, represented by a field of RGB-values and an α-mask, is extracted from the source image, while paying particular attention to mixed pixels on the region boundary. Third, the textured foreground is pasted onto the new background, using the α-mask. For a variety of reasons, present methods for performing the first part of the process, namely foreground region selection, are inadequate.
Thus, there is a need for a new interactive method for constructing a bounding curve for the foreground. Optimal automatic detection of image boundaries has been studied to some degree and some solutions have been proposed. For instance, one present day system has developed a dynamic programming algorithm for extraction boundaries by optimizing a cost function measuring a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic properties. Another present day system approached the same kind of optimization problem using a form of heuristic search.
Another such system borrowed the machinery of probabilistic multi-target tracking to develop a curve following algorithm that deals with branching. More recently, the problem of automatic tracking of roads in images has been addressed using a probabilistic decision tree algorithm based on likelihood ratio tests, and by applying a particle filter. However, no existing system has adapted such particle filtering techniques to the interactive problem of image cut-out. Thus, presently, no one has developed a system that performs automatic optimal curve detection by particle filtering.
Achieving high quality cut-out is difficult in practice because the foreground boundary needs to be located accurately, to within a pixel or better. Marking individual pixels by hand can be accurate, but is laborious and thus can only be done properly at a snail's pace. Semi-automatic methods can speed up the process, but they have to rely on assumptions about the shape properties of the bounding contour, whose validity is somewhat specific to a particular contour. Thus, there is a need for a more robust approach to the problem of image cut-out, whereby a box of tools is provided to and selected by the user, on a problem-by-problem basis. Some commonly provided pre-existing tools include: Freeform curve drawing, the use of region properties, curve snapping, snakes and "intelligent scissors."
Freeform curve drawing relates to a technique wherein a curve is constructed explicitly, either as a mathematical curve, e.g. a parametric spline, or pixel by pixel, giving the user maximum control, but also maximum labor. Tools that work using region properties, such as ADOBE's® Magic Wand and similar tools, work on an entirely different principle. Rather than using boundary properties, these tools use region properties, extending the color profile of seed regions; a related technique is known as key extraction. Curve snapping is used to accelerate the drawing of boundaries by snapping the cursor towards detected image features such as edges and corners. This saves labor wherever the image features are sufficiently well defined for reliable, automatic detection. The snakes algorithms allow an initial, approximately drawn, bounding curve to be refined globally, taking into account both extrinsic properties such as the degree of coincidence with detected image features, and intrinsic properties such as smoothness. Smoothness is encouraged by penalizing curvature in a cost function for the fitted curve. The snakes algorithms can save even more labor, but the inbuilt tendency to smoothness is not appropriate in all situations. "Intelligent Scissors" techniques, such as Livewire, minimize a combined cost based on various extrinsic properties but does so serially, by dynamic programming (DP), starting at one end of the curve. In this way, intrinsic properties are taken into account and the serial construction fits well with the way humans draw; however, in practice the use of DP restricts the intrinsic properties, i.e., curve length can be taken into account, but not curve smoothness.
Thus, there is a need for a robust mechanism or component that provides boundary definition of an object in an image for purposes of selecting a region of interest. In this regard, it would be advantageous to provide a tool that includes the desirable results or elements of both the snake algorithms and the "intelligent scissors" techniques, described above. Like the snake algorithms, it would be advantageous to provide a tool that incorporates curve smoothness, not just curve length. Like the "intelligent scissors" techniques, it would be advantageous to provide a tool that constructs a boundary for the object serially, i.e., by beginning at one point, or end, of the curve and building the boundary curve from that point. It would be still further desirable to use approximate cost minimization algorithms, such as Monte Carlo algorithms to aid in the minimization of computation necessary to achieve these goals, thereby providing a real-time solution to the problem of image boundary definition.

Methods and system for providing image object boundary definition by particle filtering


A malicious software recognition apparatus and method are provided. The malicious software recognition apparatus stores a training dataset, which includes a plurality of network flow datasets. Each network flow dataset corresponds to one of a plurality of software categories, and the software categories include a plurality of malicious software categories. The malicious software recognition apparatus tests a malicious software recognition model and learns that a plurality of recognition accuracies of a subset of the malicious software categories are low, determines that an overlap degree of the network flow datasets corresponding to the subset is high, updates the software categories by combining the malicious software categories corresponding to the subset, updates the training dataset by integrating the network flow datasets corresponding to the subset, trains the malicious software recognition model according to the updated training dataset. The trained malicious software recognition model is deployed to the real world.

Network security equipment (e.g., firewalls) which recognizes malicious software programs based on network behaviors (e.g., network flow) is the front-line equipment for establishing an information security environment. This kind of network security equipment needs to analyze and then record network behaviors of various malicious software programs when the malicious software programs communicate with the outside (e.g., communication behaviors with remote servers, network flows). Thereafter, if the network security equipment detects that a software program has an abnormal network behavior (e.g., connecting to an Internet Protocol (IP) address recorded in a black list, establishing a lot of network connections, having a specific network feature recorded in a malicious software database), the software program is considered as a malicious software program and will then be blocked.
This kind of network security equipment cannot obtain system behaviors of a software program (e.g., input/output behaviors, write/read operations, application program interface (API) calls). Hence, this kind of network security equipment determines whether a software program is normal or malicious only based on network behaviors of the software program. However, features of network behaviors are similar, and categories and number of the malicious software programs increase continuously due to variation, segmentation, or re-packaging, so it is extremely difficult to correctly determine whether a software program is normal or malicious and even recognize the categories of the malicious software program. Moreover, if the network communication of a software program is encrypted, this kind of network security equipment cannot recognize the software program because the advanced packet feature of the software program cannot be obtained.
Accordingly, there is an urgent need for a technique that can recognize the categories of the malicious software program based on the network behaviors under the condition that categories and number of the malicious software programs are continuously increasing.

Malicious software recognition apparatus and method


A catalyst composition for use in electrochemical reactor devices comprising platinum, ruthenium, and osmium and having a single phase crystal structure comprising a face centered cubic unit cell. In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment, in atomic percentages, platinum comprises about 65% of the catalyst composition, ruthenium comprises about 25% of the catalyst composition, and osmium comprises about 10% of the catalyst composition.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a catalyst for use in direct oxidation fuel cells or other electrochemical reactor devices operating in the temperature range up to about 200.degree. C. More particularly, this invention relates to a single phase, high surface area catalyst comprising platinum, ruthenium and osmium.
2. Description of Prior Art
State-of-the-art catalysts for the electro-oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels such as methanol are based on platinum (Pt)-ruthenium (Ru) alloys. The overall electrochemical reaction for the oxidation of methanol on a fuel cell anode, the fuel electrode, is: EQU CH.sub.3 OH+H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.CO.sub.2 +6H.sup.+ +6e.sup.-
Platinum is a good catalyst for the adsorption and dehydrogenation of methanol molecules but it is rapidly poisoned as the catalyst surface becomes blocked with the adsorbed intermediate, carbon monoxide. It is known that H.sub.2 O plays a key role in the removal of such poisoning species from its role in the rate determining process of CO removal in accordance with the following reactions: EQU Pt+H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.Pt--OH+H.sup.+ +e.sup.- EQU Pt--CO+Pt--OH.fwdarw.2Pt+CO.sub.2 +H.sup.+ +e.sup.-
However, platinum does not adsorb H.sub.2 O species well at potentials where fuel electrodes operate in direct oxidation fuel cells. The result is that platinum is a poor catalyst for direct oxidation fuel cells and the steady-state activity necessary for fuel oxidation is poor.
Platinum-ruthenium, as previously stated, is presently the state-of-the-art catalyst for direct oxidation of methanol. The success of the platinum-ruthenium catalyst is based on the ability of ruthenium to adsorb H.sub.2 O species at potentials where methanol is adsorbing on the platinum and facilitate the carbon monoxide removal reaction. This dual function of the alloy catalyst's surface, that is, to adsorb both reactants on the catalyst surface on adjacent metal sites, is known as the bifunctional mechanism in accordance with the following reaction: EQU Pt--CO+Ru--OH.fwdarw.Pt+Ru+CO.sub.2 +H.sup.+ +e.sup.-
The combination of platinum and ruthenium adjacent metal sites forms an active site on the catalyst surface where methanol is oxidized in a non-poisoning way. The term "pair site" is used herein to describe the situation where adjacent metal atoms are adsorbing the methanol and water reactants. Appreciable rates of methanol oxidation are obtainable only in the presence of a high pair density. It follows that a single phase alloy crystal structure is desirable because the density of pair sites will be maximized on an alloy surface. The activity of the pair site, however, is the most important parameter. For example, several alloy surfaces with high pair site densities are known, but the activity for methanol oxidation is only appreciable on some of these surfaces. That is, if the catalytic activity of each pair site is low, then the resulting methanol oxidation will be poor. The elements that constitute the pair site are, thus, critical.
The best known catalysts for methanol oxidation are Pt--Ru, Pt--Sn, Pt--Mo, and Pt--Re. It is known that osmium (Os) adsorbs water at the most negative potential of all the noble metals, albeit still in the range of interest for fuel electrodes in direct oxidation fuel cells. As a result, osmium is a primary candidate for alloying with platinum to produce a good methanol oxidation catalyst. However, osmium possesses a maximum solubility of 20 at. % (atomic percentage) in platinum. Thus, while a pair site of Pt--Os may be intrinsically more active than a pair site of Pt--Ru, the limited solubility limits the pair site density to values smaller than that found in Pt--Ru. In addition, osmium can form OsO.sub.4, which is toxic to humans, under certain conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,711 to Luczak et al. teaches a ternary alloy catalyst for fuel cells comprising platinum and gallium. Additional elements of the catalyst include chromium, cobalt, nickel and/or mixtures thereof. The alloy catalyst is indicated to require at least about 50% platinum to be an effective catalytic material; however, other elements in the same periodic group, namely iridium, rhodium, osmium and ruthenium are indicated to be substitutable for a portion of the platinum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,468 to Alfenaar et al. teaches a process for producing metal electrodes in which a basis-metal electrode comprising a basis-metal which is present in a finely divided or porous state and which is selected from the group consisting of the noble metals from Groups IB, IIB, or VII of the Periodic Table of the Elements, or an alloy of at least one of said metals, is contacted with a solution containing an alloying element. The alloying element is selected from the group consisting of an element from Groups IIIA, IVA, VA, VIA, VII, IB, IIB, VIIB or combinations thereof, of the Periodic Table of the Elements. The alloying-element compound is reduced in situ to form a free-alloying element, whereby the alloying element forms an alloy with the basis-metal. Preferred basis-metals include palladium, platinum, palladium-platinum, and platinum-iridium.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,207 to Stonehart et al. teaches an electrocatalyst comprising an inorganic support and a ternary alloy essentially consisting of platinum-palladium-ruthenium supported on the support. U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,391 to Stonehart et al. teaches an electrocatalyst comprising an inorganic support and a four-element alloy consisting essentially of platinum, nickel, cobalt and manganese supported on the inorganic support. U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,580 to Ippommatsu et al. teaches a fuel electrode for a high temperature solid electrolyte fuel cell comprising ruthenium, osmium, rhodium or iridium or an alloy thereof.
None of the prior art of which we are aware teaches or suggests the importance of the crystal structure of the disclosed catalysts.

Single phase ternary Pt-Ru-Os catalysts for direct oxidation fuel cells


A trunk mounted Christmas tree water level measuring and alarm device includes a housing configured to be mounted to the tree trunk of a Christmas tree through at least one variable length attaching strap. A first water level sensor rod extends down from the housing and configured to extend into a water reservoir of a tree stand supporting the Christmas tree at a low water level. Another sensor rod may extend to a high water level. The housing including a power supply and at least one water level alarm configured to activate when the sensor rod(s) indicate a water level in the water reservoir below the low water level or, optionally, above the high water level. The housing further includes a light sensor and an alarm override wherein the alarm is overridden when the light sensor indicates the presence of less than a preset threshold of light around the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Christmas tree watering, and more particularly to a trunk mounted Christmas tree water level measuring and alarm device and an optional tree watering system.
2. Background Information
It is well known that watering cut plants, especially Christmas trees can be inconvenient. A Christmas tree is also called a "holiday tree" or a "Winter Celebration Tree" to use an allegedly more expansive, politically correct nomenclature. However, as the applicant is not yet legally obligated to use such silly terms these will be referenced as Christmas trees herein. When a Christmas tree is not adequately watered it will dry out and this can lead to an unsightly premature excessive loss of tree needles. The drying of the tree also creates a substantial safety hazard as a dry tree becomes a substantial fire hazard. This fire hazard can be exacerbated by electrical ornaments and open flames (candles and fires in a fireplace) that are on or in proximity to the Christmas tree.
Typically the cut Christmas tree is mounted within a tree stand that includes a container, tank, or reservoir for holding water so that the tree can remain fresh without prematurely drying out during the holiday season. Periodic attempts to water the tree require that water be carefully poured into the container. The water reservoir is usually obstructed by closely spaced tree limbs, holiday decorations, tree base wraps, and surrounding gifts. The watering of a typical Christmas tree is thus more difficult than typical house plants and cut flowers, and is therefore often postponed, leading to a lack of adequate water supply for the Christmas tree.
Additionally due to the difficulty in reaching the Christmas tree stand, the watering procedure can result, more often than with watering of other house plants, in water spillage due to over-filling. This over-filling often results in damage to surrounding objects (including gifts) and to the carpet and floor. This may occur because a person can not readily ascertain, due to the previously mentioned obstructions, when the container or water reservoir is filled to an appropriate level sufficient to allow the tree to receive water from the reservoir or filled to overflowing.
The prior art has provided a number of devices in attempts to overcome some of the mentioned shortcomings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,017 discloses a low water alarm for a Christmas tree stand having a fluid sensing wire probe connected to a battery operated circuit that activates an alarm with lights and sound using a hook for hanging it on a Christmas tree to detect a low water level in the Christmas tree stand reservoir. U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,137 discloses a limb mounted tree watering funnel for a Christmas tree. U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,176 discloses an ornamental reservoir and tube watering device that operates on the principal of pressure differentials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,236 discloses a reservoir, a conduit, and a valve with a check ball. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,076,009 and 5,799,437 disclose a Christmas tree watering system using a funnel placed in the head of a Santa Claus ornament and a tube plus a water level float valve control. U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,997 discloses a device having a segmented rigid conduit in combination with a funnel for adding water to hard-to-reach watering stands for indoor trees. U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,839 discloses a Christmas tree watering funnel with an indicating light and float. U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,348 discloses a device similar to U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,017. U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,926 discloses an offset funnel tree watering device. U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,083 discloses a trunk mounted tree watering device. U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,929 discloses a Christmas tree watering device that is coupled to the stand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,695 discloses a Christmas tree watering device with a funnel mounted from a horizontally extending section of tubing. U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D465,388, D483,234 disclose Christmas tree watering devices (generally funnels) in the shape of a Christmas tree ornament. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,615,516, 6,073,390 and 6,082,043 6,167,651 disclose a watering system for a Christmas tree whereby an ornament is used as the receiving receptacle for liquid to be delivered to a base holder or container supporting the base of a Christmas tree for supplying water to the Christmas tree. U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,195 discloses a Christmas tree watering device that provides a filling reservoir separate from the tree. U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,493 discloses a tree watering device with internal float mechanism. Reservoir plant and Christmas tree watering systems are also shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,369,910; 5,363,591; 5,157,868 4,930,252; 4,653,224; and 4,825,587.
The above patents tend to solve the problem of simplifying the watering procedure; however this is only part of the problem. There remains a need to tell the user when to use the watering device to water the tree. Christmas trees use considerably more water than the conventional house plant so there is a need to water more frequently. Several of the above solutions incorporate water level measuring devices with the watering devices. These devices can be of great assistance in maintaining a Christmas tree, however the above solutions are complex and thus costly. The complexity of these prior art water level measuring devices and/or the associated costs have lead to a failure of such device from being widely commercially implemented. Another problem of the prior art water level alarms for Christmas trees relates to notification of the user. If they are very unobtrusive notifications then the user is not adequately notified. Alternatively when the alarm is substantial they can be annoying and thus de-activated by the user, and equally ineffective in practice. As a result of all of these issues there is no widely available, simple, cost effective water level measuring device that allows users to properly maintain their Christmas trees.
All of the above identified patents are incorporated herein by reference. As described above, there remains a need in the art to for tree water level measuring and alarm device that can be easily and securely mounted and adapted to many trees and tree supports that will adequately indicate the user of the need to water the Christmas tree.

Trunk mounted Christmas tree water level measuring and alarm device