A remote call center utilizes both cell phone and satellite communication networks to transmit data messages to a vehicle equipped with both a telematics module and a SDAR module. The telematics module and the SDAR module are both coupled to a vehicle data bus, and a software communication token containing a current budget is assigned to a selected module in response to a vehicle turn-off event. The module possessing the communication token determines the available signal strength on its respective communication network. If the available signal strength is adequate for reliable data communication with the call center, the module retains possession of the token and periodically wakes-up to check for incoming messages from the call center. If the available signal strength is inadequate, the module possessing the token passes the token to the other module, after which that module periodically wakes-up to check for incoming messages from the call center.

Many modern vehicles are equipped with one or more wireless control modules that communicate with a remote message transmission facility such as a "call center". The most prevalent wireless control module is a so-called "telematics" module that communicates with a remote call center by way of a cell phone network. In addition to supporting voice communications, a telematics module is frequently configured to transmit and receive digital data, even when the vehicle is inactive. For example, the telematics module can be configured to receive vehicle control commands from the call center for activating certain electrical components of the vehicle for unlocking the doors, sounding the horn or flashing the headlights when requested by the vehicle owner or other authorized person.
Wireless modules designed to be operational when the vehicle is inactive are typically assigned a "current budget" at vehicle turn-off in order to prevent excessive power consumption during prolonged periods of vehicle inactivity. A commonly employed power-saving technique places the module in a "sleep" (minimum power consumption) mode at vehicle turn-off, which is occasionally exited when a "wake-up" event occurs. Ordinarily, the wake-up events occur periodically, such as once every five minutes, at which time the module checks for an incoming message from the remote call center. The module services any received messages, deducts the current budget for the power consumed, and then returns to the sleep mode. This process of periodically waking-up and then returning to the sleep mode continues until the vehicle is re-started or the current budget is reduced to zero.
Telematics modules perform as desired except when the vehicle is parked in a location that is not adequately served by the cell phone network. In such instances, communications from the call center cannot be reliably received, and the remote vehicle control functionality is lost. This occurs even when the vehicle is equipped with other wireless control modules such as a satellite digital audio receiver (SDAR) module. Accordingly, what is needed is a communication control method for fully utilizing the communication capability of a vehicle during periods of inactivity.

Communication control method for a vehicle


Streaming buffer renaming for memory accesses issued by a microprocessor to an external memory via a system bus allows up to N fetch accesses at any one time for M physical streaming buffer locations, where N is greater than M. When a fetch within the processor misses the instruction cache, the fetch address is placed in the streaming buffer. When the data has been fetched from the external memory, it is returned to the streaming buffer and placed into one of the M physical buffer locations. The data within the streaming buffer is returned to the instruction cache of the processor only if it is to be used in accordance with the computer program being executed.

Cache memory has been in existence for many years. Modern cache memories are designed to take advantage of the locality of temporal reference as well as the locality of spatial reference. This means that once an operand has been referenced from memory, either the same operand, or other operands nearby in the memory are often referenced a short time later. Recognizing the value of cache memories, practitioners have developed ever more complex, hierarchical memory systems. For example, today it is quite common to find commercially-available computer systems having two or more cache memories.
It is important to understand that caches exist in the context of a memory hierarchy within a computer system. Usually, there is small but very fast local cache memory coupled to a microprocessor or central processing unit (CPU). Often the local cache memory is incorporated on the same integrated circuit as the microprocessor itself. If the processor attempts to access a memory reference, and the access to the local cache misses, then the access is passed on to a bigger, but slower, secondary memory.
Very often, computer systems employ a secondary cache in the memory hierarchy, interposed between the local cache memory and a third level memory. The third level memory usually consists of another cache memory or the system's main memory (e.g., DRAM or a rigid disk drive). In the case where an access misses both the local and secondary caches, the access ends up at the third level cache (or main memory).
Some computer systems also employ a separate instruction cache, which is a fast, local memory that holds instructions to be executed. When a program tries to access instruction data that is not yet (or no longer) in the instruction cache, the processor unit must wait until the desired instruction or instructions are fetched from a higher level of memory within the memory hierarchy. By way of example, if an access to the instruction cache misses, a memory access is then generated to the secondary cache level, or to main memory.
Fetching refers to the act of extracting instructions to be executed from the memory hierarchy, including cache memories. In many cases, a computer system employs an instruction fetch unit that is responsible for deciding which instruction cache entry ought to be accessed next to maximize program performance.
Besides cache memories, another microarchitecture design technique for improving performance is pipelining. Pipelining divides the execution of an instruction into sequential steps, using different microarchitectural resources at each step. One of the defining characteristics of pipelined computer machines is that they have several different instructions all executing at the same time, but usually at different stages in the machine. The particular parts of the execution process within the pipeline are often referred to as pipestages.
Pipelined machines must fetch the next instructions in a program flow before they have completed the previous instructions. This means that if the previous instruction was a branch, then the next instruction fetch could be to the wrong place. Branch prediction is a computer system technique that attempts to infer the proper next instruction address, knowing only the current address. Branch prediction typically utilizes an associative memory called a branch target buffer.
An associative memory is a table that is accessed not via an explicit index, but by the data it contains. If no entries of the associative memory match the input data, a "miss" signal is asserted. If any entries of the associative memory match the input data, the associative memory indicates the match, and produces any related data that was stored with that entry. Branch target buffers typically comprises a small associative memory that monitors the instruction cache index and tries to predict which instruction cache index should be accessed next, based on branch history.
Optimizing the actual algorithm used in retaining the history of each entry is an area of ongoing research. When a branch is incorrectly predicted, the speculative state of the machine must be flushed and fetching restarted from the correct place. This process is referred to as branch recovery. Speculation is the technique of guessing which way a program will proceed, and executing down that path. Speculation implies a method of correction when a guess is determined to be wrong.
Difficulties arise in computer systems that employ a memory hierarchy and which attempt to take advantage of the parallelism present in a program by executing instructions based on data dependencies and resource availability. These types of machines are referred to as "out-of-order" computing machines. The term "out-of-order" means not necessarily executed in the same sequence implied by the source program. What can happen is that when an access misses the instruction cache, the computer's CPU issues a fetch to the external memory of the system. The problem in out-of-order machines, however, is that accesses can be returned in arbitrary order. Moreover, there exists a further problem in keeping track of pending requests from the external memory system in the face of mispredicted branches. In most cases, the external memory systems have no way of knowing that a memory access was canceled due to a mispredicted branch.
As will be seen, the present invention provides a method of prefetching using M physical streaming buffers having N logical identifiers, where N is greater than M. These physical buffers are renamed when an instruction stream is redirected. The invention provides numerous advantages in computer performance; especially in computer systems employing out-of-order execution engines.

Computer system employing streaming buffer for instruction preetching


A modulation method and modulator for an envelope tracking power supply. An output of a multi-level switching regulator (202) in the envelope tracking power supply modulator is in parallel connection with an output of a linear regulator (201) via an inductor (203) and supplies power to a load. The modulation method for the envelope tracking power supply includes: generating a first control signal (209) according to the current (211) obtained from inputting a first reference level signal (206); comparing the amplitude of a second reference level signal (2061) obtained according to the first reference level signal (206) with preset amplitudes of at least three levels, and outputting a second control signal (210) according to the comparison result and the first control signal (209); the multi-level switching regulator (202) outputting a level signal of corresponding amplitude according to the second control signal (210), and loading the amplitude of the level on the inductor (203) to output an inductive current (208′); and linearly regulating the first reference level signal (206) via a linear regulator (201) to obtain a voltage output (207) to the load. The present disclosure resolves the problem of fixed rate of change of current output by the switching regulator of the envelope tracking power supply regulator and cannot adjust to different load current change rates, thus the inductive current outputted by the multi-level switching regulator can better track the load current change.

In a power supply that supplies power to a Radio Frequency (RF) power amplifier, it is commonplace to employ a voltage modulation in the power supply.
Hereinafter, the voltage modulation will be described by taking the RF power amplifier as a load. To deal with the increasing user requirements for bandwidth, the modulation mode for the communication system becomes more and more complicated. One prominent problem is that the efficiency of the RF power amplifier is low, which is the bottleneck for improving the efficiency of whole communication system. As to the linear power amplifier, if a conventional DC power supply is used, to preserve linearity, it is required that the supply voltage be greater than the peak voltage of RF signals. When the peak of RF signals is relatively low, the power amplifier simultaneously withstands higher voltage and load current, and thus the efficiency of the power amplifier is relatively low. The average efficiency of the power amplifier depends on the Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) of the RF signals. To maximize communication bandwidth within a limited frequency band, modern communication systems employ a modulation mode with a non-constant envelope (amplitude) and higher PAPR. For example, the PAPR is 6.5 db˜7.0 dB in the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system and the PAPR is 9.0 db˜9.5 dB in Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) used in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), which causes a reduction of the efficiency of the power amplifier. A series of other problems appear, such as increase of the power amplifier's size and weight, and higher requirements to thermal environments for the air cooling, which results in increased application and maintenance costs. Therefore, it is significant to improve the efficiency of the power amplifier.
According to the existing literature and technologies, the manner for improving the power amplifier depending on the power supply technology mainly comprises the Envelope Elimination and Restoration (EER) power supply and the Envelope Tracking (ET) power supply. According to the EER power supply technology, a RF signal to be amplified is separated to an envelope and a phase modulation signal utilizing the feature i.e., a constant envelope signal may be effectively amplified by a nonlinear power amplifier, then the nonlinear power amplifier is powered by the ET power supply to restore the amplified RF signals. Since the amplified signal amplitude depends on the output voltage amplitude of the ET power supply, it requires higher tracking precision of the ET power supply, otherwise the linearity of the amplified signal will be affected. The ET power supply technology employs the linear power amplifier, and improves the efficiency of the linear power amplifier through dynamically adjusting the supply voltage of the ET signals. In the above two solutions, dynamically modulating the output voltage of the power supply is required. The power supply modulator must simultaneously keep a high efficiency to ensure that the two solutions may effectively improve the efficiency of the whole amplifier system.
In a modern communication system, an RF envelope signal has a wider bandwidth. For example, the bandwidth of WCDMA with a single carrier is 5 MHz, and the bandwidth of WCDMA with four carriers is 20 MHz. The ET power supply is required to provide a high modulation bandwidth and high efficiency. In the prior art, a switched-mode power supply regulator is able to provide a high conversion efficiency. However, extremely high switching speed is required in the application for 20 MHz bandwidth, which cannot be achieved through the conventional switch devices, which causes the reduction of the conversion efficiency of the regulator. In the prior art, the switched-mode power supply regulator always cooperates with the linear power supply regulator to utilize the high frequency feature of the linear power supply regulator and the efficiency of the switch-mode power supply regulator, so as to optimize the precision of modulation and efficiency. A typical structure is shown in FIG. 1, in which a linear regulator 201 employs a feedback control of an output voltage 207, so as to ensure that the output voltage 207 of the linear regulator 201 tracks a reference input signal 206. A switch regulator 102 is a current source structure which is a composed of a step-down switch circuit, i.e., a BUCK circuit. The control manner of the switch regulator 102 is that the linear regulator 201 outputs current 208 to a hysteresis controller 103. That is, detecting the output current 208 of the linear regulator 201, when the output current 208 of the linear regular 201 is high, a switch tube 104 turns on and the output current of a switch regulator 102 is increased; when the output current 208 of the linear regular 201 is low, a switch tube 105 turns on and the output current of the switch regulator 102 is reduced; thereby, controlling the amplitude of the output current 208 of the linear regulator 201 be in a low range and reducing the output power the linear regulator 201. Since the efficiency of the linear regulator is relatively low, the reduction of the output power of the linear regulator 201 may help to improve the efficiency of the power supply modulator system.
However, in the prior art above mentioned, there are the following issues: the current change rate of the switch regulator 102 with the BUCK circuit is fixed, which cannot adapt to various load current change rates. Taking the RF power amplifier as an example, the current change rate of the RF envelope signals is relatively high, and the load current of the power supply regulator also changes therewith. The fixed output current change rate of the switched regulator may cause the tracking sometimes to fail under the current change rate of a higher load current; and may cause frequent switching under the current change rate of a lower load current, so that the switching frequency and the switching loss are increased and the system efficiency is reduced.

Power supply modulation method and power supply modulator


A technique for serially coupling devices in a daisy chain cascading arrangement. Devices are coupled in a daisy chain cascade arrangement such that outputs of a first device are coupled to inputs of a second device later in the daisy chain to accommodate the transfer of information, such as data, address and command information, and control signals to the second device from the first device. The devices coupled in the daisy chain comprise a serial input (SI) and a serial output (SO). Information is input to a device via the SI. The information is output from the device via the SO. The SO of an earlier device in the daisy chain cascade is coupled to the SI of a device later in the daisy chain cascade. Information input to the earlier device via the device's SI is passed through the device and output from the device via the device's SO. The information is then transferred to the later device's SI via the connection from the earlier device's SO and the later device's SI.

Today computer-based systems can be found most everywhere and have made inroads into many devices that are used by society everyday, such as cell phones, handheld computers, automobiles, medical devices, personal computers and so on. In general, society has placed much reliance on computer-based systems to handle everyday tasks such as simple tasks like balancing checkbooks to relatively complex tasks such as predicting the weather. As technology improves, more and more tasks are migrated to computer-based systems. This, in turn, causes society to become more and more reliant on these systems.
A typical computer-based system comprises a system board and optionally one or more peripheral devices, such as display units, storage units and the like. The system board may contain one or more processors, a memory subsystem and other logic, such as serial device interfaces, network device controllers, hard disk controllers and the like.
The type of processors that are employed on a particular system board usually depends on the type of tasks performed by the system. For example, a system that performs a limited set of tasks, such as monitor emissions generated by an automobile engine and adjust an air/fuel mixture to ensure the engine is burning fuel completely may employ a simple specialized processor that is tailored to performing these tasks. On the other hand, a system that performs many different tasks, such as managing many users and running many different applications, may employ one or more complex processors that are general purpose in nature, configured to perform high-speed calculations and manipulate data to minimize the response time to servicing the users' requests.
The memory subsystem is a storage that holds information (e.g., instructions, data values) used by the processors. The memory subsystem typically comprises controller logic and one or more memory devices. The controller logic typically is configured to interface the memory devices with the processors and enable the processors to store and retrieve information to and from the memory devices. The memory devices hold the actual information.
Like the processors, the type of devices employed in a memory subsystem is often driven by the type of tasks performed by the computer system. For example, a computer system may have the task of having to boot without the assistance of a disk drive and execute a set of software routines that do not change often. Here, the memory subsystem may employ non-volatile devices, such as flash memory devices, to store the software routines. Other computer systems may execute very complex tasks that require a large high-speed data store to hold large portions of information. Here, the memory subsystem may employ high-speed high-density Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) devices to store large portions of information.
Presently, hard disk drives have high densities that can store 20 to 40 Gigabytes of data, but are relatively bulky. However, flash memory, also known as solid-state drive, is popular because of its high density, non-volatility, and small size relative to hard disk drives. Flash memory technology is based on EPROM and EEPROM technologies. The term "flash" was chosen because a large number of memory cells could be erased at one time as distinguished from EEPROMs, where each byte was erased individually. The advent of multi-level cells (MLC) further increases Flash memory density relative to single level cells. Those of skill in the art will understand that Flash memory can be configured as NOR Flash or NAND Flash, with NAND Flash having higher density per given area due to its more compact memory array structure. For the purpose of further discussion, references to Flash memory should be understood as being either NOR or NAND or other type Flash memory.
Devices in a memory subsystem are often interconnected using a parallel interconnection scheme. This scheme involves interconnecting the devices in a manner such that address and data information and control signals are coupled to the devices in a parallel fashion. Each device may incorporate multiple inputs/outputs to accommodate the parallel transfer of the data and address information as well as control signals to the devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc.


A method and apparatus for identifying molecular structures within a sample substance using an array having a plurality of test sites upon which the sample substance is applied. Each test site includes a probe formed therein to bond with an associated target molecular structure. An electrical signal is applied to the test site and the electrical properties of the test sites are detected to determine which probes have bonded to an associated target molecular structure.

In many applications, it is desirable to detect the presence of one or more molecular structures in a sample. For example, a DNA or RNA sequence analysis is very useful in genetic and disease diagnosis, toxicology testing, genetic research, agriculture and pharmaceutical development. Likewise, cell and antibody detection is important in disease diagnosis.
A number of techniques have been developed for molecular structure detection. In DNA and RNA sequence detection, two procedures are generally used, autoradiography and optical detection. Autoradiography is performed using .sup.32 P or .sup.35 S. For DNA sequence analysis applications, nucleic acid fragments are end labeled with .sup.32 P. These end labeled fragments are separated by sizes, then exposed to x-ray film for a specified amount of time. The amount of film exposure is related directly to the amount of radioactivity adjacent to a region of film.
The use of any radioactive label is associated with several disadvantages. First, prolonged exposure to radioactive elements increases the risk of acquiring genetic diseases, such as cancer. As such, precautions must be implemented when using radioactive markers or labels to reduce the exposure to radioactivity. Typically, workers must wear a device to continually monitor radioactive exposure. In addition, pregnant females should take additional precautions to prevent the occurrence of genetic mutations in the unborn.
Further, the incorporation of a radioactive label into a nucleic sequence increases the complexity and cost of the entire sequence analysis process. Although the chemistry is commonplace, it nonetheless necessitates an additional step. The film exposure also increases the required labor and cost of materials. The increase in cost is due to the extra reagents necessary for end labelling, as well as precautionary steps necessary for the safe handling of radioactive materials.
The radioactive detection scheme has sensitivity limitations in both the temporal and spatial domains. The use of radioactive labelling currently has a spatial resolution of one millimeter. Additional hardware and software are required to reduce the spatial resolution below one millimeter. The sensitivity of detection of the autoradiographic film is related directly to the amount of time during which the radioactive labelled fragments are exposed to the film. Thus, the exposure time of the film may range from hours to days, depending upon the level of radioactivity within each detection test sites. A .beta. scanner may drastically reduce the time required for film exposure during radiography. However, the use of the .beta. scanner significantly increases the expense associated with this type of detection, and has intrinsically poor spatial resolution.
Optical detection of fluorescent labelled receptors has also been utilized to detect molecular binding. Briefly, for DNA sequence analysis applications, a base-specific fluorescent dye is attached covalently to the oligonucleotide primers or to the chain terminating dideoxynucleotides. The appropriate absorption wavelength for each dye is chosen and used to excite the dye. If the absorption spectra of the dyes are close to each other, a specific wavelength can be chosen to excite the entire set of dyes.
A separate optical detection technique involves the use of a dye, for example, ethidium bromide, which stains duplexed nucleic acids. The fluorescence of these dyes exhibits an approximate 20-fold increase when it is bound to duplexed DNA or RNA, when compared to the fluorescence exhibited by unbound dye, or dye bound to single-stranded DNA. This type of dye is used to detect the presence of hybridized DNA (or RNA) during a hybridization experiment. Although the use of optical detection methods increases the throughput of the sequencing experiments, the disadvantages are serious.
The various dyes employed in using fluorescent labelled molecules have been shown to be mutagenic and, hence, carcinogenic. For example, ethidium bromide can intercalate into human DNA, and during replication, specific regions of DNA may not be replicated exactly. Proper precautions, such as gloves and careful experimental techniques, can provide the worker with protection against dye penetration. However, it is advantageous to reduce the exposure to these mutagenic agents. In addition, pregnant females should take extra precautions to prevent the occurrence of genetic mutations in the unborn.
Incorporation of a fluorescent label into a nucleic acid sequence increases the complexity and cost of the entire process. Although the chemistry is commonplace, it necessitates an additional step. The increase in cost is due to the extra reagents necessary for fluorescent labeling, as well as precautionary steps necessary for safe handling of mutagenic materials.
Furthermore, the use of multiple fluorescent dyes may affect the electrophoretic mobility of the labelled molecules. Scientists have found that a mobility correction factor is required for the sequence data because the fluorescent dyes influence the electrophoretic mobility of the nucleic fragments to which they are bound. The use of an optical detection method almost always necessitates the use of a laser with one or more lines. Extra precautions, depending upon the chosen wavelength, must be taken to ensure safe operation of the laser. Depending upon the required output power, this investment may range from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars.
Aside from the laser, additional hardware must be purchased for the operation of a fluorescent-based system. For example, a fluorescent detector and optics which transmit the fluorescent data to the detector are necessary elements of this system. If multiple excitation emission wavelengths are chosen, then a control system must be included to select the proper wavelength associated with a particular dye. Additionally, the fluorescent dyes must be purchased from a vendor.
Therefore, a need has arisen in the industry for a safe, low-cost, fast and accurate method and apparatus for detecting molecular structures at reduced complexity.


A system is provided that causes the CRT of a CRT printer to produce images on the screen of the CRT, which when projected onto a photographic media will have uniform illumination at all points on the photographic media. The system accomplishes the foregoing by dynamically changing the amplitude (gain) of the video image signal applied to the CRT.

A cathode ray tube (CRT) converts information contained in an input signal to electron beam energy and converts that energy into light energy to provide a visual information output on a phosphorous screen. The amount of beam modulation of the CRT and thus, the amount of light output of the CRT is a function of the voltage difference between the cathode and the first grid of the CRT (the grid closest to the cathode). If the voltage of the first grid of the CRT is held constant, then the cathode may be modulated with the voltage that represents the video information i.e. the input signal. In the event the voltage on the cathode is held constant then the voltage on the first grid may be modulated with the voltage that represents the video information i.e. the CRT input signal.
A video amplifier circuit amplifies and processes the video input signal and applies it to either the first grid or cathode of the CRT. A means of scanning the electron beam horizontally and vertically over the screen of the CRT is provided. The combination of scanning and electron beam modulation by the input signal produces an image on the screen of the CRT that will be transferred to the photographic media. The video amplifier provides a means of blanking the video signal during the horizontal and vertical retrace periods i.e. the time it takes for the electron beam to return to its starting point for scanning a horizontal line and the time it takes for the electron beam to return to its starting point for scanning the image vertically.
Photographic printers have been utilized that use a CRT as an imaging source for producing a print on a photosensitive media. A monochromatic or color CRT may be used as a imaging source and a monochromatic or color photosensitive media such as photosensitive paper or film may be used to record the CRT produced image. Typically a monochromatic image is displayed on the phosphorous screen of a CRT by modulating the electron beam of the CRT with dark to light gradations of the image and simultaneously deflecting the CRT electron beam to achieve the position of the pixels on the CRT screen. The image on the screen of the CRT may be transferred to the photographic media by any known means i.e. contact printing (the photographic media is placed directly on the CRT screen), projected by one or more lenses and/or one or more mirrors.
A monochromatic CRT may be used to expose a color picture onto photographic media. When a monochromatic display is used, three sequential exposures through red, green and blue filters will individually expose the photographic media to the red, green and blue components of the image displayed sequentially on the screen of the CRT.
A color CRT may also be used to display a color picture on a photographic media. If a color CRT was used, the color CRT would expose in one sequence the red, green and blue portions of the image on the screen of the CRT simultaneously onto the photographic media.
Assume the CRT is displaying an image from a video input signal. The illumination of the image will decrease from the center to the edges of the screen of the CRT with a gradient. The reason for the foregoing is that the electron beam has to travel an increased distance when it travels to the edge of the CRT screen. Also, the beam is less perpendicular to the phosphor screen when it is near the edges of the screen.
If the image on the screen of the CRT is transferred to the photographic media by one or more lenses, the lens or lenses will project greater illumination at the center of the photographic media than at the edges of the photographic media. The reason for the above is vignetting and cosine fourth falloff. Vignetting reduces illumination of the image for off axis image points and is related to the size and quality of the lens. Cosine fourth falloff pertains to the physics of projecting a round point of light through a lens at a off-axis angle. The projected point of light is an ellipse instead of round and its intensity is reduced compared to a round point of light resulting from an on-axis projection through the lens.
Thus, if a negative photographic media receives an image from the screen of a CRT, the density at the center of the print will be greater than the density near the edges of the print. That is, the center of the print will be darker than the edges of the print for the same video input signal amplitude. Furthermore, if a positive photographic media receives the CRT image, the center of the print will be lighter than the edges of the print for the same video input signal amplitude.

Dynamic gain correction for CRT printing


A new concept wall system is provided, wherein the Exterior Insulation and Finish System cladding is created using components with no water absorption, a very low vapor permeability and sealing properties, accommodated with an installation technology which extend the materials properties to the assembly, together with bonding and sealing the intersections and terminations, creating a Non-Permissive to water and vapor diffusion, Exterior Insulation and Finish System (NP-EIFS). The present invention relates to an EIFS cladding having two air and vapor barriers, one applied to the substrate, a continuous liquid membrane with sheathing joints sealed to be moisture barrier for inside vapors, and an exterior weather and vapor barrier which is created using closed cell extruded polystyrene insulation boards, special assembled with joints sealed, to create a non-permissive insulation envelope of the enclosure. Another object of the invention is to provide waterproof and air/vapor-proof details, a new concept of flashing and sealant application around windows/doors and other constructive elements to avoid thermal bridges and air leakage inside thermal envelope and wall assembly. Methods of installation are included.

Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) are well known in the art. Such systems typically consist of a layer of substrate such as plywood, oriented-strand board OSB, gypsum sheathing etc, an insulation layer such expanded polystyrene, mesh embedded in a coat of polymer modified cement and polymeric finish. Originally, EIFS was an exterior wall concept designed to have high insulation values and a reliable stucco finish that could be economically created in a wide array of textures and colors. Generally, these systems include an exterior wall having an expanded polystyrene foam insulation board EPS, attached via an adhesive or mechanical fasteners to the substrate. The exterior of the insulation, after all details specified by architect such moldings, bands, structural or aesthetical joints are created, is covered with a durable water resistant basecoat, which receives a fiberglass mesh as reinforcement. A durable finish coat, typically using an acrylic co-polymer technology, is then applied. The finish coat is generally both colors fast and crack resistant.
EIFS, which is a type of cladding for exterior building walls, is defined per ASTM E631-91B as a: non-loading outdoor wall finish system consisting of a thermal insulation board, an attachment system, a reinforced basecoat, exterior joint sealant, and a compatible finish.
While such EIFS have proved to be quite satisfactory for ease of installation, insulating properties, and ability to receive a variety of aesthetically pleasing finishes, a serious and vexing problem associated with EIFS construction exists. This problem is one of water accumulation behind the exterior wall covering. Such water it's considerate to be the result of condensation and wind-driven water that may enter behind the exterior wall covering at any point where the exterior surface of the coating is penetrated. Moisture is driven through the porosity of exterior polymer cement and finish coat surface and through air-permeable insulation (EPS) by the difference pressure of cold air and hot air. The air-permeable insulation is exposed to permit air to flow into and out of the insulation layer, to equalize the pressure of exterior environment and inside cavity of wall. This flux of air will drive moisture into the system. Wind-driven water that may enter behind the exterior wall covering may be the result of poor workmanship or design, deterioration of flashing or sealants over time, lesser quality doors and windows, or any other penetration or compromise of the exterior finish.
Once inside the sealed wall and behind cladding, the water can remain trapped long enough before evaporating to damage or rot any water sensitive elements to which the insulation is bonded, including framing structure. This water is known in the art as intruding or incidental water.
To eliminate those inconveniences, the EIFS industry created drainable systems. Drainage is accomplished by means of channels formed by vertical ribbons of adhesive applied to the back of the insulation boards or channeled EPS boards to form channels for incidental moisture to escape. The moisture and intruding water travels between the ribbons to the bottom termination of the system where it escapes through weep holes of the drainage vented track. This system is installed over a water and moisture resistive barrier.
Drainable systems have difficulties when it needs to drain water among windows, and when vertical walls end with ceiling or beam. Soffits have no solutions to drain condensation water. In addition, the moist environment is a breeding ground for wood consuming insects and health hazards such as various varieties of molds. Attempts have been made to prevent entry of moisture into the building wall interior by sealing or caulking entry points in and around wall components as the primary defense against moisture intrusion, or by installing flashing around the wall components to divert the moisture. These attempts have not been completely successful. Sealants are not only difficult to properly install, but tend to deteriorate and separate from the wall components due to climatic conditions, building movement, the surface type, or chemical reactions. Flashing is also difficult to install and may tend to hold the moisture against the wall component. Flashings are thermal bridges from outside temperatures and sources of airflow into the wall cavity. These materials are of no value in addressing the problem of moisture that has already entered a building wall cavity or moisture that penetrate the permeable EPS board and condensate on the moisture barrier surface.
The superior energy efficiency and design flexibility of EIFS have resulted in growing popularity, but the presence of moisture remains a vexing problem. Thus, there is a great need for a system and method to prevent and stop moisture to penetrate the insulation layer and intersections of EIFS whit other elements.
For that, we have to fully understand the phenomenology of interior and exterior environment difference, such as temperature, relative humidity and pressure, the conditions of condensation and physical properties of materials such permeability, permissively, thermal conductibility and others.
That part of any building that physically separates the exterior environment from the interior environment is called the building enclosure or building envelope. Also, the building enclosure may contain, but is not the same as, the so-called thermal envelope, term that is used to refer to the thermal insulation within the enclosure. The overall enclosure is made up of all the contiguous enclosure sub-assemblies. Further down, NP-EIFS is considered the thermal envelope of the enclosure.
Building assemblies need to be protected from wetting via rainwater, groundwater, air transported water and vapor diffusion. The typical strategies use drainage planes on air barriers, air pressure control installed between insulation system and exterior wall assembly indifferent of climate location and season. Moisture usually moves from warm to cold, driven by the thermal gradient (vapor pressure differential), and from more to less, driven by the concentration gradient. In cold climates, moisture from the interior flows towards the exterior by passing through building enclosure, in hot climates, moisture from the exterior flows towards the cooled interior by passing through the building envelope. By climates and seasons we can have two extreme situations from the exterior environment: very cold and dry, and hot-humid, with the same inside conditioned space, limited to 60% relative humidity at 75° F. (23.8° C.), both applied to a building having drainage EIFS cladding.
In cold climates, moisture from interior flows towards the exterior, driven by a high vapor differential pressure between interior (75° F. Temperature, 60% Relative Humidity), and exterior (−4° F. Temperature, 30% RH). Absolute humidity (water vapor concentration) is the driving force. Water vapor molecules will wend their way through porous materials until they reach the moisture barrier. In cold and very cold climates, condensation on interior surfaces occurs during the heating season because the interior surfaces of exterior walls are cool from heat loss. Because, on this situation, EIFS is placed on the cold side of building, the wall assembly is warm, including vapor retardant material of moisture barrier. This will equilibrate temperatures, air pressure and relative humidity from inside conditioned environment and wall cavity. Condensation is avoided by reducing water vapor entering the building components and preventing it from dropping below the dew point. Theoretic, if insulation thickness is in accordance with local climate, the only reason of condensation is the thermal bridges around windows, doors, flashings and other outside penetrations. Practically, any material with high conductibility or air leakage from outside can cause condensation.
In hot-humid climates and seasons, moisture from the exterior flows towards the cooled interior by passing through the building enclosure, condensation occurs because interior surfaces are typically cold and subsequently accessed by moisture levels, which are too high. Vapor is driven inward through building cladding by a high vapor pressure differential between exterior hot and humid air (120° F.; 100% Relative Humidity; 11.74 kPa Vapor Pressure) and interior wall assembly (75° F.; 60% RH; 1.82 kPa VP), cooled by inside air conditioning. The cold surfaces in hot climates arise from the air conditioning of enclosures. When exterior hot air is cooled, its relative humidity increases. If the exterior hot air is also humid, cooling this air will typically raise its relative humidity above the dew point. When cladding is drainage EIFS, vapors are driven from outside hot environment through exterior surface of the coating which is porous, and through expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) used as insulation which is permissive to vapors, and will condensate on the cold surfaces of moister retardant material, used as air and water barrier. This is the condensation surface, which became the drainage plane. Cooling the enclosure and the exterior sheathing substrate from inside conditioned space, and moisture contact with this surface, will create most propitious conditions for condensation behind EIFS cladding. In the summer time, we have the opposite situation from winter, when the insulation is placed in the warm side of the wall. The wall assembly is not properly protected from inside heat loss (cold loss), because the wall assembly materials are thermal conductive, metal or wood studs become thermal bridges, and fiberglass insulation from inside of the wall cavity is too permissive to air pressure differential between cold and hot. That is, in regions with varying climatic temperatures, the location where the dew point occurs and where the resulting moisture condensation forms in the building enclosure varies.
Accordingly, one of the most practical solutions in controlling condensation and mold behind EIFS and inside enclosure in all climates is limiting hot and humid exterior air or other forms of moisture transport from contacting the moisture retardant material used as air barrier, the condensation surface. Controlling the vapor pressure at this surface is the most commonly facilitate to maintaining the conditioned space at a slightly positive air pressure to the exterior (approximately 2, 3 Pa). Pressurization of building enclosure is expedited by airtight construction: 2.00l/(s−m2)@75 Pa.
The present invention relates to an EIFS cladding, having two air and vapor barriers. First air-vapor barrier is the classical weather barrier that guard sheathing from incidental moisture, improved to be Class 1 Impermeable (0.1 Perm), test procedure for vapor retarders: ASTM E-96 Test Method A. The moisture retardant material used as air barrier must be a continuous air and moisture barrier, a liquid membrane applied to the substrate, the entire inner layer of NP-EIFS. Second, the air-vapor and watertight barrier is even the insulation layer. The NP-EIFS foreseen the outer insulation layer to be closed cell extruded polystyrene thermal board XPS, which is a material with minimum of water absorption and vapor permeance. Rigid closed cell extruded polystyrene XPS is conforming to the following properties, per inch (25 mm) thickness: Thermal Resistance, R-Value 5.0 (ft2h° F./Btu) min. at 75° F. Mean Temperature (ASTM C-518); Water Absorption 0.1% by volume, max. (ASTM C-272); Water Vapor Permeance 0.8/0.2 perm (ng/Pasm2) (ASTM E-96); no capillarity. The variability observed in data obtained from testing laboratories using ASTM E-96 has recently become a concern. Although, most laboratories are performing analyses in accordance to the test method, the interpretation of the method has resulted in a variety of techniques for sample assembly and data evaluation. Vapor Permeance (Tendency of material to allow water vapor to diffuse through it) or Water Vapor Transmission is dependent on thickness of material. For 1½ inch (38 mm), XPS can be considered an air and vapor barrier. The classical EIFS uses as insulation expanded polystyrene boards EPS, which is on Class 3, Semi Permeable (1.0-10 Perm) or extruded polystyrene boards (EIFS Class PM) but not assembled to be an air-vapor barrier for exterior environment.
Air and moisture barriers are systems of materials designed and constructed to control air and vapor flow between the conditioned space and unconditioned space. Air barrier systems are assembled from materials, incorporated in assemblies that are interconnected to create enclosures. Each of the three elements has measurable resistance to air flow. The minimum resistance or air permeances for the three components are specified in the art: Material 0.02 l/sm2; Assembly 0.20 l/sm2; Enclosure 2.00 l/sm2; at 75 Pa.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method and technology of application of materials, to create an assembly with similar vapor permeance and airflow resistance as the materials components. Moisture retardant properties of XPS will be extended to the entire wall assembly, creating a Non-Permissive to water, air and vapor thermal building envelope of the enclosure.
Another object of the invention is to provide waterproof and air/vapor-proof details, using patented closed cell, expanding polyurethane foam to fill all spaces between insulation and intersections. Also, invention presents a new concept of flashing and sealant application around windows/doors and other constructive elements to avoid thermal bridges and air leakage inside thermal envelope and inside wall assembly. The Non-Permissive thermal envelope assembly will be combined with the intersections of construction elements and terminations, to create Non-Permissive enclosures.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a waterproofing, vapor barrier and air leakage rates similar to Class 1 Impermeable, inside EIFS cladding, with chipping the standard of the industry by fulfilling requirements for design freedom, and increasing energy efficiency, weather ability, durability and beauty, with similar cost effectiveness.
NP-EIFS is a Class PM (polymer modified) system, which offers high impact protection, excellent energy savings and a durable, aesthetically pleasing finish.

NP-EIFS non-permissive exterior insulation and finish systems concept technology and details


An automatic printing assistant application for documents in electronic form is provided by virtue of the present invention. In certain embodiments, an elongated thumbnail image of all or part of an electronically stored document is displayed. A section of the document of interest to the reader is emphasized. Movement of the emphasized area in the elongated thumbnail image assists the user with the selection of sections or pages of the document for printing. The operation of the assistant is personalizable for a particular user by setting of a sensitivity level and selection of relevant topics of interest. Some embodiments of the assistant are also capable of improved performance over time by both automatic and manual feedback. The assistant is usable with many popular electronic document formats.

The present invention relates to printing of electronic documents and more particularly to method and apparatus for augmenting the printing of electronic documents with features to enhance the experience of reading or using the hardcopy of an electronic document.
Increasingly, readers of documents are being called upon to assimilate vast quantities of information in a short period of time. To meet the demands placed upon them, readers find they must read documents "horizontally," rather than "vertically," i.e., they must scan, skim, and browse sections of interest in multiple documents rather than read and analyze a single document from beginning to end.
Documents are becoming more widely available in electronic form. Some documents are available electronically by virtue of their having been created using word processing software. Other electronic documents are accessible via the Internet. Yet others may become available in electronic form by virtue of being scanned in, copied, or faxed. Commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 08/754,721, entitled AUTOMATIC AND TRANSPARENT DOCUMENT ARCHIVING, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, details a system for generating electronic as well as hardcopy format of documents.
However, the mere availability of documents in electronic form does not assist the reader in confronting the challenges of assimilating information quickly. Indeed, many time-challenged readers still prefer paper documents because of their portability and the ease of flipping through pages.
Certain tools take advantage of the electronic form documents to assist harried readers. Tools exist to search for documents both on the Internet and locally. Once a document is identified and retrieved, automatic summarization techniques, such as the Reader's Helper™, described in a commonly owned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/995,616, entitled AUTOMATIC ADAPTIVE DOCUMENT HELP SYSTEM, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, helps the reader to find as well as assimilate the information he or she wants more quickly. However, there is heretofore no automatic assistance available to the reader who desires to work with printed hardcopy of electronic documents.
What is needed is a document printing system that helps the reader print the information he or she wants more quickly. The document printing system should be easily personalizable, flexible and adaptive as well.

Automatic adaptive document printing help system


A system for embedding or attaching to one or more attributes to a graphical object may is disclosed. The system includes a user device configured to obtain a graphical object. The graphical object includes at least one of an image or a geolocation. The system also includes a server communicatively coupled to the user device. The server includes a marker subsystem configured to create at least one marker on the graphical object. The server also includes an embedding subsystem configured to embed one or more attributes in the graphical object. The one or more attributes includes a video, an augmented reality video, a 3-dimensional content, a hyperlink or a text. The server further includes a queue manager configured to process and upload the embedded graphical object. The server further includes an alert subsystem configured to generate a notification upon uploading of the embedded graphical object.

Graphical objects have been attached to communications such as e-mail. These communication methods have also allowed the embedding of graphical objects within the communication itself. Searching for the graphical object is problematic, however, as the context, such as the sender or the text of the associated communication must often be remembered.

Device, system and method for embedding one or more attributes in a graphical object


The invention relates to a tinnitus masker with one or more signal generators, a controllable amplifier (2), one or two electroacoustic transducers (3) for conversion of electrical signals into acoustic signals and a voltage source, whereby at least one of the signal generators (1) generates a continuously repeated, sinusoidal pure tone signal which slowly moves through the audio frequency range and whose cycle duration can be adjusted between 0.1 and 1000 seconds.

The invention relates to a tinnitus masker with one or more signal generators, a controllable amplifier section, one or two electroacoustic transducers for conversion of electrical signals into acoustic signals as well as a voltage source.
Such devices are already known in principle.
More than half of the world's population suffers from tinnitus in one form or the other. It is a phenomenon which occurs in the hearing system whose causes are still unclear. It may consist of anything from a weak tone which occurs only several times a year up to a continuously audible loud noise, hissing, buzzing or even a very loud tone which is never interrupted.
Tinnitus covers a wide range of phenomena which are all related to the hearing function, and particularly to the middle ear, the organ of Corti, the nerve cells and the nerve tracts as well as to the nerve centers which lead from the organ of Corti to the brain.
The actual causes of tinnitus have not yet been properly established, and it is difficult to localize them exactly.
Recent findings have shown that the nerve centers between the organ of Corti and the brain are responsible for such complex signal processing that an individual nerve cell can be located in the uppermost level of the eighth nerve of the brain which is stimulated only if a quite specific sound is identified by the nerve centers. This sound may be, for example, a quite specific phoneme or a tone with a quite specific frequency. Expressed in other words, it seems to be the task of individual or all nerve cells of this uppermost level to inform the brain that a specific sound or tone or complex tone or sound mixture has occurred. Since the human ear possesses a highly developed capability of distinguishing tones, sounds or noises of different frequencies or frequency mixtures, it is quite possible that a very large number of these nerves are intended for recognition of all those tones which belong to the audible frequency range.
This may be one of the reasons why tinnitus is very frequently perceived as a tone.
In other words, the reason why a patient believes that he is hearing a tone with a specific frequency is apparently that the nerve which would normally transmit a really audible tone of this frequency to the brain is sporadically or continuously stimulated for some reason and then remains in this stimulated condition for either a long or short period of time. This might be caused, for example, by an electromechanical fault or by such "faulty stimulation" in this or a previous nerve cell.
Earlier experiments showed that it was possible in some cases to suppress tinnitus for a certain time or even permanently be exposing the patient to various sounds and/or tones of different kinds and with different sound pressures for shorter or longer time periods. In most cases, pure sinusoidal tones were used either with high sound pressures of short duration or as so-called tinnitus maskers.
A tinnitus masker is an instrument worn on the head or on the body and on the head more or less like a hearing aid which generates a kind of acoustic signal, e.g. a sinusoidal tone, narrow-band noise, broad-band noise or white noise, which is transmitted to the patient either via an earphone or via a miniature receiver which is incorporated in a hearing aid housing. This may be a BTE device, for example.
In other cases, a standard hearing aid has been found useful, since the hearing aid boosts the overall background noise level and thus allows the patient to distinguish this from his tinnitus.
This invention relates only to such tinnitus which is perceived as a tone. In these cases, it is normally possible to identify a specific, often narrow frequency range within which the tinnitus frequency is located.
Using the above methods and techniques, even this still involved quite considerable difficulties for the patient.
If, on the other hand, a tone generator repeatedly and slowly moves through this frequency range, then it may be expected that the true tinnitus frequency is actually and repeatedly produced, although the patient does not exactly know when this is the case.
The task of the invention is thus to create a tinnitus masker of the type mentioned at the start, which appears to be particularly suitable, on the basis of tests, for treatment of the kind of tinnitus mentioned above, which makes itself noticeable by supposed hearing of a tone or tone mixture located in the audio frequency range.
The invention is based on two findings:
1. Residual suppression is recognized only if the masking signal exactly matches the tinnitus signal with respect to frequency content quality. The masking signal must be stronger. PA1 2. Normally, it is extremely difficult for a patient to exactly assess and describe tinnitus quality.


An optical signal return path system analog RF signals are sampled using a master clock frequency, and combined with digital data such as Ethernet data at a cable node. The cable node sends the combined signals on a return path over a fiber optic medium to the cable hub. The cable hub extracts an approximate in-frequency replicate of a master clock signal, and can use the replicate master clock signal to desample the digitized RF signals back to analog. The cable hub can further use the replicate of the master clock signal to serialize Ethernet data, and send the Ethernet data back to the cable node via an optical cable in the forward direction. Accordingly, a single master clock signal can be used on a CATV network for encoding/decoding, and transmitting a variety of data signals, which enhances the integrity and reliability of the data signals.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to upstream data communications over networks primarily designed for downstream transmission of television and data signals, and particularly to a system and method for converting, transmitting, and regenerating one or more data signals based on a single master clock.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Cable television systems (CATV) were initially deployed so that remotely located communities were allowed to place a receiver on a hilltop and then use coaxial cable and amplifiers to distribute received signals down to the town which otherwise had poor signal reception. These early systems brought the signal down from the antennas to a "head end" and then distributed the signals out from this point. Since the purpose was to distribute television channels throughout a community, the systems were designed to be one-way and did not have the capability to take information back from subscribers to the head end.
Over time, it was realized that the basic system infrastructure could be made to operate two-way with the addition of some new components. Two-way CATV was used for many years to carry back some locally generated video programming to the head end where it could be up-converted to a carrier frequency compatible with the normal television channels.
Definitions for CATV systems today call the normal broadcast direction from the head end to the subscribers the "forward path" and the direction from the subscribers back to the head end the "return path". A good review of much of today's existing return path technology is contained in the book entitled Return Systems for Hybrid Fiber Coax Cable TV Networks by Donald Raskin and Dean Stoneback, hereby incorporated by reference as background information.
One additional innovation has become pervasive throughout the CATV industry over the past 10 years—the introduction of analog optical fiber transmitters and receivers operating over single mode optical fiber. These optical links have been used to break up the original tree and branch architecture of most CATV systems and to replace that with an architecture labeled Hybrid Fiber/Coax (HFC). In this approach, optical fibers connect the head end of the system to neighborhood nodes, and then coaxial cable is used to distribute signals from the neighborhood nodes to homes, businesses and the like in a small geographical area. Return path optical fibers are typically located in the same cable as the forward path optical fibers so that return signals can have the same advantages as the forward path.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art cable television system 100 that uses conventional analog return path optical fiber links. Each subtree 102 on the system comprises a coaxial cable 106 that is coupled to a cable modem 108, each cable modem 108 being used by subscribers for Internet access. The coaxial cable 106 is also coupled to set top boxes (not shown) and other equipment (not shown), which are not relevant to the present discussion. The coaxial cable 106 of each subtree 102 is further coupled to at least one forward path optical fiber 110 and at least one return path optical fiber 112, typically through a cable node. An analog optoelectronic transceiver 114 (typically at the cable node) provides the data path coupling the coaxial cable 106 to the optical fibers 110, 112.
An RF input signal, having an associated signal level, is submitted to a′, transmitter portion of the optoelectronic transceiver 114, which in turn gains or attenuates the signal level, as appropriate. The RF input signal is then amplitude-modulated, and converted into a corresponding optical signal by a laser diode 122. Both Fabre-Perot (FP) and distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are typically used for this application. DFB lasers are used in conjunction with an optical isolator, and have improved signal to noise over FP lasers, but at a sacrifice of substantial cost. DFB lasers are preferred, as the improved SNR allows for better system performance when aggregating multiple returns.
The optical signal from the laser diode 122 is coupled to a single mode optical fiber (i.e., the return path optical fiber 112) that carries the signal to an optical receiver 130 typically located at a cable hub 350 (see FIGS. 7 and 8), such as a cable hub 350 at the head end system 132. The optical receiver 130 converts the amplitude-modulated light signal back to an RF signal. Sometimes a manual output amplitude adjustment mechanism is provided to adjust the signal level of the output produced by the optical receiver. A cable modem termination system (CMTS) 134 at the head end 132 receives and demodulates the recovered RF signals so as to recover the return path data signals sent by the subscribers.
FIGS. 2 and 3 depict the transmitter 150 and receiver 170 of a prior art return path link. The transmitter 150 (e.g., a cable node) digitizes the RF signal received from the coaxial cable 106, using an analog to digital converter (ADC) 152. The ADC 152 generates a ten-bit sample value for each cycle of the receiver's sample clock 153A, which is generated by a local, low noise clock generator 156. The output from the ADC 152 is converted by a serializer 154 into a serial data stream. The serializer 154 encodes the data using a standard 8B/10B mapping (i.e., a bit-value-balancing mapping), which increases the amount of data to be transmitted by twenty-five percent. This encoding is not tied to the 10-bit boundaries of the sample values, but rather is tied to the boundary of each set of eight samples (80 bits), which are encoded using 100 bits.
When the sample clock operates at a rate of 100 MHz, the output section of the serializer 154 is driven by a 125 MHz clock 157A, and outputs data bits to a fiber optic transmitter 158, 159 at a rate of 1.25 Gb/s. The fiber optic transmitter 158, 159 converts electrical 1 and 0 bits into optical 1 and 0 bits, which are then transmitted over an optical fiber 112. The fiber optic transmitter includes a laser diode driver 158 and a laser diode 159.
The receiver 170 at the receive end of the optical fiber 112 (e.g., a cable hub) includes a fiber receiver 172, 174 that receives the optical 1 and 0 bits transmitted over the optical fiber 112, and converts them into corresponding electrical 1 and 0 bits. This serial bit stream is conveyed to a deserializer circuit 178. A clock recovery circuit 176 recovers a 1.25 GHz bit clock from the incoming data and also generates a 100 MHz clock that is synchronized with the recovered 1.25 GHz bit clock.
The recovered 1.25 GHz bit clock is used by the deserializer 178 to clock in the received data, and the 100 MHz clock is used to drive a digital to analog converter 180, which converts ten-bit data values into analog voltage signals at the head end system. As a result, the RF signal from the coaxial cable 106 is regenerated at point 182 of the head end system.
Prior art return path link systems, such as the one shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, have used a low noise oscillator at the transmitter for the A/D sample clock 152. The same oscillator is also used as a reference for a synthesizer that generates a coherent symbol clock 157A for the communications link. The receiver 170 recovers the symbol clock 157B (e.g., via clock recovery circuit 176).
Time jitter is introduced in the receiver sample clock (e.g., via circuit 176) by the described communications path. The receiver's clock recovery circuit must react quickly to maintain lock on the received data. Accordingly, an advantage in the art can be realized with systems that maintain a consistent, approximate in-frequency replicate of a master clock rate in the return paths. Furthermore, in some cases, it may be desirable to transmit data other than television programming in a forward path as well. Such forward path data must also be properly synchronized. As there can be jitter introduced in both the return and forward paths, it would be advantageous to have a clocking mechanism that was reliable in both the return and forward data paths of the CATV network. It would further be desirable if the clock mechanism was of low complexity.

Single master clock control of Ethernet data transfer over both a cable TV return path and an Ethernet forward path


A color agent for a road marking material comprising composite particles having an average particle diameter of 0.01 to 10.0 μm, said composite particles comprising: inorganic particles; a gluing agent coating layer formed on surface of said inorganic particle; and an organic pigment coat formed onto said gluing agent coating layer in an amount of from 1 to 500 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of said inorganic particles. The color agent for a road marking material, contains no harmful elements and exhibits excellent tinting strength, hiding power, light resistance and heat resistance, and is suppressed in surface activity thereof. The road marking material using the color agent, shows a less change in hue with the passage of time and an excellent retroreflective property.

The present invention relates to a color agent for a road marking material and a road marking material using the color agent. More particularly, to a color agent for a road marking material, which contains no harmful elements and exhibits excellent tinting strength, hiding power, light resistance and heat resistance, and which is suppressed in surface activity thereof, and a road marking material using the color agent, which shows a less change in hue with the passage of time and an excellent retroreflective property.
Hitherto, white or yellow road marking materials have been used to form zone lines, road signs, etc., for the purpose of obeying traffic laws and regulations and preventing or minimizing traffic accidents.
On the other hand, in recent years, various characters or complicated marks have been frequently used in Japan as road markings. Thus, green- or brick-colored road marking materials have been applied to school zones, bicycle roads, etc. Further, in Japan it has been demanded to use designed color marks in community squares, shopping roads, jogging courses, cycling roads, promenades, parks, etc., in order to expect environmental beautification or PR effects.
The road marking materials are classified into cold-applied paint-types (first class), heat-applied paint-types (second class) and melt types (third class) according to JIS K 5665. Further, corresponding to the above color marks, there are known adhesion-type road marking materials such as heat-adhesion types and cold-adhesion types.
Any of the above road marking materials is used outdoors for a long period of time and, therefore, is required to have a less change in hue with the passage of time after application to roads. It is known that the change in hue of the road marking materials is caused by discoloration of color agents or deterioration of resins due to ultraviolet radiation or acid rain, deterioration of resins due to high surface activity of color agents, or the like. Thus, the color agents used in the road marking materials are required to exhibit a high weather resistance as well as a low surface activity.
Also, among the above-mentioned road marking materials, the melt-type road marking materials (third class) are heated and molten at a temperature as high as about 200° C. For this reason, color agents used in such melt-type road marking materials are required to show a heat resistance capable of preventing discoloration thereof even when heated at such a high temperature.
In addition, in order to shield a road surface made of asphalt or concrete and allow a road surface to show the aimed hue, the color agents used in the above road marking materials are also required to have excellent hiding power and tinting strength.
Among the road marking materials, the yellow road marking materials for traffic signs are especially important to users, since the yellow color is intended to indicate regulations or cautions on traffic. The hue of the yellow color used for these purposes is unified as a common "yellow for traffic signs or markings" by the National Police Agency in Japan.
The yellow road marking materials tend to be deteriorated in reflectivity as compared to white road marking materials. In particular, it is known that when only a small amount of light emitted from headlight or street lamps such as mercury lamp and sodium lamp is present during the night, the visibility of the yellow markings is considerably low as compared to that during the daytime. Therefore, the color agents used in the yellow road marking materials are required to be free from discoloration even when exposed to a long-term outdoor use and when melted under a high temperature condition, to show a hue lying within the common "yellow for traffic signs or markings", and to have an excellent night reflectivity.
At present, lead chromate has been mainly used as pigments for the yellow road marking materials because of not only excellent heat resistance and weather resistance but also clear hue thereof. However, the lead chromate contains heavy metals such as chromium and lead. For this reason, it has been demanded to provide alternate yellow pigments from the standpoints of hygiene, safety and prevention of environmental pollution.
As yellow pigments for road marking materials other than lead chromate, there are known inorganic pigments such as titanium yellow, iron oxide hydroxide and bismuth vanadate; and yellow-based organic pigments such as azo-based, isoindolinone-based and anthraquinone-based pigments.
However, although the above inorganic pigments are excellent in heat resistance and weather resistance, these pigments tend to be deteriorated in tinting strength, thereby failing to show a clear hue. On the other hand, the above organic pigments usually show a clear hue, but tend to be deteriorated in hiding power as well as heat resistance and light resistance. Thus, any of the conventional inorganic and organic pigments fails to satisfy properties required as alternate materials of lead chromate. Further, it is known that road marking materials using such color agents tend to be deteriorated in visibility during the night.
Hitherto, in order to obtain pigments as alternate materials of lead chromate which are free from environmental pollution, and improved in weather resistance and heat resistance as well as visibility during the night, it has been attempted to combine the inorganic pigments with the organic pigments (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) Nos. 4-132770(1992), 7-331113(1995), 8-209030(1996), 9-100420(1997) and 2001-220550, etc.).
At present, it has been strongly required to provide a color agent for a road marking material which shows a less change in hue with the passage of time and is capable of producing such a road marking material exhibiting an excellent retroreflective property. However, such color agent has not been obtained until now.
That is, in the methods described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) Nos. 4-132770(1992) and 9-100420(1997), since organic pigments are precipitated in the presence of an inorganic pigment to form a organic pigment layer on the surface of the inorganic pigment, the organic pigments fail to have a sufficient adhesion strength to the inorganic pigments as shown in the below-mentioned Comparative Examples. Further, since the obtained color agent has a high surface activity, the road marking material produced from such a color agent tends to undergo a large change in hue with the passage of time.
Also, in the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 7-331113(1995), organic pigments are charged together with inorganic pigments having a refractive index of not less than 2.2 and a coupling agent into a mixer, and stirred and mixed together therein to adhere the organic pigments onto the surface of the inorganic pigments. However, as shown in the below-mentioned Comparative Examples, the adhesion strength of the organic pigments onto the inorganic pigments tends to become insufficient as compared to the color agent for a road marking material according to the present invention in which organic pigments are adhered onto the surface of inorganic particles through a gluing agent coating layer. Therefore, a road marking material produced from the above conventional color agent may fail to show sufficient alkali resistance, abrasion resistance and aging resistance.
In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) Nos. 8-209030(1996) and 2001-220550, there are described heat-melting type road marking paints comprising caking resin, color agent and filler in which a pigment composition containing organic and inorganic pigments is used as the color agent. However, in these prior publications, the surface activity of the color agent is not taken into consideration. Therefore, it is suggested that the road marking material produced from such a color agent tends to undergo a large change in hue with the passage of time.
Meanwhile, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 2001-262297, there are described composite particles produced by adhering organic pigments onto the surface of white inorganic particles through a gluing agent. However, the object of this KOKAI is to suppress desorption of the organic pigments from the surface of the white inorganic particles, and this KOKAI is silent in the surface activity of the obtained composite particles.
As a result of the present inventors' earnest studies, it has been found that when composite particles having an average particle diameter of 0.01 to 10.0 μm which are produced by adhering 1 to 500 parts by weight of organic pigments onto 100 parts by weight of inorganic particles through a gluing agent and which may be further coated with a fatty acid, a fatty acid metal salt or a coupling agent, are used as a color agent for a road marking material, the obtained road marking material can show a less change in hue with the passage of time and an excellent retroreflective property. The present invention has been attained on the basis of the finding.

Color agent for road marking material and road marking material using the same


In a golf ball comprising a core and a cover of one or more layers, at least one layer of the cover is formed primarily of a mixture comprising (A) an ionomer resin, (B) a thermoplastic elastomer and (C) a thermoplastic block copolymer terminated with a functional group capable of reacting with the ionomer resin, in such a proportion as to provide a A/(B+C) weight ratio between 50/50 and 98/2 and a B/C weight ratio between 9/1 and 1/1. The golf ball has improved rebound, a soft feel upon impact, good durability and good moldability.

In the prior art, thermoplastic elastomers as typified by polyester elastomers, thermoplastic block copolymers and thermoplastic polyurethane have a relatively good resilience despite a low hardness and are widely used in the manufacturing of golf balls. However, these thermoplastic elastomers tend to lower rebound resilience, strength, impact resistance and low-temperature performance when they are tailored to a higher hardness.
On the other hand, ionomer resins in the form of copolymers of α-olefin with α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids, neutralized with mono- to trivalent metal ions, are very tough and fully resistant to rupture even when undergoing substantial deformation at a high speed. Additionally, the ionomer resins are thermoplastic and easy to mold and work. On use as the cover stock for golf balls, this feature is very advantageous in improving the scuff resistance and durability against repetitive hits of golf balls. However, ionomer resins are short of flexibility and likely to give a hard feel upon impact.
An attempt was made to prepare golf balls from resin compositions in which thermoplastic elastomers are mixed with ionomer resins to compensate for the drawbacks of the respective components. For example, JP-A 56-83367 and JP-A 62-275480 disclose golf balls using resin compositions comprising polyester elastomers in admixture with ionomer resins. Since polyester block copolymers having flexibility and resilience are mixed with ionomer resins having toughness and a high modulus of resilience, the resulting mixtures make use of the advantages of the respective components and are golf ball-forming materials having improved rebound performance.
However, since polyester elastomers and ionomer resins are not so compatible when mixed together, the golf ball-forming resin compositions proposed in the above patent references have uneven morphology. They suffer from the problem that since the respective resins are readily oriented during injection molding, the molded parts are likely to delaminate and less durable against repetitive hits.
To improve the compatibility between ionomer resins and polyester elastomers, resin compositions comprising, in admixture, an ionomer resin, a polyester block copolymer and an epoxy-containing resin were proposed as golf ball-forming materials (see JP-A 9-176429 and JP-A 2002-356608). Since the compatibility between ionomer resin and polyester block copolymer is improved by the inclusion of an epoxy-containing resin, these resin compositions are golf ball-forming resin compositions having some delamination resistance, good flexibility and a high modulus of resilience. There is still left a room for further improvement in compatibility. The inclusion of an epoxy-containing resin can increase the melt viscosity of the resin composition. A high melt viscosity is advantageous for extrusion molding and blow molding, but inadequate for injection molding. The resin compositions are thus rather disadvantageous because injection molding is generally employed for golf balls.
It would be desirable to manufacture a golf ball featuring improved rebound, a soft feel upon impact, good durability and good moldability, using a golf ball-forming material which has advantages of both an ionomer resin and a thermoplastic elastomer, flexibility, rebound, toughness, flexural fatigue resistance, and tear strength, exhibits a sufficiently smooth flow in the melt to injection mold, and is free of delamination in molded form.


A method of adjusting the output of an electrochemical sensor includes the steps of: simulating the presence of an analyte gas electronically; measuring a response of the sensor to the electronic simulation; and adjusting the output of the sensor as a function of the measured response to the electronic simulation. The method of adjusting the output of an electrochemical sensor having a working electrode and a counter electrode preferably includes the steps of: electronically causing a current flow between the working electrode and the counter electrode; measuring a response of the sensor to the current demand; and using the measured response to adjust the sensor output during sampling of an analyte gas.

Amperometric or fuel cell-type gas sensors typically include at least two electrocatalytic electrodes (an anode and a cathode), at least one of which is a gas diffusion electrode or working electrode. The working electrode can be either the anode or the cathode in any given sensor. The gas diffusion electrode typically includes fine particles of an electrocatalytic material adhered to one side of a porous or gas-permeable membrane. The gas sensor can also include a third, reference electrode to maintain the working electrode at a known voltage or potential.
The electrocatalytic side of the working electrode is in ionic contact with the second electrode (the counter electrode, whether the anode or the cathode) via an electrolyte (for example, a liquid electrolyte, a solid electrolyte or a quasi-solid state electrolyte). A liquid electrolyte is typically a solution of a strong electrolyte salt dissolved in a suitable solvent, such as water. Quasi-solid state electrolytes can, for example, include a liquid electrolyte immobilized by a high-surface-area, high-pore-volume solid. The working electrode and the counter electrode are also in electrical contact via an external circuit used to measure the current that flows through the sensor.
Various manufacturers of gas detectors include some means of monitoring the presence of an electrochemical gas sensor and determining its serviceability. One common method is to generate a suitable target gas (either the analyte of interest or a suitable simulant) and monitor the response of the sensor to that generated gas. As typical gas generators are electrochemical cells themselves, there is a correlation between the amount of current used to produce the gas sample and the concentration of that sample. The method yields the presence of a working gas sensor and can be used to correct the output of the sensor. However, the technique has several disadvantages including, for example, complexity and ambiguity. In that regard, the gas generation cell is subject to the same forces of degradation to which the sensor is subject. Moreover, unless some method of monitoring the condition of the gas generator is employed, these methods can result in a self-consistent, but analytically incorrect indication of sensor health.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,940 describes a method for determining the concentration of a gas sample that could be used to actually calibrate the sensor if the concentration of the gas were known. The method requires a known concentration of test gas and the means to modulate the flow of the gas to the sensor.
In a number of current sensors, the presence of a sensor and sensor serviceability is determined via electronic testing. Calibration of such sensors requires measurement of sensor response during exposure to a standard calibration gas having a known concentration of analyte gas. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,684 discloses a method of determining the response of a sensor and comparing the determined sensor response with a "normal" response. The testing purportedly determines abnormalities in sensor operation and predicts future failure. In one embodiment, a potentiostat circuit is modified to allow the sensor to be tested galvanostatically. A small current flowing through the sensor for short time periods allows the electrode capacitance to be determined. Passing larger currents through the sensor, and especially by varying the current passed with time, provides a means to characterize the electrochemical properties of the sensor. Comparison of these electrical properties with reference values or with data obtained at a different time is used to determine the functional status of the sensor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,283 describes a method of detecting the presence of a serviceable electrochemical gas sensor by measuring the electronic noise in the output of the sensor amplifier.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,444 describes a method of diagnosing defects in electrochemical gas sensors by suddenly changing the water vapor pressure of the air surrounding the sensor to more dry or more humid air thereby causing a sharp change in the acidity at the working electrode and hence a transient current in the sensor which can be used to monitor the sensor's condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,818 describes a method of detecting the presence of a serviceable electrochemical gas sensor by applying a transient to the non-inverting input of the operational amplifier that amplifies the output current of the sensor. The gain of that operational amplifier is monitored. If the gain resulting from the transient is high, a serviceable sensor is present; if the gain is low, a serviceable sensor is not present. U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,243 describes a similar method of detecting the presence of a serviceable gas sensor. Under this method, the transfer function of the operational amplifier is monitored.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,637 describes a method for detecting the presence of an electrochemical gas sensor by applying a potential pulse or a periodically varying potential to the sensor. The output current of the sensor is monitored. If a current is detected in response to the potential signal, then a sensor is present.
From this it is clear that it is desirable to develop improved devices, systems and methods for testing gas sensors and, preferably, devices, systems and methods suitable to correct the output of the gas sensor on the basis of an electronic test.

Devices, systems and methods for testing gas sensors and correcting gas sensor output


In the present invention, a position managing server on a wireless network using a wireless system without a paging function requests paging of a mobile terminal to a terminal managing server on a cellular network using a cellular wireless system, the terminal managing server transmits a paging request to the mobile terminal using the cellular network, and the mobile terminal receives the paging request, connects a wireless channel with the wireless network, requests an assignment of position information to the wireless network to acquire, and notifies the position managing server on the wireless network of the position information acquired.

In recent years, public wireless LAN service has been performed in a wireless LAN system using a wireless system such as IEEE 802.11 (for example, ANSI/IEEE Std 802.11, 1999 Edition), and wireless Internet access environments have become widespread. In the communication service in such public wireless LAN service, a terminal principally accesses a server group existing on the Internet.
Meanwhile, as typified by IP telephone and push type service, Internet service has been implemented such that a server group accesses a terminal.
In the wireless LAN system, a mobile terminal only adopts a state that a wireless channel is always connected or a wireless channel is completely disconnected and a power supply of a wireless interface is turned off. However, connecting the wireless channel always results in power consumption. Accordingly, when a portable mobile terminal is applied as a terminal, the mobile terminal turns off the power supply of the wireless interface during a period of time communications are not performed constantly so as to extend the connection time. In other words, when a server group accesses such a mobile terminal, a communication channel of the mobile terminal is not connected unless the mobile terminal is communicating.
Further, when the communication channel of the mobile terminal is not connected, the server group cannot detect that the mobile terminal has moved, and therefore, cannot manage an IP address that is position information of the mobile terminal.
As described above, in the wireless access system using the wireless access system without the paging function, there is a problem that a server group cannot perform paging processing on a mobile terminal.

Server on wireless network communicates with terminal on cellular network

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd,